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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING

ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY.

(being a continuation of the ‘annals* combined with LOUDON AND

CHARLESWORTh’s ‘magazine OF natural history.’)

CONDUCTED BY

PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY, Esq., F.L.S.,

CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.,

J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh,

AND

RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S.

VOL. XVI.— SECOND SERIES.

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS.

SOLD BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL,

AND CO.; PIPER AND CO.; BA1LI.I^:KE, R^JENT STREET, AND PARIS:

LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINRURGH :

HODGES AND SMITH, DUBLIN : AND ASHER, BERLIN.

1855.

^‘Oinnes res creatae sunt divinae sapientiae et potentise testes, divitiae felicitatis

humanae : — ex harum usu honitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini ;

ex ceconomiain conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.

Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibirelictis semper aestimata; a vere eruditis

et sapientibus semper exculta ; male doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.” —

Linnaeus.

“ Quelque soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux pour voir

qu’elle est le chef-d’oeuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rapportent

toutes ses operations.” — Bruckner, Theorie du Systeme Animal, Leyden, 1767.

Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells

The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild

And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs

That press with nimble step the mountain thyme

And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed,

But scatter round ten thousand forms minute

Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock

Or rifted oak or cavern deep : the Naiads too

Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face

They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush

That drinks the rippling tide : the frozen poles.

Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread.

The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne,

All, all to us unlock their secret stores

And pay their cheerful tribute.

The sylvan powers

J. Taylor, Norwich, 1818,

So 5

AS1

,G

^CES library

CONTENTS OF VOL. XVL

[SECOND SERIES.]

NUMBER XCI.

Page

I. Observations on the Development of Gonidia (?) from the Cell-

contents of the CharacecB, and on the Circulation of the Mucus-sub-

stance of the Cell ; Tvith a Postscript. By H. J. Carter, Esq.,

Assistant-Surgeon H.C.S., Bombay 1

II. Descriptions of the Animals of certain Genera of Conchifera.

By S. P. Woodward, Esq., F.G.S 22

III. Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals. By

Philip Henry Gosse, A.L.S. (With two Plates.) 27

IV. On the Homologies of the Carapace and on the Structure and

Function of the Antennae in Crustacea. By C. Spence Bate, F.L.S.,

&c. (With two Plates.) 36

V. On Double Monstrosity in Fishes 47

Proceedings of the Linnaean Society ; Zoological Society ; Royal Insti-

tution; Botanical Society of Edinburgh 51 — 78

On the Nereis bilineata, by William Thompson; On a New Species

of Thalassidroma, by George Robert Gray, F.L.S. & F.Z.S. ; On

the Eggs of Otoyyps and Prosthemadera, by H. F. Walter; Me-

teorological Obseiwations and Table 78—80

NUMBER XCII.

VI. Notes on Palaeozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. No. I. Some

Species of Beyrichia from the Upper Silurian Limestones of Scandi-

navia. By T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S. (With a Plate.) HI

VII. On the Conjugation of the I)iatomacea\ By J. W. Gkiki rni,

M.D., F.L.S. (With a Plate.) .* 02

IV

CONTENTS.

Page

VIII. On a new Genus of Fossil Cidarid^, with a Synopsis of the

Species included therein. By Thomas Wright, M.D., F.R.S.E 94

IX. Brief Notices of several new or little-known species of Mam-

malia, lately discovered and collected in Nepal, by Brian Houghton

Hodgson, Esq. By T. Horsfield, M.D 101

X. On the Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina. By William

Clark, Esq 114

XI. Descriptions of two newly discovered species of Araneidea. By

John Blackwall, F.L.S 120

XII. Note on the Descent of Glaciers. By J. Gwyn Jeffreys,

Esq., F.R.S 122

New Books : — Catalogue of British Hymenoptera in the Collection

of the British Museum. Part I. Apidce — Bees, by Frederick

Smith, M.E.S. — Proceedings of the Yorkshire Philosophical

Society 124 — 128

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Edin-

burgh 128—146

On the Organization of the Pedicellate Glands of the Leaf of Drosera

rotundifolia, by M. A. Trecul ; On a new Organ observed in Cal-

litriche (C. platycarpa, &c.), by M. A. Chatin ; Description of a

new Tanager of the Genus CalUste, by Philip Lutley Sclater,

M.A. ; On the Spermatophora of the Crickets, by C. Lespes;

Meteorological Observations and Table 146 — 152

NUMBER XCIII.

XIII. Observations on the Genera Pachyhdella (Diesing) and Pel-

togaster (Rathke), two animal forms parasitic upon the abdomen of

Crabs. By Professor Steen strup 153

XIV. Notes on Palaeozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. No. II. Some

British and Foreign Species of Beyrichia. By T. Rupert Jones,

F.G.S. (With a Plate.) 163

XV. On the Heart and Circulation in the Pycnogonidce. By Dr.

A. Krohn. (With a Plate.) 176

XVI. Abstract of a Monograph of the Family Gorgonidoe. By

M. Valenciennes 177

XVII. On the Genus Assiminia. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.,

V.P.Z.S

183

CONTENTS.

V

Page

XVIII. On the Law which has regulated the Introduction of New

Species. By Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.G.S 184

XIX. On some new Species of Hemipedina from the Oolites. By

Thomas Wright, M.D., F.R.S.E 196

XX. Short Biographical Notice of the late Dr. Johnston of Ber-

wick-upon-Tweed 199

New Books : — The British Flora, comprising the Phsenogamous or

Flowering Plants and the Ferns. The 7th edition, with Additions

and Corrections, &c., by Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H.,

D.C.L. &c. &c., and George A. Walker- Amott, LL.D. &c. &c.... 203

Proceedings of the Royal Society ; Linnsean Society ; Botanical

Society of Edinburgh ; Zoological Society 205 — 229

Monstrosity of Antirrhinum majus, by Dr. J. E. Gray ; Notice of the

Horns and Skull of the Arnee, by Dr. J. E. Gray ; Meteorolo-

gical Obseiwations and Table 229 — 232

NUMBER XCIV.

XXI. The Vegetable Individual, in its relation to Species. By

Dr. Alexander Braun, Professor of Botany in the University of

Berlin, &c. Translated by Chas. Francis Stone 233

XXII. Note on the Subgenus Limea, Broun. By John Lycett,

Esq ! 256

XXIII. Notes on the Brachiopoda observed in a Dredging Tour

with Mr. M‘Andrew on the Coast of Norway, in the summer of the

present year. By Lucas Barrett, F.G.S 257

XXIV. On the Young States of some Annelides. By R. Leuckart.

(With a Plate.) 259

XXV. Observations on the Genus Assiminia. By William

Clark, Esq 272

XXVI. On the Morphology of the Organs called Lenticels. By

M. E. Germain de Saint-Pierre 273

New Books : — A Manual of Marine Zoology for the British Isles, by

Philip Ilenrj' Gosse, A.L.S 277

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Linna!an Society

278—296

VI

CONTENTS.

Sibbald’s Drawings of Scottish Animals, by the late Dr. George John-

ston ; Clausilia Rolphii, by Mr. S. P. Woodward ; Note on Helix

aspersa, by Mr. S. P. Woodward ; Descriptions of some new spe-

cies of Birds, by the Viscount Du Bus de Gisignies ; On the Oper-

culum of Diplommatina, by Captain Thomas Hutton ; Note on

Apliyllanthes monspeliensis, and the new Family Aphyllanthacea,

by M. Parlatore ; Meteorological Observations and Table . 296 — 304

NUMBER XCV.

XXVII. Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals. By

Philip Henry Gosse, A.L.S. (With a Plate.) 305

XXVIII. On the Injurious Eifeets of an excess or want of Heat

and Light on the Aquarium. By Robert Warington, Esq 313

XXIX. On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the

Structm’e of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals. By

Thomas Williams, M.D. Lond. (With a Plate.) 315

XXX. Notice and Description of a new species of Spider. By the

Rev. Hamlet Clark, M.A., Curate of All Saints, Northampton ... 329

XXXI. Observations on the Habits of the Stickleback. By Robert

Warington, Esq 330

XXXII. The Vegetable Individual, in its relation to Species. By

Dr. Alexander Braun, Professor of Botany in the University of

Berlin, &c 333

New Books : — Glaucus; or the Wonders of the Shore, by Charles

Kingsley 354

Proceedings of the Linnsean Society ; Zoological Society 356 — 3/8

Bohemian Forests and Peat-bogs, by Dr. Hochstetter ; Occurrence of

Diodonta fragilis at Weymouth, by William Thompson, Esq. ;

Description of a second species of the genus Procnias, by Philip

Lutley Sclater, M.A. ; Descriptions of some new species of Birds,

by the Viscount Du Bus de Gisignies ; Description of a new spe-

cies of Petrogale, by Dr. J. E. Gray ; Meteorological Observations

and Table 3/8 — 384

NUMBER XCVI.

XXXIII. On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain. By Charles

C. Babington, M.A., F.R.S. &c

385

CONTENTS. Vll

Page

XXXIV. On the Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration and on the

Structure of the Organs of Breathing in Invertebrate Animals. By

Thomas Williams, M.D. Lond. (With a Plate.) 404

XXXV. On the _Genera of Mollusca, and on the Genus Assiminia

in particular. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c 422

XXXVI. A few Remarks on the BracMopoda. By Thomas

Davidson, Esq., F.G.S. &c. (With a Plate.) 429

XXXVII. On the Phsenomena of the Reproduction of the Chitons.

By W’^iLLiAM Clark, Esq 446

XXXVIII. Note on Linaria sepium, Allman. By Charles C.

Babington, M.A., F.R.S. &c 449

New Books : — Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds con-

tained in the British Museum, by G. R. Gray, F.L.S. — Descrip-

tive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Histological Series contained

in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Prepared for

the Microscope. Vol. it 450 — 457

Proceedings of the Zoological Society 457 — 464

Shropshire Mollusca, by J. Gwyn Jeffreys; Note on the Arrested

Development of the Tadpole of the Common Frog, by W. Davies ;

List of Species of Mollusca obtained by Prof. Goodsir from

Spitzbergen, bv R. M^Andrew, Esq. ; Meteorological Observations

and Table 464— 467

Index

468

PLATES IN VOL. XVI.

Plate I. \ Structure of the Carapace in the Crustacea. — Conjugation of

II. /■ the Diatomaceae.

jy' j- New or little-known Marine Animals.

VI..

yj' Palaeozoic Bivalved Entomostraca.

VII. Young States of some Annelides. — Circulation in the Pycno-

gonidae.

VIII. New or little-known Marine Animals.

IX. Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration in Invertebrate Animals.

X. New Species of Brachiopoda.

XI. Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration in Invertebrate Animals.

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

“ per litora spargite museum.

Naiades, et circilm vitreos considite fontes :

Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores :

Floribus et pictum, divae, replete canistrum.

At VOS, 0 Nymphae Craterides, ite sub undas ;

Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco

Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas

Ferte, Deae pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”

N. Parthenii Giannettasii Eel. 1.

No. 91. JULY 1855.

I. — Observations on the Development of Gonidia (?) from the

Cell-contents of the Characese, and on the Circulation of the

Mucus-substance of the Cell; with a Postscript. By H. J.

Carter, Esq., Assistant Surgeon H.C.S., Bombay.

The following is a short summary of observations on the cell-

contents of the Characese made in the island of Bombay during

the last eight months, and which want of time only now pre-

vents me from communicating in a more extended and complete

form. All physiologists are acquainted with the development

of the spiral filaments in the globule and a new plant from the

nucule, but the passage of the cell-contents into gonidia in this

family of the Algae does not seem to have met with description ;

nor has, 1 think, the circulatory movement been satisfactorily

explained.

Before, however, proceeding to the detail of these phaenomena,

it is desirable to refresh the memory of the reader with a descrip-

tion of the recent cell of the Characcae in which the circulation

is going on, and for this purpose I shall take an internode of

Nitella, as at once furnishing the simplest and largest type of

the cell throughout the family*.

* The species of Nitella which I have used for my observations is a de-

licate, slender plant with long internodes and umbelliferous verticils, the

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 1

2 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

The internode of Nitella consists of — 1st, the cell-wall ; 2nd, the

green layer ; 3rd, the mucus-layer ; and 4th, the axial fluids to each

of which parts separately let us now direct our attention.

Cell- wall. — This, in the internode, is cylindrical, more or less

convex at each end, transparent, and resistent like all other cel-

lulose membranes of the same kind.

Green layer. — In contact with the inner surface of the cell-

wall is a layer of green bodies, which, being more or less discoidal,

we shall call green disks.^^ These disks, w'hich are slightly

separated from each other, are arranged up and down the inter-

node in parallel lines, and the layer which they thus form is

divided into two equal parts by two transparent linear intervals,

which, for reasons that will appear hereafter, have been aptly

termed by Slack the lines of repose.^^ Neither these lines, nor

the lines of green disks which are parallel to them, are exactly

parallel with the longitudinal axis of the internode, but twisted

round it in a semispiral form, so that by transmitted light the

two white intervals, which are on opposite sides of the internode,

present the appearance of a cross with acute angles, which angles

vary in their degree with the length of the internode.

The green disk, which is more or less elliptical and com-

pressed, is composed of a vesicle of chlorophyll in which are

three or more granules of compressed, circular or elliptical form,

each of which is also, apparently, in a distinct vesicle of chloro-

phyll, and the whole thus grouped together form a green body

which is attached to, or imbedded in, the cell-wall of a third

vesicle. At least, this appears to be the typical form of the

green disk,^^ though its component parts are not always di-

stinctly individualized ; and a vesicle with a nucleus, such as I

have described, may frequently be seen among the cell-contents

of the internode when the latter has been evacuated, whilst the

divisions of the green disk with a granule in each, as well as faint

lines between them, indicative of each being surrounded by a

transparent vesicle, may often be seen while the disk is in situ.

Thus, the green layer is composed of a number of vesicles set

together in linear arrangement, to each of which is appended

the green disk mentioned. The average size of the green disk

latter consisting of sixteen to twenty branches, alternately long and short.

The long branches are thrice divided, and the last division in all termi-

nated by a spine. The organs of fructification, which are cast together in

the axils of the verticil or separately in the centres of the umbels of the

branches, are, with the terminal divisions of the latter, too small to be seen

distinctly by the unassisted eye. It grows here and there in the muddy

tanks of the island of Bombay all the year round, and from the slime and

foreign matter which collects about it, looks not unlike toad’s sjiawn. Its

chief character, when cleansed of this, is its delicate, slender, umbelliferous

aspect.

3

from the Cell-contents of the Characeae.

in the species of Nitella on which I have been making observa-

tions, is l-4300th of an inch in diameter. Iodine with and with-

out sulphuric acid gives it a dark brown-red colour, but does

not turn it or its contents blue.

Mucus-layer. — Immediately within the green layer is a gra-

nular, colourless mucus, which is unequally and unevenly spread

over the surface, so that it presents a wavy line towards the axial

fluid. The unevenness of the inner surface of this mucus arises

from partial aggregations of its substance, w^hich are most pro-

minent and accumulated midway between the lines of repose.

One of these aggregations is generally larger than the rest, and

this in the spiniform cells which terminate the branchlets and

in the early state of the internode itself contains the cytoblast,

which with its accompanying mucus also at this early period

lines the inside of the cell ; so that the whole of the granular

mucus-layer and its contents, which afterwards form such a large

portion of the internode, is developed from this cytoblast, and

should be regarded as merely an increase in quantity of the ori-

ginal protoplasm or primordial utricle of Mohl.

We have now to direct our attention to the contents of the

granular mucus, which, when one extremity of the internode is

truncated by a sharp cutting instrument, under water, rushes

out partly in a loose amorphous form, and partly enclosed in

vesicles of variable dimensions, the largest of which are some-

times nearly as wide as the internode. Both the amorphous

masses and vesicles are again charged with vesicles of dilFerent

sizes, circular disks containing a finely granulated substance,

subreniform or round starch-globules, and a number of irre-

gularly-shaped bodies of different sizes, but of which none exceed

the 1500th part of an inch in diameter.

The most striking of these contents are the circular disks,

which, from their defined outline and uniform size and appear-

ance, are easily distinguished from any of the other bodies.

They average about the 2150th part of an inch in diameter, and

appear to be filled with a minutely granular mucus of a very

faint yellow colour, which, a certain time after the disk has been

exposed to the water, contracts into an elliptical form, and thus

shows that it is enclosed within a capsule, from which it is also

distinct. These disks may be seen in considerable numbers

loose or imbedded in the amorphous masses of mucus, or in

that filling the large vesicles, or in variable plurality in trans-

parent globular vesicles otherwise empty ; lastly, they may be

seen fixed singly to, or in the wall of a vesicle, which appears to

be their normal ap])cndage, and though this vesicle is sometimes

hardly distinguishable, it is at others five or six times the dia-

meter of the disk. Iodine colours the nucleus of a deej) brown

1*

4 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

amber colour, but leaves the capsule and globular cell un-

affected.

Many globular vesicles of different sizes, which appear to be

entirely empty, are also to be observed, and here and there a

solitary starch-globule.

But the composition of the irregular bodies, which appear to

vary in size from a minute granule to the largest starch-globule,

is not so evident. These bodies, w^hich have a faint yellow opake

colour, and apparently granular structure, are like the circular

disks loosely scattered through the mucus, or enclosed in plu-

rality within transparent globular vesicles otherwise empty, or

attached to or imbedded singly, in the wall of one of these cells,

which also seems to be their normal appendage. In Chara ver-

ticillata (Roxb.) these bodies in the early part of their growth

are club-shaped, after which the large end appears to expand

into an irregular, globular or agariciform head, to which the

small end then forms a kind of pedicel, and thus they are also

found within vesicles. At first these irregular bodies look very

much like starch-granules, and particularly the agariciform ones,

from the eccentric lines on their surface ; but iodine, even when

assisted by sulphuric acid, only turns them of a deep brown

amber colour like that which it produces in the nucleus' of the

disk ; sometimes it seems to have little or no effect upon them.

They differ from the circular disk in the extreme irregularity of

their form, their apparent want of capsule, greater thickness,

deeper yellow colour, greater opacity, and in their apparent ori-

gin from granules infinitely smaller than the circular disks.

Axial fluid. — This, as before stated, fills the centre of the in-

ternode ; it is of an aqueous consistence, colourless, and fre-

quently contains bunches of acicular raphides (oxalate of lime ?),

starch- globules, and many of the faint yellow irregular bodies

just mentioned, all of which, except the raphides, appear to have

accidentally dropt into it from the mucus-layer.

Thus we have the internode of Nitella complete, and we have

only to conceive the mucus-layer moving round the axial fluid

and propelling it and its particles in the same direction (by the

projections on its surface), to obtain a true idea of the motion

which takes place within the cell of the Characese.

Let us now follow the passage of the cell-contents into

gonidia.

All are aware, that in the freshwater Algae commonly called

Confervae, the formation of the spore is preceded by a breaking

up or displacement of the cell-contents, after which a conden-

sation and re-arrangement of them takes place, and they are then

invested with a capsule which remains entire, until the time

arrives for the spore thus formed to germinate. Now, under

5

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

certain circumstances^ which appear to be the approaching dis-

solution or death of the cell-wall, a similar process takes place

in the ceils of the Characese, and following this from the begin-

ning, we find, that it first commences with a cessation of the cir-

culation, after which the lines of green disks forming the green

layer become displaced, and, as if obeying a still continued but

inappreciable movement of the mucus-layer, they roil themselves

up into lines which assume a more or less irregular arrange-

ment across the internode, or into groups of different sizes, more

or less connected by narrow lines of mucus and single disks, so

as to present an areolar structure in contact with the inner sur-

face of the cell-wall. The next stage is the separation of the

disks into still more distinct groups, which, having become more

circumscribed and circular, leave the cell-wall and evince a cer-

tain amount of polymorphism and locomotion. The cavity of

the internode, hitherto rendered turbid by the breaking up of

the green layer, now clears off and becomes transparent, save

where the circular masses, which have changed from their ori-

ginal green into a brownish-green yellow colour, intercept the

light. After a day or two, — but the time seems to vary, — the

green disks become entirely brown, and the group, assuming a

more circumscribed and circular form, shows that it is sur-

rounded by a transparent globular cell ; this we shall henceforth

call the gonidial cell. A new substance, consisting of a bluish

semitransparent mucus, more or less charged with minute gra-

nules (from which its colour appears to be derived), and refrac-

tive globules of a faint yellowish-green and sapphire-blue colour,

makes its appearance in different parts of the brown mass, or to

one side of it, and afterwards, becoming botryoidal or mulberry-

shaped, separates into gonidia. The brown chlorophyll with the

other effete contents then shrinks up into a structureless, homo-

geneous, more or less defined, circular nucleus, of a dark brown

colour, and the cell, frequently projecting on one side in a

conical form, bursts at the apex and gives exit to the gonidia.

The gonidia are globular, ovate or spindle-shaped, and of a

light blue colour. They average l-4300th of an inch in dia-

meter, and contain, together with the blue substance mentioned,

more or less also of the refractive globules, and a transparent

vesicle. Each gonidium is provided with one or two cilia accord-

ing to its form, that is to say, the globular ones [iresent one and

the spindle-shaped two, which may be perceived while they are

yet groujicd or seyiaratc in the transparent gonidial cell, where

they already exhibit a certain amount of polymorphism. Shortly

after they have become free in the internode, the wall of the

latter gives way and they pass into the water, where, for a cer-

tain time, they remain so active, that it is almost impossible to

6 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

describe their form ; but here and there, that which I have stated

may be seen in those which are less active in their movements

than the rest.

There are, however, certain peculiarities about the elongated

and spindle-shaped gonidia which it is desirable to notice, viz.

that one cilium appears longer than the other, and that while

the short one floats almost motionless backwards, so as to

appear as if it proceeded from the posterior extremity, the latter,

for the most part, keeps up a constant whipping-movement in

front which frequently renders it imperceptible. Both cilia

however appear to be of the same length, if we add the length

of the gonidium to the one which floats behind, and which is

concealed in the first part of its course by lying in contact with

or underneath the body of the gonidium ; both also appear to be

occasionally brought together anteriorly. There is also fre-

quently a kind of proboscis extended from the rostrum or beak

of the gonidium which moves incessantly, both in the ovate and

spindle-shaped forms, and seems to have a suctorial extremity

by means of which it fixes the gonidium to the glass, while the

floating cilium also appears to be provided with a similar power

and to exert it for detaching the gonidium, when so fixed, by

pulling it backwards, which it does with a peculiar jerk ; when

this little proboscis has been present, I do not think I have ever

observed the anterior or active cilium.

After a while, perhaps some hours, the gonidia become sta-

tionary, and while they appear to be fixed by the proboscis men-

tioned, the long cilium floats motionless, or presents a languid

kind of w'hip-like undulation ; the latter then disappears, and a

day or two after, the gonidia both small and great, for there are

many sizes, as will presently be mentioned, are seen creeping

about the watch-glass (into which they were transferred for ob-

servation) under as active polymorphism as any amoebous cell

could present ; diffluent, digitated, and in the form of that beau-

tifully radiated figure caWed Actinop hr ]/s Sot (Ehr.). They also

now present the contracting vesicle,^^ as well as other vesicles,

which do not appear to alter their dimensions, but vary, like the

former, in distinctness with their change of position and the

varying form of the gonidium. After a few days^ existence in

this state their polymorphism becomes very sluggish, they re-

main for some time under a slowly changing rhizopodous figure,

which is more or less common to all, and then disappear.

Whether they germinate or not, I have not been able to

determine.

Lastly, a development of transparent mucus which becomes

filled with vibrios and Bacterium termo (Dujar.), iminediately

follows the elimination of the gonidia both in the gonidial cell

7

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

aud in the internode, presenting itself in a mass or branched

organized form, more particularly at those parts of the latter

which have become ruptured. This also disappears after a few

days, and a thorough dissolution of the internode and its original

contents seems thus to be completed.

We have now then seen that a breaking up or displacement of

the green layer, a grouping of its green disks, the investment of

the groups with a mucus-covering, their complete separation,

their endowment with a certain amount of polymorphism and

locomotion, the turning brown of the chlorophyll, and the passage

of the investing mucus into a globular transparent cell, precede

the evolution of the gonidial substance and its subsequent self-

division into gonidia ; let us now see if there be anything else

within the gonidial cell during the time this process is going on.

It will be remembered, that a great number of discoidal

bodies exist in the mucus-layer of the internode, and that many

of these are loose, while others are fixed singly in the wall of a

transparent vesicle ; now (apparently under an arrest of develop-

ment), a gonidial cell frequently presents itself, in which a single

disk, with or without its vesicles, precisely similar to one of

these, is seen within or to one side of the brown chlorophyll,

surrounded by a shrivelled, crenulated membrane, appearing,

from its irregular mulberry-like surface, want of motion, dingy

colour, and absence of refractive granules, as if it were the re-

mains of the gonidial substance which had perished from some

cause or other just before it began to separate into gonidia.

^Moreover, in many of the disks, the nucleus is not only seen to

be separated from its capsule by an annular interspace, but its

granules have become larger and more distinct, and an irre-

gular cavity like a contracted vesicle appears to exist in its cen-

tre. When the circular disk is enclosed within the brown matter,

it may be rendered more evident by the addition of alcohol,

which extracts the colouring matter completely, while the appli-

cation of iodine deepens the colour of the brown matter, and

gives a dark brown tint only to the nucleus of the disk.

That the gonidial cells should contain a nucleus within the

brown matter is easily conceived, for on truncating a young in-

ternode, sometimes, in the way which I have mentioned, parti-

cularly where the green layer is soft and previously disturbed,

the whole of the contents rush out together, and all the vesicles,

both large and small, become surrounded with green disks,

which, under these circumstances, present a similar appearance

to that which is witnessed in the internode when the green layer

has been broken up and its green disks separated into grouj)s,

pre])aratory to the develo}) incut of the gonidia.

8 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

But many of tlie gonidial cells are too small to contain the

circular disk, and we have still to account for the disappearance

of the irregular bodies of a faint yellow colour and granular

structure, which appear to form a much larger proportion of the

cell-contents than the circular disks.

As the smallest of the gonidial cells, which may appear in the

internode, is but a very little larger than the single gonidium

which it contains, and others are sometimes present which may

contain fifty or more, it is obvious, that although the latter may

also contain a circular disk, there is no room for it in the

former. Nevertheless, the small gonidial cells containing one,

two, and three gonidia, as they vary in size from the 4300th to

the 2150th of an inch in diameter, are provided with a body pre-

cisely similar to the irregular ones mentioned, which is not in

the interior, but attached to or imbedded in their cell-wall, and

with the latter seems to comprise all the elements of which the

small gonidial cells are composed. In this way then we can

account for the disappearance of the irregular bodies.

It is also not unusual to see in the older internodes, when their

contents are passing into gonidial cells, a few of the green disks

in situ, as well as loose in the cavity, and their disappearance

also calls for explanation, which would be difficult, if we did not

frequently see some of them actually in situ, under the form of

gonidia, among the other green disks which have not passed into

this state or departed from their original linear arrangement.

Whether the gonidium has here taken the place of the green

disk, or whether it has been developed in its transparent vesicle,

I have not been able to determine; but in an old internode,

where the basal structure of the green layer has become more or

less hardened, the remains of the transparent vesicles may occa-

sionally be seen in their original position, while the green disks

have disappeared. In the fan-shaped groups of cells too, which

form part of the capsule of the globule, the red granules, which

are equivalent to the green disks, may frequently be seen at-

tached, like the irregular bodies, singly or in groups, to the

periphery of small gonidial cells whieh contain one or more

gonidia. This appears to be invariably the case at the dehiscence

of the globule, while the absence of circulation in these cells

from the commencement would indicate a corresponding scarcity

of the mucus-layer and its contents. With the exception of the

central cavities of the globule and nucule, I have not seen any

kind of cell in the species of Chara and Nitella, which I have

had under observation, that has not produced gonidia.

Lastly, we have to account for the genuine starch-globules and

raphides, both of which may be seen lying among the gonidial

9

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

cells ; but in no instance have I seen the former in the gonidial

cell, or been able to produce a blue colour in the nucleus of the

latter by the application of iodine.

Thus we have followed the contents of the internode of Nitella

from the breaking up of the green layer to the development of

the gonidia. Let us now direct our attention to the different

parts of the gonidial cell analytically, more however with the

object of adding to rather than recapitulating what has already

been stated respecting it.

We have seen that the mucus-investment, which appears to

be derived from the mucus-layer, gives the cell the power, not

only of limited polymorphism, but also of locomotion ; in addi-

tion to this also, the cell possesses for some time the power of

projecting thread-like filaments of extreme tenuity from its sur-

face that adhere to neighbouring objects, and thus form a point

d’appui towards which the cell can then move itself. Subse-

quently, however, these processes, apparently following the same

law of development as the cell, become stiff, and then stand out

like short, straight hairs, more or less thinly scattered over its

cii’cumference, and resembling a parasitic growth, — which some

might consider them, as they do not appear on all the cells, but

my impression is that they are what I have stated. I have also

seen, now and then, a small gonidial cell in which the hardening

process appeared not to be about to take place, but, from the

rhizopodous prolongations of a part of its periphery, and its con-

taining nothing besides the gonidial substance, presenting rather

the appearance of a polymorphic spore about to germinate than

to pass into a fixed cell. Occasionally the gonidial cell, after it

has become stiff and transparent, presents itself under a lenti-

cular form ; at others, as if a notch had been cut in it, and

sometimes with a plane surface, &c., but all these irregularities

appear to be caused by objects against which the cell rests while

passing from its flexible into its hardened cellulose state. Iodine

alone does not appear to impart any colour to the gonidial cell.

Immediately wdthin the transparent globular cell is a layer of

brown matter, which, as before shown, is composed of the green

disks in which the chlorophyll has thus become changed in

colour. This layer is also globular, and encloses the circular

disk alone or with its vesicle. It often presents a botryoidal

surface, which appears to be occasioned by the presence of the

gonidia inside or in the midst of its substance; when the gonidia

have been developed, this as well as its granular contents disap-

])car, leaving a homogeneous, brown substance, which shrinks

up into a more or less defined nucleus of a much darker colour.

The brown matter is deepened in colour by the addition of

iodine, and extracted by that of alcohol. In the small gonidial

10 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

cells there appears to be no brown matter, but from the red gra-

nules, which are the equivalents of the green disks in the fan-

shaped group of cells forming part of the capsule of the globule,

being attached singly or in groups to their periphery, it may

reasonably be inferred that this is the position of the so-called

brown matter in them.

