THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY. (bEIMQ a continuation of the 'annals ' COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTh's 'magazine of natural HISTORY.') CONDUCTED BY CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., JOHN EDWARD GRAY, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S. &c., WILLIAM S. DALLAS, F.L.S., AND WILLIAM FRANCIS, Ph.D., F.L.S. VOL. XL— FOURTH SERk.^.,„„: , -. LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS. SOLD BY LONGMANS, GEEEN, READER, AND DYER ; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.; KENT AND CO.; W'HITTAKER ANT) CO.: BAILLIERE, PARIS^ MACLACHLAN AND STEAVART, EDINBURGH : HODGES, FOSTER, AND CO., DUBLIN : AND ASHER, BERLIN. 1873. " Omnes res creatae sunt divinae sapientiae et potentife testes, divitise fe- humanaj : — ex harum usu honitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Di ex oeconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, jwtentia majt t elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab liominibus sibi relictis semper aestim"" a vere eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta ; male doctis et barbaris sem]. inimica fuit." — Linn^us. "Quel que soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu'ouyrir les yeux po voir qu'elle est le cbef-d'eeuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rappc tent toutes ses operations."— Bkuckner, Tkeorie du Si/steme Animal, Levdt 1767. The sylvan powers Obey our summons ; from their deepest deUs 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 heatli-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. Taylor, Norwich, 1818. CONTENTS 0F VOL. XI. [FOURTH SERIES.] NUMBER LXI. Page Transformation of an entire SheU into Chitinous Structure by thePolype Hydractinia, with short Descriptions of the Polypidoma )f live other Species. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c. (Plate I.) . . 1 II On a new Species of Nettapus (Cotton-Teal) from the River Yangtsze, China. By R. Swinhoe, H.M, Consul at Ningo 15 III. On Berardim and other Ziphioid Wales. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c IV. On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. By R. Bowdleb Shabpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum V. Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By 11. W. Bates, Esq., F.L.S ^^ VI. Growth or Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. By John C. 46 Draper, M.D VII. Sequoia and its History. By Professor Asa Gray, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 52 VIII. Physico-chemical Investigations upon the Aquatic Ai-ticu- lata. By M. Felix Plateau. Part II 70 IX. Additional Notes on Spatulemys Lasalcs. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. (Plate II.) ''^ X. On the Macleayius australiensis from New Zealand. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 75 On the Reproduction and Development of the Telescope-fish of China, hy M. Carbonnier ; Additional Observations on Codiophyllum, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c.; The BeU Collection of Reptiles ; Answer to Ilerr Ritsema's " Note on Crmodes Sommeri " &c., by A. G. Butler, F.L.S. &c. ; On a Mite in the Ear of the Ox ; The Horns oi Antilocapra, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c.; Notice of a new and remarkable Fossil Bird, by O. C. Marsh 76—80 IV CONTENTS. NUMBER LXIL PftlTC XI. Summary of Zoological Observations made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. By E. Ray Lankestek, M.A., Fellow and Lec- tm-er of Exeter College, Oxford 81 XII. On the Geographical Distribution, Migration, and Occasional Habitats of Whales and Dolphins {Cete). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 98 XIII. Notes on the Whales and Dolphins of the New-Zealand Seas. By Dr. James Hector, F.R.S. With Remarks by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c IO4 XIV. A Monographic List of the Species of the Genus Gmyleptes, with Descriptions of three remarkable new Species. By Arthur Gardiner Butler, F.L.S., F.Z.S,, &c. (Plate 111.) 112 XV. Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By H. W. Bates, F.L.S II7 XVI. On a new Species of Turkey Vulture from the Falkland Islands and a new Genus of Old- World Vultures. By R. Bowdler Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological Depart- ment, British Museum I33 XVII. On some Fossils from the Quebec Group of Point Le'vis, Quebec. By H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc, M.A., F.R.S.E., Professor of Natural History in University College, Toronto ih. XVIII. Notes on Tortoises. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 143 New Books: — Records of the Rocks 5 or Notes on the Geology, Natural History, and Antiquities of North and South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall, by the Rev. W. S. Symouds, F.G.S. &c. — A Manual of Palajoutology for the Use of Students, with a General Introduction on the Principles of Palaeontology, by H. A. Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc, &c 149—151 Anatomical Investigations on the Limnli, by A. Milne-Edwards ; On the Boomdas {Dendrohyrax arbor eus), by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; On Deep-sea Dredging in the Gulf of St. La-s\Tence, by J, F. Whiteaves, F.G.S. &c. ; Nitophrjllum litteratum, a new Bri- tish Alga, by Prof. T. G. Agardh ; On a new Freshwater Tortoise • from Borneo {Orlitia borneensis), by Dr. J. E. Graj', F.R.S. &c.; Descriptions of three new Species of Crustacea parasitic on the Cetacea of the N.W. coast of America, by W. H. Dall, U.S. Coast Survey ; Orca stemrhyncha (the Narrow-nosed Killer) ; Preliminary Descriptions of new Species of Mollusks from the North-west coast of America, by W. H. Dall, U.S. Coast Sur- vey; Projectile Power of the Capsules oi Hamamelis virginica, by Mr. T. Meehan 152 160 CONTENTS. V NUMBER LXin. Page XIX. On the Original Form, Development, and Cohesion of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians ; with Notes on the Skeleton of Sphargis. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. (Plates IV., V., & VI.) IGl XX. On the Homologies of the Shoulder-girdle of the Dipnoans and other Fishes. By Theodore Gill, M.D., Ph.D., &c 173 XXI. Additions to the Australian CurcuUonidic. Part IV. By Francis P. Pascoe, F.L.S. &c 178 XXII. On the Silurus and Glanis of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. By the Rev. W. HouaHTON, M. A., F.L.S 199 XXm. Remarks on certain Errors in Mr. Jeffreys's Article on '' The MoUusca of Eui'ope compared with those of Eastern North America." By A. E. Verrill, Professor of Zoology in Yale College, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A 206 XXIV. Remarks on Cervus chilensis and Cervus antisiensis. By P. L. ScLATER, M.A., F.R.S.,* Secretary to the Zoological Society of London 213 XXV. Fm'ther Remarks on the Guemul of Patagonia (^Humnela leucotis). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 214 XXVI. On the Peregrine Falcon of the Magellan Straits. By R. Bowdler Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c.. Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum 220 Neiv Book : — Dr. Ehrenberg's Microgeological Studies 224 Proceedings of the Royal Society 227 On Whales in the Indian Ocean, by H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c. ; On a new Subclass of Fossil Birds (Oilontornithes), by O. C. Marsh; On two new Free Sponges from Singapore, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; On the "Capreolus" of Zonites algirus, by E. Du- breuil; On the Developmental History of Petromyzon, by A. Schneider; On the Parasites of the Cetaceans of the N.W. Coast of America, with Descriptions of New Forms, by W. 11. Dall, U.S. Coast Survey 231—238 NUMBER LXIV. XXVII. On the Calcispongice, their Position in the Animal King- dom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. By Pro- fessor Ernst Hackel 241 VI CONTENTS. Page XXVIII. Remarks on a few Species belonging to the Family Terehridm, and Descriptions of several new Forms in the Collection of the British Museum. By Edgab A. Smith, F.Z.S., Zoological Department, British Museum 262 XXIX. On the French Species of the Genus Geomalactis. By D. F. Heynemann, President of the German Malacozoological Society, Frankfort-on-Maine 271 XXX. Description of Labaria hemisphcej-ica, Gray, a new Species of Ilexactinellid Sponge, with Observations on it and the Sarco- hexactinellid Sponges generally. By 11. J. Caeteh, F.R.S. &c. . . 275 XXXI. On a Crustacean of the Genus Zia. By the Rev. Thomas R. R. Stebbing, M.A 286 XXXII. Description of a new Species belonging to the Genus Vitrina. By Edgar A. Smith, F.Z.S., Zoological Department, British Museum 288 XXXIII. Observations on Chelonians, with Descriptions of new Genera and Species. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 289 XXXIV. Additional Notes on the Guemul. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 308 Proceedings of the Royal Society 310 Fabulous Australian Animals, by Gerard Krefft ; Preliminary De- scriptions of three new Species of Cetacea from the Coast of California, by W. II. Dall, U.S. Coast Survey; On Hyper- metamorphosis in Palingenia virgo, and on the Analogies of its Larva with the Crustacea, by M. N. Joly ; Deep-water Fauna of Lake Michigan, by P. R. Hoy, M.D.. .' 315—319 NUMBER LXV. XXXV. On the Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo as the Basis of Genealogical Classification of Animals, and on the Origin of Vas- cular and Lymph Systems. By E. Ray Lankester, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of Exeter College, Oxford 321 XXXVI. On a new Australian Species of Thyrsites. By Prof. FjlKDBRICK M'CoY. ._ 338 XXXVII. Notices of British Fungi. By the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A., F.L.S., and C. E. Broome, Esq., F.L.S. (Plates VII.-X.) . . 339 XXXVIII. Description of two new Species of Frogs from Aus- tralia. By Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S 349 CONTENTS. Vll Page XXXIX. Description of a new Saurian (Hyalosazirus) allied to Pseudopus. By Dr. AxBSiiT Gunther, F.R.S 351 XL. Points of Distinction between the Spongiadae and the Fora- minifera. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c 351 XLI. On the Dentition of Rhinoceroses (lihinacerotes) , and on the Characters afforded by their Skulls. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. (Plate XI.) 35G XLII. On some Works relating to a new Classification of Ammo- nites. By Ernst Favre 3G2 XLIII, Description of a new Snake from Madagascar. By Dr. A. GtTNTHER, F.R.S 374 XLIV. Reply to Professor Ven-ill's " Remarks on certain Errors in Mr. Jeffreys's Article on the jNIoUusca of Europe compared with those of Eastern North America." By J. Gavyn Jeffreys, F.R.S. 375 New Books : — Birds of the Humber District, by John Cordeaux. — Lecture on the Feras Naturse of the British Islands, by John Colquhoun 377—381 Proceedings of the Royal Society 383 — 391 Preliminary Notice of some Extinct Tortoises from the Islands of Rodi'iguez and Mauritius, by Dr. Albert Giinther, F.R.S. ; On the Dorsal Shield of Tolypeutes, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; Observations on the Structure of the Proboscis of an Herma- phrodite Nemertian from the Marseilles Coast, by M. E. Zeller ; French Measui-es, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 397—400 NUMBER LXVI. XLV. On the Advantage of a Dominant Language for Science. By Alphonse de Candolle, Corresponding Member of the Aca- d^mie des Sciences, Foreign Member of the Royal and Linnean Societies, &c 401 XLVI. Notes on the Palaeozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. No. X. Entomis and Entomidella. By Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., F.G.S 413 XLVn, Contribution to our Knowledge of Ceratophrys and Megalophrys. By Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S 417 XLV 111. Note on the Discovery of Ligidium agile, Persoon (=Zta Saundersit, Stebbing), in Great Britain. By the Rev. A. M. Norman, M.A 419 VIU CONTENTS. Page XLIX. On the Caleispongics, their Position in the Animal King- dom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. By Pro- fessor Ernst IIackel 421 L. Observations on Pigs (Sm, Linnaeus ; Seiifera, Illiger) and their Skulls, with the Description of a new Species. By Dr. J, E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 431 LI. Note on the Appearance in Australia of the Danais Archippus. By Frederick M'Coy, Professor of Natural Science in the Mel- bourne University, and Director of the National Museum of Victoria, &c 440 LII. Descriptions of new Species of Fossorial Hymenoptera in the Collection of the British Museum. By Frederick SanxH, Assistant in the Zoological Department, British Museum 441 LIII. Observations on M. Favre's Paper on a New^Classification of Ammonites. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c ". 451 Proceedings of the Royal Society 454 Habits of Xenurus unicinctus, or Cabassou, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S,, F.Z.S., &c. ; On the Fauna of Nowaja-Semlja, by Prof. Ehlers ; On «Le Rat de Madagascar," by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; Note on the Anatomy of Comatula rosacea, by E. Perrier ; On Mammalia from the Neighbourhood of Concordia, in New Granada, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; Additional Note on Tolypeutes connrus, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; On the Re- spiration of the Psammodromi, by M. J. Jullien ; M. Gervais on the Skeleton of the Lutli {Sjihargis coriacea) ; On an adult Skeleton of Tyrse nilotica in the British Museum, by Dr. J. E, Gray, F.R.S. &c. ; Biyozoa of Florida ; The late Robert M'Andrew, Esq., F.R.S 463—471 Index 472 PLATES IN VOL. XI. Plate I. Alteration of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. II. Spatulemys Lasalae. m. New Gonyleptidse. IV.l V. > Development of the Sternum of Chelonians. VI.j VILi j^ \ New British Fungi. X."j XI. Oeratorhinus niger. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FOURTH SERIES.] " per litora spargite museum, Naiades, et circiun vitreos considite fontes: Pollicc \-irgineo teneros h'lc carpite floras : Ploribus et pictum, divae, replete canistrum. At vos, o NjTnphae Craterides, ite sub undas; Ite, recurvato variata eorallia truneo Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas Perte, Dese pelagi, et pineui conchylia succo." If. Parthenii OiannettasWEd. 1. No. 61. JANUARY 1873. I. — Transformation of an entire Shell into Chitinous Struc- ture hy the Polype Hydractinia, icith short Descriptions of the Polypidoms of five other Species. By H. J. CARTER, F.R.S. &c. [Plate I.] All who are acquainted with the Spongiadse know that there are certain species which enter the substance of shells and there grow to such an extent that finally the whole shell which they inhabit may become absorbed or destroyed, and the sponge itself, thus left alone, become unattached ; after which it may still go on increasing in size until, drifted about by the currents in the sea, it may at last in some storm be thrown ashore upon the beach. Cliona celata, which attacks the oyster-shell, is one of these, and after having absorbed the whole valve grows into a shapeless mass, which is brought up by the trawl- or dredge-net, or cast ashore, as before stated, in which con- dition it has been called "Baphyrits Grifiithsii^^ by Dr. Bower- bank. Halichondria suberea, Jolmst., is a species which attacks univalve shells — but often retains more or less of the outward form of the shell, and almost always that of the in- ternal cavity ; for a hermit crab [Pagurus) generally inhabits the latter, and so prevents the sponge from encroaching in this direction. Hence, if the outward form of the shell is lost, the internal one is, for the most part, so perfectly preserved that there is no difficulty whatever in concluding that it was Ann. <& Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 1 2 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Alteration once a Gasteropodous shell, although not a particle of the cal- careous matter may remain, and the whole be transformed into sponge-structure. The same thing, mutatis mutandis^ may take place with the flexible polype called Hydractinia^ which for the most part also forms a parasitic crust on univalve shells. Thus in the British Museum there is a specimen of Hydractinia ecJiinata covering a whelk-shell {Buccinum un- datum) both inside and out ; and the same was tenanted by a Pagurus^ now dead in situ ; while the horny skeleton or in- crustation of the polype, having shrunk by contraction on drying, has become cracked about the lip, and the pieces so curled up that their edges have become exposed, and thus show that, although the outer part presents its natural dark amber- colour, the inner one becomes gradually whiter, until it appears to differ very little from the shell itself. Carrying on our examination with a simple lens, we observe that the pieces have brought away with them a portion of the shell-substance on which the crust grew ; and when both their lower side and the corresponding surface of the shell are re- spectively examined, it will be found that the former presents a surface of whitish crystalline matter punctated by amber- coloured points, which are connected above with the horny structure of the Hydractinia^ while the surface of the shell opposite presents nothing of the kind, and is therefore uni- formly white, — thus showing that the horny or chitinous in- crustation has brought away with it just so much of the shell- substance as the horny portion of the polype had penetrated. Hydractinia echinata is so common on our coast that it does not seem necessary for me to describe here more than the part immediately connected with our subject, viz. the polypidom, which includes the transformation of the substance of the shell into the horny structure of the Hydractinia. For the rest I refer the reader to the ample descriptions, illustrations, &c. contained in Mr. Hincks's ' History of the British Hydroid Zoophytes,' vol. i. p. 19 &c., and vol. ii. pi. 4 (1868). The skeleton or polypidom of Hydractinia consists of a clathrate mass of horny solid fibre (I use the word " homy " here synonymously with " chitinous," as the most expressive term, although chemically not so correct as the latter), which spreads horizontally in a thin layer over the shell on which the polype may be growing, rising above into a forest of pyramidal serrated spines, averaging about one sixteenth of an inch high, and descending below by simple advancement of the clathrate fibre into the shell-substance, as before mentioned. The insterstices of the clathrate network are filled by the of Shell-suhstance hy Hydractinia. 3 granular plasma called "coenosarc;" and the external parts of the skeleton serve to support the polype-mass ; all of which, being extremely delicate, fail, after being once dried, to present under any circumstances a recognizable form. If we now, with a very sharp and thin knife, cut off verti- cally a slice of the di-ied curled-up crust above mentioned (PI. I. fig. 8) and place it under a microscope, we may see the white crystalline shell-substance {d d) gradually decreasing upwards among the interstices of the chitinous network, until it gives place entirely to the dark amber-colom* of the latter and its granular plasma (c, figs. 8 & 9) ; while in the opposite direction the white substance increases to the confines of the lowermost layer of the network, until it can hardly be distinguished from the substance of the shell itself (fig. 8,^'). Again, if we put a similar slice (fig. 9) into dilute nitric acid, we shall not only observe an effervescence, but when this slice is placed under the microscope we may also observe that the whole of the white crystalline substance has dis- appeared (fig. 9, c?^), leaving nothing but the clathrate fibre of the skeleton (fig. 9, e), of which the increasing thinness, pale colour, and wide interstices towards the shell evince its young or progressive stage of development. It thus appears evident that Hydractinia ecMaata trans- forms the calcareous shell on which it may be growing into its own horn-like skeleton. We have now to prove this more satisfactorily ; and this can be done by another specimen in the British Museum, where the whole of the shell has become transformed into the horn- like skeleton of a Hydractinia. The shell thus transformed was somewhat less in size than a Buccinunij but of a totally different family, as may be seen by the form of the aperture, which resembles that of some tur- binated shell, though of course the species is now undeter- minable, at least to one possessing such a limited knowledge of conchology as myself (fig. 1, a, h). Nor is the Hydractinia the same specifically as H. echinata ; for all the spines are smooth (fig. 3), and not, as in the latter, serrated (fig. 4). Hence there is here a marked difference between the two polypes, although in every other respect the skeleton-mass or polypidom, which is the only part left in the transformed shell, is almost identical with that of Hydractinia echinata. As the transformed shell now exists, it is empty and entirely composed of parallel layers of clathrate chitinous fibre (fig. 2, o, h). The internal cavity is smooth, and the columella pre- served ; so that we may fairly infer that the shell had been originally tenanted by a Pagurus^ which had remained there 1* 4 Mr. II. J. Carter on the Alteration until the wliolc of tlie shell had hecome transformed into the chitinous skeleton of a llydr actinia, when, probably finding it too light for its purpose, the Pagurus betook itself to a heavier habitation. Although the internal surface of the transformed shell remains smooth and perfect (fig. 2, a, />), the external surface has become clianged into the peculiar growth of the llydr actinia, which presents a more or less irregularly tubercled aj)])earance, each tubercle of which, being more or less separate from the rest and varying in size and shape, consists of a little monti- cule of elathratc fibre involving one or more of the smooth erect s])iiies which cliaracterizc the species (fig. 1, a, d)\ whereas in I lydractinia echinata tiiere are no such tubercles, the sur- face jjcing for the most part even and equally spined throughout. So much, tlien, for the internal and external surfaces re- spectively of the transformation ; we have now to go to the layers of which it is composed. And these together present a thickness varying with that of the original shell, being in the section (whicli was made for the purpose, and forms part of the illustrations, fig. 2) 4-12ths of an inch thick at the base, and 2-1 2ths in the parietes. Moreover these layers show, by the ])resence of smooth S})incs u))on them here and there (fig. 2, dd), that the growth of the Ilijdractinia had been outwards as well as inwards or towards the shell. Nor does it seem quite clear how much of the shell has been absorbed by the layer of tlu; Ihidnictinia which lined its cavity (fig. 2, e e), since in the s])e(;imen of llydractinia echinata before me the polype-crust, although smoothed by the P««7?^r«*s internally , covers the cavity as well as the exterior of the shell. At the same time, in the transformation, the presence and direction of the spines on its layers (fig. 2, c c) point out, to a certain extent, the limit of the crust vertically, leaving about one third of the thickness of the transfornuition inside it for what may have been effected by the lower ])art of the outer crust and that lining the cavity respectively. In this case the original shell could not have been very thick. A microscopic examination of the structure gives the same results, minus the soft substance and presence of calcareous matter, as that of llydractinia echinata ; and thus it is satis- factorily proved that this kind of poly})e can effect a change in the composition of a shell analogous to that produced by the sponges mentioned. This is ;i ])oint of interest to know, inasmuch as it bears on fossilized as well as recent structure, and therefore every clathrate structure of this kind in a fossil shell must not be too hastily set down as sponge-transformation. of Shell-substance hy Hydractinia. 5 The transformed shell bears the museum no. " 2461," which appears to me to be jj/eceded by a P ; and the former shows that it must have been in the museum for many years, since for upwards of twenty this kind of numbering has been dis- continued. In its maximum measurements it is about two inches long from apex to base, two inches broad, i. e. from left to right side, and one inch thick. The outer layer is rendered more or less green by the presence of the gonidia and thallus of a lichen, which here and there appears in little groups of gymnocarpous apothecia all over the surface. So it is just possible that, after the comparatively heavy calcareous matter of the shell had been replaced by the lighter chitinous structure, the Pagurus^ as before stated, left his habitation ; and the latter, having floated into an estuary, may have been left on its banks, where its surface became in time grown over by this lichen, aitd where, probably, it was found, unless all this took place on the sea-shore, or the Pagurus carried the transformed shell inland, as they appear to do in the island of Cuba (Sir C. Lyell, Princip. Geol. vol. ii. 1872). The largest apothecia are about l-48th of an inch in diameter, and more or less circular, the thalamiura dark brown, and ex- ciple white ; the spores ellipsoid, generally eight in the theca, but varying in number, and for the most part confusedly arranged. My attention was first called to the specimen of Ilydractinia ecliinata above mentioned from its likeness to the figures of the sponge named " Teiyios echinata''' by De Fonbressin et Michelotti (' Spongiaires de la Mer Caraibe,' p. 102, pi. xxiv. figs. 4 & 5, Haarlem, 1864). And then, when I observed coupled with it in the museum another shell like it, but entirely transformed into horny structure, I began to think that the skeleton of Hydractinia ecliinata must be a sponge, not being aware at the time that any organism but a sponge could effect such a transformation, and observing microscopically that the horny substance was formed of concentric layers. However, placing the specimens before my friend Mr. Parfitt for his opinion as to tlie habitat and species of the lichen, this intel- ligent naturalist immediately recognized Hydractinia ecMnata^ and handed out from his cabinet a specimen dredged up off the Otter-mouth, close to the place where I am living. The nature of the organism on the whelk-shell thus having become known to me, that of the organism which had transformed the other shell still remained enigmatical, but was subsequently worked out in the way above mentioned. It would appear from a section of the crust that the poly- 6 Mr. H. J, Carter on the Alteration pidom of Hydractinia echinata is formed of horizontal layers (figs. 8 & 9), each of which is marked by a row of knots (e, figs. 8 & 9), which indicate the points of union of the clathrate chitinous fibre, corresponding to the knots in network ; and, judging from a microscopic examination of the part ad- vancing into the shell, it would also seem that these knots first appear in the form of separate cells (fig. l^dd), which, gene- rating concentric layers of chitine around them, may be termed " horn-cells." The horn-cell then sends off two sets of branches, one of which (fig. 7, e e) becomes the clathrate chi- tinous fibre, which is solid and formed of concentric layers, and the other set (fig. 7, ff) spread out into a chitinous membrane (fig. 7, g) on the same plane as the horn-cells, which membrane thus acts as a framework to the whole. These horn-cells appear as dark points in the last layer of shell-substance that is about to be absorbed, and which remains adherent to the contracted and curled-up fragments of the dried and thus broken-up poly2)idom, as above mentioned (fig. 5, a ; fig. 8, g). The chitinous membrane therefore lies above this (fig. 6, h ; fig. 8,y). But if a fragment of these two layers, viz, the chi- tinous and calcareous ones (which are of course very thin, but can be occasionally picked off" together), be mounted in Canada balsam, it will be observed that the calcareous layer, which is the undermost, presents a worm-eaten appearance (fig. 7, «'), as if it had been subjected to the dissolving influence of a sm-face formed of pseudopodial villi, about 1 -6000th inch in diameter. In the layer lining the cavity of the wholly transformed shell (fig. 2, e e), treated in a similar manner, we have the same cha- racters, minus, of course, the calcareous layer, as in fig. 9, g^ — that is to say, the chitinous membrane alone, in which are set the horn-cells and their clathrate structure, as in a, figs. 6 & 7. How the absorption of the shell-substance is efiected in Hydractinia is unknown to me ; but (referring to like phe- nomena) when we observe that the protoplasm of the plant-cell can, as required, work its way through the thick cellulose cell (as in Bpirogyra under conjugation), that the tender Amoeba- like entophyte Pythium (also an inhabitant of the cell of Spirogyra) will do the same thing, &c., that the excavating sponges, whose sarcode is equally soft and delicate, will do the same in the oyster-shell as well as in limestone rock, it does not appear strange that the coenosarc of Hydractinia should be able to perforate a Avhelk-shell under similar circumstances. Also, when it is observed that, in the excavations made by Cliona celata in the concretionary limestone formed and found about the rocks of the New Red Sandstone on the shore here, the siliceous grains which are mixed up with it still project of Shell-substance hy Hydractinia. 7 above the otherwise smooth surface of tlie excavation, it does seem (as my friend Mr. Parfitt has sagaciously observed) that these excavations are produced by an " acid or erosive agent" of a chemical rather than of a physical nature, which, not being able to dissolve the silex, thus leaves the grains of sand projecting into the excavation (Parfitt on the boring of Mollusks, &c., Trans. Devon. Assoc, for Advancement of Science, 1871). May we not assume, then, that this process is one of animal chemistry like that of digestion (wherein the gastric juice will dissolve calcareous matter, but fails to affect a piece of glass)? — the action in Hydractinia being produced not by cells but by the intercellular sarcode, which, like that of the sponge, can prolong itself into villous pseudopodial processes (fig. 7, c, ^), which possibly may be the pioneers of all vital changes of this kind, in exercising on their confines that catalytic power of which life alone is capable.. Indeed Professor Allman has long since demonstrated the existence of sarcode among the Hydroid polypes, which, to use his own words, " comports itself exactly like the pseudopodia of an Amoeba^ which it also resembles in structure" ('Annals,' 1864, vol. xiii. p. 204); so that the worm-eaten appearance presented by the lowermost layer of the crust of Hydractinia echinata (that is, in the calcareous surface of the shell just about to become transformed) may be produced, as before stated, by a villous layer of minute pseudopodial prolongations from the coenosarc. Lastly, as regards the power of animal chemistry in these operations, which is chemistry directed by an unknown agent, as the production of alcohol by the yeast-plant, &c., it signifies that there is an instinctive power acting here, which is far beyond any possessed by the highest cerebrated being, if I may use the expression. When I observe the delicate mycelium of a minute fungus growing or creeping (for the terms are synonymous here) through the hard crystalline layers of the shell of a Buccinum — when I observe on the surface of a lancet which has been care- fully protected by a layer of animal fat a similar kind of my- celium, which has wriggled its way not only over but in the surface of the polished blade by oxidation of the iron in its course, so as to leave a rusty image of itself — and when I ob- serve a plant-like form of glauconite in the substance of an agate which has been formed in a geode of an igneous rock, so much like a Conferva that it might easily pass for one if not otherwise understood, to say notliing of the dendritic markings of rocks, &c., — these facts, taken in connexion, seem 8 On the Alteratioyi of Shell- substance hy Hydractinia. to signify not only that the law of form is the same both in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms at least (for the glauconite form in this respect is almost typically that of a Conferva), but that vital influence also is t\\Q jyrimum mobile in all — that indomitable power which rules the world independently of man ! Having ascertained that the transformed shell, which had been thrown in among the sponges, had been produced by a polype and not by a sponge, I tm-ned my attention to certain branched organisms, or rather their skeletons, which had also been placed among the sponges, and had therefore come be- fore me for examination, when, noticing that they also pos- sessed a clathrate chitinous structure closely allied to that of the polypidom of Hydractinia (fig. 9), while the characteristic feature of most sponges, viz. the branched system of canals terminating externally in large outlets or oscula, was absent from them, I submitted to microscopical examination a por- tion of the stem of a beautiful form from New Zealand, which had been presented to the museum by Sir G. Grey ; and I found not only that it was identical with the structure of the polypidom of Hydractinia, but that attached to its fibre internally, where the water had failed to desti'oy the whole of the soft parts with which the clathrate structure had originally been filled and covered, a few thread-cells still remained. I then sought for the hydrothecte, and found them also. Next I took portions from two other species, which came from the Cape of Good Hope — and obtained similar results, so satis- factorily that in many of the thread-cells their contents had become half extruded. Finally I examined the two species from Australia which Dr. J. E. Gray, under the family name of ''Ceratellada?," had described and figured provisionally as sponges in the ' Pro- ceedings of the Zoological Society' for November 26th, 1868 (p. 575), designated respectively Ceratella fusca and Dehitella atrorubens ; and here, again, I met with similar results. Hence it becomes necessary for me briefly to describe all these polyjndoms, beginning with that of the transformed shell, in order that henceforth they may be relegated to their proper place. Were they possessed of their soft parts, and perfect as the Hydractinia of our own shores when carefully dredged up from its natural abode can only be, I should have proposed their being handed over to some one more conversant than myself with this department of zoology : but who can say when perfect specimens of the polypidoms of these species, with all their soft parts recognizable, may be similarly taken, when those we have come from foreign shores, where they On new S2)&cies of Hydractiniidae. 9 have apparently been washed about in the surf for years before they were picked up for preservation? Meanwhile, as the description of a polypidom alone is comparatively easy, as it may be a long while before the soft parts can be obtained, and as it is desirable at once to separate these skeletons from the sponge-structures which I am examining, it is hoped that the following diagnoses may not be unacceptable. Hydr actinia Imispina^ n. sp. (PI. I. fig. 1, a, h.) Zoophyte incrusting and eroding univalve shells. Poly- pidom formed of clathrate, subrectangularly meshed chitinous fibre (as in fig. 9), solid, concentrically laminated, surmounted by smooth, erect, conical spines (figs. 3 & 1, Z», e), grouped together in the midst of proliferous tubercles (fig. 1, <^, e), scattered more or less over the surface. Increasing by layers, so as finally to absorb the wJiole of the shell on which it grows (fig. 2, a, h). Height of transformed shell 2 inches from apex to base ; extreme breadth, viz. from left side to margin of outer lip, 1^ inch. Spine variable, about l-30th inch high by l-60th inch diameter at the base. Hah. Unknown. Loc. Unknown. Ohs. This specimen, which is in the British Museum, bears the number "2461," which mode of marking, as before stated, shows that it has been there for a very long time ; the number also appears to be preceded by a "P." There is no further history attached to it than that which its own structure reveals. It evidently grew on a shell a little less in size than a Buccinum^ but of a totally different species, as the margin of the aperture is continuous like that of the Turbinidse. While there it gradually transformed the whole of the shell into its own chitinous polypidom ; meanwhile a Pagurus or hermit crab inhabited the interior and so preserved the form of this part. Subsequently it probably got into some tidal estuary, where, having been left high and dry on its banks, a gymnospermous lichen took up its habitation on its surface, and, spreading its thallus throughout the external layer of the imperishable chitine, at last threw up the groups of shield-like conceptacles (apothecia) now scattered over the greater part of the shell-like polypidom. Of course this might also have taken place on the sea-shore, or the Pagurus itself might have carried it inland. Hydractinia levispina differs from H. ecJiinata in the tubercled state of its surface, but especially in the smoothness of its spines (fig. 3) ; the latter possesses a more or less even surface with serrated spines (fig. 4). 10 Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniidie. Ceratella fusca^ Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Nov. 26, 1868, p. 579, fig. 2. " Coral expanded, fan-shaped, forming an oblong frond ; branches divergent from the base, witli numerous lateral, sub- alternate, subdiehotomous branches; similar but smaller lateral branches. "ZTaJ. Australia, New South Wales, at the head of Bondy Bay." Deliitella atroruhens^ Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Nov. 26, 1868, p. 579, fig. 1. " Sponge or coral dichotomously branched, expanded, growing in a large tuft from a broad, tortuous, creeping base, of a dark brown colour, and uniform hard rigid substance. Stem hard, cylindrical, opake, smooth ; branches and branchlets tapering to a point, cylindrical, covered with tufts of projecting horny spines on every side ; those on the branches often placed in sharp-edged, narrow, transverse ridges ; those of the upper branches and branchlets close but isolated, and divergent from the surface at nearly right angles. "This genus is distinguishable from Ceratellahj iho, greater thickness and cylindrical form of the stem, by the more tufted and irregular manner of growth, and by the tufts of spicules (oscules or cells) being more abundant and equally dispersed on all sides of the branches and branchlets." The above descriptions are copied from Dr. J. E. Gray's excellent account of these two organisms, published in the 'Proc. Zool. Soc' for November 26, 1868 (p. 575), to which the reader is referred for more extended descriptions of them, and for equally excellent illustrations, which, being almost typical forms of the following species from the Cape of Good Hope, will, until the latter are also illustrated, very well serve for their identification. It will be observed that Dr. Gray was by no means satisfied that they belonged to the Spongiadae, and therefore only pro- visionally placed them among the sponges. Had he been aware of what I have above stated, his views probably would have been different, and the real nature of these organisms would have been then told by him at once ; and but for his encou- ragement now, it would most probably have never been eluci- dated by myself. Ceratella procumhens^ n. sp. Zoophyte procumbent, compressed, thickly branched on the same plane ; the larger stems chiefly on one (the lower) side, Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniidae. 1 1 hard, flexible, of an ochre-brown colour, tinged here and there with purple. Trunk short, solid, compact, compressed verti- cally, soon dividing irregularly or subdichotomously into round branches, which are confined to the lower surface, ending in branchlets with subclavate ends, that appear on the upper or opposite side, not reuniting or anastomosing. Hydrotheca consisting of a little semitubular plate, extending outwards and forwards from the side of the stem on the proximal border of an aperture in the latter ; scattered thickly over all the branches, but most prominent on the branchlets ; frequently represented by the little hole alone in the stem where the projecting portion has been worn off; scanty on the lower side of the main stems. Minute structure : composed of clathrate chitinous fibre throughout, whose meshes are subrectangular ; hydrotheca formed of the semitubular scoop-like plate mentioned, sup- ported on its proximal side by an extension of the clathrate structure of the stem, and 'bordering the little hole also above mentioned, which extends into the centre of the stem ; surface of the larger stems bluntly microspined. Size of largest spe- cimen 11 inches long by 5 inches broad, and about 1 inch thick, or vertically. Hah. Marine ; procumbent. Loc. Cape of Good Hope and Port Natal. Ohs. There are five specimens of this species in the British Museum, viz. one with no. 67. 3. 22. 1, and "Cape of Good Hope " written on it, and the others ticketed no. 72.8. 1. 1, and " Port Natal." Friction among the sand and waves has Avorn down some of them so much as to leave nothing but the fora- mina in the stems; whereby the most worn might be looked upon as a different species, did not the gradation from the more per- fect ones point out that this is not the case, and thus that they all belong to one and the same species. Some parts still retain a purple colour both externally and internally, showing that, as with the other species in some parts also, this has for the most part been washed out, and that the brown colour has been de- rived from the chitinous fibre alone. In most of the specimens thread-cells are numerous in the clathrate tissue, especially towards the centre of the stems, where they can not only be distinguished by their subconical form from other globular and nucleated cells present (which appear like ova), but, by the addition of liquor potassee, may be made to extrude the thick portion of the thread. Their procumbent habit has been inferred from the main stem and its branches being flattened on one side, while the branches and hydrothecge are chiefly on the other — much in the form of a wall fruit-tree, viz. with a flat back. 12 Mr. H. J. Carter on new /Species o/" Hydractiniidge. Ceratella sjnnosa, n. sp. Zoophyte procumbent, thickly branched, hard, flexible, of a dark rich red-purple colour. Main branches round, brownish, covered with small, smooth, often subspatulate, erect spines. Stem dividing subdichotomously into purple branchlets, which terminate in abruptly pointed extremities. Hydrothecse the same as in the foregoing species ; most prominent over the round branchlets, to which they give, en projil, a serrated, somewhat Sertularian, appearance, tlie teeth of which are in- clined forwards. Minute structure : main stems composed of clathrate chitinous fibre, of which the meshes are more or less oblong, passing into prominent longitudinal lines on the branchlets, where they terminate on the backs of the semi- tubular plates which respectively form the floors of the hydro- thecse, to which they thus give support. Size of specimen, which is merely a branch, 4^ inches long by 2 broad. Hab. Marine ; procumbent. Log. Port Natal. Obs. The spines on the surface distinguish this from the foregoing species, add to which its longer and more pointed branches, longitudinally ridged clathrate fibre, and rich red- pm-ple colour. It bears the no. " 72. 8. 1. 17, from Port Natal." In Dr. Gray's two Australian species there are no actual spines independently of the projecting portion of clathrate struc- ture on the proximal sides of the hydrothecas, and the " spinu- lose" little knobs on the surface of Ceratella fusca. The hydrotheca in Dehkella atrorubens is formed of a simple scoop-like projection of the subrectangular clathrate structm'e of the stem, stopped at the bottom by a septum of the same ; there is no decided hole there larger than the diameter of the common mesh, for the coenosarc of the interior to communicate with the sarcode of the polype, as in the Cape species ; while in Ceratella fusca, which is almost as delicate in its branches as a Sertularia, and not unlike it in the alternate, but here spiral not opposite, position of its hydrothecaj, the latter are formed by a projection of the clathrate tissue in the shape of a clam-shell, whose ribs, extended beyond the margin, end respectively in an inflated tubercle of the same kind as that which characterizes the surface of the stem, rising up like little knobs on the knots of the clathrate network, to which Dr. Gray (7. c.) has appropriately applied the term "spinulose;" the bottom of the hydrotheca is filled up with a clathrate septum, in which there is no decided hole present as in the fore- going species ; and in this way both of these from Australia differ from those of the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species o/'Hydractiniid£e. 13 Ghitina ericopsis^ n. gen. et sp. Zoophyte erect, bushy, fragili-flexible, fawn-coloured. Trunk long, hard, irregularly round, composed of many stems united clathrately and obliquely into a cord-like bundle, which divides and subdivides irregularly into branches, that again unite with each in substance (anastomose) when in contact, and finally form a straggling bushy head. Hydrotheca long, clatlirate, tubular, terminating the ends of the branchlets or prolonged from some of the proliferous tubercles which beset the surface of the trunk and lar2:er stems. Minute structure : composed of clatlirate chitinous fibre throughout, whose mesh- work is subrectangular and massive in the stems, where there is no difi'erence between the centre and circumference, with the exception that the fibre is stouter in the former or oldest part ; hydrotheca composed of several longitudinal fibres or ridges lat- tice-worked together transversely into a tubular form, somewhat contracted at the extremity, in the centre of which is an aper- ture of the meshwork a little larger than the rest. Height of specimens about 14 inches, trunk about 1 inch in diameter ; hydrotheca averaging l-3rd of an inch long by l-60th of an inch in its broadest part, and the aperture l-90th of an inch in diameter. Hob. Marine ; erect. Loc. New Zealand. Ohs. There are several specimens of this beautiful polypidom in the British Museum ; one of which (bearing the no. 57. 1. 2. 36) was presented by Dr. Sinclair, and the rest by Sir G. Grey ; all from New Zealand. From their worn state they appear to have been long subjected to the friction of the waves and beach before they were picked up for preservation. Hardly any of the hydrothecas on them are perfect ; and it is only by looking carefully over the specimens that one can be found answering the description above given ; and then it requires to be viewed with an inch compound power "end on" (as it is termed) to see the aperture at the extremity ; the least incli- nation to one side will bring the surrounding network into focus, and thus defeat the object of the observer. In some the dried remains of the polype are still present, which mark the position of the tubular cavity. Conical ovoid thread-cells may be seen in the clathrate structure of the polypidom, which hang about the fibre in a dried fleshy sulDstance that appears also to be the remains of the coenosarc ; and on some of the larger stems there are little superficial holes, which appear to be the remains of canals through which the coenosarc was continued into the cavities of the hydrotheca^ respectively, now worn off. The specimen differs so markedly from all the rest in its 14 Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species of Hydirsictmnd^. erect habit, and in the form and position of its hydrothecge, that it must be considered the type of a new genus, to which I have given the name of Chitina and designated the species ericopsis, from its being so much like the stems of the common heather here used for making brooms. These species may be provisionally tabulated thus : — Family Hydractiniidae. Incrusting species : — Hydractinia ecMnata. H. levispina. Branched procumbent species: — Ceratella fusca^ Gray. Dehitella atro7'uhens^ Gray. Ceratella procumbenSjXi. sp. C. spinosaj n. sp. Branched erect species : — Chitina ericopsis^ n. g. et sp. In this way I hope to get rid of them from among the Spon- giadse, and to bring them to the notice of those who have specially devoted their attention to the Hydroid Zoophytes. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. Fig. 1. Upper and lower surfaces respectively of a turbinated (?) shell whollij transformed into clathrate chitinous fibre structure by Hydractinia levispina (n. sp.): a, upperside; b, lower side; c, smootli area on the latter, produced by fi-iction during the time the shell was tenanted by a Par/iuus ; d, tubercular excrescences of the chitinous structure involving one or more spines, which the dark points (e) are intended to represent ; //, line of section. Natural size. Fig. 2. Section of the same through the line//, fig. 1, showing that the columella and every particle of the original shell-substance has been replaced by the chitinous structure : a, right side ; b, left side ; cc, layer surmounted by spines (J f?) projecting owilwarcfe; e e, surface-layer of the cavity. Natural size. Fig. 3. Hydractinia levispina, n. sp., spine of, with portion of subjacent clathrate structure at its base, showing that it is merely a conical form of the latter ; magnified. Real length of spine about l-30th inch, diameter of base of spine l-60th inch. To contrast with the serrated form of the following figure. Fig. 4. Hydractinia echinata, spine of, about the same size as the fore- going. To contrast with fig. 3. Fig. 5, The same, incrusting Buccinmn undatum, which contains the re- mains of a Pagurus. Magnified portion of lower surface of a fragment of the crust, raised by contraction and fracture from the inner surface of the outer lip close to the canal, showing that it is composed of calcareous matter, through which points of the superincumbent chitinous structure (a a) project. Horizontal view. Mr. R. Swinhoe on a new Species o/'Nettapus. 15 Fiff. 6. The same, with the calcareous matter removed by acid, showing that the " points " of the superiucumbent chitinous structure are the knots of the network, and continuous with or set in a chi- tinous expansion or chitinous membraniform layer : a, chitinous network ; b, chitinous membrane. Horizontal view. Fig. 7. The same portion much more magnified, showing : — a, chitinous structure and membrane, fi'om which the calcareous matter has been removed by acid, = fig. 0; 6, where the former is still covered by the calcareous layer, = fig. 5 ; c, where the calcareous layer alone remains; dd, points or knots (originally horn-cells) in which the branches (ce) arise that jform the network;//, branches which are continuous with, and probably form by ex- pansion, the chitinous membrane ; g, points which project through the calcareous layer ; h (=fig. 5), peculiar worm-eaten appearance of the calcareous layer, as if produced by a villous surface of pseudopodia in connexion with the coenosarc (i). Horizontal view. Fig. 8. The same. Thin vertical section -of same fragment of crust, much magnified, showing that the coenosarc of the lower inter- stices of the chitinous structure is charged with white calcareous matter ; the latter is h§re represented by the dark shade : «, free surface formed of aborted or ill-developed spines, from being in contact with the Pagnrus ; 6, surface next the shell ; c, older chitinous structm-e without calcareous matter ; e, incised knots of the chitinous network, showing that the latter is formed in layers ; / chitinous membrane or layer, &c., = fig. 6 & fig. 7, a ; g, calcareous layer, = fio-. 5 & fig. 7, b. Diagram. Fig. 9. The same. Similar portion, from which the calcareous matter has been removed by acid : a, free surface ; h, surface next the shell ; c, older chitinous network, now much thickened ; d, in- terstices of lower part emptied of their calcareous material by the acid ; e, chitinous network of the same, much thinner in fibre than that above it, from being younger and therefore presenting wider interstices ; /, chitinous membrane or layer ; g, points of chitinous structure projecting through calcareous layer, =fig. 5 <& fig. 7, c, the latter now removed by the acid. Diagram. II. — Oyi a new Species of Nettapus [Cotton-Teal) from the River Yangtsze, China. By E. SwiNHOE, H.M. Consul at Ningpo. In the Abbd Armand David's "Catalogue d'Oiseaux de Chine," published in the ' Bulletin ' of the ' Nouvelles Archives du Mu- seum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris,' t. viii. (1871), is entered, under number 4A2^Nettapus coromandelia7iuSjScoY).,a.s occurring on the Yangtsze. In 1869 I spent some months of the early year on the Yangtsze and did not notice this bird ; I therefore made inquiries of my friends at Kiukiang and Chinkiang as to whether they had seen such a bird. Mr. Russell (son of the * Times' correspondent) said that last spring he had noticed a pair of such birds as I described perch on the yard-arm of a gun-boat lying off the settlement, but that he was not allowed to shoot them. Mr. Kopsch, Commissioner of Customs at 16 Mr. K. Swinhoe on a new Species q/*Nettapus. Kiukiang, gave me a more particular account of the species : he said that in spring they are frequently seen perching on the roof-tops of the houses in the place, that they were somewhat tame, and that in summer he noticed a female and two or three young ones paddling about in the patch of water behind their houses ; he further stated that they were called by the French priests there the " Canard d'dt^i," and by the Chinese Yew Ya. He was fortunate enough to procure two couples on the 25th of September, and has sent me a male and two females. What surprises me is the appearance of the male bird of this trio, which, otherwise attired in the garb of a male, has the neck and upper breast marked as in the female, and wanting the pectoral collar. Can the species have a winter dress different from that of summer? if so, it would scarcely begin to acquire it in September. I think, however, that the peculiarity is due to its partially assuming after nidification the plumage of the female, a strong anatine character, which shows its affinity with the true ducks rather than with the geese. I would dedi- cate this interesting novelty to Mr. Kopsch, who has taken much pains to procure me specimens. Nettapus Kopschu, n. sp. Male. Crown of the head, upper back, and scapulars brown, reflecting purple and green. (In a spring specimen in tlie col- lection of P^re Heude at Shanghai the eyebrow, nape, throat, cheeks, and lower neck were white, the back of the neck dingy, with a collar on the lower neck, about a quarter of an inch broad, of deep iridescent brown.) Our specimen has the white markings dingy, the back of the neck brownish, the upper back finely mottled with whitish, the lower neck and upper breast waved with brown, each feather having two or three concentric semicircles of wavy brown. These are the feminine peculiarities it acquires after breeding ; but the markings are dingier and not so well-defined as in the female. The rest of his dress, which I will now describe, is as in spring. Back deep glossy green; tertiaries like scapulars, but reflecting a brighter green ; coverts and secondaries deep duck- green ; primaries black, reflecting deep green ; a broad bar of white extends across the middle of the primaries, broadly tipping the secondaries and edging the tertiaries ; upper tail- coverts yellowish grey, with brown stems ; tail of twelve feathers, angular at tips, 2*8 inches long, the outer quill "7 inch shorter than the longest, greyish brown with green gloss; under- parts dingy white, the feathers being brownish on their con- cealed parts ; flanks light liver-brown ; under tail-coverts pure white ; axillaries and dark parts of underwing deep black. Dr. J. E. Gray oyi Ziphinid Whales. 17 Male: length 11^, wing 6 inches. Female : length 13, wing 6'5, tail 3*2 inches. The female has whitish eyebrows meeting at the occiput ; her cheeks and throat are whitish ; her neck all round and upper breast are beautifully waved with blackish brown ; her upper parts are liver-brown, with a faint sheen of purple or or green according to the fall of light ; her upper tail-coverts are lighter and mottled ; her secondary coverts are lightly tipped with whitish ; her secondaries broadly tipped, her ter- tiaries edged, and a few of her inner primaries marked near their tips with whitish ; her tail is coloured as her back ; and her underparts are dingy white, the feathers being brownish at their hidden portions ; axillaries and underwings light liver- brown. The soft parts I will leave till I get fresh specimens ; they have changed much in colour in the dry skins before me. The birds were extremely fat. III. — On Berardius and other Ziphioid Whales. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.K.S. &c. Professor Flower has given an admirable description and figures of the skeleton of Berardius Arnouxi sent to England by Dr. Haast and purchased for the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. It is very pleasant to see these excellent and beautifully illustrated essays on the skeleton of Cetacea, which Professor Flower is now publishing in the ' Transactions of the Zoological Society.' Professor Flower makes some observations on the other ziphioid whales. I. He observes that the small skull in the Museum at Wellington, described and figured in the ' Trans. New-Zeal. Inst.' as the young of the Berardius Arnouxi^ and which I have called Berardius Hectori, belongs to a different section of the group (Trans. Z. vS. vol. viii. p. 216) — which must be stated on the authority of Dr. Hector's figure, for the skull has not been seen in Europe ; and he speaks of it under the genus Mesoplodon^ observing ("from the conformation of the skull ") that the position of the teeth on the side of the jaw is of " little importance as a generic character." I think zoologists will prefer to take their characters from the position of the teeth rather than from a small modification in the form of the bones of which the skull is composed, which no doubt varies more or less in every species. At any rate, this is either a Berardius with the bones of which the skull is composed more like in shape to those of the skull of Mesoplodouy or a Mesophdon with the teeth of a Berardius. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.xi. 2 18 Dr. J. E. Gray on Ziphioid Whales. It makes veiy little difference wlilcli we choose; perhaps some day it will be a genus ; but zoologists and comparative anato- mists, or rather osteologists, look at these things with very different eyes: the one only knows the structure of a veiy limited number of animals ; and the other has to arrange and classify all that come under his or others' observation. I always understood the name Mesodon or Mesoplodon was given to the genus because the teeth were more or less in the middle of the side of the jaw, which is the case in all the species ; but if Berardius Hectori be referred to it, this species will be the ziphioid whale with the teeth in the middle of the side of the jaw, with its teeth at the end of the jaw. To be sure there are examples of such nomenclature as Chrysantlie- mum (the golden flower) leucantliemum (with white flowers) ; but it is quoted as an example to be avoided. II. Speaking of Fetvorliynclius cwpensis^ he observes : — " A skull of this animal has been brought from the Cape of Good Hope, of which an excellent description has been pub- lished by Professor van Beneden, under the name of Ziphius indicus)''^ and he goes on to complain that I retain the name of Petrorhynclius ca^yensis^ " although its specific identity with the last-named previously described specimen is admitted " by myself. However good maybe M. van Beneden's " description," his figure is most inaccurate, both in form, proportion, and detail ; and I could not have believed that it belonged to the same species, or, scarcely, genus, until M. van Beneden sent me a cast of the beak of his specimen. I do not see how we can use the name indicus for a species which has only been found in the seas around the Cape of Good Hope. The Indian zoologists object to our giving the name of India to the whole of Hindostan ; but what would they say if we used indicus for a species only found in Africa? I believe that the name indicus was given under the belief that it was not a native of Africa, but only " brought from the Cape " as an entrepot. I have a further objection : I am informed that in the Indian seas a species of the genus is found which, from the description I have received of it, is distinct. Professor Flower says that the skeleton of the 'f Hyperoodon de Corse " of Doumet is preserved at Cette, and that the skull is figured by M. Gervais in the ' Osteographie des C^tac^s,' t. 21. f. 8, 9, which certainly is called " Ziphius de Corse f^ but I was not quite sure that they were from M. Doumet's specimen. Mr. Flower, I suppose, has private information on this head from M. Gervais, as M. Gervais's text of these plates has not been published yet. Dr. J. E. Gray on Zipliioid Whales. 19 I also observe that Duvemoy gave the name of " Hyperoodon QervaisiV and Fischer's '■'' ZipMus OervaisiV to the skull in the Paris Museum', from the H^rault, which I proposed, in the 'Annals,' 1872, x. p. 469, should be called Epiodon Heraidtii^ but which I gladly change to that of Epiodon Ger- vaisii. I see Professor Flower erroneously refers to ' Ost^ogr. Cet.' t. 21. f. 1-6 for this specimen ; it should be f. 1-4. Mr. KrefFt, some time ago, sent me a photograph of the skeleton of a ziphioid whale which is in the Museum of Sydney, and was obtained from an animal stranded in Little Bay, about six miles from Sydney, which he marked as Mesoplodon longh-ostrisj Krefft. It appears to be, from the scale appended, 18 feet long. The angle and symphysis of the lower jaw appears to be rather elongate and attenuated in front ; and the beak is about twice and a half the length of the brain-cavity, measuring from the notch ; and the head is one fifth of the entire length. The photograph does not show any teeth ; and the skull resembles that of the figure of Berardms Hectori ; but the beak is rather longer in proportion to the size of the head. In the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1871,' vii. p. 368, 1 published a note which I had received and the figure from the photograph of a tooth which Mr. Krefi't sent to me, as " the photograph of the tooth of a new whale, 18 feet long, caught in Little Bay. It is allied to the genus Mesoplodon ; and I propose to call it Mesoplodon Guntheri.^'' He says, " We have the entire skeleton ; " so that there can be no doubt of its being the same as the one he named, but did not describe or publish, as Mesoplodon longirostrisj which Professor Flower thinks is closely allied to, if not identical with, Ziphius Lay- ardi. The form and sm'face of the tooth which is figured from Mr. Krefi't' s photograph appeared to me so unlike that of any other ziphioid whale known that I regarded it as in- dicating a new genus, which I proposed to call Callidon. Dr. Krefi't explains that the tooth is not visible from with- out ; it is imbedded in the mandible, and the tip is bent towards the margin. It is as unlike the strap-shaped tooth of Zipihius Layardi as it is possible to be ; and as longirostris has not been published, I propose to call it Callidon Gilntheri. The skeleton seems, from the photograph, to be one of the most perfect known. 2* 20 On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. IV. — On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. By R. BowDLER Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum. For the last two years I have been endeavouring to show that, owing to the insulated position of our native land, a ten- dency to vary from the continental forms exhibits itself more or less in all our resident birds ; and that this will be found to be more and more the case I am firmly convinced, if ornitho- logists will view the matter calmly and endeavour to get together good series for comparison. Great difficulty exists to some minds in believing that our insular forms do really vary ; and this scepticism is the more curious because, if we had been considering the avifauna of some distant land, every one would have exjiectedj rather than otherwise, that an island lying off the coast of a large continent would possess a more or less modified fauna : but the difficulty consists in recognizing the fact after it has been ignored for nearly a century by every English wi-iter on birds ; and I have been called to task by several ornithological friends because, as I contend, I refuse to disbelieve the evidence of my own eyesight, which proves to me the distinctness of some of the British birds from their continental relations. What I do maintain is, that ornitholo- gists commit an error in applying to our English birds the titles which Linnaeus bestowed upon his Swedish species. Whetlier the birds which I have from time to time named with Mr. Dresser will ultimately be recognized as distinct species, or will merely be considered climatic races or sub- species, the futm-e will decide ; but as long as those differences exist it will be wrong to affix " Linnteus " as the namer of birds he never saw. It is with regard to the differences exhibited in a like degree by the avifauna of Sardinia tliat I have been led to make the above remarks ; and I believe that the latter island will be found to contain a modified fauna from that of the mainland. We know that it contains a species of Warbler almost, if not quite, peculiar to itself. So nearly does Sylvia melanocejjhala resemble the true MelizophHus sardtis in some of its plumages, that I have reason to believe that it has often been mistaken for it, I myself have never seen an example of the latter bird from any other locality but Sardinia ; nor do I know any one else who has done so. Until the fact of its wandering is clearly proved, therefore, I think we may look upon S. sarda as peculiar to the island of Sardinia ; and we may expect from this to find other modifications in its avifauna. My friend Mr. A. Basil Brooke has lately lent me two On the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 21 Falcons from Sardinia which can hardly be any thing but a new species; for they differ from every other Peregrine which I have ever seen from Europe, and more closely approach the southern forms F. meJanogenys and F. nigriceps. The Sardinian birds, however, differ from these as well as the common Peregrine in the very strongly marked oval or tear- shaped spots on the chest, and the very broad and closely marked bars on the breast. They approach F, melanogenys in having a greater extent of black on the ear-coverts, which nearly meets the cheek-stripe along the whole of its length. Both specimens are fully adult females, and agree entirely ; they were shot by Mr. Brooke in April 1869 and April 1871 respectively. I have no doubt that the characters above men- tioned will be found to be constant, and therefore propose to describe the Sardinian bird as Fal(^ Brookeij sp. n, F. similis F. peregrino, sed statura paullo minore, facie laterali tota nigricante, at pectore latissime nigro transfasciato distingiiendus. Hub. Sardinia {A. B. Brooke). Mr. Brooke has very kindly presented one of the typical specimens to the national collection ; so that the species can be examined by any one visiting the British Museum. The measm-ements of F. Brookei (in skin) as compared with F. peregrinus are as follows : — Long. tot. F. perec/rinns, 5 ad 19 -0 F. Brookei, $ ad 17-0 V. — Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By H. W. Bates, Esq., F.L.S. Subfamily Rsinotbaoin^. The '■'■groupes^'' corresponding to our subfamilies, under which Lacordaire classed the genera of Longicorns, and of which he established about eighty in the family Cerambycida3 alone, arc seldom distinguished by definite group-characters. The rule seems to be that in each "groupe" modifications of form appear which do not occur in the same conjunction in any other ; but every single modification is liable to disappear in some members of the "groupe." Thus there is a looseness and uncertainty of definition in the classification of this family which cannot be agreeable to rigid systcmatists ; but they are culm. alse. caudse. tarsi. 1-45 13-8 7-C 2-15 1-35 13-5 7-0 2-00 22 Mr. H. W. Bates on the inevitable, and the more attentively the Longicorns are studied the more hopeless rigid definitions of genera and subfamilies appear. The RMnotragince are a subfamily of the same section of the Cerambycidge to which the familiar genera CaUicJtroma, NecT/dalis, &c. belong, «. e. having finely faceted eyes. They are remarkable for the very general abbreviation of the elytra in the species, and the mimetic resemblances that many of them bear to wasps, bees, Ichneumonida^, and so forth — aresemblance which is much aided by the subrudimentary condition of the elytra and the prevailing style of coloration. In the imago state they frequent flowers, in company with the Hymenoptera many of them resemble, and are very nimble fliers, probably in consequence of the abbreviation of the elytra and great development of the membranous wings. An almost universal character of the group is tlie large volume of the eyes, especially of the lower lobes, wliicli in the males nearly meet in front : this forms the nearest approach to an exclusive character of the group ; but it disappears in some few species. The head, too, is very generally elongated below the eyes, forming a muzzle ; but this character exists in several other subfamilies of Cerambycida3. The palpi are short, and their terminal joints nearly cylindrical or cylindric-ovate, truncated at the apex. The antenna3 are almost always more or less serrated from the sixth joint ; and the third to sixth joints are furnished with setae on their outer sides. The thorax is cylindrical or ovate, always unarmed at the sides. The prosternum forms a distinct, though narrow, level plate between the anterior coxaj ; and the episterna of the metasternum are always triangular and very broad in front. The anterior coxaj are generally obliquely ex- serted ; but this is an inconstant character. In deciding whether a Cerambycid with finely faceted eyes belongs to this group or not, the characters chiefly to be looked to are (1) the volume of the lower lobe of the eyes and the extent to which this has become frontal, (2) the presence of a distinct prosternal process, and (3) the prolongation of the head below the eyes. Species in which the eyes are lateral and the prosternal process narrow or obsolete are either Necydalinoi or Molorchince. The abbreviation of the elytra is not an essential character. The ti-iangular shape of the metasternal episterna ought, however, I think, to be considered a sine qua non ; this would exclude Trichomesia^ an Australian genus which La- cordaire places in the "groupe,"and wliich is the only form in it not belonging to Tropical America. Although so forbidding to the pm-e systematist, the Rhino- tragince are full of interest to the general naturalist, on accoimt Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 23 of their mimetic disguises and the beautiful illustrations they offer of the mode in which divergent modifications occur in nature. For example, it is most instructive to observe, in forms so very closely allied, that whilst some species have rudimentary elytra, ample wings, and wasp-like bodies, or bee-like hind tibiae (such as many of the species of Odontocera^ Charis, and Tomopter us) ^oi\\QX& have elytra developed to the opposite extreme, and, aided by colours and facies, become the mimetic analogues of various Coleoptera — such as Oxylymma (re- sembling Galerucid^), JEchnutes (resembling Lycidce), and Erythroplatys (resembling Hispidas) . The lesson plainly taught here, to those who believe in the origin of species by natural variation and selection, is that the Rhinotragince have varied in many directions, and that, a protective disguise of one kind or other being necessary to the species, the variations have been gradually drawn out in many different directions, ac- cording as they resembled some object at hand which it was advantageous to resemble. In the present stage it cannot be said that the species are remarkable for variability in the parts of their structure involved in the adaptations here mentioned : but they are generally insects of great rarity ; and wherever a large number of examples are at hand (e. g. Acyplioderes auru- lentuSy femoratus, and hirtipeSy Ommata (Agaone) notabilis), there is a large amount of variation in general form and colour. If, however, we look at the differences between very closely allied species tlie most abrupt changes are seen — such, for in- stance, as those between Odontocerafdsciata {reseiTihlmg a wasp) and 0. compi'essipes (resembling a bee, with pollen-gathering apparatus to the hind tibiae). In fact the abruptness with which important parts of structui-e change from species to species renders the definition of genera impossible in this group ; almost every species offers structural characters sufficient in amount to render generic separation plausible. Genus Oxylymma, Pascoe. Pascoe, Trans. Ent. Soc. ser. 2, v. p. 21 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 500. 1. Oxylymma lepida^ Pascoe, I. c. p. 22, pi. ii. f. 3. Ega, Amazons. 2. Oxylymma telephorina^ Bates. Oxylymma telephorina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 316, Ega, Amazons. 3. Oxylymma gihln'collis, n. sp. 0. flavo-testacea, erecte pilosa ; occipite, articulis antennarum 2<'-5"™ 24 Mr. H. W. Bates on the vittaque angusta lateral! et suturali elytrorum, et metastemo, nigris; thorace antice valde convexo, postice abrupte depresso, rufo, maciilis fuscis. Long. 4 lin. Bahia {coll. W. W. Saunders). Head with much-elongated muzzle, testaceous yellow, shi- ning; occiput and neck black. Antennse with basal and fifth and sixth joints yellowish, streaked with black exteriorly, second to fourth joints shining black, rest yellowish. Thorax strongly rounded on the sides, disk anteriorly gibbous, base strongly depressed and constricted ; reddish, with four dusky triangular spots on the anterior part, which spots have numerous large circular punctures, the rest of the surface being smooth. Elytra depressed, pale yellow, clothed with long, erect, pale hairs, apex briefly sinuate-truncate, with acute angles to the truncature ; sm'face closely punctured. Body beneath and legs waxy yellow, shining ; metasternum black. This species has a close resemblance to a species of Diahro- tica (fam. Galerucidse) . Genus Rhinotragus, Germar. Germar, Ins. Sp. Nov. p. 613 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 600. 1. Rhinotragus dorsiger^ Germar, I. c. Var. Rhinotragus marginatus^ Perty, Del. An. Art. Bras, p. 94, t. 19. f. 1. R. anceps, Newm. Ent. Mag. v. p. 495. S. Brazil. R. marginatus is considered a distinct species by some ento- mologists. 2. Rhinotragus apicalis, Gudrin-M^neville. Mhinotragus ajncalis, Gut^rin-Menev. Icon. R. A. p. 236. Bolivia. Prov. Parang, Brazil. 3. Rhinotragus analis, Serville. jRhinotragus analis, Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 550. S. Brazil. 4. Rhinotragus festivus J Perty. Rhinotragus festivtis, Perty, Del. An. Art. p. 94, 1. 19. f. 2. R. suturalis, Serv. Ann. Soc. Fr. 1833, p. 550. S. Brazil. 5. Rhinotragiis trilineatuSj White. Rhinotragus trilineattis, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. R. Amazons. Longicorn Goleojitera of Tropical America. 25 Genus Erythroplatys, White. White, Oat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 201. 1. Erythroplatys corallifer, White, I. c. p. 202, pi. v. f. 2. Santarem, Amazons, on flowers. Resembles to deception the Hispid Cephalodonta spinipes. 2. Erythroplatys rugosus^ Lucas. Rhinotragus rugosus, Lucas, Voyage de Castelnau, Entomologie, p. 182, pi. xii. f. 7. Interior of Brazil. 3. '^Erythroplatys Lucasii^ Thomson. Rhinotragus Ltccasii, Thorns. Classif. des Ceramb. p. 178. Interior of Guiana. Genus ^chmutes. Bates. Bates, Entom. Monthly Mag. iv. p. 23 (1867). Syn. Omistomus, Thorns. Syst. Ceramb. p. 166 (1864). The differences between these two genera are too small to warrant their separation. Thomson's genus is not mentioned in Lacordaire's great work ; but there can be no doubt that this is its right place, and not in the neighbourhood of Ptero- platus, with which it was possibly confounded by Lacordaire. The species of the genera here united, although differing very greatly in size and in the form of the apex of the elytra, both resemble the Lycidaj. I hesitate to admit M. Thomson's name, as it may prove, when its faulty grammatical construction is corrected (as it is sure to be by subsequent authors), to have been already employed in zoology. 1. yEchmutes bicmctusj Thomson. Omistomus hicinctus, Thorns., /. c. p. 167. S. Brazil. 2. jEchmutes lycoides^ Bates. Aichmutes lycoides, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 332. Ega, Amazons. Genus Oregostoma, Serville. Serv. Ann. Soc. Fr. 1833, p. 551 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 501. 1. Oregostoma ruhricorne^ Serv. I. c. Rhinotragus coccineus, Gu^rin-Menev. Icon. K. A., Ins. pi. 44. f. 7. S. Brazil. 26 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 2. Oregostoma luridum^ Klug. Stenopterus luridus, Klug, Entom, Bras. Spec, alter, p. 470, pi. 44. f. 3. S. Brazil. Genus Ommata, White. Wliite, Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 194 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 502. White founded the genus Ommata on a species from Vene- zuela, distinguished by its very long antennae, thickened and not serrated towards the apex ; with this character are associated vitreous narrowed elytra and tufted hind tibias. Lacordaire considers these features of less generic importance than the normal relative forms of the metasternum and abdomen and the exserted anterior coxaa. In these latter points White's insect agrees with a large number of species of the most diver- sified forms and colom's ; and an examination of very copious material has not yielded me any more definite generic distinc- tions than those mentioned by Lacordaire. It is true that the type, Ommata elegans^ and a second species that may be asso- ciated with it, 0. Maia of Newman, differ from all the other Ommatce (sensu Lacord.) in their vitreous elytral surface ; but 0. clavicornis and some other species with opaque elytra come very close to 0. Maia, and the genus would have to be split up into a large number of smaller genera if Ommata were to be restricted to the two species here named. The genus com- prehends a series of species which for the most part are at once distinguishable by their facies from Odontocera ; and in cases of doubt I have treated the opaque and punctured elytra as a differential character. The genus Agaone, Pascoe, which I formerly adopted, I find on the examination of further material to be quite untenable ; or if it be maintained, it must be restricted to the typical species, A. notabilis. 1. Legs long and slender ; middle femora gradually and moderately clavate. A. Elytra entire or nearly so. (Phoenissa.) 1. Ommata [Phcenissa) nigrijpes, Serville. Oregostoma niyripes, Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 552. S. Brazil. 2. Ommata {PJicemssa) Mpartita, n. sp. 0. nigripede gracilior, thorace magis cylindrico, elytrorum plus quam Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 27 dimidio apicali nigro ; nigra, thorace et fere dimidio basal i ely- trorum coccineis. Long. 4^5^ lin. 5 . Prov. Parand, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates) . Very closely allied to 0. nigrijpes (Serv.). Smaller and naiTOwer, thorax narrower and more regularly cylindrical, the black portion of the elytra extending rather more than halfway towards the base. The head is coarsely scabrous-punctate as in 0. nigripes ; the antenna are very slightly thickened towards the tips, with the third to fifth joints linear and the following moderately serrate. The thorax and elytra are closely reticulate-punctate, the latter more deeply so than in 0. nigripes ; they are slightly narrowed in the middle, and reach the apex of the abdomen, with the tips broadly and obliquely truncate and the sutural angle briefly spinose. The abdomen is dark blue and shining. 3. Ommata [Phcenissa) puniceay Newman. Rhinotragus puniceus, Newm. Entom. Mag. v. p. 495. S. Brazil. There are many examples in the British-Museum collection, all distinguished from 0. nigripes by their slenderer shape and two small black spots placed transversely on the disk of the thorax. 4. Ommata [PIicenissaT) discoidea^ Serville. Oregostoma discoidea, Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 552. S. Brazil. A A. Elytra moderately narrowed posteriorly. a. Elytra scarcely abbreviated, apex truncated. (Chrysaethe.) 5. Ommata atrata, Bates. Ommata atrata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. S. Brazil. 6. Ommata asperiventrisj Bates. Ommata asperiventris, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. S. Brazil. 7. Ommata cyanipennis^ Bates. Oitunata cgatiipennis, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. Chontales, Nicaragua. 8. Ommata aurata^ Bates. Ommata aiirata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 320. R. Amazons. 28 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 9. Ommata smaragdina^ Bates. Ommata smaragdina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 320. B. Amazons. 10. Ommata Belttana, Bates. Ommata Belttana, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. Chontales, Nicaragua. aa. Elytra narrowed and rounded at the tip j antennce elongated and thickened at apex, not serrated. * Elytra shining or vitreous. (Ommata, typical.) The elytra have an elevated line along their posterior part, parallel to the outer margin. 11. Ommata elegans, W^hitQ. Om7nata elegans, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 194, pi. v. f. 6. Venezuela. 12. Ommata 3Iaia, Newman. Odontocera Maia, Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. Rio Janeiro, Brazil. Not uncommon in collections. I have seen a third species of this group in Dr. Baden's collection, in which the antenna3 are half as long again as the body ; but the specimen is in too imperfect a state for description. ** Elytra opaque. (Ehopalessa.) 13. Ommata clavicornisy n. sp. 0. gracilis, nigra, longe erecte pubescens, thorace (marginibus antico et postico nigris exceptis) sanguineo, breviter cyKndrico, polite, plagiatim punctato ; elytris integris, crebre punctatis ; antennis elongatis, articulis S^-e*™ linearibus,9°-ll"" valde dilatatis, leviter serratis. Long. 4 lin. $ . Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro {coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates) . Allied to the typical species, 0. elegans^ in the form of the antennas, but differing in the elytra being very nearly entire and without vitreous polish on their surface. The head has a short muzzle, the eyes (female) widely distant, and the forehead coarsely but sparsely punctured, with silvery pubescence. The sixth to eighth antennal joints are pale at the base. The thorax is short, smoothly convex and shining, with moderately small punctures in patches. The elytra are very little narrowed, and reach to the middle of the pygidium, their apex being Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 29 very obtusely truncated, and their surface closely punctate- rugose and clothed with curled whitish hairs. The under surface is clothed with similar hairs. The legs are slender, the thighs somewhat suddenly clavate, and the hind legs distinctly elongated ; their colour is pitchy, with the base of the hind thighs pale testaceous. 14. Ommata tenuis^ Burmeister. Rhinotragus tenuis, Burmeister, Stettin, ent. Zeit. 1865, p. 173. Parand. Burmeister describes the antennse as strongly thickened at the tip and the elytra punctured and opaque. As he does not mention the form of the elytra, and places the species in Rhi- notragus, it is to be inferred they are subentire and perhaps truncated. II. Legs slender ; middle femora abruptly -but not very broadly clavate ; elytra with sides subparallel, apex truncated. (Eclipta.) A. Elytra abbreviated. 15. Ommata Eirene, Newman. Odontocera Hirene, Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. S.Brazil. The elytra reacli the middle of the third abdominal segment, and are obtusely trancated ; the antennae are thickened and serrate from the seventh joint. There is a sexual difference in coloration. The female, described by Newman, has unicolorous greenish-black elytra and white hind tarsi ; the male has a pale testaceous vitta near the suture, extending from the base to two thirds the length of the elytra, and the hind tarsi are black with cinereous hairs. 