After a certain time, the gonidial substance with its bright

refractive granules makes its appearance in different parts of the

brown matter, as if it were rising out of it, and then to one side

in a distinct mass which acquires a mulberry-form and separates

into gonidia ; or the gonidia may be fully developed inside or in

the midst of the brown matter before they make their appear-

ance. The gonidial substance has already been described, as

well as the bright refractive globules, which do not alter in

colour by contact with iodine. Making its appearance then in

this way, it is not extraordinary that the gonidia, in addition to

their own peculiar blue-coloured mucus, which colour, as before

stated, appears to depend on its granular contents, should, for

the most part, also contain more or less of the refractive globules,

and occasionally a fragment of the brown matter, which is the

case.

I have already described the commonest form of gonidium,

but there is still another about twice the size, viz. 2150th of an

inch in diameter, which although not so frequent, is nevertheless

sufficiently so to show, that there are two sizes more common

than the rest ; for we shall presently see, that the gonidial sub-

stance may occasionally come out as a whole, or in gonidia of

all sizes below its original bulk. This large gonidium generally

presents itself under a circular or globular form, with a single

cilium, but it is sometimes seen ovate or spindle-shaped like the

smaller one. It must be obvious to all, that a polymorphic cell,

such as the gonidium is, can have no constant figure while in a

state of activity ; hence at one time it may be of one shape, and

at another of another ; but when under polymorphism and the

cilium has disappeared, a group of gonidia will evince a strong

tendency to assume the same kind of figure generally, whatever

that may be. Thus, just after they become stationary, the form

of Actinophrys Sol seems to prevail ; then the digitated form for

progression ; then the diffluent form, which appears to be pro-

duced by the more internal protoplasm bursting through that

which is becoming hardened on the surface ; and lastly, the

tardy, rhizopodous form which I have mentioned; but I will

not vouch for this sequence, and only instance it for example.

I have already alluded to the variety in size of the gonidia,

but this is an exception to the general rule, for the smallest

gonidial cell, in which only one gonidium is developed, yields a

11

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

gonidium equal in size to tlie one first mentioned. It may how-

ever yield a smaller one, and occasionally, in the same mul-

berry-group, may be seen gonidia of different sizes ; again, some-

times a whole group is composed of the same-sized gonidia,

which are not more than half the size of the common form, that

is l-8600th of an inch in diameter ; while occasionally a large

mass is seen creeping about which seems equal in size to the

whole of the gonidial substance bf a large gonidial cell. Some-

times a compound mass of gonidia, composed of three or more

which appear to have flowed into each other, may be seen, with

their cilia projecting from different parts of the circumference.

I have already alluded also to the variable contents of the

gonidia. In addition to the dull, bluish- green mucus, they also

frequently contain more or less of the bright refractive globules,

which, when the latter are beneath or in the midst of the mucus,

may be mistaken for the transparent vesicles which I shall pre-

sently mention.

The gonidium may also contain more or less of the brown

matter, and occasionally, when it is unusually large and of a

Florence-fiask shape, with the vesicle in front and a fragment of

brown matter of a bright colour present, it is hardly distin-

guishable from Astasia.

Lastly, we come to the vesicles which are seen in the goni-

dium. WTiile the gonidium retains its cilium and swimming

motion, the vesicle is for the most part single, and though

changeable in position with the movements of the cell-wall of

the gonidium, does not appear to be endowed with contractility

per se ; but when it loses its cilium and sinks down to the reptant,

polymorphic state, the vesicle becomes distinctly contractile, and

the gonidium is then hardly distinguishable from the young

Amoeba or sponge-cell. Frequently in this state also it presents

one or more hyaline vesicles which are not contractile, and only

change their position with those parts of the gonidium to which

they may be attached.

We now come to the nucleus of the gonidial cell, and of this

I can state little more than has already been given. It is evi-

dent, that although the larger ones contain a nucleus, the smaller

ones do not, unless the irregular body fixed to their periphery

is to be considered its equivalent. I have mentioned that the

nucleus of the large cells appears to be the circular disk of the

mucus-layer, and that the latter is sometimes with and some-

times without its vesicle ; also that frequently, under an arrest of

development, it is surrounded by a crenulated membrane. The

fine granules of which the central part is composed, ap])car also

on these occasions to have become larger and more evident, and

in one instance they were replaced by three or four large glo-

12 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

bales of a faint yellow colour, as if they had run together. In the

larger goniclial cells, where a set of healthy gonidia of normal

size have been developed, the nucleus shrinks up with the effete

brown matter into a common, homogeneous-looking mass, from

which it is then undistinguishable.

General Observations.

Having now described the gonidial cell synthetically and ana-

lytically, let us for a few moments direct our attention to the

offices of the several elements of which it is composed.

The gonidial cell, originally a portion of the mucus-layer en-

dowed with the power of motion, at first appears to gather up a

number of the green disks and wrap them round the nucleus ;

after which it becomes separated from the contents which it has

thus enclosed, and passes into a firm, transparent membrane of a

globular form, which serves to isolate and protect the materials

from which the gonidia are to be developed. Lastly, it fre-

quently assumes a conical form, which bursts at the apex and

then gives exit to its gonidia. Whether the bursting is an act

of its own, or induced by the distension of the mucus before

mentioned, which becomes developed in it immediately after the

evolution of the gonidia, and subsequently throughout the inter-

node, I have not been able to determine ; but the mucus in

question is frequently seen protruding from the ruptured parts

of the cell in an organized, transparent, fungoid mass, or in a

branched form, as if it had caused the rupture.

This mucus appears to me worthy of notice, from its great re-

semblance, under the organized forms mentioned, to the gonidial

substance. When within the gonidial cells and in the internode,

it swarms with vibrios ; but when liberated, the vibrios, after

moving about for some time in the water, settle down into a

form like Bacterium termo. When in the massive or branched

form mentioned, bright, refractive, blue-green granules are scat-

tered through it, and there appears to be an abortive attempt at

a cellular division of the mass generally. Can this be the rem-

nants of germinating matter which are left about the gonidial

cells and the internode ?

The power of the green disks, as well as the irregular bodies

of the mucus-layer, to produce gonidia, is incontestable, for we

have seen gonidia developed in cells where nothing else but the

green disk or the irregular body was present.

What is the office then of the circular disk ?

This I can only suggest from inference. It is perfectly evi-

dent that there are corpuscles m the nucule besides the starch-

globules, which corpuscles resist the blue colouring action of

13

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

iodine, and it seems equally so, that there are only these two

kinds of bodies in the nucule \ again, these corpuscles very closely

resemble in colour, and in not becoming blue by contact with

iodine, the irregular bodies contained in the mucus-layer of the

internode, while they bear in other respects also a strong analogy

to them. Lastly, we now know, that a gonidial cell having one

of these irregular bodies for its nucleus or peripheral appendage

can develope a gonidium. Thus then, if the irregular bodies

and the corpuscles be identical, we have the germs of gonidial

substance and starch-globules as the contents of the nucule, the

latter being designed for the nourishment of the former. May

not the circular disk contain nutriment for the gonidia ? — while

the irregular bodies would seem to be identical with the green

disks, and are indeed, in many instances, almost undistin-

guishable from them, even when both are present among the

contents of the evacuated internode.

Thus we see a great resemblance between the formation of

the gonidia and the germinating of the nucule, and in the for-

mation of both with that of the resting spore of Algae

generally.

As yet, I have never seen a new plant developed from the

gonidium of Nitella, nor have I ever been able to identify their

germination with that of germinating cells, which I have fre-

quently seen on the surface of an internode containing the

gonidia; neither did Pringsheim see those germinate which

came from Spirogijra, in wLich he has carefully described the

same kind of gonidial development as that wLich takes place in

Nitella^. But Braun, who has followed the development of

gonidia in Hydrodictyon L states, that the larger gonidia (for

there are two distinct sets, which he calls macrogonidia and

microgonidia) germinate, that is, form the young water-net,

while the smaller ones never do this, but unite into groups,

forming a homogeneous green mass, which becomes covered

w ith a distinct cell-membrane. This very much resembles the

fungoid growTh at the ruptures of and about the internode wLich

follows the disappearance of the gonidia of Nitella, and which I

have suggested might be the last efforts to form and to increase

of the remnants of gonidial substance left in the gonidial cell

and about the internode. Be this as it may, the dividing up of

a body formed after the manner of a resting spore into smaller

ones, resembling gonidia, which afterwards germinate, is the

* “ On the Germination of Resting Spores and one form of Moving

Spores in SpiroyyraP Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. xi. p. 210, 185d.

t Pub. of Ray Society, Botan. and Phys. Mem., Phaenoni. of Rejuve-

nescence in Nature. Transl. by Ilenfrey, p. 201.

14 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

normal process of reproduction in Achlya prolifei'a^, as well as

in Cladophora glomerata-\ , &c. ; and therefore it seems not im-

possible thatj under certain circumstances^ the gonidia of Nitella

might produce a new plant ; but this has not yet been proved ;

neither have we, I think, an instance on record of the resting

spore, which commonly developes a new filament, dividing upon

some occasions into small spores, which can also each produce a

new filament. Although AgardhJ saw the resting spore of

Spirogyra divide up into small spores, while he was endeavouring

to see the single filament developed from it which Vaucher

had described, he does not state whether or not these sporules

germinated. One difference between the resting spore and the

gonidia is, that in the former the process of development is very

slow, and in the latter very fast; hence it may be that the

resting spore is only resolved into gonidia when it does not

go its full time,^^ so to write, and therefore produces an

abortive progeny ; while in Achlya prolifera, where the spore

does not wait until the next season for development, this is the

normal process, and each small spore produces a new indi-

vidual.

Since writing the above, I have been able to confirm some

more observations which I had made some months since respect-

ing another kind of passage of the cell-contents of Nitella into

ciliated sacs, viz. —

About three weeks after gathering plants of Nitella and

placing them in a basin of water, the green layer of the long

slender internodes becomes separated from the cell-wall, and

gathered up into dark, spherical bodies, averaging about the

100th part of an inch in diameter, or large enough to be seen

by the unassisted eye.

These at first move up and down the internode with the rapidity

of animalcules, but afterwards lose this power of locomotion and

become stationary. They then present, under the microscope,

the appearance of resting spores ; that is to say, they consist of

a dark green, globular, grumous mass, invested with a trans-

parent spherical cell. This green mass, in all that I have

examined, has been in an active state of rotation, first one way

and then the other, by means of short cilia which covered its

surface, like those on the spore of Vaucheria Ungeri^. On being

crushed between two pieces of glass, this mass was found to

consist chiefiy of pellets of different sizes, of a deep green

colour (formed of groups of green disks, respectively surrounded

* Thuret, Ann. des Sc. Nat. 3® Ser. t. 14. pi. 16, Botan.

t Unger, idem, 2* * * §’ Ser. t. ii. p. 1, Botan.

X Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2® Ser. vi. 197.

§ Thuret, Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2*^ Ser. t. xix. p. 266, Botan.

15

from the Cell-contents of the Characese.

by a mucus-investment), together with a few of the common-

sized gonidia, some gonidial substance, and a great number of

the bright refractive globules before mentioned. Iodine gave

the green pellets a deep brown colour, but did not alter in 'ap-

pearance the rest of the contents.

Two days after I had collected a number of these globular

bodies and placed them in a watch-glass for observation, partly

in and partly out of their respective internodes, the green mass

in many had become divided up into four or more sacs, which

were ciliated like the parent one, and enclosed in a second trans-

parent spherical cell. These also rotated individually and en

masse, while the division appeared to have enabled them to

throw off the greater portion of the dark green pellets, now

become black, and lying loosely in a more or less flocculent state,

like effete matter, in the inner cell.

The third day the spherical cells had burst, and the ciliated

sacs, which averaged 1 -430th of an inch in diameter, were set

free in the water.

They now presented different appearances, according to their

contents, shape and motions. All were filled with a colourless,

granular mucus, charged with small vesicles, and each presented

also a large “ contracting vesicle.^^ In some there was left only

a trace of the dark matter, while in others there was a con-

siderable quantity, either in an undefined shape, or in small

globules. They presented both an undulatory motion of the

cell-wall, and a ciliary motion of its surface. Sometimes the

cilia were motionless, and lay like a halo of short radii round its

circumference, though the sac was otherwise gradually changing

its shape ; while at others there was no appearance of cilia at

all. On the other hand, sometimes the sac was rotating rapidly

under a globular form, with its wall undulating and cilia playing

over it with corresponding activity ; the rotation of the sac ap-

peared contrary to the movement of the cilia. Occasionally a

sac might be seen under an elongated, oblong form, with a

slowly undulatory change of shape at one end, and a languid

movement of the cilia on its surface generally ; again it might

be seen with mucus-radii spread out in the same way as those

of Actinophrys Sol.

It would, however, be endless to describe the forms which

these sacs presented ; but it is worthy of remark, that instead of

being like those of the Amoeba, they so closely resembled the

order of one-cellcd ciliated animalcules, many of which were

present in their largest forms, that, had it not been for the

dark matter mentioned, I should have frequently been unable

to determine the difference ; and I cannot help thinking it j)ro-

bable, that many of these quasi animalcules have their origin in

16 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Circulation of the

a similar way, and either germinate after having become sta-

tionary, or pass after a short time into dissolution, as the sacs

have hitherto done which I have just described.

I had forgotten also to mention, that there is frequently a

considerable space between the outer and inner spherical cell

just described ; and here, before the green mass has undergone

division, may frequently be seen one or more of the common-

sized gonidia, under their ciliated active form ; which, after the

division has taken place, passes into the diffluent one, when they

may be seen, on the contrary, creeping slowly over the inner

surface of the external spherical cell, in a polymorphic state.

The tenacity to life of the green matter and mucus-layer

after the death of the cell-wall is so great in the species of

Zygnema, to which I shall have occasion to allude presently,

that although all the filaments broke down from the destruction

and dissolution of the cell-wall a few days after they had been

placed in a basin of water for examination, the mucus-layer

continued to hold the spiral bands together, with but little

alteration, except in form and position, for three weeks after-

wards, when the whole began to break up into small parcels of

green matter, of variable sizes, below the 700th part of an inch

in diameter, each of which is now rounded wdth a mucus-in-

vestment that is carrying them about under the form of Actin-

ophrys Sol ; but wdth a halo of short cilia in many, immediately

round the circumference, in addition to the long radii. Whether

they will ultimately germinate, or their contents — now of a

bright yellowish-green, but still presenting a tint of brown in

it — pass into gonidia, time will show^ ; but from the brownish

tint, I should think the latter the most likely sequence.

Circulation.

What is commonly understood by the circulation in the

Characese,^^ is, that the cell-contents move round the internode ;

but this is a very vague idea of the phsenomenon. There is but

one part that moves, viz. the mucus-layer; and another part which

is circulated, namely the axial fluid ; while the green layer, so

long as it is uninjured, remains stationary.

The axial fluid, as before stated, is impelled by the uneven

surface of the mucus-layer, as may be seen by watching the

motion of a bunch of the raphides wfflen struck by one of the

mucus-prominences. It will then present not only an accelera-

tion of its progress, but, the force having been communicated to

the radiated crystals next the mucus-layer, causes it to rotate

backwards, or in the contrary direction to that in which it is

being transported. Hence, as I have before stated that the

17

Mucus-substance of the Cell in the Characese.

aggregations are most prominent midway between the lines of

repose, so the greatest impetus is given to the axial fluid and

its suspended bodies in this part, while at the sides, that is,

close to the lines of repose, it is remarkably slow. This was

the reason why Slack* thus designated them ; but he was

wrong when he conceived that the dark deflned surface of the

mucus-layer was a membrane which was flxed to these lines

throughout their course, and therefore divided the ascending

from the descending current, inasmuch as the opposite currents,

which are closely approximated at these parts of the internode,

frequently take from each other the particles which are lingering

along their direction, and thus whirl them backwards and for-

wards, or up and down, according to the position of the inter-

node, until, by chance, they get into a more powerful part of

the stream, and are then carried round the internode with the

rest, — which would not be the case if a partition existed along

the lines of repose.

Easy, however, as it is to describe the way in which the axial

fluid is circulated, it is not so easy to describe the property by

which the mucus-layer travels round the internode.

That Amici and Dutrochet should have ever considered the

green disks instrumental in any way in effecting this in the

internode of the stem, shows that neither of them recollected at

this time, that the mucus-layer moves round the internode of

the roots of the Charace?e in just the same manner, where there

are no green disks present ; while the total absence, or rare

occurrence, of gonidial cells in the internodes of the roots of

Characese, we now know to be an additional reason for inferring

the absence also of the green disks there, even if they were

present without their green colour to make them more visible.

That the green disk is occasionally seen to move per se, and

to rotate actively in situ, has been observed by others as well as

myselff; and the observations of Donne, confirmed by Dutrochet J,

prove, that under certain circumstances, viz. when in a globule

of the mucus-layer, they will rotate also out of the inter-

node ; but these are exceptions to the general rule. Again,

out of many scores of observations, I have seen only two in-

stances in which the green disk (in an old internode, where

most of the contents had passed into gonidial cells) presented

each a cilium ; also, on one other occasion, three green disks in

situ, in an internode where the circulation was going on rapidly,

j)resented each a short thick cilium in active motion ; but these,

* Trans. Soc. of Arts, vol. xlix. pt. 1, 1833.

t Varley, Trans. Soc. of Arts, vol. xlix. j)t. 2, 1833.

J Ann. (les Sc. Nat. 2*" Ser. t. x. 1838.

Ann. ^ May. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi.

2

18

Mr. H. J. Carter on the Circulation of the

again, may be conceived, from what I have stated, to be very

rare occurrences, and, as such, are only worth remembering.

The only change in the green disk which is frequently observed,

is its transition from its common elliptical to a circular form,

which generally accompanies a cessation of the circulation ; but

not always, for the former is sometimes seen when the circula-

tion has been permanently arrested, and the latter when it is

going on with great activity.

The contraction, however, of the green layer as a whole, when

the internode sustains even a slight injury, is worthy of notice.

The same thing takes place in Zygnema [nitidum^ mihi). On

one occasion, when testing the evacuated contents of a truncated

internode with tincture of iodine, I observed a fragment of the

green layer, which was projecting from the orifice of the inter-

node, to tremble rapidly when the iodine touched it; this

motion, after a few seconds, became rhythmical, and then slower

and slower, until it altogether ceased ; thus exhibiting the same

kind of convulsive motions as muscular fibre under similar

circumstances. When one end of an internode is truncated

with a sharp instrument, as before stated, the whole of the loose

contents rush out^ while the green layer remains within the

internode, but retracted both from the orifice and sides of the

cell- wall; and it is this contraction which appears to be the

principal agency in causing the rapid expulsion of the mucus-

layer, which I may here mention is every now and then drawn

back into the internode spasmodically, from a contraction, ap-

parently, of its own substance, and perhaps a momentary relaxa-

tion of the green layer at the same time. In what part of the

green layer this contractile power resides, I am not able to

state ; but as the green disks are appended to vesicles which

thus make up the green layer, and the irregular bodies of the

mucus layer, which appear to be almost identical with them,

have also an appended vesicle, which, a certain time after they

have been exposed to the water, contracts to such an extent as

to become undistinguishable from the irregular body itself, it

may be the contraction of the vesicles of the green disks which

produces the general contraction of the green layer.

Be this as it may, the movement which is the chief object of

our consideration here is that of the mucus-layer. It has already

been shown, that this is independent of the green layer ; and

this, combined with the power of polymorphism and locomotive

agency which it presents when investing the groups of green

disks preparatory to passing into the firm gonidial cell-wall,

seems conclusive of its possessing an inherent power of mobility

independent of any other influence, so long as it remains un-

altered, and within an uninjured internode. The movement of

19

Mucus-substance of the Cell in the Characese.

rotation may appear both peculiar and unaccountable ; but that

of the sponge-cell, when under progression, particularly in an

elongated form, is identical with it. If we watch the latter, we

shall see the granules that are attached to the upper part of the

cell move rapidly forwards until they arrive at the advancing

boundary, where they sink down, become stationary, and remain

there until the rest of the cell has passed over them, when they

again ascend from behind, and again are carried on to the an-

terior border ; and so on, as the cell progresses, after the manner

of a flexible wheel. Thus the mucus -layer in the internode of

Nitella rolls round an imaginary oblong axial plane, whose

edges correspond with the lines of repose, w^here, as a matter of

course, there is a long linear eddy, in which the mucus is almost

stationary, as well as the axial fluid and its particles immediately

beneath.

Were any further proof wanted of the independent contrac-

tion or movement of the mucus-layer, that might be cited which

I have mentioned when endeavouring to account for the con-

tractility of the green layer ; but, in addition to this, I have

seen the mucus-layer in an internode of the root of Chara

verticillatay when the rotatory movement has been returning

after having been arrested, stretch itself directly across the

internode, from one part where it had become aggregated into

a large mass. The jerking movements which are seen in this

mucus after it has been allowed to escape from the internode in

the way mentioned, seem to be owing to the successive bursting

of the vesicles with which it is filled ; but its diminution in bulk

is indicative of something more than common contractility.

Lastly, in the cells of the species of Zygnema mentioned, there

is not only a ceaseless irritable contractility exhibited in the

mucus-layer next the cell-wall, but also throughout the mucus-

threads suspending the cytoblast ; and although this motion is

not rotatory, which indeed it could hardly be, with the cytoblast

so suspended, yet here and there, and particularly against the

septa at the extremities of the cell, aggregations of granular

mucus, enclosing one or more faint yellow-coloured bodies, like

that of the cytoblast, frequently present themselves, which ai’e

as unceasingly active in their polymorphism (stretching out

their processes here and there) as any portions of Spongilla or

Amoeba that the eye meets with.

1 have since seen in the youngest, or terminal cell of a filament

of introverted Zygnema with single spiral band, a distinct but

very irregular travelling up and down of the mucus-layer,

exactly like that of the Characca3. It can only be seen in the

long delicate young cell, where the spiral band is stretched out,

and where the minute granules of the mucus are congregated to

2*

20 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Development of Gonidia

such an extent as to indicate the presence of the moving trans-

parent protoplasm.

Thus the phsenomenon of motion in Zygnema, in Spongilla,

and in the CWacese being exhibited by the same kind of sub-

stance, in organisms so nearly allied, and in instances where

there is evidently no direct connexion between it and the parent

plant, leads me to view it in all as modifications of one common

property, and that property a vital endowment of the same

nature as contractility or power of motion generally throughout

the animal kingdom.

Bombay, January 1855.

Postsci'ipt. — Since this paper was written, I have taken a dif-

ferent view of the nature of the so-called gonidia in it, viz.

that they may be Infusoria, perhaps of the family Astasicea (Ehr.),

and that the ciliated sacs ” may have had a similar origin.

Contrary to what Pringsheim has stated (Ann. and Mag. Nat.

Hist. vol. xi. 1853, p. 294 et seq.) respecting the integrity of

the cells of Spirogyra, wherein he witnessed a similar process of

development of gonidia to that which I have described above in

Nitella, viz. that a supposition of such gonidia being foreign

structures, not belonging to the Spirogyra, would be an altogether

inadmissible hypothesis, since they are formed in the interior of

the closed filament-cells of the Spirogyrse, directly from their con-

tents,&c. ; — contrary also to what I have myself stated above

respecting the formation of the same kind of gonidia in the cells

of Nitella, and where I might have also added that the cell-wall

did not show any signs of decay or unsoundness until the

gonidia were developed in the one instance, and the ciliated

sacs in the other ; — I have nevertheless, from recent observa-

tions, been induced to doubt the correctness of this view.

While examining some filaments of Conferva in which the

cells had become divided into resting spores, I perceived that

one of the capsules was so far empty, that it contained nothing

but a single large Astasia, which was filled with the chlorophyll

and other granules of the spore, part of which had turned

brown ; and although the capsule of the spore was fresh and the

vaginal sheath of the filament unruptured, there was a small

round hole in one part passing through both that was not more

than the 1 -4300th of an inch in diameter, and about which the

Astasia was lingering for the purpose of making its exit, but

having gorged the whole of the contents of the spore, this was of

course impossible.

Here then was an infusorium with a transparent flask- shaped

sac terminated by a long cilium, distended by the granular con-

tents of the spore, and so incarcerated, that it must either die

from the Cell- contents of the Characese. 21

in the spore-capsule or pass into an ovarian sac and develope its

progeny much in the same manner as we have seen the gonidial

cells in the internode of Nitella. At all events, the hole by

which the Astasia entered was visible, and from its minuteness

indicated a very minute size of the Astasia originally compared

with that which it presented when I saw it.

Again, from Stein^s valuable observations on the development

of Vorticellce (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ix. 1852, p. 471),

and latterly my own observations on this family, I can easily

conceive, from the extreme minuteness with which the germs

might leave the ovary of Vorticella, their rapid development

under favourable circumstances, and their multiplication by fissi-

paration and gemmation, even when barely changed from their

larval or infant, monadic form, how accidental holes may exist in

the internode of Nitella, or in the cell of Spirogijra, Cladophora,

or any other filamentous or thalloid Algse, large enough to

admit such germs and gemmse, and yet pass unnoticed by the

microscopist, though not by the voracious young of Infusoria.

Whenever a cell in the filamentous Algae shows by derange-

ment of the granular chlorophyll or gonimic contents that its

functions have ceased or become interrupted, several gonidia

similar to those developed in the cells of Nitella may be seen

swimming about it and trying to get into it, which they do

immediately the cell-wall gives way, and then fixing on its

mucus-contents devour them.

All this seems to point out that the so-called gonidial develop-

ment within the cells of Nitella is anything but spontaneous,

while it favours the view which I have now taken, that it is

infusorial.

But as we see the fragments of the contracted chlorophyll-

bands of Spirogyra retaining their freshness and greenness while

wrapped in their mucus, for weeks after the cell-wall has passed

into dissolution, a question may suggest itself, whether the con-

tents of a resting spore when quickly swallowed by an infu-

sorium which dies soon afterwards, might not germinate to a

certain extent, under such circumstances — the sac of the infu-

sorium supplying the place of the capsule of the spore. If so,

indeed, then an infusorium would ajter this manner appear to

develope a plant. On the other hand, if the chlorophyll turns

brown, that may be considered a sign of the death of the spore-

contents ; and if anything arise out of this, it must be viewed as

the ])rogcny of the infusorium, such as the so-called gonidia

appear to be which I had described above as developed from tlie

cell-contents of the Characeje.

This “postscripts^ will not invalidate the faets in my paper,

although it may afiect the reasoning, from tending to change

22

Mr. S. P. Woodward on the Animals of

our view of the nature of the gonidium so called therein, and

n^ake it an infusorium instead of a zoospore, of which much

more might be said in support if this were the place for it;

and although one of the facts brought forward in proof of the

independent movement of the mucus, was the polymorphism

and locomotion of the gonidial cells which it was supposed to

have composed, there are sufficient reasons left for my still re-

taining the opinion, that its contractility is not the effect of any

chemical process of nutrition that is going on in the cell, though

it may not be uninfluential as a physical agent in this process.

II. — Descriptions of the Animals of certain Genera of Conchifera.

By S. P. Woodward, Esq., F.G.S.

My dear Sir,

I HEREWITH send you some more figures of the animals of cer-

tain genera of Bivalve shells {Conchifera), which Mr. Woodward

has made for me, and the notes he has appended to them.

These animals have been shortly noticed by me in my paper

on the Arrangement of Bivalves in the ^ Annals,^ vol. xiv. p. 21.

I am, my dear Sir, yours truly,

J. E. Gray.

Dr. Francis.

Solen {Cultellus?) Javanicus. Singapore.

Mantle-lobes united, covered with wrinkled epidermis ; siphons

very short, fringed ; no ventral orifice ; pedal opening terminal.

Foot straight, compressed, truncated, attached by small suspen-

a, a\ adductor muscles ; /, liver ; h, heart ; p, palpi.

sors — two beneath the hinge, and two in front of posterior ad-

ductor. Palpi very large, oblong, pointed, attached lengthwise.

Gills long, narrow, equal, plaited transversely. A long curved

portion of the intestine lies close to the left side, bordering the

])alpi.

[This is a species of the genus Pharus. — J. E. G.]

23

certain Genera of Conchifera.

Glauconome rugosa, Philippines.

Mantle-margins plain, united ; pedal opening anterior, rather

large. Siphons longer than the shell, moderately thick, united

nearly to their ends, retracted, by inversion at half-length, into

the branchial cavity, where they project beyond the centre of the

a', a, adductor muscles ; p, p, pedal muscles ; r, retractor of siphons ;

b, c, pedal opening.

shell ; orifices fringed. Foot moderately large, thick, linguiform,

heeled; suspensor muscle attached close to, but distinct from,

the adductors. Palpi very large, broadly falciform. Gills two

on each side, long and plaited, rounded in front, the outer pair

shorter and furnished with a plaited dorsal flap.

In G. curta the siphons are much shorter and more deeply

divided; the branchial was introverted at its extremity in the

specimen examined.

Anomia ephippium.

Animal unsymmetrical ; mouth and byssus twisted to the

right side. Mantle quite open, except for a space of five lines at

the hinge ; its margin double, slightly fringed (no ocelli) . Gills

two on each side, unsymmetrical (the right pair shortest in

front), very delicate, flat (destitute of internal partitions or gill-

tubes), crescent-shaped, tapering to a point and united poste-

riorly ; suspended by two falciform membranes (m) forming three

dorsal channels, the lateral incomplete; outermost gill-laminse

free at the dorsal edge, and furnished with a broad reflected mar-

gin or supplementary gill (r, r) ; innermost laminae also unat-

tached, but united to each other throughout their length, the

united edges passing to the left side of the body in front. Mouth

on the under side, between the ligament and byssal plug. Lips

narrow, plain, longest on the right side, confluent with the gills ;

[palpi obsolete). Foot small, cylindrical, expanded at the end

and grooved, suj)ported by two muscles from the left valve.

Byssus large, laminar, passing through a nearly com])letc fora-

men in the right mantle-lobe, and attached by a powerful muscle

24

Mr. S. P. Woodward on the Animals of

to the centre of the left valve. Adductor moderate, indistinctlv

composed of two elements ; pallial line continuous. Sexes di-

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

Fig. 1 . Animal lying in its upper {left) valve ; right mantle-lobe turned

back in front.

Fig. 2. Animal in right valve, with left mantle-lobe removed.

Fig. 3. Section of gills.

/, ligament ; o, mouth ; /, foot ; u, anterior ; p', posterior pedal

muscles; p,p, byssusand byssal muscle; a, adductor; v, ventricle;

i, rectum ; generative organ ; m, gill-suspensors ; r, r, reflected

gill-margins.

25

certain Genera of Conchifera.

stinct ; generative organs combined with the right mantle-lobe.

Ventricle exposed, not perforated by the rectum.

There is an admirable memoir on the structure of Anomia by

Dr. Lacaze-Duthiers, in the Ann. Sc. Nat. 1854, t. ii. p. 1, with

tigures. These and some drawings by Mr. Albany Hancock

have been compared with the example here represented.

[This description differs in many particulars from that given

by Mr. Clark in the ‘ British Marine Mollusca.^ — J. E. G.]

Placuna placenta. Singapore.

Animal nearly symmetrical, free (or attached by a byssus when

very young). Mantle quite open, its margin fringed with large

and small cirri, and furnished with an inner pendent border.

Adductor round, subcentral. Gills as in Anomia, their outer

margins grooved. Pallial muscle reduced to two fasciculi in

Right valve with the animal, as seen on removing the left mantle-lobe.

/, ligament; c, cartilage; p, pedal muscle;/, foot; h, liver; g, gene-

rative gland; v, ventricle ; a, adductor; i, rectum ; 6, 6, branchio-

pallial muscles.

front of, and one behind, the adductor. Pedal muscle minute,

anterior, attached to the upper (left) valve. Foot small, cylin-

drical, tubular (very extensile ?). Lips short and wide, becoming

striated inside near the gills. Generative organ and rectum

attached to the right mantle-lobe. Ventricle exi)osed, not ])cr-

forated.

It will be seen by the figures that Placuna is essentially like

Anomia ; both are very different from Ostrea, and more like tlui

26 On the Animals of certain Genera of Conchifera,

Scallops. Carolia [Hemiplacuna) is a Placuna with the hinge

and byssus of Anomia ; Placunomia has no pedal muscle, like

Placuna sella ; whilst Anomia pernoides has an anterior pedal sac

in each valve , as pointed out by Dr. Gray.

Anatina subrostrata, Philippines.

Mantle-margins united ; no ventral orifice ; pedal opening quite

anterior, minute. Siphons united, thick, not entirely retractile

into the shell, covered with rugose epidermis j orifices small

a, a', adductors ; g, single gill ; o, cavity of ossicle ; I, liver ; h, palpi : the

termination of the alimentary canal in the exhalent siphon is indicated

by dotted lines.

(fringed?). Foot very small, compressed. Gills one on each

side, long, narrow, very thick and deeply plaited, furrowed at

the lower edge, not continued into the branchial siphon ; dorsal

border free, nearly as wide as the gill. Palpi very long, narrow,

free, striated inside.

Modiolarca trapezina. Falkland Islands.

Mantle-lobes united, leaving only three small, subequal ori-

a, a', adductors ; p,p', pedal muscles ; /, pedal opening ; I, liver; the gill-

tubes are distended with spawn.

fices, the intersj)aces with two rows of cirri ; branchial opening

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 27

with a fringed border, the others plain. Anterior adductor muscle

larger than the posterior. Foot with a small flat sole, crenulated

at the edge, deeply grooved behind and byssiferous; pedal

muscles small in front, large behind, close to the adductors.

Palpi very small. Gills oblong, finely striated ; the outer ones

not quite so deep, furnished with a dorsal border, their free edge

grooved only in the middle.

This remarkable shell, which resembles the Palseozoic Modio-

lopsis in the large size of the anterior adductor, is found attached

by its byssus to floating weed in many parts of the Southern

Ocean.

III. — Notes on some new or little-known Marine Animals.

By Philip Henry Gosse, A.L.S.

[With two Plates.]

(Fascis II.*)

Class ARACHNIDA.

Order Acarina. Fam. Oribatad^.

Genus Halacarus (mihi).

Body covered above with a well-defined shield, either entire or

transversely sulcated ; under surface divided across the middle :

rostrum head-like, consisting of a bulbous lip tapering to a point,

divided longitudinally beneath, allowing the protrusion of a pair

of slender filiform mandibles ; palpi terminated by a fang-like

unguis : feet cursorious, tipped with two falcate ungues ; di-

rected two forward and two backward ; thighs remote. Marine.

Name from aX?, the sea, and aKapi, a mite.

Sp. 1. H. rhodostigma (mihi). Plate HI. figs. 1-5.

Body divided above and below ; claw of palpus slender, little

curved ; legs nearly equal ; thighs of first pair ventricose ; claws

of all simple ; whole surface minutely punctured.

Description. — Length of an inch from anus to tip of

rostrum ; colour pellucid whitish, stained with pale red on the

anterior half ; above and below studded with punctures, which,

under a high power, take the form of rosettes (whence the specific

name, from poSov, a rose, and arLypg, a point), or the spots on a

])anthcr^s coat (fig. 4) ; the punctures are conspicuous on the

first thighs, hut arc scarcely visible on the other limbs. The

* Fasc. 1. appeared in the ‘Annals’ for Aiignst 185‘3.

28 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals.

haunches are moderately distant at their origin, springing from

the margin of the body, the shield being notched to give them

exit ; the third joint of the legs is the largest, much swollen in

the first pair (fig. 1) ; the fifth is also large, and the sixth (the

terminal one) is long, but slender, tapering abruptly from the

middle ; the claws (fig. 5) are simple hooks, much curved, neither

pectinated nor tipped with an accessory piece, but the joint

from which they spring is tipped with two nearly parallel styles :

the legs are equal in length.

The shield of the body above is subtruncate in front, but pro-

jects in a small medial point (fig. 2) ; its general form is long-

oval, with a transverse sulcus at the origin of the second legs ;

this sulcus, however, does not extend across the whole breadth,

being met on each side by a bent longitudinal sulcus, which cuts

off a wing-like portion, on which is seated a large crescent-

shaped dark eye. Below, the body has two transverse divisions

(fig. 1) ; one at the origin of the first legs, another at the origin

of the third ; these two impart the aspect of the division into

head, thorax and abdomen, of a beetle : there is also a narrow

longitudinal portion separated on each side.

The rostrum (fig. 3) forms a thick bulb tapering to a point,

from which during life I observed two apparently soft, fiexible,

filiform, divergent organs (mandibles ?) protruded and retracted

(fig. 1). At a strong shoulder on each side of the rostrum,

about one-third from its point, is articulated a palpus of four

joints, of which the second is by far the largest ; the terminal

one is a style, slightly curved, pointed, and furnished near the

base with two strong bristles on the inner side, and one on the

outer. All the joints of the legs are armed with a few short

bristles. The vulva (fig. 1) occupies a large oval area at the hind

part of the venter, and the anus is terminal.

This little species is not uncommon at Weymouth, among sea-

weeds from low-water-mark ; and I find it in my tanks, crawling

up the glass, always immersed ; doubtless introduced with weed-

covered stones.

Sp. 2. H. ctenopus (mihi). Plate III. figs. 6-10.

Body divided below only; claw of palpus a stout pointed

hook ; hind legs longest, but otherwise alike ; claws of all pecti-

nate ; whole surface smooth.

Description. — Length of body to tip of rostrum y^nd of an

inch ; colour dark -red above with a white line down the centre

of the back ; under parts cream-white, very satiny ; legs trans-

parent-corneous. The shield of the u])per parts (PI. 111. fig. 6)

is entire, nearly oval, but projecting into a point over the rostrum ;

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 29

its margins are sinuated and notched at the emission of the legs,

and the excavations at those parts are still more strongly marked

on the under surface. Beneath (fig. 7) there is a transverse

sulcus opposite the origin of the third pair of legs, but bent for-

ward on each side to the second pair ; a longitudinal bent sulcus

exists on each side, whose limits are undefined. The vulva and

anus are both on the under surface, the latter small and situated

behind the former, which is large and oval, and both are enclosed

in an oval area.

The rostrum (fig. 8) is a globose bulb, drawn out to a more

lengthened point than in the former species, its tip extending to

the third joint of the palpi. The palpi (fig. 9) are usually pro-

jected parallel to the rostrum, but are capable of divergence ;

the joints have nearly the same relation to each other as in

H. rhodostigma ; but the third bears a stout spur-like spine on

its inner face ; and the fourth, which is stout at the base, much

curved inward and acute, is armed with another spine, but

longer and more slender, which likewise points inward and

forward.

The legs (fig. 6) are consimilar, except in length ; the first

and second being to the length of the body as 4^ to 5^, the

third and fourth as 6| to 5 1 ; hence the hind pairs are just half

as long again as the fore pairs. The coxae of the first and second

originate close together, but the others are remote from them

and from each other. The joints are nearly cylindrical, but di-

minish slightly to the last, which bears two very moveable sickle-

shaped ungues. Each unguis (PI. III. fig. 10) has an accessory

piece set on the under side of its extremity, and is strongly pec-

tinated all along its concave edge. Hence the name, from Kreh,

a comb, and ttoi/?, a foot.

No eyes w^ere visible, unless a black speck on each side of the

bulb of the rostrum was an eye, which I much doubt, from the

position of the conspicuous organs of vision in the former spe-

cies. Found (a single specimen) with the preceding.

MTiether either of these species has been described before I

cannot certainly say. Fabricius (Spec. Insect, ii. 491; ed. Hamb.

1781) has included two Norwegian marine Mites, Acarus zosterce

and A. fucorum, which he briefly describes; — the former as

A. subrotundus, albidus, abdomine rufo the latter as ‘^A. pal-

lidus, lineis duabus flexuosis nigris, pedibus posticis brevissimis

incurvis.^^ Meagre as these characters are, they are sufficient to

show that neither of my species was intended.

M. Paul Gervais in his ^Apteres^ (iii. 253) mentions that

M. Hujardin had described a marine Oribates, in the ^ Journ. de

Plnstitut^ for 1842; but he has not given the characters, and I

30 Mr. P. H. Gosse on nevj or little-known Marine Animals.

have not been able to find any trace of such a species in the

^ Comptes Rendus ^ for that period.

The only British marine Mite yet recognized, so far as I am

aware, is the Halarachne halichoeri of Professor Allman, which

is widely different from these in form and habit, being parasitic

within the nostrils of a Seal.

The form now described I cannot refer to any of the published

genera : the dorsal shield seems to locate it among the Oriba-

tadce, and near to Belba and Galumna] but in the form and

structure of the rostrum, there is a curious affinity with Raphi-

gnathus among the Trombidiadce.

Class CRUSTACEA.

Order Podosomata. Earn. Pycnogonid.e.

Genus Phoxichilidium (M.-Edw.).

P. olivaceum (mihi). Plate III. figs. 12, 13.

Rostrum thickened at each extremity, hollowed in the middle,

frds as long as first joint of mandibles ; the portion of the first

segment of body anterior to the first pair of legs, about as long

as rostrum ; fourth joint of first pair of legs dilated ; all the legs

four times as long as the body ; colour olive.

This species is perhaps one of the many British forms of this

family, which Leach says were in his possession, but which he

had not had an opportunity of determining. I found it at Wey-

mouth, in the low spring-tides of April. The characters above

given are those in which the specimen differed conspicuously

from the P. coccineum of Dr. Johnston, by comparison with his

figures in the ^Mag. of Zool. and Bot.^i. pi. 13. My specimen

was Jth of an inch in length, exclusive of the members ; a female,

bearing the globose egg-masses that characterize the genus.

Pig. 12 represents it of the nat. size; and fig. 13, the fore-parts

magnified.

Order Edriophthalma. Earn. Cyamid^.

Genus Cyamus (Eabr.).

C. Thompsoni (mihi). Plate III. fig. 11.

Body about ^th of an inch in length. Eive pairs of feet equally

developed ; all 5 -jointed ; all with the penultimate joint large and

ovate. Third and fourth segments each furnished with a single

small oval appendage.

This species was obtained by Mr. Wm. Thompson of M^ey-

mouth, after whom I have named it. It was attached to one of

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-knovm Marine Animals. 31

two specimens of Hyperoodon bidens, the capture of which in

Portland Roads was recorded in the ^Annals of Nat. Hist.^ for

November 1854. Pour species of Cyamus are enumerated by

M. Milne-Edwards in his ^Hist. Nat. des Crustaces ^ (iii. 113),

from all of which this specimen differs signally. Indeed that

eminent carcinologisPs resume of the generic characters must be

modified to include this species, which yet is an indubitable

Cyamus. The first pair of feet,^^ he observes, “ are difficult to

perceive when we look at the animal from above ; — they are com-

posed of five joints, and are terminated by a minute sub-cheliform

hand, slightly oval. The second pair are very large, hooked, and

composed of only four distinct pieces.^^ Now in this new spe-

cies, the first pair do not differ either in form or size from the

second, third, fourth or fifth pair ; the hand is as stout, as ovate,

and the claw as strong and as much hooked as in the second

pair, while this latter pair are composed of five joints as distinct

as in the others, and in no wise differing from them.

Class ANNELIDA.

Order Ch^topoda. Pam. Nereid^e.

Genus Syllis (Sav.).

Sp. 1. S. tubifex (mihi).

Head lobed ; post-occipital segment equal to the following ;

antennse moniliform ; tentacular cirri antenniform ; feet lobed,

armed with one pencil of hooked setae ; superior cirrus shorter

than the breadth of the segment, not moniliform : animal fissi-

parous, minute, inhabiting a membranous tube.

Description. — Body ^rd of an inch long, dirty-white, composed

of about forty-five segments.

Head small, the lobes well developed and deeply divided,

clothed with short hairs. Eyes large, widely diverging ; those

of each lateral pair about equal in size, and placed so close as to

be sometimes in contact. Antennae three, moniliform, clothed

with short bristles ; the central one nearly twice as long as the

others, composed of about twenty-five well-marked joints ; the

outer pair having about twelve each.

Proboscis long, the outer portion about -f the length of the

inner. Prontal margin of outer part serrated ; inner part covered

witli small oval tubercles, set closely in quincunx, and in trans-

verse rows.

Post-occipital segment not larger than the rest ; furnished

with two tentacular cirri on each side, of which the upper is

about twice as long as the lower, equalling respectively the an-

32 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals,

tennse. Those of the two following segments are similar in

length and structure, being all antenniform.

Segments slightly incised, much broader than long. Foot

short, subconical, obtuse, and divided at the tip into three or

four lobes ; armed with a bundle of bristles, each of which bears

a terminal hook very freely jointed on an oblique knob. Supe-

rior cirrus shorter than the breadth of the segment, tapering,

not moniliform. Inferior cirrus scarcely projecting beyond the

foot, ovate and leaf-like.

The bundles of hooked bristles consist of about sixteen each,

but those near the tail appear to have only about twelve. I can-

not find any accessory pencil of fine hairs by the closest pressure ;

but the long slender pair of internal plates are present.

The internal surface of the head-lobes is clothed with vibratile

cilia, by the action of which a strong uniform current is drawn

into the mouth. The current passing down along the antennae

may at first be supposed to be produced by cilia on these organs,

but I could not detect any on close examination. The inferior

surface of each foot is also strongly ciliated, and vortices are

produced on each of these organs, the whole forming a powerful

current from head to tail.

This is one of the species that increase by spontaneous divi-

sion from the posterior portion of the body. There was, at the

tail of the specimen described, an incipient young one of about

five or six segments, triangular in its general form and little de-

veloped, but well separated, by an incision, from the parent.

This species I frequently found in my glass jars of sea-water

at Ilfracombe, especially in those in which I was keeping the

Hydroid zoophytes. It climbs to the surface, and then along

the very edge of the water, forms a slender membranous tube

attached to the glass, open at each end, within which it dwells.

If touched at either extremity, it issues forth at the other with

much agility, wriggling its segments in lateral undulations. No

drawing was made of this species.

Sp. 2. S, longiseta (mihi). Plate IV. figs. 14-21.

Head not lobed ; antennae short, not moniliform ; no tenta-

cular cirri; feet obtuse, simple, armed with two pencils of

bristles, of which the inferior are twice the breadth of the seg-

ments; superior and inferior cirri equal, minute; inhabits a

membranous tube. (Fig. 14, nat. size; 15, magnified.)

Description. — Head round, not distinctly lobed (fig. 16) ;

three antennae, slightly fusiform, not moniliform, shorter than

the breadth of the head, set in a transverse line : four eyes,

brick-red, reniform, the inner pair set a little behind the outer,

and rather smaller : no tentacles or tentacular cirri.

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 33

Segments about thirty-eight, nearly alike in size, but those of

the middle parts more separable ; diminishing abruptly at the

tail.

Feet slightly developed for the first five or six segments ;

thence thick, with a semi-oval lobe projecting from the upper

portion (PL IV. figs. 17 & 20), from which protrudes a fan-like

pencil of bristles, which are short (about as long as the foot),

slightly curved, consisting of a slender shaft with a terminal

notched knob, bearing a short curved blade set in the notch ;

this blade is longer in the upper bristles (fig. 18) of the pencil

than in the lower ones (fig. 19). The lower pencil (figs. 17 &

21) consists of very long, simple, finely-pointed bristles (about

twice as long as the breadth of the body), which project laterally

or posteriorly, and are not retractile ; these long bristles do not

appear till the 10th segment, and disappear at the 32nd.

The tail consists of two fusiform appendages, much resembling

the antennse, about half as long as the greatest width of the

body.

Colour hyaline, slightly tinged with yellow. Total length

^th of an inch.

Found at Weymouth on the side of a glass in which I had

placed a tuft of Rhytiphloia. It makes a gelatinous tube attached

to the glass (fig. 14), in w^hich it moves freely backwards and

forwards by means of its long seta3.

Order Ch^etopoda. Fam. Sabelladje.

Genus Othonia (Johnston).

Gill-fans two, composed of several soft, thick, curled-inward,

pectinated, ciliated stems set like a star around the mouth : body

composed of twelve to thirty-five segments, all furnished with

lateral pencils of bristles, but without hooks. Animal inhabits

a membranous tube, open at both ends, which it often forsakes.

The discovery of two other species of this genus renders ne-

cessary a revision of the generic characters ; as some of those

enumerated by Dr. Johnston (LoudoiTs Mag. N. II. viii. 183)

are merely those of the single species then known, O. Fabricii.

Sp. 1. O. Fabricii (Johnst.). Plate IV. fig. 22.

Segments fourteen ; first and last with a pair of eye-like spots :

pinnse of gills graduated in length ; bristles simple.

Description. — Head with two well-defined eyes, and a ring of

vibratile uncinate cilia. Gill-fans wrinkled; pinnated; thcpinnje

long, and so graduated that the tips arc level ; they often curl

Ann. May. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 3

34 Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals,

inward at the tips ; their colour is a clear green. Segments four-

teen, all but the last two furnished on each side with a pencil of

stiff long bristles, few, converging to their tips, deeply seated,

nearly straight, but curved forward at the points, simple ; wholly

retractile. Last segment round, with a pair of well-defined eye-

like spots.

Length y^th of an inch.

This little species is common at Weymouth, coming out of

tufts of Rhytiphlcea pinastroides when these are kept in glass

vases. The little Annelid crawls up the side of the glass, often

going tail-foremost; a curious fact, when considered in con-

nexion with the eye-like spots on the last segment, which cannot

be distinguished from the true eyes of the anterior extremity.

It is possible that this may be the immature condition of one

of the succeeding species. The ring of uncinate cilia suggests

youth.

Sp. 2. O. Bairdii (mihi). Plate IV. figs. 23, 24.

Segments above thirty, without eye-spots at either extremity ;

gills each composed of five or six stems, set with a double row

of short pinnae : bristles with an oval expansion at their base.

Description, — Gill-fans two, ample, each consisting of five (or

six) stems divided almost to the base, each set with a double row

of short ciliated pinnae, not graduated, curling inwards in a

plumose manner. Segments (in the specimen described) thirty-

four, all but the last two with pencils of bristles ; three in each

pencil (fig. 24) very short, finely-pointed, with an oval blade-like

dilatation at the base of each. The segments diminish quickly

but gradually to the last, which forms a blunt point, and is un-

spotted. No eyes are visible on the head, nor any ring of cilia.

Length ^ih of an inch ; colour whitish-green, opaque ; gill-fans

hyaline.

A single specimen was found with the preceding, at Wey-

mouth, in April. I have dedicated the species to my esteemed

friend. Dr. William Baird of the British Museum.

Sp. 3. O. Johnstoni (mihi). Plate IV. figs. 25-28.

Segments above thirty, without eye-spots; gills each of about

sixteen stems, some of which are simple, others set with gra-

duated pinnse : bristles with an expansion near the tip.

Description, — The gill-fans are composed of many (about

sixteen) stems, some of which are quite simple, others set with

numerous long, but graduated pinnje in two rows, and others in

an intermediate condition, the pinnae being rudimentary or

short (fig. 26). The stems (fig. 28) are hollow, with close-set

transverse lines {septa ?) ; and the pinnae are covered with small

Mr. P. H. Gosse on new or little-known Marine Animals. 35

vibratile cilia. These fans are very deciduous, for, in captivity,

I have seen the animals voluntarily throw off in succession more

than a dozen of the stems, separating them at the base : probably

they are renewable, as I know to be the case, from repeated

observations, in Sabella.

Segments about thirty-three ; nearly equal, except that they

diminish rapidly at the posterior extremity, tapering somewhat

abruptly to a blunt point. All but the last two are furnished

with graduated pencils of bristles, about eight or ten in each

pencil. In those of the anterior segments the bristles are of

two forms (fig. 27), the shorter consisting of a slender, acutely-

pointed stem, which is dilated near the tip into an oval plate,

through the centre of which the stem passes ; the longer ones

are of essentially the same structure, but the dilatation is gra-

dual and elongate, and therefore blade-like or lanceolate. Both

kinds end in finely-drawn points, which are much curved. To-

wards the hinder part of the body all the bristles take the latter

form.

The animal throws off at will a transparent gelatinous mem-

brane, which forms a tube just large enough to hold its body,

and the sides of which are pushed out by the bristles during

their movements.

Length i an inch ; colour greenish-white.

I have named this species after Dr. George Johnston, who

may be called the father of our marine invertebrate zoology. It

is the most common of the three at Weymouth, being found

abundantly in shells and stones, dense sea-weeds, &c., from tide-

marks and deep water.

Class POLYZOA.

Order Infundibulata. Fam. VKSicuLARiADiE.

Genus Nolella (mihi).

Cells erect, subcylindrical, springing singly, but closely, from

an undefined polymorphous incrusting mat ; tentacles eighteen,

forming a bell. Name from nola, a little bell.

N. stipata (mihi). Plate IV. fig. 29.

Cells about ^^^th of an inch long, whitish, sub-opaque.

I found this species numerous in mats on the fronds of Phyl-

lophora rubens, dredged between the Abergavenny and Portland

Breakwater, in Weymouth Bay. It is very near Bowerbankia,

but the number of its tentacles distinguishes it from all recog-

nized genera, except Avenella (Dalyell), from which, however, it

3*

36 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Homologies of the Carapace

totally differs in habit and form. The opacity of the cell pre-.

vented me from discerning whether it has a gizzard.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES III. and IV.

Plate III.

Fig. 1. Halacarus rhodostigma, magnified, ventral surface.

— 2. Ibid, dorsal surface of trunk.

— 3. Ibid, rostrum and palpi.

— 4. Ibid, punctures of surface.

— 5. Ibid, ungues of foot.

— 6. H. ctenopus, magnified, dorsal surface.

— • 7. Ibid, ventral surface.

— 8. Ibid, rostrum and palpi.

— 9. Ibid, right palpus.

— 10. Ibid, one unguis of a foot.

— 11. Ci/amws magnified, ventral surface.

— 12. Phoxichilidium olivaceum, nat. size.

— 13. Ibid, fore-parts magnified.

Plate IV.

Fig. 14. Syllis longiseta, in its tube, nat. size.

— 15. Ibid, magnified.

— 16. Ibid, head, somewhat laterally.

— 17. Ibid, a right foot seen from behind.

— 18, 19. Ibid, setae of the upper pencil.

— 20. Ibid, a middle segment, from above.

— 21. Ibid, the same, from below.

— 22. Othonia Fabricii> magnified.

— 23. O. Bairdii, magnified.

— 24. Ibid, a pencil of setae, more enlarged.

— 25. O. Johnstoni, nat. size.

— 26. Ibid, magnified (middle segments omitted).

— 27. Ibid, bristles of two forms.

— 28. Ibid, a portion from a stem of the gills, with two pinnae.

— 29. Nolella stipata, magnified.

IV.~Ow the Homologies of the Carapace and on the Structure and

Function of the Antennm in Crustacea. By C. Spence Bate,

F.L.S. &c.*

[With two Plates.]

In the class Crustacea the most auterior articulation is that

w^hich supports the eyes. This is shown most conspicuously in

the genus Squilla, in which animal it is united by a free joint

with the next succeeding ; but if this lucid example were want-

ing, the relative position of the ophthalmic ring in advance of

any of the rest is clearly manifest in the larva and pupa stages

of the Decapoda.

Dissection moreover leads to the same conclusion. Upon

* Communicated by the author, having been read at the Linnaean Society,

April 17, 1855.

and on the Function of the Antennce in Crustacea. 37

laying bare the cephalic ganglion^ we find that the two anterior

branches of nerves pass to the eyes, the central being the motor

oculij the outer the ophthalmic, and lead direct to the organs

of vision.

In all the higher tribes, except the aberrant family of Dia-

stylidce (Say) [Cumaoi M. Milne-Edwards), the eyes are borne on

moveable pedicles. In the Brachyura the ring which bears these

pedicles is free, but unlike Squilla, instead of being seen distinctly

in advance of the animal, it is enclosed within and covered by

the anterior portion of the carapace ; I say that it is covered by,

and not absorbed into, the structure of the integument which

forms the anterior portion of the external skeleton of these

animals.

If we throw off the carapace we shall find that the calcareous

representation (PL I. fig. I a) of the ophthalmic ring occupies a

position between and connecting the two eyes, lodged in a fossa

(PL I. fig. 2 w) formed by the interspace between the dorsal and

ventral arches of the second ring, the superior antennal, which

arches approximate in the Brachyura so closely, that, as in the

genus Cancer, they meet in front of and enclose the ophthalmic

ring, leaving the point of union visible only by a distinct suture

(PL I. fig. 3 d). Thus the ophthalmic ring is covered by and

not fused with the rest of the testaceous skeleton ; — it therefore

takes no part in the development of the carapace of the Decapod

Crustacea.

The superior antennse succeed the eyes, and with the excep-

tion of the genus Squilla, the ring which supports them is always

fused with the succeeding, the inferior antennal. These two

form a closely associated part in the anterior structure of the

animal, and together build up the whole of that portion of the

carapace which is in advance of the cervical suture, and which,

I think, I shall be able to show, forms almost the whole of the

carapace in the Brachyura, — half of the same in Macroura, — and

that it lessens in importance as the animal descends in the scale

of nervous centralization.

If we turn our attention to the lower forms, we find that in the

Cuma and other allied genera of the Diastylidce, the eye (for the

two coalesce so as to form but one) is developed nearly in the

centre of the carapace ; but this appearance is only the result of

the great development of the lateral angles of the carapace,

which meet in front and form what appears like a rostrum ;

they never unite, but are distinctly separated through the centre

of the so-called rostrum, as well as on either side of that portion

which sup])orts the antennal rings, which occupies a small island

as it were in the centre of the carapace (PL I. figs. 4, 5 & 6).

The fact which dissection has enabled us distinctly to make

38 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Homologies of the Carapace

out^ that the small central patch bears the two antennae, that

the external angles of the carapace which pass in front and

surround it posteriorly, carry the mandibles, demonstrates the

relation of one portion of the carapace to the other, and that the

line of separation round the antennal centre homologizes with the

cervical suture of the Macroura.

The constant position of this suture in all Crustacea when

present is the same, and forms a line of demarcation between

the third and the fourth rings, and therefore visible in its posi-

tion external to the inferior antennse; and M. Milne-Edwards is

most assuredly wrong when he attributes the depressions on the

earapace, which terminate in the central notch of the orbits of

the Brachyura, to be the representatives of the cervical suture of

the Macroura,

If we wish to judge of its position in the Brachyura, it is but

just that we should make a careful investigation of the structure

of the animal in its immature condition. In the so-called pupa

stage of the Crab, we find that the inferior antennse are attached

to the extreme horns of the carapace (PI. I. fig. 7), but these

horns are folded beneath the animal ; it is this reflexion which

afterwards forms the orbit in which the eye is lodged.

The position of the antenna, anchylosed as it is with the der-

mal skeleton in all^^the Brachyura, still holds the same, therefore

by inversion the cervical suture must be interiorly inside, but

still within the limits of the carapace ; such a suture is plainly

demonstrable in most of the Brachyura (PI. I. fig. 10, and

PI. II. fig. I), and separates the inferior antennal (a) from the

mandibular ring {h) ; it extends posteriorly to the extreme

limits of the carapace, forming as it were two side pieces, the

epimerals of M. Milne-Edwards: this line unquestionably homo-

logizes with the cervical suture of the Macroura.

If we turn our attention to the develqpment of the nervous

system in these various animals, we shall find that centralization

decreases in an inverse ratio with the development of that por-

tion of the carapace which is posterior to the cervical suture, and

vice versa, that centralization is most perfect when that portion

of the carapace which is anterior to the cervical suture is largest.

In the Brachyura the nervous ganglia are in the highest de-

gree consolidated, and in the Spider Crabs the most perfect cen-

tralization exists j there we shall find that the cervical suture,

the line of union between the inferior antennal and mandibular

rings, is so lateral, that the two side pieces of the incomplete

mandibular ring are reduced to much less importance than is to

be found in any other tribe of the whole class. In the genus

Cancer, &c. the line of union remains but partially anchylosed,

and splits when the animal throws off its exuvife.

39

and on the Function of the Antennce in Crustacea.

In the Galatheadce, the development of the mandibular ring

shows a closer approximation to the Brachyura than to the Ma-

croura, in which latter the tw^o antennal rings occupy but one-half

of the whole carapace, the mandibular ring furnishing the re-

mainder; whereas the Baguridce assimilate closer in the deve-

lopment of the same portion to the Macroura, — a circumstance in

its position among Crustacea corroborated by the fact, that pre-

vious to their taking possession of the shell of the mollusca, they

exhibit all the characteristics of a perfect Macroura. Here, when

the nervous centre commences its first tendency to separate into

numerous distinct but less important ganglia, we find those

rings which carry distinct organs of sense, and furnished by

nervous filaments from the cephalic ganglion, decrease in a rela-

tive proportion to the rest of the animal : this, which we see very

apparent in the Macroura, is carried to the greatest extent in the

DiastylidcB, where the carapace is constructed almost wholly of

the mandibular ring, having but a small area in the centre

which bears the antennae. And more, the carapace extends pos-

teriorly so as to envelope only the Gnathopods ; the rest of the

thorax being complete in the development of each separate ring.

Lower in the scale we find that the whole thorax, including

the Gnathopods, is perfect in its distinction from the cephalic ring,

which latter is so reduced in importance as to differ little in ap-

pearance from that of a single ring ; whereas consolidation still

remains, and embraces wuthin the compass of this one ring the

whole of the seven anterior.