16. Ommata castanea, n. sp. 0. linearis, breviter pubescens, antennis basi pedibusque nigris ; elytris abbreviatis ad suturam dehiscentibus. Long. 5 lin. $ . Prov. Rio Janeiro, Brazil {coll. Dr. Baden and If. W. Bates). Head thickly punctured, except the lower part of the fore- head; muzzle elongated, not narrowed. Antennge (female) three fourths the length of the body, thickened but scarcely sen-ate towards the tips, joints 3 to 6 linear ; basal joints black, apical pale tawny. Thorax elongate cylindrical, densely re- ticulate-punctate. Elytra considerably narrowed from near the base, but parallel afterwards to the apex, which is truncated and scarcely reaches the base of the penultimate ventral 30 Mr. H. W. Bates on the segment ; they are widely divergent at the suture. The legs are black, the hind pair much elongated, with distinctly clavate femora. 17. Ommata thoracica^ n. sp. 0. elongata, angusta, plumbeo-nigra, cano breviter pubescens, thorace angusto, rufo, crebre reticulato-puactato ; elytris paulo abbreviatis, apice recte truncatis. Long. 4i\ lin. $ . Prov. Parana et Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro {coll. W. W. Saunders, Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). A slender, narrow species, with elytra very moderately narrowed and parallel from a little beyond the base, and reaching a little beyond the base of the penultimate segment, their apices sharply truncate, and their suture slightly gaping. Head rugose-punctate, with much-elongated muzzle. Antennae (female) two thirds the length of the body, black ; third to sixth joints linear, but rather short and stout, the following a little thickened and but slightly seiTated. Thorax elongate, convex, uneven ; sm*face entirely covered with shallow circular pits, leaving narrow reticulated interstices. Elytra closely punctured. Legs rather slender, shining black ; thighs some- what abruptly clavate, hind legs elongated. I have seen this species labelled 0. collaris of Serv. ; but Serville says this species has the elytra "acuminees postericure- ment," which character applies neither to this nor the following similarly coloured species. 18. Ommata JlavicolUsy n. sp. 0. postice angustata, nigra, thorace flavo-aurantiaco, opaeo, haud distincte punctato ; elytris abbreviatis, versus apicem paulo an- gustatis, apice truncatis. Long. 4 lin. S $ . Prov. Parana, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H, W. Bates) . Closely allied to the preceding, but the antennae shorter and the elytra not reaching the apex of the antepenultimate ventral segment. Head coarsely punctured ; muzzle much elongated ; eyes (male) almost contiguous, (female) separated by only a short distance. Antenna scarcely two thirds the length of the body ; third to sixth joints linear but rather thick, and fifth and sixth a little widened at apex ; they are black, but in the male the seventh to eleventh joints are pale at the base. Thorax opaque, orange-yellow, without visible punctuation. Elytra very closely subconfluent-punctate. The legs are moderately slender, the thighs elongate-clavate. Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 31 19. Ommata Eunomia^ Newman. Odontocera Eunomiaf Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. S. Brazil. Described by Newman from a single specimen. In colours the species is variable — the upper surface of the thorax being either wholly black, slightly embrowned in the centre, or wholly fulvous ; and the yellow vitta of the elytra sometimes extends to tlie suture, and is sometimes confined to the disk, or wholly wanting. Throughout all the varieties, however, the front of the head, the four anterior femora, and the basal half of the hind pair are bright fulvous. The elytra scarcely pass the base of the antepenultimate segment, and are sharply sinuate-truncate at the apex. The antennaa have the third to sixth joints linear ; and the rest are not thickened, and only slightly serrated. The thorax is somewhat irregularly reticu- late-punctate. The elytra are closely punctate and obscured by soft incumbent silky jtile. 20. Ommata brachialis, n. sp. 0. gracilis, fusco-nigra, infra dense cano pubescens; femoribus anticis fulvis, femoribus posticis basi albo-testaceis. Long. 3-4 lin. (J. Prov. Rio Janeiro, Brazil {coU. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). Very closely allied to 0. Eunomia. Elytra more elongate, passing the base of the penultimate segment, and obtusely (not sinuate) truncate at the apex. The head is wholly black ; and the anterior thighs only are fulvous, the extreme base of the other pairs being whitish. The eyes (male) are separated by a narrow space on the forehead. The antennae are three fourths the length of the body, and thickened towards the apex ; they are dull black, with bases of seventh to eleventh joints fulvous ; the third to fifth joints are long, slender, and linear. The thorax is narrow, and reticulate-punctate in three longi- tudinal patches, the interstices being scarcely punctured. The elytra are closely punctured. The legs are long, especially the hind pair, and the thighs distinctly clavate. 21. Ommata monostigma^ Bates. Agaone monostigma, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1869, p. 384. Chontales, Nicaragua. 22. Ommata liturifera^ n. sp. 0. linearis, angusta, fulvo-testacea ; occipite lituraque magna pro- 32 Mr. H. W. Bates on the thoracis (H eimulante) nigris ; elytris paulo abbreviatis, late truncatis, crebre punctatis. Long. 2|-4 lin. S 2 • Prov. Rio Janeiro, Brazil {coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). Head tawny testaceous ; occiput, and in female a frontal streak, black ; coarsely punctured; muzzle moderately elongated, not narrowed; eyes in male contiguous in front, in female widely distant. Antennae rather short, filiform, serrate, joints 3-5 linear ; tawny testaceous, tips of joints brown. Thorax cylindrical, a little constricted in front and behind, very coarsely punctured ; tawny, with two broad vittai on the disk, joined in the middle by a fascia, black, a black vitta also on each Hank. Elytra reaching to the middle of the penultimate ventral segment, moderately narrowed from near the base and parallel, apex sharply truncate ; colour light tawny brown, thickly but separately punctured. Body beneath yellowish, breast and middle of abdomen black. Legs slender, thighs rather abruptly clavate, hind legs moderately elongate ; testaceous yellow, femoral clava ringed with black, tibiae and tarsi also black. A A. Elytra nearly reaching the tip of the abdomen. 23. Ommata prolixay n. sp. 0. elongata, angusta, setosa, testaceo-rufa ; capite (epistomate ex- cepto), maculis thoracis duabus dorsalibus alteraque utrinquo eljtrorum humerali, pectore et pedibus nigris, femoribus basi albo-testaceis ; elytris pallide fuscis postice obscurioribus ; an- tennis modice elongatis apice vix incrassatis, nigris, articulis basi pallidis ; thorace antice angustato, supra ina^quali, grosse disperse punctato ; elytris subintegris, crebre punctatis, apice oblique trun- catis. Long. 4 lin. 5 • Prov. Parand, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders). Closely allied to 0. cribripennis^ but more elongated, especially the elytra. The eyes (female) are more distant on the forehead, and the space between them is wide, plane, and (like the rest of the head) coarsely punctured. The antennae have the third to fifth joints linear, and the following very gradually thickened, but not produced, at their inner apical angles. The hind legs are very little elongated, and the thighs moderately clubbed. 24. Ommata lanuginosa, n. sp. 0. linearis, fulvo-testacea, aureo breviter pubescens, opaca ; occipite, thoracis disco femoribusque (partim) nigris ; antennis filiformibus, articulis 7°-10"™ vix serratis baud incrassatis ; thorace cyHndrico, supra longitudinaliter biirapresso, reticidato-punctato ; elytris Longicorn Colec/ptera of Tropical America. 33 vix abbreviatis, acute tnincatis, fulvo-fuscis, creberrimepunctatis. Long. 4 lin. S . Prov. Rio Janeiro [coll. Dr. Baden). Opaque, clothed with a fine incvimbent golden pile, short on the elytra, but longer and denser on the sides of the thorax, on the breast, and in the middle of the abdominal segments. The head is tawny testaceous, with the crown and occiput and part of the epistome black ; the eyes (male) do not reach the median line ; the muzzle is much elongated. The antennas are dull tawny brown. The thorax is cylindrical, almost bisulcate along the disk, closely reticulate-punctate, with the whole disk dull black, and margins (like the under surface) tawny testa- ceous. The elytra reach the base of the terminal segment and are sharply sinuate-truncate ; their surface is very regvdarly and closely punctured and opaque. The legs are moderately slender, the femora rather abruptly but not thickly clavate, and the first joint of the hind tarsi is equal in length to the remaining three ; the femora and tibiffi are indistinctly clouded with blackish. 25. Ommata crihripennisj n. sp. 0. linearis, angusta, setosa, melleo-flava ; occipite supra maculaque basali pronoti nigris ; antennis apicem versus vix incrassatis, nigris, scapo infra articulisque 3°-10"" basi melleo-fla^^s ; elytris pallide fuscis, subintegris, crebre sed discrete grosse punctatis, apice oblique truncatis ; pedibus posticis elongatis, femoribus omnibus clavatis. Long. 3 lin. S 2 • Prov. Parand, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates) . Closely allied to 0. {Agaotie) malthinoides (Bates), but the elytra less attenuated than in that species ; in fact these organs are entire, with the exception of the narrowness of the epi- pleurge from a little beyond the base, and they leave only the tip of the pygidium exposed. The eyes of the male do not approach so closely on the forehead as in the allied species. The third to fifth antennal joints are linear, and the rest are only very slightly produced at their inner apical angles. The thorax is cylindrical and very coarsely, but irregularly and not closely, punctured. The legs are clear honey-yellow, with the exception of a brown spot at the apex of the hind femora. 26. Ommata erythrodera, n. sp. 0. davicorni simiUima, differt anteunis brevibus gracilibus, articulis O"-!!"" basi flavis. Linearis, fusco-nigra nitida, sparsim pubes- cens ; thorace cylindrico, angusto, supra convexo, paulo inaequali, Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. VoI.kx. 3 34 Mr. H. W. Bates on the grossissirae sparsim punctato, Icete rufo nitido, marginibus anticis et posticis nigris ; elytris vix abbreviatis, acute truncatis, nigro- fuscis, passim grosse regulariter punctatis, nitidis ; femoribus sub- abrupte baud fortiter clavatis, basi albis. Long. 4 lin. 5 . Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro {coll. Dr. Baden). Deceptively similar to 0. clavicorm's in general form, colour, and in the form and proportions of the legs ; but differs at once in the moderately short slender antenna, ringed with pale tes- taceous at the base of joints 6 to 11 ; this character would bring it into a different genus were the antennaB taken as guides. The head is shining black, regularly punctured, witli much longer muzzle than in 0. clavicorm's and not pubescent ; the space between the eyes on the front (female) is quite plane and very moderate for this sex. The elytra reach beyond the base of the terminal segment and are broadly and subsinuately truncate ; their surface is shining, free from incumbent pubes- cence, and covered with separate punctures decidedly larger than those of 0. clavicornis ; in shape they are parallel-sided from after the base. The underside of the body is shining black, scantily clothed with grey pubescence. The basal joint of the posterior tarsi is narrow, but shorter than the remaining joints taken together. 27. Ommata vitticollis^ n. sp. 0. linearis, angusta, nigra ; capite angusto, grosse punctate melleo- flavo ; thorace elongato antice angustato, supra intequali, grosse disperse ocellato-punctato, nigro, vitta dorsali et infra melleo-flavis ; elytris subintegris, apice obtiise truncatis, passim crebre ocellato- punctatis. Long. 3| Hn. 5 . Prov. Parana, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates) . Differs in form from the allied species, the head and thorax being small in proportion to the elytra, and the thorax narrowed anteriorly. The antennai are three fourths the length of the body, and scarcely thickened towards the tips ; the third to sixth joints are linear ; they are black, with the exception of the pale bases of joints ninth to eleventh. The femora are distinctly clavate and the hind legs elongated, as in the typical forms of the genus. 28. Ommata maltMno'ides^ Bates. Agaone malthmoides, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. E.. Amazons. 29. Ommata rujicolUs, Bates. Ayaone ritficollis, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. R. Amazons. Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 35 30. Ommata anoguttata^ n. sp. 0. elongato-linearis, supra plana, subtiliter pubescens, fusca, elytris apice macula transversa flava. Long. 5 lin. 2 . Prov. Parana, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). Head fulvo-testaceous, shining, thickly punctured, muzzle elongated ; space between the eyes (female) in front moderate ; occiput black. Antennae more than three fourths the length of the body, slightly thickened and serrate towards the tips, joints three to five linear ; colour pitchy testaceous, basal joints beneath paler. Thorax elongate cylindrical, disk with four tubercles and a median raised wheal, rest of surface ocellate- punctate, black above, central line and sides fulvous. Elytra elongate-linear and plane, leaving the pygidium uncovered, not dehiscent ; apex truncate and tumid on the surface where lies the pale transverse spot ; the surface rather finely and closely rugose-punctate^ with soft, inclined, and curly pubes- cense ; colour brown, suture paler. Body beneath dark brown, with golden pubescence; abdominal segments ringed with yellow. Legs tawny testaceous, base of thighs blackish ; hind legs moderately elongated, thighs rather abruptly clavate. 31. Ommata cegrota, Bates. Odontocera agrota, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 233. Chontales, Nicaragua. I described this species as an Odontocera^ following Lacor- daire's definition of the genus ; but the closely punctured and non-vitreous elytra bring it within the genus Ommata^ ac- cording to the classification here adopted. 32. Ommata Xantho, n. sp. 0. robustior, pallide flava ; capita, elytris, tibiis, tarsis femoribusque supra nigris, fronte flava ; antennis filiformibus, nigris, articulis (30-10""" basi pallidis ; thorace lateribus paulo rotundatis, margine antico crasso, reticulato-punctato opaco ; elytris subintegris re- ticiilato-punctatis, apice oblique truncatis angulo exteriore longe spiuoso ; metasterno late nigro-fasciato ; pedibus robustis, femori- bus elongato-clavatis. Long. 4i lin. S • Prov. Parand,, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders). A robust species, with hind legs not disproportionately elon- gated, and filiform antennae, of which the third to fifth joints are linear. 33. Ommata pcecilaj n. sp. 0. linearis, pallide flava, thoracis macula dorsali, elytrorum macula 3* 36 Mr. H. W. Bates on the quadrata humerali, fascia mediana alteraque apicali nigris ; an- tennis elongatis, apice gradatim incrassatis, nigris, flavo aiinulatis ; thorace cylindrico, convexo, crebre reticulato-punetato ; elytris vix abbreviatis, basi excepta angustatis parallelis, apice oblique truncatis, dense reticulato-punctatis. Long. 4| lin. c? • Prov. Parana, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). Linear, thorax and elytra closely covered with round punc- tures forming narrow reticulated interstices. Clear pale yellow, with an irregular spot on the disk of the thorax, a belt across the middle and apex of the elytra, and a square spot on the shoulder black. The antemife (male) are nearly as long as the body and considerably thickened towards the apex, the third to fifth joints are linear ; the colour is black, with the base of fourth to tenth joints and first to fourth joints beneath pale testaceous. Beneath there is a broad stripe on each side of the metasternum and across the abdomen, black. The legs have a streak on the upperside of the femoral clav£e, the apex of the tibise and the tarsi black ; the hind legs are not elon- gated ; all the femora are clavate, the anterior and middle pair more abruptly so than the posterior. The elytra are moderately narrowed from a little behind the base, and are thence parallel to the apex ; they are not dehiscent at the suture ; and the ex- ternal angle of the apical truncature has a longish spine. A variety occurs in which the middle and apical black fasciae of the elytra and the humeral spots are united, and the head and whole apical half of the abdomen is black. 34. Ommata fenestrata^ Lucas. Oregostoma fenestratum, Lucas, Voyage de Castelnau, Ins. pi. 12. f. 8. Interior of Brazil. III. Legs robust ; middle femora abruptly and very thickly clavate ; first joint of hind tarsi greatly elongated ; elytra entire. ( Agaone, Pascoe). 35. Ommata notabilis^ White. Rhinotragus notabilis, White, Cat. Long. Col, Brit. Mus. p. 199. R. Amazons. Genus Odontocera, Serv. Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1838, p. 546 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. o03. I have nothing to add to the definition of this genus given by Lacordaire, except that I think it better to exclude every species which has not a vitreous surface to the elytra. This Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 37 character, added to the enlarged metasterniim, slender abdo- men (often constricted at the base), subcylindrical or oval tho- rax, and elytra never much abbreviated or subulate, will di- stinguish Odontocera from all tlie allied genera. The antennte vary in thickness and length ; in most species they are sliort, thick, and strongly serrated from the sixth or fifth joint ; but many have very slender, filiform antennae. Some of these I formerly placed in the genus Agaone, notwithstanding the slender or constricted abdomen ; but this course is the less admissible, as the type of the genus Odontocera ( 0. vitrea of Serville) is described as having slender antennge. I. Aiitennce eloncjute, slender. 1. Odontocera mohrcho'ides^ White. SJiinotragus mohrcho'ides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 200. R. Amazons. 2. Odontocera vittipennisj n. sp. 0. nigra, cano pubescens ; thorace oblongo-ovato, riifo-aurantiaco, reticulato-piinctato, opaco ; elytris nigris, vitta albo-testacea, vitrea ; tarsis posticis albis ; antennis elongatis graciHbus, articu- lis a sexto leviter serratis busi flavo-testaceis. Long. 4 lin. S . Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders). Head black, clothed with hoary pile ; muzzle elongated ; eyes (male) nearly touching the median line in front. Antennae as long as the body, black 5 joints sixth to eleventh yellow at base, third to sixth linear, seventh to tenth elongate, moderately dilated and serrate at their apices. Thorax rather broader than the elytra, subovate, the sides being much rounded near the middle ; the surface is opaque, covered with shallow round pits, and with the flanks light red. The elytra nearly reach the apex of the penultimate segment ; they are subparallel from the middle, with tips obliquely and sharply truncated ; their sm'face is very closely and coarsely punctured and deep black, except a narrow well-defined central vitta from the base to near the apex, which is whitisli, faintly punctured, and shining. The legs are black, with the exception of the hind tarsi, which are white, and have their basal joint longer than the remaining three together, but not slender ; the middle femora are abruptly and very broadly clavate ; the hind legs greatly elongated, and their femora very gradually and mode- rately thickened. The under surface of the body is densely clothed with short hoary pile ; the abdomen is moderately slender, and the anterior coxee scarcely exserted. 38 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 3. Odontocera clara^ n. sp. 0. valde elongata, nigra; thorace aurantiaco-flavo, pectore abdo- mineque cinereo-tomeutosis ; elytris disco omnino vitreo albo- testaceo. Long. 5|-7| lin. c? $ • Chontales, Nicaragua [coll. T. Belt and H. W. Bates). An elongate narrow species, similar in form to 0. chrysostetha^ but resembling 0. vittiijennis in colours. Head black, shining, scabrous-punctate ; muzzle elongate and narrow. Antennae long and filiform, moderately serrate from the sixth joint, shining black ; extreme base of joints 7 to 11 pallid, especially in the male. Thorax long, cylindrical, gradually narrowed in front, orange-testaceous, moderately shining, closely subreticulate-punctate, with a short, smooth, raised dorsal line on the fore part of the disk. Elytra reaching to the middle of the fourth segment, moderately narrowed behind the base, thence parallel to the apex, which is sharply truncate, with the angles prominent ; surface pallid brownish and glassy, faintly punctulate ; margins (except the basal) narrowly black and coarsely punctured. Meso- and metasterna and abdomen black, clothed with a laid ashy pile ; metasternum moderately voluminous, and abdomen linear, coarsely punctured. Legs much elongated, black, shining ; all the femora rather gradually clavate ; hind pair reaching the tip of the abdomen. This is one of the latest discoveries of Mr. Thomas Belt. 4. Odontocera colon^ Bates. Agaone colon, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. E,. Amazons. 5. Odontocera monostigma^ Bates. Agaone monostigma, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1869, p. 384. Chontales, Nicaragua. 6. Odontocera farallela^ White. Odontocera parallela. White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 189. R. Amazons. 7. Odontocera mellea, White. Odontocera tnellea, White, Cat. Long. Col Brit. Mus. p. 188. R. Amazons. 8. Odontocera chi-T/sostetha, Bates. Odontocera chrysostetha, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 320. B. Amazons. Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 39 9. Odontocera vitrea, Serville. Odontocera vitrea, Serville, Ann. Ent. Soc. Fr. 1833, p. 647. Cayenne. Serville describes the antennae in his Odontocerce as " filifor- mes, presque setacees, 5 on 6 articles en scie." His species would therefore come in the present section. 10. Odontocera cylindrica, Serv. I. c. p. 548. Brazil. It is not stated in the description that the elytra have vitre- ous disks ; the position of the species is therefore doubtful. 11. AntenncB more or less abbreviated and dilated. A. Thorax narrow, cylmdrical. a. DisTc of thorax even. * Antenme much thickened towards the apex. 11. Odontocera crocata, n. sp. 0. gracillima, postice attenuata, fusco-niger ; anteunis, pedibus et elytris fulvo-croceis, his margiuibus et apico late uigris, valde ab- breviatis, apice late truncatis. Long. 3| lin. (^ • Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro {coll. Dr. Baden and U. W. Bates). Head coarsely punctured ; eyes voluminous, contiguous in front ; muzzle moderate, narrow. Antennae two thirds the length of the body, thickened towards the tip, saffron tawny ; third to fifth joints slender, linear, seventh to tenth serrate. Thorax very narrow, cylintbical, with longitudinal patches of shallow circular punctm'es, the patches connected by transverse wrinkles. Elytra just passing the base of the antepenultimate segment, moderately narrowed from after the base, dehiscent at the suture, shar})ly and broadly truncated at the ajiex ; sur- face moderately punctured, very sparsely so on the disk, which is shining. Body beneath rufous tawny ; thorax, sides of breast, and belt across middle of abdomen black. Legs saffron tawny; hind pair elongated ; thighs distinctly clavate. Meta- sternum (male) voluminous ; abdomen slender, linear. ** Antennce robust, all joints thickened. 12. Odontocera sangiiiaolenta (Dej.), n. sp. 0. elongata, robusta, sanguinca ; capite, antennis, vitta thoracis lata dorsali pedibusquc nigris ; fcraoribus posticis aunulo sanguineo; 40 Mr. H. W. Bates on the elytris fere apicem abdominis attingentibus, angustis, testaceo- flavis, vitreis, marginibus nigris, apice macula oblonga laete flava. Long. 7-8 lin. S 2 • Rio Janeiro {coll. W. W. Saunders^ Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates) . An elongated and narrow but robust form. Head black, coarsely punctured. Antennae about half the length of the body, stout, of equal thickness to the apex, third to iifth joints being much dilated, and the following serrated, dull black. Thorax elongated, cylindrical, closely punctured, sides broadly blood-red, the rest dull black. Scutellum white. Elytra reaching nearly the tip of the body, narrow, and nearly parallel from after the base ; apex sharply truncated, with angles somewhat produced; surface shining, black, with a central vitta straw-colour and vitreous, the black borders coarsely punctured ; an elongate spot brighter yellow at apex. Breast and abdomen sanguineous, the former black in the middle, the latter with margins of the segments black. Legs robust, black ; hind femora with a blood-red ring, and gradu- ally clavate. 13. Odontocera apicalis, Klug. Stenopterus apicalis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter, p. 54, t. xliv. f. G. Brazil. Apparently allied to 0. sanguinolenta. ^ aa. Dish of thorax tuherculated. 14. Odontocera gracilis, Klug. Stenopterus gracilis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Spec. alt. p. 54, t. xliv. f. 7. St. elegans, Guerin-Menev. Icon. R. A. pi. 44. f. 9. Brazil. It has been suggested that this species should be excluded from the genus Odontocera, on account of its tubercled thorax, the great length of the peduncle of the hind femora, and other characters. Its peculiar facies and metallic colouring ill consort with the other congeners ; but all its essential structural cha- racters are shared in by one or other members of the genus. For instance, the tuberculated thorax is possessed in still higher development by 0. jlavicauda, which has nothing ab- normal in its colouring, and quite moderately clavate and pe- dunculate hind femora. 15. Odontocera Jlaoicauda, n. sp. 0. elongata, linearis, castaneo-riifa ; capite, antennis basi pedibus- Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 41 que nigris ; elytris pallide brunneis, vitreis, marginibus anguste nigris, apice flavis. Long. 5-6 lin. c^ $ . Prov. Parana, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). Elongate and narrow in form. Head coarsely punctured. Antennae rather more than half the length of the body, not thickened, regularly serrate from the sixth joint ; fifth also a little dilated at the apex ; basal half black, apical half cas- taneous. Thorax rather short, cylindrical ; surface with four tubercles and a central raised line ; interstices with large, circular, scattered punctures. Elytra reaching nearly the base of the pygidium, moderately narrow and subparallel from a little beyond the base ; apex broadly sinuate-truncate ; surface glassy, although finely and spai-sely punctured and setose ; margins coarsely rugose-punctate and black ; disk pale brown (palest near the base) ; apex with a longish yel- low spot. Beneath shining chestnut-red ; thorax blackish ; Legs black ; hind pair much elongated ; thighs abruptly clavate. Abdomen of male slender and linear, of female sub- petiolated. AA. Thorax subovate. a. Hhul legs elonr/ate, slender ; femora abruptly clavate. 16. Odontocera nigriclavis^ n. sp. 0. elongata, nigra ; pedibus posticis (clava femorali scapoque tibiali nigris exceptis) et tarsis omnibus flavo-testaceis ; vitta discoidali elytrorum albo-testacea, vitrea. Long. 5-6 lin. cJ $ . Prov. Rio Janeiro and Parana, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders, Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). Closely allied to 0. dis^yar (Bates), but having longer elytra, yellow tarsi, and female concolorous with the male, &c. Head with elongated muzzle. Antennte half the length of the body, thickened from the fifth joint ; black, bases of the joints testa- ceous tawny. Thorax elongate, gradually naiTowed behind j surface longitudinally impressed, clothed with long hairs, and closely reticulate-punctate. Elytra reaching to middle of the third segment, nearly parallel from after the base, truncate at the apex, thickly punctured and black on the borders ; disk occupied by a whitish vitreous vitta. Legs black ; tarsi testaceous yellow ; the hind legs moderately elongated ,■ femora abruptly clavate; tibia3 with a dense brush of black hairs round the apical half; base of thighs and of tibia? testaceous yellow. 42 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 17. Odontocera jioecilopoda. White. Odantocei'a poecilopoda, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. lUl. Amazons. 18. Odontocera dispar^ Bates. Odontocera dispar, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 321. Amazons. 19. Odontocera aurocincta^ n. sp. 0. valde elongata, nigra ; antennis, tibiis et tarsis fulvis ; femoribus basi et tibiis posticis dimidio basali albo-testaceis ; thorace breviter cylindrico-ovato, grossei)unctato,tomento aureo marginato ; elytris modice abbreviatis, angustis, apice obtuse truncatis, fulvo-testaceis, vitreis. Long. 7 lin. 5 . Tehuantepec, Mexico {coll. H. W. Bates). Closely allied to 0. nignclavis^ but destitute of brush on the hind femora. Head coarsely punctured, black. The an- tennte are tawny, moderately short, thickened towards the tips, serrate from the sixth joint. The elytra reach nearly to the middle of the third segment, and are much narrowed but not subuliform, being little dehiscent at the suture and truncated at the tip ; they are unicolorous pale tawny brown, with the exception of a narrow blackish line along the anterior part of the suture and of the lateral margins. The underside of the body is closely punctured ; it is black, becoming castaneous on the abdomen, the two basal segments of which have a broad pale testaceous belt. The hind legs are moderately elongated, and the femora somewhat strongly clavate. The metasternum is voluminous, and the abdomen very elongate and slender towards the base. 20. Odontocera leucotJiea^ n. sp. 0. alhkanti (Khig) similUma ; differt elytronim margine suturaH late incm-vo, maculaque triangulari circiimscutellari nigra. Long. 7- 9 lin. $. Novo Friburg (Rio Janeiro) ; Minas Geraes and Parand. {coll. W. W. Saunders, Dr. Baden, and If. W. Bates). Deceptively similar to 0. albicans, Klug (Entom. Bras, t. xliv. f. 5) ; colours the same, except a broad, triangular, black spot in the scutellar region. The silvery pile of the thorax, however, is concentrated in rounded spots, of which there are four (in quadrangle) on the disk, and others more irregular on the flanks ; and there are slight difierences in the distribution of colours on the antenna? and legs. The white ring of the antenna? in 0. albicans embraces joints seventh to Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 43 ninth; in 0. leucothea joints sixth, seventh, and the apical half of the fifth. In the anterior legs the femora are chestnut-red, and the tibiae, and tarsi testaceous yellow (in 0. albicans these colours are exactly reversed) ; the middle tibias and base of the femora are testaceous yellow. Notwithstanding this close general similarity, it is likely the two insects belong to diffe- rent genera, the antennae (according to Klug's figure) appear- ing to be simple, like the typical Ommake^ and the elytra parallel. In 0. leucothea the antennge are serrate from the fifth joint, and the sutural margin of the elytra is strongly in- curved from before the middle. The disk of the elytra is vitreous. The abdomen is red, and in the female vespiform. I have seen four examples, all females, and exactly similar. 21. Odontoceral albicans, Klug. Stenopterus albicans, Klug, Eutom. Bras. Specim. alter, p. 53, t. xliv. f. 5. Rio Janeiro. aa. Hind femora gradually thickened. 22. Odontocera hilaris, n. sp. 0. nigra, thorace supra aurantiaeo-rufo, elytrorum disco femoribus- que posticis basi flavo-testaceis. Long. 4| liu. 5 • Odontocera punctata, Bates, Trans. Ent, See. 1870, p. 323 (nee Klug). R. Tapajos, Amazons [coll. H. W. Bates). Short and rather robust. Head with broad and not very elongate muzzle ; the eyes in the unique specimen approach tolerably near to tlie median line in front, and seem to show it to be a male ; but the short and broad sessile abdomen is that of a female. The antennaj are short, thickened and serrated from the fifth joint. The thorax is strongly rounded on the sides and constricted at the base, the surface closely reticidate- punctate. The elytra reach nearly to the middle of the third segment, with the suture dehiscent only from the middle, rapidly narrowed but truncated at the apex ; the margins are narrowly deep black, leaving the whole disk pallid and vitreous, with- out visible punctures, except at the base. The hind legs are greatly elongated, the femora very gradually clavate, the tarsi short and slender. I had erroneously referred this species to (^A^)?/?» 9th 10th j> 12th >> Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 49 leaves and tendrils are many times larger than in Table I., and they with the whole plant are of a bright green colour, instead of the sickly pale yellow of Table I. : but the light has not developed any new structure ; it has only perfected those which preexisted, and converted other substances into chloro- phyl, which is not an organized body. Not only did the plants in the two series present similarities in evolution of structure, but the average weight of dry plant in each was very nearly the same ; for mgr. mgr. 455 of seeds in the dark produced 184 of dry plant, while 455 „ -light „ 215 „ A comparison of the parts below the ground with those above (both being dried at 212° F.) shows that the proportion of root to total weight of plant was also nearly identical, being 25 of root for 100 of plant in the dark, and 23 „ 100 „ light. The close similarity in the evolution of visible structure in the light and in the dark, the small difference in the total weights of the plants grown in the same time in both series, and the close approximation in the proportional weight of root to plant, all justify the conclusion that the growth in darkness and in light closely resemble each other, and that it is proper to reason, as regards the nature of the action, from the first to the second. Another interesting fact which lends support to the opinion that the process of growth in seedlings developed in the dark is very similar to that occurring in those grown in the light, is the character of the excrements thrown out by the roots. It is well known that many plants so poison the soil that the same plants cannot be made to grow therein until the poisonous excretions from the roots of the first crop have been destroyed by oxidation. In the case of peas this poisoning of the soil takes place in a very marked manner ; and I have found that in the pots in which peas have been grown in the dark, the soil is so poisoned by the excrements from the roots that a second crop fails to sprout. Does it not follow that since, in the two series with which I experimented, the excrements from the roots possessed the same poisoning action, the processes in the plants from which these excrements arose must have been similar ? There remains an important argument, concerning which nothing has thus far been said. It is to be derived from the consideration of the rate of growth in the light series during Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 4 50 Dr. J. C. Draper on Growth or various periods of the day of twenty-four hours. If the evolu- tion of structure in a plant in daylight is the result of the action of light, that evolution should occur entirely, or almost entirely, during the day. If, on the contrary, it is independent of the light, it should go on at a uniform rate as in plants in the dark. For the elucidation of this portion of the subject, I present the following tables ; the first of which shows the growth by night, 7 P.M. to 7 a.m., of the seedlings in the dark series, com- pared with their growth by day, 7 A.M. to 7 p.m. The mea- surements were taken from the sixth to the twentieth of the month, the day on which growth ceased in the dark series. Table III. — Seedlings grown in the dark. Night growth. Day growth. No. 1 12| inches. 14 inches. » ^ 1^4 5> 1" J> q 113 113 5 J 4 12^ „ ilg „ Average . . 12| „ Average . . 12| „ The total day growth and night growth under these circum- stances are nearly equal, though there is a slight excess in favour of the night, amounting, as the table shows, to f of an inch in 12 inches. In Table IV. the growth of the light series is given in the same manner, by day and by night, for the same time, viz. to June 20th. The thermometric and hygrometric conditions in both series were very similar, as indicated by the dry- and wet-bulb thermometers suspended in the vicinity of each set of tubes. Table IV. — Seedlings grown in the light. Night growth. Day growth. No. 5 3| inches. 4 inches. M 6 8 „ 7 „ 7 5i 4i >> o "^2 " 2 » Average.. 6| ,, Average.. 6 „ In the average, and throughout the table, with a single ex- ception, not only is the uniformity in the rate of growth during the day and night shown, but the slight excess of night growth found in the series kept in the dark is likewise copied. We must therefore accept the conclusion, that the act of growth or Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 51 evolution of structure is independent of light, and tliat the manner of growth during the day is similar to that at night. It will be noticed that the total average height attained in the light is only about half that in the dark series. The ex- planation of this we have already seen in the fact that in the former the leaves and tendrils were much larger than in the latter, while the dry weights were nearly the same. The material of the seed in the light series was consumed in ex- tending these surfaces, while in the dark series it was spent in lengthening the stem. Having established the continuous chai-acter of growth in seedlings, and the similarity of rate and nature of the process by night and by day, and admitting that night plants throw off carbonic acid, it is not improbable that this carbonic acid arises, not from mechanical absorption by the roots and vapori- zation by the leaves, but as a direct result or concomitant of the act or process of evolution of structure. To put the matter in the clearest form, let us first under- stand what growth is. It appears in all cases to consist in the evolution or production of cells from those already existing. According as the circumstances under which the cells are pro- duced vary, so does the tissue ultimately produced vary ; cells formed in woody fibre become wood ; cells formed in muscle in their turn form muscles ; but the starting-point of the process in every instance is the formation of new cells. If, now, we examine the evolution of cells under the simplest conditions, as, for example, in the fermentation that attends tlie manufacture of alcohol, we find that with the evolution of the Torula-CQW^s, carbonic acid is produced. The two results are intimately connected ; and it is proper to suppose that since the carbonic acid has arisen along with the new cells, the latter operation must in some way involve a process of oxidation. Accepting the hypothesis that oxidation is attendant on these processes of cell- growth under the simplest conditions, we pass to the examination of what occurs in the lower forms of veget- able organisms found in the air. The fungi, and, indeed, all plants that are not green, witli a few exceptions, exhale carbonic acid and never exhale oxygen. In this case, in which cell-production often occurs with such marvellous rapidity, the carbonic acid must have arisen as a consequent of tlie cell-growth. It is improbable that it lias been absorbed by roots and exhaled from the structures, either in these plants or in those produced during fermentation. In the latter there never are any roots ; and in the former, even where roots arc present, they bear a small proportion to the whole plant. The quantity of moisture exhaled by such 4* 52 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. growths is also insignificant, and out of proportion to the car- bonic acid evolved. We must therefore in this case decline to accept the root-absorption hypothesis, and admit that the carbonic acid has arisen as a result of the cell-growth in the plant. Passing to the chlorophyl-bearing plants, we find that in the Phanerogamia it is only the green parts that at any time exhale oxygen, and then only under the influence of sunshine. The Other parts of the plant above the ground that are not green, viz. the stem, twigs, flowers, &c., are at all times, day and night, exhaling carbonic acid, ^he whole history of the plant, from the time the seed is planted till its death, is a continuous story of oxidation, except when sunlight is falling on the leaves. The seed is put into the ground ; and during germination oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid exhaled. If the seedling is kept in the dark, oxygen is never exhaled, only carbonic acid, and the plant not only grows, but all visible structures, except flowers, are formed in a rudimentary condition. In the light, the growth during the night time is attended by the evolution of carbonic acid, while during the daytime the bark of the stem and branches is throwing off carbonic acid. When flowers and seeds form, the evolution of carbonic acid attending this highest act of which the plant is capable is often greater than that produced at any time in many animals. Every thing in the history of plants therefore tends to show that the evolution of their sti'uctures is inseparably attended by the formation of carbonic acid ; and it seems impossible, when we consider the evolution alone, to arrive at any other opinion than that already expressed — that all living things^ whether plant or animal^ absorb oxygen and evolve carbonic acid^ or some other oxidized substance^ as an essential condition of the evolution of their structures. College of the City of New York, Sept. 12tli, 1872. VII. — Sequoia and its History. By Professor AsA Gray, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science*. The session being now happily inaugurated, yom* presiding officer of the last year has only one duty to perform before he suiTenders his chair to his successor. If allowed to borrow a simile from the language of my own profession, I might liken * An addi'ess delivered at the meetiu'r held at Dubuque, Iowa, August 1872. >i ' c Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 53 the President of this association to a biennial plant. He flourishes for the year in which he comes into existence, and performs his appropriate functions as presiding officer ; when the second year comes round, he is expected to blossom out in an address and disappear. Each president, as he retires, is naturally expected to contribute something from his own in- vestigations or his own line of study, usually to discuss some particular scientific topic. Now, although I have cultivated the field of North-American botany with some assiduity for more than forty years, have reviewed our vegetable hosts, and assigned to no small number of them their names and their place in the ranks, yet, so far as our own wide country is concerned, I have been to a great extent a closet botanist. Until this summer I had not seen the Mississippi, nor set foot upon a prairie. To gratify a natural interest, and to gain some title for ad- dressing a body of practical naturalists and explorers, I have made a pilgrimage across the continent. I have sought and viewed in their native haunts many a plant and flower which for me had long bloomed unseen, or only in the hortus siccus. I have been able to see for myself what species and what forms constitute the main features of the vegetation of each succes- sive region, and record (as the vegetation imerringly does) the permanent characteristics of its climate. Passing on from the eastern district, marked by its equably distributed rainfall, and therefore naturally forest-clad, 1 have seen the trees diminish in number, give place to wide prairies, resti-ict their growth to the borders of streams, and then dis- appear from the boundless drier plains, have seen grassy plains change into a brown and sere desert — desert in the common sense, but hardly anywhere botanically so, — have seen a fair growth of coniferous trees adorning the more fiivoured slopes of a mountain-range high enough to compel summer showers — have traversed that broad and bare elevated region shut off on both sides by high mountains from the moisture supplied by either ocean, and longitudinally intersected by sierras which seemingly remain as naked as they were born — and have reached at length the westward slopes of the high mountain-barrier which, refreshed by the Pacific, bears the noble forests of the Sierra Nevada and the coast-range, and among them trees which are the wonder of the Avorld. As I stood in their shade in the groves of Mariposa and Calaveras, and again under the canopy of the commoner redwood, raised on columns of such majestic height and am])le girth, it occurred to me that I could not do better tlian to share with you, upon this occasion, some of the thoughts which possessed my mind. 54 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. In their development they may, perhaps, lead us up to ques- tions of considerable scientiiic interest. I shall not detain you with any remarks (which would now be trite) upon the size or longevity of these far-famed Sequoia trees, or of the sugar-pines, incense-cedar, and firs associated with them, of which even the prodigious bulk of the dominating Sequoia does not sensibly diminish the grandeur. Although no account and no photographic representation of either species of the far-famed Sequoia trees give any adequate impression of their singular majesty, still less of their beauty, yet my interest in them did not culminate merely or mainly in con- siderations of their size and age. .Other trees in other parts of the world may claim to be older ; certain Australian gum-trees {Eucalypti) are said to be taller. Some, we are told, rise so high that they might even cast a flicker of shadow upon the summit of the pyramid of Cheops ; yet the oldest of them doubtless grew from seed which was shed long after the names of the pp'amid-builders had been forgotten. So far as we can judge from the actual counting of the layers of several trees, no Sequoia now alive can sensibly antedate the Christian era. Nor was I much impressed with an attraction of man's adding. That the more remarkable of these trees should bear distinguishing appellations seems proper enough ; but the tablets of personal names which are affixed to many of them in the most visited groves (as if the memory of more or less notable people of our day might be made more enduring by the juxtaposition) do suggest some incongruity. When we consider that a hand's breadth at the circumference of any one of the venerable trunks so placarded has recorded in annual lines the lifetime of the individual thus associated with it, one may question whether the next hand's breadth may not measure the fame of some of the names thus ticketed for ad- ventitious immortality. Whether it be the man or the tree that is honoured in the connexion, probably either would live as long, in fact and in memory, without it. One notable thing about these Sequoia trees is their isolation. Most of the trees associated with them are of peculiar species ; and some of them are nearly as local. Yet every pine, fir, and cypress in California is in some sort familiar, because it has near relatives in other parts of the world ; but the redwoods have none. The redwood (including in that name the two species of "big trees") belongs to the general cypress family, hvii \'& sui geyieris. Thus isolated systematically, and extremely isolated geographically, and so wonderful in size and port, they, more thai) other trees, suggest questions. Were they created thus local and lonely, denizens of Cali- Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 55 fornia only — one in limited numbers in a few clioice spots on the Sierra Nevada, the other along the coast-range from the Bay of Monterey t6 the frontiers of Oregon? Are they veri- table Melchizedecs, without pedigree or early relationship, and possibly fated to be without descent ? Or are they now coming upon the stage (or rather were they coming but for man's interference) to play a part in the future ? Or are they remnants, sole and scanty survivors of a race that has played a grander part in the past, but is now verging to extinction ? Have they had a career ? and can that career be ascertained or surmised, so that we may at least guess whence they came, and how and when? Time was, and not long ago, when such questions as these were regarded as useless and vain, when students of natural history, unmindful of what the name denotes, were content with a knowledge of tilings as they now are, but gave little heed as to how they cam'e to be so. Now such questions are held to be legitimate, and perhaps not wholly unanswerable. It cannot now be said that these trees inhabit their present re- stricted areas simply because they are there placed in the climate and soil of all the world most congenial to them. These must indeed be congenial or they would not survive. But when we see how Australian Eucalyptus trees thrive upon the Californian coast, and how these very redwoods flourish upon another continent — how the so-called wild oat {Arena sterilis) of the Old World has taken full possession of California — how that cattle and horses, introduced by the Spaniard, have spread as widely and made themselves as much at home on the plains of La Plata as on those of Tartary, and that the cardoon-thistle seeds, and others they brought with them, have multiplied there into numbers probably much exceeding those extant in their native lands ; indeed, when we contemplate our own race and our own particular stock taking such recent but dominating possession of this New World — when we consider how the indigenous flora of islands generally succumbs to the foreigners which come in the train of man, and that most weeds {i. e. the prepotent plants in open soil) of all temperate climates are not "to the manor born," but are self-invited intruders, — we must needs abandon the notion of any primordial and absolute adaptation of plants and animals to their habitats, which may stand in lieu of explanation and so preclude our inquiring any further. The harmony of Nature and its ad- mirable perfection need not be regarded as inflexible and changeless. Nor need Nature be likened to a statue or a cast in rigid bronze, but rather to an organism with ])lay and 56 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. adaptability of parts, and life and even soul informing the whole. Under the former view Nature would be " the faultless monster which the world ne'er saw," but inscrutable as the Sphinx, whom it were vain, or worse, to question of the whence and whither. Under the other, the perfection of nature, if relative, is multifarious and ever renewed, and much that is enigmatical now may find explanation in some record of the past. That the two species of redwood we are contemplating ori- ginated as they are and where they are, and for the part they are now playing, is, to say the least, not a scientific supposition, nor in any sense a probable one. Nor is it more likely that they are destined to play a conspicuous part in the future, or that they would have done so, even if the Indian's fires and white man's axe had spared them. The redwood of the coast {Sequoia semjpervirens) had the stronger hold upon existence, forming as it did large forests througTiout a narrow belt about 300 miles in length, and being so tenacious of life that every large stump sprouts into a copse. But it does not pass the Bay of Monterey, nor cross the line of Oregon, although so grandly developed not far below it. The more remarkable Sequoia gig antea of the SieiTa exists in numbers so limited that the separate groves may be reckoned upon the fingers, and the trees of most of them have been counted, except near their southern limit, where they are said to be more copious. A species limited in individuals holds its existence by a precarious tenure ; and this has a foothold only in a few sheltered spots, of a happy mean in temperature and locally favoured with moisture in summer. Even there, for some reason or other, the pines with which they are associated {Pinus Lamhertiana and P. ])onderosa) J the firs [Abies grandis and A. amahilis)^ and even the incense-cedar [Lihocedrus decurrens) possess a great advantage, and, though they strive in vain to emulate their size, wholly overpower the Sequoias in numbers. " To him that hath shall be given ;" the force of numbers eventually wins. At least, in the commonly visited groves Sequoia gi- gantea is invested in its last stronghold, can neither advance into more exposed positions above, nor fall back into drier and barer ground below, nor hold its own in the long run where it is, under present conditions ; and a little further drying of the climate, which must once have been much moister than now, would precipitate its doom. Whatever theindividual longevity, certain if not speedy is the decline of a race in Avhich a high death-rate afflicts the young. Seedlings of the big trees occur not rarely, indeed, but in meagre proportion to those of asso- ciated trees ,• and small indeed is the chance that any of these Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 57 will attain to "the days of the years of their fathers." "Few and evil" are the days of all the forest likely to be, while man, both barbarian and civilized, torments them with fires, fatal at once to seedlings and at length to the aged also. The forests of California, proud as the iState may be of them, are already too scanty and insufhcient for her uses ; two lines, such as may be drawn with one sweep of a small brush over the map, would cover them all. The coast redwood, the most important tree in California, although a million times more numerous than its relative of the Sierra, is too good to live long. Such is its value for lumber and its accessibility that, judging the future by the past, it is not likely in its primaeval growth to outlast its rarer fellow species. Happily man preserves and desseminates as well as destroys. The species will probably be indefinitely preserved to science, and for ornamental and other uses, in its own and other lands ; and the more remarkable individuals of the present day are likely to be sedulously cared for, all the more so as they become scarce. Our third question remains to be answered : Have these famous Sequoias *played in former times and upon a larger stage a more imposing part, of which the present is but the epilogue ? We cannot gaze high up the huge and venerable trunks, which one crosses the continent to behold, without wishing that these patriarchs of the grove were able, like the long-lived antediluvians of scripture, to hand down to us through a few generations the traditions of centuries, and so tell us somewhat of the history of their race. Fifteen hundred annual layers have been counted, or satisfactorily made out, upon one or two fallen trunks ; it is probable that close to the heart of some of the living trees may be found the circle that records the year of our Saviour's nativity. A few generations of such trees might carry the history a long viay back ; but the ground they stand upon, and the marks of very recent geological change and vicissitude in the region around, testify that not very many such generations can have flourished just there, at least in an unbroken series. When their site was covered by glaciers these Sequoias must have occupied other stations, if, as there is reason to believe, they then existed in the land. I have said that the redwoods have no near relatives in the country of their abode, and none of their genus anywhere else. Perhaps something may be learned of their genealogy by in- quiring of such relatives as they have. There are only two of any particular nearness of kin ; and they are far away. One is the bald cypress, our southern cypress ( Taxndium), inhabiting 58 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia audits History. the swamps of the Atlantic coast from MarjLand to Texas, thence extending into Mexico : it is well known as one of the largest trees of our Atlantic forest-district ; and although it never (except perhaps in Mexico, and in rare instances) attains the portliness of its western relatives, yet it may equal them in longevity. The other relative is GlyiJtostrobus^ a sort of modified Taxodium^ being about as much like our bald cypress as one species of redwood is Kke the other. Now species of the same type, especially when few and the type peculiar, are in a general way associated geographically, i. e. inhabit the same country or (in a large sense) the same region. Where it is not so, where near relatives are separated, there is usually something to be explained. Here is an instance. These four trees, sole representatives of their tribe, dwell almost in three separate quarters of the world — the two redwoods in California, the bald cypress in Atlantic North America, its near relative, Glyj^tostrohus^ in China. It was not always so. In the tertiary period, the geological botanists assure us, our own very Taxodium^ or bald cypress, and a Glyptostrohus exceedingly like the present Chinese tree, and more than one Sequoia coexisted in a fcmi'th quarter of the globe, viz. in Europe ! This brings up the question : Is it possible to bridge over these four wide intervals of space and the much vaster interval of time, so as to bring these extra- ordinarily separated relatives into connexion? The evidence which may be brought to bear upon this question is various and widely scattered. I bespeak your patience while I en- deavour to bring together in an abstract the most important points of it. Some interesting facts may come out by comparing generally the botany of the three remote regions, each of which is the sole home of one of these three genera — i. e. Sequoia in Cali- fornia, Taxodium in the Atlantic United States, and Glypto- strobus in China, which compose the whole of the peculiar tribe under consideration. Note then, first, that there is another set of three or four peculiar trees, in this case of the yew family, which has just the same peculiar distribution, and which therefore may have the same explanation, whatever that explanation be. The genus Torreya, which commemorates our botanical Nestor and a former president of this association (Dr. Torrey), was founded upon a tree rather lately discovered (that is, about thirty-five years ago) in northern Florida. It is a noble yew-like tree and very local, being known only for a few miles along the shores of a single river. It seems as if it had somehow been crowded down out of the Alleghanies into its present limited Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 59 southern quarters ; for in cultivation it evinces a northern hardiness. Now another species of Torreya is a characteristic tree of Japan ; and the same, or one very like it indeed, inhabits the Himalayas — belongs therefore to the Eastern Asiatic temperate region, of which China is a part, and Japan, as we shall see, the portion most interesting to us. There is only one more species of Torreya ; and that is a companion of the redwoods in California ; it is the tree locally known under the name of the California nutmeg. In this case the three are near brethren, species of the same geniis, known nowhere else than in these three habitats. Moreover the Torreya of Florida has growing with it a yew tree, and the trees of that grove are the only yew trees of Eastern America ; for the yew of our northern woods is a de- cumbent shrub. The only other yew trees in America grow with the redwoods and the other Torreya in California, and more plentifully further nprth, in Oregon. A yew tree equally accompanies the Torreya of Japan and the Himalayas ; and > this is apparently the same as the common yew of Europe. So we have three groups of trees of the great coniferous order which agree in this peculiar geographical distribution: — the red- woods and their relatives, which differ widely enough to be termed a different genus in each region ; the Torreyas, more nearly akin, merely a different species in each region ; the yews, perhaps all of the same species, perhaps not quite that (for opinions differ and can hardly be brought to any decisive test). The yews of the Old World, from Japan to Western Europe, are considered the same ; the very local one in Florida is slightly different ; that of California and Oregon differs a very little more ; but all of them are within the limits of variation of many a species. However that may be, it appears to me that these several instances all raise the same question, only with a different degree of emphasis, and, if to be explained at all, will have the same kind of explanation. But the value of the explanation will be in proportion to the number of fticts it will explain. Continuing the comparison between the three regions with which we are concerned, we note that each has its own species of pines, firs, larches, &c., and of a few deciduous-leaved trees, such as oaks and maples ; all of which have no peculiar sig- nificance for the present purpose, because they are of genera which are common all round the northern hemisphere. Leaving these out of view, the noticeable point is tliat the vegetation of California is most strikingly unlike that of the Atlantic United States. They possess some })lants, and some peculiarly Ame- rican plants, in common — enough to show, as 1 imagine, that 60 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. the difficulty was not in the getting from the one district to the other, or into both from a common source, but in abiding there. The primordially unbroken forest of Atlantic North America, nourished by rainfall distributed throughout the year, is widely separated from the western region of sparse and discontinuous tree-belts of the same latitude on the western side of the con- tinent, where summer rain is wanting or nearly so, by immense treeless plains and plateaux of more or less aridity, traversed by longitudinal mountain-ranges of a similar character. Their nearest approach is at the north, in the latitude of Lake Superior, where, on a more rainy line, trees of the Atlantic forest and that of Oregon may be said to interchange. The change of species and of the aspect of vegetation in crossing, say on the forty-seventh parallel, is slight in comparison with that on the thirty-seventh or near it. Confining our attention to the lower latitude, and under the exceptions already specially noted, we may say that almost every characteristic form in the vegetation of the Atlantic States is wanting in California, and the characteristic plants and trees of California are wanting • here. California has no Magnolia, nor tulip-trees, nor star-anise tree, no so-called papaw [Asimina), no barberry of the common single-leaved sort, no Fodophyllmn or other of the peculiar associated genera, no Nelumho nor white water-lily, no prickly ash nor sumach, no loblolly -bay nor Stuart ia, no bass wood or linden-trees, neither locust, honey-locust, coffee-trees ( Gymnocladus) , nor yellow- wood ( Cladrastis) , nothing answer- ing to Hydrangea or witch-hazel, to gum-trees {Nyssa and Liquidamhar) , Vihurmmi or DierviUa] it has few asters and golden-rods, no lobelias, no huckle-berries, and hardly any blue-berries — no Epigcva, charm of our earliest eastern spring, tempering an icy April wind with a delicious wild fragrance — no Kalmia, nor Clethra, nor holly, nor persimmon — no catalpa tree, nor trumpet-creeper ( Tecoma) — nothing answering to sas- safras, or to benzoin tree, or to hickory — neither mulberry nor elm — no beech, true chestnut, hornbeam, nor ironwood, nor a proper birch tree; and the enumeration might be continued very much further by naming herbaceous plants and others familiar only to botanists. In their place California is filled with plants of other types, trees, shrubs, and herbs, of which I will only remark that they are, with one or two exceptions, as different from the plants of the eastern Asiatic region with whicli we are concerned (Japan, China, and Mandchuria) as they are from those of Atlantic North America. Their near relatives, when they have any in other lands, are mostly southward, on the Mexican plateau, or Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia audits History. 61 many as far south as Chili. The same may be said of the plants of the intervening great plains, except that northward and in the subsaline vegetation there are some close alliances with the flora of the steppes of Siberia. And along the crests of high mountain-ranges the arctic alpine flora has sent south- ward more or less numerous representatives through the whole length of the country. If we now compare, as to their flora generally, the Atlantic United States with Japan, Mandchuria, and Northern China, «. e. eastern North America Avith eastern Nortli Asia (half the earth's circumference apart), we find an astonishing similarity. The larger part of the genera of our own region which I have enumerated as wanting in California are present in Japan or Mandchuria, along with many other peculiar plants, divided between the two. There are plants enough of the one region which have no representatives in the other. There are types which appear to have, reached the Atlantic States from the south ; and there is a larger infusion of subtropical Asiatic types into temperate China and Japan : among these there is no re- lationship between the two countries to speak of. There are also, as I have already said, no small number of genera and some species which, being common all round or partially round the northern temperate zone, have no special significance because of their occurrence in these two antipodal floras, al- though they have testimony to bear upon the general question of geographical distribution. The point to be remarked is that many or even most of the genera and species which are peculiar to North America as compared with Europe, and largely pecu- liar to Atlantic North America as compared with the Califor- nian region, are also represented in Japan and Mandchuria, either by identical or by closely similar forms ! The same rule holds on a more northward line, although not so strikingly. If we compare the plants, say of New England and Pennsyl- vania (lat. 45°-47°), with those of Oregon, and then with those of North-eastern Asia, we shall find many of our own curiously repeated in the latter, while only a small number of them can be traced along the route even so far as the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. And these repetitions of Eastern American types in Japan and neighbouring districts are in all degrees of likeness. Sometimes the one is undistinguishable from the other ; sometimes there is a difference of aspect, but hardly of a tangible character ; sometimes the two would be termed marked varieties if they grew naturally in the same forest or in the same region ; sometimes they are what the botanist calls re- presentative species, the one answering closely to the other, but with some differences regarded as specific ; sometimes the 62 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. two are merely of the same genus, or not quite that, but of a single or very few species in each country, — when the point which interests us is that this pecuHar limited type should occur in two antipodal places, and nowhere else. It would be tedious and, except to botanists, abstruse to enumerate instances ; yet the whole strength of the case depends upon the number of such instances. I propose, therefore, if the Association does me the honour to print this discourse, to append in a note a list of the more remarkable ones. But I would here mention two or three cases as specimens. Our Rhus toxicodendron^ or poison-ivy, is very exactly re- peated in Japan, but is found in no other part of the world, although a species much like it abounds in California. Our other poisonous i?/ms {R. venenata) ^ commonly called poison dog- wood, is in no way represented in Western America, but has so close an analogue in Japan that the two were taken for the same by Thunberg and Linnaius, who called them R. vernix. Our northern fox-grape [Vitis Idbrusca) is wholly confined to the Atlantic States, except that it reappears in Japan and that region. The original Wistaria is a woody leguminous climber with showy blossoms, native to the Middle Atlantic States ; the other species, which we so much prize in cultivation, W. si- nensis, is from China, as its name denotes, or perhaps only from Japan, where it is certainly indigenous. Our yellow wood ( Cladrastis) inhabits a very limited dis- trict on the western slope of the Alleghanies. Its only and very near relative {Maachia) is in Mandchuria. The Hydrangeas have some species in om- Alleghany region. All the rest belong to the Chino-Japanese region and its con- tinuation westward. The same may be said of Philadelphus, except that there are one or two mostly very similar in Cali- fornia and Oregon. Our blue cohosh ( Caidoi^liyliwni) is confined to the woods of the Atlantic States, but has lately been discovered in Japan. A peculiar relative of it, Dii^liylleia, confined to the higher Alleghanies, is also repeated in Japan, with a slight difference, so that it may barely be distinguished as another species. Another relative is our twin leaf, Jefersonia, of the Alleghany region alone. A second species has lately turned up in Mand- churia. A relative of this is Podophyllum, our mandrake, a common inhabitant of the Atlantic United States, but found nowhere else. There is one other species of it ; and that is in the Himalayas. Here are four most peculiar genera of one family, each of a single species in the Atlantic United States, Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 63 which are duplicated on the other side of the workl, eitlier in identical or almost identical species, or in an analogous species, while nothing else of the kind is known in any other part of the world. I ought not to omit ginseng, the root so prized by the Chi- nese, which they obtained from their northern provinces and Mandchuria, and which is now known to inhabit Corea and Northern Japan. The Jesuit Fathers identified the plant in Canada and the Atlantic States, brought over the Chinese name by which we know it, and established the trade in it, which was for many years most profitable. The exporta- tion of ginseng to China has probably not yet entirely ceased. Whether the Asiatic and the Atlantic American ginsengs are exactly of the same species or not is somcAvhat uncertain ; but they are hardly if at all distinguishable. There is a shrub, EUiottia^ which is so rare and local that it is known only at t'v\;o stations on the Savannah river in Georgia. It is of peculiar structure, and was without near relative until one was lately discovered in Japan (in Trvpeta- leia) so like it as hardly to be distinguishable except by having the parts of the blossom in threes instead of fours, a difference which is not uncommon in the same genus or even in the same species. Suppose Elliottia had happened to be collected only once, a good while ago, and all knowledge of the limited and obscure locality was lost ; and meanwhile the Japanese form came to be known. Such a case woidd be parallel with an actual one. A specimen of a peculiar plant, Shortia galacifolia^ was de- tected in the herbarium of the elder Michaux, who collected it (as his autograph ticket shows) somewhere in the high Alle- ghany mountains more than eighty years ago. No one has seen the living plant since, or knows where to find it, if haply it still flourishes in some secluded spot. At length it is found in Japan ; and I had the satisfaction of making the identifica- tion*. One other relative is also known in Japan ; and an- other, still unpublished, has just been detected in Thibet. Whether the Japanese and the Alleghanian plants are ex- actly the same or not, it needs complete specimens of the two to settle. So far as we know they are just alike. And even if some difference were discerned between them, it would not appreciably alter the question as to how such a result came to pass. Each and every one of the analogous cases I have been detailing (and very many more could be mentioned) raises the same question and would be satisfied with the same answer. * Amer. Journ. Science, 1867, p. 402 ; Proc. Amer. Acad. viii. p. 244. 64 Prof. Asa Gray on Sef^iioia and its History. These singular relations attracted my curiosity early in the course of my botanical studies, when comparatively few of them were known, and my serious attention in later years, when I had numerous and new Japanese plants to study in the collections made by Messrs. Williams and Morrow dur- ing Commodore Perry's visit in 1853, and especially by Mr. Charles Wright in Commodore Rodgers's expedition in 1855. I then discussed this subject somewhat fully, and tabulated the facts within my reach*. This was before Heer had developed the rich fossil botany of the arctic zone, before the immense antiquity of existing species of plants was recognized, and before the publication of Darwin s now famous volume on the Origin of Species had introduced and familiarized the scientific world with those now current ideas respecting the history and vicissitudes of species, with which I attempted to deal in a tentative and feeble way. My speculation was based upon the former glaciation of the northern temperate zone, and the inference of a warmer period preceding (and perhaps following). I considered that our own jn'esent vegetation, or its proximate ancestry, must have occu- pied the arctic and subarctic regions in pliocene times, and that it had been gradually pushed southward as the tempera- ture lowered and the glaciation advanced even beyond its present habitation — that plants of the same stock and kindred, probably ranging round the arctic zone as the present arctic species do, made their forced migration southward upon widely different longitudes, and receded more or less as the climate grew warmer — that the general difference of climate which marks the eastern and the western sides of the continents (the one extreme, the other mean) was doubtless even then established, so that the same species and the same sorts of species would be likely to secure and retain foothold in the similar climates of Jaj^an and the Atlantic United States, but not in intermediate regions of different distribution of heat and moisture, so that different species of the same genus, as in Torreya^ or different genera of the same group, as llcdwood, Taxodium, and GlyjHostrohuSj or different associations of forest trees, might establish themselves each in the region best suited to its particular requirements, while they would fail to do so in any other. These views implied that the sources of our actual vegetation, and the explanation of these peculiarities, were to be sought in and presupposed an ancestry in pliocene or still earlier times occuY)ying the high northern regions. And it was thought that the occurrence of peculiarly North- * Mem. Amer. Acad. vol. vi. Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History, 65 American genera in Europe in the tertiary period (such as Taxodium^ Carya. Liqiddambar^ Sussaji'as^ Neyundo, &c.) might be best explained on the assumption of early inter- change and diffusion through North Asia, rather than by that of the fabled Atlantis. The hypothesis supposed a gradual modification of species in different directions under altering conditions, at least to the extent of producing varieties, subspecies, and representative species, as they may be variously regarded — likewise the sin- gle and local origination of each type, which is now almost universally taken for granted. The remarkable facts in regard to the Eastern-American and Asiatic floras, which these speculations were to explain, have since increased in number — more especially through the admirable collections of Dr. Maximowicz in Japan and adja- cent countries, and the critical comparisons he has made and is still engaged upon. I am bound to state that in a recent general work * by a dis- tinguished botanist, Professor Grisebach, of Gottingen, these facts have been emptied of all special significance, and the relations between the Japanese and the Atlantic United States floras declared to be no more intimate than might be expected from the situation, climate, and present opportunity of inter- change. This extraordinary conclusion is reached by regard- ing as distinct species all the plants common to both countries between which any differences have been discerned, although such differences would probably count for little if the two in- habited the same country, thus transferring many of my list of identical to that of representative species, and then by simply eliminating from consideration the whole array of representa- tive species, i. e. all cases in which the Japanese and the American plant are not exactly alike, — as if, by pronouncing the cabalistic word sj^ecies, the question were settled, or rather the greater part of it remanded out of the domain of science — as if, while complete identity of forms implies community of region, any thing short of it carries no presumption of the kind — so leaving all these singular duplicates to be wondered at, indeed, but wholly beyond the reach of inquiry. Now the only known cause of such likeness is inheritance • and as all transmission of likeness is with some dificrence in individuals, and as changed conditions have resulted, as is well known, in very considerable differences, it seems to me that if the high antiquity of our actual vegetation could be rendered probable, not to say certain, and the former habitation of any of our species, or of very near relatives of them in high northern * Die Vegetation der Enle nach ihrer klimatischen Anordniing. 1871. Ann. d) Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.sX. 5 66 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. regions could be ascertained, my whole case would be made out. The needful facts, of which I was ignorant when my essay was published, have now been for some years made known, thanks mainly to the researches of Heer upon ample collections of arctic fossil plants. These are confirmed and extended through new investigations by Heer and Lesque- rcux, the results of which have been indicated to me by the latter. The Taxodium Avhicli everywhere abounds in the miocene formations in Europe, has been specifically identified, first by G()e])pert, then by Heer, with our common cypress of the Southern States. It has been found fossil in Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Alaska, in the latter country along with the remains of another form, distinguishable, but very like the common species ; and this has been identified by Lesquereux in the miocene of the Rocky Mountains. So there is one species of tree which has come down essentially unchanged from tlic tertiary period, which for a long while inhabited both Euro})e and North America, and also at some part of the ])eriod the region which geographically connects the two (once doubtless much more closely than now) , but has survived only in the Atlantic United States and Mexico. The same Sequoia wliicli abounds in the same miocene for- mations in Northern Europe has been abundantly found in those of Iceland, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Mackenzie river, and Alaska. It is named S. Langsdorffii^ but is ])ronounced to be very much like S. sempervirens^ our living redwood of the Californian coast, and to be the ancient representative of it. Fossil specimens of a similar, if not the same, species have been recently detected in the Rocky Mountains by Ilayden, and determined by our eminent pala3ontological botanist, Les- quereux ; and he assures me that he has the common redwood itself from Oregon, in a deposit of tertiary age. Another Sequoia {S. Sternbergn), discovered in miocene deposits in Greenland, is pronounced to be the representative of S. gigan- tea^ the big tree of the Californian sierra. If the Taxodium of tertiary time in Europe and throughout tlie arctic regions is tlie ancestor of our present bald cypress, which is assumed in regarding them as specifically identical, then I think we may, with our present light, fairly assume that the two red- woods of California are the direct or collateral descendents of the two ancient species which so closely resemble them. The forests of the arctic zone in tertiary times contained at least three other S})ccies of Sequoia^ as determined by their re- mains, one of whicli, from S])itzbergen, also much rcsendjles the cunnnun redwood of California. Another, ^' which a})pears to Prul", Asa Gray oi Sequoia and its History. 67 have been the commonest coniferous tree on Disco," was common in England and some other parts of Europe. So tlie Sequoias, now remarkable for tlieir restricted station and num- bers, as well as for their extraordinary size, are of an ancient stock ; their ancestors and kindred formed a large part of the forests Avhich flourished throughout the polar regions, now desolate and ice-clad, and which extended into low latitudes in Europe. On this continent one species at least had reached to the vicinity of its present habitat before the glaciation of the region. Among the fossil specimens already found in California, but which our trustworthy palajontological botanist has not yet had time to examine, we may exjiect to find evidence of the early arrival of these two redwoods upon the ground which they now, after much vicissitude, scantily occupy. Differences of climate, or circumstances of migration, or both, must liave deteryiined the survival of Sequoia upon the Pacific, and of Taxodinm iq)on the Atlantic coast ; and still the redwoods Avill not stand in the east, nor could our Taxodiam find a congenial station in California. As to the remaining near relative of Sequoia^ the Chinese Glyptostrobus ^ a species of it, and its veritable representative, was contemporaneous Avith Sequoia and Taxodinm, not only in temperate Europe, but throughout the arctic regions from Greenland to Alaska. Very similar would seem to have been the fate of a more familiar gymnospermous tree, the gingko or Salisburia. It is now indigenous to Japan only. Its an- cestor, as we may fairly call it (since, according to Heer, " it corresponds so entirely with the living species that it can scarcely be separated from if), once inhabited Northern Europe and the whole arctic region round to Alaska, and had even a representative further south in our liocky-Mountain district. For some reason, this and Ghjqdostrohus survived only on the shores of Eastern Asia. Lihocedrus, on the other hand, appears to have cast in its lot with the Sequoias. Two species, according to Heer, were with them in Spitzbergen. Of the two now living, L. decur- rens (the incense cedar) is one of the noblest associates of the ])resent redwoods ; the other is far south, in the Andes of ChiH. The genealogy of the Torreyas is more obscure ; yet it is not unlikely that the yew-like trees named Taxites, which flourished with the Sequoias in the tertiary arctic forests, are the remote ancestors of the three s])ccies of Torreyn, now severally in Florida, in California, and in Japan. As to the jnnes and lirs, these were more numerously asso- 5* 68 Prof. Asa Gray 07i Sequoia mid its Histoi-y. ciatecl with the ancient Sequoias of tlie polar forests than with their present representatives, but in different species, apparently- more like those of Eastern than of Western North America. They must have encircled the ]iolar zone then, as they encircle the present tem|)eratc zone now. I must refrain from all enumeration of the an^-iospermous or ordinary deciduous trees and shrubs which arc now known by their fossil remains to have flourished throughout the polar regions when Greenland better deserved its name, and enjoyed the present climate of New England and New Jersey. Then Greenland and the rest of the north abounded with oaks, re- yiresenting the several groups of species which now inhabit both our eastern and western forest districts — several poplars, one very like our balsam poplar or balm-of-Gilead tree — more beeches than there are now, a hornbeam, and a hop hornbeam, some birches, a jiersimmon, and a plane-tree, near represen- tatives of those of the 01<1 World, at least of Asia, as well as of Atlantic North America, but all wanting in California — - one Juglans like the walnut of the Old World, and another like our black Avalnut — two or three grape-vines, one near our Southern fox grape or muscadine, the other near our Northern frost grape — a T'ilia very like our basswood of the Atlantic States only, a Liquidamhar, a Magnolia which recalls our il/. grandijlora^ a Liriodendron^ sole representative of our tulip-tree, and a sassafras very like the living tree. Most of these, it will be noticed, have their nearest or their only living representatives in the Atlantic States— and when elsewhere, mainly in Eastern Asia. Several of tliem, or of species like them, have been detected in our tertiary deposits west of the Mississippi, by Newberry and Lesquereux. Herbaceous plants, as it happens, are rarely preserved in a fossil state ; else they would probably supply additional testi- mony to the antiquity of our existing vegetation, its wide diffusion over the northern and now frigid zone, and its enforced migrations under changes of climate. Concluding, then, as we must, that our existing vegetation, as a whole, is a continuation of that of the tertiary period, may we suppose that it absolutely originated then? Evidently not. The preceding Cretaceous period has furnished to Carruthers in Europe a fossil fruit like that of the Sequoia gigantea of the famous groves, associated with pines of the same character as those that accompany the present tree — has furnished to Heer, from Greenland, two more Sequoias, one of them identical with a tertiary species, and one nearly allied to Sequoia Langsdorjii ^ which in turn is a probable ancestor of the common CaHfornian redwood — has furnished to Lesquereux in North America the Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 69 remains of another ancient Sequoia, a Olyptostrobus, a Liquid- amhar which wel^ represents our sweet-gum tree, oaks analo- gous to living ones, leaves of a plane-tree which arc also in the tertiary and are scarcely distinguishable from our own Platanus occidentalis, of a magnolia and tulip-tree, and " of a sassafras undistinguishablc from our living species." I need not continue the enumeration. Suffice it to say that the facts will justify the conclusion which Lesquereux (a very scrupu- lous investigator) has already announced, " That the essential typos of our actual Hora are marked in the Cretaceous period, and have come to us after passing, without notal>le changes, through the tertiary formations of our continent." According to these views, as regards plants at least, the adaptation to successive times and changed conditions has been maintained, not by absolute renewals, but by gradual modifi- cations. I, for one, cannot doubt that the present existing species are the lineal suocessors of those that garnished the earth in the old time before them, and that they were as well adapted to their surroundings then as those which flourish and bloom around us are to their conditions now. Order and exquisite adaptation did not wait for man's coming, nor were they ever stereotyped. Organic Nature (by which I mean the system and totality of living things, and their adaptation to each other and to tlie world), with all its apparent and indeed real stability, should be likened, not to the ocean, which varies only by tidal oscillations from a fixed level to which it is always returning, but rather to a river so vast that we can neither discern its shores nor reach its sources, whose onward flow is not less actual because too slow to be observed by the Ephemera3 which hover over its surface or are borne upon its bosom. Such ideas as these, though still repugnant to some, and not long since to many, have so possessed the minds of the naturalists of the present day that hardly a discourse can be pronounced or an investigation prosecuted without refer- ence to them. I suppose that the views here taken are little if at all in advance of the average scientific mind of the day. 1 cannot regard them as less noble than those which they are succeeding. An able philosophical writer. Miss Frances Power Cobbe, has recently and truthfully said * : — " It is a singular fact that when we can find out how any thing is done, our first conclusion seems to be that God did not do it. No matter how wonderful, how beautiful, how in- timately complex and delicate has been the machinery which • " Darwinisui in Mi)rals," in 'I'heological Review, April 1871. 