But we have seen in the descending scale of nervous force the

rings which carry the organs of consciousness degenerate in im-

portance, and yield to a corresponding development of the man-

dibular ring ; this law appears still to be in force in the Amphi-

poda, the lowest type of the Macroura form, in which I am

inclined to believe that the mandibular ring represents the whole

of the upper portion of the cephalic articulation ; the anterior

three being so diminished in importance, that they are to be

found only in the perpendicular anterior wall of the head *, or

perhaps represented by their appendages only.

Since the present paper was eomrnunicated to the Linnsean

Society, the author has had the opportunity, through the

kindness of ^Ir. J. Lubboek, of perusing Dana^s great work on

Crustaeea, and it is but just he should state, that the conclusions,

which careful and long-continued observation of the homologies

* An example of which may be seen in the manner in wliich the two

first joints of the external antennae are absorbed in the frontal asj)ect of

Talitra ; a circumstance overlooked by naturalists, who have invariably de-

scribed this genus as having but three instead of the constant five articu-

lations to the peduncle of the inferior antennae.

40 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Homologies of the Carapace

of tlie carapace of Crustacea had induced him to arrive at, are in

some of the most important points anticipated in the work of

the United States^ Exploring Expedition.

But since they have been arrived at by independent research,

the regret with which the author found his deductions forestalled,

are to a considerable extent removed by the important testimony

of so learned and correct a naturalist as Mr. Dana. The follow-

ing two sentences are taken from the first volume of that author ;

the italics being in the original text : —

“We are therefore led to believe, that the so-called epimerals,

or ventral pieces of the carapax, are in fact the posterior exten-

sions of the mandibular segment.” (Page 27.)

Again —

“ . . . . Milne-Edwards thus makes the larger part of the

carapax epimeral in character.

“ Excepting that we consider what is here called epimeral, the

mandibular segment, we agree with Edwards, for the most part,

in the above-mentioned deduction ; so that while the mandibular

segment is confined to the ventral pieces of the Brachyural cara-

pax, it constitutes its posterior half in Macroura” (Page 32.)

The author also has had the opportunity at the British Mu-

seum of seeing the plates in Kroyer^s great work on the Natural

History of Scandinavia, wEere he finds the carapace of Cuma

Rathkii (Kroyer) (the Alauna rosirata of Goodsir) is figured

with the so-called rostrum separated from the antennal region^

as drawn and described in this paper.

The Anterior or Internal Antennae.

These organs are borne by the second ring, and supplied with

nerves from the cephalic ganglion.

The anterior antenna is evidently of importance to the animal,

and is always present in aquatic Crustacea : as a general law it

consists of an articulated peduncle of three joints, which I believe

I am correct in asserting, unlike those of the external antenna,

are never anchylosed together or with the carapace, and a

terminating filament, which is generally double, often treble,

but I believe never single, above the Amphipoda. This appen-

dage is various as well as unequal in length, and in every species

that I have examined, whether in Brachyura, Macroura, Am-

phipod or Isopod, will invariably be found furnished, in addition

to the small hairs common to other parts of the animal, with

long, delicate, membranous cilia, in form varying in genera and

species; they are always larger than the ordinary hairs, but

much more delicate in structure. These vary in number and

in thickness of clusters, but, as far as my experience goes, are

invariably present on the upper antenna.

41

and on the Function of the Antenna in Crustacea.

In the Anomoura, Macroura, and all below, the antenna gra-

dually increases at the base. In the Brachyura this increase is

immensely developed in the first or basal articulation. Exami-

ning this organ in the larva, I thought I observed what I took to

be an otolithe*; this led my attention to the same in the adult

Brachyura, and there I found, upon breaking open the basal ar-

ticulation, what appeared to be an imperfect kind of cochlea.

Afterwards, in company and with the assistance of my friend

Mr. Howard Stewart, we were enabled to trace distinctly the

nerve which supplied this antenna directly to the centre of the

cochlea (for such I believe it is), as I feel convinced that the

upper antennae are auditory organs.

But since the general opinion up to the present time has been

that they are olfactory and not auditory, and as the external an-

tennae are invariably considered as auditory and not olfactory, I

shall withhold any further discussion until those organs have

been described.

In the lower forms of Podophthalmia, as also in the Sessile-eyed

Crustacea, the basal joint of the antenna is not enlarged, neither

have I been enabled to find any structure answering to the

internal cell ; on the other hand, the whole organ increases in

length, as if to gain by external surface what is lost by internal

development.

Among the land Crustacea this antenna is obsolete, and in

Ligia and other amphibious marine ones it is rudimentary.

The Inferior or External Antenna.

These are borne upon the third ring, and are among the most

constant organs present. One of these antennae is formed of a

peduncle consisting as a general law of five articulations and a

filament, generally multiarticulate and very long; these are

sometimes anchylosed together so as to be even as few as a single

articulation.

The five joints of the peduncle are all distinct in the Macroura.

In Amphipoda the first and second are closely associated, but

* In Macroura, Dr. Farre states that he found sand deposited in the base

of the internal antenna, which he assumes to act the part of otolithes ; this

the author has failed to find, and, from the fact that the membrane over the

orifice s])oken of by Dr, Farre is imperforate, thinks it probable that the

specimen examined by that observer must have been injured.

It may be that in this communication sufficient justice is scarcely done

to Dr. Farre’s researches, since the short abstract published in the ‘ Annals ’

for 1843 has been the only means tlie author had at his disposal to become

acquainted with them. But if» as he thinks. Dr. Farre’s researches

on the Macroura corroborate his on the Brachyura, then the evidence is

strofif^ against the generally received oj)inion of naturalists and physiologists,

including among them Edwards and Siebold.

42 Mr. C. Spence Bate on the Homologies of the Carapace

scarcely fused. In Brachyura the whole, more or less, certainly

the four first, almost always coalesce, and are generally formed

into a very compact mass, so that their position can only be

indicated in Sternorhynchus by the presence of the olfactory oper-

culum.

In the Macroura this operculum is absent, and an orifice pro-

tected by a thin membrane represents the position of the organ.

In the Amphipoda the organ is developed in the form of a strong

spine or tooth with an orifice at the extremity*. In the Isopoda

I have not been able to decipher with confidence the organ of

sense in the inferior antenna, but that it exists can scarcely be

doubted, since the lower antenna, except in parasitic Crustacea, as

the female of Bopyrus and lona^ is I believe never rudimentary.

The nerve which supplies this organ is a fifth pair or a branch

of the fourth. In the Brachyura, in which our dissections have

chiefiy been made, the fourth pair of nerves extends beyond the

inferior antenna, and then terminates in the muscles which raise

and close the olfactory operculum.

This organ, which is described by M. Milne-Edwards as an

organ of hearing, differs in its construction in the different

families of Crustacea. In the Brachyura it is a small moveable

appendage, situated at the point of articulation between the

third and second joints ; it is attached to a long calcareous lever-

like tendon, at the extreme limit of which is attached a set of

muscles by which it is opened and closed, to assist in which

operation at the angle of the operculum most distant from the

central line of the animal are fixed two small hinges. When

the operculum is raised, the internal surface is found to be per-

forated by a small circular opening protected by a thin membrane.

Among the Macroura this orifice exists at the extremity of a

small protuberance, and is not capable of being withdrawn into

the cavity of the antenna, as in the Brachyura.

The next question which we have to consider is, to which sense

either of these two sets of organs belongs ; — whether the upper

belongs to the auditory and the lower to the olfactory, as I shall

endeavour to prove, or vice versa, as maintained by Prof.

Milne-Edwards.

We shall divide the evidences on either side under two heads ;

the first, that which is derived from an external observation ; and

the second, that which is derived from its internal organization.

First then from external circumstances : An auditory appa-

ratus is an organ furnished to an animal for one or both of two

objects ; first, for protection from danger ; secondly, for the plea-

* This will be more enlarged upon in the forthcoming Report at the

next Meeting of the British Association.

43

and on the Function of the Antenna in Crustacea.

sure derivable from sounds. To animals so low in the scale of

beings as the Crustacea, placed as they are in a medium which

must considerably modify its character, sound can convey little

to the consciousness of the animal beyond a sense of security or

danger.

To enable this to be of the most extensive value, the auditory

organ must and always is so placed as to be most exposed to

external impressions at all periods ; particularly when the animal

is at rest or pre-occupied.

Now if we look at the organ the present state of science attri-

butes to the sense of hearing, we find that in the most perfectly

formed animals, the Brachyura, it is enclosed within a bony case

and secured by a calcareous operculum ; that it is always so in a

state of rest, and only exposed when especially required. Not

only is this the case throughout the order, but in some genera,

as CorysteSj Cancer, &c., it is again covered by the supplying

organs of the mouth.

If we take into consideration that the inferior antenna is fre-

quently developed into organs assimilating to feet, and fre-

quently used for the purpose of assisting to climb, &c., it seems

difficult to admit that it is an organ capable of protecting the

animal by its quick detection of the sound of approaching

danger.

If we turn our attention to the superior antenna, we find that

in the living animal it is always elevated in the water and never

at rest, — always playing with a constant vibration and a jerking

motion peculiar to itself in the higher orders. Among the Am-

phipoda, though constantly erect, the motion is more regular and

graceful ; this probably is consequent upon the greater relative

length of the organ.

This organ is one that appears as if always on the watch ; — let

the animal be at rest, let it be feeding, no matter, the superior

antenna is ever elevated and on constant guard.

Again, if we turn our attention to the land Crustacea, we find

the organ as an antenna disappear; and in Ligia and the amphi-

bious Orchestida they are rudimentary, as if the organ, passing

from water into a less dense medium, required modification in

order to adapt it to the change of circumstances.

If we take into consideration the nature of sound, and its dif-

ference of character when conveyed under water from that of

j)assing through air, the obtuse character of the former, which

can scarcely be more than a vibratory action of particles of

water, which conveys to us a very modified and imperfect idea

of sound, we find it difficult to understand that the organ

situated at the base of the under antenna is capable of receiving

44 Mr. C. Spence Bate 07i the Homologies of the Carapace

impressions of sound, enclosed as it is within and covered by a

stout calcareous operculum.

But if we view it as an organ of smell, every objection pre-

viously becomes evidence in favour of the idea. The small door

when it is raised exposes the orifice in a direction pointing to the

mouth ; this also is the direction of the same organ in all the

higher orders. In Amphipoda it is directed inwards and for-

wards. In every animal it is so situated that it is impossible for

any food to be conveyed into the mouth without passing under

this organ, and of this the animal has the power to judge its

suitability for food by raising the operculum at will, and expo-

sing to it the hidden organ — the olfactory.

If we turn to the upper antenna, we find that its position,

form and power are as capable of fulfilling the office of conducting

the sensation of sound, as the lower is that of smell. As I before

observed, it is always placed erect, and continually feeling in the

water for the first approximation of sensation. The filamentary

appendages are always two or more, one of which is supplied

with singularly delicate membranous cilia, being apparently pro-

longations of a similar membrane to that which covers the larger

orifice of the olfactory organ. These lengthened and delicate

cilia are peculiarly adapted to receive and convey the most minute

vibratory sensation of the medium in which they are suspended.

These organs when spoken of may conveniently be designated

as auditory cilia, and have been found in every species of Crus-

tacea that has been searched for them.

If we turn our attention to the internal structure of this an-

tenna, we shall find that it supports the idea of its being an

auditory organ more forcibly than its external analysis.

In the BracJujura, as before observed, the first or basal arti-

culation is largely developed ; if it be removed from its connexion

with the animal and broken open, the basal articulation will

be found occupied by a still smaller chamber having calcareous

walls of a much more delicate character than the integumentary

structure. This internal chamber or cell is that which in this

paper is supposed to be a cochlea, from its analogy both in its

structure and supposed use to that organ in higher animals. It

is situated in the cavity of the basal articulation of the antenna,

and attached to the walls furthest from the median line of the

Crab. It presents a tendency to a spiral form, but passes not

beyond the limits of a single convolution. The calcareous walls

extend across the axis of the ideal spire, and the internal cavity

is one continuous irregular chamber, the walls of which at the

centre of the axis closely approximate so as almost to meet.

PI. II. figs. 3, 4, 5, 6.

45

and on the Function of the Antennce in Crustacea.

This internal cell represents, we think, the cochlea of higher

animals, to which it bears some resemblance both in form and

structure. If so, then bc3mnd dispute it identifies the superior

antenna as an organ of hearing.

The internal structure of the inferior antenna differs very

materially from the appearances we have just described. In the

Brachyura, where the organs are most fully developed, there is

attached to the operculum a long osseous tendon or lever, by

which the attached muscles raise or close the entire organ, but

there is no internal structure of any kind which could identify

it as being an organ of sound. The aqueous sac mentioned by

Edwards I have entirely failed to discover.

Viewing the two antennae each as a whole, in their relative posi-

tions and connexion with the rest of the animal, we are forcibly

led to the conviction that the upper antenna is an organ of

hearing, and the lower antenna is an organ of smell.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES I. and II.

Plate I.

Fig. 1. The ophthalmic ring and appendages of Cancer Pagurus isolated

from its position.

Fig. 2. The internal aspect of the two antennal and the anterior portion

of the mandibular rings of Cancer Pagurus.

F F F shows the line of fracture in consequence of the removal of

the upper portion of the carapace.

AAA. The inner or anterior antennal ring, the supposed limits of

which are shown in dotted lines.

•w. The fossa which is exposed by the removal of the ophthalmic

segment.

X, X. The internal extremities of the orbits.

y, y. Cavity exposed by the removal of intemal antennae.

B B B B. The external or posterior antennal ring, the limit of

which is defined anteriorly where it is fused with the anterior

antennal ring by the dotted line, posteriorly by the margin of

the oesophageal opening E, by a ridge between B and C, where

a line of separation is often, if not always visible, and the line P,

which splits in some of the Brachyura when they throw off the

exuviae.

z. The white spot in the deej) hollow shows the position of the

olfactory organ (auditory of M. Milne-Edw^ards, Von Siebold,

&c.).

C C C C. The fourth or mandibular ring ; epimeral of Prof. Milne-

Edwards*.

m, m. Calcareous tendon of mandible.

* The author anticipates being able to demonstrate, in the Report on the

Amphipod Crustacea for the British Association, that the so-called epi-

merals of the thorax, in the Sessile-cyed Crustacea, are in fact the first joint

of the leg. If this be correct, and the so-called epimerals in the Brachyura

be admitted as the fourth or mandibular ring, the side pieces or epimerals

of authors will be found to have no existence, — a circumstance which the

author affirms to he the case.

46

On the Function of the Antennae in Crustacea.

Fig. 3. The anterior aspect of the internal or first antennal ring isolated

from the rest of the carapace, answering to A A A in fig. 2,

which is the internal aspect of the same.

a. The line of demarcation between the dorsal and ventral arches,

which enlarges at (e) to permit the organ of vision to pass

through.

hy h. Portions of the orbits.

c. The superior antenna in situ.

f. The foramen through which the nerves and muscles pass to the

superior or internal antenna, which is here removed.

d, d. Depressions left by the removal of the external antennae, the

extremity of the third joint of the peduncle of which here rests,

with which it is almost fused.

Fig. 4. Carapace of Diastylis (Say) Rathkii, Kroyer, = Alauna rostrata,

Goodsir, Bell : dorsal aspect.

Fig. 5. Ditto : ventral aspect.

Fig. 6. Lateral view.

Fig. 7. Carapace of Cancer Pagurus : pupa stage ; ventral aspect.

Fig. 8. Carapace of Astacus fiuviatilis : dorsal aspect.

Fig. 9. Do. do. do. : lateral view.

Fig. 10. Carapace of Corystes Cassivelaunus : lateral view.

Plate II.

Fig. 1 . Carapace of Cancer Pagurus : ventral aspect.

Fig. 2. Cephalic ring of Erichtkonius difformis, to show the relation in

which it stands to the carapace of Podophthalmia. The antennal

rings, which in the Sessile-eyed order are absorbed within the

posterior, are here produced in dotted lines (a)*. The letters in

all define the homological divisions.

a. The two antennal rings.

b. The mandibular.

The line between a and b is the limit of separation between the

rings and homologies in Brachyura with the cervical suture

in Macroura.

Fig. 3. The anterior or internal antenna of Cancer Pagurus. The dotted

line at (a) shows the position of the internal cell.

Fig. 4. Posterior view of the basal articulation of the antenna, showing the

internal or auditory cell (the presumed cochlea of the author).

Fig. 5. Anterior view of the internal cell; the outer or dermal walls of

the antenna being broken away.

Fig. 6. Internal view of the cell, which is broken to show the relative ar-

rangements of its walls.

* The author would wish this passage to be accepted only provisionally

for the present, as, since the paper has been in the hands of the printer,

on examining some specimens of Gammarus which had been saturated in

dilute acid, he thinks he has identified a line or suture which must

homologize with the ceiwical suture in the higher types. Should further

research establish the fact, then it must result that the inferior antennal,

as well as the mandibular segment, enters into the structure of the first or

cephalic ring of the Amphipoda ; but this he hopes to discuss soon more at

large elsewhere.

On Double Monstrosity in Fishes.

47

V. — On Double Monstrosity in Fishes.

On the 19th March last, M. de Quatrefages exhibited to the

French Academy of Sciences a living specimen of a double mon-

strous Fish. The observations made by M. de Quatrefages on

the occasion of this exhibition have given rise to a discussion

upon the phaenomenon of double monstrosity in Fishes, in

which several of the most distinguished physiologists of France

have taken part, and although, as might be expected from the

nature of the subject, no very decisive results have been ob-

tained, there seems to be every reason to hope, from the zeal

with which these gentlemen appear to be devoting their atten-

tion to the solution of the interesting question of the mode of

production of these monstrosities, that their researches may

eventually throw considerable light, not only upon the partieular

phaenomenon in question, but also upon the origin and deve-

lopment of the normal embryo. For this reason we have thought

it advisable to give a short account of some of the leading state-

ments that have been made, in the hope that by so doing we

may call the attention of some of our readers to this interesting

subject.

The monster exhibited by M. de Quatrefages had been ob-

served by him for a period of nearly two months. When he first

received it, it consisted of two young fishes, completely separated

from each other and adhering to the opposite sides of a vitellus,

which exhibited a deep notch in front. Each of these embryos

exhibited a certain amount of deformity, — one, the largest, had

the face deformed and the eyes entirely wanting, whilst the other

parts of the body were perfectly developed ; — in tne other the

head was well-formed, the body humped and the tail twisted.

The two abdominal veins (afterwards converted into the venae

portae) were in their usual position, and their ramifications

spread over the whole surface of the vitellus, eommunicating at

their extremities with the roots of the vitelline veins, which

afterwards form the hepatic veins. It is remarkable also that

numerous anastomoses united the last ramifications of the abdo-

minal vein of each embryo with those of the vitelline vein of the

other, so that a continual interchange of blood took place. [Ac-

cording to M. Coste the circulation in double monsters is common

to the two embryos, — the greater part of the blood which has

circulated in the body of one passing into the vessels of the um-

bilical vesicle [abdominal vein], whence the greater part of it is

conveyed by the vitelline vein to the auricle of the other embryo

and so on, and in accordance with this reciprocal circulation

the contractions of the two ventricles take place alternately.

48

On Double Monstrosity in Fishes.

M. de Quatrefages, however, states that such was not the case in

two instances observed by him.]

On the 19th February, nearly a month after the specimen

came into the possession of M. de Quatrefages, and about six

weeks after its exclusion from the egg, the two embryos were

close together and ready to unite on one side of the abdomen,

whilst on the other they were still separated by a considerable

space occupied by the vitellus. When exhibited to the Academy,

the vitellus was nearly gone, and the larger of the two was

nearly ready to feed. It had originally been placed to the right

of the vitellus, but had become superior, lying somewhat across

the smaller and more deformed individual, which it carried about

with it.

The conclusion at which M. de Quatrefages arrives with re-

gard to this monster is, that it is formed by the coalescence of

two originally distinct embryos, and that the vitellus from which

it was developed was also double, the point of junction being in

his opinion indicated by the deep notch already mentioned at

the anterior part of the vitellus. This opinion is also shared by

M. Serres.

M. Coste however maintains that there is only a single vitellus

and umbilieal vesicle, since at whatever period these monsters

may be observed, the vesicle is always simple ; and this view is

further supported by the intimate connexion between the circu-

latory systems of the two embryos. He considers that as the

external lamina of the umbilical vesicle really forms a common

abdominal wall enclosing the vitellus, it is impossible to regard

the two embryos as distinct individuals developed at the poles of

a double vitellus and becoming coalescent at a late period of

their growth, as they are actually united from the first into a

single organism by this membrane, and their subsequent union

is only effected by the gradual contraction of this membrane as

the vitellus becomes absorbed. This conjugation is consequently

a primordial phsenomenon, and of a much more intimate nature

than one of simple adherence, such as the case cited by M. Geof-

frey Saint- Hilaire, in which two chickens, hatched from two

separate yelks contained in the same egg, were found to adhere

to one another by the belly.

M. Lereboullet holds the same opinion with M. Coste, regard-

ing the primitive simplicity of the vitellus, and his observations

(made upon the eggs of the Pike) appear to be tolerably con-

clusive upon this point. He states that in the eggs of the Pike

the development of the embryo commences at the moment when

the blastoderm has almost completely enclosed the vitellus, by

the formation of a small triangular tubercle on the blasto-

dermal ridge {bourrelet blastodermique) , and that from this

On Double Monstrosity in Fishes.

49

centre the embryonic fillet takes its rise. In many cases the

ridge of the blastoderm bears two tubercles^ from each of

which an embryonic fillet is produced, and the further develop-

ment of these gives rise to double embryos of various kinds. It

appears from a statement of M. Lereboullet, that the formation

of these monsters may be determined at pleasure by placing the

eggs in unfavourable conditions for development.

M. Lereboullet describes the formation of several varieties of

these double monsters. 1. In some instances two tubercles were

produced on the margin of the blastoderm, from each of which

proceeded a fillet furnished with a dorsal furrow, forming two

embryos adhering to the marginal ridge. Soon afterwards the

divisions of the vertebrae made their appearance, the external

ones having their ordinary form and dimensions, whilst the in-

ternal gradually became confounded, passing from the body of

one embryo to that of the other, thus causing the partial amal-

gamation of the two embryos. In this manner a double fish is

formed, arising from two primitive germinating points produced

upon the blastodermal ridge, so as to become partially joined ; it

has therefore two separate bodies with a common tail. A spe-

cimen of this description, in which the fusion of the double em-

bryo had extended to about the middle of the body, lived for

four days after exclusion from the egg.

2. In other eggs the blastodermal ridge gave rise to a long

and broad fillet terminated anteriorly by two rounded lobes.

Two parallel furrows made their appearance in the fillet, and

soon exhibited the vertebral divisions, whilst the anterior lobes

acquired a determinate form, and each produced two ocular vesi-

cles, constituting an embryo with a single body and two distinct

heads. In these cases however the duplicity was transitory; the

two heads soon came in contact, and became soldered together

in such a manner as to form only a single head. M. Lereboullet

has observed these phsenoraena in about fifteen instances, but

could never ascertain in what manner the fusion of the two

heads was elfected. In some cases the two heads appear to

remain distinct.

3. One of the most remarkable monstrosities is that presented

by some embryos with a single head, two separate bodies, and

one or two tails. These are formed in the following manner ; —

the ridge of the blastoderm, which has the form of a gaping

button-hole, produces a single cephalic tubercle, but the forma-

tive j)i-ocess goes on in the whole circumference of the margin,

each half of wliich acquires a chorda dorsalis and a nervous cord,

and soon exhibits the divisions of the vertebrae. When the

cephalic tubercle is short and only gives rise to the true head,

each of the two bodies is furnislied with two auditory capsules,

Ann. May. iW. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 4

50

On Double Monstrosity in Fishes.

two pectoral fins and a heart ; but when this tubercle is more

elongated, the anterior part of the body is simple, and bears two

eyes, two auditory capsules and a single heart, and the body is

terminated posteriorly by two short branches.

4. This organization of the ridge of the blastoderm into a

double embryo seems to explain an extremely curious form

which only occurred once in M. Lereboullet^s observations. This

consisted of a simple embryo, bearing on the right side of its

body a small tubercle, directed backwards, and terminated by an

auditory capsule and an active heart. The production of this

form is accounted for by the resorption of the parts of the body

posterior to the heart in one of the embryos, and M. Lereboullet

has witnessed the complete disappearance of one of the bodies

in other instances.

5. In another egg the ridge of the blastoderm exhibited two

contiguous tubercles, of which one had the ordinary form of the

cephalic tubercle, whilst the other was smaller and irregular.

The former alone acquired a fuiTow and gave rise to an embryo,

on one side of which the smaller tubercle was borne.

6. Occasionally bodies furnished with three heads make their

appearance. One of these is described by M. Lereboullet. It

was a double embryo, composed of two bodies united behind,

but quite free in front. One of these bodies was of the normal

form; the other bore two heads, of which that on the left was of

the normal form and furnished with two eyes, whilst that on the

right only bore the right eye, the union of the two heads being

effected at the point where the left eye ought to have been. This

singular embryo was still in the egg when described ; it had two

hearts, one common to the two principal bodies, situated at their

bifurcation, the other placed in the angle of union of the two

heads.

M. Lereboullet explains the formation of this anomalous crea-

ture in the following way. He considers that two fillets have

been formed, one of which has been terminated by two cephalic

lobes and acquired two furrows (as described under 2.), whilst

the other has remained simple. These two embryos have then

united posteriorly (as under I.), producing an embryo with one

tail, two bodies and three heads.

7. An extraordinary result was obtained when the develop-

ment of the eggs was retarded by a considerable diminution of

temperature. In this case the ridge of the blastoderm pro-

duced no embryo, but contracted gradually like the opening of a

bag, its substance becoming condensed and forming a mammil-

lated tubercle projecting from the surface of the vitellus. This

tubercle continued living, rose more and more from the surface,

acquired a Ungulate form, and at last constituted an elon-

Linnman Society. 51

gated body, narrowed in front, divided transversely into verte-

bral lamellse, without dorsal cord, or sensitive organs, but fur-

nished with a heart, of which the contractions were sometimes

very lively.

These observations, as M, Lereboullet well observes, appear

to prove that the generally received opinion that double monsters

are produced by the fusion of two embryos is perfectly correct,

whilst that which attributes a separate vitellus to each of these

embryos is not founded in fact. He considers that his observa-

tions, with those of Valentin, show that there is only a single

germ, but that this, by becoming developed in two directions,

instead of one as in normal cases, gives rise to two more or less

distinct embryos. In his opinion the ridge of the blastoderm

{bourrelet blast odermique) plays a most important part in the

formation of the embryo, and in fact constitutes the true em-

bryonic germ, which is always simple and single, like the vitel-

lus which is covered by the blastoderm, but when its develop-

ment is deranged from its regular course, is capable of vegetating

like the substance of which the bodies of polypes are composed,

so as to produce various forms, which however, in their subse-

quent development, always show a distinct tendency to return

to the original type of the species.^^

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

LINN^AN SOCIETY.

December 5, 1854. — William Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Mr. Ward, F.L.S., exhibited two sets of specimens of Asplenium

lanceolatum, from Jersey, both found growing on disintegrated

sandstone, exhibiting a striking difference between the growth of

the same species on an open sunny bank and in dense shade.

Mr. John Hogg, F.R.S., F.L.S., exhibited some scales, and a

piece of the scaly covering which was cut from the back of a large

fish found in the river Tees, in September of this year. He stated

that two fishermen observed a great fish — such as they had never

before seen — left by the tide on a sand-bank, in the estuary of tlie

river Tees. They described it as having the head of a salmon, with

the back-fin like that of a perch, erect, and somewhat spiny, and

the tail spreading and much curved. The colour they did not men-

tion, except that of the back, which was represented as being of a

purplish-black. They likewise particularly observed some large

scales on the front of the fish near the gill-covers, one of which Mr.

J. Hogg also exhibited, and which is of a very strong, bony texture.

From the account of this fish so given, Mr. Hogg conceived that it

could only have been a large Tunny {Thynnus vulgaris of Cuvier),

which had been stranded whilst in pursuit of herrings or other small

4*

5Z LinrKBan Society : —

fishes. MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes in their ‘ Hist. Nat. dea

Poissons/ tom. viii. p. 57, separated the Tunnies from the Mackerels

{Scomber), in consequence of the “remarkable disposition of the

scales on the thorax, which are larger and more unpolished than

the others, and form around that part a sort of corselet?” They

also describe the corselet of the Common Tunny thus : — “ Le corselet,

c’est-a-dire cette portion du tronc couverte d’ecailles plus grandes

et moins absorbees dans la peau, est considerable.” (p. 62.) This,

however, would seem to lead to an incorrect view of the smaller

scales on the back, which are, as it were, enclosed between two

skins, and are placed in a somewhat imbricated manner, resembling

the arrangement of the slates upon a roof, and cannot properly be

termed “ absorbees dan^ la peau.” Mr. Hogg showed the nature of

the piece of the external covering which the fishermen had cut off

the back ; the outside skin being of a dark, or nearly black colour,

and of a coriaceous sul^stance. The white scales, imbedded in it,

are similar to those forming the corselet near the gill-covers, but

they are much smaller, and so closely placed by one overlapping the

other, that they constitute a perfect defence against nearly every

kind of danger. The piece so cut off the back of the fish, which

was done with some difficulty, resembling a portion of a shield,

would seem to be (from the close disposition of the osseous plates

or scales enclosed between two skins) proof against large shot, or

even a ball from a musket. Both the external large plate-like scales

forming the corselet, and those, arranged in a slate-like manner, be-

tween the skins, are of an irregular, but somewhat round, or oval,

shape. When seen frorp the outside of the external black skin, the

plain parts between the extremities of four scales, present, by the

overlapping of their edges, a somewhat regular appearance, and are of

a nearly uniform size, viz. about half an inch in length, by a little

more than one-eighth of an inch in width, and they thus exhibit

much of a diamond pattern.

Mr. Hogg observed, that ichthyologists seem not to have described

this remarkable protection, presented by the thick skins, and strong

bony interlaminated scales, which is evidently a beautiful provision

of Nature to defend these fishes from the attacks of their enemies,

and especially those of their greatest foe, the sword-fish.

Read a paper “ On Decaisnea, a remarkable new genus of the

tribe Lardizabalece” by J. D. Hooker, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S.,

and Thomas Thomson, Esq., M.D., F.L.S.

The small family of Lardizabalece, which was first instituted

many years ago by Mr. Brown, and chara cterized by the distribution,

of the ovules over the whole surface of the ovary, was afterwards

admirably illustrated by M. Decaisne in a memoir in the ‘ Archives

du Museum.’ Though the peculiar distribution of the ovules has

always been justly regarded as the most striking characteristic of

Lardizabalece, it is by no means the only peculiarity of the order,

which maybe distinguished from all its near allies by a considerable

number of very striking characters, sufficiently proving the distinct-

53

Drs. Hooker & Thomson on the genus Decaisuea,

ness of the order even where the prominent characters of the in-

sertion of the ovules and the digitate leaves are absent. I'his is

remarkably the case in the plant to which the authors of this paper

called the attention of the Society, and of which a figure was placed

on the table.

This interesting plant, which was originally discovered in Bhotan,

by Mr. Griffith, is briefly referred to in his ‘ Itinerary Notes,’ under

the name of Slackia insignis, a name evidently imposed on a con-

viction that the many striking characters which it presents warranted

the establishment of a new genus, to which, however, no characters

were assigned. That name having (before the publication of these

‘ Itinerary Notes,’ in which it was only a manuscript designation,)

been applied by Griffith himself, in his ‘ Essay on Palms,’ to a genus

of that order, the authors proposed to designate the plant uow de-

scribed, Decaisnea, after the distinguished monographist of the group

to which it belongs, as the two genera of Orchidece which have been

so called have both proved to have had earlier names.

Decaisnea, Hf. Sf Thoms.

Sepala 6, lineari-subulata. Petala 0. Stamina in flore masculo mona'

clelpha, in hermaphrodite parva libera. Ovaria 3, lineari-oblonga"

Ovula placentis 2 filiformibus parallelis, suturae ventrali approximatis

sed ab ea discretis, inserta, indetinita, anatropa. FoUicuU pulpa re-

pleti. 5'ewma indefinita, compressa; testa laevi, nitida, Crustacea, atro-

fusca.

VvMiex Himalaicus erectus \ foliis alter nis^ pinnatis\ inflorescentia race-

wo.va, terminali ; floribus pallic/e viridescentibus.

Decaisnea insignis is a native of the temperate parts of the Eastern

Himalaya, at elevations between 8000 and 10,000 feet. As men-

tioned above, it was first discovered in Bhotan by Griffith. Dr.

Hooker’s specimens are from the interior of Sikkim. It is an erect

shrub, with large simply pinnated leaves, and a nearly simple trunk,

marked by large scars after the leaves fall away, as in many Araliacece.

The nearest analogy is no doubt with the section Mahonia, of the

genus Berberis, but the leaves of Decaisnea are soft and thin, not

rigid and prickly as in Berberis. The flowers are arranged in elon-

gated racemes, and closely resemble those of other Lardizabale<B.

Their colour is pale green, slightly tinged with purple tow^ards the

apex. The sepals are elongated to a subulate point, and there

are no petals. The stamens on the male flower are monadelphous,

and very like those of Stauntonia or Parvatia. In the fertile flower

the stamens are free and very small, but the anthers always contain

pollen, so that the flowers are rather polygamous than dioicous.

The most remarkable character is exhibited by the ovaries, which,

though externally not unlike those of Hollbollia, have the ovules

arranged in a double series along two elevated lines, one on each

side of the ventral suture, and not scattered over the whole surface

of the ovary as in all the other genera. The same arrangement is

preserved in the ripe fruit, which consists of three large follicles full

of an agreeably-flavoured solid ])ulp, dehiscing along the ventral

54

Linnaan Society : — >

suture, so as to expose to view the numerous shining black seeds, in

structure like those of Hollhollia.

The characters of this remarkable plant are so striking that no

lengthened detail is necessary. It will suffice to call attention to its

importance, as affording an indication of the value of characters in

the class of plants to which it belongs. An inspection of the figure

(which is intended to form one of the plates of Dr. Hooker’s ‘ Illus-

trations of Himalayan Plants’ now in preparation) shows that, not-

withstanding its remarkable alteration from the character which has

hitherto been considered as most essential to Lardizabalece^ it is an

undoubted member of that group. At the same time it illustrates,

by many points of structure, the relationship of that tribe to all the

surrounding orders. The proof which it affords that the apparently

very aberrant structure of fruit in which the ovules are scattered

over the whole surface of the ovarium, is compatible in the same

order with the normal structure, and is therefore reducible to it, and

as it were only a modification of it, is especially interesting, and

sufficiently, the authors trust, justify them in bringing the plate just

completed to the notice of the Society.

Read also observations “ On the Identity of Pinus hirtella and

Pinus religiosa of Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth.” By Berthold

Seemann, Esq., Ph.D., F.L.S.

Dr. Seemann states that a short time ago, when determining the

ConifercB gathered by himself in the western parts of Mexico, he

was glad to find that he had amongst them specimens of the Pinus

(Abies) hirtella ; but on comparing them with those named Pinus

(Abies) religiosa in the herbaria of Sir W. J. Hooker and Mr. Ben-

tham, he observed that the latter too, without exception, had hirteU

lous branches ; and again, on examining specimens of P. religiosa

growing in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, as well as at various

other horticultural establishments, he found that they did not differ

in any way from those of hirtella collected by himself. As the only

difference between P. religiosa and P. hirtella insisted upon by

writers on Qoniferce consists in the former having glabrous, the latter

hirtellous branches, he was forced to conclude that all the spe-

cimens of P. religiosa which he had seen in this country ought to

be called P. hirtella, unless it could be shown that P. religiosa had

(notwithstanding Humboldt’s, Bonpland’s, and Kunth’s description)

hirtellous branches. In order to ascertain this point, he addressed

a letter on the subject to Mr. George Gordon, at the Horticultural

Society’s Gardens at Chiswick, a gentleman of great practical ex-

perience, who, in a letter dated Chiswick, Nov. 11, 1854, kindly

replied, that “ having taken a good deal of interest and pains in the

matter, when Mr. Hartweg was collecting in Mexico, and begged

him to examine minutely Humboldt’s and Bonpland’s localities, and

see what their A. hirtella was, he did so, and could discover no

other species than the ‘ Oyamel,’ or Abies religiosa. He found

Abies religiosa, and carefully examined the same in various places

between 15° and 22*^ S. Bat.; but its chief range was about 19° and

Dr. Goppert on Fossil Palms.

55

at an elevation of 9000 feet. He found it on the ‘ Campanario,’ the'

highest point of the mountains of Angangues, 5 or 6 feet in dia-

meter, and 150 feet high; at other places very much smaller and

stunted, but still the same species ; and I have, as well as Hartweg,

after carefully examining all these facts, come to the decided conclu-

sion that both names, P. hirtella and P. religiosa, belong to the same

species ; and that the error arose from describing imperfect speci-

mens, and not having cones of A. hirtella to compare with the

‘ Oyamel’ of the Mexicans.”

Finding that Mr. Gordon’s opinion coincided so entirely with his

own, in order to settle the point definitively, Dr. Seemann requested

his friend Dr. Charles Bolle, at Berlin, to examine Humboldt and

Bonpland’s original specimens of P. religiosa, and to ascertain whe-

ther they had glabrous or hirtelloiis branches. In a letter just re-

ceived from that botanist, dated Berlin, Nov. 24, he says, — “ I con-

gratulate you upon your power of divination, for the authentic

specimens of P. religiosa in the Royal Herbarium have certainly

hirtellous branches.” We may therefore conclude that P. religiosa

and P. hirtella are identical, and consider the difference thought to

exist between them as entirely attributable to imperfect descriptions.

As the names were both given at the same time, it becomes a ques-

tion which of the two ought to be adopted. The name hirtella

might appear the most appropriate, as indicating a botanical cha-

racter ; but as that of religiosa is so much more diffused, and as the

plant is used in Mexico, on account of its elegant branches, for

ornamental purposes on religious festivities, Dr. Seemann determines

in favour of the name P. religiosa.

Read further “ Remarks on Fossil Palms.” By Dr. Goppert,

Professor of Botany in the University of Breslau.

These remarks are the result of a letter addressed by Dr. Seemann

to Dr. Go])pert, requesting to be favoured with a brief summary of

all that is known of fossil Palms, and they have appeared to

Dr. Seemann of so much interest as to induce him to lay them

before the Linnsean Society. The)’’ are as follows : —

“ During the last, and even the first quarter of the present century,”

says Dr. Goppert, “ so little was known of the structure of Palms,

and all that was known appeared so abnormal to the scientific men

of those days, that they were only too readily inclined to class with

the Palms almost all fossil plants presenting strange and anomalous

forms. This remark aj)plies with full force to Sigillaria and Lepi-

dodendron, genera belonging to the Palaeozoic formation ; and

startling as it may be, it cannot be very surprising to us, when we

consider that even in our own times notions equally erroneous

prevail to an almost incredible extent. For instance, a principal

share in the formation of coal is still ascribed by the generality of

geologists to the Ferns, although it lias been proved by me, by a

series of careful observations on numerous carboniferous formations,

that such can be claimed only for the Sigillarius and Stigmarias ; that

a subordinate share only is due to the Araucarias and Calamites, con-

56

Linncean Society: —

tained in the anthracite coal ; and a still less significant portion to

the Lepidodendrons, the Ferns, and the remaining members of the

flora of the Carboniferous period.

“ A diligent study of the extinct flora has demonstrated that the

Palms occur more rarely than was thought in the transition rocks

and the Carboniferous formation, and more frequently than was

believed in more recent formations. Generally speaking, we know

at present only trunks, leaves (both fan-shaped and pinnatisect),

and a few fruits of fossil Palms ; flowers have as yet not been

discovered, and the spathes collected have hitherto not been satis-

factorily proved to belong to the natural order under consideration.

These fragments, remnants of members of former creations, have

been distributed under nine genera and seventy-eight species. For

the trunks, there have been adopted the genera Palmacites, Brongn.,

and Fasciculites ; for the leaves, Flabellaria, Sternb., Zeugophy Hites,

Brongn., Phoenicites, Brongn., and Amesoneuron, Gopp. ; for the

spathes, Pal<Pospatha, Unger (founded, as has been stated, upon

doubtful materials) ; for the fruits, Baccites, Zenk, and Castellinia,

Massal. The genus Burtinia of Endlicher, placed by Unger among

Palms, belongs without a doubt to Pandanece, and is identical with

Nipadites.

“ Although our present imperfect knowledge of fossil plants

renders it an almost useless task to speak of the proportion which

the number of Palms bears to that of the other members of the

extinct flora, yet it may be remarked that, if the number of species

of the fossil flora is assumed to be 4000, — there are actually 3945

described, — Palms constitute about the eighty-fourth part of the

whole. In the transition rocks no remnants of Palms have as yet

been discovered ; in the Carboniferous formation five species have

been noticed ; in ‘ Kupfersandstein,’ or the Permian formation,

onl)^ two species have been collected ; in the secondary class of

rocks which succeeds (Keuper, Bimter-Sandstein, Muschelkalk, Lias-

Jura, and Wealden formation), none have been collected except

three species in the Cretaceous formation, especially in -Quadersand-

stein. The greatest number has been found in the Tertiary class of

rocks, viz. sixty ; twenty-nine of which belong to the Eocene system,

and thirty-one to the Miocene formation. The habitat of nine spe-

cies is unknown.

“ It will be seen from this synopsis that there was a geological

period when Palms were entirely wanting in the extinct flora, or

when, after their first appearance on the globe, they vanished again,

and after a lapse of time reappeared ; a state of things, which if

confirmed by future investigations, would certainly be highly curious,

and is one never before observed in a like manner in any large group

of plants. No species is common to two formations. Several spe-

cies show a remarkable degree of resemblance with those of the

flora now existing, especially some of those collected by Junghuhn

in Java, as for instance, Amesoneuron calyptro- calyx, Gdpp., A.dra-

cophyllum, Gdpp., A. fagifoliam, Gdpp., and A. anceps, Gdpp. But

it would be rather bold, perhaps injudicious, to attempt identifying

Dr. Kdox on the Food of certain Gregarious Fishes. 57

them, from the fragments hitherto collected, with those of the pre*

sent flora. The results hitherto obtained only entitle us to say, —

Palms make no exception to the rule generally received, that the

laws governing the vegetable kingdom were the same in all periods

of our earth’s history when plants existed ; and that the species of

Palms have a very local geological, as they have a very local geo-

graphical distribution.”

December 19. — Thomas Bell, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a Memoir “ On the Food of certain Gregarious Fishes.” By

Robert Knox, Esq., M.D.

Dr. Knox’s inquiries were commenced about thirty years ago, and

the results then arrived at were communicated to the Royal Society

of Edinburgh, in whose ‘Transactions’ a notice of the paper was

published. Since that period the observations have been repeated

on many occasions, and the author does not find it necessary to alter

or modify the statements which he originally made. His attention

was first directed to the fact, that in the stomachs of Salmon, fresh

from the recesses of the ocean, nothing is ever found except a small

quantity of a peculiar reddish substance, unlike anything known to

possess life. Practical fishermen agreed in the opinion, that the food

of the Salmon, w'hile resident in the ocean, was altogether unknown ;

neither could they give any satisfactory account of that of the Herring.

Having learned accidentally, that in a lake or lakes near Lochmaben

there existed in great abundance a small fish (the Vendace) which

could not be tempted by any bait, and whose food was entirely un-

known, he determined to visit Lochmaben, and make this fish, so

easily procured, the subject of his researches. Dozens of Vendace

were taken in nets, and immediately opened ; and their stomachs

were found crammed with thousands of Entomostraca, which were

immediately recognized on placing a portion of the contents of the

stomach under a strong lens. The species first discovered belonged

to the genus Lynceus ; but several other genera were subsequently

observed ; and in winter, that is to say, on the 14th of December

1832, several species of Cyclops, Miill., most abounded. The notion

that the Vendace dies immediately on being taken out of the water,

Dr. Knox found to be quite erroneous. It is by no means a very

delicate fish, and could easily be transplanted to other lakes ; but its

good qualities have been mucli exaggerated.

The author next enters into some detail on the distinctive charac-

ters of a number of Vendace, both males and females, caught partly

in the Castle Loch and partly in the Mill Loch, and which were

carefully examined by his brother with a view to their supposed

specific distinction. He treats as a delusion the idea that the males

live apart from the females in deeper water, for a single draw of

the net in the Castle Loch, in the j)resence of Mr. Murray and

himself, was found to produce nine females and six males, although

of forty taken in the Mill Loch at one time only two were males.

58

Linnaan Society : —

Dr. Knox then turned his attention to the food of the Char, of

M^hich some fine specimens were obtained from Windermere ; and

the food of these, which also proved to consist of Entomostraca, was

exhibited to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Char is a gre-

garious, deep -swimming fish, and shy of taking any bait ; but never-

theless it will rise to a fly, and the common food of the Trout may

be found in its stomach, although the author has not himself met

with it. It does not seem to feed so exclusively on Entomostraca,

although these unquestionably form the larger portion of its natural

food. The observations on this fish were several times repeated, and

always with the same results.

The Early-spring or Grey Trout of Lochleven form the subject of

the next series of observations. Dr. Knox had many years ago

remarked a distinction, which he is still disposed to believe may be

specific, although anatomical investigation has not hitherto confirmed

it, between the ordinary Trout of the lake and this, which is in the

highest condition at the end of December, and in the months of

January, February and March, a period in which all other descrip-

tions of Trout are worthless as food for man. On an examination

of these Trout in the month of January, they were found to be filled

with Entomostraca, which the author has always found to constitute

the food of the early spring Trout of Lochleven. During the

remainder of the year, the ordinary Lochleven Trout live on the

Buccinum and the common food of Trout, with which the lake

abounds ; they rise readily to a fly, and may be taken with worms

or minnows, or any of the ordinary bait used for Trout.

In regard to the Herring, which next formed the subject of

Dr. Knox’s investigations, the great difficulty was to obtain speci-

mens from the deep sea in fine order, and as remote as possible from

the spawning condition, inasmuch as when found near the coast the

Herring is either about to spawn or has already spawned ; and in

these states it is more or less of a foul fish, and the food taken by it

at these times is not to be regarded as its natural food in the ordi-

nary state. Of the hundreds and hundreds of deep-sea Herrings

examined with this view, the author remembers only three in whose

stomachs anything was found excepting Entomostraca of various

species. Of these three, one had been feeding on sand-eels, another

on what appeared to be small herrings, and the third on a small

shell-fish, apparently a Buccinum. When near the coast, and before

spawning, the Herring is frequently not feeding. The stomachs of

a great number of Herrings taken in the Frith of Forth in January

and February 1834, were found quite empty. After spawning, and

Mdiile still close to the shores, they seem to take to other food, such

as sand-eels and shrimps. This was the case with Herrings taken

oflf Dunbar in June 1831, at which time the stomach and intestines

were loaded with putrescence, and the fish worthless and insipid.

The author’s own repeated observations and those of his brother

confirm the fact, already well ascertained by practical men, that

shore-fisheries of fish whose habitat is the deep sea, seldom produce

Dr. Knox on the Food of certain Gregarious Fishes. 59

the fish in prime condition. Of this truth the deep-sea fisheries of

Cod and Haddock, as compared with those caught high in estuaries,

also afford good examples. A long series of observations, establishing

this position in regard to the Herring, are then given. And lastly.

Dr. Knox states that his friend and former pupil, Mr. H. D. Goodsir,

one of the enterprising companions of Sir John Franklin in his last

fatal expedition, having been requested by him to push the inquiry

to the utmost, that lamented naturalist undertook a series of excur-

sions in the fishing-boats, not only in the Frith of Forth, but also to

the fishing-ground near the Isle of May, and in the open sea. The

author transcribes one of Mr. Goodsir’s letters, dated “ Anstruther,

June 15, 1843,” in which he states, first, that “the Entomostraca

are at certain seasons the almost exclusive food of the Herring.

There can be no doubt that they follow shoals of these Crustacea

to prey upon them, for it is only when the latter make their a])-

pearance on this coast that the former are seen, and when the

food is most plentiful the Herrings are in best condition. It is

during the summer months also that we find the larvae of the more

common species of Decapoda, along with those of Balani, and occa-

sionally a minute shell-fish, among the contents of the stomach.

Secondly, it appears to be chiefly during the winter and spring

months that the Herrings take other kinds of food than the Ento-

mostraca ; during these months we find the stomach oftener empty,

and only occasionally filled wuth Crustacea, such as shrimps, &c. ;

in other cases with Entomostraca. Thirdly, as to Entomostraca

being the partial or exclusive food of other fish besides the Herring,

there can be no doubt that during the summer months, when the

shoals of Entomostraca, or what our fishermen term Maidre, are in

great abundance, they form the food of a great number of other

animals besides the Herring. The common Coal-fish is particularly

the species which, next to the Herring, preys on the Maidre. It

appears to me also that the shoals of Cetacea, which make their ap-

pearance in the Frith during the Herring season, are in pursuit of

the Maidre, and not of the Herring, as is most generally thought.”

To these facts, thus confirmed. Dr. Knox would especially call the

attention of M. Valenciennes ; they are most important to man in

regard to the Herring-fisheries, and explain certain oeconomic sta-

tistics bearing on the great fisheries of Holland, otherwise wholly

unintelligible. The naval power of the ancient Republic of Holland

was connected with, and based on, a deep-sea Herring-fishery ; while

the modern Herring-fisheries of France and England and the Scan-

dinavian States are shore- and boat-fisheries, of little value as a food-

producing employment, and of no value whatever in a naval point of

view. Dr. Knox concludes this branch of the subject with extracts

from the works of Sir Gilbert Blane, Dr. M‘Culloch, and Leeuwen-

hoek, showing the total obscurity in which the food of the Herring

was involved j)rior to the time when he first communicated the

result of his observations.

Lastly, the author proceeds to examine the question as regards

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Linnaan Society.

the Salmon. From about midsummer, but more, especially with the

autumnal floods, Salmon and Sea Trout of various sizes begin to

rush up the freshwater streams and rivers, their object being clearly

to make their way to the place of their birth, there to provide for

the propagation of their species. From the time the Salmon enters

the fresh water it ceases to feed, properly speaking, although it may

occasionally rise to a fly, or be tempted to attack a worm or min-

now, in accordance seemingly with its original habits as a smolt.

But after first descending to the ocean and tasting its marine food,

it never again resorts to its infantile food as a constant mode of

nourishment. This great fact, well understood by fishermen and

anglers, has been placed by Mr. Young of Invershaw beyond all

doubt. Nothing is ever found in the stomach or intestines of the

fresh sea Salmon but a little reddish substance, and this Dr. Knox,

after a careful microscopic examination, concluded to be the ova

of some species of Echinodermata. Of the Salmon, while in the sea,

this is therefore the sole and constant food. Sea Trout also live on

it, but they readily take to other food even in the sea, such as

sand-eels, herring-fry, &c. The absence of this kind of food forms

an insurmountable obstacle to the preservation of Salmon and of

some kinds of Sea Trout in freshwater lakes. M. Valenciennes de-

scribes the Salmon as voracious, and states that its food consists of

fishes — Ammodytes Tobianus ; but Dr. Knox maintains that there

exists not a single fact in the history of British Salmon to support

this opinion. He refers to various fanciful theories suggested by

fishermen and others in regard to the marine food of the Salmon ;

and concludes by stating that in spring, as the spawn fish are

descending with the smolts, they may occasionally be tempted with

an artificial fly or lob-worm, but as to their feeding regularly in

rivers, Mr. Young’s experiments have negatived the assumption be-

yond all doubt.

With regard to the Entomostraca themselves, they are abundant

in the sea as well as in freshwater lakes ; and it is easy to see by

their remains in the limestone of Burdiehouse and of other quarters

that they played an important, perhaps the same, part in the oeco-

nomy of the ancient world as they do in this, serving as food namely

to countless shoals of gregarious fishes, which abounded then as

now in fresh and in marine waters. The Entomostraca of the

Southern Hemisphere differ seemingly from those of the Northern;

that they serve there also as the food of gregarious fishes was proved

by the author’s brother many years ago in respect of the so-called

Herring of the Bay of Islands. They vary considerably in size, and

seem to extend from pole to pole, consuming the organic remains,

which but for them might speedily infect the ocean itself.

The paper was accompanied by magnified drawings of the species

of Entomostraca found in the stomachs of the Vendace and of the

Herring.

Zoological Society,

61

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 14, 1854. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Notes on the Habits of Indian Birds. Part II.

By Lieutenant Burgess.

Family Strigid^.

Genus Urrua, Hodgs.

Urrua Bengalensis.

I have found this large Owl common on the banks of the large

rivers, as also amongst the low jungly hills and patches of brush-

wood in the Central Deccan. It appears to prefer the small bushy

ravines covered with high grass, which lead down from the high

banks into the beds of the larger streams and rivers. When seated

on the top of a bush in the dim twilight, it forms quite a formidable

object, the gloom making it appear larger than it really is. It

does not appear to be strictly nocturnal, as I met with one sitting

on the sandy shore of the river Bheema some time after the sun had

risen. I never found the eggs of this bird ; but I have been in-

formed, on good authority, that they make their nest at the foot of

bushes in the tall grass, and lay four white eggs. I kept three nest-

lings of this species for some time. When brought to me out of the

nest, they were covered with down of a chestnut colour, spotted and

streaked with dark brown. This Owl breeds during the months of

March and April.

Genus Noctua.

Noctua Indica, Frank.

This is a very common Owl in Western India, so much so that

every grove, and almost every large tree, appears to have some of this

clamorous family inhabiting its holes and crevices. It is a most

noisy bird, screeching and screaming ere the shades of evening draw

on, and becoming quite a nuisance to any one pitched under the tree

frequented by them. It appears to be very little incommoded by a

strong light, moving out of its hiding-place before the sun is down,

flitting backwards and forwards amongst the branches and from tree

to tree. In the month of June I saw a pair of these little Owls sitting

on the bare branch of a tree, with the brilliant morning sun shining

full on them ; in fact, they appeared to be sunning themselves. On

another occasion I shot a pair, sitting on a ledge of rock, in the full

blaze of the setting sun. If disturbed during the day, they fly about

with the greatest activity, uttering their squabbling note, and look

down on the intruder from above with eyes that appear in no way

incommoded by the light. In the stomachs of the last pair above

mentioned, I found the wing-cases and legs of beetles. This little

owl Ijreeds during the months of February and March, laying three or

four eggs of a pure white colour, nearly ly\ in. long and in.

broad. They lay their eggs in holes of trees.

62

Zoological Society : —

Order II. Insessores.

Tribe Dentirostres.

Family Laniad^.

Subfamily Laniana.

Genus Lanius.

Lanius Hardwickii.

This handsome little Shrike migrates, I believe, from the Deccan

for the purpose of breeding, probably resorting to the thickets and

ravines of the Western Ghauts, and returning to the Deccan about

September. I could not find its nest when on the hills in the month

of October ; but I shot a young bird, which may probably be the

young of this species. I give a description of its plumage. Beak

rich deep brown ; chin and throat dirty brownish-white ; under

plumage and under tail-coverts white ; flanks dull grey ; white streak

passing from the beak over the eye and ear-coverts ; ear-coverts and

patch behind the eye dull black ; top of the head and nape of the

neck hrownish-grey, the feathers having very pale whitish ferruginous

tips ; feathers on the lower part of the neck and back are on their

basal half grey, and the remaining portion greyish-brown with light

tips. On the lower part of the back the feathers are very filmy and

thick-set, of a grey colour, with a dark band near their ends, and

tipped with white. Primaries hair-hrown ; bastard wing brown ;

greater coverts lighter brown with pale tips ; secondaries hair-brown ;

tertials paler brown, with light edges. Tail consists of twelve feathers ;

the two outer are white, with pale brown near the ends on the outer

webs. The next feather has also a dark spot near the tip on the

inner web ; the third feather is nearly blaek, with a white spot on

the inner web about half an inch from the end ; the remaining feathers

are of a black-brown, being nearly black on the inner webs ; lesser

coverts pale brown with light tips ; feathers on the thighs of a pale

grey-brown with white tips ; legs and feet lead-colour ; claws pale

brown ; the legs and claws have a white powdered look in several

places^ especially near the junction of the scales. This may perhaps

have been the young bird of the large rufous-backed Shrike, Lanius

erythronotus.

Lanius Excubitor. Large Grey Shrike.

This is very common in the Deccan. It is generally seen seated on

the top of small babool trees, or other thorny bushes, in open country,

and may be distinguished at some distance by its silvery-white breast.

When disturbed, it flies low to some neighbouring bush, on the top

of which it alights, uttering its harsh and grating cry. The Grey

Shrike begins to breed as early as January, as a boy brought me a

pair of nearly fledged young ones on the 2nd of February. They

almost, if not invariably build in a thorn bush, and generally well

into the centre. I subjoin a note penned at the time of finding one

of their nests : — “ l.ith May. Saw a pair of Grey Shrikes building

63

Lieut. Burgess on the Habits of Indian Birds.

in a place I never saw this species building in before, viz. on the

outside branches of the babool tree. The nest was composed of a

thorny twig or two of babool and thick bents of grass.” Another nest

was made in a thorny bush, about 5 feet from the ground, and close

to the stem of the bush ; it was composed of twigs of the thorn bush,

pieces of cotton and a piece of rag, with grass interwoven into it.

This nest contained three eggs. It is now in the Museum of the

Zoological Society. The eggs are a little less than an inch in length,

by a little less than in. wide, of a white ground, spotted and mot-

tled, especially at the large end, with grey and red-brown.

I believe that this Butcher Bird, like the last-mentioned, migrates

from the Deccan during the monsoon, returning about September.

It would form a very interesting subject for investigation, as to what

families of birds leave the Deccan during the monsoon, whither they

betake themselves, and for what purposes. I have frequently made

inquiries, but could not learn anything satisfactory on the subject.

Subfamily Dicrurin^.

Genus Dicrurus.

Dicrurus macrocercus. Drongo Shrike.

This bird is not much indebted to variety or richness of colouring

in its plumage, for bringing it into notice ; but its pleasant cheerful

note and active habits must have been remarked by all observers of

nature in India. Ere the peep of day it commences its pleasant

twitter, and from sunrise to sunset it may be seen, now sitting on a

bare spray watching for some passing insect, now perched on the

back of a browsing cow or sheep, and then off in an instant in pursuit

of a fly. I have seen one chase and capture a large white butterfly,

which it appeared to have some difficulty in swallowing when caught,

as it did not attempt to pull it to pieces, but was endeavouring to

bolt it entire. They appear to have great antipathy to crows, chasing

them with great vigour and boldness whenever one enters within their

domain. I subjoin a note, made at the time, of the curious flight of

these birds when hawking after flies. Saw one of them (Drongo)

perched on the outside branch of a tree hanging over a field of wheat ;

suddenly the Shrike descended close to the ears of corn on which the

flies had settled in the heat of the sun, and commenced a most

curious jerking flight up and down, as if it had been tossed uj) and

down on the waves of the sea. After performing this dancing flight

for some little time, it returned to its seat, and after remaining there

a short time, descended and repeated its jerking flight.” The

Marahta name is Kolsa, the word for charcoal, alluding I suppose to

its jet-black colour. The Drongo begins to build in the month of

May, and Dr. Jerdon mentions having found its nest as late as August.

I found its nest in a bush in a thick hedgerow ; it was composed of

roots, and contained three eggs of a rather reddish creamy-white

ground, spotted with red spots ; the egg is in. long by rather more

than broad. The food of the Drongo consists of insects, moths,

and butterflies.

64 Zoological Society : —

Genus Phcenicornis, Swains.

Phcenicornis Peregrinus, Vig.

I have not met with the nest and eggs of the small red bird, but I

believe the description given below is that of a young bird soon after

it had left the nest. 18th September 1849. Whole of the upper

plumage olive-green, mottled about the head with pale yellow, a large

spot of which is behind the eye ; tips of the lesser wing-coverts pale.

Primaries and secondaries dark, with pale edges ; breast and belly

pale whitish-yellow, with yellow streaks ; legs and feet pale lead-

colour ; claws soft, as also the edges of the beak.”

Genus Iora.

lORA TIPHIA.

I have never met with the nest or eggs of this handsome little bird ;

but Dr. Jerdon, in his Catalogues of Indian Birds, says, ‘‘I once, on

the west coast, in the month of September, met with a nest of this

species in the fork of a low tree ; it was more neatly and carefully

made than any other of the few nests I have seen in this country. It

contained young ones.” The Iora has a most wonderful power of

voice. At one moment it is heard uttering a low plaintive cry, at

the next a shrill whistle ; no one could have believed the notes to

have issued from the same throat. On the 29th of August, 1849,

I shot a female. The eggs in the ovaries were very large. The

gizzard contained the remains of a curious green insect, partly covered

with black hair. The tongue of this bird is furnished with two long

muscles, as in the woodpecker.

Genus Hjematornis.

H^matornis cafer. Common Bulbul.

This sprightly and truly Indian bird breeds during the months of

August and September. The first time that I noticed them building

in August was on the 1 1th, and I found a nest with one fresh-laid egg

on the 25th of September. They build in thick bushes in gardens.