70 ]\r. F. Plateau on the Aquatic Articulatn. lias Avorkcfl, pcrlia])S for centuries, perliaps for millions of ages, to bring about some beneficent result, if we can but catch a glimpse of the wheels, its divine character disappears." I agree with the writer tliat this first conclusion is prema- ture and unworthy ; I will add, deplorable. Through what faults or infirmities of dogmatism on the one hand and scepti- cism on the other it came to be so thought, we need not here consider. Let us hope, and I confidently expect, that it is not to last — that the religious faith which survived without a shock the notion of the fixity of the earth itself, may equally outlast the notion of the absolute fixity of the species which inhabit it — that, in the future even more than in the past, faith in an order ^ which is the basis of science, will not (as it cannot reasonably) be dissevered from faith in an Ordaiaevj which is the basis of religion. VIII. — PJiysico-chemical Investigations upon the Aquatic Articulata. By M. Felix Plateau. Part II.* The first part of my investigations, of which an abstract was published in this Journal in 1871 (vol. vii. p. 362), contained the results of my experiments on the causes of the death of the freshwater Articulata in sea-water, and of the marine Ar- ticulata in fresh water. In the present memoir I take up three other interesting questions connected with the life of the aquatic Articulata — questions of detail indeed, the solution of which could not open any new vista in comparative physiology, but which, carefully treated, have led me by numerous exjieriments to curious and sometimes unexpected results. I. Ex2)eriments on the time during lohich the aquatic Articulata can remain in the water toithout corning to the surface to breathe. The swimming aquatic Articulata with aerial respiration (Coleoptera in the perfect state and Ilemiptera) come frequently to the surface to renew their provision of air. If we j)re- vent them from performing this operation, what will be the time during which they may with impunity be subjected to submersion *? Is their resistance to asphyxia greater than that of terrestrial insects? or only equal or inferior to it? The experiments were effected as follows : at the bottom of an open vase of the capacity of one litre, and full of ordinary spring water aerated, a smaller vessel containing about 200 cubic centimetres is placed ; a piece of cotton net is stretched * Bulletin de I'Acad. Roy. de Belgique, 2^ s^r. tome xxxiv. nos. 9 & 10, 1872. From an Abstract by the Author. M. F. Platoan on tlie Aquatic Arficulafa. 7t over the orifice of the hitter, in such a way that an insect phiced in this smaller vessel is actually in the general mass of water, but cannot rise tcf^ts surface. Terrestrial insects placed in these conditions ascend, carried by their specific levity, till they rest against the lower surfiice of the net ; the movements of their feet soon cease, they do not seem to suffer, and quickly become insensible. The aquatic Coleoptera and Ilemiptera on the contrary, instead of sub- mitting passively to their fate, seek to escape from their prison, swim about rapidly, endeavour to rise to the surface, and con- tinue their agitation until their forces become weakened, and they finally remain as if dead at the bottom. To cause an insect which has been subjected to a prolonged immersion to recover from its state of insensibility, it is necessary, after taking it out of the water, to dry it with bibulous paper. If the duration of the submersion has not exceeded a certain limit, the animal gradually recovers its original activity, the trial it has undergone leaving no sensible traces upon it. These experiments were of course repeated as much as possible upon several individuals and with difierent durations, so as to ascertain for each species the limit of time after which the insect was actually dead. I have thus arrived at the fol- lowing two curious conclusions, which are supported by a great number of experiments. 1. Terrestrial Coleoptera resist complete submersion during a very long time (from three to four days). For example, Oryctes nasicornis resists a submersion of 96 hours. Agelastica alni ,, ,, 72 ,, Carabus auratus „ „ 71 h. 80 m. 2. Natatory aquatic Coleoptera and Ilemiptera, far from presenting a greater resistance to asphyxia by suijmersion, are no better endowed in this respect than terrestrial insects, and even perish in most cases much more rapidly. I cite the fol- lowing numbers from the tables in my memoir : — A Dijtiscus manjlnalis $ died at the end of Qb h. .30 m. An Acilius sulcatus $ „ „ 24 hours. A Nepa cinerea „ „ ol „ A Notonecta glauca ,, „ 3 „ The cause of this unexpected inferiority of the aquatic in- sects seems to consist exclusively in their greater activity in the water, and consequently in a more rapid expenditure of oxygen. II. Influence of cold : effects of congelation. What is the lowest tcmjierature that the aquatic Articulata 72 M. F. Plateau on the A quatic Articulata. that we meet with in winter in these regioas can endure ? can thej remain with impunity fixed in the ice for a certain time ? And, in the event of a negative answer, what is the cause of the mischief observed ? The aquatic Articulata of our latitudes exist indefinitely in water kept by means of melting ice at a temperature of 32° F. As soon as Ave have recourse to lower temperatures, the water freezes, and the question then arises to ascertain Iioav long the animals can remain completely fixed in ice at 32° F. All the experiments were made in winter upon the species which are met with in Belgium in December and January. They consisted in placing an aquatic insect or crustacean, together with the bulb of a Centigrade thermometer, in a thin glass tube containing a little water and surrounded by a freez- ing-mixture intended to produce the complete congelation of the liquid. Care was taken not to allow tlie temperature of the ice formed ever to descend below 0° C, After the lapse of a certain time the tube was taken out of the freezing-mix- ture and immersed in water of the temperature of the room, when, as soon as a commencement of fusion permitted, the lump of ice was extracted from the tube and put directly into water, in order to hasten the disengagement of the animal. The analysis of the results which I have obtained shows that the time during which the aquatic Articulata may be fixed in ice without perishing is excessively short, the longest resis- tance not having reached half an hour. The following num- bers will give an idea of the rapidity with which death ensues under these circumstances : — Imprisonment in ice at 0° C. (32° F.). Maximum period supported without beiug followed by immediate death. Period which inevitably causes death. Af/abus hipustidatus .... Hydroporus lineatiis .... Gyrimis natcdor Notonecta yJauca Corixa striata AseUus aquatieus Cyclops (piadricornis .... minutes, sec. Between 15 aud 20 0 „ 25 „ 30 0 „ 10 „ 15 0 10 0 2 0 10 0 1 30 minutes. 25 30 15 20 3 15 2 I have endeavoured, by means of special experiments, to explain the cause of the rapid death of animals imprisoned in ice at 0° C. ; but although these may, perhaps, be of a nature Dr. J. E. Gray on Spatukmys Lasalje. 73 to interest the reader, I shall confine myself to referring for their description ^o my memoir. The primary cause of rapid death when Articulata are fixed in ice, seems to be the abso- Inte privation of movement and the consequent absorption of the corporeal heat, without any possible restitution. III. Action of heat : maximum temperature, I have endeavoured to ascertain by experiment tlie highest temperature which our freshwater insects, Arachnida, and Crustacea can endure — in other words, what is the tempera- ture of the hottest water in which they can live. I have thus found that the higliest temperatures endured without serious accidents oscillate between 33°'5 and 46°*2 C. ( = 92° and 115° F.), and consequently between very narrow limits. These temperatures correspond with those of a certain num- ber of known thermal springs, in the waters of which we may meet with articulate animals wherever the salts or gases in solution have no injurious action upon them. If we compare the results with which the aquatic Articulata have furnished me with those wliicli have been obtained by means of animals belonging to other groups, we find that the higliest temperature that aquatic animals, whether vertebrate, articulate, or molluscous, are able to support probably does not exceed 46° C. (115° F.). IX. — Additional Notes on Spatulemys LasaliB. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. [Plate II.] Colonel P. Perez de Lasala has brought with him several very interesting specimens from his museum, and has kindly presented to the British Museum a fine adult broad-nosed alligator, and a freshwater tortoise from Rio Parand, Corrientes, which is quite new to our collections, and the largest example of the family that has yet been brought to Europe ; I have named it, from its very depressed form, Spatitlemi/Sj and dedicated the species to the enterprising collector, by calling it Spatidemijs Lasalce (Plate II.). This species was characterized in the ' Annals ' for 1872, X. p. 463, to which I wish to add the following particulars and comparisons with allied species, and also a figure of this very interesting animal. The genus has many similarities to Hydromedusa ; and I thought at one time that it might be the H. tectifera of Mr. Cope, brought from the Parana or Uruguay river, and described 74 Dr. J. E. Gray on Spatulemys Lasalfc. in the ' Proc. Amer. Phil, Soc' for 18G9, p. 147 ; but it lias a nuchal plate in the margin, and only live vertebral plates, and is quite distinct from the genus Ilz/dromedusa. The mouth is semicircular in front, with the gape wide. The palate is broad, flat, with the internal nostrils oval, rather near together, rather before the hinder end of the alveolar surface. Alveolar surfaces flat, broad, well separated from one another in front, broadest about one third their length from the front, and rather more than half the width behind, with a rounded outline. Lower jaw with a slightly concave alveolar surface, which is of the same breadth the whole of its length, and has a well developed raised sharp edge on the outer circumference and a less developed one on the inner margin. There is a well-marked conical tooth-like promi- nence in the front of the middle of the outer edge. The upper and lower jaws of Sptduh'tiii/s Lasahe. The upper and lower jaws of Jli/draspis 7'amc('2)s. The alveolar surface, as seen in the stuffed specimen, is very like that of the skeleton of Hi/drasjns raniceps : but the alveo- lar plates of the upper jaw of the latter species are well separated in the middle, and the internal nostrils are much further back in the palate ; and the alveolar edge of the lower jaw is even — and not with the rounded tubercle on each side, rather behind the central tube. In Hydrasiyis Gordonii (P. Z. S. 1868, p. 503) the alveo- lar plates of each side of the upper jaw are separated by a narrow linear space ; they are moderately wide and nearly the same width for the whole length, truncated at the front end, and gradually rounded off at the hinder end. The internal Dr. J. E. Gray on Macleayius anstralicnsis. 75 nostrils are about opposite to the midddle of the length of the alveolar plate, '^^le alveolar surface of the lower jaw is slightly concave, with a raised edge on the hinder side ; it is rather broader behind, and gradually slightly narrowed towards the front. There is a large slightly elevated rounded tubercle occupying the whole of the middle of the alveolar surfaces between the two rami, and a slight elevation on the outer margin on each side of the middle, giving the edge of the jaws rather a sinuated appearance. X. — 0)1 the Macleayius australiensis /rom Neio Zealand. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.li.S. &c. Dr. Haast has sent the skeleton of a New-Zealand whale to the British Museum as that of Caperea antipodarum ; but the examination of the bones led me at first to believe that it was Euhalcena austrrdis. However, on further examination, the cervical vertebree and the blade-bone show that it cannot belong to either of those genera ; for it has a broad upper process to the atlas, while they have a small narrow one ; and it has an acromial process to the scapula, which is only very rudimentary in Caperea, and is of very different shape in Euhaloina ; like most whales, it has no coracoid. The form of the lobes of the atlas are so like those figured from a pho- tograph by Mr. Krefft, which I described and figured as Macleayius australiensis in the ' Proc. Zool. Soc' 1864, and in the ' Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British ]\[useum,' 1860, p. 105, f. 10, 11, and p. 372, f. 74, 75, that I am inclined to consider it an example of that genus, which was previously known only from a mass of cervical vertebrjB in the Australian Museum at Sydney. Upper jaw very narrow; the nasal bones oblong elongate, arched out at the front end. Cervical vertebrae united into one mass. Atlas very large and thick, with a very long upper process forming a large keeled crest, which is united to the upper process of the five following vertebrre ; the upper lateral process of the atlas high, square, truncated at the end; the lower process twice as high as broad, with an oblong, rounded end. The other cervical vertebrae short, thin : the second with slender upper and lower lateral processes ; the remainder with only descending sujierior processes (and no indication of inferior), which are slender in all but the seventh vertebra, where they are thick and truncated ; and this is the only vertebra that has the upper part distinct from the bony crest. The ear-bone is very like that of Euhalanui. The sternum is oblong, with two or three irregular tubercles at the side. The first rib, like the others, is simple. The blade- 76 Miscellaneous. bone is triangular, rather wider than long. The acromial process is compressedj attenuated at tJie end, and bent outwards. The chief difterence between the mass of the cervical ver- tebra and the specimen in the Sydney Museum, according to Mr. Kretft's photograph, is that the lower process of the axis in that figure appears to be rather longer and narrower at the end. The mass of the cervical vertebrae in some respects resembles that of Balcena mysticetus of the Arctic seas, but differs in being much more united. It differs from Caperea and Euhakena in having the lower lateral process of the second cervical vertebra well developed. MISCELLANEOUS. 0)1 the Reprodaction and Development of the Telescope-fish of China. Ey M. Carbonniek. The telescope -carp {^Cyprinus macrophthalmus, Bloch ; in Chinese Long-tslng-ya) is a native of the fresh waters of China and Japan. Its coutbrmation is remarkably anomalous. Its body is globidar ; its caudal and anal fins are doubled ; its eyes project from two to five centimetres from its head ; in fact the entire animal is the exact model of those fishes, hitherto regarded as chimerical, that we meet Avith in a great many Chinese paintings. This fish seems to me to be a monstrous goldfish, a monster designedly produced by means of processes of breeding (in which the Chinese are very clever), so powerful that the original anomaly has now become hereditary. I have already, in goldfish, met with analogous partial monstro- sities, especially the gemination of the caudal fin. M. G. Pouchet, in a note presented to the Academy on the 30th May 1870, notices a similar anomaly presented by two living specimens received by him from China ; but hitherto, so far as I am awai'e, no one has had the opportunity of studying the variety of carp which I call telescope-fish. Ey the kindness of a relation, I received twenty-foiir specimens, aU presenting the same modifications of structui-e ; only three of these died, the remainder have recovered sufficiently to allow me to try to reproduce them since the first year. The globular form of the body of the animal renders its ecjuilibriiim extremely unstable, and it can swim only witli difficulty ; hence, whilst its congener the goldfish effects its spawning by rubbing itself against aqiuitic plants, fiexible bodies of little resistance, the telescope-fish seeks a firmer point of support, opposing a direct resistance to the impulse of the fins. It is at the bottom of the water, on the gi'oiuid, that it rubs its abdomen. While the female acts thus in oviposition, the males, which are exceedingly ardent in fecundation, pursue her several together, push her with their heads, turn her over and roU her over and over, in- flicting upon her an actual punishment. . Having deposited, in a basin containing 20 cubic metres of water, four fishes belonging to a first lot, about a month afterwards (on file Idtli of September last) I saw the three males pursuing the Miscellaneous. 77 foraale, roll her like a ball upon the ground for a distance of several mi'tres, and continue this conduct, without I'est or relaxation, for two days, until the poor female, who had not been able to recover her e(]nilibrium for a moment, had at last evacuated all her ova. Being then obliged to suspend my observations, I returned a fortnight afterwards, and, carefully examining the surface and the edges of the basin, I had the satisfaction of discovering several little embryos, which swam with considerable difficulty, and which a more careful examination enabled me to recogiuze as the young fry of the telescope-fish. They had the same double caudal fin, and the samesinuosity of the upper part of the back ; but the eyes were not yet very prominent. Having brought them to Paris and observed them carefully, they furnished me with the following results. At its earliest age the telescope-fish has the elongated form of most of our young fishes ; the transparency of the body allows us to distinguish plainly the air-bladder, lodged in the upper part of the body, and the intestine, forming a right angle, of which the apex is opposite to the bladder. 80 long as the embryo lives at the expense of the umbilical vesicle, it swims easily and in a horizontal position ; but subsequently the absorption of exterior aliment has for its result an abnormal and irregular development, which, in neaidy half the specimens, causes a deviation from the normal position, and the animal holds itself vertically, sometimes Avith the head upwards, but most frequently with it downwards. The faulty position of the air-bladder and the too slight development of the fins neutralize the intiuence of these directive agents ; the want of equilibrium persists, the young animal can no longer seek its nourishment, and it dies in two or three days. I have scarcely been able to make them live for ten or twelve days by mixing triturated animal matter with the water of my aquaria. I have, however, no doubt that the rearing of the young fry which remain will furnish me with some new facts. — Comjjtes lleadus, November 4, 1872, tome Ixxv. p. 1127. Additional Observations on Codioph5'llum. By Dr. J. E. Gkay, F.li.S. &c. More than one botanist has asked me for a specimen of Codio- phyUnm (described in the ' Annals,' for August 1872), which they wanted to examine microscopically and to unravel the fibre. The very expression shows that I have not sufliciently exjilained the structure of this very curious plant ; bur I believed that Mr. Ford's excellent figure would exliibit it better than I could ex])lain it in words. The frond of this curious Alga is not formed of continuous fibres interlaced together, but of a number of oblong rings of a cylin- drical tube, each gradually formed and all connected and anastomosed together, so as to form an expanded frond : each ring is separately formed ; and when complete it sends from a i)art of its surface a tube of the same form, size, and structure, which gradually lengthens, after a time curves back, and unites itself to the ring from which it sprung, thus forming another ring, and in time emitting a new ring from its surface in the same manner. Mr. Ford has attempted to show this development in his figure. • 78 Miscellaneous. The Bell Collection of lleptlhs. To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural Ilistorif. Oxford, Dec. 10, 1872. Gentlemen, — With reference to the correspondence which has appeared in the recent numbers of the ' Annals ' relative to the Bell Collection of lleptiles, and with the view of enabling- your readers to form a proper opinion upon the subject, I think it incumbent upon me to state : — that the negotiation for the purchase of the entire col- lection, on behalf of the Kev. F. W. Hope, was effected by myself with Prof. Eell in 1SG2 ; that an estimation of the extent of the collection and of the value thereof was made by Mr, S. Stevens, the Natural-History Agent ; that the purchase comprised 288 specimens of tortoises (either entire or shells), about 40 dried snakes and lizards, and 10U5 reptiles of various kinds in spirits ; and that the collection was immecUately removed by Mr. Howell to Oxford, where it was partially arranged during the last year by Dr. (jiiinthcr, of the British Museum. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, J. 0. Westwood. Answer to Herr llitsema''s " Note on Crinodes Sommeri " Sfc. By A. G. Butler, F.L.S. &c. A simultaneous attack upon a new genus, in two different maga- zines, is calciilated to impress one with the idea that the discoverer of the supposed error must have been anxious that his acumen should be widely recognized. As an answer to the entirely iinwarranted sr[pposition contained in the said paragraph, I need merely inform Herr Kitscma of one or two facts, which, bad he studied my writings, he might have discovered for himself: Hlibner's 'Sammlung' has been almost constantly on my table for the last seven years ; and I know his figures as well as 1 know my own. I do not make a ])ractice of hunting up every conceival)le resem- blance in pattern between a new genus and those previously figured in works known to me ; I content myself, at most, with a compa- rison of structure between closely allied forms*. I did refer in my paper to the geniis Duduaa (inadvertently written Bi'dima), a group to which C. Sommeri jirobably belongsf; I had examined two species of this genus, and therefore could speak with confidence of its relationship to Tarsolcpis. If Hiibner was not attached to the " type system " there is no reason why C. clara of Cramer should not stand as the type of the genus Crino quite as much as C. Sommeri. * When describing Tarsolcpis, I knew for certain that the structure before me was entirely new. I admit that I did not remember at the time that Iliibner's Crino Somineri wan so similar in pattern ; had I done so, I might have referred to it as a moth resembling mine in pattern, although clearly belonging to a different genus. t The females of Ih(d/tsa have a zone of spatulate scales round the tail, but of only half tlie length of those in the niak^s ; the autenniT? are mode- rately pectinated, more so than in Crinodes ; but there are no tufts of long hairs at the base of the abdomen in either sex. Miscellaneous. • ' 79 The remainder of Herr llitsema's remarks being to a great extent based upon sn})positi<5ns, I shall content myself with answering his direct statements. He says tliat the anal tuft entirely covers the sexual organs ; this is not the case with any of the specimens which I have examined, whelher of C'rinodes, Dudusa, or Tarsolcpis. As to the probability of a long curved brush of carmine hairs being concealed about the body of a Crinodes, it is to my mind more pre- posterous than it would be were our discussion respecting the iden- tity of the Philippine Eusemia banihusina and the South-American L'nmias zoega, to suggest that the difference consisted in the Eusemia having concealed the red spots towards the base of the wings*. If the size of the body is dependent upon sex, it is evident that C. Sommeri must be a male ; but as Herr Kitsema is avowedly work- ing i^rincipally with Mr. Snellen's male, which agrees in all the most important characters with Hiibncr's figure, it does not signify to what sex the type of C. Sommeri belongs. It now seems highly pro- bable that Herr llitsema actually has the Hiibuerian species, whilst it is more evident than evet that I have not. The inaccuracies stated to exist in Hiibner's figures are easily cs- l)lieable when we know that figs. 1 and 2 represent the opposite surfaces of C. Sommeri, and that in fig. 2 hardly any of the inner margin is visible, so that it is impossible to decide whether it is waved or not. The mention of diff'erences in the hind wings of fig. 1 is mere carping. I have now no more to say on this subject until I have seen Hiib- ner's type. If the two genera come from Java, they wiU probably add another to the numerous illustrations of mimetic analogy already on record ; I shall not, therefore (until I have proof of some such interesting fact, by a comparison of the actual type with Javau specimens), encroach further upon the patience of the readers of this magazine. Oil a Mite in the Ear of the Ox. Prof. Leidy remarked that he had received a letter from Dr. Charles S. Turnbull, in which he stated that while studying the anatomy of the car he had discovered in several heads of steers, at the bottom of the external auditory meatus, a number of small living parasites. They were found attached to the surface of the membrana tympani. Specimens of the parasite preserved in glycerine, and a })etrosal bone with the membrana tympani to which several of the parasites were clinging, were also sent for examination. Tliese prove to })e a mite or Acarus, apparently of the genus Gamasus. The body is ovoid, translucent white, a1)out three fifths of a line long, and two fifths of a line wide. The limbs, jaws, and their appendages are brown and bristled ; the body is smooth or devoid of bristles. The limbs are from two fifths to half a line long. Tlie feet are terminated by a five-lobed disk and a pair of claws; the jialpi are six-jointed; the * In other respects these two insects are as much alike as in most ca?cs of actual mimicry. 80 • Miscellaneous. mandibles end in pincers or chelic, resembling lobster-claws ; the movable joint of the chelae has two teeth at the end ; the opposed extremity of the fixed joint of the chelae is narrow, and ends in a hook. Dr. Turribnll had seen the cattle killed, and was positive that the mites occupied the position in the ear of the steers while these were alive ; such being the case, the Acarus may be viewed as a parasite of the ox, and may be specifically named Gamasus auris. — Proc. Acad, Nat. Sci. Philad. 1872. The Horns of Antilocapra. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. The British Museum has purchased of Mr, E. Gerrard, junior, the skin of an adult male Ant'docapra which was just developing the new horny sheath ; and this was rather diiferent from what, by ob- serving the horns in a more developed state, I had been led to expect. The core of the horns was covered with a thick skin, which in the dried state is black ; but the apex is covered with a small conical sheath about 1| in. long and ^ in, wide at the base, hard and per- fectly horny, very like the horn of cattle. It is black, with a white acute tip about | in. long. The horny sheath of a more developed specimen brought at the same time has a similar hard horny tip; but the lower part of the horn is less solid and more evidently formed of felted, matted hair, which is more distinct and less compactly matted at its base or last developed part ; so that it would appear that the skin of the core first develops the horny tip, and then the more spongy part formed of felted hair. Notice of a new and remarkable Fossil Bird. By 0. C. Marsh. One of the most interesting of recent discoveries in palaeontology is the skeleton of a fossil bird, found during the past summer, in the upper Cretaceous shale of Kansas, by Prof. B. F. Mudge, who has kindly sent the specimen to me for examination. The remains in- dicate an aquatic bird about as large as a pigeon, and diftering widely from all known birds in haymg biconcave vertebrce. The cer- vical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrte preserved all show this character, the ends of the centra resembling those of Flesiosanrns. The rest of the skeleton presents no marked deviation from the ordinary avian type. The wings were large in proportion to the posterior extremi- ties. The humerus is 58*6 millims. in length, and has the radial crest strongly developed. The femur is small, and has the proximal end compressed transversely. The tibia is slender and 44-5 millims. long ; its distal end is incurved as in swimming birds, but has no supratendinal bridge. This species may be called IclitJiyornis dis£)ar. A more complete description will appear in an early number of Silliman's Journal. Yale College, Sept. 26th, 1872. THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FOURTH SERIES.] No. 62. FEBRUARY 1873. XI. — Summary of Zdblogical Observations made at Naples in the pointer of 1871-72. By E. Ray Lankester, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of Exeter College, Oxford. My chief object during a recent stay of some months in Naples was to commence a study of the general and histological de- velopment of Mollusca, with the view of ascertaining what significance is to be attributed to the various parts of their organization in the light of the "germ-layer theory," recently extended with such convincing force by the admirable obser- vations of Kowalewsky from the Vertebrata to various groups of lower animals, such as the Vermes and the Insects. I propose now to give a very short statement of some of these observations, as well as of others made on some of the innumerable interesting forms of marine invertebrates with which the invaluable fishermen of Santa Lucia provided me. Development of Loligo. Since the time of Kolliker (1837) no contribution has been made to our knowledge of the development of Cephalopoda. A short note by Mecznikow on Sepiola contains very little and is not illustrated. I obtained eggs of Loligo first in January, and subsequently with tolerable regularity until April : they are better adapted for observation than those of Sepia. The structure of the ovary is very similar to that of a bird. The branched ovary contains eggs of all sizes enclosed in vas- cular capsules. The basketwork marking seen on the ovarian Q,gg is not a plication of the proper capsule, but of the surface of the vitellus, where it is in contact with the inner cellular lining of the capsule^ which sends deeply penetrating ridges and Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser, 4. Vol. xi. 6 82 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations villi into the growing egg. This cellular lining of the capsule grows very rapidly ; and its cells are continually being absorbed or fused into the vitellus, whence the increase of this in size. Some of the cells retain their form and are to be found floating in the complex vitellus thus built up. On attaining full size, the (ig^, having lost entirely its large germinal vesicle^ loses all the plications or basket work of its vitelline surface, and escapes from its capsule, which remains on the branched ovary and undergoes a yellow dege- neration. Passing as a free ovoid homogeneous mass of com- plex yelk (protoplasm and deutoplasm. Van Beneden, com- bined) into the oviduct, the egg is fertilized ; and then at one pole a segregation of plastic yelk, or a germinal patch, occurs in the form of a thin disk or cap. This exhibits subsequently a faint nucleus and commences to divide into two, four, eight, &c. areee, marked out by intercrossing grooves. In some minor respects my observations differ from Kolliker's, who appears to have represented the segmentation as more regular than it is, and the resulting cells as becoming detached, which they do not. When this superficial layer of blastodermic cells has spread over an area relatively as large as would be inclosed by the cir- cumference of a half-crown drawn round the pole of a large hen's egg, an exceedingly remarkable fact presents itself, which has not been observed before, and which has great importance in re- gard to the various theories as to the origin of the " mesoderm," or a portion of that layer. Outside the primitive segmentation- area (fig. 1 p) , and quite unconnected with it, appears a ring of very large pellucid nuclei, seven or eight in number (fig. 1 d) ; they increase in number, and a second, third, and fom'th ring of such large nuclei arise, till at last they spread over the whole Fie:. 1. egg. Meanwhile the cells of the segmentation-area spread by made at Naples in the icinter j)f 1871-72. 83 continual division at the free edge of the cap which they form ; and tkei/ groio over, the large nuclei.^ which are thus seen to lie in a lower stratum of yelk than that along which the cap of cells from the primitive segmentation is spreading. Both the segmentation-cells and the large nuclei finally cover-in the whole surface of the o.^^ as two distinct layers. This process I observed over and over again, and repeatedly observed that the large nuclei arise, each one separately, hy segregation from the yelk-mass. They are products of free-cell formation, and as such of the very highest interest in relation to histogenetic doctrine. The cells which pass into the ovarian ^^^ in such enormous numbers to swell its vitelline mass become so much altered and broken down that it is not possible to regard these large nuclei as descendants from them, though no doubt they, as well as the original egg-cell's protoplasm and the fertilizing male element, have contributed to form an organic "mixture," if one may use the termj from which these free nuclei, as well as the polar segmentation-disk and nucleus, take origin. The large pellucid nuclei subsequently become branched and stellate ; whether they give rise to the whole of the elements of the layer immediately below the outer segmentation-layer it is not possible to say. If they do, contractile muscular cells must be regarded as one of their products. In any case they form the great bulk of the subepidermal tissue, that which cor- responds with the mesoderm of vertebrates. Organs now begin to appear as thickenings on the sur- face of the blastoderm : two eyes (the details of the pi-imitive development of which are remarkable), two ears (which I repeatedly saw in their primitive state as two pits, holes, or in-pushings of the surface ; subsequently they present the con- dition of capsules, each with a narrow canal opening on the surface of the head, which canal becomes eventually the little ciliated cgecum seen by Kolliker), and a median semicircular primitive mouth ; besides these the mantle and arms — the position of the latter marking off the blastodermic sac into two parts, a great yelk-bag, and a smaller embryonic sac, which gradually becomes more and more distinctly pinched off and shaped out. It is not possible to say much of the further de- velopment without illustration ; but I must mention two very important facts. The primitive semicircular mouth is not the real mouth. It is at this point that an inward cellular growth commences, which eats its way into the mass of homogeneous yelk lying in the embryonic portion of the blastodermic sac, and meets (how or where exactly my observations do not show) a shorter ingrowth from the anal aperture, in connexion with which is also developed the ink-bag, thus agreeing with the 6* 84 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations renal organ of Gasteropods. The first portion of the alimentary tube (which early appears in connexion with the primitive semicircular mouth) becomes the yelk-duct. The primitive mouth sinks into the yelk-bag, by the growth of its margins, in a peculiar manner ; and there appears at some distance along the primitive alimentary tube a new mouth. It seems desirable to speak of these apertures as primitive and secondary mouth, for the sake of description ; but it is a possibility that the primitive mouth must be considered identical with the aper- ture of blastodermic invagination of many Vermes and of Amphioxus, discovered by Kowalewsky, and observed also by me in several moUusks (Nudibranchs, Limax, Pisidiumy Mytilus). The second fact of especial interest in the later development of Loligo is the occurrence of an in-pushing from the surface in the form of a groove just below (that is, posterior to) the margin of each eye. A somewhat botryoidal mass of tissue is the result of this ingrowth, and gives rise, I believe (though I have not definitely followed out its growth), to the optic gan- glion on each side. Lateral masses of tissue are seen to dif- ferentiate below the surface on either side of the oesophagus, and extend to the eyes — which may become ultimately other parts of the nervous system. The heart and large vessels develop below the surface, also without any remarkable features. The development of the mantle, gills, and cartilaginous skeleton was accurately described by Kolliker. The "pen" or shell of Loligo develops in a follicle which begins to form at a very early period, and remains open to the surface of the mantle until the embryo is nearly ready to leave the egg-case. An interesting phenomenon is the contractility of the walls of the yelk-sac, which is observed at a very early period, as soon as the first rudiments of eyes, ears, and mouth have appeared. A rhythmic wave of contraction passes continually along the wall of the sac, at that part immediately in front of the alimentary tube, and doubtless acts so as to cause a circu- lation of nutrient material in the direction of the young embryo. The tissue which exhibits this contractility is of the same structure (stellate cells) as that of the remarkable contractile vesicle observed in the Pulmonate Gasteropods, and which I have studied in Limax. It is probable that the two parts are homogenous. I should mention that I made frequent examination of eggs of Sepia, but found those of Loligo the best fitted for study. I was unable to obtain Argonauta at Naples ; it is to be had in quantity at Messina. made, at Naples in the wintex o/" 1871-72. 85 Development o/'Aplysia. The development of two species of Aplysia was studied in considerable detail as far as the completion of the velum- bearing embryo and its escape from the egg-jelly. Various devices failed of enabling me to observe the later development of this or of several Nudibranchs which were also kept for study. The Aplysice were : — a larger species, in which each capsule in the egg-coil contained from thirty to forty embryos ; and a smaller species, in which the number was not more than seven, usually less. The germinal vesicle escapes previously to yelk- cleavage as the " Richtungsblaschen ; " the egg then divides into two larger yellow masses and two smaller pale balls. The pale balls now divide rapidly, and grow over and enclose the larger yellow masses. By a process of multiplication (which I could not satisfy myself was accompanied in Aplysia by invagination, though there were indications of such a mode of growth) the pale cells give rise, not to a single layer of cells enclosing the yellow, but, at the pole whence they started, to a considerable mass or thickness of cells. The deeper of these work themselves in between the two large yellow cells and give rise to the alimentary tract ; the outermost cells form epidermis, nerve, and shell-gland, whilst an intermediate por- tion gives rise to muscles. In the two species, however, there is a verycmious difference: for in the larger species the two yellow cells almost as soon as they are enclosed lose their nuclei and definite outline, becoming mere granular masses, which the deep layer of pale cells rapidly invest and attach to themselves in an intimate manner ; whilst in the small species the two yellow cleavage-masses, each with its large bright nucleus, retain their form to the last (that is, as long as I studied the embryos), the deep pale cells (hypo- derm, Darmdriisenblatt) only passing between the two masses, and growing by absorption of the matter which they yielded, as was evident by their gradual thinning out and shrinking, but without being invested or themselves undergoing any for- mative changes. Tlie liver-mass, and perhaps the genital glands, subsequently appear in the position occupied by these two big cells, probably growing out into them, not from them. An important fact is the occurrence of cilia on tracts of the pale cells, lying deeply within the segmentation mass ; this I have also seen in the eggs of Pisidium pusilhan. The shell-gland is the first organ to appear in Aplysia^ as it is also in the freshwater Lamellibranch Pisidium, and occurs as a groove on the surface, the cells in which take on a special 86 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations development. It is in this way also that the "cuttle-bone" of Loligo takes its origin ; and from the observation of this common mode of origin of the shells of Lamellibranchs, Gasteropoda, and cuttlefish, I do not doubt that they are fundamentally identical or homogenous — that is to say, have a common an- cestral representative. The pharynx and oesophagus early develop in Aplysia as in-pushings at the opposite pole to that at which the shell-gland appears, which latter is the pole of active segmentation in the first embryonal changes. The supraoesophageal ganglion is clearly seen to develop as a thickening of the outer layer of cells in the prostomial region. It sends branches downwards and forwards, and gave rise to the suspicion that the suboesophageal nervous mass was but a lobe of it. Below the mouth, in a blunt process (which is the foot) the pair of otolithic sacs (or otocysts, as M. de Lacaze-Duthiers terms them) appear ; I took great pains to ascertain their earliest beginning. They certainly never communicate with the exterior ; they have been erroneously supposed to do so in Gasteropoda ; and I have established the fact that they really do so in Cephalopoda. The first appearance of each otocyst is, before any organs except the shell-gland are indicated, as a faint vesicle, with no proper walls of its own, just below the most superficial layer of cells ; and I believe that it really be- longs to that layer. As the foot develops, the otocyst shifts greatly its position, and acquires thicker walls and larger size. Tlie otolith develops within the cyst at a late period ; often it may be seen in one cyst and not in the other. Development of Nudibranchs. The eggs of species of Doi-is, of Tethys, Pleurobranchus, and others were frequently studied. I found those of Polycera quadrilineata and oiEolis exigiia the most favourable for study. I was able to determine in these that the first step in develop- ment, after the formation by cleavage of the mass of embryo- cells or "polyblast," is the invagination or in-pushing of these cells at one pole, just as Kowalewsky has drawn it in Amphi- oxus and Phallusia, and as seen also in the Heteropod mollusk Atalanta. The orifice of invagination is at one time large and obvious enough, but closes entirely at a very early period. The same invagination and orifice I have made out in the Lamellibrancli Pisidium, the development of which I studied in the spring of 1871 at Jena. I also observed it in Limax'j and its occurrence in a similar stage in certain marine Lamel- libranchs is clear from Lov^n's admirable figures, though he has nristaken its significance. made at Naples in the winter o/" 1871-72. 87 Hence the two primitive layers of cells in the embryo mol- lusk have the same origin as in Vermes and Vertebrata ; and, indeed, it would appear that the whole animal series above the Protozoa agree in possessing these two primitive layers at one time of their development. The addition to these of a third, intermediate layer, or mesoderm, is the distinguishing feature of another great branch or stem (Triploblastica), which has as its base the Vermes, and from which diverge the Mollusks, the Arthropods, the Vertebrates, the Echinoderms. That branch which retains but two layers of cells through life, the endoderm and ectoderm, includes the corals, polyps, and sponges (Diplo- blastica). So far biologists seem to have arrived at very promising results with the germ-layer theory. The great diffi- culty at present lies in the question. Whence does this third layer, or mesoderm, originate? There are a number of conflicting replies to this question, which have yet to be reconciled. Development o/Terebella nebulosa. An abundant supply of the eggs of this annelid enabled me to follow its development as far as its opacity permits. A delicate chorion forms round the q^^ after segmentation, on the surface of the cleavage-cells, which are densely ciliated. I ob- served that the chorion could be caused to separate from the surface of the cells; and the cilia were then seen to be really processes of the protoplasm of the cells, and to perforate this cuticular exudation, since they did not break off with it, as often happens, but were drawn through it, remaining fixed to the cells. The development of the ciliated tracts, segments, ap- pendages, and tubiparous glands was followed and di*awn. The young of this species has no otolithic sac. Young Appendicularia furcata. Numerous specimens of this most interesting form were ob- tained in February. The recent memoir of Foil has given very full and accurate information on the anatomy of the Ap- pendicularice. I have still, however, something to add in this case Avith regard to the cutaneous glands and the cellular out- growths of the integument, and as to the heart. It is curious that no one has yet drawn attention to the very remarkable fact that the heart m. A. furcata consists of but two cells — that is to say, two nucleated histological units. The small number of histological units which build up the organs of an Appen- dicularia is a very noticeable fact, and is parallelled in the case of the Rotifera. The elaboration, however, of so important an organ as the heart from but two units is quite unexampled. • 88 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations The heart as knowji and described is an oval pellucid body, with a dense mass at each pole. During life it beats with marvellous rapidity, quite unlike the action of a heart, and suggesting (what I believe it is) a form of protoplasmic movement allied to the ciliary. The mass at each pole of the oval heart is seen in spe- cimens about two thirds grown, when dilute acid is added, to be a nucleated cell. From each of these extends, not a contractile membrane (as Avould appear from the figures of Gegenbaur, Foil, and others), but from twelve to twenty fine processes or filaments joining one cell to the other, leaving open spaces between them. The rapid contractions of these processes of the cells, which are not unlike (except in being fixed at both ends) those pro- cesses known as cilia, agitate the blood in which the heart is suspended ; but there is no trace of blood-vessels connected with the heart. In specimens of Apjyendicularia furcata of full size the heart was seen to be a little more complex in structure; for at the base of each fibre or process of the two original large conical cells (which still retain their form and their large nuclei) is developed a small swelling with a nu- cleus (fig. 2). Moreover each of the fibres is now seen (when treated with picric acid) to possess a transverse striation, like that of the muscular fibres of the great tail or flabellum. I have specimens of A^ypendiadaria furcata^ treated with picric acid and mounted in glycerine, which exhibit admirably at the present moment this very remarkable structure of the heart. Histology of Sipunculus nudus. Every naturalist who visits Naples studies this very in- teresting and abundant worm more or less, and comes to a conclusion respecting its generative organs differing from those of his predecessors. [ can only briefly state on the present occasion the results of my study of this worm, as to the his- tology of which I have a mass of drawings and preparations. First, as to the corpuscles of the perivisceral fluid. These are the pink corpuscles, the amoeboid, the mulberry corpuscles of various sizes (usually regarded as testicular cell-masses), the ova, and the detached portions of the peritoneal membrane, and the "Topfchen" or ciliated globes. These last were especially studied recently by Brandt ; he did not ascertain their origin ; he is mistaken in his statements as to "cilise capitatas." The made at Naples in the ivinter o/" 1871-72. 89 eilia of the "Topfchen" are in no wise peculiar. What he has supposed to be a head or knob on the end of the ciliura is really nothing but the bending over of the extremity of the cilium under the influence of the dihite acetic acid which he used. I convinced myself time after time that the cilia of the Topfchen are perfectly normal, by study, with Hartnack's 10 h, immersion, of living specimens, and of others treated with osmic acid. By the use of acetic acid I obtained the knob-like appearance which deceived Alexander Brandt. Further I have found out the source of the " Topfchen." They are to be observed in great numbers attached loithin the curious pair of tubes or vessels formed by duplicatures of the peritoneal membrane, which lie on each side of the oesophagus, and the connexion of which with the tentacle-crown was so well shown by Brandt in his memoir. They develop as " but- tons " on the cellular surface (fig. 3), which is throughout the perivisceral cavity provided in parts with patches of cilia-bear- ing protoplasm ; and then they become detached and swim off into the fluid. The whole history of this beautiful peritoneal Fig. 3. tissue and its shedding of elements into the perivisceral fluid is of extreme interest ; but I cannot go into it until my draw- ings can be given. So much for the Topfchen at present. Next as to the ova. These occur of all sizes in the perivisceral liquid ; and Brandt appears to have supposed that they take origin in it. Various zoologists have tried to establish this or that structure as the " ovary." Some have assigned this nature to the pair of large brown tubes opening to the exterior, so paradoxical in character. MM. Keferstein and Ehlers mistook the unicellular cutaneous glands and some vagrant ova 90 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations for the ovaries, which they actually located beneath the skin ; this view I must most fully oppose, as a special study of the integument of Sipuncidus has shown me what structures these authors have mistaken for ova. Others, again, have taken the strange little diverticulum of the intestine placed near the rec- tum for the ovary, but without oifering proof. I have yet a new view. I consider that the " bush-like processes " de- scribed by Keferstein and Ehlers as occurring on each side of the rectum are the ovarian villi. These arborescent tufts are outgrowths of the cellular peritoneum and enclose the ova, which become detached when very small (^irW inch), either in groups or singly, ensheathed in a portion of peritoneum, and proceed to grow to full size in the perivisceral liquid. The proof of this is in the structure of the villi, and in the structure of floating masses of minute ova occasionally to be found in the perivisceral liquid. The ova are detached from the villi probably at cei'tain seasons and as soon as developed ; hence I have never found the villi containing unmistakable ova, when attached in place on the rectum. The mulberry spheres are certainly not, as supposed by Brandt, testicular. They have not the structure of such testicular mul- beny masses in Annelids ; for in these of Sipmiculus I have made out what Brandt does not describe, viz. a membrane with a distinct nucleus enveloping the aggregated spherules. They, I believe, give rise to the abundant pink corpuscles of the peri- visceral fluid, and are, like the " Topfchen," detached from the tentacular vessels originally. The true testis is still an open question. I found that the curious little diverticulum of the in- testine in several specimens examined in March had become greatly dilated, attaining a full inch in length ; and it was filled with a creamy fluid in which were a dense mass of motile fila- ments. It is possible that these were bacterioid parasites, but most unlikely when they recur in eight individuals examined within two days. There were further appearances of the develop- ment of these vibratile rods which tended to confirm the notion that the wall of this diverticulum of the intestine becomes the testis. On the other hand the structure of the gi'eat brown pair of tubes was very carefully studied ; and I found that they develop in their walls innumerable corpuscles which in spring (May) take quite the form of the Mammalian spermatozoon, and abound in immense number in the liquid filling the brown sacs. The balance of evidence is on the whole in favour of the brown tubes being testes. At the same time let me mention that they become much dilated in May, and take into their cavity large quantities of the perivisceral fluid, and with it the floating ova, or the mulberry spheres, if they are present. made at Naples in the vyinter o/* 1871-72. 91 I should mention that one fact in favour of regarding the mulberry spheres as testicular is that when they abound the ova appear to be absent, and vice versa. This is only apparently the case ; for I have found numerous ova (though far less numer- ous in proportion than elsewhere) in Sipunculi in which the mulberry spheres were predominant, and I have noticed young stages of the mulberry spheres present when ova abounded. It should, however, be noticed that all the full-grown Sipun- culi (some eighty-five in number) which I opened were di- stinguishable as either " ova-bearing " or " mulberry-sphere- bearing." Brandt and, in earlier years, Krohn have been the supporters of the view that the mulberry spheres are testicular ; but neither of them has seen the development of the component spherules of the spheres into tailed spermatozoa. Brandt states that he found in May, in a Sipunculus of the mulberry-sphere kind, tailed spermatbzoa floating in the perivisceral fluid. But he admits that such spermatozoon-like bodies are developed in the brown tubes ; and he has no evidence whatever to prove that those he found in the perivisceral fluid had not come thence, especially since he obtained the fluid by puncture and might thus have wounded the brown tubes. I must yet further mention with regard to the pink corpuscles, that I sometimes found tliem of large size and containing crystals — a fact not noticed by Brandt ; also in May I noticed cases in which they were all very small, and in Avhich only a few loosely aggregated mulberry spheres and no ova were present. I believe that the reason why mulberry spheres and ova are reciprocally exclusive in the perivisceral fluid is this, that after the ex- pulsion of the ova a renewal of tlie pink corpuscles is necessary, and accordingly we get this development of mulberry spheres, destined to break up into young pink corpuscles. It is not until the spheres have fully developed and broken up into young pink corpuscles that a new development of ova takes place, by detachment from the rectal arborescent villi. The testis is either the tissue on the intestinal diverticulum or the brown tubes ; which of the two, my notes and drawings do not decide. The termination of nerves in the skin, the cutaneous glands, the minute structure of the nerve-chord, the structure and varieties of connective tissue in various parts of the worm, and the curious pink or red line on the intestinal wall, which is not a vessel, were examined, and will be described and figured on a future occasion. Brandt's description of the perforate structure of the egg- envelope is perfectly correct. 92 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations Anatomy of Sternaspis. Specimens of this interesting worm were from time to time brought to me by the fishermen. Its structure presents no special points of contact with the Gephyrea, but rather with the capitibranchiate polychgetous Annelids, such as Pherusia^ which certainly approach the Gephyrea in the condition of their segment-organs. The closed vascular system contains haemo- globin in solution, and presents an internal series of gills, the structure of which is remarkable in many ways. It would be difficult to make any account of the details of its organization intelligible in this brief summary without illustration. Notochordal rudiments in Glycera. The observations of Clapar^de on the " drei riesige Roh- renfaden " lying above the nerve-cord in Lumbricus induced me to search, by means of transparent transverse sections, for evidences of a skeletal or supporting arrangement of the con- nective tissue in immediate relation with the nerve-cord in other Annelids. The disposition of the muscles in relation to the sheath of the nerve-cord in Glycera has some interest in this respect, since these parts are seen, in suitably prepared sec- tions, to have generally the same relations as have the muscles and neural sheath, including the notochord, of a vertebrate. Terebratula vitrea. These most beautiful Brachiopods were sometimes brought in quantities by the deep-sea fishermen. I was not able to obtain the ova in a developing condition. There are still many points in doubt with regard to the Brachiopoda, and especially as to the TerebratulidjB. This species has not, I believe, been studied in the living state. A young specimen, of the size of a pin's head, exhibited the " arms " in a condition corresponding in general characters with the lophophore of a Polyzoon, with which Mr. Morse's researches on Terebratidina also render it clear that the Bra- chiopod arms are homologous (homogenous). Let me also say here that a comparative study of the structure of the adult arms of Terebratula and of the gill-lamellae of Lamellibranchs leads to the conclusion that these are also homologous (homo- genous) structures. The observations of Mr. Barrett on Terebratidina^ and of M. de Lacaze-Duthiers on Thecidium^ are the only ones at present, I believe, as to the condition of the " arms " of Terebratulidae in the living state. The cirri are finely ciliated externally ; they are also in- made at Naples in the winter o/* 1871-72. 93 dividually movable, though rarely moved. Each cirrus cori'esponds in essential structure as to its tubular character, its horny and calcareous skeleton, and the circulation within it of the blood, with a tube of certain Lamellibranchs' gills. In young Pisidium pusillum the gills originate as three (in- creasing in number) pairs of tubular processes. In young Anomia they equally retain their character as a series of isolated tubules ciliated on the surface. In young Terehratula vitrea I found nine pairs of tubular tentacles (wonderfully like the tentacles of a Pedicellina) ; and in the adult we have an immense series of them, which only require to become adhe- rent in order to give the essential structure of the Lamelli- branch's gill-plate. The blindness in relation to the intestine of Terehratula vitrea is certainly in that Brachiopod's rectum. There is no anus, but a blunt cjecal termination. I entirely failed 'to convince myself that the organ regarded by Mr. Hancock as a heart really has the function of one in T. vitrea. I repeatedly opened fresh specimens with rapidity, in order to witness its contractions, if any, but never saw such contractions ; nor could I find vessels in connexion with it, nor evidence that it had muscular walls. Dr. Krohn, of Bonn, had equally been unable to obtain evidence that this curious little dilatation has the function of a heart. The " segment-organs " or oviducts (hearts of Owen) pre- sented a beautiful appearance in the living state, on account of their ciliation. It was possible to preserve them mounted in balsam and also in osmic acid. The ovaries, lying as they do on the inner surface of the body- wall (which is beautifully marked with calcareous spicula), may be readily studied in various stages of development. The testes are not known at present in any Brachiopod except the dioecious Thecidium. The red matter suggested by Hancock as possibly testicular in Lingula has its parallel in yellow matter which is abundant amongst the ovarian ova of Terehratula. This yellow matter is clearly due to degeneration of the envelopes of escaped ova — is, in fact, a series of corpora lutea. I think it has not yet been clearly pointed out that the ova in Terehratula do not lie freely on the surface of the body- wall ready to drop into the blood-sinus (perivisceral cavity), into which the oviduct opens. Each ovum has really a very delicate connective-tissue envelope ; and it is only upon bursting through that that it can escape. Sometimes the ovaries (in De- cember) contain comparatively large eggs, which are readily detached. In the spring, on the other hand, I found most with moderate-sized ova, but some with no ova at all. The ovarian 94 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Observations tracts in the latter specimens were obvious enough, since they form a reticulate arrangement of ridges, and the corjpora lutea marked these tracts also ; but no cells which were dif- ferentiated as ova were present. Some persons have been inclined to regard these specimens as males ; but I consider this merely a temporary condition of the ovary. In some ovaries, at intervals, large white spherical masses containing a quantity of small cells were found ; these Avere the most likely indication of testicular organs which I succeeded in finding. The appearances of the ovary in various conditions, and the structm-e of the mantle (in which I could not identify the numerous layers distinguished in Waldheimia Jlavescens by Mr. Hancock, in his great essay on Brachiopoda) , require illustrations for a fuller explanation. Phyllirrhoe bucephala and Mnestra. Perhaps the most charming of all the objects which the Naples Bay affords to a zoologist of histological tendencies is the curious little fish-shaped mollusk Phyllirrhoe. Its trans- parency is perfect, at the same time that the tissue-elements present definite outlines. Its anatomy and histology are well enough known from Heinrich Miiller's paper. The pulsating heart — lying in the small pericardium which communicates by a long partly ciliated tube (the representative of the organ of Bojanus) with the exterior — is an object of intense interest. It was easy to trace the connexion of the finest nerve-twigs with muscular fibres and with various peculiar corpuscles. Prof. Panceri discovered, whilst I was at Naples, that these corpuscles, as well as the nerve-ganglia, are phosphorescent. Krohn described, some thirty years ago, a medusoid which presents the remarkable character of being parasitic on Phyllir- rhoe. I obtained specimens of this, but have no indication of the way in which it becomes attached. The tissue of the me- dusoid's disk appears to hejiised at its middle aboral point with the tissues of the Phyllirrhoe. It cannot be removed without tearing, and always occurs just below the chin (if the term be allowed) of the Phyllirrhoe. I made out (and have drawings of) a circular and four radiating canals, four marginal tentacles, abundance of thread-cells, and a central chamber. Pyrosoma, ^ginopsis, and Cercaria. Prof. Panceri and his assistants were carrying on their valu- able investigations on the embryology and phosphorescence of Pyrosoma whilst I was staying at Naples. In December we obtained a good supply of these most interesting Tunicates. I directed my attention chiefly to the early changes in the made at Na2}Ies in the lointer o/" 1871-72. 95 < vum, but, owing to the interest wliicli the later development •ilso had for m^ and the impossibility of keeping specimens Alive, did not come to definite conclusions. The germinal vesicle seems to disappear ; and a cap of blastodermic cells appears at one pole of the ^^g, somewhat as in Loligo, The changes in the mass of the yelk whilst this goes on are re- markable, and lead to the formation of corpuscles, which appear to circulate subsequently in the embryonic blood-system. I can confirm (if confirmation be wanting) Professor Panceri's and Pavesi's description of the heart and mouth of the cyatho- zooid, and its mode of connexion with the four ascidiozooids. Professor Panceri's recently published figures (Academy of Naples) are excellent. The colonial muscular system described by Panceri (see 'Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.' Jan. 1873) was also examined; and I repeated the experiments which he had just carried out, leading to the determination of certain granular masses on the sides, of the pharynx as the phosphorescent organs oi Pyrosoma. ^ginopsis was found on one occasion in some water taken from the surface. The structure of the arms was not given by Johannes Miiller so fully as examination with a no. 10 Hart- nack now allows. Cercaria ecMnocerca was obtained and drawn from examina- tion with the 10 immersion on several occasions. It is re- markable for the flattened seta-like processes of the integument of the tail. The Parasite of the Renal Organ of Cephalopoda. Dicyevia se'pi(B and D. eledonce were first described by Kolliker. Clapar^de afterwards found a species in the Eledone norvegica^ and referred Dicyema to the ciliate Infusoria. Subsequently Guido Wagner described D. sepice and D. ele- donce in more detail than his predecessors. There is probably no stranger parasite than the Dicyema. The renal organ of most Sepice may be said to be literally made up of these organisms in all stages of growth. They are clearly not Infusoria, but adegraded form of worm, being mul- ticellular in structure. They are, when typically grown, thread- like bodies one third of an inch in length. There is no mouth, but an axial tissue of scattered stellate cells, which is clothed with large epithelial scales : these are at one time all ciliated ; but after full growth the cilia only remain about the head, The head is indicated by a knob, on which the epithelial scales are very regularly disposed in two series. It is rai'C to find a large Dicyema with this head well developed — the reason being that the animals are continually dividing transversely, and a 96 Mr. E. Ray Lankester's Zoological Ohservations complete head with its symmetrically arranged scales never grows at the surface of fission, but only a partially formed ill- shapen head with two or four scales. In addition to transverse division, Dicyema reproduces by two kinds of internally produced embryos, as pointed out by pre- vious writers. One kind is like the long worm-shaped parent ; the other is oval, and ciliated at one extremity. No one has succeeded in following out what becomes of this latter "infu- sorian-like embryo ;" but the embryos resembling their parents clearly grow up to the reproductive state within their host's kidney, and are to be seen in all stages. I have made out, and hope to figure hereafter, the mode of formation of these two kinds of embryos, which differs con- siderably in the two cases. Each originates from a single nucleated cell, which multiplies. Those cells, however, which grow into infusorian embryos are contained at first in an oval capsule or space, twenty or so together, and escape from this capsule to undergo development in the axial tissue. The worm-like embryos, on the contrary, arise from single cells scattered at intervals in the axial parenchyma, which do not at first present any special characters. Dicyemce which are developing infusorian embryos do not at the same time develop worm-embryos. No trace of male reproductive organs is to be seen in these organisms. Their structm'e admits of the most complete investigation, on account of their small size and transparency. New type of Infusoria. Among some eggs of Terehella, associated with other Infu- soria, I found several specimens of an altogether novel type. The general form was oval ; above the mouth projected a small cephalic tubercle ; round this oral extremity was raised up a large collar or ruffle, which continually opened and shut with a slight spiral twist, and caused the locomotion of the animal, whilst at the same time food was brought into the region of the mouth. This membranous vibratile collar or ruffle may be compared to a blended crown of cilia. It forms one of the rare examples of undulating membranes, similar to that of Undulina (parasitic in the frog's blood, 'Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.' October 1871), where, however, the membrane is in the form of a crest, and not of a collar as here. There is not a trace of a cilium on any part of this infuso- rian, the whole work being done by the vibrating collar. It is obvious that this form cannot be placed in any one of Stein's divisions of ciliate Infusoria, but must stand alone. made at Naples in the lomter o/' 1871-72. 97 Grcfjarina sipxmcuU. T may refer here to a paper in the ' Quart. Journ. ISlxcx. Sci.' Oetoher 1872, in which I have described some facts relating to the development of this form, and figured the pseudo-Navicula or spore-form, the Moneran, pseudo-Cercarian, and Gregarina- forms of this parasite. Spectroscopic Observations. Numerous observations with the spectroscope on a variety of animal colouring-matters gave the following results. Haemoglobin is present in the nerve-cord of Aplirodite acu- leatOj also in its pharyngeal nmscular tissue, in muscles of the dorsal fin of H/pjMcanijniSj in muscles of the pharynx of various mollusks, in corpuscles in tlie blood of Solen legumen^ in cor- ])usclcs in the perivisceral fluid of Glycera^ of Gapitella^ of Phoronis hippocrepia. and diffused in the perivisceral fluid of Poh'a sangairnhra. No characterizable absorption-bands could be obtained from the hhte pigment of VcleJIa^ from the hlae pigment of Salpa deiiiocrdtica, or from the red pigment of other Saljjm, from the red pigment of the foot of Cardium and other Lamellibranchs, or from the rec/ pigment of chromatophores of Loligo and other red pigments offish, &c., or from the madder-pink pigment of the corpuscles of the perivisceral fluid of Sipunculus. I cannot conclude this summary without pointing out how great an advantage will be gained by zoologists in the station, now nearly ready for work, which my friend Anton Dohrn has erected on so magnificent a scale, by the devotion of his private fortune and much energy and patience. It stands in the Villa Keale, on the sea's edge ; and there the naturalist will not have to dispute and bargain with the intelligent but rascally fishermen ; all will be managed for him by the ernjilnyes of the station. Further, he will have the use of a splendid library*, he will be able to keep his spsdmens with ease in the tanks of the station, supplied with streams of sea- water, and will have constantly the means of contemplating, even when he may not wish to study minutely, those exquisite forms which came in hundreds through my hand-^, but of which I have here said nothing, with whicli the waters of the bay are teeming. * I take tliif opportunity of asking for contributions of zoological and botanical books or papers to the library of the Naples station. Several publishers in Germany have given valuable works; the Messrs. Engelmann of Leipzig have presented the whole of their biological publications. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol.:d. 7 ^ Dr. J. E. Gray on the Oeographical XII. — On the Geographical Distribution^ Migration^ and Oc- casional Habitats of Whales and Dolphins (Cete). Bj Dr. J. B.Gray, F.R.S. &c. Dampiee long ago observed that seals did not occur within the tropics ; and Capt. Maur j, in his Whale-Charts, shows that the Sperm-Whale inhabits a belt of sea in or on each side of the tropics in the Atlantic and another in the Pacific Ocean, which was avoided by the Right Whales as if it were a belt of fire. Both these observations are correct in the main — though a seal has been found in the West Indies, and some Humpbacked Whales inhabit near Bermuda, and they and the Finner off the coast of Brazil. The Sperm-Whale wanders away from its usual habitat, to its own destruction, on both sides of the tropical belt, and is carried by currents like the gulf-stream as fiir north as Shetland and Norway, and very likely as far south in the Antarctic Ocean. This observation about the tropics is important, as showing that the whales of the northern seas must be of different species from those that inhabit the southern oceans ; and the examination of the animals, and especially of their skeletons, has shown the truth of this fact, which is universal as far as I have been able to examine and compare the bones of the Whalebone-Whales, Dolphins, and Ziphioid Whales of the northern and southern hemispheres, and seems also to show that each species has defined limits. Most whalers, in their writings, state that the whales visit their usual fishing-gi'ounds at stated periods, and inhabit certain bays during their breeding-season, showing that they make migrations, each species within its own district. Whales and dolphins always inhabit sheltered bays during the breeding-season ; and the Whalebone- Whales generally live in shallow water, not very far from the shore or over sunken banks. Unfortiuuitely our knowledge of these animals is very incom- plete, as, the observation of them being attended with so many difficulties, we have very imperfect accounts of the his- tory and habits of the species which inhabit the North and South Pacific, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. Indeed it is only within the last few years that the species of these seas have begun to be studied and determined. Before that period they were confounded with the Avhales of the North Atlantic, and included under general names (as Right Whales, Finners, Humpbacks, Scrag-Whales, and Sulphur-bottoms) which are now found to represent so many families or genera. The study of the whales and dolphins of the North Atlantic Distribution of Whales and Dolphins. 99^ exhibits their geographical distribution and migrations, natural or accidentalj wli^ch give us some idea of what may be the case with the whales of the other parts of the world, where they are perhaps better developed than in the North Atlantic ; for there can be no doubt that commerce and, more especially, steamboats in the North Atlantic have driven the northern species further back and confined them more to the Arctic regions, have destroyed many individuals, and limited the breeding of the Mediterranean species and of those which in- habit the southern districts of the North Atlantic, and that several species that are now only found in a subfossil state, imbedded in the alluvial soils of Sweden, Holland, and the coasts of England, were formerly inhabitants of these seas. The species that are now found in the North Atlantic may be divided into : — first, those that inhabit the Arctic seas and migrate or are accidentally brought south ; secondly, those which chiefly live and are bred in the Mediterranean, or in the bays of the southern parts of the North Atlantic, and which migrate and follow the shoals of fish towards the north. There are no doubt some species, as the common Porpoise, the Pike Whale, the common Finner, and the Goose Whale [Hype- roodon)^ that breed in the middle district (on the coasts of Germany, Holland, and Great Britain) , and are found in the more northern and more southern seas. On the other hand, the Zip)hlus Sowerhiensis has been found in the German Ocean only in its southern part and off the north coast of Scotland, but is most abundant on the west coast of Ireland, belonging as it does to a Mediterranean group (though not yet observed in the Mediterranean) and perhaps only carried north by the Gulf-stream. Some species are essentially Arctic, as the Beluga and the Monodon ; but even they are sometimes driven south, perhaps by storms. Others, as the Pilot Whale, always proceed south in large " schools :" some keep on the west side of the North Atlantic and go to the east coast of America ; others keep on the east side and are found on the west coast of Europe, the east and west coasts of great Britain, the coasts of France and Spain, and some in the Mediterranean ; but the Medi- terranean species is generally smaller and may be distinct. The voracious and destructive Orca^ or Killer, lives in smaller groups, and seems to follow the same course as the Pilot Whale ; that is to say, Orcm are found, in the Arctic and other seas, as far south as the Mediterranean ; and, like the Pilot Whales, the southern specimens are much the smallest. I determined that we liad two species of Killer on the British coast ; and by a photograph sent me by the Royal Academy of 7* 100 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Geographical Sweden 1 see they have discovered and recognized my second species in Swedish seas, showing that both the British species probably migrate from the north. The skull of the Mediter- ranean Orca^ though so much smaller, is very like those of the Arctic and British ones. The Clrey Finner [Cavierias) is doubtless a northern species that sometimes comes south ; but one is not so certain of the Broad-headed Whale [Rudolphius] and the gigantic Flat-back (Sibbaldius) , which have only been found so seldom in the south part of the North Sea or German Ocean that it is im- possible to say if they are northern or southern species. At any rate we may make sure that an animal upwards of one hundred feet long does not breed in the much-frequented German Ocean ; and neither genus has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean or in the Mediterranean sea. Perhaps they are the last remains of their race. Thus the Dolphin [Delphinus deljjhis), the Grampus [Oramjyns Cuvien)^ and the Petrorhynchus mediterraneus^ which are essentially Mediterranean species, following the fish out from Gibraltar, come north down the coasts of Spain and France, and impinge on the coasts of Hampshire, Devon, and Cornwall along with the pilchards and mackerel. Some pro- ceed to the left, up the German Ocean — and others to the riglit, either up the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean on the west side of Ireland, and they have rarely been found as far nortli as Shetland or the coast of Norway ; but I am very doubtful if these animals, like the Sperm- Whales, ever find their way back. A kind of whale exists in the Bay of Biscay : and we are told that there was formerly a whale-fishery there ; but both it and the Basque fisheries have long passed away. A whale at distant periods has occurred, especially at the south-east corner, which is probably the most quiet part of this stormy bay. The occurrence of a specimen is a proof of the existence of enough animals to carry on the race residing permanently in or occa- sionally visiting the bay ; for we may make sure that it is not, as some people seem to suppose, a spontaneous reproduction or renewal of the species. In January 1854 a cow whale and its calf were observed in the Gulf of Gascony near San Sebastian : the calf was taken ; but the mother escaped. The skeleton was preserved in sepa- rate bones at Pampeluna • Eschricht obtained it by ex- change for the museum at Copenhagen ; and Professor Relnhardt intends some day to describe and figure it. It is said to be quite different from the Greenland Whale ; indeed Mr. Flower informed me that it is a IlutiteriuSy with coarse whale- Distribution of Whales and Dolphins. 101 bone and a bifid first rib. It has been called, but not described as, Bahena hiscayensis by Eschriclit. M. van Beneden has made a species under this name from the cervical vertebrge of a whale found at Sainte Margu(5rite in the Mediterranean, the subfossil cervical vertebriB dredged up at Lyme Regis, and the ear-bones of the Balcena cisarcttca from the coast of North America (!), never having seen either the skeleton at Copen- hagen or a figure of it ; and it is easy to see by the comparison of the two cervical masses, which he gives on the same plate, that they do not belong to the same species. It was possible that this might be the same whale that occurs at Sainte Mar- guerite in the Mediterranean, or might be the same as that found at Lyme Regis, as that is consistent with what we know of the habits of whales ; but we have proof of its not being so ; and it is not the one found in America, if Mr. Flower's note is correct. The Arctic whales ^nd dolphins on the western coast of the Atlantic are numerous ; Dr. Brown mentions two or three Right Whales. Some of these migrate southwards down the east coast of North America; and it is to be observed that some of the Arctic species inhabit that side of the Atlantic which are not found at all, or only as stragglers, on the north coast of Europe. Some species, as Beluga^ go much further south on the coast of Labrador and Nova Scotia than they do on the coast of Europe. There were formerly whale-fisheries on the southern parts of the west side of the Atlantic ; but, like those in the Bay of Biscay, they no longer exist, the whales having been destroyed or driven away by commerce. The south-western part of the North Atlantic has forms peculiar to it, as is the case on the eastern side ; for as yet the Ziphioid Whales, the Grampi^ DelphinuSj &c. have not been observed on the American coast, nor does the Scrag-Whale [Agaplwhis) occur on the coast of Europe. This is very inconsistent with the theory that the whales of the same species inhabit a belt across the Atlantic and other oceans, each species occurring in a peculiar locality. In the first volume of the 'Philosophical Transactions' (for 1665, p. 11) there is an account "of the New American Whale- fishing about Bernmda ;" and at p. 132 there is "a further Relation of the Whale-fishing about the Bermudas and the Coast of New England and New Ncthcrland;" and it ap])ears that there then existed a Bermuda Company. The writer ob- serves," these whales are met with between the coast of New England and New Netherland,Avhere theymight becaught eight or nine months in the year, whereas those about the Bermudas are to be found there oidy in the months of February, March^ 102 Dr. J. E. Gray on the 'Geogra'phical and April." He particularly refers to the " Trumpo," wliicli is evidently the Sperm-Whale, one of which he says was stranded in New England. The Hon. Paul Dudley, in the ' Philosophical Transactions ' for 1724 (p. 256), writes an "Essay on the Natural History ©f Whales .... found on the Coast of New England." He says he is particularly indebted to Mr. J. Coffin, some time at the island of Nantucket, and Mr. Greenhouse, of Yarmouth near Cape Cod, both of them places famous for the whale-fisheries. These fisheries have now disappeared, the fisheries being now carried on in the South Seas. He mentions : — 1. The Right or Whalebone Whale, which is probably a true Balcena. 