I found two nests in my garden at Ahmednuggur, one built in a

guava tree, and the other in a mass of creepers. The nest is com-

posed of fine twigs, bound together here and there with cobwebs, and

lined with fibres. The nest I send is lined with the fibre of the

cocoa-nut picked off a cocoa-fibre mat. I observed the old birds

picking at the mat when it was put out of doors. I do not know

the number of eggs which their nest generally contains. The egg is

in. in length by a little more than wide, of a rich madder

colour, spotted and blotched with grey and madder-brown. The only

egg which I possessed is unfortunately broken ; but a drawing in my

possession, mosf accurately painted by my sister-in-law. Miss Gardiner,

gives it very correctly.

Mr. F. Moore on Birds from Northern India, 65

February 28, 1854. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Descriptions of some new and little-known species

OF Birds from Northern India, contained in the

Museum of the Hon. East India Company. By Fre-

deric Moore, Assist. Hon. Comp. Museum.

Fam. Merulid.e, Vigors.

Subfam. Myiotherina, Swains.

Genus Pnoepyga, Hodgs.

Syn. Microura, Gould (nec Ehrenb.).

1. Pnoepyga longicaudata, nobis.

Colour of the upper parts deep olive-brown, the feathers slightly

margined with black, and having blackish shafts ; wings and tail in-

clined to ferruginous brown ; upper tail-coverts long ; throat whitish ;

breast and sides of abdomen pale dusky ferruginous, the feathers

having pale centres and blackish margins ; centre of lower part of

breast and abdomen white ; flanks the same as the back ; vent and

under tail-coverts dark ferruginous ; bill dark horn colour, legs paler.

Length, 4^ inches ; of wing, 2 ; the tail is rounded, the central

feathers being 2^ inches long, and the outer 1|- inch ; bill to front,

through the feathers, | inch ; to gape, ; tarse, .

Hab. N. India.

Genus Brachypteryx, Horsfield, p. s. d.

2. Brachypteryx nipalensis, Hodgson.

Male : colour above a greyish cyaneous, or light greyish blue, as

are also the cheeks, sides of breast and flanks, and paling to greyish

white on the centre of the breast ; throat, middle of belly, vent and

under tail-coverts, streak over but not extending beyond the eye,

white. Female : ferruginous brown above, paling on the sides ;

throat, breast, belly, under tail-coverts and streak over the eye,

whitish, the feathers on the breast and sides fringed with brown ;

bill dark horn colour, legs paler.

Length, 4j- inches ; of wing, 2y ; tail, If ; bill to gape, f ; tarse, 1 .

Ilab. Nepal (No. 943, Hodgs. Catal.).

This species is allied to Br. cruralis, Blyth, but may readily be

distinguished by its smaller size, shorter tail, paler colour of the upper

parts, and by its white throat and belly.

Genus Callene, Blyth, Journ. A. S. Beng. p. 136 (1847).

Syn. Cinclidiumy Blyth (nec Gould).

Gen. Char. “ Bill shorter than the head, straight, slender, higher

than broad, the ridge of the upper mandible tolerably acute, and its

tip very slightly emarginated ; inferior gonys ascending for the ter-

minal half, imparting to the bill the appearance of a tendency to bend

upward ; naral apertures in the form of elongate-oval fissures in the

lateral nasal membrane, and partially imj)ended by the short semi-

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 5

66

Zoological Society : —

reflected frontal feathers ; gape armed with a few small setse ; wings

and tail rounded, the 4th, 5th and 6th primaries equal and longest j

legs and toes slender, the tarsi smooth, unscutellate, and very long,

as is also the middle toe ; claws but moderately curved, and of little

more than mean length ; plumage light, soft and full, having a scale-

like appearance on the crown, breast and belly.”

3. Callene frontale, Blyth.

Syn, Cinclidium frontale^ Blyth, Journ. A. S. Beng. xi. p. 181,

xii. p. 954. t. p. 1010. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 301.

Callene frontale^ Blyth, Journ. A. S. Beng. xvi. p. 136 ; Catal. B.

Mus. A. S. Beng. p. 178.

Ruticilla frontalis^ G. B. Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 180.

Brachypteryx scapularis, Horsf. MS.

Hab. Nepal (No. 950, Ilodgs. Catal.).

Spec. Char. Plumage dark fusco-cyaneous, the rump dusky ;

flanks somewhat ashy, and middle of the belly slightly grey-edged ;

lores and immediately above the beak blackish, contrasting with a

bright caerulean forehead ; bend of the wing also cserulean, but less

bright ; and winglet, primaries and their coverts, secondaries and ter-

tiaries, dark olive-brown ; a white spot on the under surface of the

wing, beneath the winglet ; bill black ; legs dusky brown.

“ Length, 7f inches ; of wing from bend, 3f ; middle tail-feathers,

3^, the outermost f of an inch shorter ; bill to forehead nearly f, to

gape ^ ; tarse. If ; middle toe and claw, 1^^; hind toe and claw, f ;

the last, f .

“ This bird is reported to be a fine songster, and heard chiefly in

the evening.” — Blyth.

Subfam. Timalina.

Genus Trichastoma, Blyth.

Syn. Malacocinclaf Blyth.

Gen. Char. “ Bill as long as the head, rather stout, high, much

compressed, the tip of the upper mandible pretty strongly hooked,

but indistinctly emarginated, and its ridge obtusely angulated towards

the base, the remainder scarcely angulated ; gape but little widened,

and feebly bristled ; nostrils large and subovate, with oval aperture

to the front, a little removed from the base of the bill ; tarse of mean

length and strength, as long as the middle toe with its claw ; the

claws suited for perching, compressed, and moderately curved, that

of the hind toe rather large ; wings moderate, with the first primary

reaching to about their middle, the second much shorter than the

third, and the fourth longest ; tail rather short, weak and even, ex-

cept that its outermost feathers are a little shorter than the rest ;

plumage full and lax, the coronal feathers somewhat elongated and

of a spatulate form.”

4. Trichastoma Abbotti, Blyth.

Syn. Malacocincla Ahhotti, Blyth, Journ, A. S. Beng. xiv. p. 601

(1845).

67

Mr. F. Moore on Birds from Northern India.

Trichastoma Ahbottiy Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xvi. p. 462 ; Catal. B.

Mus. A. S. Beng. p. 147. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 259.

Malacopteron Abbotti, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, iii. App. p. 9.

Hab. Arracan (No. 919, Hodgs. Catal.).

Spec. Char. “ Colour above plain olive-brown, tinged with rufous

on the rump and tail ; the upper tail-coverts ferruginous brown,

under parts paler ; the throat and middle of the belly white ; the ear-

coverts, sides of the breast and flanks rufescent ; the lower tail-coverts

weak ferruginous ; bill horn-colour, paler beneath.

Length, 6 inches ; of wing, 3; tail, 2^; bill to gape, andtarse

the same.” — Blyth.

Mr. Blyth states Arracan to be the habitat of this bird. Speci-

mens have lately been presented to the Company’s Museum by B. H.

Hodgson, Esq., from Nepal, and by Capt. R. C. Tytler from Dacca.

Fam. SvLviADiE, Vigors.

Subfam. Saxicolina, Vigors.

Genus Nemura, Hodgson.

Syn. lanthia, Blyth.

5. Nemura Hodgsoni, nobis.

Male : colour of the upper parts purplish blue, brightening to vivid

ultramarine on the crown ; forehead, lores and sides of head, wings

and tail black, the two latter margined with blue externally ; on the

rump some of the feathers are tipped with white ; upper tail-coverts

blue ; lower parts yellowish ferruginous ; under wing-coverts, flanks

and under tail-coverts wdiite. Female : ferruginous brown, richer on

the rump ; wings and tail dusky, margined with ferruginous brown

externally ; lores, ear-coverts and under parts pale dusky ferruginous ;

under tail-coverts white ; bill black ; legs pale horn colour.

Length, 3fths of an inch; wing, 3|- ; tail, 1^; bill to front, f ;

to gape, ^ ; tarse, | an inch.

Ilab. Nepal (No. 949, Hodgs. Catal.).

Subfam. Piiilomeltna, Swains.

Genus Tarsiger, Hodgson.

6. Tarsiger superciliaris, Hodgson.

Male : above deep cyaneous ; vings brown, margined with cya-

neous and rufous on the shoulder, primaries also margined with rufous,

secondaries with cyaneous ; tail brown, margined with cyaneous ; a

white superciliary streak extending one inch and a half from the nares

to the back of the neck ; lores and checks black ; beneath rufous ;

centre of belly white. Female : olive-brown above ; wings and tail

brown, margined with rusty olive ; superciliary streak not so clear as

in the male ; beneath pale dull rufous ; centre of belly and shafts of

the underside of tail white ; bill black ; legs horn colour.

Length, .O-g- inches ; of wing, 3f ; tail, 2f ; bill to gape, f ; tarse, 1|.

Hab. Nepal (No. 924, Hodgs. Catal.).

r>*

68 Zoological Society i

Subfam. SylviAna, Vigors;

Genus Prinia, Horsfield, p, s. d.

7. Prinia cinereocapilla, Hodgson.

Crown of the head grey, the shaft and margin of the feathers being

darker ; naral and frontal plumes, a streak over and beyond the eye,

and the whole under parts rufescent, brightest on the flanks and

thighs ; lores and upper part of ear-coverts greyish ; nape, back,

rump and wings bright rufous brown, the tips of the latter dusky ;

tail the same colour as the back, paler beneath, with a terminal dusky

band and rufescent white tips ; bill black ; legs pale horn colour.

Length, 4^ inches; wing, ly®^; tail, 2; hill to front, f ; to gape, f ;

tarsus, f ; middle toe and claw, y’y ; hind ditto,

Ilab. Nepal (No. 890*, Hodgs. CataL).

Genus Suva, Hodgson.

8. Suva atrogularis, nobis.

Colour above dusky brown, in some specimens ashy brown ; edge

of wing at shoulder and under wing-coverts hufp ; primaries mar-

gined wdth huffish and secondaries with rufescent hrown ; a whitish

streak extending from the base of the lower mandible to the end and

under the ear-covert ; chin, throat, side of neck, breast and centre of

abdomen black, the feathers of the two latter broadly centred with

white; flanks and sides of abdomen mixed grey, brown and rufescent;

vent buff ; thighs huffy rufous ; tail paler than the back, and has no

perceptible terminal band ; bill horn colour, feet paler.

Length, 6y inches, including the tail ; wings, from If to 2 inches

in some specimens ; central feathers of tail from to 4, its outermost

being only 1 inch ; bill to gape, to front, height from chin to

front, yy ; width at chin, y^y ; tarsi, f .

Hab. Darjeeling; Nepal (No. 893, Hodgs. CataL).

A single specimen of this beautiful bird has been in the Museum

of the East India Company for a number of years, collected in Dar-

jeeling by F. T. Pearson, Esq. ; and B. H. Hodgson, Esq., has brought

home several examples from Nepal.

Genus Drymoica, Swains, p. s, d.

9. Drymoica nipalensis, Flodgson.

Above rufous brown ; wings dusky brown, the primaries exteriorly

and secondaries interiorly and exteriorly margined with bright rufous

brown ; tail rufous brown, paler beneath, and distinctly rayed, has a

terminal dusky band, the tips being pale but not white ; the whole

under parts rufescent, as in Prinia socialis, Sykes ; bill dusky horn

colour, paler below at base ; legs pale horn colour.

Length, to 5 inches; wing, Iff; tail varying from 2f to 3

bill to front, y\ ; to gape, ; tarsi, ff ; middle toe and claw, y®y

hind ditto, fy.

JIab. Nepal (No. 913, Hodgs. CataL).

Roijal Institution,

69

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

April 20, 1855. — William Robert Grove, Esq., M.A., Q.C., F.R.S.,

Vice-President, in the Chair.

0)1 certain Zoological Arguments commonly adduced in favour of

the hypothesis of the Progressive Development of Aiiimal Life

in Time. By T. H. Huxley, Esq., F.R.S.

When the fact that fossilized animal forms are no lusus naturce^

but are truly the remains of ancient living worlds, was once fully

admitted, it became a highly interesting problem to determine what

relation these ancient forms of life bore to those now in existence.

The general result of inquiries made in this direction is, that the

fui’ther we go back in time, the more dilferent are the forms of life

from those which now inhabit the globe, though this rule is by no

means without exceptions. Admitting the difference, however, the

next question is, what is its amount ? Now it appears, that while

the Palaeozoic species are probably always distinct from the modern,

and the genera are very commonly so, the orders are but rarely dif-

ferent, and the great classes and suh-kingdo))is never. In all past

time we find no animal about whose proper sub-kingdom, whether

that of the Protozoa, Radiata, Annulosa, Mollusca, and Vertehrata,

there can be the slightest doubt ; and these great divisions are those

which we have represented at the present day.

In the same way, if we consider the Classes, e. g. Mammalia, Aves,

hisecta. Cephalopoda, Actinozoa, &c., we find absolutely no remains

which lead us to establish a class type distinct from those now

existing, and it is only when Ve descend to groups having the rank

of Orders that we meet with types which no longer possess any living

representatives. It is curious to remark again, that, notwithstanding

the enormous lapse of time of which we possess authentic records,

the extinct ordinal types are exceedingly few, and more than half of

them belong to the same class — Reptilia.

The extinct ordinal Reptilian types are those of the Pachypoda,

Pterodactyla, Enaliosaurea, and Labyrinthodonta ; nor are we at

present acquainted with any other extinct order of Vertebrata.

Among the Annulosa (including in this division the Echinodermata)

we find two extinct ordinal types only, the Trilohita and the Cys^

tidece.

Among the Mollusca there is absolutely )w extinct ordinal type ;

nor among the Radiata {^Actinozoa and llydrozoa) ; nor is there

any among the Protozoa.

The naturalist who takes a wide view of fossil forms, in connec-

tion with existing life, can hardly recognize in these results anything

but strong evidence in favour of the belief that a general uniformity

has prevailed among the operations of Nature, through all time of

which we have any record.

Nevertheless, whatever the amount of the difference, and however

one may be inclined to estimate its value, there is no doubt that the

70

Royal Institution : —

living beings of the past differed from those of the present period ;

and again, that those of each great epoch have differed from those

which preceded and from those which followed them. That there

has been a succession of living forms in time, in fact, is admitted by

all ; but to the inquiry — What is the law of that succession ? differ-

ent answers are given ; one school affirming that the law is known,

the other that it is for the present undiscovered.

According to the affirmative doctrine, commonly called the theory

of Progressive Development, the history of life, as a whole, in the

past, is analogous to the history of each individual life in the present ;

and as the law of progress of every living creature now, is from a less

perfect to a more perfect, from a less complex to a more complex

state — so the law of progress of living nature in the past, was of the

same nature ; and the earlier forms of life were less complex, more

embryonic, than the later. In the general mind this theory finds

ready acceptance, from its falling in with the popular notion, that

one of the lower animals, e. y. a fish, is a higher one, e. g. a mammal,

arrested in development ; that it is, as it were, less trouble to make

a fish than a mammal : but the speaker pointed out the extreme

fallacy of this notion ; the real law of development being, that the

progress of a higher animal in development is not through the forms

of the lower, but through forms which are common to both lower

and higher : a fish, for instance, deviating as widely from the common

Vertebrate plan as a mammal.

The Progression theory, however, after all, resolves itself very

nearly into a question of the structure of fish-tails. If, in fact, we

enumerate the oldest known undoubted animal remains, we find

them to be GraptoliteSi Lingulcej Phyllopoda, Trilobites, and Car-

tilaginous fishes.

The Graptolites, whether we regard them as Ilydrozoa, Anthozoa^

or Polyzoa (and the recent discoveries of Mr. Logan would strongly

favour the opinion that they belong to the last dmsion), are cer-

tainly in no respect embryonic forms. Nor have any traces of

Spongiadce or Foraminifera (creatures unquestionably far below

them in organization) been yet found in the same or contempo-

raneous beds. Lingulae, again, are very aberrant Brachiopodu, in

nowise comparable to the embryonic forms of any mollusk ; Phyl-

lopods are the highest Entomostraea ; and the Hymenocaris vermi-

cauda discovered by Mr. Salter in the Lingula beds, is closely allied

to Nebalia, the highest Phyllopod and that which approaches most

nearly to the Podopthalmia. And just as Hymenocaris stands be-

tw^een the other Entomostraea and the Podopthalmia, so the Trilo-

bita stand between the Entomostraea and the Edriopthalmia . Nor

can anything be less founded than the comparison of the Trilobita

with embryonic forms of Crustacea ; the early development of the

ventral surface and its appendages being characteristic of the latter,

while it is precisely these parts which have not yet been discovered

in the Trilobita, the dorsal surface, last formed in order of develop-

ment, being extremely well developed.

Mr. Huxley on the Progressive Development of Animal Life. 71

The Invertebrata of the earliest period, then, afford no ground

for the Progressionist doctrine. Do the Vertebrata ?

These are cartilaginous fish. Now Mr. Huxley pointed out that

it is admitted on all sides that the brain, organs of sense, and repro-

ductive apparatus are much more highly developed in these fishes

than any others ; and he quoted the authority of Prof. Owen to

the effect that no great weight is to be placed upon the cartilaginous

nature of the skeleton as an embryonic character. There remained,

therefore, only the heterocercality of the tail, upon which so much

stress has been laid by Prof. Agassiz. The argument made use of

by this philosopher may be thus shortly stated : — Homocercal fishes

have in their embryonic state heterocercal tails ; therefore, hetero-

cercality is, so far, a mark of an embryonic state as compared with

homocercality ; and the earlier, heterocercal fish are embryonic as

compared with the later, homocercal.

The whole of this argument was based upon M. Vogt’s examina-

tion of the development of the Coregonus, one of the SalmonidcB ;

the tail of Coregonus being found to pass through a so-called hetero-

cercal state in its passage to its perfect formf. For the argument

to have any validity, however, two conditions are necessary: — 1.

That the tails of the SalmonidcB should be homocercal, in the same

sense as those of other homocercal fish. 2. That they should be

really heterocercal, and not homocercal, in their earliest condition.

On examination, however, it turns out that neither of these con-

ditions hold good. In the first place, the tails of the Sahnonidce,

and -v ery probably of all the Phjsostomi, are not homocercal at all,

but to all intents and purposes intensely heterocercal ; the chorda

dorsalis in the Salmon, for instance, stretching far into the upper

lobe of the tail. The wide difference of this structure from true

homocercality is at once obvious, if the tails of the SalmonidcB be

compared with those of Scomber scombrus, Gadiis ceglefnus, &c.

In the latter, the tail is truly homocercal, the rays of the caudal fin

being arranged symmetrically above and below the axis of the spinal

column.

All M. Vogt’s evidence, therefore, goes to show merely that a

heterocercal fish is heterocercal at a given period of embryonic life ;

and in no way affects the truly homocercal fishes.

In the second place, it appears to have been forgotten that, as

M. Vogt’s own excellent observations abundantly demonstrate, this

heterocercal state of the tail is a comparatively late one in Coregonus^

and that, at first, the tail is perfectly symmetrical, i, e, homocercal.

In fact, all the evidence on fish development which we possess, is

to the effect that Homocercality is the younger, Heterocercality the

more advanced condition : a result which is diametrically opposed

to that which has so long passed current, but which is in perfect

accordance with the ordinary laws of development ; the asymmetri-

* Lectures on the Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrata, pp. 146-7.

t Von Hiir had already pointed out this circumstance in Ci/prinus, and

the relation of the foetal tail to the ])ermanent condition in c:\rtilaginous

fishes. See his “ Entwickelungsgeschichte der Fischc,” p. .36.

72 Botanical Society of Edinburgh : —

cal being, as a rule, subsequent in the order of development to the

symmetrical.

The speaker then concluded by observing that a careful considera-

tion of the facts of Palaeontology seemed to lead to these results : —

1. That there is no real parallel between the successive forms

assumed in the development of the life of the individual at present,

and those which have appeared at ditferent epochs in the past ; and

2. That the particular argument supposed to be deduced from

the heterocercality of the ancient fishes is based on an error, the evi-

dence from this source, if worth anything, tending in the opposite

direction.

At the same time, while freely criticising what he considered to be

a fallacious doctrine, Mr. Huxley expressly disclaimed the slightest

intention of desiring to depreciate the brilliant services which its

original propounder had rendered to science.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

April 12, 1855. — Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

The following papers were read : —

1. “On Placentation,” by John Cleland, Esq. See ‘Annals,’

vol. XV. p. 336.

2. “ Notes on the Flora of the neighbourhood of Castle Taylor, in

the county of Galway,” by A. G. More, Esq., of Trinity College,

Cambridge.

The author enters into a detailed account of the indigenous flora

of that part of Ireland, contrasting it with that of other parts of the

United Kingdom. The district is rendered interesting from its form-

ing part of the singular limestone-country of the West of Ireland, the

surface broken and rocky, and but slightly elevated above the sea-

level : nevertheless several subalpine species are to be found in it,

such as Bryas octopetala, Saxifraga hypnoidesy Hieracium cerin-

thoidesy Arbutus Uva-ursi, Juniperus nana.

He then arranges the produce of his district and the classes defined

by Watson, and enumerates the more interesting or peculiar plants

present or absent in each case. He points out the folloAving species

as seen hy him, but not marked as Irish in ‘Babington’s Manual’: —

Cardamine sylvatica.

Viola stagnina.

Spiraea filipendula.

Geum intermedium.

Myriophyllum alterniflorum.

Hieracium cerinthoides.

Epipactis media.

Potamogeton lanceolatus.

Alopecurus agrestis.

Lolium italicum.

3. “ Notes on the Flora of the Bass Rock,” by Prof. Balfour.

4. “Notice of Plants collected during a trip to Loch Lomond in

July 1854,” by Prof. Balfour.

5 “ Register of the Flowering of Spring Plants in the Royal

Botanic Garden, as compared with the four previous years,” by

Mr. M‘Nab.

Prof. Gregory on British Freshivater Diatomacese. 73

May 10. — Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

Mr. P. S. Robertson exhibited germinating plants of the following

species of Coniferse, to show the remarkable variation in the number

of their cotyledonary leaves : —

Pinus nohilis ; normal number of cotyledons 6, varying with 4, 5,

and 7.

Pinus Sabiniana; 14, 15, 16 prevailing numbers; variations

13, 17, 18, 19.

Pinus Jeff reyi \ prevailing numbers 9 and 10, varying with 7,

8, 11.

Abies Hookeriana ; usual number 4, varying from 3 to 5.

“ Pinus Beardsleyi ; prevailing numbers 6 and 7, varying with 3,

5, 8, 9, and 10. This species occasionally produces two perfect

plants from one seed.

Thuja Craigana {Libocedrus decurrens) ; usual number 4,

varying from 1 to 4.

“ Cryptomeria jayonica ; usual number 3, varying from 2 to 4.

“ Pmus La?nbertiana ; usual number 14, varying with 10, 12,

and 13.

Pinus ?nonticola ; usual numbers 8 and 10, varying with 6, 7,

9, 11.”

The following papers were read : —

1. ‘‘On some new species of British Freshwater Diatomaceae,

with remarks on the value of certain specific characters,” by Prof.

Gregory.

After some remarks on the distribution of Freshwater Diatoms,

the author proceeded to consider the value of certain specific

characters.

Species, among Diatoms, are generally distinguished by the follow-

ing particulars, viz. the form ; the structure, where anything re-

markable occurs ; the length of the individual frustule, within the

usual limits ; the arrangement and number of the striae, where these

are visible, as well as their nature, whether moniliform or continuous,

narrow or broad, close or distant, &c. ; and frequently the aspect of

the median line, if present, and of the nodules at its centre and

extremities.

The form or outline. — This varies so much, that, if we were guided

by it, we should make many false species, as is shown by the fact,

that these forms pass by gentle gradations into each other. This

kind of variation occurs, for example, in Navicula lacustris, of which

two very different forms occur ; but there is a third which is precisely

intermediate. It is seen also in Navicula elliptical some forms of

which are oval, but of different proportions, others are constricted.

Navicula dubia is believed to belong to the same species as N. am-

phigomphus and N. dilatata, and by some ])ersons, all the three are

united to N. firma. It is certain that all four agree in having

the side lines, but they all differ in outline. Navicula lepida, a new

species,^ exhibits three varieties, differing in form. But the most

remarkable example is found in Navicula varians.

74 Botanical Society of Edinburgh : —

The number of strice. — In some species, perhaps in many, this

character is by no means constant. In Navicula varians, I find that in

the smaller individuals there are often 24 to 26 striae in 1 -1000th of an

inch, while in the larger there are only 1 4 to 1 6, and this in indivi-

duals of the same type of outline. Smith describes Finnularia di-

vergens viith. 1 1 striae in 1-1 000th inch, while I find it more frequently

with from 22 to 26 in 1-1 000th inch — the arrangement, which is

peculiar, being the same in both. A very striking example occurs

in N. elliptica, which, as we have seen, also varies in form. The

species, as described by Kiitzing, has very coarse striae, even coarser

than appears by any of the figures. But in a variety to which I have

directed attention, and which I regarded on this account as a distinct

species, till I found a gradual transition to the first-named type, the

striae are so very much finer, being about three times more numerous,

that the aspect of the frustule is totally changed. In comparing

examples of the extreme types in regard to striation, I took indivi-

duals of equal size, and I found in one very coarse striae ; in the other,

striae so fine as not to be easily seen unless the valve was placed in

the most favourable position with reference to the light.

The appearance of the median line and nodules. — In the coarsely

striated variety of N. elliptica, there are lines on each side of the

median line, forming a double cone, of which the bases meet near the

centre. But in the finely striated variety, these lines are parallel to

the median line ; only bending outwards round the central nodule.

This assists in giving a very different aspect to the two forms, which

yet are connected by a graduated chain of transition forms.

We have then, if we consider only the three characters of form or

outline, number of striae, and aspect of medial line and nodules,

evidence that great variations may occur in any one of them. Nay,

in N. elliptica and N. lepida, variations occur in all three together.

In such cases as these last, it is difficult to define the species by these

characters in the usual way, and we have apparently no resource but

to state the fact of the tendency to vary in one or more of these

points, as one of the specific characters. In N. varians the arrangement

of the striae is always the same, as it is also in Pinnularia divergenSy

and many others ; but in N. elliptica even this fails, for the striae are

highly radiate in the coarsely striated form, and nearly parallel in

that with finer striae.

Enormous variations in size occur, even in the same type of form.

If Pinnularia megaloptera be referred to P. lata, we have a variation

in length from about 20 ten-thousandths of an inch to nearly 80.

The distribution of Diatoms over the world is one of the most

remarkable points about their history. Not only do we find, if we

examine a gathering from any part of the world, that most of the

forms are identical with those of our own waters ; but in tracing

these minute organisms through the latter to the earlier sedimentary

rocks (and it is said that they occur in the lower Silurian strata, the

oldest in which any organic remains occur), we find still the greater

number of species to be the same as those of the present day.

Ehrenberg, in his last great work on the distribution of microscopic

Dr. Balfour on Megacarpsea polyandra. 75

forms over the earth, both in the present period and in past geological

times, has shown that in all soils in which plants grow. Diatoms are

present, often in considerable quantity, and in great variety. He

ascribes to them a great part in the formation of such soils, and it is

probable that by their life and growth they extract much silica from

the water in which they live, and transfer it at their death to the soil.

The sediment of all rivers contains a considerable amount of Diatoms,

as, for example, the mud of the Nile and that of the Ganges, which

have formed the great Deltas of Egypt and Bengal.

2. Remarks on specimens of Megacarpcea pohjandra, Bentham,”

by Dr. Balfour.

The interest of the plant consists in its possessing a number of

stamens (from 12 to 15), quite abnormal in the order of Cruciferse,

to which it otherwise belongs ; and which might seem, taken alone,

to place it between that order and l^apaveracese ; but when these

extra stamens are viewed as developments of the glands which are

present in the Cruciferse on the disk or torus, between the petals and

the ovary and ordinary stamens, the plant may well be referred to

that order.

The genus 3Iegacarpcea was first discovered, I believe, by Fischer,

in the salt steppes and calcareous hills of Turkistan, in the neigh-

bourhood of the Caspian Sea ; and by Ledebour in Siberia ; and was

originally referred to Biscutella. Two species are described by

DeCandolle (Prod. i. 183), but so imperfectly, that till further in-

formation is obtained, it is impossible to determine whether the plant

before us, from the Himalaya, is identical with either of them,

especially M. laciniata from the Altai Mountains, or a new species

which is to bear the name of M. polyandra.

Megacarpcea (probably this very species) was next met with by

Dr. Hugh Falconer in the Highlands of Little Tibet, on the Husora

River, an affluent of the Indus, and in the same country by the late

Mr. J. E. Winterbottom, who described it to me as growing 6 to 8 feet

high on the Barzil Pass, upper glen of the Kishenganga River, between

Kashmere and Astor ; but neither of these botanists was, I believe,

so fortunate as to obtain the flowers, which were first seen by Capt. R.

Strachey in 1848, on a visit to the glacier sources of the Pindar

River in Kumaon, up to which date the existence of the plant in the

British Himalaya was unknown ; nor has it been discovered, so far

as I am aware, in any other of our provinces — at least those south of

the Sutlej River. Here it occurs in three localities, where the

climate resembles or approximates to that of Little Tibet, Turkistan,

and the other habitats, viz. extreme cold in winter, and extreme heat

and aridity in summer, conditions wliich have j)roved favourable to

the migration or presence of many other Tibetan and Siberian plants

on the dry northern slope of the Himalayan range, where a system of

vegetation is established in marked contrast with what [)revails on the

Indian face, which is annually for three months deluged with rain*.