2. The Scrag- Whale. This is evidently the Agaphelus gihbosus of Cope, in character intermediate between the true Whales and the Fin-backs. It has no dorsal fins or throat-folds; This animal probably goes south, and is the "Norwega" of Bahia mentioned by Dr. Hartt. 3. The Fin-back Whale is most probably a Physalus ; but the North-American Fin-backs have not been described. It may be the same species that goes south as far as Bahia ; and they are called "il/ysf^m." They first appear, according to Dr. Hartt, in the Abrollios waters at the end of May, and stay until November ; the females often bring their young calves with them and seek the shelter of the reefs. 4. The Bunch or Humpback-Whale is probably the Mega- ptera osjyhyia of Cope, described from a skeleton in the museum at Niagara, which lie thinks is one of the largest species of Balajnidae, and may be the same as Megaptera americana of Bermuda. 5. The Sperraa Cete Whale. The same migrations or circummigrations appear in the southern part of the Atlantic and the southern seas. Dr. Dieffenbach informs us that the Sperm-Whale, the Black Whale, the Finner, and the Humpback are found in Cook's Straits in New Zealand. The Sperm-Whale inhabits the open sea and does not approach shallow coasts and inlets, as is the habit of the other whales. The Finner and Humpback are seldom captured, on account of their wildness and celerity ; and they contain only a small quantity of oil. Almost all the Black Whales caught are females and their calves ; indeed it is the affection of the mother for her young that causes her sacri- fice, the young being taken to secure the parent. The male is very rarely caught ,• he never approaclies the land so near as the female, and is more shy and wild. The cows ap- proach the shallow coast and smooth waters for the piu-pose Distribufion of Whales and DolpJnns. 103 of bringing forth their young, and are generally accompanied by the calf of the preceding year, called a "scrag," which does not leave its mother till it attains its full size. The Black Whale is truly a migratory animal ; it arrives in Cook's Straits from the northward at the beginning of May, then passes along the coast of the northern island to Entry Island, then sweeping into Cloudy Bay ; and then at the end of October they go to the eastward or return to the northward ; and many whales are to be found in the "whaling-ground" which extends from Chatham Island to the eastward of the north- ern island of New Zealand and thence to Norfolk Island; and the whalers say tliis district is a shoal. Besides this migration, which rather ouglit to be called a circumnavigation of a limited district, there exists a daily one ; the whales ap- proach the shores and bays with the flood tide and quit them with the ebb ; they are often seen in places where the depth of water does not exceed their own breadth (Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand, vol. i. pp. 44-47). The whalers thought they were the same species that were found at the Cape of Good Hope, which are known to have similar habits, as also have the Black Whales at Van Diemen's Land ; but I now know, from the examination of the skeletons, that there are two Black Whales in New Zealand, both of which are quite different from the two Black Whales that inhabit the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. E. Hartt, in his ' Physical Geography of Brazil,' ob- serves : — " The first whales [Physalm hrasiUensis, Gray) appear in the Abrolho waters at about the end of May, and they stay till October. The females often bring their young calves with them, and appear to seek the shelter of the rocks. The fishery begins at Bahia, according to Castelnau, at about the 13th of June, and lasts till the 21st of September ; at Caravellas I was assured the whales always appeared later than at Bahia." Further south, the Finners in passing the Rio de la Plata ascend that river ; and Professor Burmeister has described from the skeletons of the whales in the museum of Buenos Ayres, obtained near that city, no less than three distinct species of Physalus (see Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1872, x. p. 413). Wherever there are whale-fisheries (as in Walvisch Bay near the Cape, Cook's Straits at New Zealand, and Caravellas, and especially Bahia) the bones of the whales killed form large banks, as many as 500 to 1000 whales or more on the same spot (indeed in Walvisch Bay the bank is said to be several miles in length), showing great destruction of these animals in these seas as well as in the northern ones. In the 'Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.' 1870, vi. pj). 391-394, ia 104 Dr. J. Hector on the Whales and a list of the species of whales according to the countries in which they have been observed. XIII. — Notes on the Whales and Dolphins of the Neiv-Zealand Seas. By Dr. James Hector, F.E.S. With Remarks hy Dr. J. E. Geay, F.E.S. &c. 1. Neohalcena marginata^ Gray. The tympanic bone of the type of this species in the Colonial Museum agrees exactly with the ear-bone on which is founded Caperea novw-zealandice,GYa.j (Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 101). Practical whalers, after examining the baleen of this whale, affirm that it is the Fin-fish or Sulphur-bottom, and that it grows to an immense size. It is not the Finner, which has the dorsal fin further back. They judge by the colour of the baleen. 2. Euhalo'na australis^ Gray. (The Black Whale.) Balcena antipodarum, Gray. Whalers do not distinguish two species ; and if the tympanic bone of the second species cited belongs to Neohalania mar- ginata^ there is no evidence that the Black Whale of New Zealand is different from that of the Cape. 3. Megaptera novae-zealandioe^ Gray. This species is also founded on a tympanic bone. A whale, 34 feet long, with a falcate dorsal fin, stranded in Wellington Harbour, has a similar ear-bone, and may be this species. The bones were unfortunately lost. 4. Physalus aiistralis, Gray. (The Southern Finner or Hazor-back.) Physalus antarcticus, Gray. The only reason given for distinguishing the above is the colour of the baleen. Whalers state the baleen of the Finner to be very variable in colour, even from the same individual. 5. Catodon macrocephalus, Lac^p. (The Sperm-Whale.) Several varieties of teeth are in the museum, and must belong to different species. 6. Delphinus 7wvai-zealandice^ Qiioy & Gaim. A skull of this species in the museum has the intermaxillary Dolphins of tlie New-Zealand Seas. 105 plates united, so as to form the nasal groove into a tube through- out two thirds of its length. 7. Delpliinus Forsteri, Gray. A skull in tlie museum agrees in its dentition with this species. It differs from the preceding species in the greater proportional width of the heak and more perpendicular fore- head, the Avidtli of the middle part of the beak being con- tained four times in the length from the notch, while in D. novce- zealandice it is six times. 8. Electra clancula, Gray. The generic character requires to be amended by leaving out the second dorsal lobe, which is not present in this species. 9. Pseudorca meridionaUs^ Flower. (Tasmanian Blackfish.) An imperfect skull found in Lyall Bay appears to belong to this species. 10. Grampus Richardsoni^ Gray. A lower jaw found on the Munawutu beach agrees with this, except that it has only three instead of four teeth on each side. 11. Beluga Kingii, Gray. A very imperfect skull, in the collection of the late IMr. Swainson, appears to resemble this species. A large white Porpoise is frequently seen at certain seasons in Blind Bay, and may be this species. 12. Gloh'ocephalus macrorhynchuSj Gray. (New-Zealand Blackfish.) Several skulls, more or less perfect, are in the museum, one from the Chatham Islands. The same trivial name (Blackfish) is also applied to a small species of Sperm- Whale. 13. Epiodon chatliamiensis^ sp. nov. Beak of skull tapering, callous, with a slight upward curve. Vomer forming a posteriorly truncate callous ridge, depressed between the intermaxillaries. Upper jaw toothless. Lower jaw elongate, bent up, truncate, with two terminal, short, sub- cylindrical teeth in shallow sockets, and in front of a long dental groove. 166 Dr. J, Hector on the Whales and Skull: Chatliam Islands (coll. G. H. Travers). Weight of teeth 817 and 836 grains. inches. Total length 36 Width at orbits 20 „ notch 12 Length of beak 18 „ brain-cavity G „ sperm-cavity 12 ,, lower jaw 30 Height of ramus 7 The beak is trigonal, three times as long as the brain-cavity measured internally. The vomer is not observed in the profile as in Peti'orhynchus capensis ; otherwise the general structure of the skull agTees with that species. The teeth are ground down, each with two lateral facets and a central ridge ; as these teeth, when the mouth is closed, are beyond tlie lower jaw, there is probably a callosity on the upper lip against which they are applied. Two teeth of another individual are in the museum, with triple facets. This species may be the same as Epiodon australisj Burm., of which I have no description. 14. Mesoplodon Layardii. Lower jaw with teeth : Chatham Islands (coll. G. H. Travers) . Total length 33 inches 5 symphysis one third of total length. Hinder edge of the teeth is 1 8 inches from the condyle ; and their length along the jaw is 5 inches, the anterior margin being in advance of the commencement of the symphysis ; no notch on the edge of the jaw posterior to the teeth. The teeth are 6 inches long, 3 inches wide, and | inch thick. The acute point in the upper and forward angle is very marked ; there is a deep rough notch worn on the anterior margin ; and the com- pressed root of the tooth shows seven distinct fangs. The teeth are directed obliquely backwards and inwards, but do not approach so as to close over the beak, as described in the type of the species (Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 353). 15. Berardms Hectori, Gray. (Scamperdown Whale.) Berardins Hectori, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. p. 116 (August 1871). Mesoplodon, sp., Flower, Nature, Dec. 7, 1871, p, 105. Teeth ■^. Body fusiform ; head rounded, beaked ; up])cr lip long and flexible ; eye halfway between angle of mouth and DoVplilns of the New-Zehland Seas. 107 pectorals, which are small ; dorsal over the tail ; tail-lobes large, falcate.- — Knox. Bkull globular, with a slender conical beak. The intermaxil- laries form thin linear callous plates, incurved over a deep groove that extends back from the snout to the blow-holes, as in Dol- phins ; thej then expand to form a flat lunate area in front of the blow-holes, and rise behind to form moderate knob-like crests that are separated by a notch, owing to the feeble de- velopment of the nasals. The maxillaries commence as lateral plates some distance from the top of the beak, but expand behind int« slightly concave areas. The blowers are straight, vertical, and almost equally developed. Before I had seen Berardt'ufi Arnouxii I took this for the young of that species ; but it differs in the presence of crests over the blow-holes, feeble nasals, narrower beak, and more compressed teeth. The tympanic banes of the two species have a close resem- blance. A second, fragmentary skull, of exactly the same form and dimensions as that described above (see also Trans. N.-Z. Inst, vol. iii.), has been lately obtained in a sandy deposit near Wanganui. 16. Berardius Arnouxn, Duv. Ziphioid whale with skull like a Porpoise. The specimen in the museum has the first three cervicals united, and the fourth united by the neural arch. The preceding species has the first two thoroughly united and the third by its spines ; the rest are free, not united, as might be inferred from the description (Trans. N.-Z. Inst. iii. p. 129), where the term combined cervical vertebras referred only to the manner in which they are sketched. Remarks on some of the Species in the foregoing paper. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. This paper was received from Dr. Hector yesterday morning (December 26, 1872). As it is marked ''abstract," probably it refers to a paper that he has sent to the New-Zealand Institute. He does not say, in his letter on other subjects which accom- panies it, what I am to do with it ; but I suppose it is sent for publication in the 'Annals,' as others received in the same way. It contains many most valuable observations, and adds con- siderably to our knowledge of the Cetacea of the southern regions ; it is very interesting as confirming the existence of the genera Grampus and Beluga in the southern or Antarctic 108 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whales and seas. It is accompanied by tracings of the skull of Epiodon chathamiensis^ of the lower jaw of Mesoplodon Layardii^ of the ear-bones (represented half the natural size) of Neohalcena marginata, Megapterai ^ Berardius Arnouxiij and Berardius Hectori. 1. Neohalcena marginata. The discovery that the baleen named Balcena marginata^ and that the ear-bones on which I first established the genus Ca/?eyea, belong to this whale is entirely due to Dr. Hector; and I gladly accept the correction, although it has always appeared to me that the baleen is very narrow and long for a whale with such a broad upper jaw compared with that of the northern Right Whale ; but that may be a peculiarity of the group. The combination of characters thus brought together indicates an entirely new group of whales, which 1 propose to call Neoha- Icenidce. The form of the skull and ear-bones is peculiar and very different from that of any known group of Cetacea ; and I have always found that the characters derived from these parts are connected with peculiar modifications of the external form. The removal of the ear-bone of Neohahvna from the family Balffiuidffi makes the character from that bone in that family as uniform as it is in the other families of BaUenoidea. In form and structure the whalebone is finer, but very similar to that of the Greenland Right Whale, and shows an affinity of this family to the Balanidai ; but the structure of the head is more like that of the Physalidre, as far as we can judge from the figure, never having had an opportunity of seeing the skull itself. The dilated character of the lower jaw is very peculiar, and no doubt characteristic. The face, or rather maxillge and intermaxillffi, is broad for a whale having such long and slender baleen. We await the discovery and the description of the complete Neohalcena with great anxiety. If it is the Sulphur-bottom or Fin-fish it will be even more interesting, as removing that often-mentioned and hitherto imdetermined whale from our books. The synonyms will therefore run thus : — ■ Balcena marginata, Gray, Zool. Erebus & Terror, p. 48, 1. 1. f. 1 (baleen oulv). Cape?ea antipocJanim, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 202, fig. ; Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 101, f. 9 (ear-bone only); part only of Suppl. Cat. Neohalcena marginata, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, v. p. 221, vi. p. 155, tigs. l"& 2 ; Suppl. Cat. p. 40, figs. 1 & 2 (skull only). I applied the name of C.antipodarum to this species, believing it to be the Black Whale of New Zealand, of which Dr. Dief- Dolj)hins of the New-Zealand Seas. 109 feiiLucli had brought such an accurate figure ; and I was con- firmed in thinking that it was the same as the skeleton from New Zeahiud which was in the Paris Museum, by the obser- vations of Mihie-Edwards, Professor Lilljeborg, and Van Beneden, who, though the skeleton had lost its ear-bones, seemed to feel no doubt that it was the skeleton of the whale the ear-bones of which I figured. I have never seen the skeleton myself ; for when I was in Paris they considered the skeleton a duplicate of the one they had set up, and not worth my seeing. I think it better to retain the name of Neobakena for tliis genus. The genus Cajjerea, though first established on the ear-bone of this genus, has had its character enlarged by tlie study of the Paris skeleton ; and it would produce less change of name to retain Caperea for the whale the skeleton of which is at Paris ; otherwise we should have to form a new name for that genus ; but doubtless there will be some one who, wishing to append his name to a new-named old genus, will give it another appellation. As the specimen in the Paris Museum has lost its ear-bones, M. van Beneden has added to the figure of that skeleton the figure of some ear-bones, said to have come from New Zealand, in the Belgian Museum. Now, as there are at least two Black or Right Whales with very different shoulder-blades tliat inhabit the seas of New Zealand, it is not possible to say to which of these species the specimens figured by M. van Beneden belong. 2. Euhalcena australis. There are at least two Black Whales in New Zealand ; and as yet I have no evidence that the Euhalcena australis has been taken in New-Zealand seas. It is doubtful to which of tlie two Right Whales the animal figured by Dr. Dieffenbach real'y belongs. I applied to this figure the names oi Balcena antipt- darum (DiefFenb. New Zeal. 1. 1) and Balcena antarctica (Voy. Erebus and Terror, t. 1); but as this has been applied to the skeleton of the New-Zealand whale in the Paris Museum by M. Milne-Edwai-ds, Prof. Lilljeborg, myself, and M. van Beneden in his 'Osteographie des C^taces,' I believe it will be better to retain it for that species. The form of the bladebone, which is different from that of all the other Right Whales known, is not likely to be connected with a change in the ex- ternal form of the animal. The synonyms will run thus : — BalfPim ayitipodnriim, Gray, Dieffenb. New Zeal. tab. 1 (animal). Balfpna antarctica, Gray, Zool. Erebus & Terror, Get. p. 16, tab. 1 (ani- mal, not Lesson nor Owen). 110 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whales and Caperea flHi;)jor/r/n6w, Lilljeborg; tJray, Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 371, Suppl. p. 45 (not ear-bones). Balcena antipodfirum, Van Beneden, Osteog. Get. tab. 3 (skeleton ; ear- bones doubtful). The second Black Whale is Macleayius austrah'ensis^ a skeleton of which is in the British Museum (noticed in the Ann. &Mag. Nat. Hist. 1873, vol. xi. p. 75), and which is de- scribed and will be published in the ' Proceedings of the Zoolo- gical Society' for 1873. It was sent from the coast of Canter- bury, New Zealand, as Baloina antipodarum^ by Dr. Haast. I at first thought, from the similarity of the ear-bones, that it was the Euhalcena. australis ; but it is extremely different from this. 3. Megaptera novce-zealandicB. The whale stranded at Wellington Harbour with "a falcate dorsal" is most probably a PhysaJus ; for the peculiar character of Megapteva is to have merely a hunch instead of a dorsal fin, and elongate pectoral fins. Tlie ear-bones of Megaptera and Physalus are nearly similar ; and therefore it is most probably Fhysalus antarcticus. The colour of tlie baleen may vary, as the whalers say the character and texture are very different — so distinct that a dealer in these articles can distinguish the baleen of the Finners of the different countries, and they fetch different prices. 8. Electra.clancula, Gray. I do not know what Dr. Hector's remark refers to ; perhaps it does not refer to my description. I published a description and figure which Dr. Hector sent to me in the 'Ann. & Mag, Nat. Hist.' 1872, ix. p. 436, fig. 10. Grampus Eichardsom. The number of teeth varies in the different specinjens of tl^e European species. 13. Epiodon chatliamiensis^ and 14. Mesoplodon Layardii. I have not seen the skull of Epiodon australis ; but as yet I have never seen a species of whale or seal common to the coast of South America and New Zealand. It may be different with the Cape of Good Hope and Australia and New Zealand ; but I have seen no decided instance of the same species occurring in two countries ; therefore I can give no decided opinion re- specting the jaw of Ilesojjlodon Layardii. At the sanie time I may observe that, the Mesoplodon Layardii J or, as I should call it, Dolichodon Lay ardi^has a much DoliiMns of ike New-Zealand Seas. llli longer and more attenuated lower jaw, and much slenderer teeth, than the Chatham-Island specimen, figured and described by Dr. Hector tinder that name ; and I have very little doubt in my own mind that the Chatham-Island specimen will be found, when more perfect specimens are obtained, to be the representative of a very distinct species of Doltchodon, which I would propose provisionally to designate as DoUchodon Tra- versii — a curious comment on the comparative anatomists, who think that DoUchodon Layardl of the Cape, Callidon Giintheri of New South Wales, Petrorhynchus capensis of the Cape, &c. ^'all differ in so trifling a degree as not to exceed the range of individual variations one often meets with in comparing a series of skulls of the same species." Surely the author means of the same domestic animals, and entirely leaves out of the, question the experience gained by the study of wild ones and the evidence afforded by the study of their geographical distri- bution, I must think that when these authors become more expe- rienced they will wish their observations to have a " tacit burial and oblivion," and perhaps themselves learn how to define genera, and species. 15. Berardius Hectori. I know nothing of this skull except from Dr. Hector's figures and description: and the skull has never been in England; so that I do not think that any comparative anatomist has had the opportunity of seeing it. Dr. Hector considered it the. young of B. Arnouxi. I at once saw that it was different ; but as it has the teeth in the front of the jaw like Berardius^ I considered it best (and am still of the same opinion) to retain it in that genus, with which it agrees in the position of its teeth as developed in the adult animal, and in geographical distribution ; and Dr. Hector's tracings of the ear-bones of the two species show that there is a great affinity between them in the very peculiar manner in which those bones are dotted. I con- sider the position of the teeth a more important zoological cha- racter than a slight difference in the " conformation of the naso- premaxillary region," a part that, as every zoologist who has examined several skulls of different ages in the same species qf Cetacea knows, is very apt to vary ; but when a comparative anatomist draws his conclusions from figures, or the examination of a single specimen of a group, he is often liable to be misled as to the value of the characters to which he attaches much importance. Nothing showed this better than the published results of the labours of a comparative anatomist who has named, but not defined, a multitude of species and genera from 112 Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. fragments of fossil bones, but who when he attempted to name recent skulls, as of crocodiles (of which he has perfect specimens under his eyes), named, described, and published what are now regarded as three distinct species in one case, and two distinct species in another, under the same name, and, on the other hand, a series of skulls of the same species under three different names (see Trans. Zooh Soc. vi. 1869, p. 127), and Avho mixes up together under one name the skulls of two such large and distinct animals as a one-horned and a two-horned rhinoceros as a double-horned one (see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 1015). I need not (but could) refer to many more instances of the same kind. I anr in the habit of estimating, from what is written about what I know, the reliance I may place upon what is written of what I do not know, and have thus lost my confidence in this author's writings on zoological questions. It is an old complaint that persons will write about what they have a limited knowledge of. Thus the comparative anatomists are always giving their opinions on the limits and definitions of genera and the names that ought to be used — subjects not much in tlieir Avay, and on which they have very crude ideas. What would they say if a zoologist interfered with their ana- tomical details, their confused nomenclature of bones, and tlieir much controverted homologies ? But it is the more remarkable, when we consider how very few animals have been dissected, and how imperfectly those that have been dissected have been described, as is proved by their own papers (see for instance jMr. Clark's paper on the hippopotamus, 'Proc. Zool. Soc' 1872, p. 185), that an anatomist should leave his subject and diverge to write upon the synonyma of species and the priority of names, all of which is mere compilation on his part. XIV. — A ]\Ionofiraphic List of the Species of the Genus Gony- leptes, loith Descriptions of three remarkable new Species. By Arthur Gardiner Butler, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,&c. [Plate III.] Family Gonyleptidae, Wood. Genus Gonyleptes *, Kirby. 1. Gonyleptes horridus. Gonyleptes horridns, Kii-bv, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 452, pi. 22. fig. 16 (1818). Gom/leptes curcipcs ?, Koch (nee Guerin), Arachn. vii. pi. 224. fig. 555 (18.39). iiTa??. "Brazil" (A7/'5y); Surinam. One example. B.M. * I take this genus in its restricted sense, as used by Gervais ('Apteres,' iii. pp. 102-105). Wood, in his recent papers on Gonyleptidae and Pha- langidse, applies it equally to Goniosoma and Cosmetus ! Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 113 2. Gonyleptes aculeatus. Gonyleptes aculeqtus, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 452 (1818). Var. ? Faucheur acanthure, Dunieril, Diet. Sc. Nat., Ent. pi. 60. figs. 14-16(1819). Gonyleptes acanthurus, Gervais, Apteres, iii. p. 105, pi. 46. fig. 2 (1844). Hah. Monte Video [Darwin). Two examples. B.M. 3. GonyleiJtes scaber. Gonyleptes sanher, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 453 (1818) ; Koch, Arachn. vii. pi. 223. liga. 553, 554 (1839). Hah. Monte Video?; Valdivia [Cuming). Tliree examples. B.M. 4. Gonyleptes acanthopus. Phdanqiinn acanfluyjms, Quoy & Gaim. Voy. de TUranie, Zool. p. 546, pl.62. ligs. 2, c?, 3, 5 (1824). EmarcHsgmndis, Perty, Del. Anim. p. 206, pi. 40. fig. 2, $ (1830-34). Gonyleptes horridus, Koch, Arachn. vii. pi. 222. figs. 551, 552 (1839). Hah. Brazil. Five examples. B.M. 5. Gonyleptes asperatus. Gonyleptes asperatus, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., ^Arachn. pi. 1. fig. 9 (1849). Hah. Chili. 6. Gonyleptes planiceps. Gonyleptes planiceps. Gervais, Mag. de Zool, Arachn. pi. 2 ; Apteres, iii. p."l05 (1844) ; Gay's Chili, Zool, Arachn. pi. 1. fig. 10 (1849). Hah. Chili. 7. Gonyleptes pectinatus. Gonyleptes jjectinatus, Koch, Arachn. xii. pi. 402. fig. 971 (1845). ? Gonyleptes airvipes, Koch, Arachn. vii. pi. 224. fig. 555 (1839). Hah. ^'Bahia" [Koch); near Rio Janeiro [A. Fry). One example. B.M. 8. Gonyleptes curvipes. Gonyleptes curvipes, Guerin, Icon, du Regne Anim., Arachn. pi. 4. fig. 5 (1842-49); Gervais, Apteres, iii. p. 104, pi. 46. fig. 1 (1844); Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. pi. 1. fig. 6 (1849). Gonyleptes chUensis, G. Iv. Gray, Anim. Kingd., Arachn. pi. 20. fig. 3. Hah. Chili. Four examples. B.M. 9. Gonyleptes armatus. Gonyleptes armatus, Perty, Del. Anim. p. 205, pl. 39. fig. 13 (1830-34). Hah. Rio Negro. G. spinipes and asper of Perty are referred by Koch to his genus Ampheres ; G. curvispina and elegans to his genus Cce- lopygiis. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Fo/. xi. 8 114 Mr. A. G. Butler 07i the Genus Gonyleptes. 10. Gonylejytes acanthojys. Gonyleptes acanthops, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Araclin. pi. 1. fig. 4 (1849). Hah. Chili. There is a species nearly allied to this in the British Museum. 11. Gonyleptes hicusjpidatus. Gonyleptes hicuspidatm, Koch, Arachn. vii. pi. 224. fig. 55G (1839). Hah. Brazil [Koch). 12. Gonyleptes muticus. Gonyleptes mutictis, Koch, Arachn, vii. pi. 225. fig. 557 (1839). Hah. Brazil (Koch). 13. Gonyleptes poly acanthus. Gonyleptes polyacanthus, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. pi. 1. fig. 7 (1849). Hah. "Chili" {Gervais) ; ? One example. B.M. 14. Gonyleptes modestus. Gonyleptes viodestus, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. in vol. iv. p.' 23. n. 4 (1849). i7ai. Chili?; Y nldiYia {Gummy). Two examples. B.M. 15. Gonyleptes hicoriiis. Go^iyleptes bicornis, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. iu vol. iv.p. 21. n.'2 (1849). Hah. Chili. 16. Gonyleptes subsimilis. Gonyleptes subsimilis, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. pi. 1. fig. 8 (1849). Gonyleptes polyacanthoides, Gervais, Apteres, iv, p. 577 (1847 ?)*. Hah. Chili. Seems to be a female closely allied to G. aculeatus ? ; several of the species at present referred to the genus Gom'osoma have much the same aspect, and may possibly have to be re- ferred to this genus when we knoAV both sexes of them. The two genera have been somewhat artificially separated ; but I have thought it better to leave them for the present as Gervais left them. G. ornatum of Say, recently figured and redescribed by Wood as a Gonyleptes, in which genus Gervais also retained it (Apt. iv.p. 344), belongs to the genus Cosmetus (PhalangidEe), * A reference is given at p. 576 to the pagination and plates of Gay's ' Chili.' Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 115 the palpi being unarmed. We have foiir examples from Georg-ia, where the type also was taken ; they agree closely with Say's clesci4ption, but not with Wood's. With regard to tlie species recently described from Ecuador (Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. n. s. xiii. 1869, pp. 435-440, pi. xxiv.), G. i)roedo^ G. injucundus, and G. sjnnqmlj^us appear to be Goniosomata, and G. multimaculatus a mutilated and greasy example of Cosmetus cordatus; the species [0. marginatus) forming the new genus Octophthalmus is unknown to me at present; 0. hilunata'^ and 0 . ferox^ ioxmvag the genus Or- tonia, are also unknown to me, although the latter appears to be congeneric with Goniosoma ra2)tator of Gervais, which I have always considered the type of a distinct genus. The following are new species : — 17. Gonyleptes armillatus, n. sp. PI. III. figs. 1,2. Colom's : above pitchy, the marginal tubercles of cephalo- thorax tawny in the centre ; tarsi ochraceous ; palpi olivaceous ; below brownish in parts, the joints of the legs testaceous ; mandibles or chelaj olivaceous, their pincers ferruginous. Male. Above with oculiferous tubercle prominent, arched forwards, and obtusely bifurcate ; immediately behind it and in front of the transverse suture two groups of five to six minute tubercles ; central area of cephalothorax transversely ovate, margined on either side by six gradually increasing prominent tubercles, and in front of these to just above the suture by a series of minute shining granules ; bearing on either side a robust obtuse incurved spine above base of coxas of hind legs ; distinctly convex and crossed by six to seven transverse irregular series of moderate-sized tubercles, besides six prominent central ones placed longitudinally in pairs ; posterior area trisegmented, tuberculate, second segmentation bearing a prominent terminal spine : legs short, coarsely rugose, spinous, pilose ; hind legs with coxge obtusely spinous ; femora coarsely tuberculate, externally obtusely dentate-spinous ; tibiai coarsely tuberculate : sternal surface entirely tuberculate and pilose, as also the segments of the abdomen ; palpi (" man- dibules palpiformes " of Gervais) of moderate length, compressed, with slender spines ; cheliceres short, pilose, the chela; cylin- drical, pincers minutely serrated internally. * This species has quite the aspect of a Cosmetus, so far as one can judge by the fig'ure; but the description says, "Palpi .... penulti- mate joint broadly dilated, somewhat trianp-ular, thin, and armed -with minute slender spines on its marp^ins, and a pair of larger ones on its distal end ; the distal article more cylindrical, with one or more acute spines,, against which the movable claw works." 116 Mr. A. G, Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. Length of ceplialothorax 4 lines ; relative length of legs 1, 3, 4, 2, the second pair being the longest. Female. Differs chiefly in its narrower cephalothorax, which has smaller tubercles and less strongly developed lateral spines ; the legs also are much less spinose. Hah. Ecuador {Buckley). ^ ? • B.M. Must be placed next to G. curvipes^ but is a very distinct and beautiful form. 18. Gonyle'ptes ancyrophorus, n. sp. PI. III. figs. 5, 6. Colours : cephalothorax above pitchy, becoming testaceous at the margins ; legs black-brown, with coxse ochraceous and base of femora ferruginous ; femora of hind legs entirely fer- ruginous ; palpi blackish olivaceous, terminal claw and points of spines ochraceous ; cheliceres olivaceous, with pincers ochra- ceous ; body below dirty testaceous, clouded with olivaceous, and becoming blackish posteriorly. Cephalothorax above with oculiferous tubercle prominent, bearing two well-developed and moderately acute divergent spines ; entire dorsum unusually convex ; posterior area tra- pezoidal, and bearing on its hinder margin two slightly diver- gent and well-developed acute spines ; legs long, smooth ; hind legs irregularly spined along inner margin of femora ; palpi rather longer than cephalothorax, their joints more or less cylindrical, irregular, coarsely spined ; cheliceres with second joint above trispiuose behind ; chelas rather large, fixed finger with two obtuse teeth on its inner margin : inferior surface smooth, the metasternum bearing on either side (about halfway between the third and fourth pair of legs) a strong acute per- pendicular spine, and on its outer margin, below the retracted abdominal segments, a long, thick, incurved, and nearly j)er- pendicular horny process, bifurcate at its tip. Length of cephalothorax 4 lines ; relative length of legs, apparently, 1, 3, 2, 4. Hal. Q,mio [W.C.Hewitson). B.M. Not nearly allied to any described species. 19. Gonyleptes telifer, n. sp. PI. III. figs. 3, 4. Colours almost as in G. armillatus, but (Avith the exception of the cheliceres) rather darker ; under surface of body pitchy. Cephalothorax similar in general form to that of G. armil- latus ; irregularly tuberculate, marginal tubercles smaller, some of them obtusely spinose ; oculiferous tubercle very prominent, bispinose ; six central tubercles of cephalothorax elongated into obtuse spines, the hindmost pair being the longest ; margin On the Longicorn Coleoptera of. Tropical America. 117 above base of coxa of hind legs bearing two widely divergent obtuse spines ; posterior area trisegmentedj tuljerculatc, second segmentation bearing a prominent central acute spine, third segmentation terminating in a long, feebly curved, and very robust spine, three lines in length ; legs long, rugose, denticu- late ; hind legs, with the exception of the femora, internally dentated; body below, including abdomen, coarsely tuberculate; palpi moderately long, subcylindrical, with slender spines ; cheliceres small ; the chela? cylindrical, pilose, pincers crossing at the tips and strongly denticulate internally. Length of cephalothorax (excluding terminal spine) A\ lines ; relative length of legs 1, 3, 2, 4. Hah. Ega [Bates). One specimen. B.M. Most nearly allied to G. armillatus, but in general appear- ance utterly unlike any thing previously described : it reminds me of a similarly ornamented fossil form described by Mr. Henry Woodward (Gfeol. Mag. vol. viii. p. 3S5, pi. xi. 1871) as Eo'plirynus Prestvicii ( Curculioides of Samouelle) ; the latter, however, excepting in ornamentation, appears to come nearer to Ischyrojjsalis of Koch. XV. — Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By H. W. Bates, F.L.S. [Continued from p. 45.] Genus ACYPHODERES. Serville, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 549; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 505. The character given by Serville as distinguishing this genus was the broadly ovate depressed uneven thorax. A more constant feature is the rather abruptly subulate elytra. The thorax is sometimes oblong-ovate and convex. The antennas in all the species are robust and strongly serrated. I. Apex of elytra entire. A. Tliorax without dorsal ridges. 1. Acyphoderes crinitns, Klug. Stenopterus crinitus, Klug, Eutom. iJras. Specim. alter, p. 50, t. xliv, f. 11. Rio Janeiro. 2. Acyphoderes moestus^ n. sp. A. niger, velutinus, dense breviter hirsutus ; thorace elongato, sub- 118 Mr. H. W. Bates on the ovato, postice constricto ; olytris disco fuscescenti-albis vitreis. Long. 9 lin. c? • Prov. Parana, Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates) . Allied to A. crinttus (Klug). More slender and elongate. Hind tibiae with the apical half dilated externally, and densely clothed with rather short black hairs. Head slender ; muzzle greatly elongated and narrow ; eyes (male) nearly approaching in front the mesial line. Antennie rather slender ; joints dilated at the apex, and serrate from the fifth joint. Thorax similar in form to i\\Viioi A.crinitus^'hui narrower, considerably constricted near the base ; disk depressed. Elytra subulate, reaching scarcely the middle of the fourth segment ; disk pale, vitreous ; borders black, not clearly defined. Beneath, the breast clothed in the middle with a dense woolly tawny-grey pubescence; metasternum very broad, keeled down the middle. Abdomen (male) slender, cylindrical ; terminal ventral segment with two elevated ridges, with their anterior angles projecting and pointed. Legs black ; hind femora elongate, gradually clavate. 3. Acyphoderes femoratus^ Klug. Stenopterus fcmonttus, King, Entom. Bras. Spocim. alter, p. 57, t. xliv. f. 10, c?.' . . Acyplioderes brachialis, Pascoe, Journ. of Entom. i. p. 369, cJ . Brazil. Pascoe's description agrees closely with that of Klug ; and the figure quoted represents clearly the singular form of the anterior legs, which struck both Pascoe and Lacordaire, who both appear to have overlooked Klug's well-known figure. AA. Thorax with dorsal ridges. 4. Acyplioderes MrtipeSj Klug. Stenopterus hirtipes, Klug, I.e. p. 55, t. xliv. f. 9, 5 . S. Brazil. The anterior legs of the male are very similar in form to those 0^ A. femor at us ^. In both these species the muzzle is intermediate, as to length and narrowness, between A. crinitus and A. aurulentus. The thorax is elongate and almost cylindrical in A. femoratus (al- though showing faint dorsal ridges), a little more ovate in A. Mrtipes^ differing much in shape according to sex in both spe- cies. This character, therefore, is of no avail as a generic distinction. Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 11-9' 5. Acyphoderes aurulentus^ Kirby. Neci/dalis aumMtiis, Kirh J, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. 44.3(1817); Dalm. Anal. Entom. p. 71 (1823). Acyphoderes sericinus, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 195. Rio Janeiro, Baliia, Kirby's original description is made from the dark form of this insect, in Avhich the femora and tibiae are bhxck in the middle, and the elytra have a furcate black streak on each side. The type of White's sericinus is a specimen of this form. 6. Acyphoderes Olivieriy Bates. Acyphoderes OUvieri, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 328. Necydalis abdominalis, Oliv. no. 74, p. 8, pi. 1. f. 5 (?). Amazons and Cayenne. Olivier makes no mention of golden pubescence in his de- scription ; and the elytra in the figure have not the form of those of the present species. Nevertheless it is probable his species is the same as A. OUvieri. , 7. Acyphoderes carinicollis, n. sp. A. minor, fusco-niger, minus pubescens, femoribus Isete rufis, posticis basi flavo-testaceis ; thorace anguste oblongo-ovato, line- atim aureo-tomentoso, carina laevi mediana margincm anticum attingente, altera utrin que latiore grosse punctata. Long. Olin. $. Prov. Rio Janeiro [coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates) . Small and slender for this genus. Head punctate-scabrous, partly golden tomentose ; muzzxe moderate ; eyes (female) not widely distant in front. Antennse elongate, slightly thickened towards apex ; joints moderately dilated at apex, and serrate from the fifth. Thorax oblong-ovate, as in Bromiades hra- chypteray sparsely hirsute, and appearing glabrous, except the lines of golden tomentum, of which there are two dorsal (one on each side the median line), one along the anterior and posterior margin, and a short oblique one trending towards the disk from the tomentose flanks. The three longitudinal ribs of the disk are coarsely punctate, except the anterior part of the middle one, which is smooth and extends to the fore mar- gin. Scutellum golden tomentose. Elytra elongate, subulate; margins deep black and clearly defined, and on each side emit- ting a branch, which passes above the humeral angle to the base ; rest of surface yellow, vitreous. Body beneath pitchy black ; breast golden tomentose. Legs black ; thighs red : posterior pair at base pale, sometimes with a dusky ring at commencement of the rather abrupt club. 120 Mr. H. W. Bates on tie 8. Acyphoderes odyneroideSj White. Acyphoderes odt/neroides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 196, pi. 5. f. 3. E. Tapajos, Amazons. The apex of the elytra in this species is prolonged into a very sharp point. The species is an exact mimic of the wasp PoJyhia liliacea, F., found abundantly in the same localities and frequenting the same flowers. II. Apex of elytra emarginate-truncate. (Thorax with dorsal ridges.) 9. Acyphoderes acutipenms, Thomson. Acyphoderes acutipennts, Thomson, Classif. des Ceramb. p. 179. Mexico. Genus Beomiades. Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 165 ; Lacord. Genera, vol, viii. p. 506. This differs from Acyphoderes only in the short cuneiform el}i:ra, which barely pass the base of the first abdominal seg- ment, and are scarcely dehiscent at the suture. B. hracliypte- rus bears the closest resemblance to Acyphoderes auridentus, even to the tubercle on the anterior part of the prosternum. Lacordaire was unacquainted with the male, which differs from the female only in the less dilated antenute and the eyes reaching nearly to the median line of the forehead. Bromiades hrachypterus, Chevr. Brotniades brachypierus, Chevrolat, Rev. Zool. 1838, p. 285, Cuba and Sta. Marta, New Granada. A specimen from the latter locality in my collection differs from the Cuban form in having the hind legs wholly tawny red, with the exception of the two apical joints of the tarsi, which are black. Genus Sphecomoepha. Newman, Entom. Mag. v. p. 396; White, Cat. Long. Col, Brit. Mus. p. 197. Syn. Sphecogaster, Lacord. Genera, vol. viii, p. 471. Lacordaire placed this genus in his group Necydalides^ al- though its characters interfered much with the compactness of his definition of the group, as shown by his citing it often as an exception. In fact it is merely an extreme form of Rhino- tragime much modified probably by mimetic adaptation. The anterior cox£e are certainly much exserted, but not more so than in Isthmiade and in many Odontocerce and Ommatce, in Longicorn Coleopter a of Tropical America. 121 some of which latter the prosternum between the coxas is also reduced, as in ^phecomorphaj to a narrow thread. Stenopte- rus murinus of Klusj, Avhich I venture to associate with the typical species, bridges over the difference between it and Odontocera and Aci/phoderes. In both the narrowed part of the subulate elytra is of extreme length and tenuity, ending in a sharp point. The tliorax in Sph. murina is not so broad as in 8ph. chalyhea^ but it is oi similar shape ; and the third anten- nal joint is relatively not so long. 1. Sp}iecoinorp>Jm chalyhea^ Newm. Sphecomorpha chalyhea, Newman, I. c. p. 396. S. biplagiatus, Lacord. /. c. p. 472, note. Amazons; Surinam; ^'Brazil" {Neivm.). The species is deceptively similar to Synceca cyanea, F., a common wasp in the countries where the Sphecomorpha is found. 2. Sphecomorpha murina, Klug. Stetioptertis murinus, Klug, Eutom. Bras. Specim. alter, p. 55, t. xliv. f. 8. Rio Janeiro. The abdomen is much attenuated at the base, and remark- ably vespiform in both sexes. Genus ISTHMIADE. Thomson, System. Ceramb. p. IGG ; Lacord. Gen. vol. viii. p. 504. The elytra are subulate (narrower than in Acyphoderes) . The antennae have all joints elongate and slender, strongly serrate from the sixth joint. The thorax is narrow, strongly polished, and tuberculate. All the species are mimics of Ichneumon flies of the group Braconidffi. 1. Isthmiade hraconides, Perty. Stenopterus hraconidcs, Perty, Del. An. Art. Bras. p. 94, t. 19. f. 3. Isthmiade hcphcestionoides, Thorns. I, c. p. 166. South Brazil. 2. Isthmiade rubra, n. sp. I. castanco-rufa, nitida, vertice nigra ; elytris disco pallide fuscis vitreis ; alis pallide fuscis, ante apiccm fascia fulva. Long. 7-8 lin. d 2- Prov. Rio Janeiro et Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders^ Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). Very similar to /. hraconides (Perty), differing in its bright glossy chestnut-red colour, and especially its pale brown 122 Mr. H. W. Bates 07i the wings, Tlie thorax is smooth and glossy, with five promi- nent tubercles on the disk. The eyes in the male do not reach the median line of the front ; in the female they are separated by a space about twice the width of that of the male. The elytra are strongly subuliform. The metasternum is very voluminous, and the abdomen very slender, especially at the base, in both sexes. In the male the apical ventral segment is concave in the middle and elevated at the sides. A single male in Dr. Baden's collection has two strong spines at the apex of the fourth ventral segment, like the male oi Acyphoderes femoratus. In two other males there is no trace of this armature. The terminal ventral segment in the speci- men mentioned has not the concavity and lateral wings of the type. As the form and colours of all the specimens are exactly similar, I do not venture to consider these sexual differences specific. 3. Isthni'ade ichneiimomformis. Isthmiade ichnmimoniformis, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 32G, R. Amazons. 4. IstJimiade 7nactlenfa, n. sp. /. ruhrce similis, at minor et multo angustior, thorace vix tubercu- lato, etc. Valde angustata, rufo-castanea ; antemiis, elytris, pe- dibus quatuor anticis, basique femorum posticorum pallidioribus ; capite angusto nigro ; tborace elongato, angusto, medio paulo dilatato, polito, supra sparsim punctato, tuberculo mediano dorsali parvo ; elytris baud subito angustatis, apice late rotundatis, spar- sim punctatis, nitidis. Long. 5| lin. § . S. Brazil {coll. Dr. Baden). Differs from all other species by its naiTOw elongate thorax, destitute of tubercles except the small discoidal one, the rest of the sm'face being simply uneven, and sprinkled with small circular punctures ; a lateral sulcus is very strongly marked near the base. The antennjB also differ in being distinctly thickened towards the apex, with the joints compact and moderately serrated. The elytra are subuliform, but not suddenly narrowed, the lateral incurvature being much weaker than in the other species. The wings also differ in not having the yellow fascia which gives to the other species their strong resemblance to the Braconidffi ; they are very light brown, and have only a faint indication of a yellow stigmoidal spot. Genus ISCHASIA. Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 163 ; Lacord, Genera, vol. viii. p. 508. This genus is distinguished by its short and broad cunei- Longicorn Cohoptera of Trojpical America. 1 23 form elytra, not reaching the apex of the first abdominal seg- ment and puncjtured throughout, the punctures being only a little wider apart on the disk, with the interstices shining. The muzzle is elongated, but rather broad. The legs long and slender, with the thighs rather abruptly clavate and the hind tibiae not tufted. The antenna are elongate-clavate ; Thomson describes the joints (from the sixth) as " paulo ser- ratis," which is nearer the fact than Lacordaire's statement, " non dent^es en scie." In the male the eyes do not reach the median line of the front. Ischasia rufina^ Thoms. I. c. Prov. Rio Janeiro and Parang [coll. W. Saunders^ Dr. Baden^ and H. W. Bates). The antenuEe and legs are sometimes more or less black. Grenus Charis, Newman. Newman, Entom. p. 21 ; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 507. Syn. JEpimelitfa, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 330. Having had an opportunity of examining a considerable series of species of these insects^ so curiously modified to attain a close resemblance to different species of hairy bees, I think Epimelitta may be very well incorporated with Charis, the only differences being the broader thorax and more hirsute body. I. Elytra very sliort, cuneiform. Thorax broad, tumid on each side near the hind angle. 1. Charis euphrosyne, Newman. Charis euphrosyne, Newman, Entom. p. 21, S. Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders). 2. Charis harhicrus, Kirby. Necydalis harbicrus, Kirby, Trans. Linn, Soc. t. xii. p. 443. Charis Aa:de, Newm. Eutoni. p. 91. Rio Janeiro [coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). The elytra in this species are strongly emarginate along their sutural margin, and the lateral edge is very little incurved. 3. Charis scoparius, King. Molorchus scoparius, Klug, Entom, Bras. Specim. alter, p, 51, t. xliv, f.2. Cametd (Amazons). 4. Charis mimica, n. sp. C. nigra, tibiis posticis apice et tarsis rufis, illis dense fulvo-penieil- 124 Mr. H. W. Bates on the latis ; femoribus raagais, crassis, nigro-hirsutis et supra penicil- latis. Long. 5 lin. c? . Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro {coll. Dr. Baden). Head coarsely punctured, black ; mouth pitchy. Eyes (male) nearly touching in front the median line. Antennse very slightly thickened towards the tip ; joints from the fifth distinctly enlarged at apex and serrate. Thorax strongly transverse, rounded, transversely convex in the middle, the convexity clothed with long, erect, black hairs, partially gla- brous and punctured behind. Elytra cuneiform, short, reach- ing only halfway down the first abdominal segment, black, brownish and punctured on the disk, with a line of long, erect, black hairs curving from the base to the middle of the suture. Legs pitchy black, hairy, short, except the elongated hind pair, of ^lich the femora are much thickened, and have a di- stinct tuft of black hairs on their upper edge and a fringe be- neath. The tibige have their apical half reddish, with two tufts of tawny hairs on their outer edge, and a continuous long fringe of similar hairs on their inner edge ; the tarsi of the same legs are also reddish ; the anterior femora are bearded underneath with long black hairs. Body beneath black ; me- tasternum voluminous, clothed with yellowish hairs ; abdomen in male moderately slender. This curious insect bears a striking resemblance to certain bees of the Melipona group. 5. Charts melijponica^ Bates. Epimelitia mcliponica, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 331. R. Amazons. 6. Charts rufiventriSf Bates. Epimelitia rvfiventris, Bates, /. c. p. 331. R. Amazons. 7. Chan's bicolor, n. sp. C. niger, griseo-pubescens ; partibus oris, antennis basi, abdomine, elytrisque dimidio apicali, fulvo-testaceis. Long. 4i lin. c? $ • Resembles Ch. harbicrusy Kir. { = Acedef Newm.), but dif- fers in the elytra not incurved along the sutural edge &c. Head rugose-punctate, clothed with silvery-grey pile ; muzzle short ; eyes in male not reaching the median frontal line, in female rather more widely separated. Antennae half the length of the body (a little longer in male), thickened and strongly serrated from the sixth joint, tawny testaceous ; tips of apical joints blackish. Thorax short, rounded, constricted at the base, and slightly gibbous on each side above the constriction ; sur- Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 125 face longitudinally confluent-strigose, partially clothed with silvery pile. EJytra short, cuneiform ; apex obtuse, sparingly punctured, scarcely shining ; basal half violet-black, apical half tawny ; tip convex and somewhat darker ; a patch of gold-coloured hairs on each side of the scutellum. Abdomen fulvous, not disproportionate to the metasternum, or differing much in form according to sex. Legs pitchy black, hairy ; hind legs slightly elongated ; tibiae with a dense brush of blackish hairs on the outer side of their apical half. The following species, unknown to me, belong possibly to this section : — 8. Charts Erato, Newm. Entom. p. 21. Brazil. 9. Chan's il/neme, Newrn. I. c. p. 90. Brazil. 10. Charts Melete, Newm. I. c. p. 91. Brazil. The description in some respects applies to Tomopterus lati- cornis (Klug), but it is not sufficiently complete to enable one to decide. II. Elytra narrowed and strongly divergent towards the apex {reach- ing nearly to the apex of the second abdominal segment). Thorax subcylindrical. 11. Charts Aglata, Newm. Entom. p. 22. Brazil {coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). This species forms a transition to the genus Phygopoda. Genus Phygopoda, Thomson. Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 164. Differs from Chan's by the great length of the hind legs and the more abruptly clavate hind femora. In the smaller and narrower thorax and the narrowed and divergent apices of the elytra it agrees with section II. of that genus. 1. Phygopoda alhitarsis, Klug. Stenopterm alhitursis, Klug, Eutom. Bras. Specim. alter, p.57, t. xliv. f.l2. Phygopoda fugax, Thorns. /. c. p. 164 (?). Thomson's description of his Ph. fagax agrees with small examples of Ph. alhitarsis, except the omission of mention of the smooth raised dorsal line of the thorax. R. Amazons. Abundant occasionally on flowers. 126 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 2. Phygopoda subvestita, White. Odontocera subvestita, White, Cat. Long. Col, Brit. Mus. p. 190, E, TapajoSj Amazons. This species would be ahuost equally well placed in the genus Charisj sect. II. The hind thighs are longer and rather more abruptly clavate than in any species of Charisj but they are less so than in Phygopoda albitarsis. AcOEETHEA, nov. gen. Corpus, praeeipue abdomen valde elongatum. Caput parvum, rostro liaululum producto, OcuU (S raagni antice fere contigui, 2 modice distantes. Antennce modice breves, articulis a sexto dila- tatis, serratis. Thorax parvus, aiitice augustatus. Elytra cunei- formia, obtusa, abdominis segmenti primi medium attingentia, disco nitida. Pedes postici elongati ; femora gradatim clavata ; t'lhhe liaud scopiferiB ; tarsi breves, Metasternum baud distentum; abdomen J Hneare, gracile, 5 sessile. This genus is closely allied both to Charis and Phygopoda, but cannot be united to either without rendering their defini- tion impossible. The sim])le hind tibiaa and obtuse cuneiform elytra distinguish it from Phygopoda ; and the elongated hind legs and abdomen sejjarate it from Charis. The abdomen is of disproportionate extension, exceeding by one half the length of the rest of the body. Acoreihra chrysaspis, n. sp. A. gracilis, fusco-castanea, capite tboraceque obscurioribus, reticu- lato-pvmctatis ; elytris cuneiformibus, disco pallide fuscis politis, macula utrinque scutellari scutelloque aurco-tomentosis ; pectore aureo-tomeiitoso ; segmento primo ventrali testaceo, caeteris ( $ ) utrinque macula lateral! aureo-tomentosa ; pedibus fulvo-casta- neis, posticis valde elongatis, tibiis longe hirsutis baud scopiferis, femoribus gradatim clavatis, basi pallidis. Long. 5-7 liu. S $ • Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro [coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates) . Head narrow ; muzzle as in Ph. albitarsis^ moderately elon- gated. Eyes, in male contiguous in front, in female moderately distant. Thorax gradually narrowed in front and slightly constricted at the base. Elytra not reaching the apex of first segment, dehiscent at suture, obtusely pointed at apex ; disk with a few scattered punctures, shining. Antennae rather more than half the length of the body, thickened at the tips ; third to fifth joints linear. The abdomen in the male is very slender and linear, in the female sessile and not disproportioned to the metasternum. Longicom Coleoptera of Tropical America. 127 Phespia, nov. gen. Antennce brevc», gi-adatim iucrassatae ; articiilo tertio cylindrico, quarto et quinto trigouis, sexto usque decimum quadrato-dilatatis, perfoliatis, nullo modo serratis. Thorcuv lateribus regularitcr ro- tundatus, supra convcxus. Elytra abbreviata, gradatim attenuata, apice acuminata, sutura prope apicem biantia, supra vitta exteriore subhyalina. Abdomen brevissimum, vespiforme. Pedes subgra- ciles ; femora |)edunculata, versus apicem clavata ; tlbite posticse apice scopiferae. Caetera ut in gen. Odontocera. A genus formed for the reception of a small number of species, differing in the form of the antennee and elytra too much from Odontocera and Acypltoderes to be united to either. The en- larged antennal joints are not serriform, but almost equally dilated on each side, so as to form a quadrate or thick cylin- drical figure ; and the elytra are subuliform, in quite a dif- ferent way from the same members in Acyplioderes^ Istlimiade^ Bjjhecomorjjhaj or m* Odontocera in the few species which as- sume this form. They are narrowed almost from the base, most so on their outer side, by which, when closed, the sides of the metasternum and abdominal segments are visible from above ; along the suture they are straight until near the apex, whence they taper obliquely and each forms a point at its apex : above, the vitreous stripe runs obliquely from the shoulder, and is interrupted by a dark bar before the apex. The abdo- men is relatively very short, not much longer than the meso- and metathorax together. In general appearance the species mimic the species of the Cerceris group of solitary Avasps. The genus is no doubt closely allied to Tomopterus. 1. Phesjyia cercerina^ Bates. Odontocera cercerina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 325. R. Amazons. 2. Phespia stmulans, n. sp. Ph. cercerince similis, at elytris longioribus ; fulvo-brunnea vel nigro- fusca ; capite thoraceque nigris, tibiis posticis fero a basi dense fusco-nigro birsutis. Long. 4-5| lin. 5 . Novo Friburg, E,io Janeiro, and Prov. Parana {coll. Dr. Baden and W. W. Saunders). Larger than Ph. cercerina. Head blackish, with stripe of golden pile down each side of the forehead and round the eyes. Antenna black, reddish at the base ; sixth to tenth joints thick, cylindrical, compact. Thorax closely but indistmctly punctured, black ; anterior and posterior margins golden pu- bescent. Scutellum golden pubescent. Elytra longer than in 128 Mr. H. W. Bates on tlie Ph.cercerina, reaching to base of penultimate segment, blackish at base and tawnj reddish at apex, roughly punctured near the base and shoulders ; a line of golden pubescence on each side of the scutellum and a narrow vitreous yellowish vitta beginning near the shoulder and ending long before the apex, with a transverse dusky spot across it before its termination. The breast and abdominal segments have similar transverse lines of pubescence (rich golden) as in Ph. cercerina. The legs are reddish tawny, with the exception of the dense brush- like pubescence of the hind tibite reaching nearly to the base, which is blackish. 3. Phespia corinna, Pascoe. Charts corinna, Pascoe, Trans. Ent. Soc. ser. 3. vol. v. p. 290. New Granada. Genus Tomopterus, Serville. Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 544. I. Elytra short, quadrate, not reaching the base of the abdomen. 1. Tomojjterus staphylinus^ Serv. Tomopterus staphylinus, Serv. /. c. p. 54o. Tomopterus pretiosm, Newm. Entom. p. 21 (?). Brazil. The only character mentioned by Newman as distinguishing his T. pretiosus from T. stajyhylinus is its much larger size and greater beauty ; but I have no doubt he had not the true T. staphylinus before him when he made the comparison, and was misled by the T. quadratiijennis (described further on) being named as Serville's species. Serville gives his species as 6-7 lines in length, and as having the basal segment of the ab- domen testaceous. 2. Tomopterus hispecuUfera^ White. Odontocera hispeculifera, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 190; Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 330. R. Tapajos, Amazons. 3. Tomopterus quadratipennis^ n. sp. T. niger, opacus, thoracis marginibus anticis et posticis fasciaque utrinque abbreviata laterali aureo-tomentosis ; elytris apice recte truncatis, apud suturam leviter obliquis, vitta obliqua testacea ; antennis (scapo nigro excepto) rufo-piceis. Long. 4-5 hn. c? $ • Rio Janeira {coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates) . Differs from T. staphylinus by its much smaller size, and from Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 1 29 T. obliquus by its more transversely truncated elytra, oblique only at the sutural angle. Head with much elongated muzzle ; front and emargination of the eyes clothed with golden pile. Thorax quadrate, with sides slightly rounded ; surface convex, regularly punctate-reticulate ; the short lateral golden fascia joins the anterior marginal one near the anterior coxse. Scu- tellum black, with a spot of golden pile at the apex. Elytra black, closely reticulate-punctate, the lateral margin as well as oblique discal vitta rufo-testaceous. Body beneath finely griseous pubescent ; a lateral stripe on mesosternum and meta- sternum and apical margins of ventral segments golden tomen- tose. The abdomen is slightly vespiform in both sexes, more slender in the male. The antennas are pitchy red, the fifth joint being dilated at apex and joints 6 to 10 serrate and thickened ; in T. laticornis (Klug) the fifth joint is linear. 4. Tomopterus ohliquus, Bates. Tomopterus ohliquus, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 329. R, Tapajos, Amazons. 5. Tomopterus vespoides^ White, Guatemala. Tomopterus vespoides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 176, pi. v. f. 8. 6. Tomoptertts larroides^ White. Tomoptertis larroides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 177; Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 330. R. Tapajos, Amazons. This species is an exact mimic of a small bee of the genus Megachile (or allied thereto), which frequents the same flowers. II. Elytra cuneiform, reaching a little beyond the base of the abdomen. 7. Tomopterus laticornis ^ Klug. Molorchus laticornis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Spec, alter, p. 61, t. xiv. f. 1. Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro [coll. Dr. Baden). The resemblance in facies and colours between this and the typical species of the genus is very great ; but it differs in the elytra being a little prolonged, narrowed and rounded at the apex, and in the antenna:; having the sixth to eleventh joints very greatly compressed and dilated, with the fifth joint slender and linear. The genus Pandrosos, Bates (Entom. Monthly Mag. 1867> Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 9 130 Mr. H. W. Bates on the vol. iv. p. 23), having parallel mesosternal episterna, must be removed from the Rhinotragincej from which it also differs in its lateral eyes, &c. Its proper place seems to be near Coremia. Pasiphile mystica^ Thorns. Syst. Ceramb. p. 164 (Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 508), is unknown to me, both genus and species. The descriptions of the two authors are scarcely recon- cilable, Thomson stating the elytra to be " punctata," and Lacordaire '^ vitr^es ;" the descriptions in other respects seem scarcely to apply to the same species. The following genera are closely allied to the RMnotragincB, but differ in one or more of the essential characters of the sub- family ; at the same time they do not quite agree with any of the allied growpes established by Lacordaire. Apostropha, nov. gen. (J et $ . Modice elongata, linearis. Caput retractile, latum, genis paululum elongatis. Oculi magni, convexi, laterales, antice valde distantes. Palpi brevissimi, apice subovati, truncati. Antenncs ( J ) corpora multo, ( 5 ) vix longiores, filiformes, articulis a sexto leviter serratis, tertio usque septimum extus sparsim setosis. Thorax cylindricus. Elytra apicem segmenti secundi vix attin- gentia, versus apicem extus curvata, apice late rotundata, supra passim punctata. Pedes graciles, elongati ; femora abrupte cla- vata, intermedia et postica elongata ; tihice lineares ; tarsi postici graciles, articulo primo cseteris longiore. Prosternum inter coxas latiusculum ; coxse vix exsertse. Mesosternum et abdomen normalia. c? segmentum idtimum ventrale breve, apice late rotundato-emar- ginatum ; $ modice elongatum, rotundatum. A genus allied to Ommafa, but differing in the widely sepa- rated eyes (even in the male) from all the typical forms of Rhinotragince. The eyes, although lateral, are turned a little towards the front ; and this character, taken together Avith the distinct and moderately broad prosternal process, may bring the genus within the limits of this subfamily. The external margin of the elytra is very strongly incurved towards the apex, and the suture widely dehiscent. Apostropha curvipenms, n. sp. A. rufo-castanea, vix pubeseens, opaca ; antennis dimidio basali, capite et thorace obscurioribus, hoc utrinque griseo-lineato. Long. 3-3i lin. J 2 • Prov. Parana, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates) . Head punctured, opaque, blackish ; front plane, griseo-pubes- Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 131 cent. Thorax very closely punctured, blackish, on each side a narrow line gf greyish hairs. Elytra tawny castaneous, rather thickly punctured, more sparsely on the disk, opaque. Legs and underside of the body chestnut-red, base of thighs paler; underside of prothorax and sides of abdomen with patches of short hoary pubescence. Stenopseustes, nov. gen. Facies geu. Ommata;. Elongato-Knearis, pubescens. Caput ( cJ ) retractile, genis modice elongatis, parallelis. Oculi magni, distan- tes, modice convex!, laterales, sed paulo versus frontem inflecti. Antennce corpore vix breviores, apice paululum incrassatae, longs sparsim setosae, articulis omnibus elongatis, linearibus, quarto quam quinto paulo breviore. Thora.v elongatus, cybndricus. Elytra corpore paulo breviora, a medio paululum angustata, sutura recta, apice singulatim acute rotundata, subtiliter pubescentia. Prosternum inter coxas tenuissimum et subobsoletum ; meso- sternum angustum. Coxce anticae conico-cylindroides ; acetabula postice aperta. Metasternum convexum. Abdomen gracile, lineare. Pedes elongati, graciles, postici longiores, passim longe setosi ; femora omnia abrupte clavata. Stenopseustes wger^ n. sp. S. linearis, elongatus, pubescens, flavo-testaceus, tborace vitta dor- sali fusco-nigra. Long. 5 lin. S • Prov. Parand, Brazil [coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). Of similar elongate form to Ommata atrata, &c., but more exactly linear, the thorax being scarcely narrower than the elytra, and not attenuated in front or broader than the head. The whole insect with fine decumbent golden pile, besides long, erect, fine hairs, which are especially long all round the hind legs. The head, legs, and sides of the thorax are waxy yellow ; the antennse are of the same colour, but sometimes varied with black ; the eyes in the male are widely distant both above and below, but the large lower lobes are a little frontal. The thorax is long and cylindrical, closely rugose and opaque, with an indefinite black dorsal stripe. The elytra reach to the base of the terminal segment, and are very minutely rugose and opaque, with a few larger punctures. The terminal ventral segment (male) is short, with the apical margin broadly and deeply notched. XenOCRASIS, nov. gen. Linearis, robusta. Caput valde retractile ; rostro modice elongate, 9* 132 On the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. lato ; fronte lateraliter carinata. Ocxdi ( $ ) laterales, haud magni. Palpi breves, apice cylindrici, truncati. Ma.viUce lobo exteriore elougato, exserto. Antemicf: ( 5 ) corpore paiilo breviores, apice in- crassata3, baud serratae ; articulis tertio usque sextum extus setosis ; art. uudecimo appendiculato. Thorax cyliudricus, antice paulo dilatatus, dorso valde couvexo, margine antico medio pro- ducto. Elytra fere ut in gen. Acyphoderes subulata, apice rotun- data, disco toto Isevissime hyalino. Pedes elongati, postici valde elongati ; femora abrupte clavata ; tibice posticae densissime louge birsutse ; tarsi gracilcs, breves. Prosternam inter coxas angus- tissimum ; coxce subconicae, exsertce. Mesosternum angustum. Metasternl epistcrna elongato-triangularia, antice lata ; meta- sternura paulo inflatum. Abdomen ( $ ) basi breviter constrictum ; segmento ultimo ventrali elongate, angustato, semitubulari. Xenocrasis presents a strange mixture of characters of true NecydalincE and RMnotragince. Its distant and not enlarged eyes, and laterally carinated forehead, remove it from the latter group, to which it is nevertheless more nearly allied than any genus of Necydalinoi with which I am acquainted. Xenocrasis Badenii, n. sp. X. elongata, robusta ; capite tboraceque nigris ; pedibus fulvis, tarsis posticis albis ; antennis nigris, articulis octavo usque undecimum albis. Long. 9 lin. 5 . Novo Friburg, Kio Janeiro, Brazil {coll. Dr. Ferd. Baden). Robust. Head black, rather shining ; occiput coarsely, forehead sparsely punctured ; sides of forehead and centre line of occiput carinated. Antennae black, joints 8 to 11 white and thickened. Thorax black, opaque, disk sprinkled with small circular fovea?, interstices very minutely punctulate ; disk very convex and subcarinate ; sides each with an oblique raised patch, smooth on its outer side ; the whole surface has an extremely fine silky hoary pile. Elytra with straight suture ; sides beyond the middle rather sharply and greatly in- curved, leaving the apical third very narrow and nearly parallel ; apex obtuse ; the whole disk is glassy and perfectly transparent ; the extreme margins are black and punctured, and the black colour extends for some distance over the apex and base. Underside black ; metasternum proper and abdomen reddish tawny, with very little pubescence. Legs brighter reddish tawny, including the pilosity of the hind tibiae ; an- terior and middle tarsi blackish : hind tarsi white. Oil some Fossils from th« Quebec Group. 133 XVI. — On a new Species of Turkey Vulture from the Falkland Islands and^a new Genus of Old-World Vultures. By R. BowDLER Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum. The Catharista from the Falklands has always been referred to C. aura^ from which species it is obviously distinct, by reason of the conspicuous grey shade on the secondaries. It might be supposed to be the Catharista iota of Molina from Chili ; this species, however, is well represented by Mr. Cassin (U. S. Expl. Exp. pi. 1), and differs in its small size and black coloration from both the North-American and the Falkland- Islands bird. The latter is about the size of C. aura of North America and by no means smaller. I am much indebted to the kindness of Mr. Reeve, of the Norwich Museum, for examining the specimens therein con- tained ; and as he finds that the Turkey Vulture from the Falklands presents the same differences as the birds in the national collection, I have no hesitation in proposing the name of Catharista falktandica for the aforesaid Vulture. At the same time I may be permitted to inquire whether there are two species of true Turkey Vulture of Jamaica. I do not refer to C. atrata, which is now found there also. The ordinary Turkey Vulture has always been set down as C. aicra; but the only specimen in the museum from Jamaica is C. Bur- roviana {C. urubitin(/a, Pelz. ex Natt.). Do, therefore, C. aura and C. Burroviana both inhabit the island ? Passing to Old-World Vultures I would suggest that an end should be put to the indefinite characters of the genus Gyps^ whose tail-feathers are either fourteen or twelve in number, by relegating the two species which enjoy the latter quantity to a separate genus, which may be called PSEUDOGYPS, gen. nov. Genus a genere '^Gj/ps" dicto, rectricibus 12 nee 14 distinguendum. The two species to be included in it will be Psendoyyps ben- galensis and Pseudogyps moschatus {africanus^ Salvad.). XVII. — On some Fossils from the Quebec Group of Point Mvis^ Quebec. By H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc, M.A., F.R.S.E., Professor of Natural History in University College, Toronto. Having during the preceding summer had the opportunity of paying a hurried visit to Quebec, I was enabled to collect a 134 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils considerable number of fossils from the Graptolitic Shales of the Quebec group along the fine exposures of Point L^vis. Most of these are, of course, familiar forms, which have been previously described and figured by Hall in his beautiful memoir on the Graptolites of the Quebec group (' Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organic Remains,' Decade ii.). Two or three, however, of the forms which I obtained are new to science ; and in characterizing these I shall at the same time take the opportunity of making some remarks on some of the already described species. The following list embraces the species which I have determined from my collection : — Hydrozoa. Gallograpsus elegans^ Hall. Salteri^ Hall. Dicty enema grandis^ Nich, Clonograpsus jlexilisy Hall. rigidus^ Hall. Tetragrapsus {Oraptolithus) hryonoideSj Hall. ( ) fruticosus, Hall. quadribrachiatus, Hall. apjjroximatus, Nich. Didgmogra^jsus ( GraptoUthus) nittdtis, Hall. ( ) patidusj Hall. ( ) pennatulusj Hall. Phyllograpsiis typus^ Hall. Dawsonia acuminata^ Nich. rotunda, Nich, tenuistriata, Nich. Corynoides. Brachiopoda. Lingida irene, Billings. Crustacea. Caryocaris. Dictyonema grandis, Nich. Frond conical or fan-shaped ; branches very strong and robust, diverging from the base, frequently and regularly bifur- cating, and separated by interspaces whicli are about twice their own width. Width of the branches from 5 to 6 hundredths of an inch. Fenestrules oblong, from 8 to 10 hundredths of an inch in width by from 5 to 6 hundredtlis of an inch in length, rarely square or longer than broad. Connecting filaments or dissepiments from 4 to 5 hundredths of an inch in width ; sometimes narrower, generally widest in the middle, frovn the Quebec Group of Point Levis. 135 and often curved, witli their convexities directed towards the base of the frojid. Cellules undetermined. Surface smooth. Length of the largest frond observed (not a perfect one) a little over two inches, breadth a little above the base about one fifth of an inch, breadth at summit nearly two inches (fig. 1, a^h). Fie:. 1. Dictyonema grandis, Nich. : a, fragment of a frond, natural size, showing the rapid divergence and bifurcation of the branches ; h, a fragment, enlarged, to show the fenestrules and connecting filaments. There can be no doubt as to the close alliance which subsists between this species and the Dictyonema Murrayi described by Hall from the shales of Point L^vis (Grapt. Quebec Group, p. 138, pi. XX. figs. 6, 7). The following are the characters ascribed to the latter : — "Frond very large, gradually spreading from its origin. Branches strong, width from 5 to 8 hundredths of an inch, infrequently bifurcating ; divisions little diverging, the interspaces being little wider than the branches. The fenestrules have a width of 8 by a length of 11 hundredths of an inch. The connecting filaments are wide at their origin or union with the branch, and slender in the middle ; from about one third to one half as wide as the branches. Cellules un- determined. Surface smooth." When we compare the above description with that of the present species, the latter appears to be clearly separated by the conical form of the frond, and the rapid divergence and frequent bifurcation of the branches, whilst the fenestrules are almost always markedly wider than they are long, the reverse of this obtaining in D. Murrayi. These peculiarities along with some other, minor differences, which will be sufficiently 136 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils evident on a comparison of the descriptions of the two forms, seem to be quite constant, and appear to me to be quite sufficient to establish the specific distinctness oi I), grandis. From D. quadrangularis, Hall [op. cit. supra, p. 138, pi. xx. fig. 5), to which it also bears some resemblance, though not so close a one, D. grandis is readily distinguished by the fact that the branches of the former are nearly parallel and rarely bi- furcate, whilst the fenestrules are very nearly square. Loc. and Form. Common in a single stratum of greenish- grey shale, Point L^vis, the fronds covering large surfaces of the beds. Tetragrapsus approximatus^ Nich. Frond consisting of four simple undivided stipes, arranged bilaterally, two proceeding from each extremity of the funicle. E-egarding the funicle as horizontal, the stipes are as nearly as possible at right angles to it ; so that the two stipes on either side of the funicle form nearly a straight line. Stipes curved at their origin from the funicle, and then running nearly straight and parallel to one another. The entire frond closely resembles two examples of Didymograpsus ( Graptolithus) patidus^ Hall, united back to back by their radicles (fig. 2, a). Fig. 2. Tetragrapsus approximatus, Nich. : a, a specimen nearly perfect, natural size ; b, fragment of one of the stipes, magnified, to show the form of the cellules. Dimensions of the frond in the largest specimen observed : length of funicle one tenth of an inch ; width of funicle one from the Quebec Oroiq) of Point Levis. 137 twentieth of an inch ; width of stipe at commencement ene twenty-fifth of iin inch, at widest portion about one linej total length of frond unknown, but exceeding three inches and a half ; distance between the stipes on opposite sides of the frond from one fifth to one fourth of an inch, except close to the funicle. Cellules about twenty-five in the space of an inch, inclined to the axis at about 45°; the denticles prominent and sharply pointed or submucronate ; the cell-mouths curved at right angles or nearly so to the cellules, and making an angle of about 135° Avith the axis (fig. 2, b). Teiragrapsus approximatus is most nearly allied to T. cru- ciaUsj Salter [ = Graptolithus quadribrachiatuSy Hall), from which, however, it is separated by several very important peculiarities. Most striking amongst these is the very remark- able shape of the frond. In T. quadribrachiatuSj Hall, when undistortedjthe stipee upon the same side of the funicle are nearly at right angles to one another ; so that (keeping the fimicle horizontal) the left-hand upper stipe forms nearly a straight line with the right-hand lower stipe, and the other two stipes similarly form a straight line. The whole frond, therefore, has in this species very nearly the shape of the letter X ; and it may be compared to what would result if two examples of Didymograpsus sei-ratulus, Hall, were united back to back by their radicles. In Tetragrapsus approximatus^ on the other hand, the two stipes on the same side of the funicle (keeping the funicle, as before, in a horizontal position) are nearly in the same straight line, and the two stipes on the one side are, as nearly as may be, parallel with those on the other side. Hence the whole frond (and this is a fact worthy of notice) bears a very close resemblance to two individuals of Didijmograpsus patidus^i Hall, united back to back by their radicles, this re- semblance being increased by the similarity in the shape of the cellules in the two species. Again, the cellules in Tetragrapsus approximatus are much more highly inclined to the axis than they arc in T. quadri- brachiatusy the denticles are much more prominent and pointed, and the cell-mouths are markedly curved instead of being straight. As in T. quadriby-achiatus, the funicle does not appear to have been embraced by a central corneous disk. The pecu- liarities above mentioned as distinguishing T. approximatus are constant in a large number of individuals ; and therefore no doubt can be entertained as to the distinctness of the species. Loc. and Form. Common in dark grey or greenish grey shales of the Quebec group, Point Ldvis. 138 Dr. H. A . Nicholson 07i some Fossils Clonograpsus, Hall. In the course of last winter, when preparing the first part of my 'Monograph of the British Graptolitid^e/ I wrote to Prof. Hall asking him to propose a generic name for forms like his G7'aptolithus flexilis and G. rigidus, which are clearly entitled to be placed in a separate genus. Prof. Hall's reply mifortu- nately reached me too late to be available in the above men- tioned publication, and I therefore left these forms temporarily in the genus Dichograpsiis. I take the present opportunity, however, of defining the species in question under the generic name of ChnograjJsus (/cXwv, a twig) proposed for them by Prof. Hall. The characters of the genus are as follows: — Frond composed of numerous (more than eight) stipes proceeding from a common funicle, on the two sides of which they are symmetrically arranged ; the frond dividing dichotomously and the pro- cess of division going on after the cellules are developed, till ultimately there may be produced from sixty -four to one hundred and forty-four simple celluliferous stipes. No central disk. The genus Di'chogyajjsus, Salter, will now contain only those Graptolites in which the frond consists of eight simple stipes proceeding from a funicle, the divisions of which are some- times enveloped in a corneous disk. The celluliferous stipes in this genus do not subdivide or branch. The genus Logcmograpsus, Hall, again, will embrace those compound Graptolites in which the frond consists of from eight to twenty-five simple stipes which do not subdivide, and which are sometimes united at their bases by a corneous disk. From both of these genera Clonograpsus is distinguished by the great number of stipes composing the frond (sixty-four to one hundred and forty-four in the typical forms, but fewer in others) , by the fact that the celluliferous stipes themselves sub- divide, and by the apparently uniform absence of a corneous disk. The only undoubted species of Clonograpmis from the Quebec group are C. flexilis ^ Hall, and C. rigidus^ Hall, both of which occur in great plenty in the shales of Point L^vis. It is also probable that the Graj^folithus RicJiardsoui and G. ramidus of the same author, from the same formation, likewise belong to this genus. Of the Graptolites of the Skiddaw series of the north of England, the Dichograpsiis multiplex^ Nich., un- doubtedly belongs to Clonograpsus^ and Dichograpsus reticu- lahis, Nich., may likewise, in all probability, be placed in this genus. from the Quebec Group of Point Levis. 139 Dawsonia, Nich. I propose this genus, named in honour of Principal Dawson of Montreal, for the singular bodies which I have elsewhere (Monograph Brit. Grapt. part i, p. 71, fig. 41) described as the "ovarian vesicles " of Graptolites. I am led to this step by the extreme inconvenience of applying a general name like " ovarian capsules " to fossils which often present differences of specific value, which cannot be properly described unless a special name be adopted. Moreover good authorities are dis- posed to doubt whether these bodies are truly to be compared to the "ovarian capsules " of the Graptolites ; and the name of " grapto-gonophores," which I originally applied to them (Geological Magazine, vol. iii. p. 448), is open to other grave objections as well. Upon the whole, therefore, it appears to me best to found for these fossils the provisional genus Daw- sonia, which implies no theory as to their nature, and which will enable us to specify and name such varieties as appear to be distinct. In fact this course seems to me to be the best, even whilst I retain my belief as to their truly being the " ovarian capsules " of Graptolites ; for it cannot be hoped that we shall ever be able to refer each (or perhaps any) par- ticular species of Dawsonia to the species of Graptolite by which it was produced. The characters of the genus are as follows : — Horny or chi- tinous capsules of a rounded, oval, conical, or campanulate shape, furnished in most cases with a little spine or mucro, and having a marginal filament exactly resembling the solid axis of a Graptolite. The marginal fibre sometimes complete, sometimes ruptm-ed opposite to the mucro. The mucro some- times apparently wanting, sometimes marginal, submarginal, subcentral, or central. The surface smooth or concentrically striated. I first discovered the bodies included under this head in the Lower Silurian anthracitic shales of the south of Scotland, where they occur in great numbers along with the Graptolites ; and, as before remarked, I regarded them as bearing to the Graptolites the same relation tliat the "ovarian capsules" do to the colonies of the Sertularians. Subsequently I detected similar bodies in the Graptolitic mudstones of the Coniston series of the north of England, also associated with numerous Graptolites. I consider it the very strongest confirmation of my views as to the nature of these fossils that I have now dis- covered them in vast numbers in the Quebec group, associated with the Graptolites of that formation. Not only are they very numerous, but there are at least three distinct forms of 140 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils them, as might be expected when we consider the number and complexity of the Quebec Graptolites. It would seem, there- fore, that the constant association of these fossils with Grapto- lites (whenever these latter occur in any plenty), and their constant absence from strata in which Graptolites are unknown, constitute extremely strong proofs as to there being a natural connexion between the two sets of organisms. Without entering further into their nature at present, I shall simply describe three Avell-marked forms of these bodies which occur in the shales of the Quebec group, and which differ both from one another and from the forms v/hich are found in the Graptolitiferous rocks of the south of Scotland and the north of England. Daiosoma acuminata^ Nich, Capsule of a long oval shape, having one extremity prolonged gradually, and without any marked line of demarcation, into a long acuminate mucro. The marginal fibre extremely delicate, and not always to be detected. Often showing an impressed line, which proceeds inwards from the mucro to a greater or less distance within the sac. Dimensions variable ; in the Quebec specimens mostly about one fifth of an inch in length by one tenth of an inch at the greatest width ; in English spe- cimens the average dimensions as above, but large examples showing a length of two fifths of an inch by a greatest width of three twentieths of an inch. (Fig. 3, a, a!.) i Fig. 3. 