* A very instructive example of the manner in wliich plants arc distri-

buted in distant regions of similar physical character is afforded by CallU

76 Boiamcal Society of Edinburgh : —

In Kumaon the plant occurs on the open sunny downs, at from

1 1,500 to 14,000 feet above the sea-level, where all arboreous vegeta-

tion has ceased. It is well known to the mountaineers by the name

of Roogee. They eat the pounded root as a condiment ; it has, like

the whole plant, a strong permanent odour and flavour, something like

horse-radish. The localities in which it grows are — 1. Champwa,

near the Kaphini glacier ; 2. near the Soondurdhoongee glacier, the

heads of the Pindar River ; and 3. at Ralim, on one of the spurs of

the snowy Panch — Choola Range, which bounds the next great valley

to the east. Here the Roogee flowers in May — June, and ripens its

fruit in September — October. The root is fusiform, a foot or more

in girth at the collar, and from 1 to 2 feet long, forked below ;

internally of light cellular substance, externally exhibiting very

numerous horizontal annular ridges. Several annual stems from

4 to 6 feet high. When young in winter protected by many erect,

rectangular, straw-like scales. Radical leaves spreading, from 2 to

2^ feet long, the exterior half occupied by 7 or 8 distant, distinct,

subopposite or alternate pinnse ; petiole dilated at the base ; cauline

leaves scattered, erect, pinnato-pinnatifid, about a foot long, with

10 to 12 segments, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, incised, the low^er

ones more or less separate, terminal more confluent. Flowers in

dense terminal and axillary leafy corymbs, shorter than the leaves ;

small, white or yellowish- white, with a sweet fragrance or strong

odour of horse-radish (according to taste), and much frequented by

bees, flies, &c. Peduncles and pedicels villous, the latter long and

one-flowered. Sepals 4, oblong, obtuse, coloured, from l-5th to

l-4th inch long ; petals alternate, oval, veined, half the height of the

sepals; stamens 12 to 15, hypogynous, erect, as long as the calyx,

and disposed in 2 or 4 sets. Ovary one, flat, obcordate, resembling

the silicle of Capsella Bursa-Pastoris, with 2 auriculate, 1 -seeded

cells ; stigmas 2, on a very short style. The silicle is about 1 J inch

by 1|^, one of the cells being abortive.”

gonum Pallasii. This, like the Megacarpcea, abounds in the Caspian province,

and equally, or much more, in the sandy deserts of Western India, between

the Jumna and the Indus rivers. The heat for many months annually is

extreme, and one is at first surprised to find a plant flourishing here, which

is also indigenous to the steppes of the Caspian, where the winter cold is

equally extreme. But, as is now well known, the Caspian and its deserts

occupy a deep hollow at the western end of a plain descending from the

sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, and, as a consequence of this low' position

on the earth’s surface, possess a summer temperature as high as the winter

one is low', and perhaps equal to that of the Indian desert above referred

to. In the latter, during the months of April, May and June, when every-

thing else is burnt up, the CalUgonum, with its innumerable green leafless

twigs, covers the waste of sand-hills with a mantle of verdure, yielding a

favourite food to the camel, the proper beast of burden of the country. It

is known to the people by the name of Phoke, and under this designation

is first mentioned by Mr. Elphiu stone in his account of the kingdom of

Caubul. A species of Ephedra likewise occurs, which is also called by the

same name ; but the true plant is the CalUgonum, and neither Ephedra nor

Asclepias acida (the Soma plant) as some have supposed.

l)r. Balfour on Megacarpsea polyandra. 77

The following is a description of the plant taken from the speci-

men sent by Mr. Moore : —

MegacarpcBa polyandra, Benth. — Leaf sent by Mr. Moore about

a foot long — greatest breadth about 7 inches ; deeply pinnatifid — lobes

narrowish, tapering at the apex — toothed ; upper surface dark green

— ^under surface glaucous, covered with short hairs, many of which

are glandular. Similar hairs occur on the petiole, which is thick,

with ridges and grooves, flattened on the upper side and rounded

below. Flowers in compact racemose clusters, of a yellowish-white

colour, and having a strongish odour. Sepals whitish, with a yellowish

and purplish tinge in some places, rugose, deciduous, broadly ob-

ovate, and convex externally. Petals smaller than the sepals — ob-

ovate, tapering below — rugose. Stamens varying from 11 to 13,

some longer than others, but not apparently in any definite number ;

filaments thick — broader below. Anthers innate, two-lobed, yellow ;

green circle of glands round the base of the stamens, attached to a

broadish thick receptacle. Ovary transversely elliptical, with a short

style and large stigma — two-celled. Fruit a silicula, with the replum

across its narrow part. Seed brownish, about li inch in length,

and about the same in breadth — winged ; the wing nearly a quarter

of an inch deep — veined ; hilum straight or slightly curved, about

half an inch long.

3. “Lowest Temperature indicated by the Register Thermometer

(Fahr.), kept at the Botanic Garden, during April 1855,” by Mr.

M‘Nab.

Average lowest temperature for April 33f°.

4. “ Register of the Flowering of Plants in the Botanic Garden,

compared with the four preceding years,” by Mr. M‘Nab.

5. “Remarks on Mr. Moore’s notice of the effects of the late

winter at Dublin,” by Prof. Balfour.

6. “On the Disease of Finger and Toe in Root Crops,” by Sir

John S. Forbes.

7. “ Notice of the origin of the name Chenopodium Bonus Hen-

ricus,^^ by Mr. J. Hardy.

Lately, in turning over J. Bauhin’s ‘Historia Plantarum,’ I met

with the following, tom. ii. p. 965. — “Dodon. Gall, et Lat. in fol.

qui sub Tota Bona describit et depingit ; ait Bonum Ilenricum a

singulari quadam utili facukate vocari ; veluti et perniciosam quan-

dam plantam Malum Ilenricum appellant, de quo alibi dicendum.” I

have not the Latin copy of Dodonseus, but in the English translation

of Lyte, 1st ed. 1578, p. 561, this explanation is not given ; we have,

however, the English “ Good Henry,” being a translation of the

Dutch and German name. The term Bonus Ilenricus it appears

from Mentzel (Index sub Lapatli.) occurs in Brunsfel’s Herbal,

printed in 1532. I suspect, however, that it will be found in the

‘Herbarius’ of 1484, or the Ortus Sanitatis, as in an early Herbal

that I possess, without a date, but ])ublished by Egenolf, who is

said to have given an imi)roved edition of Cuba’s work, I find the

name Gut Heinrich over the figure of this plant. (This book of

Egenolf has no text, being merely coloured figures.) The English

78

Miscellaneous.

names are attached in MS. in a very old hand. “ Good King Harry ”

occurs for the first time in Gerard, who says it was so called in Cam-

bridgeshire (Johnson’s edit. 1633, p. 329). Malus Henricus seems

to have been Lathrcea squamaria.

MISCELLANEOUS.

NEREIS BILINEATA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Weymouth, May 15, 1855.

Gentlemen, — I beg to draw your attention to a fact I have not

seen noticed in print. It is, that Nereis bilineata constructs a tube

for its domicile. Its usual habitat is the upper coils of any dead

whelk that may have been selected by a Pagurus for its domicile.

This Annelid is well known to the fishermen here, and by whom it is

much used as a killing bait for whiting. I was not aware of the

fact of its constructing a tube for itself until lately, when, on

breaking off the top coils, I found that the worm had constructed

a tube, with which it had lined its lodgings. The tube is perfectly

white, rather strong, and not attached to the whelk shell.

I am. Gentlemen, yours obediently,

William Thompson.

On a New Species of Thalassidroma.

By George Robert Gray, F.L.S. & F.Z.S.

A specimen of a Stormy Petrel, from the north-west coast of Ame-

rica, which has lately been kindly presented to the British Museum

by Miss Hornby, differs from all those that I am acquainted with.

In form it agrees best with Thalassidroma furcata, but the colo-

ration differs much in several particulars. Front, cheeks, throat,

collar round the hind part of the neck, breast and abdomen pure

white ; crown, hind head, a broad hand in front of neck, bend of

wing and lesser wing-coverts sooty grey ; upper part of back grey ;

lower part of back and tail ashy grey ; greater wing-coverts brownish

grey ; tertiaries and quills deep black.

Total length, 8^"; bill from gape, from front, 8^'"; tail

(outer feather), 3|"; tarsus, 1"; middle toe, 1".

I propose to give this species the appellation of Thalassidroma

Hornbyi, after Admiral Hornby, who obtained it during his com-

mand on the Pacific station, where he collected many interesting

animals for his brother-in-law, the late President of this Society. —

Proc. Zool. Soc., May 10, 1853.

On the Eggs q/Otogyps and Prosthemadera.

By H. F. Walter, Esq.

Mr. H. F. Walter exhibited specimens of the eggs of Otogyps 2i\\^

Prosthemadera novae seelandice from his own collection.

The egg of Otogyps was obtained by Herr Ludwig Parreyss of

Meteorological Observations. 79

Vienna from North Africa, and will therefore be that of O. nubicus

(H. Smith ; Bp. Consp. p. 10), if that species is really distinct from

the southern O. auricularis. The long diameter of this egg is 3*9,

the short diameter 2’8 inches.

The egg of the Parson-bird or Tui, 'Prosthemadera novce seelandice

(Gm.), was taken in New Zealand in 1852 by Dr. White. Its colour-

ing is somewhat different from that of the other Honey-eaters with

which we are acquainted, not presenting the usual rich red ground-

colour which is the general characteristic of the eggs of that family

of birds. The long diameter of this egg is 1*0, the short diameter

0*75 inch. — Proc. Zool. Soc.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MAY 1855.

Chiswick. — May 1. Densely clouded : dry haze : clear. 2. Clear : sharp frost at

night. 3. Fine : densely overcast. 4. Cloudy and cold : frosty. 5. Excessively dry

air, with bright snn. 6. Fine. 7. Fine : overcast : boisterous at night. 8. Cloudy:

clear, with sharp frost at night. 9. Fine : rain at night. 10. Cloudy, 11. Cloudy

and fine : thunder-storm in afternoon : clear. 12. Cloudy and cold : very clear:

frosty. 13. Overcast : boisterous, with heavy rain at night. 14. Cloudy. 15.

Cloudy ; rain. 16. Cloudy: clear and frosty at night. 17 — 19. Very fine. 20.

Foggy: very fine 21. Overcast. 22. Cloudy. 23 — 25. Fine. 26. Very fine ;

hot and dry. 27. Slight haze : cloudy : rain. 28. Rain. 29. Cloudy : showery.

30. Cold showers. 31. Rain,

Mean temperature of the month 48°'88

Mean temperature of May 1854 50 *07

Mean temperature of May for the last twenty-nine years ... 53 *72

Average amount of rain in May 1*85 inch.

Boston. — May 1. Cloudy. 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy : rain and snow p.m. 4 — 6.

Cloudy. 7. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 8. Cloudy : rain, hail and snow p.m.

9. Cloudy. 10. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 11. Cloudy: rain p.m. 12. Fine.

13. Cloudy: rain P.M. 14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy: rain a.m. 16,17. Cloudy:

rain p.m. 18 — 20. Cloudy. 21. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 22. Cloudy. 23 —

28. Fine. 29 — 31. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — May 1. Cloudy a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 2. Drizzle a.m. :

showers p.m. 3. llail-showers a.m. and p.m. 4. Cloudy a.m. : clear p.m. 5.

Cloudy A.M.: rain p.m. 6. Sleet-showers a.m. and p.m. 7, 8. Sleet-showers a.m. :

cloudy p.m. 9. Hail, frost a.m. : clear p.m. 10. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m, 11.

Clear A.M. and P.M. 12,13. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 14. Cloudy a.m. : clear

p.m. 15. Showers a.m. : cloudy p.m. 16. Cloudy a.m. : showers p.m. 17. Bright

A.M.: drops p.m. 18. Bright a.m. : cloudy p.m. 19. Showers a.m. : cloudy p.m,

20. Bright a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 21. Cloudy a.m. and p.m. 22. Small rain a.m.

and p.m. 23. Small rain a.m. : clear, fine p.m. 24, 25. Hazy a.m. and p.m. 26.

Drops A.M. : cloudy p.m. 27. Hazy a.m. and p.m. 28. Cloudy a.m. and p.m.

29. Bright a.m. : clear p.m. 30. Cloudy a.m. and p.m, 31. Clear a.m. and p.m.

This month has been remarkably cold, the mean temperature being lower than

that of any May during the twenty-eight years of my observations, — 4°'18 below

the average, and the first half of it was only about the average temperature of

March.

Mean temperature of May for twenty-eight previous years . 47°’99

Mean temperature of this month 43 ‘81

Mean temperature of May 1854 48 *39

Average quantity of rain in May for fourteen previous years 168 inch.

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

No. 92. AUGUST 1855.

Yl.-— Notes on Palceozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. No. 1. Some

Species of Beyrichia from the Upper Silurian Limestones of

Scandinavia. By T. Bupert Jones, F.G.S.

[With a Plate.]

Amongst the small bivalved Entomostraca found in the Lower

Palaeozoic rocks are several species of the genus Beyrichia ^ for

the elucidation of which we are chiefly indebted to MM. Kloden,

Beyrich, M^Coy, and Salter. The Beyrichice occur very low down

in the geologic series, though they are not the first to indicate

the Crustacean class in the fossiliferous rocks.

The carapace-valves of these little Crustaceans are usually ob-

long in shape, and rarely exceed th of an inch in length ; the

more typical forms have their surfaces embossed with two, three,

or more transverse ridges or isolated protuberances. Some spe-

cimens in their general contour and in the arrangement of the

inequalities on the surface of the valve ofier a distant resemblance

to a miniature human ear. Other varieties have smooth valves,

more or less indented by a transverse furrow which divides the

surface into two unequal parts.

The remains of Beyrichice are met with, both as calcareous

carapace-valves (by far most usually separate), and as casts of

single valves, scattered more or less abundantly in the substance

of the rock or on the planes of stratification. Not unfrequently

they have been distorted by the movements which the integral

parts of the rock have suffered in the process of partial meta-

morphism. The carapaces themselves, generally as single valves,

are frequently met with in the Upper Silurian rocks of Britain,

though not in the Lower Silurian ; and they abound in some of

the Upper Silurian rocks of Sweden. Yet our observations are

often necessarily limited to the casts of the exteriors and the

Ann. ^ May. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol, xvi. G

82 Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyricliise.

moulds of the interiors of these minute valves. The substance

of the valves being of the same thickness throughout, the in-

ternal casts represent with tolerable clearness the configuration

of the exterior.

The Upper Silurian limestones of Gothland and the south of

Sweden often abound in minute, symmetrical, semicircular, tri-

lobed bodies, which are the heads and tails of little Trilobites of

the genus Agnostus (particularly A. pisiformis). Together with

these occur other somewhat similar trilobed forms, which how-

ever are smaller, longer in proportion, and not symmetrical.

These are BeyrichicB.

Drifted fragments of these fossiliferous Scandinavian lime-

stones occur abundantly in the sands and gravels of Mecklen-

burg, Brandenburg, and Pomerania j and these blocks in their

weathered condition have yielded plentiful supplies of fossils to

the naturalists of North Germany. In 1769 C. F. Wilckens* * * §

figured specimens of Agnostus pisi for mis from this source, refer-

ring them with doubt to Trilobites (and proposing the removal

of Trilobites from amongst Mollusks to Insects). With these he

also figures a Beyrichia f {B. Wilckensiana, nobis), from Havel-

berg, without however arriving at any conclusion as to its true

nature.

L. von Buch in his ^ Recueil de Planches de Petrifactions re-

marquablesj,^ pi. 6, figures Beyrichi<je in a limestone block

from near Giistrow in Mecklenburg, and regards them as the

young of his Leptccna lata, a view quite incompatible with every

character of these creatures, as M. Kloden has well explained in

his 'Die Versteinerungen der Mark Brandenburg §.^

Kloden met with numerous specimens in weathered fragments

of the Scandinavian limestone from the gravels near Berlin ; and

he has given carefully executed (but evidently not quite correct)

figures of the valves of at least two species, in different stages of

growth, accompanied with a detailed description ||. This observer

remarked that these little fossils are not at all referable to the

heptcma which accompanies them, nor to any mollusk ; and,

guided by the apparently symmetrical, semicircular, three-lobed

form of some of the specimens, he was led to regard them as

being probably the cephalic and caudal portions of the carapace

of small Trilobites, and to assign them to the genus Battus

{■= Agnostus), although he figures and describes the unsymme-

trical contour and irregular distribution of the surface-lobes of

* Nachricht von seltenen Versteinerungen (8vo, Berlin), 1/69, pi. 7. f. 38.

t Op. cit. p. 77. pi. 7. fig. 39. These specimens have been confounded

by Dalman, Kloden, Burmeister, &c., with the foregoing.

X Fol. Berlin, 1831. These figures are too obscure for satisfactory re-

cognition as to their specific relations.

§ Berlin, 8vo, 1834. || Op. cit. pp. 112-119.

83

Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

other specimens, and even shows the actually bivalved condition

of at least one example. This author refers all his specimens to

one species, under the name of Battus tuberculatus.

In 1843 Burmeister (Die Organiz. d. Trilobiten, p. 72) refers

M. Kloden^s figures, without any assigned reason and certainly

erroneously, to Odontopleura ovata.

In 1846, M^Coy, describing the Silurian fossils of Ireland*,

pointed out the really un symmetrical arrangement of the lobes

and furrows on these little bodies ; and, finding them to corre-

spond in pairs of dextral and sinistral valves, he rightly con-

jectured them to be the bivalved carapaces of Entomostraca. For

these animals he therefore established a new genus, Beyi'ichia,^

named from M. Bey rich, who also, in a work then lately pub-

lished f, had stated his belief that M. Kloden^s specimens were

not referable to any Trilobite, but to some small bivalved Crus-

tacean.

In 1851 J Prof. M^Coy further illustrated the genus, referring

it to the family “ Limnadiadse,^^ of the Phyllopod order of Ento-

mostraca j and remarking that several species of this genus

have been figured and described by Kloden, as varieties of his

Battus tuberculatus?^

Mr. Salter also has illustrated and described some British

species of this genus, in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey

of Great Britain, vol. ii. part 1, and in Appendix A. of ^ Descript.

Brit. Pal. Foss.^ above referred to. There are a few other pub-

lished notices of Beyrichice \ but we now have to confine our-

selves to an examination of the species from the Scandinavian

limestone, postponing for the present the critical notice of other

published species.

As M. Kloden^s figures were nearly all that we had in this

country for our guidance in the comparison of the Beyrichice, it

was desirable that we should be able to test by the examination of

good Scandinavian specimens the accuracy of these drawings and

of the specific determinations that have been made by their help.

Not long since Sir C. Lyell, when visiting Berlin, had the kind-

ness to mention to Prof. Beyrich my desire to have an oppor-

tunity of examining some well-preserved specimens of M. Klo-

den^s typical species ; and a liberal supply of limestone fragments

from the gravels of Prussia and Silesia, rich in Beyrichice, was

most courteously granted by Prof. Bcyrich and brought to En-

gland by Sir C. Lyell.

I now proceed to the results of the examination of these intcr-

* Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils of Ireland (4to, Dublin), p. 57.

t Ueber Einige bohmische Trilobiten, p. 47-

I Description of Brit. Pal. Foss, in Sedgwick’s Synopsis of the Classi-

fication of Ilrit. Pal. Rocks, 4to, Cambridge. Part II. Fasc. 1. p. 135.

C*

84 Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

esting specimens. They consist of five fragments of a bluish-gray

limestone^ full of organic remains ; one of them from near Berlin,

and the others from the neighbourhood of Breslau. (I shall

refer to them as Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, for the sake of convenience.)

They difier somewhat among themselves in their lithological

characters and in their organic contents ; and no two of them

contain exactly the same set of Beyrichice. Nos. 1, 2, & 4 have

a weathered exterior of a whitish dun colour, in a more or less

friable condition. On fracture this whitish external portion of

the limestone exposes its fossils far more readily to the eye than

the inner crystalline limestone does ; and, indeed, the calcareous

cement having been decomposed, the innumerable Beyrichice aiid

other minute fossils start away in the breaking up of the mass,

and may be readily picked out of the debris. Nos. 3 & 5 are

rather darker in colour than the others, and have a rough con-

cretionary structure. The weathered surface of these is not more

friable than their interior, and the whole readily breaks up under

the hammer, numbers of the little fossils becoming disengaged

among the debris. All the fragments contain Leptcena lata.

Nos. 1, 2, 3, & 4 are rich in this fossil, some of them contain

fragments of heads of Trilob ites, and No. 1 abounds with Tenta-

culites. also. No. 5 is poorer in the Leptcena, &c., and contains

Encrinital remains. Each of the limestones contains abundance

of Cytheres or Cytheropsesj the description of which is postponed

for the present.

The relative distribution of these organic remains in each of

the specimens is shown in the following Table : —

[The asterisks by their relative numbers denote the compai-ative abun-

dance of the fossils.] • •

85

Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinofvian Bfiyrichise.

The several forms of the Beyrichice obtained from the lime-

stone fragments are illustrated in Plate V., and I now proeeed

to their description (premising that the figures represent the

specimens magnified 4 diameters).

Class CRUSTACEA.

Subclass Entomostraca.

Order Phyllopoda ?

Family Limnadiad^ ?

Genus Beyrichia, M^Coy, 1846 (Synop. Sil. Fos. Iref^nd, p,57).

Generic characters. — Animal enclosed in a vertical bivalved

carapace. Carapace equivalved. Carapace-valves oblong; anterior

(cephalic) and posterior (caudal) extremities somewhat rounded ;

inferior (ventral) border semicircular ; superior (dorsal) border

straight. Valves wider at the caudal than at the cephalic extre-

mity ; more or less convex ; impressed with one or more trans-

verse furrows, commencing on the dorsal or hinge border, and

variously modifying the surface of the valve. Hingement not

known ; probably a simple adaptation of the thin dorsal edges

and their union by membrane.

Is/ Group : SiMPLiCES. — Surface of valve simple, almost uni-

formly convex, but impressed with one, usually short, vertical,

dorsal furrow on the anterior half of the valve, and (if extended)

dividing the surface of the valve into two unequal parts (the

anterior portion being the smaller). Valves either with simple

edges, or bordered (except on the dorsal edge) by a narrow flat-

tened rim ; in the first case the margin of the one slightly over-

lapping that of the other valve, when united ; in the second case,

the opposite flat borders coming in contact.

2nd Group : CoRRUGAXiE. — Surface of valve convex, impressed

with two vertical furrows, not reaching across the valve, but

marking out three unequal lobes on the surface and giving it a

crumpled appearance. The anterior furrow holds the same rela-

tive position as the single furrow in the Simpliccs.^^ The

valves arc bordered (on three sides) by a narrow depressed

margin.

3rc? Group: Jugos^e. — Surface of valve impressed with two

or three strong vertical furrows, extending from the back to the

ventral portion of the valve, and dividing the surface into three

or more unsymmetrical lobes, transverse ridges, or bosses, which

vary considerably in their size, mode of subdivision, and relative

position in different species, and, to some extent, in dificrent

stages of growth of individuals. The anterior, inferior, and pos-

86 Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

terior margins of each valve are turned sharply inwards, the

angle so made being marked externally by a prominent ledge,

either slightly rounded or trenchant (and sometimes spiny),

forming a narrow depressed border along these three edges of

the external surface of the valve. These edges of the valves

close together by the marginal flange of the one valve being re-

ceived within that of the other, — somewhat like the fitting of the

lid and body of a circular snuff-box. United valves are very

rare ; one such specimen shows the ventral margin of the left

valve overlapping that of the right. There is no marked differ-

ence in the shape of the two valves; and the size of the valve

that is received within and overlapped by the other is very little

less than that of its fellow.

(JuGOSiE.)

1. Beyrichia BuchianUy nov. sp. PI. V. figs. 1-3.

Surface of valve impressed with three transverse furrows ; the

anterior and central ones reaching across the valve, and separated

by a narrow ridge ; the posterior furrow extending about two-

thirds of the width across, and bounded by a semicircular ridge.

In other words, the exterior of the valve presents three trans-

verse ridges ; the anterior is isolated, narrow, and slightly curved ;

the other two, occupying the posterior half of the valve, are

united towards the ventral border, and form a compressed semi-

circular or horse- shoe ridge, with its convexity downwards. The

posterior arm of this horse-shoe-shaped ridge is larger than the

other arm (or median ridge), and is sometimes indented by a

slight, short, oblique furrow on its outer ridge (fig. 2) ; and

sometimes it is tuberculated (fig. 3). The anterior and posterior

margins of the valve are also roughened with spinose tubercles

in old specimens.

This form presents a well-marked and simple pattern of the

surface, to which we can conveniently refer for comparison in

describing others. Only one of our limestone fragments affords

this species, and in this it occurs in great profusion, together

with B, Wilckensianaj TentaculiteSy and Leptcena lata,

A very similar limestone appears to have furnished the spe-

cimens figured in the ^ Recueil des Petrif. Remarq.,” and which

indeed are possibly referable to this species : — a coincidence

which has led me to dedicate this well-characterized Beyrichia to

the memory of M. von Buch.

2. Beyrichia tuberculata, Klbden, sp. PI. V. figs. 4-9.

Surface of valve embossed with three lobes or ridges. The

anterior ridge is usually divided more or less decidedly by a

87

Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

transverse furrow into two oval bosses of unequal size, the lower or

ventral one being the largest and often becoming in the adult a

protuberance of great (relative) size, and so prominent as to render

the anterior part of the valve broader than the posterior (figs. 7

& 8). The central ridge is usually reduced to an oval boss,

isolated and placed rather obliquely. The posterior or largest

ridge is well developed, strongly curved, thick above and taper-

ing downwards and forwards, until it terminates nearly opposite

and near to the lower end of the central boss, with which it

sometimes shows an inclination to unite at a sharp angle. At

its thickest part, the posterior ridge is divided obliquely and

transversely, by two, slight, narrow, sinuous furrows, into three

parts, which vary in their distinctness in nearly every individual :

sometimes a third similar furrow again divides this ridge in its

ventral portion (fig. 8).

The surface of the valves is coarsely granulated, except in the

very young state.

This species difiers from B, Buchiana in its larger bulk, its

coarser aspect, its granulations, and especially in the disposition

of the surface-ridges. The same general arrangement of these

exists in both species, but in B. tuberculata they have a greater

development and are more subdivided; the horse-shoe ridge

especially of the one is broken up in the other species.

This is evidently the species illustrated by Klbden^s figures

20-23; and it is therefore the typical Beyrichia tuberculata.

The other figures (16-19) referred by this author to the young

state of the same species, belong to our new species B. Wilcken^

sianaj to be presently described.

B. tuberculata^ var. nuda. PI. V. figs 10, 11.

A smaller-sized variety of this species occurs plentifully in

another block of limestone. The surface is destitute of tubercles ;

and the ventral anterior lobe does not appear to attain the ex-

cessive growth that is seen in old specimens of the typical form.

B. tuberculata y var. antiquata. PI. V. fig. 12.

A large and unique left carapace- valve, from No. 5 lime-

stone, exhibiting the usual arrangement of the surface-lobes of

this species, except that the posterior ridge is not quite so largely

developed, has a perfectly smooth surface, and a trenchant

margin well armed with spines on the front, hind, and lower

borders of the valve. This spiny or denticulated condition of

the margin I liavc not met with in otlicr varieties of this species;

but it occurs in two figures (20, 21) of M. KlodciPs typical

form.

88 Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

3. Beyrichia Dalmaniana^ nov. sp. PL V. fig. 13.

Anterior extremity of valve contracted^ so as to give an almost

triangular outline. Surface bearing five smooth rounded un-

equal protuberances or lobes ; two obliquely placed anteriorly,

two posteriorly, and one in the middle towards the dorsal border ;

the infero-posterior lobe is the largest. In the arrangement of

these five lobes some reference to that of the ridges in the pre-

ceding species can be recognized, the two anterior lobes being

the equivalents of the divided cephalic ridge in B. tuherculata ;

the posterior lobes representing the great caudal ridge, and the

central lobe being isolated and similarly placed in both species.

The narrow depressed border of the valve is slight but distinct.

The surface is smooth, with traces of very fine linear punc-

tations.

Only a right and a left valve were found (in No. 3. lime-

stone).

I have distinguished this rare and curious little Scandinavian

Beyrichia by the well-known name of one of the illustrious

palaeontologists of Sweden.

4. Beyrichia Maccoyiana^ nov. sp. PL V. fig. 14.

Carapace-valve nearly semicircular ; bearing three almost sym-

metrical rounded ridges. The anterior ridge broad, tapering

downwards and backwards, and disunited at its termination from

the others by a very slight depression. The middle ridge oval,

united below with the posterior ridge, but constricted at the

junction ; the two forming a compressed horse-shoe ridge. Sur-

face of valve punctate. The marginal depressed rim is broad,

prominent, and trenchant, especially on the ventral margin,

where it is marked by regularly placed, transverse, depressed

lines or strise equally on its upper and its under surface. This

breadth of the ventral rim gives rise to the peculiar semicircular

form of the valve.

The surface-lobes of this species have the arrangement of

those in B. Buchiana ; but, the furrows not being so deeply ex-

cavated, the ridges are fuller and less distinctly separate. The

punctation of the surface and especially the well-developed and

striated rim are the peculiar characteristics of this species.

B. Maccoyiana approaches some of Prof. HalLs* figures of

B, lata (Vauuxem sp.), a Beyrichia from the Clinton rocks of the

U.S.; but differences in the relative proportions of the ridges,

and especially the broad rim, sufficiently separate the two forms.

Three specimens of left valves are all that I have found (one

* Palfcoiitology of New York, vol. ii. pi. A. 66. fig. 10.

89

Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

in No. 2. limestone, and two in No. 3.) ; and from their friable

condition the carapace appears to have been of an unusually de-

licate structure.

This rare and interesting species is named after Prof. M^Coy,

who founded the genus and devoted much labour to the eluci-

dation of the species of this and other allied forms of palseozoic

Entomostraca.

5. Beyrichia Salterianaj nov. sp. PI. V. figs. 15, 16.

Valves narrow oblong ; caudal portion wider than the cephalic ;

marginal rim of the anterior, inferior, and posterior borders uni-

form, well developed, and impressed with a series of shallow

pits along the ventral portion. Surface finely punctate ; divided

into three unequal subtriangular convexities or lobes, separated

by a very narrow forked or Y-shaped furrow. The posterior

lobe is the largest ; and the middle one, which is slightly in

advance of the centre^of the valve and is pushed up to the dorsal

border, is the smallest.

This species offers a strong contrast to B. Buchiana va the

width of the surface-lobes and the narrowness of the furrows ;

and it could scarcely answer to the name of ^^jugosa or ridged,

were it not that its system of furrows is equivalent to that of

B, tuber culata, which is at the opposite extremity of this group.

This small, but elegant and well-characterized species is nu-

merous in No. 5. limestone ; and I dedicate it with much plea-

sure to my friend Mr. Salter, Palaeontologist of the Geological

Survey, to whom we are indebted for much information on the

history of the Entomostraca of the Silurian rocks.

(CoRRUGATiE.)

6. Beyrichia Wilckensiana, nov. sp. PI. V. figs. 17, 18.

Carapace- valves contracted anteriorly, almost reniforrn. Sur-

face of valve smooth, highly convex, divided into three unequal

lobes by two short furrows, the anterior of which is near the

centre of the valve. The middle lobe, lying between the fur-

rows, is rounded, prominent, projecting over the dorsal edge,

and passes, by a narrow and sometimes constricted neck, into

the convex body of the valve with which the front and hind

lobes arc continuous. The middle lobe, though prominent, is

the smallest, and the anterior lobe is the widest, but depressed.

I’hc ventral part of the convex surface, where the lobes unite,

hangs over the narrow fiat rim of the inferior margin of the

valve, and is so])aratcd from it by a deep wrinkle, which dies out

90 Mr. T, R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichise.

on the flattened margins of the anterior and posterior dorsal

angles of the valve.