3€) Various forms of Dawsonia : a, Dawsonia acuminata, natural size ; a', the same, enlarged ; J, D. rotunda, natural size ; i', the same, enlarged ; c, D. temmtriuta, natural size ; c', the same, enlarged; rf, rf', another variety of D. teimistriata ; e, f, forms of 7). cumpamilata, enlarged. Dawsonia acuminata is exceedingly abundant in some beds of the Quebec group at Point Ldvis, where it constitutes the commonest form of the genus. The species also occurs not uncommonly in the anthracitic shales of the south of Scotland (Upper Llandeilo). The size of the Quebec specimens is ex- ceedingly uniform, whereas English specimens vary extraordi- from the Quebec Group of Point LSvis. 141 narily in their dimensions, examples apparently belonging to this species ranging from about one line in length to more than a quarter of an inch. It is probable therefore that, in spite of theidentity of shape, more than one form is included under this head. The species to which D. acuminata is most nearly allied is D. campamdata^ from which it is distinguished by the fact that the mucro is not sharply separated from the body of the capsule, whilst its figure is quite different. Dawsonia rotundaj Nich. Capsule minute, oval or circular in outline, consisting of a flattened marginal limb surrounding a central elevated seed- like body (the cast of the interior of the capsule) . The mar- ginal limb is quite smooth and exhibits no structure ; but the central rounded mass often exhibits stride or furrows, which are disposed concentrically round a marginal point (fig. 3, b, b') . Dimensions very ccyistant, the circular specimens having a diameter of a line or a little less, whilst the oval specimens have a long diameter of about a line by a short diameter of about one twentieth of an inch. This exceedingly distinct form cannot be confounded with any of the ordinary forms of Dawsonia. It is found very abundantly in certain beds of the Point-L^vis shales. It is curious to note how closely D. rotunda approximates in struc- ture to the " statoblasts " of the Polyzoa, since the capsule, according to all appearances, has been composed of two concavo- convex disks united by their faces, the union being effected by the adhesion of a broad marginal belt on each disk. I have not as yet determined this species from any of the Graptoliti- ferous strata of Britain. Daivsonia tenuistriata, Nich. Capsule oval, obtusely ovate, satchel-shaped, or nearlyround, covered with fine concentric striae, which surround a prominent elevated point. This point (the mucro) marginal, submarginab subcentral, or central. The strise differing in closeness and fineness, but always delicate and regular in their arrangement. Dimensions, like the shape, very variable, but the length usually varying from one tenth to one fifth of an inch. (Fig. 3, c, c', d, d'.) The forms included under this head are extremely like small Brachiopods of the genera Lingula^ Obolella^ and Discina ; and it is difficult to convince one's self that they do not truly belong to this group. That they are not Brachiopods, however, appears certain from the following considerations. They occur in great plenty, along with the two previously described forms 142 On some Fossils from the Quebec Group. of Daicsonittj in the shales of the Quebec group at Point L^vis. They have exactly the same texture, and are in just the same state of mineralization as the ordinary forms of Dawsonia. Their shape is so variable that we should have to believe that there were at least four or five distinct species of small Brachi- opods in these beds, which is very unlikely. Lastly, the position of the elevated point, which would constitute the beak if they were Brachiopods, is exceedingly variable, being most commonly placed a little within the margin, but being at other times sul3central or marginal. On the other hand all the re- quirements of the case are met by the supposition that we have in these singular fossils the horny capsules of a species of Dawsonia^ in which the capsule was furnished with stride con- centric to the mucro. On this view the elevated point round which the stride are disposed is the mucro ; and its variable position, as well as the variable shape of the capsule, can be readily explained by supposing that it is due to the variable direction in which the capsule has been compressed. When compressed laterally the mucro will be marginal ; when com- pressed from above downwards the mucro will be more or less nearly central ,* when compressed obliquely the mucro will be submarginal. Dawsonia campanulata^ Nich. Capsule bell-shaped, with a very distinct marginal fibre and a strong and distinct mucro. The mucro does not pass insen- sibly into the body of the capsule, but is sharply separated from it. The sm'face of the capsule smooth. The marginal fibre sometimes continuous, sometimes ruptured opposite to the mucro (fig. 3, e^f). Dimensions extremely variable ; average specimens about one fifth of an inch in length by three twen- tieths of an inch in breadth. Ordinary specimens of this form present the appearance shown in fig. 3, e, where the capsule has been compressed laterally and the mucro is marginal. Many specimens, how- ever, present the appearance shown in fig. 3,/, in which the compression has been directed from above downwards, and the mucro forms an elevated point within the margin, surrounded by a few concentric ridges. This appearance might lead to its being confounded with Dawsonia temdstriaia ; but it is really very difl'erent. In the latter the concentric strise which surromid themucro arc really proper to the capsule, and they are extremely fine, delicate, and regular ; in vertically compressed specimens of D. camjyanulata, on the other hand, the concentric ridges which surround the mucro are truly foreign to the capsule, being merely the result of the direction of the pressure, and Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 143 being very irregular in size and number. In fact they are not stri^, properly speaking, at all, but simply concentric crumplings or corrugations of the capsule. I need not discuss here further the affinities and structure of D. campanulafaj as I have not yet detected the species in the shales of the Quebec group. It is, however, the commonest species which occurs in the anthracitic shales (Upper Llan- deilo) of the south of Scotland. Corynoides calicularis^ Nich. (?) Numerous examples of a species of Corynoides^ Nich., occur in a bed of black shale at Point L^vis ; but their state of pre- servation is such as to render their specific determination impossible. They agree very well in their dimensions with G. calicularis, Nich. (Geological Magazine, vol. iv. p. 107, pi. vii.), which is an abundant fossil in the Upper Llandeilo shales of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It is quite possible, however, that more perfect examples will show that the Quebec species is distinct. Caryocaris, sp. It is very interesting to notice the occurrence in the Point- L^vis shales of a species of the Crustacean genus Caryocaris, Salter, this genus being exceedingly characteristic of the cor- responding formation of the Skiddaw Slates of the north of England. The state of preservation of the Quebec specimens is such as to render their specific determination hazardous and uncertain ; and I prefer therefore to leave them undescribed at present. Upon the whole they closely resemble small speci- mens of Caryocaris Wrightii, Salter (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xix. p. 139) ; but it is probable that they will turn out to be distinct. None of my specimens shows more than the cara- pace, and that considerably crushed. XVIII.— iVofes on Tortoises. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.K.S. &c. Testudinella Horsjieldii. General Goldsmid has kindly presented to the British Mu- seum a small and a larger specimen of the shell of a tortoise, the large one wanting the front of the sternum, from Rud-I- Mil, Chuh Suguti to Duruh, in Persia, which were collected on March 23rd, 1871 ; they evidently belong to this species, thou2;h we have not the animal to determine the number of its claAvs. The two specimens are exceedingly like Peltastes grcecus in general character, but are much more depressed, and the horny 144 Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. dorsal plates are pale, with a darker edge and a dark diffused spot in the middle of the areola ; the front sides of the upper part of the marginal plates are brownish ; the sternum is varied with diffused black marks ; the caudal marginal plate is marked with a central groove. • Ehinoclemmys. The species of this very natural genus may be thus divided: — I. Shell black above and beloio ; steymum with a pale (when alive red ?) lateral stripe. Costals not spotted. Head black, with a streak on each side, sometimes united in front. 1. Rhinoclemmys melanosterna. Head black, with a white streak on the side of the nose and head. (Gray, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 722, fig. 1.) Eynys dorsalis, Spix (young) ? 2. Rhinoclemmys scahra. Head black, Avith a small spot on each side of the nose and of the crown, a diverging streak on each side of the head, and a round spot on the occiput. (Gray, I. c. fig. 2.) 3. Rliinoclemmys lunata. Head black, with a spot on each side of the nose and occiput, and a streak on each side of the head, united across the fore- head. (Gray, I. c. fig. 3.) II. Shell blacJcish above and beloiv ; sternum tvith pale lateral stripes, with a sjwt on each side of the nose and numerous longitudinal stripes on the side of the crown. 4. Rhinoclemmys callocephala. Geoclemmys caUocephaJa, Gray, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 254, fig. (head) ; SuppL Cat. Shield Rept. p. 23, fig. 10 (head). Hah. Tropical America. III. Shell olive above, with a jyale spot in the centre of the areola of each costal, surrounded by pale rings in the young; beneath black, with a pale margin. 5. RMnoclemmys frontalis, n. sp. Head dark olive, nose with a narrow central streak above and a narrow streak on the lateral margin extending to over the orbits. Hah. Tropical America. An adult specimen was purchased from the Zoological Society in the year 1864. Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 145 Head olive, with a narrow longitudinal central streak on the upper part of the nose, a narrow white streak from the U])per part of the nostrils to the front of the orbit, and a narrow white sti-eak from the upper part of the nose, continued along the side of the crown over the orbit and the outer side of the tem- poral muscles to over the tympanum. The shell olive above, with a distinct oblong, broad, pale streak over the middle of the areola of the costal plates. The sternum and underside of margin blackish, with a broad yel- lowish white band (perhaps bright red when alive) down each side of the sternum. There is a pale mark on the middle of each marginal plate, more distinct on the hinder plates. Under surface and side of face and neck whitish ; side of neck punctulated with black. This species has the peculiar pale spot which was previously regarded as characteristic of Rhmoclemmys mexicana j but it has quite a ditfefent head. 6. Rhinocleminys mexicana. Rhinodemmys mexicana, Gray, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 659, fig. (head), 1871, p.'29G, t.28. IV. Shell blachish. ivith more or less distinct jpale rays; underside black, with a jJdle hand round the margin, and pale triangular spots on the underside of the front and hinder ynarg'mal plates ; nose ivith a central longitudinal streak ; crown white-varied ; sides of head with a diverging black-edged streak. 7. Rhinodemmys annulata, Gri'^'J? ^« c. fig. 5 (head) . Hab. Ecuador. 8. Rhinodemmys jiuldierrima. I described and figured a young specimen of a freshwater tortoise in the British Museum, said to have come from Mexico, under the name of Emys puldierrima. Cat. Shield Rept. p. 25, t. XXV. f. 2. The large cavity in the centre of the sternal bones, like what is found in the young Rhinodemmys^ and the short scarcely webbed toes make me think that it is most likely a Rhinodemmys, or at least very nearly allied to it. The spe- cimen is very young, the marginal bones being very rudi- mentary and only slender, half-ovate. It must be the young state of a very large species. The alveolar surface of the jaws appears to be like that of Rhinodemmys ; but the colouring of the back is very different from that of any known species, and may indicate a new genus. 9. Rhinodemmys ventricosa. Shell oblong, broad, ventricose. Back swollen on the sides. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.xi. 10 146 Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. Vertebral plates keeled, more especially the three hinder ones. Above black ; under margin and sternum white, with a large black blotch occupying the greater part of the middle of each sternal shield. Sternum flat, rather convex, greatly bent up in front. Shell 7| inches long, 5i inches wide. Hab. Tropical America (Mus. Utrecht, no. 39). This shell was at one time taken for a specimen of Hardella Thurgi-^ but it is very unlike, and is at once known from that genus by the peculiar triangular form of the first pair of mar- ginal plates, as in the other species of this genus. The dorsal and side of marginal plates have a more or less dark spot in the centre of the areola. Emys Fraseri^ n. sp. Shell olive, minutely darker-spotted; underneath darker, black-varied. Front legs with a series of four or five large plates on the outer edge, and with two larger plates on the upper part of the outer side of the front legs. Jaws strong, Avith a rather broad alveolar surface. Hab. Lake Tetzara, Algiers. Shell 8 inches long. This species has much the appearance of Enjina laticeps^ with which it has been confounded ; but the head is much longer, and the alveolar surface of the two jaws narrower. It agrees with Emys cosplca in the shape and proportions of its head ; but the alveolar surface of the jaws is much wider. I do not know if Emys casjnca is also found in Algiers ; but we have in the British ]\Iuseum four very young Terrapins (one brought by E. Doubleday, one by Canon Tristram, and two by Mr. Eraser) from that country, which have a red stripe on each costal plate, and a black sternum, like the young Emys caspica. Perhaps this character is common to the young of the two species. One of these I have called Emys Eraser i in the 'Suppl. Cat. Shield Rept.' p. 36. Chrysemys. We have in the museum three distinct forms of this genus, whicli in a large series do not appear to pass into each other, and which have special localities. 1. Chrysemys picta. Sternum one-coloured, pale edge of tlie front discal plate broad ; lateral angles of the second, third, and fourth vertebral plates anterior ; marginal jjlates with a central spot and con- centric rings above, and a yellow spot beneath. Hab. North America, Eastern States. Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 147 2. Chrysemys pulchra^ n. sp. Sternum with a large central blotch siniiated on the sides ; pale edge to all the discal plates narrow, uniform ; the outer angle of the vertebral plates in the middle of their margin ; the marginal plates with a small central marginal spot and two or three interrupted pale rings above, and a large spot and pale ring, with a broad black edge, beneath. Hah. North America, Mississippi [Brandt). The specimens in the museum have been called Emys ore- goniensis (Fitzinger) by Brandt ; but they are not E.orec/om'ensts of Harlan, which certainly is what I previously called C. Belh'i. They may be one of the four species that Agassiz names but does not characterize. 3. Clirysemys Bellii. Sternum with a blptch in the centre, which is longest over the suture of the plates ; the yellow edge of the discal plates narrow, uniform ; the outer angles of the vertebral plates in the middle of the lateral margin ; marginal plates with a pale edge, and divided into halves by a pale cross band ; costal plates with a simple or forked subcentral pale cross band. Emys Bellii^ Gray, Syn. Rept. Emys oreffoiiieusis, llavlsin, t. 31 ; Holbrook, t. 16. Young. Actinemys mannorata, Lord. Hob. West coast of North America ; British Columbia. Trachemys lineata^ n. sp. This species is very like T. Holhroohii ; but the pale mark- ings of the vertebral shields are quite different, they being elongate and separate from each other — the lines of the different plates nearly meeting together, forming a series of continuous, more or less bent, lines on each side of the very narrow central line ; the black spots on the sternum are large and solid. Hah. North America. There is a young specimen in the British Museum with fine, slender, obscure markings on the vertebral plates, and numerous regular black spots with pale centre on the sternum. This specimen is somewhat like the young specimen figured by Agassiz (Contrib. t. 3. fig. 9) as T. elegans ; but it is also like the young specimen he has figured as T. rugosa (t. 16. fig. 4), but perhaps more like the former. Tracheniys lineata is at once known from T. Holhroohii by the slender lines on the vertebral plates. In the other species of the genus the pale and dark lines are in more or less oblong rings on each side of the vertebral plate, peculiar and complete 10* 148 Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. in each plate. There is no doubt that the lines in T. Uneata are a moditication of this form : but the ends of the loops do not exist ; for they would be out of the margin of the plate. Callichelys concinna, n. sp. Head elongate, chin convex. Shell very ventricose, longi- tudinally rugose on the costal plates ; brownish olive, with a roundish, dark, solid spot on the hinder angle of the fourth costal, and on the suture of each marginal plate both above and below. Ilab. San Mateo, Tehuantepec : freshwater lagoons. Length of shell 12 or 11^ inches. This species is very like Callichelys ornata ; but the head is longer, and neither of the two specimens has any dark areolar spot on the hinder edge of the dorsal plates, and the spots on the margin are solid and not ringed. The upper jaw is notched in front. The shell is ventricose like Pseiidemys ventricosaj but quite differently marked. Davionia Eeevesii. (Hairy Tortoise.) Dr. William Lockhart in 1865 presented to the museum a young freshwater tortoise, which is closely covered with a long, simple, filiform species of Conferva, from the Kiu-Kiaug Yangtse. These tortoises have excited considerable interest from their having been figured by the Chinese in their books and on their paper-hangings, and have been regarded by some naturalists as a very peculiar animal, — in fact a hairy reptile. They are figuied on the titlepage of Temminck and Schlegel's ' Fauna Japonica;' but they are only a freshwater tortoise or terrapin, with a species of simple Conferva parasitic on their backs. They are collected and much esteemed in China ; and an account of them has been reprinted from Cooper's travels in a former volume of this Journal (1871, vol. viii. p. 72). I have abstained from describing this species, in the hope that I might obtain a more fully developed specimen ; but it is of little consequence, as the characters of the genera do not alter during age, though the species modifies its form ; but the rules of these modifications are well understood, and the young animal shows tlxe markings of the head more distinctly. I have no doubt that it is a very young state of a tortoise which the late Mr. John Reeves brought from China many years ago, and which I figured in the 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology' under the name of Emys Reevesii. It is now called Damonia Reevesii. We at first only received specimens about 3 inches long ; but now they are brought over nearly as large again. Bihliograpliical Notices. 149 The specimen we received from Dr. Lockhart is If inch long. The head is olive, with a short dark-edged white streak from the middle of the hinder edge of the eye, and from the upper hinder edge of the eye a longer dark-edged white streak, which is forked behind ; the upper branch extends along the side of the neck, and the lower one over the tympanum ; on the other side of the head the upper line is interrupted and broken into three parts. Dumerilia madagascariensis. The British Museum has just received the skeleton of an adult freshwater tortoise from Anuavandra (on the west coast of Madagascar), which has been named Dumerilia madagascarien- sis by Grandidier. It has been arranged with Pelomedusa. It belongs to the tribe Peltocephalina of the family Peltocephalidas, which is essentially a ^oiith-American family, this genus being the oidy exception. It chiefly differs from the genus Pelto- cephalus in having, according to M. Grandidier (for, of course, they are not to be seen in the skeleton), two short beards on the chin, which are entirely wanting in that genus, and two series of oblique lunate shields on the outer surface of the tail. The alveolar surface of the upper jaw is broad, with an angular ridge near and parallel to the sharply acute outer margin. The alveolar surface of the lower jaw is narrow in front, much broader behind, with a rather convex ridge, becoming broader behind, occupying a great part of its surface, and with a groove parallel and quite close to the outer edge. The head is like that of Peltocephalus^ but is more depressed and the crown Hat and broiid. The nose is- shorter, and the lower jaw not with such an acute point; and the upper jaw is not so sinuated in front. The frontal plate is hexangular, elongated behind ; and the temporal plates are large and meeting in the centre behind the frontal one, whereas in Peltocephalus the central plate is very large and separates the temporals to the occiput ; but in other respects the two genera arc very similar. It is a much smaller species, the shell of the adult animal being only 12 inches long. BIBLIOGEAPHICAL NOTICES. Records of the RocJcs ; or Notes on the Geolog}/, Natural History, and Antiquities of North and South Wales, Devon, and CornivaU. By the Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S. &c. 8vo. London, 1872. The author says, " This book .... is written for amateurs who, like myself, enjoy passing their leisure hours among rocks, old castles, old authors, and the wild flowers of strange wayside places. It does 150 BihliograpMcal Notices. not assume to be a strictly scientific description of the geological structure of the different tracts of country to which it alludes ; but I trust it is correct as far as it goes." It begins with a general petro- graphico-geological introduction, and proceeds with a dilettante account of the districts mentioned in the titlepage, with the suc- cessive geological formations as the basis for a systematic collocation of every thing the author finds cause to put together, in a pleasant talky style, from his note-books and his memory, from his geological text-books and local guide-books, his couuty-histories and his library in general, but more especially from the late Sir Roderick Murchison's standard work ' Silukia.' In fact the 'Records of the Rocks' may be succinctly described as consisting of ' Siluria ' deeply diluted with antiquarian gossip, folk- lore, local botany, and recent geological notings, the prominent per- sonage in that book being replaced by the ego and his friends in this. It is garnished with 82 woodcuts, of which 62 have been taken bodily, descriptions and all, from ' Siluria ' without any special refer- ences, but noticed generally in the preface only as an enrichment for Mr. Symonds's volume. Although fully appreciating the advantage to the amateur geolo- gist, whether indoor or out, of his having in his guide-book or book of reference such good illustrations as those transferred from * Siluria' to this general itinerary and field-book for Mr. Symonds's favourite districts, we must regret that their respective relationships with the original are not carefully acknowledged by proper indica- tions, and that their transference is not in every case unaccompanied with avoidable mistakes. Printed in good legible type, and with little pretence of indicating technical words, this book is intended for easy-going amateurs " round the Wrekin," and will serve them for a pleasant book of reference. The geologist, too, will find much readable information here and there throughout its pa^'es, if he cares to winnow it out from among country-seats and personal history — such as the resume of the Cambrian rocks and fossils at one end, and of the bone-caves at the other, also of the Drift observed in the Woolho^)e Valley (p. 165), &c. There is, however, quite sufficient to bear out the author's statement that the book is not strictly scientific. Thus the woodcut at p. 72 and its description are transferred from ' Siluria ' without the corrections from the list of errata of that work, and the cut at p. 215, with the old references, instead of new ones to Mr. Woodward's perfect monograph ; the descripi'o i of the cut at p. 261, modified by an idea taken from the page opposite the cut in ' Siluria,' carries more than the exact truth ; at p. 271 the asterisk left under the cut finds its meaning only in 'Siluria;' at p. 281 the name of fig. 1 has not been corrected, whilst the new name of fig. 2 is indi- cated by an initial only. The su2)position that Sequoia is a "fir" (p. 289), and the making Mr. Lankester hold a fossil fish in two genera at once (p. 184), are weak points ; and the misprints of names of fossils are too frequent, — as " Palceopyge," "Bowmannii," " as- permus," "lUoenus," " hemispherica," " Platychisma," " Euglypha BihliograpMccU Notices. 151 cardiola," " Paleaster," " Brodei," "Cronchii," " crenistra." We imagine that ." Heterostraeon " and " Osteostracon Cephaspidae " (p. 219) should be either English, Heterostracous and Osteostracous Cephalas})ids, or properly converted into tlie Latin form. The guidance of the Author, of Mr. Jones, gardener at Builth, and other good people, is recommended passim to the reader ; and papers in the 'Geological Magazine' and other useful periodicals are cited for information old and new : but why the only perfect geological work on North AVales (Geol. Surv. Mem. vol. iii.), the real basis of Mr. Symonds's country, should not have been kept well before the reader, and why the guidance of the Geological Surveyors should have been so little thought of, it is difficult to conjecture. We have thus pointed out several matters for improvement in this well-intentioned book, which we hope will be required in a new edition. Written by one who has known his country-side, with cul- tivated intelligence and an eye for nature, for many years, and who has long enjoyed the companionship of good observers, thinkers, and writers, the Rev. Mr. ^ymonds's ' Records of the Rocks,' like his other writings, is directed, with a good and useful aim, to the advance of knowledge among the so-called " educated," but frequently little- informed, class of society. It is a learned and comprehensive guide- book, thoroughly imbued with a love of nature in her many aspects, arid with a desire that all should benefit by an intelligent recognition of the natural sciences and by scientific pursuits. A Manual of Pahrontolor/y for the Use of Students, ivith a General Introduction on the Princijjles of Paln'ontology. By H. A. Nichol- son, M.D., D.Sc, &c. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1872. Schools and colleges now find themselves better provided with zoological and pateontologieal text-books than heretofore. Dr. Nicholson's ' Manual of Pateouiulogy' has several good points. Though very comprehensive it is not too diffuse (only to Graptolites, a favourite subject, are a few extra pages given) ; it keeps the con- ditions of fossilization and geological succession well before the reader (especially in Parts I. and IV.) — and treats the Vertebrate remains less in detail than the Invertebrate, in accordance with the larger acquaintance the student has usually to make with the latter than with the former. Part 111., on fossil Plants, treated of as the successive floras of geological periods, is a useful addition to the palaeozoology, and is carefully worked as far as it goes ; but unaccountably it makes no mention of the Diatomacetc and the Calciferous Algtc (Lithofhamntum &c.), which, like Chara, play such an imi)ortant part in the consti- tution of many strata. The author judiciously handles fossils of obscure affinities, such as Stromatoporu, Meceptaculites, Crossopodia, etc. But a study of Mr. Albany Hancock's memoir " on Vermiform Fossils," in the 'Annals of Natural History ' for 1 Mst> in the most nearly related forms. 2. Identifications should proceed from a central or determi- nate point outwards. The applications of these principles are embodied in the following conclusions : — 1. The forms that are best comparable and that are most nearly related to each other are the Dipnoi, an order of fishes at present represented by Lepidosiren^ Protopterus^ and Cera- todus, and the Batrachians as represented by the Ganocephala, Salamanders, and Salamander-like animals. 2. The articulation of the anterior member with the shoulder- girdle forms the most obvious and determinable point for com- parison in the representatives of the respective classes. The Girdle in Dipnoans. I. The proximal element of the anterior limb in the Dipnoi has, almost by common consent, been regarded as homologous with the humerus of the higher vertebrates. II. The humerus in the Urodele Batrachians, as well as the extinct Ganocephala and Labyrinthodontia, is articulated chiefly with the coracoid. Therefore the element of the shoulder-girdle with which the humerus of the Dipnoi is articulated must also be regarded * Abstract, communicated by the Author, from a forthcoming work (' Arrangement of the Families of Fishes ') now being printed for the Smithsonian Institution. t Parts affected by teleological modifications may be excepted. 174 Dr. T. Gill on the Homologies as the coracoid (subject to the proviso hereinafter stated), unless some specific evidence can be shown to the contrary. No such evidence has been jiroduced. III. The scapula in the Urodele and other Batrachians is entirely or almost wholly excluded from the glenoid foramen, and above the coracoid. Therefore the corresponding element in Dipnoi must be the scapula. IV. The other elements must be determined by their relation to the preceding, or to those parts from or in connexion with which they originate. All those elements in immediate connexion* with the pectoral fin and the scapula must be homologous as a whole with the coraco-scapular plate of the Batrachians ; that is, it is infinitely more probable that they represent as a whole or as dismember- ments therefrom the coraco-scapular element than that they have independently originated. But the homogeneity of that coraco-scapular element forbids the identification of the several elements of the fish's shoulder- girdle with regions of the Batrachian's coraco-scapular plate. And it is equally impossible to identify the fish's elements with those of the higher reptiles or other vertebrates which have developed from the Batrachians. The elements in the shoulder-girdles of the distantly separated classes may be (to use the terms introduced by Mr. Lankester) homoplastic ; but they are not homogenetic. Therefore they must be named accordingly. The element of the Dipnoan's shoulder-girdle continuous downwards from the scapula, and to which the coracoid is closely applied, may be named ectocoracoid. V. Neither the scapula in Batrachians nor the cartilaginous extension thereof, designated suprascapula, is dissevered from the coracoid. Therefore there is an a priori improbability against the homology with the scapula of any part having a distant or merely ligamentous connexion with the humerus-bearing ele- ment. Consequently, as an element better representing the scapula exists, the element named scapula (by Owen, Gunther, &c.) cannot be the homologue of the scapula of Batrachians. On the other hand, its more intimate relations with the skull and the mode of development indicate that it is rather an element originating and developed in more intimate connexion with the skull. * The so-called scapula and suprascapula of most authors are excluded from this connexion. of the Shoulder-girdle, of Fishes. 175 We may therefore regard it, with Parker, as a post- temporal. VI. The shoulder-girdle in the Dipnoi is connected by an azygous differentiated cartilage, swollen backwards. It is more probable that this is the homologue of the sternum of Batrachians, and that in the lattei; that element has been still more diiferentiated and specialized, than that it should have originated de novo from an independently developed nucleus. The homologies of the elements of the shoulder-girdle of the Dipnoi appear then to be as follows : — Nomendature adopted. Owen. Parker. Giinther. Humerus, Humerus. Humerus. Forearm. CoRACon) (or Pabaglenal)*. ■ Scapula. Humeral cartilage. Scapula, ectocoracoid (or C0RACOID)t. ^Coracoid. Supraclavicle. Clavicle. \ Coracoid§. Sternum f. J Epicoracoid. Median cartilage. POSTTEMPOBAL. Scapula. Posttemporal. Suprascapula. The Girdle in other Fishes. Proceeding from the basis now obtained, a comparative examination of other types of fishes successively removed by their affinities from the Lepidosirenids may be instituted. I. With the humerus of the Dipnoans the element in the Polypterids (single at the base but immediately divaricating, and with its limbs bordering an intervening cartilage) which supports the pectoral and its basilar ossicles must be homolo- gous. But it is evident that the external elements of the so-called carpus of teleosteoid Ganoids are homologous with that element in Polypterids. * Gelenkstelle der Brustflosse am primaren Schulterknorpel (Gegen- baur). t Clavicula (Gegenbaur). X Verbindungsstelle des beiderseitigen Schulterknorpela (Gegenbaur). Prof. Gegenbaur regards the median cartilage as a dismemberment of a common cartilage, the upper division of which receives the pectoral limb, while the lower imites with the corresponding dismemberment of the opposite side and forms the median cartilage. § The suture separating the " coracoid " into two portions has been observed by Dr. Giinther, but he could " not attach much importance to this division." 176 Dr. T. Gill on the Homologies Therefore those elements cannot be carpal, but must repre- sent the humerus. II. The element with which the homologue of the humerus, in Poljpterids, is articulated must be homologous with the analogous element in Dipnoans, and therefore with the coracoid. The coracoid of Polypterids is also evidently homologous with the coiTcsponding element in the other Ganoids ; and consequently the latter must be also coracoid. It is equally evident, after a detailed comparison, that the single coracoid element of the Ganoids represents the three elements developed in the generalized Teleosts (Cyprinids &c.) in connexion with the basis of the pectoral fin ; and such being the case, the nomenclature should correspond. There- fore the upper element may be named hyjoercjracoidj the lower hypocoracoid^ and the transverse or mcuian mesoco- racoid. III., IV. {Proscapula^ or united scapula and ectocoracoid.) The two elements of the arch named by Parker, in Lepido- siren, " supraclavicle " (= scapula) and " clavicle" (= ecto- coracoid) seem to be comparable together and as a whole with the single element caiTying the humerus and pectoral fin in the Crossopterygians [Polypterus and Calamoichthys) and other fishes*, and therefore not identical respectively with the " supraclavicle " and " clavicle" (except in part) recognized by him in other fishes. As this compound bone, composed of the scapula and ecto- coracoid fused together, has received no name which is not ambiguous or deceptive in its homological allusions, it may be designated the proscapula. V. The posttemporal of the Dipnoans is evidently repre- sented by the analogous element in the Ganoids generally, as well as in the typical fishes. The succeeding elements (outside those already alluded to) appear from their relations to be developed from or in connexion with the posttemporal, and not from the true scapular appa- ratus ; they may therefore be named posttemporal., posterotem- poral^ and teUotemporals. The homologies of the elements of the girdle of Dipnoans with those of other fishes, and the added elements in the latter, will be as follows : — * Dr.Giinther (Phil. Trans, vol. clxi. p. 5.31) has observed, respecting the division in question in Lepidosiren and (Jei-atodus : — " I cannot attach much value to this division ; the upper piece is certainly not homologous with the scapula of Teleostean fishes, which is far removed from the region of the pectoral condyle." of the Shoulder-girdle of Fishes 177 ^ Olivier. Owen. Gegenbauer. Parker. ACTINOSTS. Os dii carpe. Carpal. Basalstiicke der Brustflosse. Brachial. CoRACOiD or Paraglenal. 1 i Simple in Dipnoi and Ganoidei. HYPERCORArOII). Padial. Ulna. Oberes Stuck (Scapulare). Scapula. Mesocoracoid. Troisieme os de I'a^'aut- bras qui porte la na- Humerus. Spangenstiiok. * Precoracoid. geoire pec- torale. ■ IIypocoracoid. Cubital. Radius. Vorderes Stiick (Procoracoid). Coracoid. Proscapula*. Humeral. Coracoid. Clavicula. Clavicle. Scapula, ectocoracoii). Differentiated ouly in Dipnoi. Sternum. . Differentiated in Dipnoi. POSTTEMPORAL ELEMENTS. POSTTEMPORAL. Supra scapu- Suprasca- Supraclavicu- Posttem- laire. pula. lare (a). poral. POSTEROTEMPORAL. Scapulaire. Scapula. Supraclavicu- lare (b). Supracla- vicle. Teleotemporals. Os coracoi- dien. Clavicle. Accessorisclies Stiick. Postclavicles. It will thus be seen that the determinations here adopted depend mainly (1) on the interpretation of the homologies of the elements with which the pectoral limbs are articulated, and (2) on the application of the term "coracoid." The name " coracoid," originally applied to the process so called in the human scapula, and subsequently extended to the independent element homologous Avith it in birds and other vertebrates, has been more especially retained (e. g. by Parker in mammals &c.) for the region including the glenoid cavity. On the assumption that tliis may be preferred by most zootomists, the preceding terms have been applied. But if the name should be restricted to the proximal element nearest the glenoid * The name scapula might have been retained for this element, as it i.s (if the views here maintained are correct) homologous with the entire sca- pula of man, less the coracoid and glenoid elements ; but the restricted meaning has been so universally adopt:^d, that it would be inexpedient now to extend the word. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.yii. 12 178 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to cavity in which ossification commences, the name paraglenat (given by Dug^s to the cartilaginous glenoid region) can be adopted ; and the coracoid would then be represented (in part) rather by the element so named by Owen. That eminent anatomist, however, reached his conclusion (only in part the same as that here adopted) by an entirely diiferent course of reasoning, and by a process, as it may be called, of elimina- tion ; that is, recognizing first the so-called " radius " and " ulna," the " humerus," the " scapula," and the " coracoid " were successively identified from their relations to the elements tlius determined, and because they were numerically similar to the homonymous parts in higher vertebrates. The detailed arguments for these conclusions, and references to the views of other authors, will be given in a future memoir. I will only add here that these homologies seem to be fully sustained by the relations of the parts in the generalized Ganocephalous Bati'achians [Apateon or Archegosaurus, &c.). XXI. — Additions to the Australian Curculionidse. By Francis P. Pascoe, F.L.S. &c. Part IV Brachvderin.(E. Evas lineatus. MOLYTIN^. Psalcliis animodytes. Hyperin.e. Hypera acacife. Prophsesia confnsa, Hylobiin^. Orthorliinus teuenu». infidus. carinatus. Erirhininje. Agestra, n. g. suturalis. Euiopea, n. g. amoena. Diethusa, u. g. fervida. Emplesis lilirostris. storeoides. Lybseba, n, p. subfasciata. repanda. Enide, ii. g. porpliyi'ea. eestuans, saniosa. Hedyopis, n. g. selligera. Gerynassa,n. g. nodulosa. basalis. Dicomada, n. g. litigiosa. ovalis. terrea. Paryzeta, n. g. miisiva. Xeda, n. g. amplipenniti. bilineata. 01aua3a, n. g. nigi'icollis. Antyllis, n. g. setosa. gi'iseola. jiiu'ulenta. Cyttalia, n. g. griseipila. Phrenozemia lunata. Meriphus coronatus. the Aunt ralian Curculionidffi. 179 Amalactin-tj. Poroptems inomiuatus. Brexius lineatus. r varicosus. ouiscus. CRYPTOnHYNCHIN'.'E. tumuloSUS. Psepholax IMastersii. egorius. ^ CErTORHYNCHiN-s:. latii'ostris. ,., . . . Poroptein.s satyru.. I.hinoncus nigriventris. Eixis lineatus. E. nigro-piceus, oniniuo dense squamosus, supra liiieis cerviuis ar- genteisque alternatis, infra pedibusque totis argenteis ; rostro crasso, capite baud angustiore, iucisura triangulari apice angusta , bene determinata ; ])r()thorace latitudiiie longitudini lequali, cer- vino-trivatto, vitta intermedia latiore ; elytris sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis primo sccundoque, quarto et sexto cervinis, totis squamis erectis argenteis uniseriatim instructis, apieibus parum divaricatis. Long. 3|-4 lin. HaJ). Queensland (Gayndah). The male is considerably narrower than the female, and i,s perhaps more definitely niarked. In proposing the generic name (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 182) I overlooked the fact that Evas is masculine. Psaldus amrnodytes. P. ovatus, brunneo-testaceus, vage setulosus ; oculis nigris ; capite rostroque punctis sparsis leviter impressis ; prothorace latitudine vix longiore (baud confertim) rugoso-punctato ; elytris fortiter sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis ; abdomine sparse punctate. Long. 1| lin. Hah. Champion Bay. Besides colour, this species differs from P. liosomoides in its differently punctured rostrum. From a renewed examination of Aphela and Emphyastes I am inclined to think that these two genera and Psaldus should form a subfamily near Moly- tinffi. Emphyastes^ placed by Mannevheim by the side of Trachodes and Styphlus^ is referred by Lacordaire to Amalac- tin£e, notwithstanding its very short metasternum ; at the same time he says that it is one of the most aberrant genera of the Curculionidffi, and that if put anywhere else it would be still more out of place. In the three genera the scrobe runs to the eye, widening more or less distinctly, so that its upper boun- dary, if continued, would pass above the eye ; the scape either lies in front, when of normal length, or passes over or above the eye when the scape impinges on it, as it does in Psaldus. They are all found on the sea-shore under seaweed or burrowing in the sand, some below liigh-water mark. 1 2* 1»0 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to liypera acacia:. H. lata, fusca, squamis umbrinis giiseisque confuse vestita ; rostro prothorace nianifeste breviore, sat tenuato. basi angustiore ; oeulis ellipticis, antice paiilo approximatis ; anteniiis ferrugineis, funi- culi ai'ticulo primo duobus scquentibus longitudine Kquali ; pro- thorace sat confertim punctate, vitta laterali indistincte notato ; elj-fris prothorace niulto latioribus, paulo depressis, striato- punctatis, interstitiis latis, uniseriatim setosis, subplagiatim griseo- variis ; corpore infra castaneo, squamis subargenteis, rotundatis elongatisque intennixtis, vestito ; pedibns breviuscalis. Long. 2| liu. Hah. Queeiitrlantl (Gavndali). A true Hypera, but with broader elytra than usuah Mr. Masters tells me it is found on wattles {Acacia, sp.). Projylicesia confiisa. P. pallide ferruginea, supra squamis oblongis, infra magis elongatis vel piliformibus, albis vestita ; rostro apicem versus gradatim paulo latiore ; prothorace sat confertim punctato, puuctis singulis squama, plerumcjue piliforrai gerentibus ; elytris striato-punctatis, inter- stitiis baud convexis, leviter jiunctulatis ; sutura prima abdominiP' fortiter arcuata. Long. 2^ lin. Hah. Tasmania. The scales vary in size and form, as they do in the other two species ; but in this one they are not close together so as almost to hide the sculpture, but irregularly scattered, although approximating in parts so as to form indefinite patches, Avhich are more or lessconnected according, apparently, to the freshness of the specimen. Ortliovhiniis tenellus. D. cylindricus, fuscus, squamis albidis ochraceisque dense vestitus ; rostro brevi, basi squamoso ; antennis subferrugineis ; funiculo brevi ; clava breviter ovata ; prothorace latitudine longitudini a;quali, tertia parte anteriore paulo constrieta, in medio valde con- vexo, ad latera vage granulato, apice fasciculis duabus parvis ochraceis raunito ; scutello conspicuo : elytris sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis alternis remote granulatis, singulis tuberculis quatuor. una basali, una mediaua, duabus prope apicem ochraeeo-fascicu- latis, instructis ; corpore infra pedibusque dense albo-squamosis ; femoribus anticis majuscuhs, sed tibiis brevibus, comjiressis. Long. 2| lin. Hah. Champion Bay. Like a small starved specimen of 0. simidans, Boh., but proportionally longer and more slender ] in my solitary example the iijiper surface has a somewhat silvery hue. the Australian Ciircfilionida?. 181 Orthorliinus infidus. O, angaste ovatus, piceus, squamis silaceis elongatis vel setiformibus sat vage vestitus ; rostro modice elongate, crebre punetato ; oculis subgrosse granulatis^ antennis subfcrrugineis ; funiculo longius- culo, articulo primo elongate ; protliorace subtransverso, lateribus pone apiceBi fortiter rotundato, confcrtim granulato-punctato, squamis setiformibus vestito, in medio, apice excepto, carinato ; •elytris modice convexis,sulcato-punctatis, puiictis leviter impressis, interstitiis convexis, granulis transversis concoloribus rude in- structis, scjuamis elongatis, postice magis condeusatis, conspersis ; tibiis posticis prope apicem fortiter compressis. Long. 6 lin. Hub. Richmond River. A dull-coloured species, wkicli in the smaller facets of the "eyes resembles 0. hilipoides^ a species which in momentary aberration 1 described as an Alcides ; in the sculpture of the elytra it is unlike any^ of its congeners. This and the fol- lowing species have no fasciculi. Orthorh inus carinutas. O. oblongo-ovatus, fuscus, sordide griseo-squamosus ; rostro brevi- usculo, rude punetato, parce elongato-squamoso ; antennis sub- testaceis, squamis piliformibus vestitis ; funiculo articulo primo elongate ; prothorace subtransverso, (jiiarta parte anteriore mani- feste constricta ; elytris sat fortiter oonvexis, apicem versus parum latioribus, substriato-punctatis, interstitiis alternis tuberculato- ■carinatis, carina interiore ante apicem evanescente, secunda pos- tice paulo prominula, basi plaga umbrina, margiue postice arcuata ■et bene limitata netatis, sed aliquando fere obsoleta ; tibiis, prae- sertim anticis intermediisque, brcvibus, illis valde compressis. Long. 3|-4 lin. Hah. Wide Bay. The outline and well-marked carinas on the elytra ai-e the principal diagnostic characters of this species. As I have to propose several new genera of Erirhininaj, the following table will be useful in showing their more prominent diagnostic characters ; and it includes, 1 believe, all the Aus- tralian genera yet published. There will still remain, however, several unnamed species in collections to be examined. The subfamily is apparently a very numerous one in Australia, and, from the exceeding variability of its characters, a very difficult one to classify, Tlie two New-Zealand genera {Hoplocneme and IStephanorhynchus) are widely removed from all known Australian forms *. I think that in J\lr. Wallace's Malayan * A third -jointed TJwcliia^. " Storkidks," luinicle 7-joiiited. Pectus canaliculate. Rostrum cylindrical LyhcJm. Rostrum narrowinji- gradually to the apex ; Enidc. Pectus not caualicidate. Second abdominal sej^^ment scarcely longer than the third Storet(s. * I have tliree Australian species of this well-lvnown northern genus. i" This g'enus will he jniblished in my " (\iiitribiitions towards a Knowledge of the Curculiouidie,'' Part iv., in the Jourmd of the Liuncan Society. It is related to a new Malayan form. the Australian Cuiculionidse. 183 Second abdominal segment as long as or longer than the next two together. Prothorax oisinuate at the base. .interior and iutermdiate tibife bicalcarate lledyopis. Anterior and intermediate tibiae with a single spur Eryteima. Prothorax rounded at the base. Eyes coarsely faceted Gerynassa. Eyes finely faceted. Intermediate cox;e remote. liostrum cylindrical throughout Cydmcea. Kostruni broader at the apex Uicomada. Intermediate coxaj approximate. Scrobes running to the eye. liostrum slender, broader at the apex .... Paryzctd, Rostrum stouter, cylindrical tlirougliout . . Xedu. Scrobes running beneath the liostrum Olancea, Funicle G-jointed Antyllis, " EUGNOMIDES." Jiostrum abruptly connected with the head. Femora pedunculate Meriphus, Femora not pedunculate. Anterior cuxas contiguous Myosita. Anterior coxfe not contiguous Orpha. Rostrum gradually continued to the head. Scape attaining the eye Vhrenozeiniiu Scape passing to the posterior border of the eye Cyttalia. Agehtka. Rostrum tenue, arcuatum ; scrobes submedianas, paiilo obliqiia?. Scaj)us oculum attingens ; ficnicuhis 7-articulatiis, articulo primo ^.rapliato, ca^teris brevioribus, obconicis ; davd distinct^. OcuU ovati, fortiter granulati. ProtJiorcw subtransversus, basi perparum bisinuatus, lobis ocularibusi nuUis. * Elytra oblongo-cordiforniia, prothorace paulo latiora. Cowce intermedia) baud approximatae. Femora crassa, subtus emarginata, obsolete dentata ; tdhi^'e anticae et intermedia) fere recta), apice mucronata!, postiese subdexuosae ; tarsi articulo tertio anguste bilobo, quarto elongate, yihclotnen segmentis duobus basalibus brevibus, secundo tertio (j[uartoque conjunctim manifeste breviore, sutura prima obsoleta. Corpus esquamosum. The insect forming the type of tliis genus is remarkable for the shortness of the two basal abdominal segments — the second, however, owing to its close union with the first, being very indistinctly limited. The genus seems to have more afKnity with Dorytomus than with any other. The facets of the eyes iire very minute ; but, as only about ten or so may be counted * 1 have omitted to mention the scutellum in this and some oilier genera, iis in the Erirhinin;c (and oftentimes in other Curculioiiidte ) it is very small, and, unless the scales ai'c rubbed oli", it is often diliicuU U) ascertain its form. 184 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to across the short diameter, the eye, in proportion to its size, must be characterized as coarsely granulate. xifjestra sataralifi. A. ovata, supra silacea, iu prothorace saturata, subtus capiteqiie iim- brina, setiilis subaureis adspersa, rostro, autennis, pedibus(iuc subferrugineis vel silaceis ; rostro prothorace vix longiore ; funiculi articulo primo secundo tertioque conjunctim manifcste longiore ; clava late ovata ; j)rot:horace pone apicem fere parallelo, supra siit crebre punctato ; elytris seriatim punctatis, punctis majusculi.s, approximatis, interstitio suturali nigro ; femoribus posticis mugis olavatis, dente minus obsolete instructis. Long. 1 lin. Hah. Fremantlo. Eniopea. Rostrum subcylindricum, arcuatum, apice parum latius ; scrohes pno- medianse, rectse. Sccqnis longiusculus, oculum attingens ; fiini^ cidus 7-articulatus, articulo primo ampliato, caeteris gradatim bre- vioribus ; dava magna, laxe articulata. OcuU subovati, fortiter granulati. Protltorux oblongus, basi subrotundata, qiiam apice paulo latiore, lobis ocularibiis nulUs. Elytra oblonga, prothorace manifesto latiora. Coatp intermedise approximata;. Femora crassa, rautiea, basi subpcdunculata ; tihue anticae et intcrmedise flexuosfc, apice mucronataj ; tarsi articulo tertio bilobo, quarto elongato. Abdomen segmeutis duobus basalibus breviuseulis, ultimo magno ; processus intercoxalis hand remotus. The diagnostic characters of tliis genus are found in the antennal club and in the abdominal segments ; the former, which is nearly as long as the six preceding joints of the funiclc together, has its joints (except the last) narrowed at the base, as in many of the Anthribidre. As to the last abdominal segment, in some of my specimens, jn'obably females, it extends beyond the elytra, and is more or less scaly, a true pygidium in fact. As in many other variegated species, little can be said in regard to the distribution of colours, as they vary in almost every individual ; but in most there is to the naked, eije a well- marked spot at the side of each elytron ; under the lens it is a large spot among a confused mass of others. 1 have placed the genus provisionally near Erirkinus. Eniopea amosna. E. oblonga, picea, squamis argenteis fuscisque variegata ; rostro fcrru- gineo, prothorace manifeste longiore, basi capitequc parce griseo- pilosis ; funiculi articulo i)rimo quam secundo duplo longiore ; lirothorace latitudine paulo longiore. utrinquc rotundato, supra plerunuiuc vitta argent eii latcralifcr omato ; elytris oblongo- fordiformibus, ])lagiatim variegatis ; cori)orc infra pcdibusqur- the Andndiun Curcullonlda'. 185 ferrugiileis, squamis urgenteis adspersis ; femoribus in medio nigrescentibus. ^Long. 1| liii. Hah. Fremautlc. DiETHUSA. Rostrum breviusculum, versus apiccm cito aiigustius ; scrohes siibraodi- ange, laterales, obliquae. Scapits oculum attingcns ; funiculus 7- articulatiis,articuli8 duobiis basalibuslongiusculis.primo incrassato, reli(|iiis obconicis, ultimis trunsversis ; c/ava distincta. OcuU ro- tundati, siibtenuiter granulati, aiitice parum approximati. Pro- thora.v aubconk'Uf^.h'dsi bisinuatus,lobis ocularibus nullis. Scatellum oblongnra. E/i/tra subcoidiformia, prothoracc multo latiora. Pectus breve, caiialiculatum. Coxcb anticae basi fere contiguac, intermedia."' distantes : femora crassa, dentata : tibice breves, Hcxuoste, apice bicalcaratse (posticae fere obsoletaj exceptae) ; tarsi articulo tertio bilobo, quarto minusculo ; um/uiculi divaricati. Mesosternum depressum, anticc arcuatum. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus ampliiitis, suturis tribus intermediis rectis. The peculiar character of the rostrum^ in conjunction with the nornuil cliaractcr of abdominal segment-s and pectoral canal, is at once distinctive of this genus. The two spurs of the anterior and intermediate tibia) are, I consider, mucros, the outer and larger one being in the usual position, the inner one replacing the tuft of hairs often present when the tibia is a little dilated on the inner margin of the apex. Diethusa fervida. D. nigra, squamis laete nifo-fcrrugiueis, supra maculatim ochraceis, dense vestita ; rostro antennisque fulvo-ferrugineis, vel ferrugineis, illo prothorace manifeste brevioi'e ; funicidi articulo primo modice elougato, secundo breviore ; prothorace utrinqi^ rotundato ; elytris striato-pimctatis, punctis elongatis, nitidis, interstitiis modice con- vexis; corpore infra pedibusque fulvo-ferrugineis, sejunctim griseo- squamosis ; femoribus posticis dente ampliato instructis. Long. 2 lin. Ilah. South Australia. Emplesis JiHrostris. E. oblongo-elliptica, picea, squamis griseis sejunctim tecta ; capite inter oculos squamis majoribus prominulis instructo ; rostro fili- formi, (S duplo, $ prothorace triplo longiore, castaneo, nudo, fere impunctato ; antennis gracilibus, sparse setulosis ; prothorace transverso, antice constricto, lobis ocularibus nullis ; elytris pro- thorace (iuadruplolongioribus,hunierisrotuiidatis,striato-i)unctatis, punctis approximatis, interstitiis hand convexis ; corpore infra squamis piliformibus adsperso ; pedibus sejunctim sciuamosis. bong. 24 lin. I hill, ('ham|iion Bay. 186 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 111 this uiid the following species there is a decided curve at the sides of the three intermediate abdominal segments, a character Avhich places them in the " Stor(?ides" of Lacor- daire j however, they cannot, in my opinion, be separated from E7nplesis. Ejnplests storeoides. E. sat late elliptica, nigra, supra sat dense umbrino-squamosa ; capite, antennis rostroque ferrugineis, hoc prothorace longiore, iiudo, nitido, fere impunctato ; oculis majusculis ; funiculi articulo priino manifeste crassiorc ; prothorace valde trausverso. apice fortitor angustato, utrinque pone apicem modice rotundato ; scutello ovali ; clytris elongato-cordatis, striatic, iu medio dimidii basalis nigro- .squamosis, postice vage nigro-maculatis ; corpore iufra pedibusque ferrugineis, sparse albido-squaraosis. Long. 2 lin. Hah. Queensland (Gayndah). Lyb^ba. Kostnim tenuiter cyliudricum, arcuatum, basi paulo compressum ; scrohes submcdiauae, recta^, fere in mecHo oculorum currentes. Smpus oculuin vix attiugeus ; fmiiculus 7-aiticulatus, articulo primo elongato, cajteris gradatim brevioribus, obconicis ; clavn distincta. Ocidi subtenuiter granulati, vix approximati. Protliorax subcoiiicus, basi bisinuatus, lobis ociilaribus uullis. Scutelhivi oblongum. Ehjtm subcordiformia, convexa. Pectus modice elon- gatum, caualiculatum. Coxce anticae basi contiguas, iutermediae distantes ; femora crassa, dentata ; t'Mce anticaj et iiitermcdiaj recta;, calcarata), apice (unco obliquo armata}) postica) subtlexuosiu, versus apicem latiores ; tarsi articulo tertio valde bilobo, quarto minusculo. Abdomen scgmentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, tribus intermediis lateraliter arcuatis. Except in the second abdominal segment, the curve at the sides is very slightly marked ; still the sutures are not so straight as in Diethusa. The genus is closely allied to Enidc • L. sub- fasciata^ indeed, might be taken at first sight for the small variety of E. cestuans ; but the character of the rostrum is essentially difterent. Lyhceha suhfasciata. L. ferruginea,squamis Icete ferrugineis, nigro-variis, sat dense vestita ; rostro nudo, subtestaceo, protborace paulo longiore ; funiculi ar- ticulo primo duobus sequentibus conjunctim sequali ; prothorace apice paulo constricto, utrinque rotundato ; elytris striatis, fasciis nigris indeterminatis tribus, ad suturam interruptis, notatis ; corpore infra pedibusque sejunctim griseo-squamosis. Long. 1^ lin. llah. Swan River (Albany). This sj^ccics has a longer ]n-othorax than the following, the Australian Curculionida'. 187 narrower proportionally at the base and strongly constricted towards the apex ; the scales also are more closely set. Lyha'ha repatula. L. castanea, squamis subfulvis eastaneisque vcstita ; rostro prothorace loiigiorc, ferrugineo, tiiido, punctis liuearibus sat confertim im- presso ; funiculu articulis duobiis basalibus longitudine aequalibus ; oculis minus teniiitcr granulatis ; prothorace magis transverso, apice vix coiistricto utriuque subfulvo, disco, macula triaugulari basaH excepta, castaneo-squamoso ; elytris striatis, I'asciis duabus latis indeterminatis castaneis, una ante, altera pone medium, ad suturam interruptis, ornatis ; corpora infra pedibusque sat vage g-iis0D-squamosis ; coxis intermediis valde remotis ; abdominis seg- mento secundo breviore. Long. 1 lin. Ilah. Swan River (Albany). Enide. Rostrum \)ixvlo arcuatum, apicem versus tenuius ; scrobes priBmedianaj, laterales, obliqua;. tSca2>us longiusculus, oculum attingcns ; fani- ciihis 7-articulatus, articulis duobus basalibus longiusculis, relicjuis obconicis, gradatim brevioribus ; clava distincta. Oc'«7/ rotundati, tenuiter granulati, modice api)roximati. Frothora.v subconicus, basi bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nulhs. Scntellum angustum. Ehjtni subcordiformia, singula basi emarginata, Fectus breve, canaliculatum. Coxce anticoe basi contigua^, iutermedice distantes ; femora crassa, dentata ; tibue apice mucrone calcariformi munitie, anticse et intermedia? areuatas vel subflexuosoe, posticoe fere recta), apicem versus crassiores ; tarsi articulo tertio late bilobo, quarto longiusculo ; unyaicuJi divaricati. Abdomen segmentis duobus basahbus ampliatis, intermediis lateraliter arcuatis. The rostrum is bent and narrowed towards tlie apex ; this will at once differentiate the genus from L^lKi'ha, which has also a short pectoral canal. The three intermediate segments of the abdomen in E. jwrphyrea are slightly curved at the sides ; but in E. (estuans it is difficult to decide either way : when the abdomen is at all convex there must be a corresponding curva- ture ; but this is quite different from the little curved processes • at the sides, which are the peculiarity in question. In this genus there is a broad excavation extending over the whole of the meso- and metasterna and the middle of the first abdominal segment ; a similar excavation is foimd also in Lyhcvha^ but not involving the abdomen. There is a considerable difference in the coloration of individuals of the same species in this and some of the allied genera. Enide porijlnjrea. E. jtallide ferruginca. s(piamis tlavcsccntibus. supra phigiatim ruti.-!: 188 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Addition.^ to vel rufo-ferrvigiueis, omnino dense vestita ; rostro antennisque pallidioribus, illo prothorace paiilo breviore, apice solo niido, in medio leviter carinulato ; funiculo articulis duobus basalibus lon- gitudine fere aeqiialibus ; prothorace subtransverso, basi fortiter bisinuato ; eljtris basi prothorace multo latioribus, lateraHter modice rotundatis, humeris callosis, striato-piiucttitis, punctis linearibus, iui.erstitiis secundo, tertio, quinto ct septimo carinato- elevatis. Long. ^5 -g lin- Hah. Western Australia. My specimens from Champion Bay are much ])aler than those from Albany. Enide icstuans. E. nigra, squaniis rut'o-ferrugineis, maculatim ochraccis dense ves- tita ; rostro prothorace longiore, magis subulato, basi Hneis elevatis tenuiter muoito ; funiculi articulo secundo quam prime longiore ; prothorace transverso, utrinque modice rotundato, saepe ochraceo-quadrimaculato; clytris parum brevioribus, postice magis latioribus, maculis ochraccis numerosis saepe ornatis, striato- punctatis, punctis linearibus, intcrstitiis convexis, secundo, tertio, (|uinto et septimo elevatis, in medio linea laevigata instructis, basi singulatim late emarginatis ; corpore infra sparse flavescenti- squamoso ; fcmoribus crassis, anticis margine superiore arcuatis ; tibiis anticis longiusculis. Long. 1| lin. Hab. Swan Kiver (i\.lbany), Prothorax more transverse, the elytra broader posteriorly, and the base of each less deeply emarginate, are among the most prominent diagnostic characters of this species. Enide saniosa. E. nigra, squamis saturate ferrugineis, maculatim nigris ochraceisque dense vestita ; rostro ut in prajcedente ; antennis pallide ferru- gineis ; oculis minus tenuiter granulatis ; prothorace transverso, utrinque modice rotundato, fere unicolori; elj'tris striato-puuctatis, punctis linearibus, intcrstitiis vix convexis, tequalibus, maculis nigris ochraceisque indetermiuatis notatis ; cori)ore infra sat sparse flavescenti-squamoso ; fcmoribus minus incrassatis, anticis margine superiore vix arcuatis; tibiis anticis breviusculis. Long. \\ lin. Hah. Fremantle. This dark-coloured little species will be readily known from the two preceding by the absence of raised lines oir the elytra. Hedyopis. iiosti-nm tenuiter cylindricum; ay'/'o^cs prajmcdiana?, fere infra rostrum currcntcs. Scapas oculum liaud attingens ; funicalus articulis (luobus l)asalibus clongatis, cietcris gradatim brevioribus, ultirais the Anstrah'((ii CurciillouitUt*. 189 obconicis ; c/rtV(f distincta. Ot'«/i ovati, tenuiter granulati. Pro- thorax siibcoiiiciis, basi bisinuatiis, lobis ocularibus nullis. Eli/tra breviuscula, pi'othoracc multo latiora. Femora incrassata, mutica ; tihim anticao et interraedi;c arcuata.^, apice bicalcarataj, posticai rectaj, apicem versus crassiores, spinoso-mucronatae ; tarsi articulo tertio late bilobo. Abdomen segraentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, tribus interinediis ad latera arcuatis. Allied to Erytenna ; but without ocular lobes, and the an- terior and intermediate tibia having two spurs at the apex, the inner one the ordinary mucro, the other being claw-shaped and arising within the rim of the apex, as in many Crypto- rhynchina^. The species here described is not unlike Sihmia arenarice, Hedyojns seWgera. H. ovata, nigra, sat dense albido-squamosa, in medio jilaga magna communi ochracea postice atro-marginata ornata ; rostro nitido, fere nudo, vage puiictulato ; antennis ferrugiueis ; clava breviter ovata ; prothorace latitudine longitndini a^quali, utrinque paulo ampliato ; scutello triangulari ; clytris subcordatis, prothorace multo latioribus, striatis, humeris subeallosis, apice rotundatis ; corpore infra pedibusque argenteo-squamosis ; tibiis anticis lon- giusculis. Long. If lin. Hah. Champion Bay. Gerynassa. Rostrum cylindricum, arcuatum, apice latius ; scrohes medianae, laterales, obliqua). Scajms oculum attingens ; fwniculus 7-articu- latus, articulo primo ampliato, secundo vix breviore, caeteris brevibus, ultimis transversis ; dava dlstincta. Oculi subrotundati, fortiter granulati. Prothorax transversus, antice constrictus, basi subtnmcatus. Scutellum triangulare. Elytra ampla, pro- thorace multo latiora. Pectus brevissimum, hand canaliculatum. Coxce anticae contiguas, intermediae approximatae. Femora crassa, mutica ; tihice subflexuosae, apice mucrouatiB ; tarsi articulo tertio biloho, quarto elongato. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus amphatis, tribus intermediis ad latera leviter arcuatis. The coarsely faceted eyes and subtruncated base of the prothorax are the diagnostic characters of this genus, by which it may at once be differentiated from Erytenna ; both genera, from the breadth of their elytra, have a similar contour. Gerynassa nodulosa. G. rufo-ferrugiuca, squamis griseis silaceisque variegala, plagis nigris basi prothoracis et circa scutellum notata, aUquando maculis aliia adspersa ; rostro nitide ferrugineo, basin versus utrinque linea elevata instructo ; antennis dilute ferrugineis ; prothorace pone apicem sat abrupte convexo, utrinque ampliato ; scutello nigro, 190 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to triangulari ; elytris supra inaiqualitcr striato-puuctatis, interstitiis tertio et quarto singulatim tribus vel quatuor uodnlis nigro- squamosis muuitis,iu medio fascia pallidiore ornatis, humeris paulo callosis ; corporc infra pedibusquo sejunctim griseo-squamosis. Long. 2 lin. Hab. West Australia ; South Australia. Gevi/nassa hasalis. G. nigra, squamis ferruginois et nigrosceutibus variegata ; rostro nitide ferrugineo, prothoraee longiore, versus apicem obsolete impunctato ; antennis ferrugineis, scapo apice valde clavato ; funi- culi articulo primo qnam secundo paulo breviore ; clava nigra ; prothoraee ut in pra^cedente ; elytris supra aequaliter convexis, striato-punctatis, singulis basi plaga nigra ornatis, in medio et parte apicali nigrescentibus ; corpore infra pedibusque sejunctim griseo-squamosis. Long. 2|-2| lin. Hab. South Australia (Gawler) . DlCOMADA. Rostrum tenuiter cjlindricum, apice latins et crassius, arcuatum : scrobes submedianse (in D. terrea praemediana)), recta?. Scapns oculum hand attingens ; funiculus 7-articulatu8, articulis duobus basalibus elongatis, vel primo solo elongate ; dava distincta. Oculi tenuiter granulati. Protliorax transversus, postice dilatatus, basi rotundatus, vel parum bisinuatus, lobis ocidaribiis nullis. Elytra subcordiformia, leviter convexa ; prothoraee paulo latiora. Pectus breviusculum. Coxxe intermediae sat remotse ; femora in- crassata, mutica ; tihicp, flexuosae, apice mucronatte ; tarsi lati, articulo quarto breviusculo. Abdomen segmcntis duobus basaHbus ampliatis, tribus intermediis ad latera arcuatis. Of the three species liere described, D. terrea has a shorter and proportionally stouter rostrum, with the scrobes more towards the apex ; the rostrum, liowever, is in other respects essentially the same. Cydmcea has the rostrum attenuated throughout, and the apex compressed when viewed sideways. Dicomada litigiosa. D. fusca, squamis concoloribus argenteisque varie vestita ; rostro prothoraee sesquilongiore, vix squamoso, basi subtilitcr lineatim punctulato ; antennis subtestaceis, funiculo gracili ; prothoraee apice multo angustiore, utrinque rotundato ; elytris oblongo-sub- cordiformibus, striato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis ; corpore infra argenteo-squamoso ; pedibus ferrugineis, parce squamosis. Long. 1| lin. Hab. Fremantle. In the individual here descril)ed there arc three lightly the Austrafiaii Curculionidai. 191 marked stripes on the prothorax, and an ill-defined band on the middle of the elytra ; but in others there is simply a faint mottling of brown only to be seen under a good lens. Dicomacla ovaUs. D. ferruginoa, subtus prothoraceque nigrescentibus, squamis siib- aureis puree adspersa ; rostro prothoraco maiiifcste longiore, picoo, apice pallidiore, serobibus paulo pone medium ineipientibus ; funi- culi articulo primo quam secuudo diiplo longiore ; prothoraee anticc latiorc, utriiique pone apiccm paulo dilatato, lateribus leviter rotundato ; elytris breviter subcordiformibus, striato-punctatis, interstitiis baud convexis, in medio unisei'iatim setulosis ; pedibus rufo-ferrugineis, parce squamosis. Long. 1 lin. Hah. Swan River (Albany). The shorter elytra and somewhat subequilateral form of the prothorax are at once distinctive of this species. Dicomada terrea. D. nigra, subsilaceo-squamosa, medio protboracis fusco ; rostro minus tenui, prothoraee vix longiore, basi lineis quinque elevatis munito ; serobibus apicem versus ineipientibus ; antennis ferrugineis ; funiculi articulo primo quam secuudo paulo longiore ; prothoraee apice multo angustiore, utriuque rotundato, in medio longitudina- liter fusco ; elytris oblongo-cordiformibus, striis obtectis ; corpore infra nigro, squamis albidis adsperso ; pedibus ferrugineis, parce squamosis. Long. 1^ lin. Hah. Champion Bay. The scales, without being very closely set, completely hide the narrow stria? of the elytra. Paryzeta. Rostrum tenuiter cylindricum, arcuatum, versus apicem gradatira latius ; scrobes submedianse, obliqua3. Sccqms oculum attiugens ; funiculus 7-articulatus, articulo primo elongato, incrassato, cseteris minusculis; dava ampla, distincta. OcuU ovales, tenuiter granulati. Prothorax transversus, basi rotundatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Elytra prothoraee multo latiora, oblongo-cordiformia. I'ewora incrassata, mutica ; tibioi subarcuata;, apice obsolete mucronata; ; tarsi articulo tertio late bilobo, quarto elongato. Coxm intermedia? approximataj. Ahdomen scgmeutis duobus basalibus amjiliatis, tertio quartoque ad latera paulo arcuatis. The characters of the rostrum and the narrower elyti'a are those which principally distinguish this genus from Xeda. Erirhinus injinnuH will give a good idea of the following species. 192 My. F. p. Pascoe ofi Add it lorn to Paryzetn mnsiva. P. ovata, fcrruijinea vel fusca, dense griseo-squamosa ; rostro an- tennisque fulvo-testaceis, clava nigricaiite, illo prothorace sesqui- longiore, basi sparse piloso, apice nudo, subtilissime vage punctu- lato ; prothorace antiee multo angustiore, iitrinque fortiter rotundato ; elytris basi parum coiivexis. lateribus ad medium sub- parallelis, deinde rotundatis, striatis, iiiterstitiis plauatis, faseiis duabus indetermiuatis, aliquando obsoletis, ad suturam iiiterrin)tis, una in medio, altera ante apicem sita ; corpore infra pedibusqne ferrugineis, sat dense albido-squamosis. Long. 1| lin. Hob. Cliampion Bay. Xeda. Rostrum brcviusculum, cyliudricum, arcuatum ; scrohes submediana). laterales. paulo obliquoe, ante oculos desinentes. Srapus in oou- lum impiiigens ; /((;hVh7»s 7-articulatus, artieulo primo valido ; clava distincta, acuminata. OntJi ovati, laterales, ampliati, tenuissime granulati. Prothora.r transvcrsns, subconieus, basi rotuudatus ; lobis ociilaribus nullis. Elytra ampLiata. paulo con- vexa. Pectus breve. Co.vfr anticoc contigute, intermedife approx- imata3 ; femora incrassata, mutiea ; tibice paulo arcuatae vel sub- flexuosee, apice mucronatae ; tarsi artieulo tertio bUobo, quarto elongate ; unguicuVi divaricati. Abdomen segraentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, tribus intermediis lateraliter paulo arcuatis. This genus differs from Cydmeva iante^ vol. ix. p. 137) in its scape impinging on the eye, in the absence of ocular lobes, and in the approximation of the intermediate coxa?. The two species here described are somewhat remarkable for the large size of the elytra ; of the first there is a small variety with more mottled elytra. Xeda amplipenms. X. nigra, varie griseo-squamosa ; rostro prothorace vix longiore, nigro, punctulato, basi linea lasvigata munito ; antennis ferrugineis. clava nigra ; funiculi artieulo basali tribus sequentibus conjunctim vix breviore ; prothorace basi longitudine fere duplo latiore, saturatim bi%'ittato ; scutello rotimdato : elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis hand convexis, pone medium fascia maeulata nigra angusta ornatis ; corpore infra femoribusque nigris, dense ar- genteo-squamosis ; tibiis tarsisque ferrugineis, squamis angustis adspersis. Long. 1| Hn. Hab. Swan River (Albany). Xeda hiUneata. X. picea, fusco-squamosa, prothorace elytrisque dorso linea interrupta albida utrinque ornatis ; rostro prothorace paulo breviore, basi excepta, laete fulvo ; antennis fulvo-ferrugineis, clava nigricanti ; funiculi artieulo basali duobus sequentibxis conjunctim vix Ion- the Australian Curciiilionidfe. 193 giore ; prothorace basi angustiore, utrinque rotundato, sejunctim puuctato ; scutejlo minuto ; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis 4°, 5°, 6° plus minusve albido-squamosis, postice setulis albis raris inunitis ; corpore iufra nigro, argenteo-squamoso ; apicibus femorum, tibiis tarsisque fulvo-ferrugineis. Long. 1|- lin. Hah. Champion Bay. One of iny specimens, which I take to be a female, has a longer unicolorous rostrum. OLANiEA. Rostrum paulo areuatura, apicem versus tenuius ; scrobes pra^medianae, obliquse, infra rostrum cito currentes. Scvqyus longiusculus, oculo impingens ; fimiculus 7-articulatus, articulo primo majusculo, caeteris breviter obconicis ; chtva distincta. Oculi minusculi, tenuiter granulati. Prothorax angustior, postice rotundatus, basi subtruncatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Elytra oblonga, prothorace multo latiora. Femora, clavata, mutica ; tihice subflexuosae, apice mucronataj ; tarsi articulo tertio bilobo, quarto elongato. Coxce intermediae approximata). Abdomen segmentis duobus basahbus ampliatis, tribus intermediis ad latera arcuatis. Corpus setosum. This genus is trenchantly differentiated by the direction of its scrobes and the absence of scales, except on the under parts. Its affinities are doubtful. Olanoia nigricollis. 0. ovalis, ferruginea, capite, rostro basi, prothorace, elytrisque mar- ginibus suturaque nigris ; rostro prothorace paulo longiore, usque ad medium parce albido-setosis ; anteunis ferrugineis ; funiculi articulo primo quam secundo fere duplo longiore ; prothorace lon- gitudine parum latiore, utrinque rotundato, crebre punctulato, setulis erectis adsperso ; elytris oblongo-subcordiformibus, striato- punctatis, intcrstitiis uniseriatim setosis ; corpore infra nigro, albo-squamoso. Long. 1^ Un. Ilab. Swan River (Albany). Antyllis. Rostrum longiusculum, cylindricum, vel apicem versus paulo attenu- atum ; scrobes submedianae, laterales, infra oculos desinentes. Scajnis oculum attingens ; funiculus 6-articulatus, articulis duobus basalibus breviuscuUs, caeteris transversis. Ocrdi minores. Ccetera ut in Xeda. In general appearance like Xeda, but very trenchantly dif- ferentiated by its six-jointed funicle. Antyllis setosa. A. fusca, pedibus rufo-fcrrugineis, unguiculis nigris, supra sat dense griseo-, in medio cervino-squamosa ; rostro griseo-setoso, dimidio Ann. d; Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.xi. 13 194 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to apicali rufo-ferrugineo ; anteunis ferrugineis, clava nigricante ; prothorace manifeste transverso, utrinque valde rotundato ; clytris siibcordatis, striato-puiictatis, interstitiis uniseriatim albido- setosis ; corpore infra albido-squamoso. Long. 1| lin. Hab. South Australia. AntyUis griseola. A. pieea, pedibus ferrugineis, ungniculis nigris, supra minus dense griseo-, in medio cervino-s(juamosa ; rostro magis subnlato, dimidio apicali ferrugineo ; scapo articuloque basali funiculi ferrugineis, relicpiis clavaque nigris ; prothorace angustiore, longitudine lati- tudini fere ajquali ; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis hand setosis ; corpore infra dense argenteo-squamoso. Long. 1| lin. Hah. Swan River (Albany). Differs from the last principally in its longer prothorax and absence of setai from the elytra. Antyllis aurulenta. A. pallide ferruginea, dense aureo-rufescenti-squamosa, setulis albis numerosis adspersa ; rostro prothorace paulo breviore, sparse albo- setoso, dimidio apicali nigro ; anteunis pallidis ; clava nigricante ; prothorace longitudine latitudini fere tequali, utriu(]ue leviter rotundato ; elj^tris breviter subcordatis, striato-punctatis, inter- stitiis uniseriatim sat confertim setosis ; corpore infra pallide flavescenti-squamoso. Long. 1^ lin. Hab. Champion Bay. A shorter species proportionally than either of the two pre- ceding ; under a Coddington the scales appear of a beautiful golden brown (reddish), but in certain lights a little hoary. Cyttalia. Caput deflectum, angustum ; rostrum cum capita gradatim confluens, subtenue ; scrobes subapicales, infra rostrum cito currentes. Scapus ad marginem posticum ocuh attingente ; faniadus 7-articulatus, articulis duobus basalibus longiusculis, prime crassiore, ca^teris gradatim brevioribus ; clava distincta. Ocidi prominuli, fortiter granulati. Prothorax transversus, antice paulo constrictus, basi truncatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Elytra ovalia, prothorace latiora. Femora incrassata, postica dentata ; tibice flexuosae, apice inermes ; tarsi articulo tertio lato, fortiter bilobo ; unguiculi divergentes. Coxce anticoe exsertte, contiguae. Abdanen segmentis duobus basalibus ampliatis. Corpus pilosum. A very distinct genus, which agrees with Phrenozemia in its narrow head gradually passing into the rostrum ; but it is pubescent or pilose and not scaly, and its hind femora only are toothed. The prothorax is unusually small compared with the the Australian Curculionidae. 195 elytra. The two species of the genus, the second of which is from New Zealand,, are not unlike Orchestes fagi, but con- siderably larger. Cyttalia griseipila. C. oblongo-ovalis, fusca, subnitida, omnino subtiliter griseo-pilosa, supra setulis erectis adspersa ; rostro prothoraci lougitudine aequali, cariiiula in medio ante apicem desinente ; antennis sub- testaceis, scapo apice clavaque uigricantibus ; prothoracc latitudine paulo breviore, crebre punctato, utrinque modice rotundato ; scu- tello miuuto, triangulari ; elytris quam protborace ampliatis, et plus quadruplo longioribus, substriato-punctatis, punctis paulo approximatis ; pedibus posticis longioribus; tibiis longiusculis. Long. 2 lin. Hab. Sydney. Phrenozemia lunata. P. oblonga, fusca, squamositate sordide grisea tecta, squamulis pili- formibus adspersa; rostro nigro, confertim punctato, basi squa- moso ; antennis ferrugineis, funiculi articulo primo valde incrassato, secundo tertioque conjunctim manifesto brevioribus ; protborace cylindrico ; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis alternis fortiter elevatis, tertio quintoque singulatim versus apicem tuberculo parvo instructis, pone medium litera V-reversa, nigro-marginata, signatis. Long. If liu. Hab. Western Australia (Fremantle). Size and outline of P. lyproides {anfb^ vol. x. p. 95), but, inter alia^ at once differentiated by the raised alternate inter- stices of the elytra; the coloration and, indeed, the general appearance can scarcely fail to recall our Gronops lunatus. In the generic formula, owing to some agglutination of the hairs in the specimen I examined, the second and third joints of the funicle were described as one ; in reality, however, P. lyproides has the second joint considerably shorter than the first, as in this species. Meriphus coronatus. M. griseo-setulosus, vix nitidus ; capita supra nigro ; rostro capita fere duplo longiore, subferrugiiieo, apice nigro ; antennis sub- ferrugineis, funiculo clavaque infuscatis ; protborace basi minus dUatato, crebre rugoso-punctato, silaceo, margine antico nigro ; elytris silaceis, scutello suturaque nigris, rude striato-punctatis, singulis basi emarginatis, humeris caUosis ; corpore infra nigro, squamis niveis rotundatis elongatis intermixtis adsperso ; pedibus ferrugineis, femoribus in medio nigris. Long. 2 lin. Hah. West Australia. Besides the difference of colour, this species has the prothorax 13* 196 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to narrower at the base, and the elytra on each side of the scii- tellum are projected forward, the part between this and the shoulder showing a deep emargination. Brexius lineatus. B. oblongus, niger, squamiilis piliformibiis griseis adspersus ; rostro prothorace breviore, antice cariniilis quinque mauil'este munito ; Bcrobibus termiualibus ; antennis subferrugiueis, clava iufuscata ; prothorace paulo longiore qiiam latiore, confertissime granulato- punctato ; elytris striato-puuctatis, iuterstitiis in medio uniseriatim setosis, alternis paulo elevatis, sexto sordide albido ; corpore infra nitide castaneo, parce setoso ; femoribus infuscatis ; tibiis tarsisque siibferrugineis, longe pilosis. Long. 3 lin. Hab. Melbourne. A dark, almost black, species, notwithstanding its greyish scales ; the scrobes are completely terminal. I placed Brexius with the Amalactinfe on account of its cavernous corbels, the only character apparently that separates it from the Erirhininai. Psepholax Mastersii. P. ovalis, fuscus, opacus, disperse squamosus ; capite inter oculos ex- cavato ; rostro brevi, antice et inter ocidos dense ferrugineo- hirsuto ; antennis ferrugineis ; prothorace transverse, antice multo angustiore, utrinqne fortiter rotuudato, creberrime granulato- punctato ; elytris striato-punctatis, iuterstitiis couvexis, sat con- fer tim granulatis ; tibiis iutermediis in medio deute maguo in- structis. Long. 4 lin. Hab. Wide Bay (Queensland). Differs from P. barbtfrons,W\\. (Ereb. & Terr,, Ins. p. 15), in its more closely punctured prothorax, with the intervals granuliform, the different form of the intermediate tibise, &c. This and the two following species are interesting as belonging to a genus hitherto supposed to be peculiar to New Zealand. Psejjholax egerius. P. obovatus, fuscus, vix nitidus, rostro breviusculo, basi antice et inter oculos pallide barbate ; antennis ferrugineis, longioribus ; prothorace transverse, apice subito constricto, creberrime granulato- punctato ; elytris oblongo-cordatis, striato-puuctatis, iuterstitiis convexis, dense ferrugineo-squamosis, pygidio detecto ; tibiis iu- termediis deute maguo instructis. Long, ^g lin. Hab. Queensland. I am indebted to Dr. Howitt for my specimens of this species. It may be known at once from the preceding by its outline, dependent on its short prothorax, suddenly narrowed anteriorly, and its cordiform elytra. the Australian Curculionidse. 197 Psepholax latirostris. P. cylindricus, fusciis, lianim nitidus, squamis concoloribus griseo irroratis vestitus ; rostro brevi, latissimo, crebre punctate ; oculis ovalibus, inter se valde remotis ; antennis ferrugineis, scapo in oculum impiugente ; prothorace latitudine parum longiore, autice angusto, utrinque modice rotundato, confertim punctato ; elytris longiuscnlis, striato-punctatis, interstitiis parum convexis, sat confertim grauulatis ; tibiis iutermediismargine exteriore edentatis. Long. 4 lin. Hah. Illawarra. It would be better perhaps to consider this species the exponent of a new genus. Poropterus satyrus. P. oblongo-ovatus, convexus, niger, omnino pallida umbrino- squamosus ; capite inter, oculos foveato ; rostro modice tenuato, basi irregulariter sat vage punctato ; antennis piceis ; funiculi articulo secundo quam primo fere duplo longiore ; clava ovata, acuminata ; prothorace modice convexo, apice vix producto, utrinque fortiter rotundato, basi versus scutellum paulo lobato, supra squamis erectis claviformibus adsperso ; elytris convexis, pone medium latioribus, postice gradatim declivibus, apicibus ro- tundatis, epij)lcuris distinctis, supra tuberculato-fasciculatis, gra- nulis nitidis paucis prope scutellum obsitis ; segmento ultimo abdominis tribus prsecedentibus conjunctim longitudine aequali ; tibiis subtenuatis, manifeste flexuosis ; tarsis articulo tertio sat fortiter bilobo. Long. 8-9 lin. Hah. Tasmania. A large coarse species, in outline like P. antiqims^ Er., which has, inter alia, the first two joints of the funicle equal in length, and shorter, nearly straight, tibiae. Porojyterus inominatus. P. ovatus, minus convexus, niger, umbrino-squamosus ; capite inter oculos foveato, fronte carinato ; rostro basi confertim, apicera versus gradatim minus punctato ; funiculi articulo secundo quam primo fere duplo longiore ; clava ovata, obtusa ; prothorace ut in P. sati/ro, sed apice parum bituberculato ; elytris brevioribus, basi circa scutellum paulo depressis ct squamulis concoloribus arete adpressis, apicem versus magis constrictis, singulis fasciculis duobus nigricantibus (una subbasali, altera paulo pone medium) notatis, apice rotundatis ; corpore infra pedibusque dense squa- mosis, squamis claviformibus erectis intcrjectis. Long. 7 lin. Hah. Queensland. This species resembles the preceding ; but is shorter, less convex, the parts behind the carina, marking the upper margin 198 0)1 Additions to the Australian OxxroxiSiom^ze.. of the epipleui-a, abruptly constricted, and the scales at the base of the elytra concolorous with and closely fixed to the derm, the part, except under a strong lens, appearing denuded. Poropterus varicosus. P. ovatus, convexus, niger, capite rostroque umbrino-squamosis ; funiculi artieulo secundo quam primo duplo longiore, cajteris ro- tundatis vel submoniliformibus ; prothorace apice paulo producto, utriuque manifeste rotuudato, tuberculis sex inconspicuis notato — duobus apicalibus, quatuor in medio transversim sitis ; elytris pone medium latioribus, singulis interrupte bicarinato-faseiculatis, apice late rotimdatis, epipleui-is baud determinatis ; tibiis brevibus, validis, manifeste flexuosis. Long. 5 lin. Hah. Illawarra. Much the same kind of outline as the two preceding, but more convex, the flanks of the elytra not marked off by a carina, shorter and stouter tibiaj, &c. Poropterus oniscus. P. ovatus, sat fortiter convexus, niger, capite rostroque squamis um- brinis tectus ; rostro valido ; scapo breviusculo, ante medium rostri inserto ; funiculi artieulo secundo quam primo sesquilongiore ; oculis fortiter granulatis ; prothorace antice modice constricto, apice paulo angustiore,vix producto, utriuque rotuudato, tuberculis fasci- culatis sex notato — duobus apicalibus, quatuor trausversis ; elytris ovaUbus, in medio quam prothorace multo latioribus, seriatim punc- tatis, interspatiis subtuberculiformibus, squamis majoribus erectis adspersis, basi paucifasciculatis, apice rotundatis ; segmentis duobus basalibus abdominis valde ampliatis ; tibiis breviusculis, flexuosis. Long. 4 lin. Hah. Queensland. The antennas in nearly all the species of Poropterus are in- serted not far from the tip of the rostrum ; in this one the insertion is nearer the middle. Poropterus tumulosus. P. ovatus, modice convexus, fuscus, omnino squamis pallide um- brinis dense tectus ; rostro valido ; funiculo articuhs duobus basalibus hand elongatis, primo quam secundo fere a3quali, cajteris trausversis ; clava ovali ; ocuHs tenuissime granulatis ; prothorace antice multo angustiore, apice producto, crebre punctato, in medio lougitudinaHter excavate, tuberculis duodecim instructo — duobus apicalibus, decem in seriebus duabus trausversis sitis ; elytris breviter ovatis, pone medium prothorace multo latioribus, postice fortiter declivibus, singulis tuberculis validis circa viginti sub- seriatim positis, apicibus rotundatis ; segmentis duobus basahbus On the Silurus and Olanis of the Ancients. 199 abdominis valde ampliatis ; tibiis brevibus, auticis flexuosis, re- liquis rectis. Long. 3 lin. Hah. South Australia ; Tasmania. This little species will be easily recognized by the numerous tubercles on the elytra. Rhinoncus nigriventris. 11. ovatus, subnitidus, supra pedibusque ferriigineus, parce subtiliter pilosus, steruis abdomiueque nitide nigris ; rostro breviusculo, sat valido ; prothorace crebre punctato, basi nigro-niarginato ; elytris cordiformibus, striato-punctatis, interstitiis valde convexis, sutura basi albido-squamosa ; corpore infra modice punctato. Long. 1^ lin. Hah. Queensland (Grayndah) . Rhinoncus was, with one exception, a purely European genus ; there are, however, a number of European genera with representatives, not-yet described, in Australia ; some of them are also found in the Malasian region. This sjjecies is very distinct, and, with all the others from Gayndah men- tioned above, have been kindly sent to me by Mr. Masters, whose successful explorations I have had so often to mention. Ereatum. In vol. ix. p. 139, under Ofhrophccbe, " scrobes antemediante " felioiild have been " scrobes postmedianse.'' XXII. — On the Silurus and Giants of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. By the Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S. There appears to be no doubt that the sheatfish {Silurus <7/«n/s, Linn.), which has of late years attracted some attention in this country, was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans under the names of silurus [aikovpos:) and glanis {2 in., ditto of orifice •(53 in. ; transverse diameter of orifice -58 in. ; length of scuta -17 in., breadth -08 in. ; length of terga -07 in., breadth 240 Miscellaneous. ■07 in. Colour of membranes, when living, sulphur-yellow ; hood extremely protrusile. This species is found sessile on the California grey whale (Eha- chianectes gJaucus, Cope). I have observed them on specimens of that species hauled vip on the beach at Monterey for cutting off the blubber, in the bay-whaUng of that locality. The superior surface of the lateral laminae being covered by the black skin of the whale, was not visible ; and the animal, removed from its native element, protruding its bright yellow hood in ever)' direction to a surprising distance, as if gasping for breath, presented a truly singular appear- ance. Pedunculata. Otion, Leach, Otion, Leach, Encycl. Britamiica, suppl. vol. iii. p. 170. Otion >Stini2')Sonl, Dall, n. sp. Scuta only present, beaked, with the umbones on the occludent margins ; anterior prolongation the longer, pointed, rather slender ; posterior prolongation rounded, Avider ; external margin coucave. Colour (in spirits) light orange with a dark purple streak on the rostral surface and on each side of the peduncle, while the lateral surfaces of the body-case and lobes are mottled ■with dark purj^le. The lower lip of the orifice is transversely striated and translucent, the upper margins, slightly reflexed internally, white ; in some spe- cimens with two prolongations or small lobes above, which are wanting in other specimens. The tubular prolongations very irregular and variable in size and form, usually unsymmetrical ; one sometimes nearly abortive. Length of peduncle 2-8 in., of body 2-16 in., of lobes 2*0 in., of orifice l'18in., of scuta •55 in. ; width of scuta '16 in. Mab. On the "humpback" (J/, versahilis), sessile on the Coronulce which infest that species, but never, so far as I have observed, on the surface of the whale itself. Dr. Leach describes five calcareous pieces, namely the scuta, terga, and rostrum, in the typical species ( 0. Cuvieri, Leach) ; and they are figured by Reeve ; but this species has certainly only the scuta. Whether this difi'erence is of more than specific value I am not able to decide, owing to the great paucity of works of reference here. I should be unwilling to describe the species, were it not that it was submitted to the late lamented Dr. Stimpson for examination, and was pronounced by him to be new. A variety, or perhaps another form, was observed by me in Behring Strait in 1865, which was blotched all over with rose-pink, and had the scuta narrower and more slender ; it was also smaller than the specimens before me ; but as it is not at hand, I am unable to decide with certainty. I am indebted to Capt. C. M. Scammon and R. E. C. Stearns, Esq., for specimens and facilities furnished in the preparation of this pajjer. Most of the specimens were collected by the former gentleman, and will be figured in his forthcoming monograph of the Cetaceans of the N.W. Coast. — Proceedinqs of the California Academy of Sciences, Dec. 18, 1872. THE ANNALS • AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FOURTH SERIES.] No. 64. APRIL 1873. XXVII. — On the Calcispongitej their Position in the Animal Kingdom^ and their ReJation to the Theory of Descendence. By Professor Ernst Hackel*. I. The Position of the Calcispongi^ in the Animal Kingdom. 1. The Primitive Form of the Spongim. The results of the examination of the comparative anatomy and developmental history of the Calcispongife (in the second section of this volume) not only furnish us with a satisfactory insight into the organization of this group of animals and of the Sponges in general, but, by comparison with the lower states of development of the higher animals, they lead us to general reflections which throw a new light upon the natural system, the genealogical tree of the animal kingdom. In the first place, by our morphology of the Calcispongias the opinion entertained by most spongiologists is confirmed — namely, that they form a unitarily organized group, which, by its most important characters, belongs to the class of Sponges, but occupies within this an independent position. In the natural system we can express this relation by dividing the whole class of Sponges into three principal sections or sub- classes, namely : — I. Gelatinous Sponges [Myxospongioi)^ II. Fibrous Sponges {Fibrospongia;) , ?ind III. Calcareous Sponges * Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from a separate copy of the last two chapters of the tirst volume of Prof. Hackel's monogTaph of the Cal- cispongiae (Berlin, 1872), communicated by the Author. Ann. & Mag. K Hist. Scr.4. Vol. xl 16 242 Prof. E. Hack el on the Position of the ( Calcisjjongice) *. The Myxospongia? are characterized by the complete absence of a skeleton, the Fibrospongiee by their partly homy, partly siliceous, fibrous skeleton, and the Calci- spongiaj by their calcareous (not fibrous) skeleton. The comparative anatomy and ontogeny of the Sponges allow us to assume with tolerable certainty that all the different forms of this class originate from a single common stock form, ?i primitive sponge [Archispongia) '\ . That all the various Calcispongiaj may be deduced without any difficulty in the most natural manner from a common stock form, Olynthus^ has already been satisfactorily proved ; the ontogeny of the CalcispongiiB leaves no doubt upon this point. Oscar Sclmridt has also shown that the united horny and siliceous sponges (our Fihrospongice) must all have descended from a common stock form, which we will denominate Chalynthus ; and we shall certainly not be far wrong if we assume that the common root of both groups is to be sought in the skeletonless group of the Myxospongiffi ; for, as in all other organisms, so also in the Sponges, the formation of the skeleton is to be regarded phylogenetically as a secondary, and not as a primary act of organization. We should therefore have to derive the Fibro- spongite and Calcispongige from the common stock group of * The class of Sponges has hitherto been usually divided, after Grant's ex.ample (1826), in caccordauce with the three different modes of formation of their skeleton, into the three subclasses of the Horny Sponges (Cerato- spongia), Siliceous Spongers (Silicisjwnt/ue), and Calcareous Sponges (Calci- spoiiffice). Oscar Schmidt has shown, however, that the separation of the Horny and Siliceous Sponges is untenable, because the two groups are interwoven with each other most multifariously, and stand in the closest polyphyletic connexion (Algier. Spong. 1808, p. 35). I therefore propose provisionally to unite the two groups in the division of the Fibrous Sponges (Fibrosponf/ii/erato, because I conceive this group of animals in quite a different sense from Leuckart. This author from the first regarded the central cavity and its ramifications not as a stomachy but as a hocly- cavity] and he has also recently (1869) expressly opposed the notion " that the internal apparatus of cavities in them repre- sents in its morphological significance the body-cavity of other animals." I, on the contrary, share in the views of Gegen- baur (1861),Noschin (1865), Semper (1867), and Kowalevsky (1868), that the Coelenterata (both Acalephfe and Sponges) 2)0ssess no hody-cavity at all, and that their internal system of cavities is rather homologous with the intestinal cavity of other animals. This opinion appears to me to be phylogeneti- cally of the greatest importance for the comprehension of the homologies of the animal stem ; and it stands in the fullest agreement with the germ-lamella theory. 5. The Oerm-lamella Theory and the Genealogical Tree of the Animal Kingdom. Among the phylogenetic questions which have been brought into the foreground of philosophical zoology by Darwin's epoch- making reform of the theory of descendence, one of the most difficult and obscure, but also one of the most interesting and important, is the question of the hlood-relationshij) of the types or phyla, the great primary divisions of the animal kingdom, which, since the time of Von Baer and Cuvier have passed as entirely separate and independent unities. In 1866, in my general phylogeny *, I made the first attempt to answer this question, and indeed so far that I assumed the common deri- vation of the whole animal kingdom from a single stock form, but at the same time regarded the types of the Vertebrata, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Vermes as narrower genealogical unities, which were united only at the root. I have also endeavoured to prove this connexion more clearly, and to render it more precise in detail, by the demonstration of intermediate forms, in my ' Natiirliche Schopfungsgeschichte ' (1868, pi. 3 ; 3rd edit., 1872, p. 449). * Generell-e Morphologie, Bd. ii. pp. 408-417, pi. 1. 254 Prof. E. Hack el on the Position of the Within about a year (1867) my pliylogenetic hypotheses received a welcome confirmation by the iiijportant embryo- logical investigations of Kowalevsky, which made their ap- pearance in the interval. This meritorious natm'alist, who for the first time attacked the most difficult questions of comparative ontogeny at their root, and who, by his brilliant discoveries as to the identical ontogeny of Aviphioxus and the Ascidia, bridged over the greatest gap hitherto existing within the animal kingdom, showed at the same time that in the most different groups of animals the primordial course of development of the embryo is the same, and especially that the germ-lamella theory, previously firmly established only among the Vertebrata, also applies to the Invertebrata of the most various groups*. In a more detailed memoir which has recently appeared, these views are further developed f. That the primordial germ-lamella3 of the higher animals are to be com})ared with the two permanent formative membranes of the Acalephffi or Nematophora (the entoderm and exoderm) was shown as early as 1849 by Huxley:]:, the discoverer of those membranes. In Kleinenberg's thoughtful and sug- gestive monograph of Hydra, this comparison is more closely demonstrated, and at the same time employed in favour of the view of the monophyletic origin of the animal kingdom. The anatomy and developmental history of the Calci- spougias, as described by me, have furnished proof that the sponges also belong to the circle of this stock-relationship, and that indeed in them the two primordial germ-lamellaj are retained through life in the ])urest and simplest form. The development of the Calcispongise from the Gastrula is of decisive significance for this theory. / regard the Gastrida as the most imjwrtant and significant emhryonie form in the whole animal kingdom. It occurs among the Sponges (in Calci- spongi^ of all the three families), the Acaleph^ [Cordylo- phora. Medusa, Siphonophora, Ctenophora, Actiniae), the Vermes {Phoronis, Sagitta, Euaxes, Ascidia, &c.), the EcHiNODERMATA (Asterida, Echinida), the Mollusca {Lym- nceus), and the Vertebrata [Amjjhioxus). Embryonic forms which may be derived without difficulty from the gastrula also occur among the Arthropoda (Crustacea and Tracheata). In all these representatives of the most various animal stocks * Entwickelimgsgescliiclite des Amphioxiis lanceolatus, 1867 (M^m. de I'Acad. de St. Petersb. tome xi. no. 4). t Embiyologische Studien an Wiirmern und Arthropoden, 1871 (ibid, tome xvi. no. 12). X " On the Anatomy and Affinities of the Medusae," Phil. Trans. 1849, p. 426. Calcispongiae in the Animal Kingdom. 255 the gastrula possesses exactly the same structure. In all, its simple, rounded elongate, uniaxial body contains a simple central cavity (^omachal cavity), which opens by an orifice at one pole of the axis. In all the thin wall of the cavity consists of two layers of cells or lamellse : — an inner lamella of larger, darker cells — the entoderm, gastral lamella, inner, trophic or vegetative germ-lamella ; and an outer lamella of smaller, generally vibratile, paler cells — the exoderm, dermal lamella, external, sensorial or animal germ-lamella. From this identity of the gastrula in representatives of the most various animal stocks from the Sponcfes to the Vertebrata I deduce, in accord- ance with the hiogenetic fundamental law, a common descent of the animal Phyla from a single unhnoion stock form, Gastrsea, which wets constructed essentially like the gastrula'^ . 6. The, Body-cavity and Intestinal Cavity of Animals. If the preceding comparisons are correct, and consequently the two primordial germ-lamellffi are homologous throughout the animal kingdom from the Sponges to the Vertebrata inclusive, it follows immediately and as a matter of course that the Zoophyta or Coelenterata caiuiot jjossess a hody -cavity ^ and that all the internal cavities of their body (leaving out of consideration the intercanal system of certain sponges) belong to the gastro-canal system, and are parts or diverticula of the intestinal cavity. All these gastro-canals are originally lined hy the entoderm, the gastral lamella, or intesti no-glandular lamella, as is the case with the intestinal canal and its appendages in all the higher animals. Perhaps it will be of * Only the Protozoa are exchided fi'om this common descent. For them I assume for the most part an independent polyphyletic descent, especially for those so-called " Protozoa " which might equally well be regarded as plants or animals, and are therefore best grouped as neutral Protista. Other Protozoa undoubtedly belong partially to the direct progenitors of the Gastrula, as especially the Amoeboea and Monera. The scruples which may arise against the homology of the gastrula in all the different animal stocks I will refute elsewhere. The most important objection seems to consist in the fact that the Gastrula is supposed to originate in two perfectly different ways from the Morula : — sometimes (in the Sponges, Hydroida, some Vermes, &c.) by the central excavation of the Morula, and the breakinff thronr/h of the stomachal cavity thus formed ; sometimes (in other Vermes, Ascidia, Echinodermata, Aniphio.vus) by the formation of a germinal vesicle {Blastosphcera), a hollow sphere, the wall of which consists of a layer of cells, and by the inversion of this gci-minal vesicle into itself. This difference, which is apparently so essential, re- quires, however, to be more accurately investigated with regard to its meaning and diffusion ; and as it occurs in very nearly allied forms of the same stock (e. y. the Hydroida and Medusa) ), I regard it (supposing it to be real !) as quite unessential, originating by secondary counterfeiting of the ontogenesis. In both cases the result is exactly the same. 256 Prof. E. Hackel on the Position of the advantage, in order to express this tlioroughgoing homology, to designate the primordial rudiment of the intestine, such as persists through life in the simplest form in Olynthus and Hydray as i\\Q, pi'imitive intestine (JJr da nn ^ p'og aster) ^ and its orifice as the primitive mouth [Urmund, prostoma) , especially as, according to Kowalevsky's statements, this primordial mouth-opening appears (at least in many animals) to represent not the future permanent mouth, but the future anus. The true hody-cavity^ which is usually termed the pleuro- 2^eritoneal cavity in the Vertebrata, and for which we propose instead of this sesquipedalian term the more convenient de- nomination coeloma {KolXcofia, a cavity), occurs only among the higher animal stocks, the Vermes, Mollusca, Echino- dermata, Arthropoda, and Vertebrata. As the ontogeny of the Vertebrata shows us, this coeloma always originates be- tween the inner and outer germ-lamell£e, by a splitting of the middle germ-lamella into a cutaneous and an intestinal fibro- lamella. Now, as the middle germ -lamella is entirely deficient in the Sponges, no coeloma can occur in them. It is equally absent in the Acalephce, although in these a middle germ- lamella (mesoderm, or muscular lamella) is already developed. It is therefore of great importance to our monophyletic theory of descent that t/ie lowest Vermes (Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoda, &c,) are also entirely destitute of a coeloma, which is only developed in the higher Vermes {Vermes coelomati), from which it has been inherited by all the four higher stocks. The Vermes without a body-cavity ( Vermes acoelomi) are in this respect " Coelenterata.'''' The true body-cavity, or coeloma, therefore, can never, like the intestinal or stomachal cavity, be enclosed by the ento- derm. Leuckart certainly says expressly (even in 1869), " The body-cavity of the Coelenterata is not situated between the exoderm and entoderm, but is enclosed by the latter;" but this very statement proves that Leuckart's conception of the " Coelenterate type " is quite erroneous. Neither can the body-cavity ever communicate directly with the stomachal cavity or the intestinal cavity, as is said to be the case with the Coelenterata in the writings of Leuckart and many other authors. The anatomy and ontogeny of the coeloma, or pleuro- peritoneal cavity, in all the higher animals shows rather that this true hody -cavity is from the first commeyicement a perfectly distinct cavity, quite independent of the intestinal tube, which is never connected with it. The buccal opening never leads into the true body-cavity; and when Leuckart and others conceive of the intestinal or stomachal cavity of the Coelen- terata as a " body-cavity," they ought, to be consistent. Calcispongise in the Animal Kingdom. 257 to call its aperture not a buccal orifice, but a lyorus ah- dominalis. In the case <5f these and of many other difficult morpho- logical conditions, the true and correct conception comes at once in its full power when we consider them in the light of the theory of descent. The first organ which the primordial, multicellular Synamooha must have formed for itself on the commencement of organological differentiation was the in- testine. The inception of nutriment was the first requirement. In this way was produced the Gastrcea, the whole body of which is still intestine, as in the Protascus, and as in Olynthus and Hydra (in the latter leaving out of consideration the tentacles). It was only much later, after the production of the middle germ-lamella, tliat the true body-cavity was formed in the latter (by the splitting of the mesoderm, the solid cell- mass between exoderm and entoderm). In it fluid accumu- lated— the first hlood. In all animals which have a true body-cavity this is filled either with blood or lymph (there- fore communicating directly with the blood- vascular system !), but never with chyme or chyle, or with crude nutritive material. Consequently the cavities of the gastro-canal system in the Sponges and Acalephoe are 7iot body-cavities ^ but an intestinal cavity. 7. The Origin of the Mesoderm and of the Generative Organs. In connexion with the preceding theory of the homology of the germ-lamellje in the whole animal kingdom, some ques- tions closely related to it may be briefly treated. For this jjurpose we assume the alleged homology as proved so far as that the primitive intestine in all animal-stocks, from the Sponges to the Vertebrata, is originally identical, and produced from the entoderm of the Gastrula^ and in the same way the dermal lamella (neuro-corneous lamella) is produced from the exoderm of the Gastrida'^ . In the Sponges, certainly at least in the Calcispongiaj and in many other low sponges, the two germ-lamellte persist through life in their original simplicity. In the lowest Acalephse also we still find them so. But even in Hydra a third lamella, * The opinion expressed by Kowalevsky {I.e. 1871, p. 6), that the intestino-glandular lamella of the insects is not homologous with that of other animals, but a perfectly distinct lamella, I regard as erroneous. It is precisely among the insects that the ontogeny is very strongly falsified by secondary adaptation. On the other hand, I regard the embrj'onal envelopes (and especially the amnion) as decidedly not homologous in Insects and Vertebrata. They are only analogous envelopes, and are wanting in the lower Vertebrata. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 17 258 Prof. E. Hackel on the Position of the a muscular lamella^ begins to be developed between the two lamella? ; and this constitutes, in the higher Acalephse, a distinct mesoderm with greatly differentiated products. Now, as, according to Kleinenberg's careful exposition, this muscular lamella proceeds directly from the exoderm, and as Kolliker also with great certainty derives the mesoderm of tlie Aca- leplise from the exoderm, the question of the origin of the middle germ-lamella ought by this means to be brought nearer to its solution. It is well known that most ontogenists derive the middle germ-lamella in tlie Vertebrata from the splitting of the inferior one, whilst others make it originate from the superior germ-lamella. The morphology of Hydra, in wliich the individual muscles composing the middle lamella are nothing more than internal processes of the cells of the exoderm, and remain throughout life in connexion therewith, appears to prove the origin of the mesoderm or muscular lamella from the outer germ-lamella, the exoderm (see note p. 261). Greater difficulties are presented by the question of the origin of the generative organs. In the embryology of the Vertebrata, the first rudiments of the sexual glands have been derived, even in the most recent times, by some from the upper, by many from the middle, and by others from tlie inferior germ-lamella. Consequently all the three possible views have at present their supporters. If we endeavour to solve these contradictions on the basis of homology above affirmed by regarding the origin of the sexual cells in the Zoophytes as furnishing a rule, we find unfortunately that the same differences prevail here also. Nearly an equal number of observers represent the ova and sperm-cells of the Aca- lephas as produced from the exoderm and from the entoderm. The sexual cells originate from the entoderm j according to my own observations in the Medusas* (1864), according to the investigations of Kollikerf " in Medusse and Hydroid Polypes without exception " (1865), and according to the statements of AllmanJ in the Sertulariai and Tubularige (1871). The still unpublished investigations of Dr. Gottlieb von Koch also agree with this ; and he has shown me numerous preparations of Coralla {Veretillum, Cereanthus, &c.) and of Hydroids {Coryne, Tuhularia, &c.) which seem to prove undoubtedly the origin of the ovicells from the epithelium of the gastro-canal spaces. * "Die Familie der Riisselquallen {MeduscB Genjcmida),'''' Jenaisclie Zeitschr. Bd. i. 1804, p. 449. i Icones Histologicaj, Heft ii. 1865, p. 89. X Monograph of the Gymuoblastic or Tubularian Hydroids, 1871, p. 149. Calcispongiae in the Animal Kingdom. 259 In opposition to these statements, the sexual products of the Acalephje originate from the exoderm^ in the Siphono]5hora according to Keferstein and Ehlers*, in Cordylopliora ac- cording to F. E. 8chulze (/.c. p. 36), and in Hydra according to Kleinenberg (/. c. pp. 30, 32). In the Sponges the origin of the sexual cells could not hitherto be investigated in connexion with this question, because the fundamental construction of their body, of the two formative membranes, and the homology of these with the exoderm and entoderm of the Acalephte, as also with the two germ-lamellfe of the higher animals, had not been recognized. When I first demonstrated this homology, as a matter of course the question from which of the two lamellfe the sexual cells originate could not but acquire great importance for me. I have discussed this question in detail in my third chapter, and have finally arrived at the result that hoth forms of sexual cells are with great jprohahility to he derived from the entoderm. Unfortunately, however, I cannot assert this with as much certainty as could be desired, and I must still leave the opposite possibility open. 8. The Biogenetic Fundamental Principle. " Ontogenesis is the brief and rapid recapitulation of phylogenesis, governed by the physiological functions of transmission (reproduction) and nutrition (adaptation). The organic individual, dm-ing the rapid and brief course of its individual development, repeats the most important of those changes of form which its ancestors have passed through during the long and gradual course of their paleeontological development in accordance with the laws of transmission and adaptation." It is with these words that, in my general history of development f, I have expressed the theory of the causal nexus of ontogenesis and. phylogenesis ^ or hiontic and phyletic development^ upon which it is my firm conviction that the whole inner comprehension of developmental history depends, and which I therefore placed at its head as the hiogenetic fundamental principle. Witli this first " funda- mental principle of organic development " the whole de- scendence-theory is inseparably united ; the two stand or fall together. This has been shown in a most admirable manner by Fritz Miiller, in his ingenious phylogeny of the Crustacea |. * Zoologische Beitriige, 1861, p. 2. t Generelle Morphologie, 1860, Bd. ii. pp. 0, 300 ; Natiirl. Schcipf ungs- gesch. 3rd edit. 1872, p. 362. I Fur Darwin, 1864. 17* 260 Prof. E. Hackel on the Position of the The comparative anatomy and developmental history of the Calcispongiaj furnish a coherent confirmation of this principle. Supported upon this, we have been enabled in the preceding pages to attempt to extend their consequences beyond the narrow domain of the Sponges to the general phylogeny of the animal kingdom. We are induced to indicate it expressly here once more, partly by the opposition which our biogenetic principle has met with*, and partly by the desire to recall certain guiding principles which have come up with reference to ontogeny on this occasion. The newer ontogeny or embryology has evidently fallen from year to year more and more into a chaos of contradictory opinions and assertions, which show the value of this science in a very doubtful light. We need only refer to the perfectly * The most decided opposition to the biogenetic fundamental principle has been raised by the embryologist Professor His, of I^eipzig (Ueber die erste Anlage des Wirbelthier-Leibes : Leipzig, 18(37 ; and Ueber die Be- deutung der Entwickelungsgeschichte fiir die Auffassung der organischen Natur: Leipzig, 1870). The views as to the significance of ontogeny which His here develops stand in the most absolute antagonism to mine ; but it can only be for the advantage of the advance of knowledge that such irreconcilable contradictions should be expressed as clearly and distinctly as possible. Eitlier there is or there is not a direct and causal connexion between ontogeny and phyloc/eny. Either ontogenesis is a con- densed (and partially masked by adaptation) abstract of phylogenesis, or it is not. His holds the latter opinion ; I hold the former. In my opinion Ilis, in his antagonism to phylogeny, stands entirely on the ground of the long-since exploded evolution-theori/, although he seems to attack it. He has not at all comprehended the true theory of epigenesis ; otherwise he would have understood its intimate connexion with the descendence- theory ; for the two are inseparable. As regards the much-admired attempts of His to explain ontogenetic facts after a new, jirofessedly mechanical fashion, these seem to me quite erroneous and valueless. The attempt to conceive of the germinal disk (which is not elastic ! ) as an elastic plate, and to explain by its unequal extension the production of the folds — the attempt to explain the homology of the four extremities of the Vertebrata by the crossing of four folds circumscribing the body, like the four corners of a letter, and other similar fancies, appear to be susceptible only of a humorous examination, but not of serious refutation. That these droll fancies should have been admired as great ideas proves the complete want of j udgment which at present prevails both in ontogeny and histology. At the same time, however, these great errors, with respect to which we can only regret the great expenditure of time, trouble, and industry that they have cost, show how necessary for investigations in the difficult field of ontogeny is orientation in the domain of comparative anatomy, and reference of ontogenetic processes to their mechanical phylo- genetic causes, their true " cansee efficientes." Only because these two conditions are not fulfilled by His can we explain how he could arrive at so completel}^ erroneous a conception of embryology. It is true that Uonitz (following the example of his master, Reichert) has shown that the confusion in the domain of ontogeny can be carried much further, and that even the g:erm-lamella theorv is no longer necessan'. Calcispongige in the Animal Kingdom. 2G1 irreconcilable representations which have been given within the last few years of the embryology of many Vertcbrata and Arthropoda. This chaotic condition of animal ontogeny may certainly in part be excused by the difficulty of the subject and the various methods of observers. But for the most part it is due to the fact that most ontogenists work without any method at all, — that is, if we understand by the term scientific method of investigation a thoughtful and systematic compre- hension, a comparative treatment and a philosophical develop- ment of the problem, and not merely the empirico-technical treatment of the object with anatomical instruments and chemical reagents. No doubt the present state of embryology would be much more satisfactory if most embryologists did not entirely turn away their eyes from those two guiding-stars which alone are able to lead to the goal in the difficult and obscure paths of ontogeny, namely comparative anatomy and phylogeny. In most embryological treatises we see at the first glance that their authors are not well acquainted with comparative anatomy (as it is treated, for example, in the classical "Grund- ziige" of Gegenbaur), and that they know little more than the individual animal, or the particular group of animals, whose development they are studying. But, for the compre- hension of the higher animals, a thorough knowledge of the comparative anatomy of the lower animals is indispensable. And it is equally indispensable to every good ontogenetic investigation that phylogeny should be constantly taken into consideration. Many false embryological theories would have been quite incapable of establishing themselves if they had been looked at in the light of the descendence-theory and with reference to phylogeny*. Comparative anatomy, on- * The value of the ontogenetic theories which have been proposed without reference to phylogeny appears clearly from the following fact : — In one and the same vertebrate {e.g. the common fowl) one group of observers still find that the middle germ-lamella originates from the upper, and a second gi-oup that it originates from the lower germ-lamella ; a third group find that the upper half of the middle germ-lamella (the skin-lamella) originates from the dermal lamella, and its lower half (the intestino-fibrous lamella) from the gastral lamella. Again, some embryo- logists make the sexual organs originate from the upper, others from the middle, and others from the lower lamella. Similar differences prevail with regard to the origin of other organs. Now, as every observer assures us that his observation is the coiTect one, and all others are erroneous, the phylogenist who desires to recognize with certainty at least the most important principles of phylogeny from these ontogenetic facts finds himself quite helpless before them. As regards the origin of the mesoderm, it must be added to what has already been said oii the subject (pp. 2.j7, 258) that the third view just 262 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species o/" Terebridge. togeny, and phylogeny remain the three great " records of creation," Avhich alone, by their reciprocal completion, eluci- dation, and agreement, can enlighten us as to the essence and origin of organic forms. [To be continued,] XXVIII. — Remarks on a feio Species belonging to the Family Terebridge, and Descriptions of several new Forms in the Collection of the British Museum. By Edgar A. Smith, F.Z.S., Zoological Department, British Museum. Terebra BUCCiNULUM,Desh., described in the' Jom-nalde Con- chyliologie,' 1857, vol. vi. p. 92, pi. v. fig. 12, and refigured by Reeve in the ' Conchologia Iconica,' vol. xii. Terebra^ fig. 101 ^, is the same species of shell as that figured by tlie latter author, in his monograph of the genus Bullia, as B. turrita, Gray. Of this there can be no doubt, as I have before me the actual examples that are figured and cannot trace the slightest difference. Messrs. H. & A. Adams (Gen. Eec. Moll. i. p. 114) place turrita, Gray, as a Leiodomus, Swainson (as restricted by them), a subgenus of Pseudostrombus, where at present it may be convenient to let it remain ; for certainly this shell has more affinity to the Bullia group than to the Terebridge. Terebra acicidina, Lamk. Messrs. Deshayes, Hinds, and Beeve (partim) refer the same shell to this name. Deshayes cites the figure 13 on plate vii. of Kiener's 'Coq. Viv.' Hinds, in his monograph in the 'Thesaurus Conchyl.,' figures it on plate xlv. fig. 130 as a synonym of cinerea, Basterot, and Beeve, Conch. Icon. xii. figs, d (typical) and a, c,/ (vars.). The latter author quotes as synonyms anomcda, Gray, inconstans, Hinds, and mathero- niana, Desh., which I believe to be as good and distinct species as any in the genus. T. anomala, the type of which is before me, is not the shell figured by Beeve, Conch. Icon, fig. 121, a&c. Hinds has given a very fair representation of cited has some claim to be received. In fact, for reasons of comparative anatomy, it is not improbable that originally {phyh'ticalh/ !) the gastro- tibrous lamella (or gastro-muscular lamella) originated from the entoderm, and the skin-lamella (or dermo-muscular lamella) from the exoderm. The coalescence of the two originally separate muscular lamellae in the mesoderm, such as usually appears to occur in the ontogeny of the Vertebrata, would then have to be conceived as a secondary develop- mental act. Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species o/^ Terebridae. 263 it (Thes. Conch, fig. 97), which shows clearly the chief di- stinctive feature of the species, namely the wavy spiral sulcus or impressed line which divides the whorls a little below the suture. T. inconstans, Hinds, I. c. fig. 83 (Reeve, I. c. fig. 121, h, typical, c, var.), is recognized, in the first place, by its shorter and broader form, then by the greater coarseness of the ribs or plications, which are produced to the base of the whorls, and lastly, but especially, by the presence of a thick callosity or plication situated on the middle of the columella, rather far within the aperture. T. matheroniana^ Desh., is a small species, of a very distinct character. The longitudinal plications are continuous to the base of the whorls ; and the aperture is small and narrow, and not patulate as in aciculina. Terehra pulchra^ Hinds. The type of this species, presented to the British Museum by Sir E. Belcher, on comparison with cerithina^ Lamk., proves to be but the early stage of that form. Subgenus nov, Impages. Testa subulata, terebraeformis ; anfract. integri, plus miuusve longitudinaliter striati vel plicati, sutura iudistincta scparati ; callo augusto Hneam suturalem supra cincti. The term Leiodomus was applied by Swainson in 1840 to some of the species composing the genus Bullia of Gray (1835). It is resti-icted by Messrs. H. & A. Adams, in their ^Genera of Recent Mollusca' (i. p. 114), to one of the species quoted by Swainson, viz. vittata (Linn.), and three or four others unknown to that author. Dr. Gray, in the ' Guide to the Systematic Distribution of Mollusca in the British Museum' (p. 6), applies this name to those species of Terebridse which have a callous band encircling the whorls above, but contiguous to the sutm-al line, quoting T. ccerulescens [var. =nimhosa^ Hinds] as an example. The other species which possess this peculiarity are micans, Hinds (var. Adansom, Desh.), acuminata, Gray, cusjndata, Hinds, apicina, Desh., Traillii, Desh., bacillus , Desh. As I deem it advisable to leave the group Leiodomus as a subgenus of Bullia, as disposed by Messrs. Adams, I would propose to apply the subgeneric title Impages to the above- named species. Terehra jlava, Gray. The specimen from wliich the figure of this species in the 264 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebridas. 'Thesaurus Conchyl.' pi. xliv. fig. 75 was taken is in the Cumingian collection. On comparing it with the type oijlava in the British Museum, it proves to be a very distinct shell ; and I have therefore applied to it the name lutescens. Genus Terebra, Terebra Adamsii. T. testa subulata, leviter turrita, sordide albida, strigis fuscis, parvis (iu anfr. singulo pluribus) sulcis trausversis interruptis ornata ; anfr. tdtimus iufra peripheriam albidam zona fusca ductus ; anfr. 19-20, plani, superne tuberculorum parvoruin seriebus spii'ahbus diiabus sulco di\'isis (superioribus majoribus, obHquis, cingulum infrasuturale constituentibus), ciucti, et siUcis angustis 3 (in anfr. ultimo 9-10) insculpti ; anfr. ultimus brevis, subquadratus ; columella contorta, alba ; canalis leviter reciurvus. Long. 36 mill., diam. Q^. Hah. Japan [A. Adams). This and the other species from Japan described in the present paper were collected in the seas surrounding that country by Mr. Arthur Adams, to whom I have much pleasure in dedicating the present form. The whorls have an infrasutural band of oblique nodules (in width occupying about one third of the whorl), which are irregularly brown and Avhite, and also just below this a second girdle of smaller nodules, which are alternately brown and white. From these brown nodules descend little narrow streaks of the same colom-, which are interrupted by the three narrow spiral sulci or strise which are engraven around each whorl. Terebra australts. T. testa subulata, subturrita ; anfr. couvexiusculi basesque versus paululum contract!, superne sulco profundo divisi ; pars superior angulata, nodulis subacutis munita ; pars inferior costis validissimis, rectis, acutis (iu anfr. ultimo 27-28 sensim ad basim obsoletis) in- structa, baud spii-ahter striata ; dilute hvido-fulva ; costarum acies pallide, anfractusque dimidium inferius dilute fulvum ; apertura intus superne fulva, interne pallida ; columella subrecta ; canalis brevissimus. Long. 55 mill., diam. 12^ ; apertura long. 12 miU., diam. 5. Hah. Swan River, and Paterson's Bay, Torres Straits, North Australia [J. R. Elsey, Esq.). This is a very remarkable species, of which there are two specimens in the British Museum. The infrasutural belt, Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebridse. 265 which is angled in the middle and furnished with small sub- acute nodules, is divided off by a most well-defined deeply cut furrow, as in Ti trochlea, Desh. The ribs which form the rest of the whorls are strong, contiguous, very regular, and acute. The general colour is a pale livid fawn, the sharp edges or angles of the ribs being whitish, and the basal half of the body- whorl of a deej) cream-colour or very pale brown. Terebra concolor. T. testa polita, nitente, aut alba aut dilutissime caeruleo-alba, subu- lata, subturrita ; anfr. planiusculi, sulco bene definito inajqualitcr divisi ; pars superior nodulis parvis, elongatis, obliquis munita ; pars inferior costis parvulis, subdistantibus, erectis (in anfr. ultimo breviusculo 14-15 ad basim sensim obsoletis) instructa ; columella carta, subrecta ; canalis brevLssimus. Long. 22 mill., diam. 6 ; apertura long. 5 mill., diam. 2^. Hob. ? A whitish shining species, furnished with oblique oblong nodules on the infrasutural belt ; and on the remainder of the whorls there are small, regular, upright ribs somewhat distant from each other, which gradually become stouter towards the apex. Terebra similis. T. testa subulata, polita, alba, subturrita ; anfr. primi 8-9 angulatim convexi, cseteri planiusculi, sulco profuudo inaequaliter divisi ; pars superior nodulis parvis erectis, subacutis, munita ; pars inferior costis subvaHdis, erectis (in anfr. ultimo subelongato 14-15 fere ad basim continuis) instructa ; apertura oblongo-elongata ; colu- mella subrecta, elougata ; canalis brevis. Long. 22 mill., diam. 6 ; apertura long. 6^ mill., diam. 2^. Hah. ? At first sight this species is rather like T. concolor ; how- ever, on closer comparison, there are found to exist several good specific differences. In T. similis the infrasutural band is defined by a deeper furrow than in T. concolor ; and the nodules in the former are upright and rather acute, especially those in the first seven or eight whorls, while those of the latter are oblique, not so strong, and not acute. The longitudinal ribs also of T. similis are considerably stouter than those in T. concolor ; and the aperture and body- whorl of the latter are likewise much shorter than in the former. Terebra japonica. T. testa subulata; anfr. 17, planiusculi, albidi, inferne zona lata oli- vaceo-fusca (inter costas prsecipue conspicua) ornati, costis longi- 266 Mr. E. A. Smitli on new Species of Terebridse. tudinalibus validis, contiguis, subacutis, leviter arcuatis (in aufr. ultimo circiter 15) instructi, et infra suturam linea impressa spirali inter costas inaequaliter divisi ; anfr. ultimus ad peripheriam zona angusta alba ornatus, inferne fuscus ; columella fusca, leviter contorta. Long. 32 mill., diam. 7. Hah. Japan {A. Adams). The strong ribs, acute at the edges and contiguous at their bases, and the style of coloration (namely, the upper half of the whorls being white, and the lower portion olive-brown) are the most prominent features of this species. The edges of the ribs are whitish ; and there is a narrow whitish band encircling the periphery of the last whorl, which is of a brown colour towards the base. Subgen. Myueella. MyureUa fijiensis. M. testa subturrita, subulata, poHta, alba, anfractuum medio dilute brunneo obscure zonata ; anfr. planiusculi, costis subvalidis obH- quis paululum arcuatis (in anfr. ultimo 13 sensim ad basim obso- letis) instruct!, et transversim concinue 8- (in anfr. ultimo 16-) sulcati ; cingulum infra suturam inconspicuum ; apertura parva ; columella fere recta ; canalis brevis. Long. 21 mill., diam. 4. Hob. Ovalau, Fiji Islands. The chief characteristics of this species are the regularity of the spiral sulci, about eight in each whorl and double that number in the last, and the obscurity of the infrasutural spiral groove, which is only to be detected in the upper whorls, and consists of a series of elongate punctures between the longitu- dinal ribs. The faint brownish band around the middle of the whorls is probably somewhat faded. Myurella turrita. M. testa turrita, subulata, polita, albida, dilute fusco sparsim macu- lata ; anfr. planiusculi, ad bases paululum contracti, costis longi- tudinahbus, crassis, aliquando obUquis et arcuatis (in anfr. ultimo 19-20 fere ad basim continuis) instructi, suturamque infra inter costas punctorum serie et supra costas sulco minime profundo in- aequaliter divisi, et spiraHter fortiter 4- (in anfr. ultimo 9- ad 10-) sulcati ; apertura brevis ; columella supcrne recta, basi contorta. Long. 26 mill., diam. 4|. Hah. Torres Straits. Perhaps the above may not be the dimensions of a specimen Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebridae. 267 of mature growth ; but the characters of the species are very- distinct. The turreted appearance, the polished shining sur- face, the few coarse spiral sulci, and the style of the coloration very clearly define this form. Myurella Belcheri. M. testa subulata, dilute rubida, anfr. ultimi medio zona alba obscura ciucto; anfr. convexiuseuli, costis longitudinalibus, arcuatis (in anfr. ultimo 17-18 ad basim scnsim obsoletis) instruct!, sulcoqno minime profundo suturam infra ina^qualiter divisi, et sulcis 4-5 transversis (in anfr. ultimo 15-16) super costas continuis ornati ; columella contorta, ad basim obliqua. Long. 39 mill., diam. 8 ; apertura long. 7 mill., diam. 4. Hob. Guayaquil, Ecuador. This species, of which there is but one specimen in the British Museum (presented by Sir Edward Belcher), has for its nearest ally speci'llata, Hinds. It may, however, be at once known from it by the greater coarseness of the longitudinal ribs, which are cut across by the transverse sulci ; this is not so conspicuous in sjjecillata^ which has longer whorls and a straighter columella than the present species. The coloration is also different. Myurella MacgilUvrayi. M. testa subulata, subturrita, sordide alba ; anfr. convexiuscidi, costis longitudinalibus, arcuatis, tenuibus (in anfr. ultimo 18-19 sensim ad basim attenuatis) instructi, suturamque infra inter costas sulco fortiter punctato inaequahter divisi, et spiraliter con- cinne sulcati ; anfr. ultimus subelougatus ; apertura augusta ; columella fere recta ; canalis brevis. Long. 22 mill., diam, 5 ; apertura long. 6, diam. 2. Hah. Bruinie Island, south coast of New Guinea, 35 fathoms, clay bottom [J. Macgillivray^ Esq., Voy. 'Eattles7iake^). A pretty, whitish species, furnished with slender, curved longitudinal ribs, and neatly transversely striated, the striations or furrows being finer in the last three or four whorls than in the rest ; and the infrasutural belt is divided off by a spiral series of deep punctures, there being one in each interstice be- tween the ribs. Myurella miranda. M. testa elongata, subacumiuata, albida, cretacea ; anfr. 11 convexi, costellis gracillimis nuraerosissimis (in anfr. ultimo 36-40) obliquis, longitudinalibus, et spiralibus (in anfr. primis 5, 2, in scquentibus 5, 5-6, in ultimo 9-10) in locis intersectionum nodulosis, concinne 268 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of TerebridjB. cancellati ; cingulum suturale ex nodulis elongatis obliquis con- stans, puuctorum serie notatum ; anfr. iiltimus elongatus, sub- ventricosus ; columella subrecta, Cauda biplicata. Long. 20 iniU., diam. G ; apertura long. 6 mill., diam. 3. Hah. Malacca. There is no species in the family with which this one can be compared as regards affinity. The beautiful cancellated surface, formed by numerous longitudinal and a few spiral li- rations, which form little bead-like nodules at the points of intersection, the convexity of the whorls, the infrasutural belt formed of oblong nodules, and the peculiarity of the few upper whorls, which, being encircled by but one or two spiral ribs, have an angular outline, are characters which at once define this from all other species. Myurella contracta. M. testa parva, turrita, cinerea ; anfr. 12, planiusculi, costis longitu- dinahbus validis, leviter arcuatis, obliquis (in anfr. ultimo 17-18 ad basim continuis) instructi, sulcis parvis, transversis, pluribus, profundis costas inter et levibus costas supra, ornati, et infra suturam punctorum serie inter costas inajqualiter divisi ; anfr, ultimus basi contractus ; apertura parva, fusca ; columella obliqua, labio callo crassiusculo fusco juncta. Long. 17 miU., diam. 3|. Hah. ? The strong ribs (made somewhat nodulous by being cut across by the numerous transverse sulci, which are rather deep in the interstices), the basal contraction of the last whorl (which is broader at the suture than inferiorly), the small brown aperture, and the callosity on the columella (which extends to the junctui-e of the outer lip with the body-whorl) are the chief distinguishing marks by which this peculiar shell may be recognized. Myurella granulosa. M. testa subulata, brunnea, infra suturam zona angusta cinerea cincta ; anfr. 14- ?, elongati, convexiusculi, costis obsoletis nodulosis (su- perne praecipue) longitudinalibus subpallidis (in anfr. ultimo 13) instructi, lirisque spirahbus 4-5 obsoletis, costarum nodulos con- nectentibus (infima suturae contigua), cincti ; anfr. ultimus elon- gatus, subventricosus ; columella subrecta. Long. 26 miU., diam. 6. Hah. Japan [A. Adams). This is a very peculiar species, quite distinct from any other belonging to the family. It is chiefly characterized by the in- Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebridje. 269 distinct ribs, which are ornamented with four or five palish nodiiles, the upper one being the largest, these being con- nected by th6 same number of faint spiral lirai, and also by the ' uniform bi'own colour with the narrow ashy zone below the suture. None of the few specimens from which this description is prepared appears to be quite mature. Myurella paucistriata. M. testa parva, subulata, subturrita, flavida, zona alba infra suturam et altera in anfr. ultimi medio cincta ; anfr. 16-17, planiusculi, costis longitudinalibus validis, subacutis, superne nodosis (in anfr. ultimo 13 basim versus obsoletis) instructi, sulco parvo, inter costas praecipue conspicuo, insequaliter divisi, et striis spiralibus 3-4 inter costas (anfr. idtimo pluribus) insculpti ; columella recta, vix contorta. Long. 19 mill., diam. 4. Hah. Ovalau, Fiji Islands, 5 fathoms in sand [J. Macgil- livray). The upper half of each whorl is white, and the lower })art yellowish ; the body- whorl has a white zone at the periphery ; the strong ribs are somewhat nodulous above, which appearance is produced by being partially cut across by a slight spiral furrow, deepest between the ribs ; the spiral stria? are deep and far apart, three or four in number in the upper whorls, and about twelve in the last. Myurella capensis. M. testa parva, subidata, albida, zona angusta dilute fusca infra suturam, et altera ad anfractuum bases costis albidis interrupta, et anfr. ultimi basi fuscescente ; anfr. 0-1 0, superne constricti, in- ferne convexiusculi, costis validis, leviter flexuosis et obliquis (in anfr. ultimo circiter 14 versus basim obsoletis) instructi, spiraliter exilissime striati, superne pauluhnu infra suturam sulco obsolete depressi ; columella subrecta, vix contorta. Long. IDmiU., diam. 5. Hah. Port Elizabeth, Cape of Good Hope. This species is chiefly remarkable on account of the brownish de])ression a little below the sutural line, which gives the out- line of the whorls a somewhat constricted appearance in that part. Tlie last whorl, besides the brownish depression, has a fiiint band of the same colour around tlie middle, conspicuous only between the ribs, and the base also brownish. Myurella pumilio. M. testa parva, subulata, sordide alba, infra suturam zona ftisca, et in aufr. ultimo zonis duabus fuscis, altera supra, altera peripheriam 270 Mr. E. A. Smith on neiv Species of TerebridsB. infra, ornata ; anfr. 11, convexiusculi, costis validis, arcuatis, vix obliquis, superne subtuberculatis (in anfr. ultimo 18-20 sensim ad basim obsoletis) instructi, et transversim inter costas exilissime striati, infra suturam leviter contracti ; apertura parva, zonis* duabus fuscis intus ornata ; columella paululum obliqua, fusca, labio callo tenui juncta. Long. 10 mill., diam. 2|. Hah. ? A very small species, chiefly distinguished by the narrow brown band beneath the suture and the two which encircle the body-whorl. There is a slight depression at the upper part of the whorls, but scarcely forming an infrasutural belt ; and the upper ends of the ribs terminate somewhat nodulously. Myurella tantilla. M. testa minuta, elongata, alba, zona angusta dilute brunnea suturam infra (in anfr. ultimo duabus, altera suturam infra, altera periphe- riam infra) cincta ; anfr. 8, convexiusculi, superne paululum constricti, costis loiigitudinaHbus, arcuatis, validis, superne tuber- culatis (in anfr. ultimo 15 fere basi continuis), instructi, trans- versim inter costas concinne striati ; apertui'a parva ; columella curta, subrecta ; canalis brevissimus. Long. 6| miU., diam. 2^. Hah, Japan [A. Adams). This is one of the smallest, if not the most minute, species in the genus. There is a slight contraction or spiral depression a little below the suture, which, traversing the ribs near their upper extremities, produces the appearance of a series of nodules ; this feature, together with the small size and the style of marking, will easily define this form. Subgen. Abretia. Ahretia aiitarctica. A. testa parva, breviter subulata, fusca, inter costas epidermide tenui cretaceo induta ; anfr. 10, convexiusculi, nee dimidiati nee trans- versim striati, costis lougitudinalibus, fiiscis, arcuatis, obliquis, subremotis (in anfr. ultimo 13 versus medium obsoletis) instructi, incrementique lineis striati ; apertura parva, fusca ; columella brevis, subrecta. Long. 14 mill., diam. 4^. Hah, Antarctic region. This species, of which there are six examples in the Museum, was obtained during one of the Antarctic expeditions. The precise locality is not attached to them ; but they have that peculiarity (a dull ashy or chalky aspect) which is so usual in shells from those freezing latitudes. On the French Species o/'Geomalacus. 271 The absence of all spiral sculpture, and the strong, arcuate, oblique plications or ribs are the chief points of distinction. Ahretia hrasiliensis. A. testa parva, elongata, polita, saturate castanea, infra sutiiram zona angusta flava ornata ; anfr. 10, primi 2 subglobulares, ca^teri plani, plicis longitudinalilms superne tuberculis flavidis tcrraiiiatis, (in anfr. ultimis cluobus 15, inferno obsoletis) instructi, baud spi- raliter striati ; anfr. iiltimus brevis, subquadratus ; apertura parva, fusca ; columella brevissima. Var. omnino flavida. Long. 11 mill., diam. 3. Hob. Botafogo Bay, Rio de Janeiro (3 fathoms, sandy mud). Collected by J. Macgillivray, Esq., during the voyage of the '■ Rattlesnake.' A very distinct species, at once recognized by the smallness of its size, the deep chestnut colour, with the yellow band below the suture, which tints the nodulous ends of the longi- tudinal ribs, and the shortness of the aperture and columella. There is no spiral furrow or depression below the suture. XXIX. — On the French Sjjecies of the Genus Geomalacus. By D. F. Heynemann, President of the German Malacozoolo- gical Society, Frankfort-on-Maine. Through Mr. T. A. Verkriizen of London I received a small parcel of living Geomalacus maculosus^ Allman, from Ireland ; and having carefully examined these, I am now enabled critically to investigate the statement of several French authors that this genus not only occurs in France, but is there repre- sented by various species. English authors started an hypothesis that the animals, with the plants they live amongst (and which are only met with in the south-west of Ireland), were of Asturian or Spanish origin. Although it had not been proved that Geomalacus does occur on the Pyrenean peninsula until Lucas von Heyden found one specimen in the Asturias, during his entomological journey in Spain in 1868, and forwarded it to Germany, the above hypo- thesis of British authors was nevertheless adopted in 1867 by the French malacologists Bourguignat and Mabille ; and they even went to the length of taking as an established fact what had been proposed as a supposition only. Geomalacus having thus been once established as of Spanish origin, its distribution must, according to the ideas of these authors, have taken place by way of France only. All at 272 Mr. D. F. Heynemann on the French once tliey discovered consequently in the forest of Meudon, near Paris, what they wished to find, not only the traces of the migratory Geomalacus^ but even three new or entirely un- known species, which were described by Mabille, in his mono- gra])h of this genus published in the 'Revue et Magasin de Zoologie,' 1867, p. 53, as Geomalacus Bourguignati, Paladil- hianus^ and Moitesserianus. From that time new species con- tinued ever increasing, the names of which may as well be passed over in silence ; and this fabrication attained an alarming extent in France. The statements were at first so positively made by our French contemporaries, that ev^en the incredulous (including myself) almost believed in the existence of this genus in France ; but those who with any attention read my short treatise in the ' Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen malaco- zoologischen Gesellschaft,' 1869, p. 165, entitled "Zur Kennt- niss von Geomalacus j'''' will readily see what serious doubts I entertained upon the subject. Our French neighbours did not favour us with any drawings of their new species, although they described the English drawings as " deplorables." 1 had myself never before seen a live Geomalacus ; neither could I obtain any French proofs, in spite of the pains I took for this purpose. It will therefore, I trust, be deemed excusable that I expressed doubts where I could not contradict by facts. But now, since I received the living Geomalacus and have had an opportunity of examining the animal, the question assumes a different aspect. The French so-called species do not belong at all to Geo- malacus ; and those who may still entertain a doubt on this point need but inspect the drawings, which have since appeared in Baudon's 'Mdmoire sur les Limaciens du departement de rOise' (Beauvais, 1871), of Geomalacus Mahilliy Baudon, and G. hiemalis^ Drouet. These drawings are excellent ; and for this very reason we at once detect in them our old acquaintance Avion melanocephalus^ Faure-Biguet, which likewise has lately been recognized as our common Avion empivicorum^ F^r., in its younger state of growth, by Seibert (see 'Nachrichtsblatt der deut. mal. Ges.' December 1872). These drawings of Baudon are alone sufficient entirely and effectually to upset at once the famous myth of a French Geomalacus. This genus has not as yet been discovered in France ; and all the species described as French are in all pro- bability not different from Arion emjnricorum. I very much question whether the French authors have ever seen a living Geomalacus ; and for their own justification I would deny the fact, because they could never otherwise have entertained the idea of turning a young Arion into a Geomalacus^ although it Species of the ^rf^n^^v Geomalacus. 273 is no wonder that, when once an erroneous generic designation liad been given to a young Arioiiy the number of species could be most readily increased. The substitution has doubtless been no easy task for Mabille in the composition of his monograph ; but he must have formed for himself a totally different conception of the animal, which had hitherto been described by English authors only, though with sufficient distinctness. In his generic diagnosis Mabille states that the animal is ornamented with an infinite number (" d'une infinite") of minute black, yellow, golden, white or silvery dots, which, by the by, is by no means correct ; anct in his improved specific diagnosis he even amends the original English descriptions in so cool a manner that I am astonished that English malacologists should not have replied to it. Mabille says, in the same diagnosis, that the English drafts- men, instead of covering the body of this slug with a multi- tude of rchite dots, had contracted the same upon the wrinkles, and, to facilitate the labour, had united them into 07ie single spot on the different wrinkles. And this he states to be the reason why the Geomalacus appeared to be a black animal with lon- gitudinal lohite ridges or hillocks^ which he says is qnite incorrect ! This statement of itself suffices to convince us that Mabille has never seen a living Geomalacus ; for what he supposes to be altogether incorrect is precisely the actual fact. The Geo- malacus is not covered with white or yellow dots, but with actual longitudinal spots extending on the back of the animal over one or two of the wrinkles. These spots are even dis- tributed on a black ground in such a manner that they might easily be counted ; and the drawings of Allman (Andrews) are quite correct. Mabille's description of the respiratory orifice as being con- siderably in front ("tr^s-anterieur") corresponds admirably with that of a young Arion. The original diagnosis says, "a Limace (differt) situ anterior! spiraculi;" for in Limax the respiratory orifice is situated behind the middle of the mantle, and not in front of it. Further, incorrect is ]\Iabille's statement respecting the internal shell — namely, "Limacelle dtilicate, excessivement plate;" and,fm-ther,"SaLimacellemincecommennepellicule." The original diagnosis says " Testa solida;" and, indeed, its thickness attains almost a third of its length, and nearly the half of its breadth. The shell is consequently by no means "delicate," and much less "mince" or "plate," but actually very solid — in fact, as solid as we rarely meet with internal hells, to whatever genus they may belong. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.xi. 18 274 On the French /Sjpec/es q/' Geomalacus. It only remains for me to add a few words, in order to dispose of the remainder of Mabille's species, created only to swell the above-mentioned monograph. These are designated: — Geoma- lacus Andrewsi, Mabille ; G. angmfornus, Morelet ; and G. in- termediusy Normand. Allman, Andrews, and others repeatedly name a white-spotted variety, the same which in my treatise "Ueber Geomalacus'''' (Malacozool. Blatter, 1873), with draw- ings, I called var. AUmanm, in contradistinction to tlie more frequently occurring yellow-spotted variety, which is the typi- cal form. Andrews calls the white-spotted form simply " the white variety ;" and on this white variety (it should be white- spotted variety) Mabille writes as follows: — "Cette nouvelle es^D^ce, que nous dedions a Monsieur William Andrews de Dublin, et que tons les auteurs Anglais ont confondue avec le maculosits, se distingue de cette esp^ce par un corps blanchatre, parseme d'une multitude de petits points noiratres. C'est I'in- verse chez l'esj)l'ce precedente [maculosus).'''' He evidently mis- construes the original meaning ; and the result is the new species Andreiosi. Jeffreys, in liis 'British Conchology,' says, "I sus- pect that the Limax anguiformis of Morelet (Moll. Port.) also belongs to the present genus, if, indeed, it is not the same species as ours." This simple notice suffices to settle the Geomalacus anguiformis, Morelet, whose specific diagnosis is any thing but improved by the all but useless drawing of Morelet. Finally, Normand ascribes to his Arion intermedlus an internal shell ; and thus we obtain a Geomalacus inter- medins, Normand. It is to be regretted that the rubbish of synonymy is thus needlessly multiplied to an extraordinary degree by such in- genuity in creating new species and even new genera — on which head see other reports. Franlifort-on-Maine, January 1873. The preceding short treatise was sent to me by D. F. Hey- nemann, Esq., with a request to publish a translation of the same in the ' Annals,' if deemed of interest on this side of the Channel. Having consulted J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq., F.Ii.S., &c., and obtained his affirmation on this point, I have much pleasure in submitting Mr. Heynemann's discussion to British malacologists, and beg to observe that in translating Mr. Heynemann's report from the original German I have adhered as closely to the sense of his delineations as is con- sistent with clearness and intcUigibleness, and must refer those who wish to read the original to the ' Malacozoologische Blatter,' where Mr. Heynemann's monograph on the genus Oeomalacns will appear witli drawings. On a new Species of HexactinelUd Sponge. 275 I take this opportunity to state, in reference to my report in the 'Annals' for November 1872, that the white variety of Tectura tesMcUnalis, MiilL, of wliich I obtained many fine spe- cimens in Iceland, is likewise met with on the North-British coasts ; and, possessing seemingly as strong claims to varietal distinction as many other named varieties do, I trust my pro- posed designation may not be deemed inappropriate. 1 may also call attention to a slight printing-error which occurred on page 373, viz. Punctura instead of Puncturella. 2 Ampton Place, W.C. T. A. VerkruZEN. XXX. — Description of Labaria hemi^phajrica. Gray, a new Species of HexactinelUd Sponge, loith Observations on it and the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges generally. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c. At the request of Dr. Gray I have examined Labaria hemi- spherical the sponge sent by Dr. A. B. Meyer to the British Museum from Singapore ('Annals,' vol. xi. p. 235, March 1873) ; and the following is its general and microscopic de- scription. Labaria hemisphmrica, Gray. Sponge sarcospiculous, hexactinellid, now dry and colour- less. Cup-like, massive, hemispherical, convexo-concave. Sides thick, margin obtuse, round, slightly contracted, con- cavity shallow. Surface of interior even, uniform ; that of the convexity or exterior the same, but interrupted here and there by the presence of linear spicules, which project microscopically in a line round the outer border of the margin, tlien disappear, leaving a plain convex surface, but reappear towards the lower third, where, gradually becoming longer and congregated into small tufts, they finally end in a large stem-like bundle, which on issuing from the base of the sponge is half an inch wide, and spreads out into a tassel two inches long. Vents ? (see Obs^. General structure of the body chiefly composed of smooth nail-like spicules, Avith four-armed heads, of different sizes, varying from such as can be easily seen with the un- assisted eye down to microscopic minuteness, all knit together by the nail-like shaft being directed inwards, and the crucial arms expanded and interweaving with each other horizontally ; thus, with the largest spicules on the surface, and their arms bent a little inwards, the whole are bound down, as well over the concavity as over the convexity, into a firm basketwork with even exterior. Internal structure, as seen by transmitted light through the surface, cavernous or largely cancellous, with 18* 276 Mr. H. J. Carter on a new the tortuous tubular cavities coming close to the surface on each side. Microscopic structure of the surface also composed of the same form of nail-like spicules, but exceedingly minute, and with their arms all spiniferous, not smooth, and their shafts directed outwards instead of inwards ; their crucial heads applied to the arms of the larger body-spicules, or so inserted into the dermal sarcode filling up the interspaces of the latter as to form, by the intercrossing of their arms, a minute rectangular network or veil, in the interstices of which respectively the pores are situated, — the shafts of these spicules, which are just visible to the naked eye, being so thickly spined, so numerous, and so close together all over the sponge, both inside and out, as to present a continuous white layer, interrupted only by the heads of the largest nail-like spicules of the body and the projecting tufts of long linear spicules towards its lower part. Spicules of five kinds, viz. : — 1. The nail-like spicule of the body, which is smooth in all its parts, and glistening throughout, consisting of a shaft of variable length and head of four arms, also variable in length in the same spicule and generally ; arms slightly curved towards the shaft and parting at right angles from the end of the latter, leaving a rectangular smooth area in the centre, which, from its glassy transparency and dark appearance in situ, forms, with a portion of the arms which is also uncovered by the white dermal crust, a remarkable feature. 2. The linear or fusiform spicule, which may be smooth throughout or partially or entirely spined. It varies in length from microscopic minuteness to two inches long, the latter or long ones alone possessing a double hook at the free extremity. The spines of the minute forms vary in their amount of inclination to the shaft, being in some spicules almost parallel with it, while in others they are widely divergent, and for the most part directed frot7i the sponge, but not always. In the larger and longer forms, of which there are also two kinds, the shaft is either smooth up to its termination in the double hook, or at first smooth, then spiniferous, and just before it terminates in the double hook smooth again, the spines being directed towards the sponge. At the commencement of the spiniferous portion in the latter (for that in the sponge is comparatively smooth) the spines are wide apart and hardly perceptible, but by degrees increase in size, number, and approximation as the shaft of the spicule increases in size, when they may be observed to form a spiral line round it, much like the bracket- steps of a flagstaff, which again passes into single separate spines, as above stated, just before its termination, the shaft also again reappearing for a short distance in a smooth but Species of HexactinelUd Sponge. 277 diminished form, which soon expands into a flat portion that terminates in the double hook, — the double hook being com- pressed and crescentic in the smooth form, and twice the breadth of that in the spiniferous ones, where, on the other hand, the body is a little thicker and the hooks a little more recurved, still always opposite. 3. The minute surface-spicule is also nail-like, and consists of a bushy plumose shaft fur- nished with four rays parting from the fixed end of the former at right angles, and directed a little forwards or away from the shaft, cup-like, — the plumose appearance of the shaft arising from the presence of a number of long spines, which, originating all round it, are inclined towards its free or pointed extremity ; while the arms are equally spined, but with short conical eminences, especially towards their abruptly pointed extremities : among these spicules there are also two kinds, viz. one thick, short, and stout, and the other com- paratively long and slender, with the shaft slightly curved or turned to one side. 4. The birotulate spicule, consisting of a straight shaft, sparsely spinous in the centre, and expanding at each end into eight blades or arms, which are altogether recurved dome-like towards the centre of the shaft. 5. A minute hexaradiate spicule, the arms of which are equal, opposite, and furnished with three or four spines of unequal length, and irregularly disposed towards the extremities. — The smooth nail-like spicule. No. 1, is confined to the body of the sponge, where it forms the chief part of that structure ; while the long arms of the larger ones, which are confined to the surface both on the outside and inside of the cup, have their extremities incurved and buried amongst the surrounding ones. The second, linear or fusiform spicules in their minuter form are confined to the body, where they are arranged vertically, and for the most part parallel to, and in company with, the vertical shafts of the nail-like spicules, appearing, as before stated, in a line round the outer border of the margin of the cup, then disappearing on the convexity of the body, and re- appearing in their largest forms towards its lower third, finally ending in the thick long tuft at tlie base. No. 3, the minute plumose nail- like spicule, is confined to the surface, where the concavity formed by the advanced direction of the arms of the head is applied, through tlie dermal sarcode, to the arms of the large nail-like spicules of the body, or, as before stated, is fixed in the dermal sarcode between the interstices of the latter, where the arms lie parallel to each other for their lohole extent. Of the exact position of No. 4, the birotulate spicule, I am not certain, because the surface ones have for the most part fallen out ; but, judging from its 278 Mr. H. J. Carter on the SarcohexactmelUd Sponges. position in other similar sponges, and of those which still remain in Labaria^ it should be interspersed among the plumose spicules, while No. 5 may be dispersed throughout the body generally. Average size of the largest spicules of each kind : — In No. 1 the length of the arms varies in the same spicule, so that the longest shaft and longest arm generally may be set down at about 3-12ths inch long, with a thickness at the base of about 2o-1800ths inch. No. 2 in its longest form appears to be about two inches, with a maximum thickness in the shaft of about 7'1800ths inch ; while the spread of the double hook at the free extremity in the smooth form is about 38-1800ths, and in the spiculiferous one about 17-1800ths inch. The short stout form of No. 3 (the surface-spicule) averages about 10-1800ths long, and the slender variety about 15-1800ths. No. 4 in its largest size is about 15-1800ths long, and No. 5 (the microscopic spicule) about 8-1800ths inch in diameter from end to end of its arms. Size of specimen : — Greatest horizontal diameter outside If^ths inch, vertical l-^^ths inch ; diameter of outlet of basal tuft y^ths inch ; diameter of outer margin of concavity 1-i^ths inch ] greatest diameter of concavity l|^ths inch ; thickness of wall of cup -^ths inch ; diameter of basal tuft of spicules about ^ths inch. Hah. Marine. Loc. Unknown, from Singapore. Ohs. In the above description nothing has been said about the position of the "vents," chiefly from the fact that there is no appearance of any distinct ones in the concavity of the sponge ; and although 8-10 holes appear at irregular distances round the outer border of the margin of the cup, and about twice as many scattered over its outer surface or convexity, still, from these having been artificially filled with bristle-like fragments of long stout spicules from another sponge, for the purpose hereafter mentioned, I am by no means certain that these holes are not artificial. From analogy one would feel inclined to say that they are artificial ; for, as a rule, into the concavity (erroneously termed " cloacal "), whether cup-like or tubular (in the great " Neptune's cup," in which a child might sit down, or in that of the calcareous sponge Grantia ciliata^ into which the head of a pin can hardly be inserted), the vents chiefly open and the pores are chiefly outside. As instances of this in the sarcospiculous Hexactinellidag, with which we are now chiefly concerned, Holtenia Garpenteri and Rossella velata, W. Thomson, and Crateromorpha Meyeri and Bossella philippinensis^ Gray, if not also Pheronema Anmv, Leidy, and P. Gmyi, Kent, may be cited. In Meycrina Mr. PI. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges, 279 claviformis ^ J Grray, and Ilyalonema {Carteria, Gray), where the cavity is very narrow and contracted in the former, and in the latter is Occupied by the conical end of the glass cord, which actually passes through the entire sponge so as to project beyond its summit, the " vents " are, respectively, partially and entirely on the outside ; indeed in Ilyalonema there is no concavity. What the condition may be in the great Askonema seticbaletise, Kent, I do not know, not having any thing but a shred of this sponge, sent to me by my kind friend Dr. J. E. Gray, from a portion which was brought from Lisbon to England by Mr. Kent. Where the great specimen of Askonema, about a yard wide at the mouth and twenty-four inches high, may be, which was dredged up off Cape St. Vincent while Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys superintended the operations on board H.M.S. ' Porcupine ' in 1870 (' Depths of the Sea,' by Prof. W. Thomson, p. 428, fig. 67), I am ignorant. It is not with me ; and therefore I am not answerable for its description. Still, as regards the vents of Laharia, it might be observed that if there is no appearance of them in the cup, it is not improbable that the holes on the convexity may have been artificially made. Again, it may be stated that the intervals between the arms of the nail-like spicules of the surface in the convexity are so large, and the short plumose ends of the surface- spicules so inadequate to close them, that some of these interspaces may have served for vents. But the absence of sarcode throughout this sponge, from the cause hereafter to be mentioned, fails to supply that roundness to its openings which otherwise would make the vents unmista- kable. As regards, again, tlie "pores" of Laharia, analogy here leads to the inference that they existed in the interstices of the reticulation formed on tlie surface by the arms of the surface- spicules, as above stated. We now come to the specific characters of this sponge ; and these rest chiefly on the form of the double hook at the end of the smooth, long, anchoring-spicule of the base, and on the spiniferous condition of the arms of the minute surface-spicule No. 3. Fortunately there is no doubt about the latter ; for in Hyalonema, Holtenia, and Pheronema, Gray, Avith which these sj)icules might otherwise be confounded, the arms are smooth and not spiniferous. Even in Meyerina, also, they arc so scantily spined that they might be almost termed smooth. But the case is not so clear with respect to the double hook at * For a description of Mi-]ferina daviformis and Cratcrnmorpha Meyeri, see * Annals," vol. x. p. 110 (August 1H72). 280 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinelltd Sponyes. the extremity of the smooth anchoring-spicule, since in Euplec- tella, Hyalonema^ Holtenia^ and Meyerina^ whose anchoring- tufts respectively are composed of the two kinds of spicule, viz. smooth, and spin{ferous,\h.Q termination of the extremity in the former appears to he always absent. In none of these sponges have I ever been able to find it ; and my examinations have often been repeated in different specimens varying in size from a quarter of an inch, in some of those dredged up on board H.M.S. ' Porcupine,' to the adult forms obtained from tliis and other sources. The hooked extremity of the sjmii- ferous anchoring-spicules in all the sponges last-mentioned I have been able to obtain, but never one of the smooth anchor- ing-spicules until I came to the specimen of Laharia under consideration, wherein both smooth and spiniferous anchoring- s])icules still, to a great extent, retain their respective hook- like terminations. It has been already stated that the double hook at the end of the smooth anchoring-spicule in Laharia has twice the spread of that terminating the spimferous one ; and if this were the case in Ilyalonema and Meyerina respectively, where the smooth anclioring-spicules so much exceed the others in size, as well as in Euiilectella and Holtenia^ wliere they are all much longer and larger than in Laharia^ it is no wonder that they were left in the mud where these sponges originally grew, or were subsequently broken off by " smoothing down the root-like lock," to make it look more beautiful ! or, indeed, torn off by the ruthless "tangle." Still further, with reference to the terminal hooks of the spiniferous anchoring-spicule of Laharia, I think I can perceive a microscopic difference in form between them and those of Meyerina, which they so much resemble, that might be given in a figure more satisfactorily than it can be de- scribed, because it is so trifling. But however close the resemblance may be here, the difference between the ter- minations of these spicules in Laharia and those of Holtenia, and of Pheronema Grayi as figured by Mr. Kent (Monthly Microscop. Journ., Nov. 1870, pi. xiii. hg. 16), is so strongly marked that it is impossible (of course, under the microscope) to confound the two, — that of Hottenia and Pheronema Grayi being in the form of a harpoon, while that of Laharia tends to the form of a crescent ; that is to say, the spines of the double hook in the former are much recurved, while in the latter they are much more expanded. I do not wish to insist upon these differences strongly, but state them only as the result of my examinations. So rare is it to find any of the spicules composing the cord Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 281 in Hyalonema with the terminal hooks present, that I have only observed it in four instances, and all in one small speci- men, of which the body is half an inch long and the cord of the same length. They occur close to the body, while those which were at the ends of the longer spicules forming the cord have all, as usual, been broken oiF. In this case, too, they are on the spined and not on the smooth spicules. As regards the jMsition of the hooks, they are double, and both on one side like a claw in two of the instances, and in the other two triple, but two of these appear to be op})osite, anchor-like. Fortu- nately they are not all the same in all four instances, or the inference might have been that the terminal hooks of these spicules in Ilyalonema were all on one side, claw-like, or all opposite, anchor-like, as the case might have been ; still the third spine in the latter also gives a lateral predominance. The specimen, which is mounted, was dredged up on board H.M.S. ' Porcupine,' and sent to me by Prof. W. Thomson. It bears no polype on the cord. The little crucial-headed spicule of the surface in Laharia^ with its plumose shaft ready to be depressed as the arese about which it is situated may require to be more or less closed, is common to the sponge part of Hyaloneina {Gartena^ Gray), lloltenia^ and PJu'ronema Grayij and probably also to Phero- netna Annce, Leidy, with the exception of the arms being thickly spined instead of smootli, as before mentioned. Then No. 4, the birotulate spicule ("multidentate," Bbk., f. 60), of all sizes below its largest form (for it should be borne in mind that they grow from small to large), is also specifically characteristic of Ili/alonema, Holtetiia, and Phe- ronema Grayi. No other sarcospiculous hexactinellid that I know of possesses this spicule ; and therefore I am at a loss to conceive how Schmidt should have named the sponge described and figured by him in his ' Atlantisch. Spongien- fauna' (p. 14, Taf. 1. figs. 1-6) " Holteniar In Rossella velata^ W. Thomson, and BosseUajyhiUjyj^inensisy Gray (which are sarcospiculous, hexactinellids), we may observe "the '«»'««te, equiarmed, hexradiate spicule" to pass from (1st) the equiarmed hexactinellid with bifurcated and pointed cxti'e- mities, to (2nd) the same with capitate extremities (" s])inulo- stellate," Bbk., f. 190), and, lastly (3rd), into an undescribed form, Avhere the ends of the arms are terminated by a small, conical, tu- bercled inflation, presenting a short straight spine on the apex, which spine is surrounded by almost innumerable linear filaments rising each from one of the tubercles, attaining various heights, and liending outward like the expanded petals of a tubular flower, forming one of the most exquisite 282 Mr. H, J. Carter on the SarcohexactinelUd Sponges. objects in nature. It might be termed "pappiform," flexed and simple, in contra-distinction to another kind, in which the filaments are straight and capitate. A similar spicule, though not so complicated, is arrived at through a similar transition in both the E%q)Jectelkej viz. those forms respectively with and without silicified sarcode ; but here the ends of the filaments, seldom more than 8, are capitate and spined on the outer side, claw-like. This form (the "floricomo" of Bbk., f. 194) also occurs in the two sarcospiculous hexactinellid sponges in the museum of the Jardin des Plantes, named respectively by Prof. W. Thomson Hahrodictyon speciosum and H. corhicula (' Annals,' 1868, vol. i. p. 122 &c., pi. iv. f. 1 e). (In Hyalonevia^ too, the birotulate spicule also sometimes takes on a hexactinellid form, which, of course, if possible, ren- ders it a still more beautiful object.) But the transition to which I have first alluded seems to be characteristic of RosseUa, and the third or florescent form so like that figured by Schmidt ('Grundziige einer Spongienfauna des atlantischen Gebietes,' pi. i. f. 6), that, in the absence of the " birotulate spicule," it seems to me that Iloltema Pour- talesii must be more nearly allied to Bossella than to Holtenia Carpenterij Thomson, more particularly, too, as the large spicule of the surface (op. cit. pi. i. f. 4) is furnished with large spines, in which it agrees with the same kind of spicule in Bossella antarctica (Ann. 1872, vol. ix. pi. xxi. figs. 1-4) (of course, this genus has been established since the publi- cation of the ' Atlantisch. Spongienfauna ' in 1870) ; while, on the other hand, the minute nail-like spicule with crucial head and plumose shaft which Schmidt figures in connexion with Sympagella mix (oj). cit. pi. i. f. 2), and alludes to as characteristic also of the little specimen of the hexactinellid for which he has provisionally suggested the name of " Hol- tenia saccus^^ {op. cit. p. 15), is, to a certain extent, characteristic of the IIexactinellida3 possessing the hirotidate spicule — but not altogether, as the partial extension of tlie sixth arm, or of the shaft &c., shows. The minute, equiarmed, hexaradiate spicule with long irre- gular spines at the ends of the arms in Laharia (No. 5), is also common in Meyerina, and may be the type in these sponges of the " 1st " form of it that I have described in Bossella (p. 281). It is chiefly upon the presence in great numbers of this form, somewhat modified in Hahrodictyon corhicula^ that Prof. W. Thomson has been induced, provisionally, to separate this species from his Hahrodictyon speciosum (Ann. I. c. pi. iv. f. 2 a). But this kind of spicule occurs in too many of these sponges and too much modified ever to be of any specific value. Mr. H. J. Carter on the SarcohexactinelUd Sponges. 283 Add to this the presence of little, clear, silicilicd spheres, formed of concentric layers round a minute cavity or cell, which have not been mentioned in the above description of Laharia because they appear to be rather accidental than normal pro- ducts, receiving elucidation from a new species of Dictyocy- Undrus among sponges collected by Col. Pike, U. S. C. at the Mauritius, and forwarded to Prof. Dickie, of Aberdeen^ who sent them on to me for examination, wherein such spheres abound in all degrees of elongation, passing at last into a lengthened spicule of the normal form, — thus showing that they are caused by arrest of development in the original ce/Z, which elongates itself normally into the entire spicule — but failing in this, continues to increase in size spherically by the addition of silicihed concentric layers to its surface. As regards the sarcospiculous hexactinellid sponges called LanufjineUa pupa^ Sdt., and Aidodictyon Woodwardii, Kent, respectively, I am unajble to state any thing further than that, if young specimens of larger sponges, they must wait until the latter are found for their fully developed specific characters, while, if already adults, they have not yet been sufficiently described for this. There is a spicule, though, in Aidodictyon Woodwardii^ Kent {oj). cit. fig. 22), which, so far as my observation extends among the Hexactinellidai, is peculiar to this species ; but this is rather a vitreous than a sarcospiculous sponge, and belongs to the Aphrocallistida3, of whicli I shall have more to say hereafter. Sympayella mix, Sdt., too, seems to be a compound of both sarcospiculous and vitreous Hexactinellidte ; for part of its spicules are sheathed (like those of Euphctella aspergillimi) in silicified sarcode or silicified horny substance, the rest being free. Still this is only a permanent condition of what takes place in all the vitreous sponges, where the spicules are formed first in the sarcode free, and then enclosed in silicified sarcode or silicified horny substance, as the case may be. The "3rd "form of minute, equi armed, hexaradiate spicule, which I have described at p. 281 as being so beautiful, I have since found to be equally abimdant in SymjKigeUa, together with the 2nd or capitate one ; so that, as at first thought, this is not peculiar to RosseUn, and may be found to be still more common by further observation*. * I have just found, too, in a mounted specimen, tiiat the form No. 3 (at p. 281 ) also exists in Crateromorpha Meyeri, but with straight capitated " filaments," instead of bent ones without heads, more like Schmidt's figure of that in Holtrnia PoKiialesii (' Atlantisch. Spongienfaunn,' pi. i. f. (5). Crateromorpha and Rossella are very much allied in many other points, which I shall mention on a future occasion. 284 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. Lastly, in the rough anchoring-spicules of the glass cord of Hyalonema^ there is a feature well figured by Dr. Gray in his description of this beautiful object, in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' as far back as 1857 (p. 280), which re- ceives complete elucidation from corresponding spicules in Meyerina and Laharia, and which, from its resemblance to fractured layers of the spicule coming off in ragged circles, is apt to be mistaken for the latter, but which, in Meyerina and Lahariaj is seen to resolve itself into a more lengthened spire of prominent processes like the bracket-steps of a flagstaff, only continuous. This is chiefly apparent on the thickest part of the shaft, and may also be indistinctly observed in Hyalonema ; but on tracing the spiie downwards, or towards the free end of the spicule, the bracket-like processes become each sur- mounted by a spine ; then they pass into distinct separate spines, always recurved or directed towards the sponge, but still maintaining a spiral arrangement, which, lengthening out as the spines become more widely separated, finally ends with the last spine on the shaft. Thus the abrupt part of the spiral line is always directed towards the sponge ; and in a small spe- cimen dredged up on board H.M.S. ' Porcupine,' I observe that this feature is continuous throughout the body of the sponge {Carteria, Gray) to its very summit, where it may serve as much for attachment of the sponge as for anchoring it in the mud — being, too, at this period, as distinctly spined m the sponge-head as any similar spicule of Meyerina or Laharia &c. is out of it ; indeed, here nothing but the form of the terminal hook distinguishes the spicule of Hyalonema at this period from that of Holtenia of a similar size. \nEiiplectella\\i& famous "cross" in the central canal of the long-spined spicule shows itself close to the last two spines of the shaft, while the canal afterwards terminates in a lash of branches in tlie midst of the many-spined terminal head. In the spined spicule of Meyerina a cross canal is seen in the head just before the central canal terminates, which may have re- lation to the two spines which are opposite. At all events there is no cross near the last spines of the shaft, as in Euplec- tella. The same is the case in both kinds of anchoring-spicule in Laharia. In Hyalonema I cannot say how the central canal terminates in the ends of the anchoring-spicules, as the only instances I possess are in the mounted specimen to which I have alluded, which does not admit of being brought within quarter-of-an-inch focus, the microscopic power necessary for this determination. On the sponges whose horny substance and sarcode is silici- fied, viz. the Coralliospongia?, in part, of Dr. Gray, I hope to ]\Ir. H. J. Carter on the SarcohexactinelUd Sponges. 285 offer some remarks in my next paper, which will be on one of the specimens dredged up on board H.M.S. ' Porcupine ; ' and I think that I may then be able to show the transition of Schmidt's " Corallistes " into his genus Pachastrella (Bower- bank's Hymeniacidoii Bucklandi), thence into Sfelletta, and finally into Geodia, — thus confirming their separation from the vitreous Hexactinellidte established by Schmidt, who has de- scribed and figured them under the family name of" Lithistidoe," in his ' Grundziige einer Spongienfauna des atlantischen Gebietes.' 1 have stated above that the sarcode which chiefly holds the spicules of a sponge together, especially in its dried state, has in this specimen of Lcdmria been destroyed — and also that fragments of the long spicules of another sponge have been introduced into Laharia for the purpose of deception, whereby it had become difficult to establish the position of the "vents." Although, however, Laharia hemispha'rica has thus been much injured and disfigured, sufficient has been stated to show that enough still remains to establish its general form and chief specific characters with certainty. It is not a perfect specimen, from two causes : viz., first of all, the sarcode, as is commonly the case with sponges that have been allowed to get damp (and this is almost inevitable where the salt has not in the first instance been taken out of them by soaking in fresh water before they are finally dried), has been destroyed (by Ifucoridea'^-pro- bably) , which has thus deprived the spicules generally of their chief support ; and, secondly, the native who had the specimen for sale, finding that it was thus falling to pieces, and in order to make the most of it, took a bunch of the long spicules of Meyerina claviformis (for they are easily recognized), and making a tassel of them, four and a half inches long, by binding their upper ends together into a conical form with the fibre of some plant about the size of coarse thread, pushed this into the centre of the basal tuft of Laharia^ and so into the body of the sponge, securing it there by thrusting in shorter fragments from the same source in groups all round the sides, wliich gave the sponge a cat-whiskered appearance, with a very large basal tuft. It was not possible to detect this fraud at first, as the end of the tassel was so completely concealed in the body of Laharia, and covered by its own natural basal tuft (which, as above stated, is only two inches in length), while the cat-whisker-like groups at the sides also appeared so natural that minute exami- nation and an acquaintance with the intimate structure of such sponges alone led to detection — rendered still more per- plexing by the absence of the sarcode in the sponge generally, 286 llev. Thomas R. R. Stebbinc: on a & which, if present, would have held on the real spicules, and have allowed the ftilse ones to be easily extracted, thus causing doubt as to which spicules did and which did not reallj belong to the sponge. At first the whiskered groups were observed to be composed of spicules far too robust for the size and nature of the sponge ; then it was found that their inner ends were in many instances passed through the body, ahove the bottom of the cup, and then that they were abruptly broken oif at their concealed or inner ends instead of passing into a finely attenuated extremity. Many of the robust form of spicules in the basal tuft, too, were observed to be in size out of all proportion to the size and nature of Laharia ; besides, a few which fell out were observed to be fragments of much longer ones. Finally, by turning aside a little of the basal tuft which really belongs to the sponge, and which appeared to be twisted out of place, the end of the tuft bound round with the fibre was discovered. I have thus noticed in detail this fraud in order that others may not be misled by similar practices ; while they should be discountenanced by those who deal with the natives for such sponges, as their object is to present a saleable rather than a natural specimen, and the practice will cease when they find that the latter is most valued. XXXI. — On a Crustacean of the Genus TAsi. By the Rev. Thomas R. R. Stebbing, M.A. The little Crustacean represented in the accompanying figure I took last August in a ditch near Copthorn Common in Surrey. At the first glance it presents an obvious resem- blance to animals of the genus PJdloscia (Latreille), which Spence Bate and Westwood, in their standard work ' The British Sessile-eyed Crustacea,' make synonymous with Koch's genus Zia. They introduce their description with the following remarks : — " It is a curious circumstance that the animals of this genus, common as they are, and well described by Latreille and Zaddach, should have been unknown to Brandt, Lcreboullet, and Milne-Edwards, who have affirmed that the genus ought to be re-united to OniscuSj whereas it is in fact more nearly allied in several respects to Ligia. The typical species appears to have been figured by Koch under tlie name of Ligia melanocephala, which in his generic table he subsequently altered into the generic name of Zia, giving, however, fifteen joints to the antennae, the flagellum being represented as composed of ten articulations." Upon examining my little Copthorner, I found, first of all, Crustacean of the Genus Zia. 287 that the uropoda, or tail-appendages, were quite different, not only from those of any species of Philoscia described by- Messrs. Bate an*^ Westwood, but also from those of any of the Aerospirantia described in their work. In the next place, it turned out that the antennte possessed fifteen joints, the fiagellura being composed of ten articulations. My impres- sion that it must therefore belong, not to Philoscia^ but to the genus Zia as described by Koch, has been kindly confirmed by Mr. Spence Bate, who will himself in due time publisii a communication on the subject. A. Zia Saumlersii. a. tail-appendages ; b. antenna. Meanwhile the following characters will probably suffice to identify the species : — Figure ovate. Cephalon rounded. Outer antennas cylindrical and fifteen-jointed, the ten terminal joints forming the fiagellura, which is tipped with an articulus ; all the joints armed with bristles. Tail-piece narrower than the terminal segment of the body ; terminal segment of the tail-piece quadrate, its lower border forming a very obtuse angle. The uropoda, or caudal appendages, almost entirely exserted, the basal portion having a finger-like prolongation on the inner side, from the extremity of which extends a thin ramus, itself terminated by a seta as long as the ramus or longer ; a minute hair projects from the ramus close to the starting-point of the long seta. The outer ramus thicker and longer than the inner one, but, with its short terminal seta, not equal to the combined length of the inner ramus and its long seta. A stout bristle projects from the outer angle of the uropoda, and is about half as long as the basal portion above described. 288 Mr. E. A. Smith on a new Species o/*Vitrina. The skin is smooth and shining, the surface under the microscope presenting the appearance of very minute curved scales. Colour fulvous. Length \ inch. From what has been said it seems clear that the genus Zia must be added to the genera Ligia and Ligidhim^ whicli, according to Messrs. Bate and Westwood, have hitherto constituted the subfamily Ligitnce in the family Oniscidm. Supposing this species to have been hitherto unobserved, I venture to name it Zia Saundersii^ in honour of an intimate and dear friend, W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.E.S., whose example, assistance, and encouragement have ever been at the service of the students of science, whether making the modest efforts of beginners or pursuing the most elaborate and im- portant inquiries. XXXII. — Description of a new Species belonging to the Genus Vitrina. By Edgar A. Smith, F.Z.S., Zoological Depart- ment, British Museum. The specimens upon which the present species is founded were sent by Mr. T. Kirk (Secretary of the Auckland Institute, New Zealand) to the British Museum to Professor Owen for identification, accompanied by the following note : — " The enclosed Vitrina-Y[k.& shell I received from Sunday Island (Kermadees) during the eruption of 1871 ; the two or three folks in the island partly lived on the animal." This volcanic island, sometimes called Baoul, is one of the Kermadee group, and situated about 550 miles to the north- east of Auckland, New Zealand. Vitrina Icermadeensis. V. testa depressa, tenuissiina, pellucida, nitida, vitrea, epidermide pertenui virenti- cornea amicta, incrementi lineis levissime, prope suturam fortius, striata ; anfr. 3|, celeriter accrcscentes, primi 2^ convexiusculi, supra ultimum pauxillulum prominentes, ultimus magnus, superne vix depressus, ad peripheriam mtundatus, basi subinflatus, versus aperturam non descendens ; sutura aliquanto depressa, angustissime marginata ; aperturalunato-ovata, paululum obli qua, fere horizontalis; perist. epidermide duplicata incrassatum, basi recedens, marginibus approximatis. Alt. 4| mill.; diam. maj. 9^, miu. 7|. This is a very fragile species, of a greenish horn-colour, very glossy and transparent, so much so that the outline of the body-whorl is quite apparent through the upper surface until its junction witli the apex. No spiral sculpture can be traced by using an ordinary lens, Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelontans. 289 but with the aid of a more powerful microscope very fine and numerous wavy strise are visible on the second volution only. The most nearly allied species appears to be V. Strangei, Pfr., from which the present form is at once distinguished by the different proportion of the last whorl to the others. In Strangei the whorls increase more rapidly, and towards the aperture the last one dilates very considerably ; this is not the case in kermadeensis^ which is more transparent, more glossy, and of a greener tint than the former. V. dimidlata^ Pfr., from New Zealand, the most nearly re- lated species in a geographical point of view, is a very distinct form. XXXIII. — Observations on ChelonianSj with Descriptions of new Genera and Species. By Dr. J. E. Geay, F.R.S. &c. The shells of adult Land-Tortoises {Testudo) have the sternum more or less deeply concave and the hinder marginal plate over the tail (hence often called the caudal plate) very broad, thick, and convex externally, and with the lower edge more or less inflected. These I believe to be the shells of males ; and the few specimens of the animals that I have been able to examine confirm this idea. The other specimens have the sternum flat and the caudal plate narrower, thinner, and flat, with the lower edge more or less expanded. These have been concluded to be the females. The shells of both the adult and younger specimens have this form ; and as there must be young m.ales as well as females, I conclude that some of the young shells are those of males, and that the concavity of the sternum and the width and convexity of the caudal plate are not attained until the animal has arrived at the adult age. The concavity of the sternum differs in the various species ; but in some species, as Testudo fabulata, it becomes very deep in the older specimens, and accompanied by a contraction of the sides of the shell. Specimens in this state were regarded by Spix as a distinct species, under the name of Testudo Hercules. The sternum of some of the more terrestrial Terrapins, as Geoemyda^ have the stenium of the adult very deeply and broadly concave ; and some of the large specimens of American Box Tortoises {Cistudo Carolina) have the sternum concave in the centre and convex behind. The rest of the specimens, and the three of C. mexicana^ in the British Museum, which are all full-grown, have the sternum flat. It may he, that we have no adult males of the latter. There is in the Museum a specimen of Swankn which has the sternum very flat in Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.xi. 19 290 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. front and concave over the hinder cross suture ; some spe- cimens of Sternotlicerus have a rather concave sternum ; and some Hydromedusce have a deep narrow concavity in the middle of the hinder part of the sternum ; but we have no proof of these being characters of the males. Testudo tahidata. There is a considerable difference in the shields of the head. Some have a pair of large plates before the large frontal ; this pair varies in size. It is divided by a straight linear suture and is sometimes large ; but in one specimen (e) it is moderate and hexagonal, with a plate in the middle before it ; in another (a) there is a single central plate over the nostrils, and a large suborbital plate on each side of it; and in a third (/) tliere are two central nasal hexagonal plates, one behind the other, and a large plate on each side of the suture between them. In general the frontal plate is large and entire, but in some specimens it is divided in half. Peltastes geometricus. Four of the larger specimens in the British Museum have a large, very convex, and much inflexed caudal plate, and are perhaps males, as the three larger ones have the centre of the sternum more or less concave : the smaller one has this part flat ; and the caudal plate is convex, but not to the extent of the larger ones. Three of the small specimens indicate a more or less inclination to become convex ; while five, of about the same size, have this plate quite flat, with a more or less reflexed lower edge. Peltastes tentorius. One specimen, received from Mr. R. Brown, has the caudal plate very convex and inflexed — most probably a male. In all the other seven specimens in the Museum the caudal plate is flatter and spread out. Peltastes stellatus. The anal notch angular, broad apparently in both sexes. Hinder part of thighs with a large group of conical acute scales. The males have a sternum slightly concave the whole length of the central line. Caudal plate very broad, convex, with a strongly inflexed lower edge. The females have a flat sternum and only slightly convex caudal plates, the lower edge of which is not inflexed. Peltastes platynotus. The two specimens in the Museum have quite flat sternums, Dr. J. E. Gray on Ghelonians. 291 a broad angular anal notch, and a broad, not inflexed, caudal plate. Perhaps- both were females. Peltastes elongatus. The males (?) have the sternum rather concave for the whole of their length, and the anal notch deep, angular, with rather long plates at the side. Tail conical, elongate, with a large horny conical spur at the end. The females (V) have the sternum quite flat ; the anal notch broad, semicircular, with short, broad, slightly produced anal shields. Tail short, thick, unarmed. A half-grown specimen, with a flat sternum, has the anal notch more angular, but broad, and the anal plates rather longer and more acute. Perhaps the notch becomes wider and rounded as the animal approaches the breeding-age. All the specimens in the Museum of a broad variety of this species, which came from Bm*mah, have a quite flat sternum and a broad angular anal notch, with moderately long an- gular lateral plates. Peltastes Leithii. The hinder lobe of the sternum mobile ; caudal plate spread out J sternum flat. Peltastes grcecus. In the British Museum there are two very distinct varieties, which were regarded as two distinct species ( Testudo grceca and T. mauritanica) by MM. Dum^ril and Bibron ; and there is a very considerable difference in colour, probably arising from their more southern habitat. One has the caudal plate smooth ; and the shell is generally of a dull green colour mottled with black : these are said to live on the north shores of the Mediterranean. The males and females of the others {or at least those that have a rounded, convex, or a flat caudal) are always marked with a distinct deep longitudinal groove in the centre of the caudal plate. There are some shells in the Museum reddish white, with defined regularly disposed black marks : these are said to be confined to tlie south shores of the Mediterranean ; but I have no means of verifying this fact. The same difference of colour is observed between tlie T. marginata of Greece and the variety which has been called T. Leithii of Scinde. The British Museum has a specimen brought by Mr. M'Andrew from Asia Minor, and two others obtained at Xanthus. They are all young ; but they agree in being of a pale brownish-white colour, with an elongated spot on the centre of the areola of each dorsal plate. We have the upper 19* 292 Dr. J. E, Gray on Chelonians. shell of a rather larger specimen without any habitat, but most likely from Xanthus. These four have the caudal plate with- out any central groove. There is another specimen very like the others, but rather older, with the caudal plate divided by a deep longitudinal central groove. Chersina angulata. A specimen in the Museum, of a large size (nearly 7 inches long), has the gular plate very much produced. The hinder half of the sternum is rather concave, the anal notch broad ; and the caudal plate is very convex, broad, and with the lower margin inflexed. Male? We have a specimen, about the same size, with a perfectly flat sternum rather more raised on the side, and a narrower, scarcely convex dorsal. It was probably a female. Kinixys BelUana. There are four specimens of the animal and shell of this tortoise. One (a) has five well-developed front claws ; and two others {h & e) have only four front claws, and no appear- ance of the fifth. In other respects the animals and shells are similar. The sternum of most of the specimens is quite flat the whole length, and the caudal plates similar and not inflexed ; so that perhaps the sexes do not differ in this species. In the smaller specimen (/"), called K. Sjtekei, the sternum is slightly con- cave between the abdominal plates. In the ' Suppl. Cat. Shield Eept.,' p. 14, this specimen is compared, by slip of the pen, to K. Homeana instead of K. BeUiana. Sternum in two specimens received from Abyssinia concave, one very much and deeply so. A young specimen in the British Museum (from Mr. Bartlett's collection), about 2 inches long, has the first verte- bral plate broader than long — the second about the same length and much broader, being the broadest of the series — the third shorter and narrower, especially the hinder part — the fifth narrower and shorter still. The third costal plate on each side shows a distinct suture obliquely across it, being nearer the front margin of the outer than the inner side. Fifth lateral marginal plate sometimes produced more or less between the suture of the first and second costal ones ; it is most produced in the young specimen which has been called K. Speheij and which is peculiar for being pale with a square black areola. Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 293 Kinixys erosa. All the specimens are slightly concave in the front of the sternum, ^ome large specimens have the concavity extending back in the middle line of the sternum to the anal plates ; and the caudal marginal plates are generally thickened, but not intlexed. In the smaller specimens, which are generally more depressed and much more ventricose, the sternum is Hat, except just at the back of the gular plates. In one specimen (15 7/), which is much darker and more beautifully coloured, the centre of the fifth vertebral plate is much more convex than usual ; yet it is quite distinct from K. Homeana. The finger-bones are twice as broad as long ; the feet-bones are rather longer than broad. Kinixys Homeana. This species is kijown by the fifth vertebral ' plate being large, erect, and produced near the upper margin. The upper edge of the fifth marginal plate slightly produced. The nuchal shield in our two specimens is variable, but is distinct in both. In h it is regular, very narrow, and very long ; in a it is broad, elongate, irregular, as if forming part of the left first marginal plate. Manouria fusca. I formerly considered that the sternum in all the museum specimens was flat ; but the specimen originally figured in the 'Cat. Shield Rept.' (t. 3) has the hinder lateral margin mode- rately expanded, and the caudal plates convex externally and with the lower edge slightly inflexed. The sternum is rather convex on the sides, and slightly concave in the centre of the hinder part of the abdominal and preanal plates, ti-uncated and slightly notched in front ; the hinder part rather narrow, with a deep notch, the end being about half the width of the base of the preanal plates. The other specimen is larger, with the lateral margins, both before and behind, much more expanded and bent up. The caudal plates are flat and expanded. The sternum is con- siderably concave for two thirds of its length ; the front end is short and rounded, quite different from tlie elongate truncated plates in the first specimen ; and the hinder lobe is broad, with a wide anal notch at the end. The hinder end is about two thirds the width of the hinder margin of the preanal plates. Perhaps these are species, as the one which has the flat spread-out caudal plates has the most concave sternum and short rounded postgular plates, and that with a convex in- 294 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. flexed caudal has a flatter sternum and narrower postgular and anal plates. The very fine specimen with the animal, said to have come from the river Murray, Australia, seems to be intermediate between them. The sternum is quite flat, truncated before and behind ; the hinder lobe is rather broad, being, as in the smaller specimen, half as broad at the end as the hinder edge of the preanal plates with the convex inflexed caudal shields. Cistudo Carolina. Nuchal plate generally well developed. In one specimen {f) in the British Museum it is longitudinally divided into two plates and very short, as is also the margin of the marginal plate next to it ; in another [k) the nuchal plate is entirely wanting. In most the sternum is more or less black or brown ; iny it is very irregularly spotted and striped with yellow. In many shells the keel of the vertebral plates is yellow. A specimen {I) from Louisiana is much paler, with the margin more reflexcd and produced. The animal has a pale streak from the hinder edge of the beak, over the ear, along the side of the neck. It is called the " Woodland or Canebrake Tortoise." Cistoclemmys Jlavomarginata. The shell black, with a red vertebral streak, the discal and upperside of marginal plates with a red spot ; underside of marginal plates yellow. Head with a narrow streak on the side, from the back edge of the orbit, which is dilated into a blotch behind. This species is most distinct from Cuora trifasciata, with which it has been proposed to be united wlien only examined in spirits. It is one of the most beautiful Box Tortoises. This animal is most distinct from all tlie varieties of C. am- hoinensis by the streak on the back of the head commencing at the back angle of the eye, narrowed in front and gradually widening behind ; whereas the streak of Cuora amboinensis begins at the nostrils and is continued over the eye, along the sides of the neck, and is nearly of the same width throughout, or only a little wider behind. Dr. Gilnther has arranged this species with Cuora ; but the toes are shorter and much less webbed than in that genus, which has a very distinct web fringed on the margin. Cuora amboinensis. The alveolar processes of the upper jaw narrow, Avith a sharp Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelomans. 295 raised margin on the outer side, and a slightly raised margin on the inner side. Lower jaw produced and incurved in the middle, with a sharp raised margin on the outer side, and a slight raised line on the middle of the inner margin. The sternum flat, slightly concave in the middle. Two specimens (one from Gilolo) have the hinder half of the sternum decidedly concave in the middle, but not much so. All the others in the Museum have this part flat. The Gilolo specimen is marked as a male. This species varies much in the convexity of the shell, and presents two very distinct varieties : — I. The sternum brown-varied, sometimes entirely brown. The youngest specimens I have seen are of that colour beneath. The dorsal plates pale, with dark brown areolae. Philippines. II. Sternum pale whitish, with a black spot on each areola. The younger specimens are white on the sides and more or less black on the central longitudinal line of the sternum ; and the spots remain in the older specimens. Specimens of this variety come from the Philippines, Celebes, and Borneo. Cuora trifasciata. One of the specimens in the British Museum wants the nuchal shield, which is present in all the four others. Cyclemys. The ribs of the very young specimens are lanceolate, united to the vertebra as by a footstalk, then suddenly dilated, and almost immediately gradually attenuated like a lanceolate leaf. The sternum bony only on the margin, the four pairs of bones forming a ring, leaving a very large hollow place in the centre. The odd bone triangular, longer than broad ; the lateral pair of bones on each side entirely separate from one another, and only meeting by an attenuated process. The front lateral bones united to the dorsal disk by a much nan-ower external lateral process than the hinder ones. The central sj^ace be- comes gradually filled up on the inner side, leaving in the older specimens only a small membranous opening, which at length becomes quite filled up. Cyclemys dhor. In the younger specimens the front dorsal plate is about as long as broad, sometimes rather wider in front, but generally contracted in front and wider on the sides, so as to be broadly 296 Dr. J. E.Gray on Chelonians. lanceolate. In the older specimens the front plate becomes more elongate compared with its breadth, and narrowed in front. The second vertebral shield becomes longer compared with its length as the animal increases in age. In one speci- men tlie vertebral plates are very irregular, with two super- numerary plates, and the front plate is broader than long ; but I believe this is only a deformity. Dr. C. Giebel, in the 'Zeitsch. gesammt. Naturwissensch.' 1866, p. 15, describes a Clemmys dentata, which he says is the same as Emys dentata of my'IUust. Ind. Zool.' ii. t. viii., from the Isle of Banka. He tigui'cs three specimens (t. iii.), exhibiting suj)ernumerary dorsal, or posterior marginal, or both posterior dorsal and posterior marginal plates (t. iii. f. 1-4). See 'Append. Cat. Shield Eept.' p. 22. The figures of Dr. Giebel are very like the young specimen of Geoemyda grandis in the British Museum, from Camboja, which has the vertebral plates very irregularly divided. In the British Museum there is a specimen of Elseya lati- sternum with additional caudal marginal plates. Nicoria Sjpengleri. The adult animal is pale above, with a black streak on the outside of the vertebral and costal shields ; the underside of margin and sternum black, with a white streak round the cir- cumference of the fiat part of the sternum. The lateral dorsal keels appear to be wide apart in the young specimens. Geoclemmys Milhlenhergii. The shell is variously spotted and streaked with black, but leaving a distinct longitudinal pale vertebral streak. Glyptemys pidchella. The sternum of an imperfect skeleton, prepared by Dr. Giinther, in the British Museum is rather concave the whole of its length. The alveolar surface of the upper jaw is wider than it is in the specimen figured, which may also be a character of sex. Emydina. The lower jaw of this tribe oflfers two modifications : — I. The alveolar edge is simple, shelving, acute, with a sharp edge on the outer side. Melanochelys. II. The alveolar edge is concave, shelving inwards, with a more or less prominent margin on the inner side and raised sharp edge on the outer side. Emys^ Eryma. Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 297 Melanochelys trijuga. The skull is at once known from Bellia crassicolUs by the alveolar surface and the sharp simple edge of the lower jaw. The shell of this species greatly varies in colour, for example : — a. Shell black above, with three yellow keels, more distinct when worn. Sternum black, with a well-marked yellow margin ; lateral margin of shell yellow. Sternum and shell like the former, but lateral margin with irregular pale blotches. Sternum and lateral margin of shell blackish brown. b. Back brown, keels not paler. Sternum blackish, with a narrow yellow edge. Sternum brown, slightly paler on the edge. Sternum pale bYown, with a broad yellowish border and under margin to the shell. In the older specimens the plates become very rugose, of a blackish-brown colour, and often covered with a brown-reddish earth. In the younger specimens the first vertebral plate is quadran- gular, about as long as broad, and rather narrower behind than before ; but as the animal enlarges the anterior vertebral plate becomes much longer than broad, and is marked with a line extending up each side of the plate, forming a narrow area behind ; and the upper front margin of the first costal plate overlaps the hinder part of the side of the first vertebral so as to make the plate appear very narrow behind. In a very old solid specimen in the British Museum it has entirely lost the broad square form of its youth, or the elongate urceolate form, partly covered by the overlapping front edge of the first costal, of its more adult age, and become a narrow elongate plate, which is much narrower behind. The half-grown have a rhombic space covered with membrane in the middle of the sternum, the centre of it placed rather behind the suture between the pectoral and abdominal plates. The dorsal plates of the younger specimens often have tuber- cular radiating lines from the angles of the areola to the margin. The young specimens from Ceylon have the edge of the keels and the margin of the shell yellow, like the large spe- cimen from India (/') which I have called Melanochelys Seine • but they appear to pass into the other specimens with the 3^ellow on the margin more diffuse. In these young specimens 298 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelomans. the middle of the sternum is black the whole of its length, and the sides are white or yellow ; but the black seems to extend as the animal grows. The size and number of the spots on the head of the young specimens seem to vary in the different specimens from Ceylon, which makes me think that 31. Sebce is only a variety. Emts. I. Sides of head and neck with regular lines. Emt/s caspica ; E. pannonica, Asia Minor ; E. Tristrami, Holy Land ; E. arahtca^ Arabia Petrgea ; E. Fraseri, Algiers. II. Head with a spot on temple and a ring behind it; lateral processes of sternum with two spots. Emys jiavipes. III. Head with a spot on the temple. Emys laniaria. In the young specimens of E. caspica there is a black-edged red spot in the centre of each costal shield ; the centre of it is often raised, forming a keel. The nuchal shield is not marked with a pale central streak. In young E. pannonica there is no indication of this, but the dorsal shields are marked with black-edged, branched, diverging lines. Sternum black, with white spots on the outer side. E. arabica is marked with dark-edged branched lines like E. pannonica ; but the nuchal shield has a yellow streak down its centre ; and the sternum is black, with red spots on the outer edge. These may very likely be varieties of caspica ; but we want more specimens of different ages and localities to deter- mine this question. Emys laniaria has a spot on the temple, but no distinct ring on the tympanum, only some crescent-shaped marks. The fore legs have yellow lines. The sternum is black beneath and on the lateral processes, with a pale margin and reddish stripe on the suture between the outer end of the pectoral and abdomi- nal plates and the inner edge of the marginal plates, very unlike the colouring of E.fiavipes. Indeed nothing can be more unlike than the colouring of the sides of the head, neck, and feet of these two species ; and they are both most distinct from Mauremys fuUginosa. Emys caspica. Upper jaw with aflat alveolar plate, rather broader behind, inner edge gradually tapering off towards the central line. Lower jaw with a rather broad slanting alveolar surface, with a sharp external margin and a very slightly raised internal edge. Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 299 Eryma. Upper jaw with flat alveolar plates, which are broad behind, much nan-owcr in front, and separated from each other by an impressed space. Lower jaw with a broad, concave, alveolar sm-face with a raised edge on the inner side and a much more raised edge on the outer side. Pseudemys concinna. The colouring of the head and neck is moderately permanent ; but the colouring of the back of the shell and underside of margin differs very considerably, and almost appears to be of a different type in each of the five specimens in the British Museum. Damonia macrocepJiala. Young shell with a central space, which diminishes into a small rhombic one in the half-grown animals. Sternum of young shell brown, with a whitish keel on each side. Older shells white, with a black blotch on each shield. The specimens first described were only half-grown ; and there are three very distinct keels, and the first dorsal is square. In the skeleton of an old specimen called Eniys subtrijuga, from the Leyden Museum, the middle of the back has a slight central keel ; and the lateral keels are very blunt, nearly obliterated, only making the middle of the back lower than the rest of the shell. The nuchal plate is generally much broader behind than in front. Damonia ohlonga. The colouring of the head and beak of the specimen from Batavia, which I have described under the name of Damonia ohlonga (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1871, viii. p. 3G7), is so ex- ceedingly like the other specimens of Damonia macrocepliala^ that I am inclined to consider it either a local or accidental variety of that species, having a much narrower oblong body and shell. Damonia Reevesii. Shell of adult animal very thick, about 4 inches long, and the vertebral antl costal bones under the keels much raised : indeed they produce the tubercular keels ; for the plates over them are comparatively thin and only conformable to the bones beneath. The first vertebral shield nearly as broad as long, and scarcely contracted on the sides ; the thin discal plates have a few obscm'c pale rays, most distinct near the margin. 300 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelomans. The sternum is quite flat. Tlie spots on tlie side of the nose are very distinct and slightly convex. The margin is much contracted at the openings, especially the hinder one, as in the Bataguridfe, The vertebrse are very small and slightly raised, and easily separated from the costal plates. Graptemys pseudogeographica. The head with a streak between the nose and each eye, and with a curved line behind each eye ; the streak varies greatly in width and distinctness, but is always present. The back of tlie shell varies in height ; but in some the back is sloping but flat on the side, and much elevated in the middle, forming a kind of penthouse. The claws vary greatly in length : in some only the three middle front claws are lengthened ; but in other spe- cimens all the claws, before and behind, are much lengthened and slender. Kachuga trilineata. Nuchal shield broad. Sternum of young shell with four square unossified spaces. Dorsal plates well developed ; lateral plates with nine unossified spaces on each side. Claws 5.4. Kachuga dentata. Nuchal plate broad. Batctffu?- lineata '*d," Gray, Cat. 36. Hob. South India, river Kiatna [Elliot). Known from the young of K. trilineata, because that has the sternum much sooner ossified, and has a brown spot on each vertebral plate, and a small brown spot on the hinder edge of each costal plate. Kachuga major, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 51. Nuchal shield linear, very narrow. Hob. India? Only known from a very young specimen of a large species. Tlie specimen, 4| inches long, has the ribs linear, very thin, only very slightly ossified near the vertebras. The sternum has three square spaces unossified. In a much larger speci- men this part is more ossified than in smaller specimens in the Museum. Ocadia sinensis. An adult specimen, 8| inches long, from Formosa is black and bluntly three-keeled, which is scarcely apparent in the t\\ o adult specimens that lived for a long time in the Zoolo- Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 301 gical Society's Gardens, and Avere described as Emyst Ben- nettii. The underside is white, with large solid black spots. KiNOSTERNON. The pelvis very large, the hinder rami long, cylindrical. The anterior part broad and concave in front, as in Sioanka. The skeleton of Staurotypus is very like that of Kinosternon and Swanka. SWANKA. The sternum of almost all the specimens is flat or slightly convex ; but in one specimen (g) in the British Museum, which has rather a large head, the sternum is very flat in front and concave, especially over the hinder cross suture. Sioanka scorpioides. The specimens appear to differ in the development and length of the tail, and in the strength of the spine at the end of it, which is strongest in the longest-tailed. These are said to be sexual differences ; but there is no difference in the form of the sternum, or of the caudal marginal plates, between the long- and short-tailed specimens. The three-keeled Swanka scorpioides generally has the caudal end of the sternum entire and rounded ; the single- keeled S. macxdata has this part truncated or notched, as is also the case in S.fasciata^ of which only a single specimen has been observed. The anterior lobes of the sternum covered by the postgular and pectoral plates united into one bone, with a straight suture. The abdominal plates cover four four-sided bones. The pre- anal and anal plates cover the hinder mobile flap, which con- sists of a pair of bones separated by a central suture. The pelvis has very long, slender lateral bones to the ver- tebree ; the front of the pelvis is very peculiar, having a large concavity occupying nearly the whole of its surface in front. The hinder toes are scarcely longer than the front ones. Hydromedusa. This genus may be divided into two subgenera. I. Hydromedusa. The head rather large, back of neck smooth. Front pair of marginal plates four-sided, broader than long ; the front ver- tebral plate oblong, transverse, as broad as the front marginal plates, Avith truncated sides ; the two hinder vertebral and 302 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. costal plates tubercular. Head and back of neck brown ; lower side of throat pale. * The second vertebral plate simple, and narrower than the first vertebral plate. 1. Hydromedusa Maximiliana. B.M. The front vertebral plate oblong, transverse, broad, and angularly bent at the sides ; the second vertebral plate four- sided, longer than broad, simple at the front lateral angles, and scarcely broader than the hinder end ; tlie hinder vertebral and costal plates with a prominent tubercle on the hinder edge. Front pair of marginal plates very large, four-sided, twice as broad as long. Sternum deeply concave behind. The intergular plate large and broad ; the angular part behind not so long as the front square part. Hah. Brazil. The second marginal plate on each side large, broad, pent- agonal, the inner side being, like the ninth marginal plate, biangular on the inner side. Tlie two last vertebral and costal plates tubercular. The sternum, on the suture between the two hinder pairs of plates, very deeply concave. ** Second vertebral plate with a narrow projecting lobe at the front lateral angles, rather wider than the first vertebral plate. 2. Hydromedusa platanensis^ Hand-list Sh. Kept. p. 64. B.M. Front vertebral plate very short, more than three times as broad as long, transverse, truncated at the ends ; second ver- tebral plate four-sided, longer than broad, with a small pro- jecting lobe at the front lateral angles, which project beyond the edge of the front vertebral plate. Front pair of marginal plates very large, broader than loug. The two hinder vertebral plates with a prominent tubercle on the hinder edge. Sternum flat both before and behind. Intergular plate large and broad, the angular part behind longer than the front square part. Hah. Rio de la Plata {Bravard). The tubercles on the vertebral and hinder costal plates are not nearly so large as those of H. Maximiliana ; and the last but one of the lateral plates is very broad, the angle in the middle of its inner side very acute, and extending far up along the hinder edge of the last costal. The front central bone behind the pelvis square, divided by a suture down the centre ; and the hinder bone between it and Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 303 the caudal marginal bones large, oblong, transverse, the hinder side being separated by an arehed suture from the upper hinder margin of the penultimate marginal bone. *** The second vertebral plate with broad projecting front lateral angles, which are much wider than the first vertebral plate. 3. Hydromedusa Bankce, Giebel, Zeitsehr. f. ges. Naturw. 1866, t. iv. The front marginal plates square, four-sided, rather broader than long. First vertebral plate oblong, more than twice as wide as long, truncated at the sides, rather widening behind, as broad in front as the two front marginal plates, the hinder edge arched ; the second vertebral plate as long as broad behind, much wider in front, with the front lateral angles produced beyond the sides of the front vertebral plate, and angular, with two short sides, the sides straight and gradually contracting to the width of the next* plate ; the other vertebral plates six- sided, not quite so long as broad. The hinder vertebral and costal plates do not appear to be tubercular. Hah. " Island of Banka" {Giehel). II. Chelomedusa. Head moderate, back of neck tubercular. Front pair of marginal plates subtriangular, broad on the inner side, narrow on the outer side ; the first vertebral plate narrow in front, and as wide as the four marginal plates, wide behind, with shelving sides. The hinder vertebral and costal shields not tubercular. Sternum flat. The head and upper part of neck dark brown, the upper lip and midersides of head and neck white. * The second vertebral plate moderate, with a narrow projecting lobe on the front lateral angle, as wide as the first vertebral plate. 4. Hydromedusa depressa^ Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 64. B.M. Front vertebral plate very short, transverse, narrow in front, twice as broad behind, and angular at the ends ; the second vertebral plate four-sided, longer than broad, with a small pro- jecting lobe at the front lateral angle, projecting as far as the hinder edge of the front vertebral plate. The front pair of marginal plates moderate, longer than broad. The costal and dorsal plates with a brown spot on the hinder part, without any tubercle. Sternum flat ; the front plates irregular in this specimen. Gray, Cat. Shield Kept. p. 60, t. xxvi. Hah. Brazil [Brandt). 304 Dr. J. E. Gray on Ghelonians. ** The second vertebral plate broader than the first vertebral plate in front, trimcated at the front lateral angle, contracted behind to the width of the front end of the third vertebral, with straight sides. 5. Hydromedusa flamlabris. B.M. The front pair of marginal plates subtriangular ; the front vertebral plate twice as broad behind as long. Hah. Brazil. This species is known from H. depressa by the smaller size of the front vertebral plate and the larger size and broader front lateral end of the second vertebral plate. It is unfortunate that we have only a single specimen of each of these species ; and it is possible that what have been con- sidered specific characters may be only sexual or accidental difierences. Hydjraspis dep>ressa. Back broadly keeled. Costals with an obscure keel towards the upper edge. The vertebral shields with an oblong spot on the hinder edge of each plate ; costal shields with a minute spot on the upper part of the hinder margin. The web with a white spot between each of the toes, Hydraspis Gaudichaudii. Young. Head large, back of neck smooth. Pale brown, minutely darker-speckled ; margin pale ; sternum and under- side of margin with a large rhombic black spot covering most part of the centre ; head brown, throat and lower part of sides of neck, including the tympanum, white, with small brown spots. Hah. Bahia. Hydraspis hicolor^ Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 65. Head moderate, brown, black-varied ; face with radiating short black spots and lines ; a streak from the back of the eye, over the ear, along the side of the neck ; tympanum white, with a black perpendicular stripe not reaching quite to the bottom ; chin white, Avhich is wider on the sides, and with a black spot in the middle. Shell oblong, depressed, black above and below ; the lower side of the disk, the sterno-costal suture, and the outer edge of the sternum white ; the sutures of the under- side of the marginal plates blackish. The limbs and feet blackish, with the lower sides of the thighs and hind legs grey, black-dotted. Hah. Demerara Falls. Dr. J. E. Gray on Ghelonians. 305 Hydraspis maculata. Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. Qb. Head large, Jbrown above and below, with a broad streak from nostrils, under the eye, continued along side of head, including ear and on the upper and lower lips ; back of neck smooth ; the hinder part of the throat white. Dorsal shield brown, with a white spot in the middle of the upper edge of the first costal. The underside of the margin, triangular marks on the upper edge of the margin, the sterno-costal sutures, the lateral sides of the front lobe, and the hinder part of the hinder lobe of the sternum pale. A rhombic spot occupying the greater part of the disk of the sternum dark brown ; this spot is acutely angular in front, and rounded behind. Hah. Tropical America. ACANTHOCHELYS. Head oblong ; chin two-bearded ; back of neck covered with conical spines. Thorax oblong, with a central longitudinal depression. Nuchal plate distinct. Anterior vertebral plate large (in the adult), about as long as broad, broad in front and narrow behind ; the second and third elongate, six-sided. Intergular plate broad, longer than the gular. Acanthochelys Spixiiy Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 66. Hydraspis Spixii. Hob. Brazil. In the British Museum we have a specimen of this species which is covered with short, rigid confervoid fibres. It was for many years in spirits, but has lately been stuffed. Mesoclemmys, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 66. Head moderate, depressed; eyes anterior; crown broad, extending to the occiput ; the sides rather concave, covered with regular-shaped shields — two pairs in front and two behind, and one elongated hexagonal central. Temples covered with polygonal shields. Tympanum large, superficial. Back of neck granular. Chin two-bearded. Shell solid, rather depressed. Nuchal shield distinct. Anterior vertebral shield elongate, wider behind ; the fourth and fifth keeled. This genus is between Hydraspis and Platemys in the form of the skull, but is known from both by the regular shields on the head. Ann. c& Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 20 306 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. Mesoclemmys gibha. Hydraspis gibha, Gray, Cat. Shield Kept. Platemys gibha, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. p. 416, t. xx. fig. 2 ? (bad). Hah. "Madagascar" (Parzudaki) j South America {Bihron). STERNOTHiERUS. Some specimens have a rather concave or flattened sternum, perhaps males ; they appear to have the anal shields larger and more produced. Others have the sternum slightly convex, and the anal plates not so much produced as in the female and young land-tortoises. Sternothcerus sinuatus, with the broad first vertebral, has the sternum very intense uniform black. 8. Derbianus, with the narrower first vertebral shield, has the sternum black on the margins and more or less white in the centre of the disk. Trionyx ? Dillioynii^ Hand-list Sh. Kept. p. 79. Head and body olive, uniform white beneath. Dorsal disk Avith close longitudinal, rather converging, rows of small granules. Head above olive, with several uniform narrow streaks becoming rather broader behind : — one from the side of the nose along the border of the upper lip, edging the white of the front of the throat; the second extending from the tip of the nose to the eye, through the eyelids, to the outer angle of the eye, and bent down behind over the tympanum. A central streak commencing before and extending between the eyes to the occiput, and with a branch on each side just behind the eyes, which is widened and extended on the upper part of the side of the neck. Hob. Borneo [Gutter). This species is very distinct in the colouring of the head ; and as there is only a single specimen, I cannot have the head extracted. We have lately received a beautiful skull of Isola pegu- ensis from Borneo ; but that is at once known from this species by the head being minutely and uniformly dotted with white. Emyda. The synonyraa of the two species are very much confused. 1 . Emyda granosa. The hinder callosities oblong and oblique, and diverging with reorard to each other. Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 307 This genus was first figured by Lacdp^de in 1788, in his 'Quadr. Ovipai;.' t. xi., under the name of "La Chagrin^e," from a specimen sent by Sonnerat from India. He does not represent the sternum, but only says it has seven callosities — three in front, two in the middle, and two behind ; so that it is impossible to determine to which it belongs. Shaw copies Lac^p^de's figure under the name of Testudo granidata. Schoepf, in his 'History of Tortoises' (1792)*, figures Tes- tudo granosa^ both the back and front (t. xxx. & xxx. b), from a specimen in the collection of Dr. Bloch, who received it from Dr. Johns from the Coromandel coast. He confounds it with the Testudo punctata of Lacepfede and the Testudo triunguis of Forskal. This figure represents the species with oblong, diverging, separate posterior sternal callosities ; and therefore it is for this species that the name of granosa must be retained. GeofFroy, in his memoir on Trionyx (Ann. Mus. 1809, vol. xiv.), describes a T/ionyx coromandelicus as having seven callosities on the sternum, without saying any thing about their shape, and only figures the bones of the back ; but from the habitat he quotes, Coromandel, and the observation of Cuvier quoted below, I have no doubt it was this species from conti- nental India. I figured the species from continental India with diverging posterior callosities, under the name of Trionyx jninctatus, in my 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology;' and it is figured under the same name in the ' Tortoises, Terrapins, and Turtles.' 2. Emyda ceylonensis. The hinder pair of callosities united by a straight central longitudinal suture the whole of their length, each of a quadran- gular shape, the hinder end being much narrower than the front ; the odd front callosity subcircular, being nearly as long as broad. Cuvier, in the 'Ossemens Fossiles,' evidently believed that the form of the hinder callosities altered with age, not observing their different directions. Thus he describes and figures the hinder pair as forming a quadrilateral which is broader in front (vol. V. p. 207, t. xii. f. 47) ; and he observes that M. GeofFroy, in the 'Ann. Mus.,' has described those of a young individual of this species, in Avhich the two hinder callosities have not yet united to form a quadrilateral ; this is why he * It is curious that in the copy of this work (publislied in 1792) in the library of Sir Joseph Uanks, which has been in the museum ever since his death, I had to cut open the pages I wanted to examine, showing how little original works are consulted. 20* 308 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Giiemul counts seven sternal callosities ; but in the adult brought by M. Leschenault there are only six. It is evident that he and GeoiFroy had two different species. MM. Dum^ril and Bibron (Erpdt. G^n. vol. ii. p. 501) adopt Cuvier's view, describing as the perfect specimen the one with the quadrilateral posterior callosities, and figuring it at t. xxii. f. 2a ; but the synonyma include both species. Dr. John Wagler, in his 'Nat. Syst. Amphib.' t.ii. f.22 & 23, figures a half-grown sternum imder the names of " jTno/i?/^ coromandelicusy Geoffroy, Tcstudo granosa^ Schoepf," a nearly adult sternum of the Ceylon species with parallel posterior callosities. There is in the British Museum a young specimen which may be dififerent ; for instead of having the back marked with various-shaped white spots or marblings, the back in spirits is pale brown, with regular, round, dark brown spots, those of the middle near the vertebral line being the largest, and those on the front of the dorsal shield more or less conliuent, forming three interrupted cross bands. It may be designated Emyda fuscomaculata. The inside of the hinder part of the shells has a group of two or three concavities on each side of the part behind the pelvis, producing a pair of more or less prominent convexities outside. In one specimen [d) of E. ceylonensis there is a prominence on the outside of the hinder part of the dorsal shell over each concavity. The same is to be observed in the inside of the shell of Cy- clanosteus senegalensis ; but there the cavity is single, more circular, and deeper, so that the substance left is translucent. XXXIV. — Additional Notes on the Guemul. By Dr. J. E. Geay, F.K.S. &c. From letters that I have received it appears that the Guemul of Molina is still not understood. There are in the British Museum three distinct species of deer to which this name has been applied ; and perhaps Molina's account of it, which was only from reports of travellers, may itself have referred to two or more species. Three species have been described ; and we have the skulls of all the species, and specimens of two of the animals, in the British Museum : — 1. Furcifer anttsiensis (Cervus antisiensis of D'Orbigny's 'Voyage,' t. 20), from the Bolivian Alps. Dr. J. E. Gray o?i the Gueinul. 309 2. Xenelaphus anomalocera, from Tinta in the Peruvian Andes. 3. Huamela leucotis [Capreolus leucotis^ Grray, P. Z. S. 1849, p. 64, t. xii.),from the Magellan Straits. These three animals differ in size — Furcifer antisiensis being the smallest, and Huamela leucotis the largest. They differ in colour : they all seem to have a summer and winter fur ; but in each state they are to be distinguished by the colour of their fur. They differ in the form of the skull and the size of the pit for the tear-gland. They have each a peculiarly formed horn, and hence are re- ferred to three different genera. It has been thought, as we only have one male of Xenelaphus, and the horns are very peculiar and the two sides unlike, that the specimen described and figured may be a monstrosity and not the usual form of the genus ; but should this be the case, which I do not think is likely, the surface of the horns and the form of the less- developed horn of the more usual shape, and which may be regarded as the normal shape of the species, is so unlike the horns of either of the two other species that, independently of the consideration of the size and colour of the animal and of the shape of the skull, it must be considered a most distinct species ; and, as I said in my original description of Xenelaphus (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 498), "if they (the horns) are not quite of the normal form, it is clear they are not a monstrosity of the regular forked horns of a Furcifer'''' (Cat. Ruminants, p. 89). MM. Gay and Gervais, in the 'Ann. Sci. Nat.' 1846, p. 91, describe a young deer without horns in the Paris Museum, which Gay brought from the higher regions of Chili, under the name of Cervus chilensis, observing that it is very like in size, skull, and fur to Cervus antisiensis of D'Orbigny, but that it is too young to have horns to com- pare with the horns of that animal. Gay, in the Atlas to his ' Historia de Chile,' figures this young animal and the skull. Dr. Philippi, in Wiegmann's 'Archiv' for 1870, p. 46, says that Gay's animal is C. antisiensis of D'Orbigny, perhaps believing that there was only one South-American roebuck. The figure of tlie skull is very like the skull Avhich Mr. Whitely brought from the Peruvian Andes, and which I called Xenelaphus anomalocera. The figure of the young animal is very like that of the skin in winter fur which we received from Lord Derby, from the coast of Peru. The figure of it and the skin agree with the specimens of Xenelaphus we received from Mr. Whitely in 310 Eoynl Society : — being white on the front edge of the thighs, by which both are distinguished from Hiiamela leucotis ; so I am inclined to believe that the animal which Gay and Gervais described is probably a young specimen in the winter fur of that species, and certainly not Huamela leucotis. We only know Cervus antisiensis of D'Orbigny from his figure, which is very different (especially by the pale throat and chest and by its horns) from Xenelap/ms and Huamela. Unfortunately D'Orbigny does not figure the skull. The skull which we received from the Zoological Society as the skull of this species has slightly developed and deformed horns ; and if it is rightly determined (I do not know any other deer it can be referred to), it has a very much smaller and slighter impression for the tear-gland than the other two species, and therefore it is probably distinct ; but it would be very desirable to obtain other specimens. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ROYAL SOCIETY. Feb. 20, 1873. — Rear-Admiral Richards, C.B., Vice-President iii the Chair. "On the Anatomy and Histology of the Land-Planarians of Ceylou, with some Account of their Habits, and a Description of two new Species, and with Notes on the Anatomy of some European Aquatic Species." By H. N. Moseley, M.A., Exeter College, Oxford. The writer commences by expressing his great obhgations to Professor Rolleston, whose pupil he formerly was. Professor Rolleston first informed him of the existence of Land-Planarians in Ceylon, and of the importance of investigating them. The paper was at first intended to be a joint one ; and Professor Rolleston himself made a number of preparations of Rhynchodemus, one of wliich is figured. He likewise rendered great aid in the bibliography, and by constant suggestions and assistance during the progress of the work. Two new species of Land-Planarians from Ceylon are described : — one belonging to the genus Bipalium (Stimpson), B. Geres ; the other to that of Rhynchodemus, R. Thwaitesii, so called after Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites, F.R.S., the illustrious curator of the Peradeniya Gardens, by whose assistance the specimens made use of were procured. Lists are given of all the known species of Bijxdium and Rhyncho- demus, and also a map to show the distribution of Bipaliatn in space. On the Anatomy of the Land-Planar ians of Ceylon. 311 With regard to the habits of Bipalium, the most interesting facts noted are that these animals use a thread of their body- sUme for suspension in air, as aquatic Planarians were observed to do for their suspension in water by Sir J. Dalyell, and the cellar-shig does for its suspension in air. The projection of small portions of the anterior margin of the head in the form of tentacles, originally observed by M. Humbert, becomes interest- ing in connexion \^ith the discovery of a row of papillae and ciliated pits in that region. The anatomy of the Planarians was studied by means of vertical and longitudnial sections from hardened specimens. The skin in Bipal'mm and RhpicJiodemus closely conforms to the Planarian ty^e, but is more perfectly differentiated histologically than in aquatic species, and approaches that of the leech in the distribution, colour, and structure of its pigment, and especially in the arrangement of the glandular system. The superficial and deep glandular system of the leech are both here represented. In B. Ceres peculiar glandular structures exist, which may fore- shadow the segmentaj organs of Annelids, it being remembered that these segmental organs are solid in an early stage of develop- ment. Eod-like bodies (Stabchen or stabchenformige Korper) are present in abundance, though, singularly enough. Max Schultze failed to find any in Geoplana. These rod-like bodies are probably homologous with the nail-hke bodies of Nemertines ; and it is pos- sible that the setae of AnneUds are modifications of them. No light is thrown by the structure of these bodies in Bipalium on the question whether they are homologous with the urticating organs of Ccelenterata, The musciilar arrangement in Bipalium, which is very complex, throws great light on the homologies between the muscular layers of Turhellaria and those of other Vermes. It is commonly said that whilst in all other Vermes the external muscular layer is circular, and the longitudinal internal, in Turbellarians the reverse is the case. A wide gulf is thus apparently placed between these groups. In Bipalium there is an external circular muscular coat, which even presents the same imbricated structure which is found in it in leeches and other worms. In Dendrocoelum lacteum there is also an external circular coat. In cases where a distinct external circular muscular coat is absent, it is represented by a thick membrane, which is very probably contractile. The ques- tion resolves itself simply into a more or less perfect fibrillar differentiation of that membrane. All Turbellarians are built on the same essential type, as regards muscular arrangement, as are other worms. The general muscular arrangements in the bodies of the Bijxdinm and JRhi/nchodemus ha\e become much modified from those of flat Planarians by the pinching together and condensation of the body ; but they are nevertheless referable to the same t}'pe. The digestive tract consists of three tubes (one anterior, tA\o posterior), as in other Planarians, and as in the embryo leech before the formation of the anus. Characteristic of land-Planarians, 312 lioyal Society: — and consequent on the condensation of the body, is the absence of all diverticula from the inner aspects of the two posterior digestive tubes. This is found to be the case in Geoplana, Bipalium, RhyncJiodemus, and Oeodesmus. The close approximation of the intestinal diverticula in Bipalium and Rhynchodemus, and the reduction of the intervening tissue to a mere membranous septum is very striking, and seems to foreshadow the con- dition of things in Annelids. The great difference in the form of the mouth in Rhyiicliodemus and Blpalium is also remarkable, considering the many points in which these forms are closely allied. A pair of large water-vascular trunks, or, as they are here termed, primitive vascular trunks, are conspicuous objects in transverse sections of the bodies of Bipalium and Rhynchodemus. A peculiar network of connective tissue is characteristic of these vascular canals on section, and is shown to present exactly similar features in Leptoplana tremeUaris, Dendroccelum lacteum, and Bothrio- cepluxlus latus. The close agreement in the relative position of the oviducts to the vascular canals in Dendroccdum and our land- Plauarians is very remarkable. This primitive vascular system is homologous with the body-cavity present in the embryo leech and in Branchiobdella throughout life. It is not necessarily an excretory system, though the term water-vascular system has been generally considered to imply such a function for it. The nerves and ganglia of Planarians lie within the primitive vascular system, as do the corresponding structures within the primitive body-caAdty of the leech. Branches from the primitive vascular system in Bipalium serve to erect the penis, and probably supply the glandular tissue with fluid for secretion ; others possibly proceed to the ciliated sacs in the head, and perform an excretory function. A small marine Planarian was found to contain haDmoglobin. In Bijxdium there are a series of separate testes disposed in pairs, as in the leech. In Rhynchodemus the testicular cavities are more closely packed, and follow no such definite arrangement. The ovaries are simple sacs in both Bipalium and Rhynchodemus, and are placed very far forward in the head, a long distance from the uterus. In Bipalium short branches given off from the posterior portions of the oviduct are the rudiments of a ramified ovary, such as exists in Dendroccelum lacteum. There are also glands present, which probably represent the yelk-glands and shell-making glands of aquatic Planarians in a more or less rudimentary condition. There is a comparatively simple penis and female receptive cavity in both Bipalium and Rhynchodemus. In Bipcdium, there is, further, a glandular cavit_y at the base of the penis (prostate). The organs described as nervous ganglia by Blanchard in Polycladus are almost certainly its testes and ovaries ; and therefore the arrange- ment of these bodies in Polycladus is the same as that in Bipalium. The chain of nervous ganglia described as existing in Bipalium {^phyrocephalus) by Schmarda, and which has been referred to On the Anatomy of the Land-PJanarians of Ceylon. 313 by so many authors, does not exist. There is no doubt that Schmarda mistook the ovaries and testes for ganglia. The real nervous system is ill-defined, but appears to consist of a network of fibres without ganglion-cells, which lies within the primitive vascular canals. In Leptoplana tremellaris the structure of the ganglionic masses is remarkably complex in the arrangement of the fibres ; and well-defined ganglion-cells of various sizes are pre- sent and have a definite arrangement. Numerous eye-spots are present in Bipalium, most of them being grouped in certain regions in the head, but some few being found all over the upper surface of the body, even down to the tail. The eye-spots appear to be formed by modification of single cells. In Rhynchodemus two eyes only are present. All gradations would appear to exist, between the simple unicellular eye-spot of Bipalium and the more complex eye of Leptoplana or Oeodesmus, where the lens is split up into a series of rod-like bodies, forming apparently a stage towards the compound eyes of Articulata. It is quite probable that these compound eyes have arisen by such a spHtting-up into separate elements of a single eye, and not by fusion of a group of unicellular eyes, such as those of Bipalium. A pecuhar papillary band runs along the lower portion of the margin of the head of Bipalium. The delicate papillae are in the foru) of half cylinders, ranged vertically side by side. Between the upper extremities of the papillse are the apertures of peculiar ciliated sacs. The papillse, from the mode in which the animal makes use of them, are probably endowed with a special sense- function. The sacs may have a similar office, or they may be in connexion with the primitive vascular system, and have an excre- tory function ; they may further be homologous with the ciliated tubes in Nemertines. In considering the general anatomy of Bipalium, it is im- possible to help being struck by the many points of resemblance between this animal and a leech. Mr. Herbert Spencer has, in his ' Principles of Biology,' placed a gulf between Plauarians and Leeches by denoting the former as secondary, the latter as tertiary aggregates, so called because consisting of a series of secondary aggregates formed one behind the other by a process of budding. It is obvious, however, that a single leech is directly comparable to a single Bipalium. The successive pairs of testes, the position of the intromittent generative organs, the septa of the digestive tract, and, most of all, the pair of posterior caeca are evidently homologous in the two animals. Further, were leeches really tertiary aggregates, the fact would surely come out in their development, or at least some iudication of the mode of their genesis would survive in the development of some annelid. Such, however, is not the case. The young worm or leech is at first unsegmented, like a Planarian ; and the traces of segmentation appear subsequently in it, just as do the protovertebrae in verte- brates which Mr. Spencer calls secondary aggregates. If Mr. Spencer's hypothesis were correct, we should expect to find at least 314 Royal Society. some xliiuelitl developing its segments in the egg as a series of buds. It is not, of course, here meant to be concluded that Annelids are not sometimes in a condition of tertiary aggrega- tion, as Nais certainly is when in a budding condition, but that ordinarily they are secondary and not tertiary aggregates ; and if so, then so also are Arthropoda. Much more information concerning the anatomy of Plauarians will be required before it will be possible to trace the line of descent of Blpalium and Rhijtwhodemus, and determine what was the form of their aquatic ancestors. In the absence of accurate accounts of the structure of the American Land-Planarians, and even of the European Rh)/nchodemus terrestris, the question is very puzzling. The formation of either one of the two forms Bipalium or Rliynchodemus might be accounted for with com- parative ease, from the arrangement of parts in the flat head of Bipalium. From the tree-like branching of the digestive tract in that region, the corresponding ramification of the vascular system, and general muscular arrangement, it might be imagined that Bipalium had come from a flattened parent of the common Planarian form, and that all the body except the head had become rounded and endowed with an ambulacral line. In nearly all points, except the eyes and the absence of branches to the oviduct, Bipalium seems more highly specialized than R/u/ncJiorJemus. We might imagine that Rhi/nchodemus and Bij>alium had a common parent, and that when an ambulacral line was just beginning to be developed the two forms took different lines — Rhynchodemus losing all traces of the original flatness of its ancestor, and never developing any ciliated sacs or papillfP, but cherishing a single pair of large eyes at the expense of all the rest which it possessed, its testes, moreover, remaining in a comparatively primitive con- dition. But then comes the difficulty about the great difference in shape in the pharvnxes of the two forms ; and if it be suggested that, as is highly probable, several or many aquatic Planarian s have taken to terrestrial habits, and that Bipalium has been derived from a form like Leptoplana, with a folded pharpix, whilst Rhynchodemns came from an ancestor \^"ith a tubular one, it is difficult to account for the many points of close resemblance between these two forms, and especially their similarity in ex- ternal colouring, though this latter may perhaps be explained ])y mimicry. On the whole, it is evident that a close study of the anatomy of Land-Planarians caimot fail to lead to interesting results ; and it is hoped that this memoir may lead to further work of the same kind. It would be of especial value to have a good account of the anatomy of Geodesmus and Rhytu-hodevms sylvaticu^. Miscellaneous. 315 MISCELLANEOUS. Fabtdous Australian Animals. By Gerard Krefft. [To the Editor of tin Sydney Mail. BuNTipg and fabulous animals and the remains of some beast found in the maw of a shark by Dampier, at Shark's Bay, were no doubt referable to a dugrong. Dampier's " racoons " are of course " wal- labies." The " guana " is probably our large " water-lizard " {Pky~ sifjnathus Lesneurii). The " stump-tailed lizards " are the western Trachydisaurus rugosm, good to eat, though Dampier did not like their looks. The birds ligured represent an avocet, two terns, and an oyster-catcher. The " hippopotamus " head (and " boans ") with hairy lips, with two teeth, eight inches long and as big as a man's thumb, were a dugong's upper incisor teeth, being correctly de- scribed "■ small at one end andja little crooked." A dugong-authority says : — " The front portion of the upper and lower jaws of a dugong is covered (in the recent state) with a horny covering. The whole substance is composed hi bristles about one-eighth of an inch in length." (Knox, Cat. Pref. 37, 1838.) With regard to my remarks about the salmon, I repeat that the salmon (Sahno salar) has not yet been successfully introduced into Tasmania. I would advise my friends, if they have more money to spend, to try Californian salmon-ova. The imported " carp " and " tench," and the " common European perch ", have made havoc with the native fishes in Tasmanian rivers. Why are not some of our perch obtained ? They would at least be " Australian," and far superior to the European freshwater fishes, I also mentioned " Tasmanian tigers " as about to be discovered in the far north. Let me explain in a few words that these tigers are " an illusion and a snare." Mr. Walter J. Scott, of Herbert Vale, Cardwell, communicates to the London Zoological Society the imprint of certain tracks of some unknown visitor, " who roared," &c. (Proceedings Zoological Society, 1872, p. 355). Concluding his remarks to Dr. Sclater, the secretary, Mr. Scott states thus: — " I think that I have already mentioned to you that a bullock-driver of ours, as long ago as 1864, came in one day with a story that he had seen a tiger ; but as he was a notorious liar, we did not believe a word of it at the time. Yet it is 2)ossible he may really have seen the same animal, which must, I think, from its claws, be allied to the Tasmanian thylacine." Mr. Hull, licensed surveyor, who supplied the footprints of the " native tiger " which the Zoological Society engraved and published, has corr't'ctly figured the impression of the fore foot of a dog. This is interesting, and proves that there are dogs at Cardwell, in Northern Queensland. If your readers will allow me, I can point out the difference between the foot of a native Tasmanian tiger and a dog. Every dog's fore foot marks four toes, like the Zoological Society's drawing ; but a Tasmanian tiger marks five. 316 Miscellaneous. "Bushmen" may argue that the marks were those of the "hind foot " of a " tiger," which has only four toes, though few bushmeu probably know it ; but I reply that in the four-toed hind foot of a thylacine the whole " sole" of the foot goes on to the ground. I advise Mr. Scott " to give it up," and catch the roaring tiger first before he puts the society to further expense in illustrating " footprints of dog's feet." Preliminary Descriptions of three new Species of Cetacea from the Coast of Oalifornia. By W. H. Dall, U. S. Coast Survey. DeJphinus Bairdii, n. sp. Back, posterior sides, fins, and flukes black ; anterior sides grey, with two narrow white lateral stripes ; a white lanceolate belly- patch. Dorsal falcate ; beak slender, elongated. Length 6 feet 7 inches to 6 ft. 9 in. Length of skull 18-76 in. ; length of beak before the notches 11-9 in. ; height of skull at vertex 6 in. ; greatest breadth at zygomatic process of squamosals G'95 in. ; breadth between maxillary notches 3-4 in., ditto at middle of beak 2 in. Teeth ||-; the anterior six on each side very small, not projecting above the gums. Two female specimens. Cape Arguello, California (Scammon, 1872), of which one entire skeleton has been forwarded to the National Museum at Washington. This species belongs to the restricted genus Delphinus of Gray, and is peculiar from its extremely attenuated beak and very deep channels on each side of the palate behind. The superior aspect of the skull resembles that of Chpnenia microps, Gray. It differs from all the described species of the genus in colour and osteological cha- racters, and will be fully described in the forthcoming monograph of the Pacific Cetacea by Capt. C. M. Scammon, U.S.R.M., to whom I am indebted for the opportunity of describing this and the following species. It is dedicated, by request of Capt. Scammon, to Prof. S. F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution. Tursiops Gillii, n. sp. DuU black, lighter on the belly. Dorsal low, falcate. Teeth ^. Monterey, California. Lower jaw : length from end of beak to condyles 16-8 in., ditto to end of coronoid process 15-8 in., ditto to end of tooth-line 9*3 in. ; length of symphysis 2 in. ; width between outer edges of condyles 9-75 in., between two posterior teeth 3-5 in. ; height of ramus at coronoid process 4'4 in. The material for identification of this species is unfortunately very small, being only the lower jaw and outlines of the animal drawn by Capt. Scammon. It does not appear to have been described; and the only other species of the genus described from the Pacific is the T. catalania, Gray, from N.W. Australia, which is described as being lead-coloured. It is dedicated to Prof. Theodore Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, whose memoirs on the Cetacea and Pinni- pedia of the Pacific are already classical, by desire of Capt. Scammon. Miscellaneous. 317 Grampus Stearnsii, n.sp. Colours dark, but variable ; the anterior portion of the body white, and the sides of the body more or less mottled with grey. Dorsal high and slightly falcate. Animal 12 or 15 feet loug ; teeth ^ or ^. Coast of California. Two lower jaws of this animal are in my hands for examination ; and, but that no Grampus has been described from the Pacific, I should hesitate about applying a specific name to them. Gray has, indeed, catalogued a Grampus (?) sakamata (!) from Japan, based on a Japanese account quoted by Schlegel ; but the genus is by no means certain, the descriptions are conflicting, and the species rests on no scientific basis. The jaws referred to are attributed by Captain Scammon to his " white-headed grampus," and measure from the end of the beak to the condyles 17"5 in., ditto to coronoid process 16*2 in. ; height of ramus at coronoid process 5 in. ; length of symphysis 2 in. ; height of gonys 2 in. ; width between outer corners of condyles 14 in., ditto at inferior dental foramen 7 in. Teeth in one specimen three, and in the 'other^four on each side near the tip, pointed, solid, shaped like an orange-seed, and extending forward and outward. Fuller descriptions of this and the last species will be given in .the work referred to. The present species is dedicated, by Capt. Scam- mon's wish, to Mr. R. E. C. Stearns of San Francisco, well known for his researches in natural history. — Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Jan. 29, 1873. On Hypermetamorphosis in Palingenia virgo, and on the Analoyies of its Larva with the Crustacea. By M. N. Jolt. M. Joly has ascertained that the larva of Palingenia virgo, when just hatched, has no visible nervous system, no circulatory apparatus, and no organs of respiration. The antennae and the caudal setse have not yet the number of joints or the viUosity which they wiU afterwards acquire. The branchiae appear at a subsequent period in the form of little tubular caeca placed at the posterior angles of the first six segments of the abdomen. These tubular branchiae after- wards become converted into membranous expansions, which act not only as organs of respiration, but also as very powerful locomo- tive organs. The circulation, which had at first manifested itself as. a simple oscillation of the blood, becomes perfected, and the contrac- tions of the dorsal vessel become very visible. These facts have probably the merit of novelty as regards the spe- cies under investigation ; but the author is mistaken in supposing them to be new in the history of insects. M. Joly seems to be igno- rant of the memoirs on the development of insects which have been published out of France during the last ten years. Especially he was unacquainted with the remarkable observations of Sir John Lubbock on Chloeon dimidiatum, an Ephemeride nearly allied to Palingenia virgo. The English naturalist has described in the greatest detail the numerous moults of the larva, the increase in 318 Mtscellaneous. the number of joints of the antennae and caudal seta3, the curioua development of the eyes, the appearance of the respiratory organs and their gradual transformation, &c. Not one of the points touched on by M. Joly, but has been already treated with a master hand by Lubbock. Every thing seems to go on in an identical manner in the two larvae, except as regards the caudal setae. Thus M. Joly figures an embryo of Palingenia, artificially released from the egg before hatching, in which Ave see the three caudal sette equal to each other ; in the CMoeon, on the contrary, only the two lateral filaments exist in the very young larva, the median filament being developed only at a later period and gradually. The metamorphosis is therefore more complete in this respect in Chloeon than in Palin- rienla. This difference is not of great importance, and would not have sufficed to lead us to dwell upon M. Joly's memoir; but the conclusions which the author draws from his observations seem to us to be erroneous and to requii-e contradiction. M. Joly thinks he has discovered a new case of hypermetamorpJiosis, and tries to find in the development oi Palingenia evidence of a trans- ition between Insects and Crustacea. How can the development of the larvae of the Ephemeridae, which takes place so gradually, without sudden and stronglj- marked trans- formations and without the intercalation of pupoid forms, be com- pared with that of Sitaris, in which M. Fabre has ascertained the existence of a primitive larva, a second larva, a 2'>seiido-pupa, and a third larva, forms which mark so many phases clearly separated from each other ? In the Cantharidae there are metamori)hoses during the larval state ; in the Ephemeridae there are only changes of skin accompanied by those gradual changes which constitute pre- cisely the character of the Tnsecta Hemimetabola. If we should apply the name of hypermetamorphosis to the larval development of the Ephemeridae, which is so continuous and so graduated, what name shall we have to coin for the curious transformations of the Pteromalina) described by Ganin?* As to the transition between the Insects and Crustacea, which the author desires to establish upon vague analogies between certain systems of organs, it seems to us to be rather rash. We can suppose the existence of a common stock from which the Insecta and the Myriopoda would have originated, or at least a portion of the latter. These two classes are bound together in existing nature by the Or- thoptera (Thysanura) on the one hand and the Chilopoda on the other. The genera which form the bridge between the two groups are Nicoletia, Campodia, Seolop>endreUa (S. immaculata), and perhaps Pauropus. It is even difficult to decide absolutely whether Scolo- pendrella should be referred to one class or the other. But the affinities between the Orthoptera and the Crustacea are certainly much more distant, and we must ascribe the value of homologies to mere superficial analogies. — A. Humbert, Bibl. Univ. December 15, 1872, Bull. Sci. p. 415. * "Beitrage zur Erkenntniss der Entwickelungsgeschichte bei den In- sekten," Zeitsclir. fiir wiss. Zool. Bd. xix. (1869) pp. 881-451. Miscellaneous. 319 Deep-water Fauna of Lake Michigan. By P. R. Hor, M.D. At a distance of sixteen to twenty miles off Racine the water in Lake Michigan is from fifty to seventy fathoms deep. The bottom, at these depths, is composed of an impalpable dark-coloured mud, interspersed with depressions containing quantities of partially decayed leaves intermingled with the muddy deposits. It is on these " mud flats " that the fishermen capture, in gill-nets, the largest and finest whitefish and trout. The food of the whitefish had never been ascertained. In order to solve this problem, I secured large quantities of the stomachs of fish caught in various depths ; by diluting the ingesta, I was enabled to determine on what the fish subsisted. During these investiga- tions I became deeply interested in the new forms of animal life that swarmed in the deep water— fish that never visit the shore, crusta- ceans that live only in the profound depths of the lake. I discovered three species of fish, four species of small crustaceans, and one mol- lusk, all new to science. The fish I sent to the Smithsonian Insti- tution at Washington : they were placed in the hands of that accom- plished naturalist, Prof. Theodore Gill, who described and named them. WTien I sent the fish to Prof. Baird, I asked him to whom I should send the crustaceans ? who was the best authority on that branch of natural history ? His answer was, we had in the West the very man, the best authority in America on the Crustacea, Dr. William Stimpson, Secretary of the Chicago Academy of Science. I record here this fact in justice to Prof. Stimpson and the West. Two of the fish belong to the genus Argyrosotmis, a genus pro- posed by Agassiz to include that section of whitefish having a pro- jecting under jaw. The Argyrosomus Hoyi, Gill, is the smallest of the whitefish so far found in any of the great lakes, it being only about 8 inches in length, and weighing one fourth of a pound. The " Mooneye," as it is called by the fishermen, is an excellent pan-fish ; but its small size renders it unsuitable for market. Trout devour large numbers of these little beauties, as they constitute a large share of their food. The Mooneye is only found in water over forty fathoms. The Black-fin, Argyrosomus nigripinnis, Gill, is a large and beau- tiful fish, having black fins. It has never been caught in less than sixty, and does not occur abundantly in less than seventy fathoms. During the sunmier of 1871 there was not a single Black-fin taken off Racine, as the fishermen did not go so far into the lake as they did the previous season. The third species of fish was taken from the stomach of a trout, caught in the deepest water. It belongs to the Cottus family, and is closely allied to Triglopsis Thomj^sonii , Girard, if not identical. Triglopsis Thompsonii was taken (by Prof. Baird) from the stomach of a Lota maculosa caught in Lake Ontario in 1850, since which time not a specimen has been taken, I am informed by the Professor, unless this be the same fish taken now from the trout, as before mentioned. Prof. Gill thinks it is probably an undescribcd species, 320 Miscellaneous. near T. TJiompsonii. If this prove so on further investigation, it will be named Tnglopsis Stimpsonii What is peculiarly interesting about this small fish is, that it is a salt-water rather than a fresh- water form. Judging from the quantity of fragments belonging to this species obtained from the stomachs of trout caught in the deep water, it must be by no means rare, I submitted the minute crustaceans to Dr. Stimpson, who detected three species of freshwater shrimps belonging to the genus Gamma- rus, and one species of Mysis, a marine genus, many species of which are found in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The small shell found with the crustaceans, in the stomachs of the whitefish, proved to be an undescribed species of Pisid'mm. These discoveries were considered of sufficient importance to justify the undertaking of a dredging-expedition. Professors Stimpson and Andrews, with Mr. Blatchford, of Chicago, represented the Chicago Academy of Science, while Drs. Lapham and Hoy represented the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Letters. On the 24th of June, 1870, we steamed into the lake, out of sight of land, and spent the entire day in dredgimj in a most enjoyable and, to science, profitable manner. We procured living specimens of those crustaceans which I had previously obtained from the stomachs of whitefish. But, with every exertion, wc were not able to keep them alive above a few hours. Fitted, as they are, to sustain the great pressure of from fifty to seventy fathoms of water, when this was taken off, death was the inevitable result. I here subjoin a catalogue of all the animals thus far known to inhabit the deep water off" Racine : — Ganimarus Hoyi, Stimpson. brevistilus, Stimpson. filicornis, Stimpson. Mysis diluvianus, Stimpson. Pisidium abyssorum, Stimpson. Salmo amethystus, Mitchel. Coregonus sapidissimus, Agassiz. latior, Agassiz. Argyrosomus Hoyi,6V//. nigripinnis, GiU. Triglopsis Thompsonii, G'trarc?. Also one species of parasitic leech, found fastened to whitefish, and a small white Planaria. In conclusion, the occurrence of marine forms {Mysis and Tn- glopsis) goes far to prove that Lake Michigan was once salt — had direct communication with the ocean. As it gradually became ele- vated above the sea, it would naturally take many years to expel the salt water, especially as its greater specific gravity would cause it to sink and remain long in the lake — time sufficient for the animals to become acclimated to the changed condition of things. It is barely possible that salt springs at the bottom of the lake may have mate- rially retarded the change, and that even now there may be brackish water in the greatest depths. This seems the more probable, since the salt-bearing strata occur in Michigan. We made an efibrt to solve the query ; but, owing to the imperfection of the apparatus, I am not certain that the negative was proved. — Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci. ^c. 1870-72, pp. 98-101, THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [FOURTH SERIES.] No. 65. MAY 1873. XXXV. — On the Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo as the Basis of Genealoyical Classification of Animals^ and on the Origin of Vascular and Lymph Systems'^ . By E. Ray Lankester, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of Exeter College, Oxford. A "natural" classification in modern zoology — in the zoology which recognizes in the various forms of living things the expression of one part of the general result proceeding from the continuous operation of physical forces — is a genealogical tree. In this tree, as in a family pedigree, no arbitrary arrangement is admissible, no association or separation of organic forms in harmony with theories of types, or with reference to symmetry and the vested interests of subkingdoms, classes, and orders. The simple questions are : — Have we grounds for believing this lot of forms to have a common an- cestry with that lot? Which of these, again, give evidence of closer kinship? and which represent diverging lines of descent ? The evidence at our disposal for answering these questions satisfactorily, with regard to the innumerable varieties of plants and animals, is at the present time small indeed, but is increasing with great rapidity. The fact that we are able to classify organisms at all in ac- cordance with the structural characteristics which they present is due to the fact of their being related by descent ; and the * The substance of the following pages formed part of a course of lectures on the classification of animals, commenced in the University Museum, Oxford, during Michaelmas term, 1872. Ann. & May. N. Hist. Ser. 4. lo^. xi. 21 322 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the classifications in vogue before the recognition of the origin of organic forms by descent may be regarded as unconscious attempts to answer the questions above put before they had been rightly formulated. The chief means which the naturalist at present possesses of making out the genealogical tree of the animal kingdom lie in the fact that the individual animals living at the present day, in the process of reproduction, revert to the original simple condition (or nearly so) from which they have in the course of long ages been evolved as specific forms. The doctrine of evolution teaches us that at a certain period in the history of this planet such albuminoid substances as protoplasm came, by gradual buikling-up, into existence. From such protoplasm, by slow continuous development, due to its properties of heredity and adaptation, all living forms have proceeded by direct descent. Strangely enough, a simple spheroid of protoplasm (nucleated or not) is the form under which the detached repro- ductive particle of each living organism makes its appearance, and from such a spheroid every individual living thing has been more or less directly developed within the space of a few days or weeks. In passing from this simple condition to its adult form the individual goes through a series of changes, which are now explained by what may be termed "the recapitulation hypothesis," which supposes that the individual organism in thus developing repeats more or less completely the successive series of forms whicli its ancestry has presented in the course of past ages ; in fact the development of the individual is an epitome of the development of the species. This tendency to recapitulate, which is the fullest expression of the phenomenon termed heredity, is liable to be masked in its effects in two chief ways, due to adaptation — namely, the tendency to develop directly to the adult form without exhibiting any ancestral phases, and the tendency to develop evanescent organs for the temporary wants of the young organism. The discrimination of the appearances due to these distinct factors is the task of modern embryology. It is clear that in projDortion as this can be effected we have in our hands in the recapitulation hypo- thesis tlie means of determining the pedigree of all organisms. Comparative anatomy (the morphology of adult organisms), so far as it establishes identity of structure in certain groups of organisms, widens the significance of a developmental history worked out in one member of such a group, and furnishes suggestions of the highest value in the disentanglement of the hereditary and adaptational factors of such a history. The remains of extinct forms have a specially suggestive value ; but paleontology as a wliole, taken in connexion with Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 323 the study of geographical distribution, furnishes, with regard to such groups of organisms as have been preserved in the con- dition of fossils, a distinct and independent mass of evidence, enabHng the naturalist to sketch out parts of the genealogical tree, thus supplementing and independently reiterating the conclusions drawn from embryology. It is only within the last ten, or, we may almost say, the last five years that the development of animals, especially of the Invertebrata, has begun to be studied with the requisite minuteness. Stimulated by the Darwinian theory and the recapitulation hypothesis, naturalists are beginning to apply the highest powers and new methods * of examination to the study of the development of all kinds of organisms, so as to trace out cell by cell the complete history of the elaboration of the complex adult from the simple ovum. It is only now that the first changes in the &^g (the first dispositions of the embryonic cells) are becoming known in a sufficiently widely varied series of form's to enable the naturalist to form genera- lizations. It is only by slow degrees that those species are being found out which conserve precious records in their pregnant infancies, often not even hinted by the uneventful life- histories of their nearest congeners. A commencement only has been made, but one of great promise, by the researches of Fritz Miiller ('Fiir Darwin'), Weissmanf, KowalewskyJ, Ed. van Beneden§, Hackelll, and others, from which we may, I think, draw conclusions of the greatest importance for genea- logical classification. It would not be surprising if the facts of development were to lead to another primary grouping of the animal kingdom than that indicated in the four Cuvierian types or the six or seven types now generally adopted, or should assign to those great divisions unequal significance. They are con- fessedly groupings based upon the anatomy of the adult or- * The method of hardening the developing egg, imbedding it in a matrix, and then cutting thin sections, has only quite recently been ap- plied to Invertebrata, chiefly by Russian naturalists. t Embryology of the Diptera (Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zool. 1865-06). \ A series of papers, in the Memoirs of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg (1867-71), on the development of Ctenophora, A.8C\A.\&, Amphi- oxtfs, Sagitta, Euaxes, Lumhricus, Apis, and Ilydrophilus. § A series of papers on the development of the (irefiarina of the lobster and of various Crustacea {Nehalia, 31i/sis, Sacculina, &c. ), in the Bulletins of the Belgian Academy, 1869-72. Also prize memoir, in the same Academy's Transactions,' on "The Signification of the Parts of the Egg." II Moiiograph of the Monera, Jenaische Zeitschr. 1868 ; Generelle Mor- phologic, 1867 ; The Organization of the Sponges and their Relationship to the Corals, Jenaische Zeitschr., and Ann. k Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, v. pp. 1 \- 107. 21* 324 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the ganism ; and therefore necessarily there has been a tendency in forming thern to attach great importance to distinct plans of structure due to a secondary adaptation, whilst the fundamental community of organization has been ignored with something like intention. Von Baer's coincidence with Cuvier in his establishing four modes of development, marking out groups of the same value as the latter's '^embranchements," is due to the fact that fifty years ago the condition of biological science did not allow even the great philosophic student of embryology to go more deeply into the problem. He pointed out four modes in which the later adaptation of animals may proceed ; but he was unable at that time to bring into consideration the details of the previous stages of the history. It was under his immediate influence that the invaluable memoirs of Kowalewsky have been produced. It is, then, to be borne in mind that the four types of Baer and Cuvier represent essentially four modes of mechanical adaptation, and might be assumed, as, indeed, in some cases they are, by organisms exhibiting divergent characters of an earlier and more fundamental character. The doctrine of " unity of type," which has from time to time been put forward by oppo- nents of Cuvier, seems to be in closer agreement with the facts made known by recent embryological study than the more widely received dogma of a plurality of types. Already the most eminent of German anatomists. Professor Gegenbaur, has, in the second edition of his Comparative Anatomy (1870), adopted an arrangement of the seven great divisions of tlie animal kingdom which indicates this inequality in their relative value as branches of a genealogical tree. Whilst the Protozoa stand at the base of the main trunk, and the Coelenterata diverge from this as a primary branch, the Mollusca, Verte- brata, Arthropoda, and Echinodermata are depicted as springing as four distinct secondary branches from the primary branch, represented by the heterogeneous and feebly marked group Vermes. This filiation of the five highest groups of the animal kingdom is supported on grounds which are chiefly anatomical ; and in the pages of this inestimable book facts are continually pointed out tending to demonstrate the homo- geny of the various organs of all these large groups — in short, exhibiting them as modifications of one type. The early history of the developing embryo tends con- clusively to establish this mode of representing the main features of the family tree of the animal kingdom ; whilst, further, the hypothesis of unity of type (which is to be pre- ferred as a preliminary hypothesis on account of its greater simplicity as compared with that of a plurality of types) is, in Primitive Cell-layers, of the Enibryo. 325 its ap])lication to the five higher groups of animals, continually receiving new,support from observation, and seems likely to lead into most productive lines of research. The early changes in the developing spheroid of protoplasm leading to the formation of organs may be summarily stated as follows, so as briefly to put in view the fundamental cha- racteristics which they present in different groups of the animal series. Fig. 1. Fi^. 2. Fi-. 3. Cytode. Cell. Polyplast without central cavity. (Optical section.) A. The reproductive spheroid is a non-nucleated particle of protoplasm [Cytod^ Hck.), which either acquires a nucleus and becomes a true cell (Hck.), or remains in the non-nucleated condition ; this latter condition characterizes the Monera or Protozoa hoinogenea, whilst the former is what is observed in all the other groups commonly classed as Protozoa (from which, however, the S])ongida are excluded, since they appear in tlie next section). By differentiation of the primitive substance of the plastid (cell or cytode), without fission of the original mass, a cuticle and cuticular appendages, muscular fibrous layers, cilia, contractile cavities, and, by the segmentation of the nucleus, a reproductive germ- or sperm -mass may be former. Division of the primary spheroid, wlien it does take place, gives rise to new and separate individual spheroids, or to a loosely aggregated colony of such spheroids, to be termed a polyplast. In this polyplast there is no arrangement of the units into definite layers.^ The organisms whose mode of growth is thus described may be distinguished as Homoblastica. Notes to A. — The stock of the Homoblastica thus coincides with the Protozoa with the exclusion of the Sponges, and con- tains the following chief groups, the genetic affinities of which must be hereafter discussed : — 1. llomogenea (embracing 326 Mr. E. Ray Laiikester on the Hiickel's Monera as Nuda and the Foraminifera as Testacea) ; 2. Nucleifera [emhracmg Amophou/eaj Gregari'mda, and Catal- lacta) ; 3. Radiolaria or Cytopliora (embracing the Heliozoa or freshwater Radiolaria, and the Radiolaria proper or marine forms); 4. Infusoria (embracing the Suctoria and Ciliatay excluding the so-called Flagellate Infusoria, which, it seems, should be referred to the Volvocinean Alga?) ; 5. Noctilucida {Noctiluca and Peridiniinn). We are indebted to Hiickel's monograph in the ' Jenaische Zeitschrift' (and translated in 'Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.' for 1869) for the knowledge of the Monera and their reproduction. Prof. Ed. van Beneden, of Li^ge, has given a valuable account of the development and structure of a Gregarina from the lobster (Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci. 1870 & 1871), from which it appears that the reproductive spheroid appears first as a cytode^ and subsequently acquires a nucleolus and nucleus, whilst considerable tissue-differentiation also goes on, though the uni- cellular condition is maintained. The high differentiation of the Ciliate Infusoria is thus no evidence against tlieir unicellular character. The development of the Radiolaria is not properly known in any case. Hiickel, in his great monograph, and more recently Cienkowski (Schultze's Archiv, 1871, and Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., Oct. 1871) have given some account of the formation of spores, which demonstrate the central capsule to be reproductive like the nucleus in other groups. If the yellow cells should prove to be parasitic, as Cienkowski suggests, then, as in colonies oiMonera or Catallacta ^aW the units, with the exception of the central reproductive body, would be of coordinate value. B. The reproductive sphe- roid is at first a nucleated particle of protoplasm ; in some cases it develops from a non-nucleated stage. In many cases the nucleus dis- appears before fertilization. Division of the spheroid then gives rise to a polyplast. By the growth of this polyplast either a hollow sphere boun- ded by a single layer of cells is produced, into which a portion of its own wall be- comes invaginated or tucked, as by the adjustment of a Fiff. 4. ect Plamda formed by invag-ination of a part of the wall of a polyplast with central cavity. (Optical section.) Primitwe Cell-layers of the Emhryo. 327 woven nightcap from its pulled-out to its cap-like condi- tion, or the cells arrange themselves in two definitely marked Fie:, o. Fiff. G. end ect Planula, without t)rifice, formed by direct growth. (Optical section. ) Planula with orifice, which has broken through. (Surface view.) layers, the inner of which bounds a cavity which subsequently, by a breaking through at one pole, communicates with the exterior. In either case the result is an organic form charac- terized by being constructed of two layers of cells, the inner of which lines a cavity opening to the exterior. This cavity is the primitive gastric cavity; and the organic form thus characterized may be known as the Planula'^. The production of such a Planula^ recognizable under extreme modifications of non-essential general shape (one of the most common causes of which is the admixture of a large mass of secondary yelk with the original egg-cell), is comvion to the developmental history of all animals ahove the Protozoa. But after this there is a divergence ; for whilst there is a further development of primitive cells in the Vermes, Mollusks, Echi- noderms. Arthropods, and Vertebrates, in the Coelenterata (in- cluding herein the Sponges) these two layers of cells, the endoderm and ectoderm, remain throughout life as the basis of further histological diifereutiation, even though in the larger forms the ectoderm may largely develop deep layers of a special muscular or skeletal nature. The series of forms thus branching off from the genealogical tree may be termed Diploblastica. The endoderm and ectoderm of the polypes and corals was recognized first by Professor Huxley, who at the same time * It may be advantageous to use the term Gadrulu for that condition of the rianula when the orifice is present, as Hiickel has proposed since the above scheme was drawn up. 328 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the pointed out the similarity of these layers to the two primitive layers of the Vertebrate embryo. Notes to B. — The difference in the two modes of origin of the Planula may be due to the dropping of the invagination- process as a shortening of the developmental process — that is to say, in obedience to the tendency to a direct as opposed to a recapitulative development. It is, however, to be noticed in connexion with this that in the later development of special organs we have examples where development occurs sometimes by invagination and sometimes by simple accretion, and where the bulk of the developing structure appears to determine the invagination. Such, for instance, is the case with the otocysts or auditory capsules of mollusks. In the Nudibranchiates I have satisfactorily determined that their cavity does not arise by invagination. On the other hand, in the Cephalopod Loligo I have found (what was previously sus- pected but undemonstrated) that the otocyst is formed by an invagination, the ciliated canal connected with it being a remnant of its external communication. The development of the nerve-centres also furnishes examples. In Loligo I have observed that the cephalic ganglia originate each by invagina- tion and formation of a groove and cavity. In Gasteropods the corresponding ganglia form by simple thickening of the outer layer of cells. The origin of the cerebro-spinal nerve- centre of Vertebrates and certain Tunicates, as compared with that of Arthropods and notably of certain Annelids {Lumbricus, and Euaxes as described by Kowalewsky), offers the same contrast. It is remarkable that the origin of the primitive gastric cavity by invagination has been more widely observed in the higher groups, and that in most Coelenterata as yet studied the cavity is formed directly. There are exceptions to this among Coelenterata ; but in this subject it must be remembered that we have as yet very few adequate observations. Among the higher groups the observations of Kowalewsky have especially established the occurrence of this primitive invagination in Amphioxus^ in Tunicates, and certain Vermes 5 my own ob- servations (as yet unpublished) have proved its wide-spread occurrence in Mollusca, viz. in the Lamellibranch Cyclas pusilla, in several Nudibranchs {Polycera^ Eolis, Boris, Pleuro- branchus) , in the Pulmonates Avion and Limax. The presence of accessory yelk is what, more than any thing else, appears among the Mollusca to be associated with the suppression of the invagination-process. The anus of Rusconi in the de- veloping Batrachia among Vertebrata represents the orifice of invagination in a somewhat modified condition. Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 329 The observations of Miklueho-Macleay*, which have been followed up in a masterly way by his teacher Professor Hiickel of Jena, first demonstrated the relationship of Sponges and Coelenterata. The P/a/»/7a-embryo of a calcareous sponge ( Guancha hlanca) is made known in Macleay's paper ; O. Schmidt has figured that of another [Dunstervillia). The embryo of Spongilla^ as described by Lieberkiihn, is also a Planula. The retention of the Diploblastic constitution throughout life by the Coelenterata serves as an important fact in determining the homogenies of the perigastric and canal systems of the corals and medusoids. It is clear enough that they are merely diverticula, or portions of the primitive gastric cavity. As such they can have no homogenetic, but merely a homoplastic, agreement with the vascular and perivisceral systems of higher animals, the origin of which will be pointed out below. The fluid which they contain will also be seen to be of a different nature from chyle or blood, and, in fact, is merely a diluted chyme. In the histological differentiation of Coelenterata the outer layer of cells gives rise to muscular fibre, and also represents a nervous system ; in the case of Hydra the fibres are con- tinuous with the large ectodermal cells (Kleinenberg), whilst in others {Medusie &c.) deep-lying cellular elements of the nature of muscular and connective tissue develop from the ectoderm. The endodermal cells are confined to vegetative functions. The origin of generative products will be discussed below. C. Development having proceeded, as in the Diploblastica, to the production of an ecto- and endoderm, or an epi- and hypoblast, with primitive gastric cavity bounded by the latter, a third layer of cells makes its appearance between these two, whence taking its precise origin is notyet determined. A portion of this middle layer becomes more especially adherent to the ectoderm, another portion more especially to the endoderm. The separation between these two portions of the new mid layer may be complete so as to leave a wide cavity, or it may never be carried to any extent ; but whatever extensive cavity or partial channels make their appearance, or whatever mesh- bearing or sponge-like character the mesoblast takes on, so as to produce an imperfect continuity between its more super- ficial and deeper parts, connected and bound together, it may be, by branched cells — such cavity, channels, or spongy tissue are more or less complete representatives of the blood-lymph system. The organisms characterized by the presence of these * Jeuaische Zt'ilschrift, 1868, p. 221. 330 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the three primitive layers of cells, which furnish the original material for further histological differentiation, may be termed Triploblastica. In all Triploblastica (Vermes, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Vertebrata, Arthropoda) it appears that of the three layers the outer {ejnblast) gives rise to epidermic structures, sense-organs, and the great nerve-centres ; the mid layer {mesoblasf) to mus- cular tissue, skeletal tissue (varieties of connective tissue and cartilage), blood and lymph, and the walls of the cavities in which they are held ; the innernost layer {hypoblast) to the lining of the gastric or alimentary tract and its diverticula, in the form of glands. The primitive orifice of invagination (mouth of the Plamda) does not persist, either as mouth or, as has been erroneously supposed, as anus, but becomes entirely closed up, and a new mouth and an anus eat their way into the gastric cavity from the exterior, developing thus pharynx and terminal intestine. The origin of the generative products is, as in the Diploblastica, not ascertained to be exclusioely from either epiblast or hypoblast. The communication of the meso- blastic blood-lymph-cavity, or a part of it, with the exterior occurs in all Triploblastica, and is accompanied by an ingTOwth of the epiblast, which, appearing in the simplest worms as the pair of segmental organs or "ciliated excretory tubes," persists in all the subsequent modifications of the type (Echinoderms, Arthropods, Mollusks, Vertebrates). Notes to C. — The above generalization must be understood as resting on a limited number of facts, which, liowever, are being daily increased in number. Attention has been already drawn in the notes to B to the frequent masking of the Planula stage and invagination-process in this group as well as in the preceding one. In the early stages of development of the few Vertebrata as yet carefully studied (viz. a few fish, Batrachia, and the common fowl) it is only in the Batrachia that evidence of the invagination, and that in a modified condition (see Strieker's valuable paper in 'Zeitschr. fur wiss. Zoologie,' vol. xi., 1861), is obtained. It is yet a question, on which there is a considerable divergence of opinion, supported in each case by careful observation, whether the mesoblast has uni- formly the same essential origin in the various groups of the Triploblastica. The hypothesis that it has is justifiable in the present condition of knowledge as the simplest. We have to look for a reconciliation of the opinions based upon interpre- tation of observations carried out with different animals, which variously point to the derivation of the mid layer from cells of the epiblast, from cells of the hypoblast, from original cells of the primitive polyplast, or from a new cell-formation in the yelk Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 331 distinct from the cleavage-process (free-cell formation). A further comprehension of the accompanying conditions and mode of carrying out of the sup2)ression of steps in the historical epitome of the individual's development will, more than any thing else, tend to this result. The non-identity of the mouth in Diploblastica and Triploblastica is one of the most curious divergences which a comparison of the two groups brings out. There is on the whole a satisfactory concordance of testimony with regard to the chief tissues and organs to which the three layers respectively give rise, if we except the generative products. The hypoblast of the Triploblastica retains the characters and significance of the Diploblast's endoderm. The fundamental properties of the hitter's ectoderm (musculo-sen- sorial layer of Kleinenberg) become distributed between the tissues differentiated from epiblast and mesoblast — a fact which, whether rightly or wrongly, suggests the ectoderm as the true source of origin of tUe mesoblast ; and, in the case of the earth- worm, Kowalewsky's researches demonstrate this origin con- clusively. That the generative products arise from cells of the ectoderm in Hydra is certain, from Kleinenberg's careful observations. Hackel, on the other hand, has found them derived from the endoderm in certain Medusae and in Calcareous Sponges, whilst Allman makes the same statement as to some Hydroid polyps. That the ovaries and testes in higher animals arise from the outer layer is not inconsistent with the fact that they may first definitely appear within the limits of the mesoblast. An in- growth and intercalation of the cells of the epi- and mesoblast at an early period, such as Waldeyer has pointed to, sufficiently explains the position of the vertebrate ovary and testis, even though they be developed from the epiblast. The position of the generative masses of Oligochatous Annelids in their earliest phase, as buds of the tissue in immediate contact with the nerve-cord, to which I have drawn attention in Cluetogaster'^ and TubiJ-ex'\, is in complete agreement with the view of their derivation from cells of the epiblast, wdien considered in the light of Kowalewsky's admirable demonstration of the ingrowth of the epiblast to form the ganglion-chain of Lunibricus and Euaxes. A true blood-system, or blood-lymph-system as it is better to call it in view of the present signification of words, is only possible where a mesoblast is developed — that is, in the Tri- ploblastica. In all Triploblastica it is represented by lacunae or channels, or by mere wide-setting of the cellular elements * Quart. Journ. Microsc. Science, July 1870. t Ann. & Mao-. Nat. Hi?t. 1871, vii.'p. 90. 332 Mr. E. Kay Lankester on the of the mesoblast, between and around which the movement of a fluid, so-called lymph, is possible. A blood-lymph-system or series of channels appears in its simplest form in the flat-worms, where the main portion of those channellings in the mesoblast, sometimes spoken of as " water- vascular system," must be regarded as the commencing differentiation of the blood-lymph vascular system. The true nature of these channels is well seen in a transverse section, such as that of Bothriocejilialas given by Landois (Zeitschr. f. Zool. 1872), or such as that of the Planarian Bii^alium to be described by my friend Mr. Moseley, who assigns to them the same importance as is done here. The channels of the water- vascular system in these cases are seen in section to be inter- sected by long branching cells ; they are, in fact, only partial excavations of the mesoblastic tissue. Such excavation, carried to a greater extent and widened out, ultimately forms the "perivisceral space" seen in many Nemerteans, and in all the Gephyrea, Chajtopoda, Echinodermata. When parts of this excavation remain shut off" from parallel parts^ and either com- municate or do not communicate with the larger sinus-like spaces, the conditions are given for the further modification of this primitive vascular channelling into distinct blood-vessels, lacunaj, and pericardial sinus-system, as in MoUusks, or into a closed vascular system lying within a perivisceral sinus, as in Cli£etopoda, or (no perivisceral sinus being apparent) into closed vessels containing haemoglobin surrounding organs, as in some leeches, or, lastly, into great sinus-spaces opening through a "lymph-system" into a closed system of blood- vessels, as in Vertebrates. The orifices of the water- vascular system of the Planarians, Cestodes, and Trematodes are, no doubt with reason, looked upon as representing exactly the orifices of the "segment-organs" of the Chffitopoda ; but we have no warrant for assuming that more than the ajDerture and a first portion of the "canal" in the flat-worms corresponds with the little trumpet-mouthed tube which hangs freely in the large perivisceral space of a Chastopod, or such a leech as Branchlohdella. The observed facts of development are not conclusive as they at present stand as to the origin of the segmental organ of Chajtopoda. Kowa- lewsky derives them from the middle layer in the case of Euaxes ; but in view of the difficulties of the observation, and of adverse considerations furnished by the facts of development of apparently homogenous parts in MoUusks and Insects, an argument cannot be based upon their mode of development ; nor do the facts of development at ])resent established lend themselves to the decision of. the question Avhether the flat- Primitive Cell-layers of the Emhryo. 333 worms possess in their vascular system the commencement of a body-cavity. The most conclusive evidence which can be adduced on the-matter is the analogy of such a moUusk as Phyl- lirhoe, where, as in other Mollusca, the perivisceral cavity is de- veloped only as a series of sinuses, of which the pericardium is one. or where, as we may say, the perivisceral space is reduced to t\ve pericardium. This pericardium is produced at one end into a tube or canal ciliated at one part, which opens to the exterior. The ciliated tube represents a segment-organ, as must be admitted for the renal organ of MoUusca generally, and especially for the so-called "hearts" or "oviducts" of Brachiopoda. In Phyllirhoe we have, it seems to me, as in the flat-worms, the imperfect channellings and spaces of a "parenchymatous" body placed in relation with the exterior by the segment-organ, the wall of which is not discontinuous with that of the channels. It is when the perivisceral space becomes large and expanded that the segment-organ floats in it with a trumpet-like inner orifice ; on the other hand, when the blood-lymph-space is canal-like^ then the segment-organ is merely its continuation to the exterior. Ciliation and contractility, both exhibited by the "water- vascular system" in Trematodes, are both familiar characters of the perivisceral space Avhen developed on a more capacious ' scale. Contractility is of course in the nature of the case, the walls of the perivisceral space being muscular. Cilia occur in the perivisceral cavity of some Chfetopoda and in that of Gephyrea, in the primitive mesoblastic cavity of the developing Lamellibranch Pisidium and of Aphjsia^ also in the peritoneal (perivisceral) space of the frog. The condition of the vascular system in different genera of leeches is instructive, tending, as it seems, to bridge over the gulf between a simple perivisceral primitive blood-lymph-space and the more complicated differentiations of lymphatic systems, pleuro-peritoneal cavity, and blood-vascular system to whicli it simultaneously gives rise in higher organisms. The blood- lymph-space exists in the common leech as four chief longitu- dinal canals, in one of which the nerve-cord lies. The apertures of the segment-organs lead into closed pouches, whose cavity is also to be reckoned to the blood-lymph-space, though not in continuity with its longitudinal portions. In other leeches (e. g. Branchiohdella) ^ whilst two of the longitudinal canals are retained, excavation is carried on in the mesoblastic parenchyma in such a way as to leave the segment-organs floating trumpet- like in a great perivisceral sinus, in which also the nerve-cord lies. The longitudinal canals may, as in Hirvdo, contain a liquid impregnated with haemoglobin, and remain closed from 334 Mr. E. Eay Lankester on the communication with the rest of the blood-ljmph-system. This is very generally the case in Annelids ; not so, however, in the GephyreanAS'«}j'u?icw?^/5, where the tentacular vessel communicates periodically with the perivisceral space. In Vertebrates the haemoglobin-bearing or respiratory system and the lymph- bearing sinus-system communicate at various points, so that the fluid in the former is complex, being comparable to the respi- ratory fluid of an Annelid plus its perivisceral fluid. It is hence hsemochyle or blood-lymph, if we limit the significance of "blood" to that which it really connotes, namely the red part of the vascular fluid. If such a nomenclatm'e be admissible, viz. the limitation of "blood" to the respiratory element, then the fluid in the closed vascular system of Annelids would be blood, the perivisceral fluid lymph ; the perivisceral fluid of Gly- cera with its red corpuscles would be blood-lymph or heemo- cliyle ; the circulatory fluid of Mollusca and Arthropods would also be haemochyle, since there is no separation of a respiratory element in separate vessels, and in exceptional cases (Soleu, Planorhisj Ghironomus^ Chirocephalus ^ Daphnia) haemoglobin does appear in the common circulatory fluid ; the fluid of the pleuro-peritoneal cavity, lymphatic canals, and vessels in Ver- tebrates would be " lymph," and its corpuscles, derived^ as ihroughoiLt the triplohlastic series j from the jyroliferation of the connective-tissue cor2n(.scles lining the xoalls of the lymph-spaces j' would be lymph-corpuscles or leucocytes; the fluid in the arteries and veins, on the other hand, would be blood-lymph or h£emochyle, being lymph added to other liquid and corpuscular elements, the latter of which are respiratory and impregnated with haemoglobin, whence they may be termed "pneumocytes." As an illustration of the })oint which I wish to urge — viz. that the various vascular and sinus systems of Triploblastica are not to be regarded as important differentiations, but are rather parts of one and the same primary blood-lymph-cavity slightly modified or isolated — let me point to two facts. First, among polychsetous Annelida we have generally a closed vas- cular system and a perivisceral space ; in Glycera, however, the shutting off of a part of the blood-lymph-space as a closed system does not occur, but we have only the one great peri- visceral chamber, with pneumocytes added to its corpuscular contents, this change being unaccompanied by any other great structural modification ; and it is a fact that "anangian genera" occur in the same family with others possessing the closed set of vessels, e. g. Aphroditacea. Secondly, in a parasitic crustacean as yet undescribed, discovered by Prof. Edouard van Beneden of Li^ge, there is developed a closed vascular system lying within the regular blood-sinuses, and Pfimilive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 335 containing, as in the case of Annelids, haemoglobin. The exceptional development of such a subdivision of the blood- lymph-space, unparalleled throughout the whole group of Ar- thropoda, is additional evidence in favour of the view that the primitive blood-ljmph-space readily lends itself to the develop- ment of variously distributed and communicating vascular systems, even systems as special as the ambulacral and respi- ratory systems of Echinoderms. The relation of the segment-organs to the primitive blood- space has already been spoken of. There is considerable ground for regarding it as constant throughout the Triploblas- tica, as the blood-lymph-space itself is constant. It appears under* various modifications as a canal, often ciliated and funnel-like, forming a communication between part of the blood-lymph-space and the exterior — as, for example, the brown tubes and the cloacal tree of Gephyrea, the organ of Bojanus, the Fallopian tubes and seminal ducts of sharks, and more doubtfully in Echinoclermata and Arthropods. The Triploblastica not only exhibit this unity of type as regards their chief viscera, but there are certain regions of the body which must be considered identical in all ; especially must the prostomium or region in front of the mouth, the axis of anterior growth, where it is persistent, be held to be homo- genous throughout the series. It is in relation with this " head-flap " that the primitive nerve-centres are developed and always make their appearance as the great sensorial gan- glion-masses. Already in the free-swimming larvse of some Diploblastica, such as Actinia, the prostomium is indicated, having a necessary mechanical relation to bilateral symmetry when the mouth is placed anteriorly and locomotion is parallel with the alimentary axis, though here we must not overlook the distinct character of the Diploblastic and Triploblastic mouths. The large primitive tentacle of the young Actinia is a prostomium, and only loses its superior overhanging character as regards the mouth when the animal, abandoning locomotive habits, fixes itself and develops other processes around the mouth which soon equal the first in size. The prostomium in Triploblastica is liable to be suppressed alto- gether in the course of individual development, the mouth becoming terminal or other modifications arising ; but where it does appear it constantly carries the chief organ of sight, whilst the auditory sac is prostomial in Turbellarians, but metastomial in Tunicates, Vertebrates, and Mollusca. The production of individuals of an increased complexity of organization among Triploblastica, by the linear aggregation of zooids, produced by budding in the posterior or metastomial 336 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the axis of growth (tertiary aggregates Fig. of Herbert Spencer) among Annu- losa, and probably (tliough not according to Spencer) among Vertebrata, and even some Mol- lusca — the process occurring at a very early period and its results ■a'-\^:^\. being obscured^ or even entirely ' ^ resolved^ by later " integrating " development in the two latter cases — does not affect the prosto- mium, which always has an axis of anterior growth. When a zooid-segment of a linear tertiary cp aggregate develops a prostomium or axis of anterior growth, the chain necessarily breaks at that " point [Microstomum, Tcenia^ Nai- did^, Syllidse). The segmenta- tion of the prostomial axis in ArdmcoJex (optical section) Arthropoda and some Annelids, jw, prostomium ; pst, metasto- wliich has an appearance of being a zooid-segmentation comparable to that of the metastomial axis, on account of the identity in the character of the appendages with those of the metastomial axis, has yet to be explained. It may be suggested that it is due to a distinct breaking up of this axis like the posterior one into zooid-segments or zoon- ites : there is much against this supposition (see Trans. Linn. Soc. 1869, " On Chcetogaster and ^olosoma^^). Much more likely, it seems, is the explanation that the oral aperture shifts position, and that the ophthalmic segment alone in Arthro- poda represents the prostomium, the antennary and antennular segments being aboriginally metastomial and only prostomial by later adaptational shifting of the oral aperture. The assumption of such a shifting of the oral aperture is fully warranted by what has been demonstrated in the case of Vertebrata through Kowalewsky's researches on Am- jihioxus. It is certain from those observations that the mouth of Amphioxus is the first gill-slit or pharyngeal perforation of the left side, and has no relation to a mouth such as that which appears at an earlier phase of development in the allied Ascidian larva, which latter mouth is that of Vermes generally. Amphioxus, then, and the Vertebrata have a new oral aperture, the old one having been gradually suppressed. Comparative mmm; o, mouth; a, anus; s, segmental or excretory aper- ture ; ep, epiblast ; n, nerve- centre ; rues, mesoblast ; hyp, hypoblast. Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 337 osteology and the embryology of higher Vertebrata have long made it clear that the vertebrate mouth belongs to the series of visceral clefts ; but the significance of this in the comparison of Vertebrata and Invertebrata has yet to be fully appreciated. The identification of the neural and ha3mal aspects of Verte- brata and Vermes, in the light given by this demonstration of Kowalewsky's as to the distinct character of the mouth in the two cases, must lead to most valuable results *. The triple basis of histological differentiation, the nerve- centres, the alimentary tract, the blood-lymph-spaces, the segment-organs, the prostomial and metastomial regions being recognizable as homogenous under varied adaptative modifi- cations throughout the Triploblastica, is it not probable that other parts may still further exhibit that unity of type of the included groups which forms our hypothesis? Whilst it is necessary always to be on guard against mistaking homo- plastic agreements such as clearly must and do existf for homogenetic agreements, yet, since the working hypothesis must be that of uniformity, as the simpler, we ought to assume homogeny or unity of type as explaining similarity in organs until research proves it necessary to regard this or that particular case as due to coincidence of adaptative causes. Hence it may fairly be suggested that the appendages of Triploblastica, appearing under two chief forms as locomotive and respiratory, (external gills) are homogenous throughout the series. Such an hypothesis opens a very large field for discussion; but within certain limits it will not, perhaps, meet with strenuous opposition. The gills of Mollusca generally, of Brachiopods, the tentacles of Polyzoa, and the gill-tufts of Annelids — again, the locomotive appendages of Annelids and Arthropods — or, again, the external gills of Vertebrata (embryo Selachians, Batra- chians, &c.) and those of Annelids, offer themselves as likely enough to prove homogenous ; but since many further embryo- logical inquiries have to be made, and no doubt will be made in consequence of these possibilities presenting themselves to the imagination of many students of embryology, it will not now be useful to discuss them upon the limited evidence at hand. Note. — Professor Hack el, in the final part of his newly published splendid monograph of the calcareous Sponges, has entered into speculations on the significance of the poly- plast and planular stages of development and the development * 1 am indebted to my friend Anton Dohrn for first drawintj my atten- tion to some of the legitimate consequences of Kowalewsky's observations as to the mouth of Amphioxiis. t Ann. Nat. Hist. 1870, vol. vi. ("On the use of the term Homology"). Ann. (h Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol.yix. 22 338 On a new Australian Species o/" Thyrsites. of a body-cavity, which are of the utmost value. He adopts a more detailed nomenclature than I have used here, and does not take the same view of the water-vascular system of flat- worms as I have done ; but to some extent there is naturally coincidence, due to the fact that the material here used in the form of facts has been mainly drawn from his other writings and those of other German and Russian embryologists. I have not attempted to discuss Professor Hackel's views nor referred to his terms, chiefly because the substance of this paper was drawn up before the ' Kalkschwamme ' appeared. XXXVI. — On a new Australian Species 0/ Thyrsites. By Prof. Frederick M'Coy. The common Barracoota of the Cape seas is very abundant in the Melbourne market from the adjacent coast, and has long been known ; but an equally large and important species for food is brought in great quantities from Tasmania to the Melbourne fish-shops, usually split open and dried ; and, as far as I can see, it has been overlooked by naturalists. It is easily distinguished at a glance from the Thyrsites atun or Barracoota by the much greater depth of the body, fewer finlets, shorter dorsal, larger teeth, and double lateral line ; but the mode of preparation usually obscures the still more striking character of the ventrals being almost absent, or at least very minute and rudimentary. I subjoin a description of the species. Thyrsites micropus (M'Coy). D. 17 I 4-M2 1 VI. A. 2 + 11. IV. V. 1 -f- 1 (bifurcate). P. 14. C. 22f . Height of body five times in total length to centre of caudal fin ; head four times to end of lobes of caudal. Lower jaw projecting in advance of the upper ; diameter of orbit one fifth the length of the head, and one half the length of the muzzle. Ventrals each with one spine and one bifurcate ray, slightly in advance of base of pectorals ; about one third the diameter of the eye in length. Lateral line bifurcate : upper branch ex- tending from a little above the operculum, a little below the dorsal line, as far as the third finlet ; lower branch coming off from upper one under base of fifth dorsal spine, and descending with an abrupt curve nearly to the middle of the side, con- tinuing nearly straight to opposite middle of anal fin, from which to middle of tail it describes three upward undulations. Eev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 339 Colour brilliant lead-grey, whitish below ; fins brownish. Surface of body smooth, with very minute scales imbedded in the skin. ^ ft. in. Total length 2 6^ Length of head from chin 0 8| Length of pectoral 0 Sg Greatest height of body 0 (5| Greatest height of first dorsal fin . . 0 2^ Diameter of orbit 0 1|| There are about sixteen compressed teeth of moderate size (about 2 lines) on each intermaxillary, and a group of three on each side of the upper jaw in front, very large (about 6 or 7 lines) and curved backwards. As in Gem^yylus^ the ventrals are so reduced as to be scarcely visible ; but there is a row of seven or eight small conical teeth on each palate-bone, as in Thyrsites. T. prometkeus, T. Solandri^ and T. jprometheoides^ all have the ventrals reduced to one small spine ; and the latter Amboyna species has also, according to Bleeker, the double lateral line; but the proportions of the head and body and number of the fin-rays completely distinguish the present fish from them. The popular name is Tasmanian kingfish. Melbourne National Museum, January 30, 1873. XXXVII.— iVof^ces of British Fungi. By the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A., F.L.S., and C. E. Broome, Esq., F.L.S. [Continued from vol. vii. p. 436.] [Plates vn., vm., IX., & X.] 1335. Agaricus (Armillaria) aurantius^ SchsefF. ; Fr. Ic. tab. 27. Forres, Rev. J. Keith. Pine-woods. Varying a good deal in the nature and frequency of the scales. One or two of the specimens exactly accorded with the figure of Fries. 1336. A. (Tricholoma) pessundatus^ Fr. Ic. tab. 28. Street, J. A. Clark, Esq., Oct. 1871. Smell like that of new meal. *vl. (Tricholoma) sordidus^ Fr. Ic. tab. 45. On the naked soil in gardens, as at Coed Coch. 22* 340 Rev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. Like Fries, we had formerly considered this a mere form of A. nudus. 1337. A. (Tricholoma) resplendens^ Fr. Ic. tab. 29. Amongst grass on the borders of woods. Coed Coch, Sept. 10, 1872. It has, however, occurred in other localities, as at Reading. *A. (Clitocybe) maximus^ Fr. Abundant. Coed Coch, Sept. 11, 1872. Pileus 15 inches across, squamulose ; margin lobed and crisped; stem 2-3 inches high, 1^-2 thick, very blunt, fibrilloso-striate or grooved. 1338. A. (Clitocybe) ericetorum.^ Fr. Coed Coch, Sept. 10, 1872, Mrs. Lloyd Wynne. Exactly Bulliard, tab. 551. fig. 1. 1339. A. (Collybia) succineus^ ScheefF. Amongst grass. Coed Coch, &c. 1340. A. (Collybia) a^?/osM5, Bull. Coed Coch. 1341. A. (Collybia) tylicolor, Fr. Coed Coch. 1342. A. (Entoloma) Wpinet, B. & Br. Pileo primum piano, fuligineo, velutino, dein convexo, squamuloso, hy- grophano ; margine striato, sjepe undulato ; stipite fuligineo- caeruleo, compresso, basi gossypino ; lamellis latis, transversim costatis, pallidis, margine crenulatis ; odore cimicino. In lir-woods. Coed Coch, Sept. 16, 1872. Allied to A. costatiiSj with which it agrees in size. 1343. A. (Nolanea) inammosus^ L. On lawns. Coed Coch, Sept. 10, 1872. 1344. A. (Hebeloma) relicinus, Fr. Stannage Park, C. E. Broome, 1871. 1345. A. (Hebeloma) Clarkit, B. & Br. Pileo campanulato, albo, sericeo ; stipite subagquali, flocculoso, farcto ; lamellis adnexis, albo marginatis. Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 20, 1871. Allied to A. sindonius. Pileus | inch across, 1 inch high ; stem 1^ inch high, 2 lines thick, slightly incrassated at the base. 1346. A. (Hebeloma) truncafus, Fr. On the grassy base of a bank. Dangstein, Sept. 25, 1872. Pileus 1^-2 inches across, plane, rigid, slightly viscid, rufous, depressed in the centre, smooth ; margin crisped, in- flexed, the extreme edge pruinose; stem 2 1 inches high, | thick, claviform at the base, stuffed, fibrilloso-striate, pale rufous, less deeply coloured below ; gills narrow, adnexed, with a tooth. Smell rhaphanoid. Eev. M. J. Berkelej&Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 341 1347. A. (J^siucox'id) pusiolus J Fr. West of England, J. Renny. 1348. A. (Miucoria) sobrius, Fr., var. Pileo convexo, ochraceo, subtiliter punctulato ; margine furfuraceo ; stipite sursum incrassato v. sequali, furfui'aceo, fistuloso ; annulo ap- pcndiculato ; lamellis pallidis, adnatis, planis. On lawns amongst short grass. Sibbertoft, July 7, 1871. Pilcus 3-4 lines across ; stem |-1 inch high, 1 line thick. Margin of gills white. A. disjjersus, P. 1349. ^4. (Psalliota) iiiunctus, Fr., Saund. & Sm. tab. 29. Ely, W. Marshall, Esq. It has also occurred at Epping. 1350. A. (Psalliota) merdanus, Fr. ; Saund. & Sm. tab. 25. In a, grass-field. Sibbertoft, Norths. * Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) triumphans^ Fr. Exhibited at South Kensington, Oct. 2, 1872. This is clearly the same as Mrs. Hussey's C. suManatus. 1351. C. (Phlegmacium) ^9c»2>'%''02^?«5, Fr. Coed Coch, Oct. 1^71. 1352. C. (Dermocybe) cinnabarinus, Fr. Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871. 1353. C. (Telamonia) tortus, Fr. Coed Coch, Oct. 1872. 1354. C. (Telamonia) armillatus, Fr. Near Reading, B. J. Austin. The species figured by Mrs. Hussey is clearly the plant of Bull. t. 527. fig. 1, and is therefore C. hcmiatochelis. This has occurred at Coed Coch. 1355. C. (Telamonia) helvolus, Fr. Coed Coch, Sept. 1872. 1356. C. (Hygrocybe) decijn'ens, Fr. Leigh woods, Bristol, Oct. 25, 1871. Hoffm. Ic. An. t. 9. f. 12. '" Hygrophorus chrysodoii, Fr., var. pube Candida. Street, J. A. Clark. ^ H. p7-ate7isis, Fr., var, Pileo infundibuliformi, pallido ; margine undulato, deflexo ; stipite sursum dilatato, tibrilloso- striato ; lamellis distantibus, decurrentibus, ramosis, pallidis. Coed Coch, Oct. 1872. We have also received it from M. Terry. 1357. H. licido-albus, Fr. Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871. 1358. II. Clarkii, B. & Br. Fragilis ; pileo convexo, sub- umbonato, livido-cinereo, viscoso ; margine kuvi ; stipite con- colori, cavo ; lamellis latis, distantibus, crassis, adnatis, albis. Street, Oct. 1872, J. A. Clark, no. 1788. Gills in large specimens nearly ^ inch wide. 342 Rev. M. J. Berkeley &Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 1359. H. metajjodius^ Fr. Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871, J. Renny, Nov. 4, 1871. 1360. //. Hovghtoniy B. & Br. Pileo convexo, lasticolori, centre cleniura depresso, striate, cum stipite fulvo-flavo, trans- versim iindulato, viscosissiino 5 lamellis decurrentibus, tenuibus, gilvis. Amongst grass. Preston, Salop, Oct. 21, 1872. Pileus 1^-2 inches across ; stem 2 inches and more high, ^ thick, sometimes tinged above with blue. Odour foxy. The gelatinous coat is extremely thick, and at length separates and forms a cup in the centre. *Lactarius glyciosmuSy Fr. Herefordshire. This appears to be a rare species, at least in England. 1361. Marasmius tergimis^ Fr. Batheaston, Nov. 28, 1870. Amongst leaves in a wood. Pileus fV inch across, faintly striate, of a pale reddish brown, darker in the centre ; stem about 3 inches high, \ line thick, smooth, pale brown, satiny ; gills reddish ochre, adnate by a tooth, but sinuated, moderately distant. 1361*. Dcedalea mollis^ Sommf. C. B. Plowright, Sept. 1872. Exactly agreeing with spe- cimens from Blytt. 1362. Boletus inunctus, Kromb. tab. 76. figs. 10, 11. Ascot, Lyndhurst, Coed Coch. 1363. B. rubinus, Smith. Chippenham. Spores at first rosy, then warm brown, •00025-'0003 inch long, -0002 wide. *i?. cgcmescenSj Bull. ; Saund. & Sm. tab. 47. East Budleigh, C. H. S])encer Perceval. We were very glad to receive the true plant of Bulliard, as that figured by Mr. Cooke is a very difi'erent species, with very different spores. The fioccose coating which encloses the wliole plant when young is very curious. The degree in which the tiesh becomes blue is variable, and was very slight in Mr. Perceval's specimens. 1364. Polyjoorus frondosus, Fr. Berkshire, 1871. Exhibited at South Kensington, Oct. 1871. 1365. P. (Anodermei) mollis ^ Fr. Near Slough, M. Teny, Esq. 1366. P. (Placodermei) carneus^ Fr. "Welshpool, on an old stump, Nov. 1871, Rev. J. E. Vize. This species occurs in various parts of the world, and has been found in British North America. Rev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 343 '^Hydnum fragile^ Fr. Forres, Rev. J. Keith. 1367. H. cmnpactum^ Fr. FoiTcs, Rev. J. Keith. 1368. H. aurantiucum^ A. & S. Forres, Rev. J. Keith. 1369. H. ferrugineumj Fr. Reading, Mr. B. J. Austin. 1370. M. cirrhatum, P. On a beech tree. Epping Forest, Mr. J. English. On comparing the specific characters of H. ctrrhatum and H. corrugatum there could be no doubt about Mr. English's plant being the former species ; but this is not so clear on com- paring the figures in Fries's 'Icones.' At first snow-white, but gradually acquiring a pale ochra- ceous tint; imbricated, confluent behind ; aculei long; pileus rough, with abortive prickles. '^ Corticium sulphnreum^ Fr. Var. ochroideum. Batheaston, C E. Broome. 1371. C. lacunosum, B. & Br. Molle, late efFusum ; hypo- thallo lanoso, fulvo, lacunoso ; hymenio pulverulento. Aboyne, Sept. 1870. Spreading for several inches, and looking like a thin sponge from the numerous lacunae. 1372. Cyjihella ^ndlida, B. & Br. Cupulis primum orbicu- laribus, demum irregulariter lobatis, planis, tomentosis vel hispidulis, sessilibus; hymenio demum rugoso, pallide ochraceo. Rabenh. Fung. Eur. Exs. no. 1415. On old stems of Clematis vitalba, spreading here and there to neighbouring rotten sticks. Cups ^-1 line across, sometimes proliferous. Diiiers from C. Curreyi in the colour of the hymenium, Avhich is rugose, like that of Cantharellus muscigenus, and its more irregular form. It appears also not to be erumpent as that species often is, but is seated on the bark or wood. Spores •00025--0003,5 inch long, elliptic. 1373. C. duchmiospora^ B. & Br. Minuta, pezizaeformis, nivea ; sporis obliquis, ovatis, acutiusculis. Batheaston, Oct. 28, 1864. Resembles externally Peziza villosa ; but the hairs are not granulated. Spores '0005-'0006 inch long. 1374. Dacrymyces macrosjyorus, B. & Br. Gelatinosus, tuberculatus, roseus ; floccis septatis, apice sporiferis ; sporis primariis oblongis, 3-5-septatis, articulis constrictis; sporis secundariis ellipticis, utrinquc apiculatis; conidiis concatenatis. On dead branches, forming irregular gyrate and tubercu- lated masses of a rosy colour, about | inch long, parasitic on 344 Rev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. old remains of Sphceria stigma. The mass of gelatine consists of delicate, branclied, septate threads, mixed with shorter threads bearing oblong 3-5-septate primary spores •0015-"002 inch long, *00034— '0004 wide ; these at length fall off and produce shortly stipitate secondary spores, one from each division. Secondary spores elliptic, '0005 long, more prominent on one side, pointed at either end. The ceUs of the primary spores are empty after the production of the secondary spores. Other threads break up into much branched chains of conidia, "0002 in diameter ; the parts of the gelatinous mass where these are produced acquire a paler tint. Batheaston, Dec. to March. It preserves its rosy tint when dry. Plate VII. fig. 1. a. threads with primary spores and conidia; b. primary spores ; c. ditto, producing secondary spores ; d. secondary epores, more highly magnified. ^ CJavaria anrea, Schseff. This fine species occuiTcd in 1871 in two or three places in the west of England, as at Stannage Park ; and the Rev. H. Nicholls has lately sent from Hawkhurst a form closely ap- proaching C. rufescens^ which was found at the foot of a beech tree. ^Geaster Michelianus, B. & Br., Herb. Grit. It. no. 343. This fine species has occurred at Castle Ashby, in a bed of rhododendrons, in two or three successive years. The tough thick outer coat, large size, aud other points suf- ficiently distinguish it from G. tunicatus^ to which it bears some resemblance. The laciniae of the outer peridium are sometimes as much elongated as in G. saccatus. It was con- sidered as G. tunicatus under no. 1306. 1375. Lycoperdon echinatinn^ P. Berkshire, Messrs. Hoyle and Austin. Spores echinulate, •0002-'00025 inch in diameter. Scleroderma geaster^ Fr. Hereford, Oct. 6, 1870. Spores •0003-"0005 inch in diameter. '^Bf.darrea plialloides^ P. Noble specimens of this rare fungus Avere lately found at the Earl of Egmont's Nork, amongst the debris at the base of a hollow ash, by Mr. C. H. Spencer Perceval. The Dropmore specimens occurred in a similar situation. * Didymium squamulosum^ A. & S. On fern, J. Renny. Columella white. 1376. Perichcena quercina,, Fr, Peridio externo crustaceo, Eev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E . Broome on British Fungi. 345 dealbato ; interiore tenuissirao, luteo-brunneo, e sporis flavis, areolato-impresso ; floccis parcis ; sporis globosis, asperulis. On ash. Bailieaston, March 1859 ; Shrewsbury, W. Phillips, Esq., Jan. 18, 1872. Spores "0005 inch in diameter. 1377. P. picea, B. & Br. Peridio atro-fusco, hemisphaerico, demum circumscisso ; sporis cofteatis, subglobosis floccisque fiiscis Iffivibus. On dead wood, W. Phillips, Esq. Looks at first like a Perisporium. The colour of the spores approaches that of those in the section Ilyporliodii of Agaricus. 1378. Sphaeronema cemulans, B, & Br. Peritheciis sub- globosis, e mycelio parco oriundis ; collo apice ciliato ; sporis minutissimis, motu Browniano pra^ditis. Epping Forest, Feb. 18, 1871. Perithecia "06 inch long ; spores "OOOl-'OOOS in diameter. Possibly a pycnidiifgrous state of some Melanosjjora. Plate VII. fig. 2. a. plant, more or less magnified, with emitted spores. 1379. Monosporium saccharrimm, B. & Br. Hyphasmate gelatinoso, coffeicolori, e floccis brevibus erectis subclavatis ; sporis obovatis, basi truncata affixis, pallide cofFeatis. Growing on decayed substances under glass. Batheaston, Feb. 1871. Spores •0004-*0005 inch long. Sometimes the tips of the threads have an articulation, and possibly form a second spore. Plate VII. fig. 3. a. spores seated on their sporophores ; b. a single immature spore ; c. fi-ee spores. 1380. Helminthosporium exasperatum^ B. & Br. Floccis flexuosis, sursum nodosis, fructiferis j sporis oblongis, utrinque obtusis, triseptatis. On sweet william. Sibbertoft. Flocci knotted above, each knot bearing an oblong spore, •0012--0018 inch long, •0004-'0005 wide. Plate VII. fig. 4. a. flocci ; h. spores \ c, spore germinating. 1381. Dactylium implexum^ B. &Br. Floccis erectis, im- plexis ; sporis subcylindricis, basi apiculatis, apicalibus. On the inside of a willow. Hereford. Spores •001--0012 inch long. Plate VII. fig. 5. a. threads with spore ; b. spores, more highly magnified. 1382. D. meUeiim, B. it Br. Strato tenui, melleo ; floccis 346, Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr. C, E. Broome on British Fungi. apice ramosis ; ramis ramulis acutis sporas uniseptatas feren- tibus terminatis. On some decayed Polyporus or Stereum. Batheaston, Feb. 1871. Spores "0005 inch long. Approaching, like the last, Diplocladium mitiuSj Bonorden. Plate VIII. fig. 6. a. creeping threads ; b. fertile threads with spores ; c. spores, more highly magnitied. 1383. D. Bemn/i, B. & Br. Floccis subtus parce ramosis, ramis apice ramulis clavatis coronatis j sporis ellipticis, uni- septatis. J. Renny. Very near Diplocladium minuSj Bonorden ; but the spore- bearing ramuli are obtuse above and slightly clavate, not attenuated. 1384. VerticiUinm aspergillus, B. & Br. Floccis deorsum simplicibus vel rarius divisis, sursum attenuatis, apice repetitim furcatis. On decaying Polyporus vaporarius. Kelmarsh, Norths., Nov. 19, 1870. Threads "OOoo inch high ; spores "0001 long. The threads are occasionally divided below, in which case each branchlet is forked at the tip. The habit is that of CMonostachys arau- caria, Cda. It is worth inquiry whether this may not be a state oi Hypocrea farinosa. Plate VIII. fig. 7. a. threads with spores ; b. spores, more magnified. 1385. Polyactis galanthina^ B. & Br. Floccis sursum bre- viter ramosis, fuscis ; ramulis sursum incrassatis ; sporis obovatis, sessilibus, e spiculis elongatis oriundis. On bulbs of the common snowdrop, affecting the outer coats, and veiy destructive. G. F. Wilson, Esq. Spores •0006--0007 inch long. Plate VIII. fig. 8. a. threads with spores ; b. ditto, more highly mag- nified 5 c. separate spores. 1386. Helicomyces roseus, Lk. Obs. i. 19. 1387. O'idium microspermum^ B. & Br. Pulvinulis regu- laribus, ochraceo-citrinis, e floccis radiantibus furcatis ; sporis subglobosis, concatenatis. On bark of Scotch fir. Batheaston, Nov. 25, 1871. Spores "0002 inch in diameter. Differs altogether from 0. aureum and O.fulvum in the shape and size of the spores. Pulvinuli at length confluent. 1388. Synchytrium taraxaxii^ de By. & Wor., Schroet. in Cohn's Beitrage, p. 39. On leaves of the common dandelion. Batheaston. Eev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 347 1389. 8. mercurialisj Fuck. no. 1607 ; Schroet. I. c. p. 40. On leaves of MercuriaUs perennis. Batheaston, April 24, 1871. Spores ecliinulate, •0012-*001o inch in diameter. */!5'. anemones, Wor. ; Schroet. I. c. On leaves and petals of Anemone neinorosa. Not uncommon. 1390. Peziza (Humaria) Chateri, Sm. Cupulis concavis, demum expansis, sessilibus, intus aurantio-rubris, extus pal- lide brunneis, granulatis, esetosis ; paraphysibus clavatis ; sporidiis ellipticis, echinulatis. Gard. Chron. Jan. 1872, p. 9, cum icone. Cambridge, Mr. Chater. Sporidia 'OOOS inch long, "0004 wide, echinulate when mature. Differs from P. melaloma in its rough sporidia and the absence of the dark hairs on the cups, which are granulated from the projecting coarse clavate brownish cells, and from P. hirta in the latter particular. Plate VIII. tig. 9. .Sporidia, magnified. 1391. P. (Dasyscyphse) lasiuj B. & Br. Cupulis globosis, erumpentibus, aurantiacis, demum ore laciniato-dentato apertis, extus lasiis ; ascis elongatis ; sporidiis fusiformibus ; para- physibus supra urngeformibus, quandoque uniseptatis, inter- mixtis floccis brevibus. On elm. Langridge, March 16, 1870. Cups smaller when on bark. Sporidia '0005 inch long by •0001. Plate VIII. fig. 10. a. plant, magnified ; b. paraphyses ; c. asci ; d. sporidia. 1392. BJiyparohius duhius, Bond. Ann. d. Sc. Nat. 1869, X. p. 240. On rabbits' dung. Bathford, C. E. Broome. 1393. B. Coolcei, Bond. I. c. p. 238. On dogs' dung. Batheaston, C. E. Broome. 1394. li. argenteus, B. & Br. Minutissimus, argenteus, pilis mollibus ciliatus ; ascis brevibus ; cysto sporidiifero elliptico, apicem versus sito; sporidiis fusiformibus; paraphysibus furcatis. On rabbits' dung, for the most part attached to filaments of Mucor. Mr. Benny, with figures. Cups "004 inch across ; asci "004 long ; sporidia normally 64 in each cyst, '0007 inch long, •00025-'0003 wide. Scarcely visible to the naked eye ; asci opening with a little lid, which splits vertically. Comes near to R. felintis, Bond., but has soft hairs and is of a pure white ; tips of paraphyses slightly enlarged. Plate IX. fig. 11. a. young plant; h. full-grown plant, magnified 100 diameters ; c. hairs ; d. asci with cyst ; e. paraphyses ; /. sporidia. 348 Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 1395. R. ivoolhopensisj E-enn. Minutus, primum candidus, dein albidus ; cupulis basi substipitiformi incrassatis, tuber- culatis, sursum pilis mollibus vestitis ; paraplijsibus simpli- cibiis ; ascis clavatis ; cysto sporidiifero apieem versus sito ; sporidiis fusiformibus. On birds' dung, mixed with filaments of Mucor and mostly borne by them. Mr. Renny, with figures. Cups \ a line (•041) wide and high ; sporidia normally 64, "0007 inch long. Minute, scattered, at first pure white, then dingy, with a thick stem-like base, which is studded with large semi-globular warts, covered above with close-set hairs, which form a fringe to the margin ; at length expanded, the hairs disappearing with age ; substance of base vesicular ; the cells often 'OOIS-'OOIS inch in diameter, much smaller above. Plate IX. fig. 12. a. plant, magnified 100 diameters ; h. cells of stem, compressed under the microscope ; c. edge of cup ; d. asci with cyst and paraphysis ; e. sporidia. ^ Hypocrea Jenta^ Fr. On dead wood. St. Catharine's, Bath, Nov. 1866. 1396. Sjilueria (Pertusie) pcedida, B. & Br. Peritheciis ovatis, rugosis, opacis, liberis, brunneo-nigris ; ostiolo conico, demum deciduo ; ascis linearibus ; sporidiis uniserialibus, medio contractis. On beech. Langridge, April 1859. Quite superficial, confluent ; sporidia '0005-'0006 inch long, •0002--0003 wide. Plate X. fig. 13. a. plant, more or less magnified ; b. ascus ; c. spo- ridia. 1397. Chmtomium riifulunij B. & Br. Peritheciis subglo- bosis, eximie cellulosis, rufulis, e mycelio tenui oriundis ; ascis brevibus, obtusis ; sporidiis octonis, globosis, granulatis, bi- seriatis. On a paper box under a bell-glass. Elmhurst, April 24, 1871. Sporidia when young •0004-*0005 inch in diameter, when full-grown '0007. Perithecia globose, with a pointed apex, com- posed of about three rows of coarse cells, of a pallid ochre at first, attached to the paper by a few white threads about "032 in diameter ; ostiolum, if any, very inconspicuous ; asci mostly curved, obtuse at either end, the narrow base soon losing all signs of attachment and floating freely in the perithecium ; sporidia spherical when mature, strongly granulated, of a pale brown tint, and containing a small nucleus. Plate X. fig. 14. a. plant on paper; b. perithecium ; c. asci ; d. spo- ridia. Dr. A. Giintlier 07i two neio Australian Frogs. 349 * C. glahrum, B. Asci linear; sporidia globose, uniseriate, smooth, '0005 in diameter. ' On the same matrix Lycogala parietinum occurs ; and we have little doubt that it is a mere state of the Choitomium. The asci are mixed up with yellow threads ; and it is probable that, as in other Choitomia^ they are often absorbed, leaving the sporidia free, and thus appearing to be the spores of a Myxogaster. Plate X. fig. 15. a. plant, more or less magnified ; b. ditto, ruptured ; c. threads ; d. asci ; e. sporidia. 1398. Sphinctrina coremioides^ B. & Br. Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 40, cum icone. Peritheciis stipitatis, globosis, extus setu- losis ; ascis linearibus, cito evanidis ; sporidiis globosis, con- catenatis. On pear-roots. Painswick, Mr. J. Atkins. Sporidia "00025 in. diameter, forming chains at the tips of the elongated pedicels of the asci, which are soon absorbed. 1399. Peronospora jicariai^^v\. Comptes Rendus, Jan. 1854. On Banunculus Jicaria. Rev. J. E. Vize, Forden, May 1872. 1400. P. lamn, De By. Ann. d. Sc. Nat. 1863, xx. p. 120. On Lamimn ruhrum. Forden, Rev. J. E. Vize, May 1872. 1401. P. hyoscyamij De By. /. c. p. 123. Market Deeping, in Mr. Holland's herb-garden, on the common henbane. [To be continued.] XXXVIII. — -Description of two new Species of Frogs from Australia. By Dr. Albert Gijnther. I AM indebted to Mr. Gerard KrefFt for the opportunity of examining some frogs, of which the following appear to be new. NOTADEN (g. n. Bufonid.). Body thick, short, covered with large flat glandular warts. Head very short and high, with a very obtuse snout ; eye of moderate size ; mouth very short, reaching to below the middle of the eye. Limbs short. Teeth none ; a pair of short and soft prominences between the narrow choanje. Ear-opening covered by the skin, and visible only after the skin is removed; it is very narrow, as are the Eustachian tubes. Tongue without notch, broad. Not only tlic skiji of the parotoid 350 Dr. A. Giinther on two neio Australian Frogs. region, but that of the entire back is thickened bj numerous glands. Fingers free ; toes with a narrow web and fringe. A large shovel-like metatarsal prominence ; no other tubercle. Clavicle present. Transverse process of sacral vertebra much dilated. Notaden Bennettii. Ground-colour greenish, with a very broad brownish band, marbled with black, along the middle of the back ; it bifurcates anteriorly on the head, leaving the forehead greenish, and emits a transverse bar on each side of the back behind the shoulder. Limbs blackish, with a few small white specks. Throat with scattered black spots ; abdomen whitish. lines. Length of the body 21 „ fore Hmb 12 „ hind Hmb 22 Mr. Krefft writes to me that this frog " comes from the Castlereagh River ; but it has been also observed near Fort Bourke." I have named this remarkable form after Dr. G. Bennett, to whom we are indebted for many specimens of the greatest interest. Chiroleptes platycephalus. Head large, broad, depressed, with its sides shelving ; eyes small, shorte