This form abounds in two of the limestones, and is evidently

referred to in Kloden^s figures 16-18; but it is still better

figured by Wilckens, after whom 1 have named this peculiar

species.

Beyrichia WilcTcensianaj \2ir, plicata. PL V. figs. 19-21.

In this variety the anterior dorsal angle is more acute, and

the central lobe more compressed, than in the typical form ; and

the dorsal portions of the anterior and posterior lobes are marked

by short faint vertical furrows, so as to appear pinched up into two

or three small projecting angular ridges or plaits. The wrinkle

or sulcus bounding the convex part of the valve is rather more

strongly marked also.

This variety does not occur with the foregoing, but is plentiful

in No. 1. limestone; and the specimens are usually smaller,

though some individuals attain the full size of the type.

Possibly Kloden^s figure 19. was taken from a specimen of

this variety.

7. Beyrichia siliqua^ nov. sp. PI. V. fig. 22.

Carapace-valve elongate, contracted anteriorly ; smooth ; con-

vex; divided into three unequal lobes by two shallow, rather

oblique furrows crossing the convexity of the valve. Posterior

lobe the largest. Marginal rim well developed on the ventral

border.

Two dextral valves only in one of the limestones represent

this well-marked species.

(SiMPLICES.)

8. Beyrichia mundulaj nov. sp. PL V. fig. 23.

Carapace-valves varying from oblong to nearly oval, convex,

smooth, punctated, and marked by a short distinct furrow near

the middle of the upper part ; the marginal depressed rim nar-

row and sometimes obscured on the ventral border by the con-

vexity of that part of the valve.

This occurs in three of the limestones, and from its small size

and general appearance is liable to be confounded with the

numerous Cythere-like forms so common in these Scandinavian

limestones. The specimens from No. 1. limestone are more oval

and convex than the others; those from No. 5. are well pre-

served, and interesting from their oblong shape, depressed mar-

Mr. T. R. Jones on Scandinavian Beyrichije. 91

gins, slight sulcus, and trace of central lucid spot in which

characters we have a near approach to Leperditia.

B. mundvla differs from B. simplex, Jones (Quart. Journ. Geol.

Soc. vol. ix. p. 161. pi. 7. fig. 7), chiefly in its having a propor-

tionally longer hinge-line, or dorsal border, and a narrower pos-

terior extremity, and in frequently presenting a depressed Leper-

ditia-like aspect of the valves, which we do not find in B. simplex.

The specimen here figured (fig. 23) is from the No. 1. lime-

stone, and is very convex and broadly oval in shape. The dorsal

border is, however, usually straight, two-thirds the length of the

valves, and from each of its extremities the margin has an oblique

direction downwards and outwards to about half the width of

the valve, where it meets the semicircular ventral border, and so

forms the more or less angular anterior and posterior extre-

mities of the valve, the former of which is somewhat narrower

and sharper than the latter. This outline, or an approximation

to it, is traceable in very many of the Beyrichice, but it is best

developed in the specimens of B, mundula above referred to,

from No. 5. limestone, in which the obliquity of the antero-

dorsal and the postero- dorsal angles of the carapace is as well

marked as in Leperditia, and is combined with a general de-

pression of the carapace-valves and other characteristics above-

noticed, which indicate a close relationship to the last-named

genus : — to this point we shall again refer in further descriptions

of the species of these genera.

Of the three groups of the genus, that of the Jugosce is well

represented in the Scandinavian limestones under examination.

To this group also belong —

Beyrichia Kloedeni, M^Coy.

complicata, Salter.

symmetrica. Hall.

lata, Vanuxem, sp.

Busacensis, Jones.

Bohemica, Barrande, MS.

The Corrugatce have here only two representatives (/h Wilck-

ensiana and B. siliqua). Possibly llalPs Cytherina spinosa may

be a Beyrichia of this type. An undescribed species from Busaco

belongs to this group, and, taken together with B. Bohemica,

affords a ])assagc into B. complicata of the Jugosce group.

The little B. mundula above described has many larger con-

geners among the Simplices, such as —

Beyrichia simplex, Jones,

Logani, Jones, MS.

strnngulula, Salter,

and several Bohemian forms collected by M. Barrande.

92 Dr. J, W. Griffith on the Conjugation q/’ Me Diatomacese.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

[The figures represent the specimens magnified 4 diameters, with the

exception of 16 b.\

Fig. 1 a. Beyrichia Buchiana, Jones : right valve. 1 b. Ventral aspect of

the same valve. 2. Left valve. 3. Left valve of old specimen.

Fig. 4. Beyrichia tuberculata, Kloden, sp. : right valve (young individual).

5 a. Right valve. 5 b. Ventral aspect of the same vaNe. 6. Left

valve. 7 a. Left valve (old individual). 7 b. Ventral aspect of

the same valve. 8 a. Right valve. 8 b. Transverse section of

the right valve. 9 a. Left valve. 9 b. Ventral aspect of the same

valve.

Fig. 10a. B. tuberculata, var. nuda, Jones: right valve. 10 6. Ventral

aspect of the same valve. 11. Left valve.

Fig. 12. B. tuberculata, var. antiquata, Jones : left valve.

Fig.l^a. Beyrichia Dalmaniana, Jones: right valve. 13 6. Ventral

aspect of the same valve.

Fig. 14. Beyrichia Maccoyiana, Jones : right valve.

Fig. 15 a. Beyrichia Salteriana, Jones : right valve. 15 6. Ventral aspect

of the same valve. 16 a. Left valve. 16 6. Highly magnified

view of part of the border.

Fig. 17. Beyrichia Wilckensiana, Jones : Left valve. 18 a. Right valve.

18 6. Ventral aspect of the same valve.

Fig. 19. B. Wilckensiana, var. plicata, Jones : right valve of large indi-

vidual. 20 a. Right valve. 20 6. Ventral aspect of the same

valve. 21. Left valve.

Fig. 22. Beyrichia siliqua, Jones : right valve.

Fig. 23. Beyrichia mundula, Jones : left valve.

VII. — On the Conjugation of the Diatomacese.

By J. VF. Griffith, M.D., F.L.S.

.[With a Plate.]

The interest attached to the conjugation and the relation of

the forms to the species of Diatomaceje, will, I trust, render the

following remarks of interest to the botanist.

At the end of May of the present year, I was fortunate enough

to find the bodies delineated in PI. II. B. figs. 1-5, in a ditch

near Black wall.

The first which attracted my notice was that represented by

fig. 3, and which could not be referred to any known Diato-

macean ; it was composed of silex, i. e. indestructible by heat

and nitric acid. Upon further search, other of these bodies

were found (fig. 2) containing a frustule of a Navicular some

also with the valves of another Navicula (figs. 1 & 2) adherent

to the former. It was then evident that these bodies represented

Dr. J. W. Griffith on the Conjugation of the Diatomaceje. 93

a Navicula in a state of conjugation, and that the larger Navi-

cula was the sporangial frustule of the smaller, enclosed in a

siliceous sporangial sheath.

The siliceous sheath (fig. 3) is colourless, elongate, rounded

at the ends, and furnished with coarse transverse strise or de-

pressions, through which the line of fracture runs when the

object is crushed (figs. 1 & 2). Its length its variable, appa-

rently according to the stage of growth. The smallest was

jio of an inch, the parent frustules being very slightly sepa-

rated from each other, the form of the sheath more rounded,

and the transverse striae very few. The larger forms were from

rk to T^" ™ length.

The parent frustules (fig. 4, side view ; fig. 1 (below), front

•view), of which there were two, were brownish when dry ; linear

in front view ; almost linear in the side view, sometimes more or

less lanceolate, but always suddenly constricted near the ends,

which are produced. The valves have a medial line and central

and terminal nodules. The length of the parent frustules was

1 1 w

770 70 0 • .

The sporangial frustules (fig. 5, side view ; fig. 2, front view

.were also brownish when dry, and in side view of a linear form,

slightly narrowed towards the obtuse ends ; in front view, linear

and narrowed towards the obtuse or slightly truncate ends, and

slightly constricted in the middle; the medial line, with cen-

tral and terminal nodules distinct. The dimensions of the spo-

rangial frustules are those of the sporangial sheath.

The determination of the species I shall leave to those who

believe that the numerous hair-splittings of forms belonging to

Navicula constitute distinct species. But it is very clear that

the forms of the parent and sporangial frustules belong respec-

tively even to different sections of the genus Navicula as subdi-

vided by Kiitzing* * * § and Smith f.

It would be well perhaps for those who specially study the

Diatomacese to attend more to the relations of the forms and

structure of frustules to species than to the making out of the

minute markings existing upon the valves, which at present re-

ceive almost the whole attention. The observations made in the

former direction are exceedingly few, yet most important to the

point. Those of ThwaitesJ and Focke§ have shown that great

differences of size and shape may exist in forms of one and the

same species ; the subject of the present communication confirms

this result. Variation in the number of markings, as rays, dots,

* Kiitzing, Species Algarum, 1849.

t Rev. W. Smith, Synopsis of the British Diatomacese, i.

X Thwaites, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1847, xx., and jds. 4 & 22.

§ Foeke, Fhysiologische Studicn, 1853, Ilcft ii.

94 Dr. T. Wright on a new Genus of Fossil Cidaridse,

and surface-elevations, or even their absence or presence, is not

sufficient to distinguish species, as shown by Thwaites*, &c. and

Shadboltf. The observations of Ralfs J upon Himantidium are

very interesting in this respect, although unfortunately very

incomplete.

It may be remarked, that the surface of the valves of the

Navicula described above were covered with minute depressions,

invisible by ordinary illumination, but visible by oblique light

with the use of stops ; while the sporangial sheath was free from

markings, save the transverse strise.

The manner in which the unyielding siliceous sporangial

sheath enlarges in accordance with the growth of the sporangial

frustule is obscure, unless it ensue by the occasional ecdysis, as

it might be called, of the old sheath and the formation of a new.

In the earliest conjugating specimen observed of the above Navi-

cula, the sporangial sheath was of a rounded-oblong form, about

two-thirds of the size of the parent frustules, and situated midway

between them, both in regard to length and breadth, whilst

the full-grown sporangial frustule and sheath were twice the

length of the parent frustule (figs. 2 & 3), both the former being

of about the same size, and the latter situated near one end of

the sporangial sheath. It was noticed also, that all the spo-

rangial frustules were undergoing division, although contained

within their sheaths.

VIII. — On a New Genm of Fossil Cidaridse, with a Synopsis of

the Species included therein. By Thomas Wright, M.D.,

F.R.S.E.

Notwithstanding the many new generic sections introduced

into the classification of Echinoderms, by MM. Agassiz and

Desor, and the important light thrown by these savans on our

knowledge of the numerous species of this class contained in

European collections, still the progress of discovery renders it

imperative on palaeontologists to modify from time to time

many of the opinions put forward by these authors in their

‘ Catalogue raisonne.^ When the amount of real work done by

them is taken into account, in a field which was then compara-

tively unknown, the wonder is, not that mistakes or oversights

should have been committed, but that so much good work

* Annals, loc. cit.

t Shadbolt, Microsc. Journal, vol. iii.

X Ralfs, Annals, 1843, xii. on Fragilaria pectinaliSf R. (Himantidium

pectinale, Kiitz.) var. j3.

95

with a Synopsis of the Species included tJw'ein.

under the circumstances should have been attained, which will

bear the most severe criticism, and remain as it was left, a monu-

ment of the genius and industry of the authors.

In our memoirs on the Cidaridse of the Oolites, we have

figured and described three species, Goniopygus perforatus, Pe-

dina Ethendgii and Pedina Bakeri ; the true generic position of

these forms seemed to us uncertain at the time our papers were

passing through the press, as they exhibited characters which

did not assimilate with either of the generic divisions of the

^ Catalogue raisonne.^ Our materials did not then justify us in

proposing a separate genus for their reception ; the discovery,

however, of an interesting series of new congeneric forms has

now enabled us to rectify our determination, and propose the

genus Hemipedina for the group, to which we have added a

synopsis of the species included therein.

Hemipedina, Wright, 1855.

This new genus is composed of small, neat, and highly orna-

mented Urchins, much depressed on their upper surface, and

with a flat or slightly concave base. The ambulacral areas are

narrow and straight ; the pores in the poriferous zones are ar-

ranged in single pairs ; the interambulacral areas are in general

more than double the width of the ambulacral, with two, four,

or six rows of tubercles in general arranged abreast on the same

tubercular plate. The tubercles are perforated, and set on mam-

millary eminences with smooth uncrenulated summits ; one row

of tubercles in general only extends from the peristome to the

disc ; the other rows, when there are four and six rows in the

area, stop short at the equator, or between the equator and the

disc ; the intertubercular space on the upper surface of the test is

therefore in general wide, and covered with a small miliary gra-

nulation. The apical disc is large ; the genital and ocular plates

are expanded and foliated. The mouth-opening is of moderate

dimensions, and the peristome is divided into ten nearly equal-

sized lobes. The spines are long, slender, and needle-shaped;

those that are known, equal at least the diameter of the test, and

their surface is sculptured with delicate longitudinal lines.

Hemipedina is related to Diadema in having the pores ar-

ranged in the zones in single pairs and the tubercles perforated ;

but it is distinguished from Diadema by the absence of crenu-

lations on the summits of the mammillary eminences. It is

related to Pedina in possessing perforated and uncrenulated

tubercles ; but it is distinguished from that genus in having the

j)ores in the zones in single pairs {Pedina having the pores in

triple oblique pairs like Echinus), in having the elements of the

96 l)r, T. Wright sn a new Genus of Fossil Cidaridse^

apical disc more largely developed, and in the species being nearly

all small and depressed forms. Hemipedina is related to Echin-

opsis in possessing uncrenulated and perforated tubercles, with

the pores in pairs ; but it is distinguished from the latter by the

narrowness of the ambulacral areas, the depressed form of the

test [Echinopsis being high and inflated), the form of the mouth-

opening, and the deep decagonal lobes of the peristome (that of

Echinopsis being almost deprived of these incisions), together

with the greater size and development of the elements of the

apical disc.

Hemipedina, as far as we at present know, is composed of

Jurassic species, which commence in the lower Lias and extend

into the Coral liag, each stage possessing its own specific forms.

The following synopsis of the British species now before us will

be figured and described in detail in our Monograph on the

British Oolitic Cidaridse.

A. Species from the Lias.

Hemipedina Bechei, Wright.

Cidaris Bechei, Broderip, Geol. Proc. ii. 202.

Biadema Bechei, Agassiz, Morris’s Catalogue of British Fossils,

1st ed. p. 51 .

Test small, much crushed, and covered over with spines ; ambu-

lacra with two rows of tubercles; interambulacra with four

or six rows of tubercles ; spines long, slender and needle-

shaped, x%ths of an inch in length, with longitudinal lines on

the surface. This appears to be identical with the type-spe-

cimen in the Museum of the Geological Society.

Locality. — Lower Lias, Lyme Regis.

Coll. J. S. Bowerbank, Esq.

Hemipedina Boiverbankii, Wright, nov. sp.

Test crushed, 1 g^jth of an inch in diameter ; ambulacral areas nar-

row, with two rows of marginal tubercles rather smaller than

those in the interambulacra, a tubercle on every alternate

plate ; interambulacral areas wide, with six rows of tubercles

abreast, surrounded by a delicate scrobicular circle ; spines

shorter and thicker (l^^ths of an inch in length) than those of

H. Bechei, although the test is much larger, deeply sculptured

with longitudinal lines.

Locality. — Lower Lias, Lyme Regis.

Coll. J. S. Bowerbank, Esq.

with a Synopsis of the Species included therein.

97

Hemipedina Jardiniiy Wright, nov. sp.

Test small, much depressed ; ambulacral areas wide, with two

rows of marginal tubercles which extend from the peristome

to the disc ; interambulacral areas with two rows of tubercles

set near the poriferous zones, from eleven to twelve tubercles

in each row, a delicate scrobicular circle of granules around

each, and a naked intertub ercular space in the centre ; mouth-

opening small, situated in a depression ; peristome decagonal ;

base finely radiated in consequence of the size and regularity

of the interambulacral tubercles.

Locality. — Marlstone near Ilminster, Somersetshire, and Bre-

don Hill, Gloucestershire.

Coll, of the late H. Strickland Esq., and Hr. Wright.

Hemipedina Etheridgiif Wright.

Pedina Etheridgii, Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 2. vol. xiii. p.315.

pi. 1. fig. 5 a-d.

Test small, circular, depressed ; ambulacral areas narrow, with

six small perforate tubercles below, and a double row of mar-

ginal granules above ; interambulacral areas with two rows of

tubercles, seven in each row ; apical disc large and pctaloidal ;

mouth-opening small ; peristome decagonal ; lobes nearly

equal.

Locality. — Upper Lias, Ilminster.

Coll. Dr. Wright.

B. Species from the Inferior Oolite.

Hemipedina Baker ij Wright.

Pedina Bakeriy Wright, Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 2. vol. xiii. p. 312.

pi. 1 . fig. 4 a-c.

Test circular, depressed ; ambulacral areas very narrow, with two

rows of small tubercles set so far apart that they form a zig-

zag row ; interambulacral areas with two rows of rather large

prominent tubercles, five in a row ; apical disc with a ]>ro-

minent anal rim ; mouth-opening large ; peristome deeply

decagonal.

Locality. — Pea-grit, Inferior Oolite, Crickley Hill.

Coll. Dr. Wright : a single specimen.

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi.

7

98 Dr. T. R. Wright on a new Genus of Fossil Cidaridse,

Hemipedina perforata, Wright.

Goniopygus ? perforatus, Wright, Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 2. vol. viii. .

p. 267. pi. 6. fig. 5 a-b.

Test small, circular and depressed ; ambulacral areas with two

rows of small tubercles which extend from the peristome to

the disc ; interambulacral areas with two rows of tubercles,

seven to eight in each row, three or four secondary tubercles

between the primary rows at the base ; surface of the plates

covered with numerous coarse miliary granules ; mouth-open-

ing large ; peristome rather deeply decagonal ; lobes nearly

equal in size ; apical disc large and foliated.

Locality, — Pea-grit, Inferior Oolite, Crickley Hill.

Coll. Dr. Wright.

Hemipedina tetragramma, Wright, nov. sp.

Test circular, y%ths of an inch in diameter ; ambulacral areas

narrow, with two marginal rows of small nearly equal-sized

tubercles extending from the peristome to the disk ; interam-

bulacral areas with two rows of primary tubercles, about four-

teen in each row, and two rows of secondary tubercles, ten in

each row, extending from the peristome to nearly the upper

surface; mouth-opening small, situated in a depression ;

peristome decagonal, unequally lobed.

Locality, — Pea-grit, Crickley Hill.

Coll. Dr. Wright.

Hemipedina Waterhousei, Wright, nov. sp.

Test small, pentagonal, rather inflated at the sides ; ambulacral

areas with two rows of small tubercles extending from the

peristome to the disc ; interambulacral areas with two rows of

tubercles, eight in a row ; scrobicular circles neatly defined ;

mouth-opening small ; apical disc narrow and prominent.

Locality. — Pea-grit, Inferior Oolite, Crickley Hill.

Coll. Dr. Wright.

Hemipedina Bonei, Wright, nov. sp.

Test small, pentagonal, depressed; ambulacral areas with two

marginal rows of close-set tubercles ; interambulacral areas

with one entire row and four short rows of tubercles, which

extend only as far as the equator ; tubercles of both areas

about the same size ; base flat ; mouth moderate in dimen-

sions ; peristome unequally decagonal ; apical disc absent.

Locality. — Pea-grit, Crickley Hill.

Coll. Dr. Wright.

99

with a Synojjsis of the Species included therein.

C. Species from the Great Oolite and Cornhrash,

Hemipedina Davidsoni, nov. sp.

Test much depressed, 1 inch in diameter ; ambulacral areas with

two rows of marginal tubercles very regular in their arrange-

ment throughout ; interambulacral areas wide, with two rows

of primary tubercles, fourteen in a row, and two rows of

secondary tubercles which extend beyond the equator, between

the former, and two rows of smaller tubercles between the

main rows and the poriferous zones, so that at the equator

there are six rows of tubercles abreast, whilst on the upper

surface there are only two rows ; mouth-opening small, in a

concave depression ; peristome decagonal and nearly equally

lobed ; apical disc absent.

Locality. — The sandy beds of the Great Oolite, Minchin-

nampton.

Coll. Dr. Wright : only one specimen known.

Hemipedina Woodwardii, Wright, nov. sp.

Test circular, much depressed ; ambulacral areas narrow, with

two rows of small tubercles below and extending as far as the

equator, diminishing to granules on the upper part of the

areas; interambulacral areas with two rows of rather large

primary tubercles, eight in a row, and two rows of secondary

tubercles, three to four in each row, which scarcely reach the

equator, the upper part of the intertubercular space being

filled with a small, abundant miliary granulation ; apical disc

large, anal rim prominent ; mouth-opening small ; peristome

decagonal, nearly equal-lobed.

Locality. — Cornbrash, Wiltshire.

Coll. British Museum, from Dr. Smithes collection ; Dr. Wright.

Hemipedina tuberculosa^ Wright, nov. sp.

Test elevated, subconoidal ?, the precise form unknown ; ambu-

lacral areas with two rows of basal semitubercles raised on

very prominent bosses diminishing rapidly in size into coarse

granules above ; interambulacral areas with two rows of large

tubercles set on very prominent bosses, with scrobicular circles

of coarse granules surrounding the areolas ; two rows of small

secondary tubercles close to the poriferous zones from the

peristome to the equator, and three or four at the base of the

intertubercular space; upper surface enveloped in the matrix;

apical aperture large.

Locality. — Coral Rag, Wiltshire.

Coll. British Museum.

7*

100 Dr. T. R. Wriglit on a new Genus of Fossil Cidaridse.

Foreign Species of the genus Hemipedina.

Hemipedina seriate , Wright.

Diadema seriate, Agassiz ; Leymerie, Mem. de la Societe Geologique

de France, tome ii. p. 330. pi. 24. fig. 1, 1839 ; Agassiz and

Desor’s Cat. raisonne des Echinides, 3 ser. tome vi. p. 348.

Test hemispherical, subglobose above, flat below; ambulacral

areas with two rows of tubercles nearly as large as those of

the interambulacra ; interambulacral areas with six rows of

tubercles abreast at the equator, diminishing to four and two

rows above ; a few secondary tubercles unequally distributed ;

mouth-opening small; peristome slightly decagonal.

Locality. — Inferior Lias, France.

Coll. M. Michelin.

Hemipedina Woodwardii, Wright.

This species occurs in the Cornbrash of the Marquise, near

Boulogne-sur-Mer. In one of the specimens before us the spines

are preserved ; the primary spines are not very long, scarcely the

length of the diameter of the test; the secondary spines are

short and needle-shaped ; the surface of both kinds is covered

with fine longitudinal lines.

Locality. — The Cornbrash near Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Coll. British Museum.

Hemipedina Nattheimense, Wright.

Echinopsis Nattheimense, Quenstedt, Handbuch der Petrefacten-

kunde, p. 582. pi. 49. fig. 37.

Locality. — White Jura, Nattheim.

Coll. British Museum. At this moment the specimen is not

at our disposal. We shall give a diagnosis of this species in our

Monograph.

Hemipedina Scemanni, Wright, nov. sp.

Test small, hemispherical ; ambulacra with two rows of tubercles ;

interambulacral areas with one row of primary and two rows

of secondary tubercles, the primary tubercles alternating with

the secondary tubercles, not placed abreast as in most of the

species ; tubercles of both areas nearly the same size.

Locality. — Coral Rag, Commercy, Meuse.

Coll. Dr. Wright : sent by M. Louis Soemann of Paris.

On some new or little-known species of Mammalia, lOi

IX. — Brief Notices of several new or little-known species of

Mammalia, lately discovered and collected in Nepal, by Brian

Houghton Hodgson, Esq. By T. Horsfield, M.I).

Early in the year 1853, B. H. Hodgson, Esq., late of the

Bengal Civil Service, presented to the Museum of the East

India Company, a large collection of prepared skins of Mam-

malia, chiefly from the higher regions of India, with duplicates

of most species. Many of these have already been communi-

cated to the public in a detailed catalogue prepared by Dr. John

Edward Gray, chief Zoologist of the British Museum, with the

title of ‘‘ Specimens and Drawings of Mammalia of Nepal and

Tibet, presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., to the British Museum,

December 10th, 1845.^'

Since Mr. Hodgson's return to India in 1 847, various new

and interesting species of Mammalia have been discovered by

him in Nepal, Darjeling, Tibet, and other parts of India near

the Himalayan range, which are not contained in the catalogue

above mentioned •, of these a concise description is now given,

with remarks on several other species hitherto imperfectly

known.

Of the numerous duplicates liberal distribution has been

made, under the orders of the Hon. Court of Directors of the

India Company, agreeably to the recommendation of Mr.

Hodgson, to the British Museum, the Derby Museum at

Liverpool, to several other English museums of natural history,

and also to the museums at Leyden, Frankfort and Heidelberg,

on the continent of Europe.

Of the family of Vespertilionidse the collection contains the

following species : —

1. Megaderma sciiistacea, Hodgs. J. A. S. xvi. 589, with a

figure.

Megaderma Lyra, GeoflF. apud Kelaart, Prodr. Faunae Zeylanicae, Mam-

malia, p. 11.

This species was discovered by B. II. Hodgson, Esq., in 1847,

in Sikim Tarai, and a very copious description of its form and

habits is given in vol. xvi. of the Journ. As. Soc. Beng. It

apj)cars to be the representative of the M. Lyra in the higher

regions of Bengal, and though very like that species, Mr.

Hodgson considers it clearly distinct, on account of its slaty

colour in the living state, and his figure represents it of that

tint. AVlicn dry it can scarcely be distinguished from M. Lyra :

this appears from tlie specimens set up in the Company's

museum. Dr. Kelaart, wlm found it in Ceylon, introduces it

102

Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little-known

in his cataloo’ue as a synonym of that species, while he remarks,

that ‘‘ none of the specimens examined by us were of the dimen-

sions given by Mr. Hodgson.^^

Mr. Hodgson describes the colour of the fur for the most

part of a clear, deep slaty-blue above, and sordid buff below,

and that of the eye very dark. Females resemble males. The

expanse of the wings is 1 ft. 6 in. The dimensions are given

in detail at page 894.

2. Rhinolophus perniger, Hodgs. J. A. S. xii. 414, xvi. 896.

Rhinolophus perniger, Hodgs. apud Blyth, J. A. S. xiii. 484.

Discovered by Mr. Hodgson in the central regions of the

Sub-Himalaya, and described in vol. xii. of the Journ. As. Soc.

Beng. ; also briefly noticed by Mr. Blyth. As yet a rare

species in collections. According to comparisons made at the

British Museum, it resembles the Uh. trifoliatus.

3. Rhinolophus tragatus, Hodgson.

First described in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. iv. 699; Gray, Cat.

Mamm. Br. Mus. p. 22 ; Cat. Hodgs. Coll. p. 2 ; Blyth, Journ.

As. Soc. Beng. xiii. 484. A new subject in the Company's

museum.

4. Hipposideros armiger, Hodgs. J. A. S. iv. 699; Gray,

Cat. Mamm. Br. Mus. p. 24 ; Cat. Hodgs. Coll. p. 3 ;

Blyth, J. A. S. xiii. 488.

Although nearly allied to Rh. {Hipposideros) nobilis of Hors-

field, it deserves the rank of a distinct species. It is larger

than the Javanese species, and its peculiarities are pointed out

by Hodgson and Blyth.

5. Vespertilio siligorensis, Hodgson.

Muzzle pointed, with a moustache on the upper lip. Ears

oval, slightly emarginate and somewhat pointed ; tragus elon-

gate, acute. Wing-membranes arising from the base of the

toes. Fur above uniform dark brown, below dark brown tipped

with pale brown. Membranes brown. Fore-arm 1 in. 3 lines.

Tibia 6^ lines. Longest finger 2 in. 4 lines.

Ohs. — Very nearly allied to, if not identical with, the V. mijsia-

cinus of Europe.

6. Vespertilio darjelingensis, Hodgson.

Very nearly allied to the former, but differing in having the

ears more emarginate, with a distinct lobe at their base ; in

having the tibia somewhat shorter, with the fur of the upper

103

species of Mammalia.

parts darker and tipped with chestnut, with a gloss somewhat

as in V. mystacinus, but lighter*.

7. ScOTOPHILUS COROMANDELICUS, F. CuV. Sp.

Vespertilio coromandelicus, Lesch. & Cuv. Nouv. Ann. de la Mus. Schinz.

S}^st. Mamm. p. 171.

Examined by R. F. Tomes, Esq,

8. Murina suillus, Temm. sp.

Vespertilio suillus, Temm. Monogr. ii. 224. t. 56. f. 456.

Murina suillus. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, 259.

Identified by R. F. Tomes, Esq.

9. Barbastellus Daubentonii, Mem. Acad. Par. 1759, t. ii.

p. 8 ; Bell, Brit. Quad.

Barbastellus communis, Gray, Mag. Zool. and Bot. ii. 13.

Examined by R. F. Tomes, Esq., who considers it identical

with the European species, although somewhat darker in colour

from its preservation in spirits.

10. Plecotus homochrous, Hodgs. J. A. S. xvi, 894.

Mr. Hodgson, after giving a very copious description of this

new species of Plecotus, which he discovered in the central

regions of Sub-Himalaya, remarks: ‘^Nearly allied to auritus,

but differs therefrom by disunited ears, fewer molars, a flat inner

ear, shorter fur and nude ears, besides its more uniform colour.

The joints of the digits also difiPer, showing how little dependence

can be placed upon this mark, which yet Cuvier, Geotfroy and

Hamilton Smith make the corner-stone of the general classifi-

cation of the family

11. Plecotus darjelingensis, Hodgson.

Nearly allied to the former, but considered distinct by Mr.

Hodgson. The dimensions are the same in all points ; the

colour is deeper, inclining to blackish. The lobes of the ear are

spreading, with a small appendicule at the bases. The tragus

is narrow. The specimens of this and of the former are few

and not well preserved, and more materials are required for a

satisfactory discrimination.

12. Lasiurus Pearsonii, Horsfield, Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. Mu-

seum, p. 36; Blyth, J. A. S. xx. 524.

Noctulinia lasiura, Ilodgs. J. A. S. xvi. 896; fide Blyth, J. A. S. xxi. 343.

The specimen sent by Mr. Hodgson is not quite adult; in

* This uud the j)reeeding were examined and described at my request

by U. r. Tomes, Esej. — T. II.

104

Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little-known

other respects it agrees with Mr. Pearson^s specimen from Dar-

jeling, from which the original description was made.

13. Nycttcejus nivicolus, Hodgson.

Colour of the head and body above uniform light brown, with

a slight yellowish shade; underneath, from the throat to the

vent, dark grey with a brownish tint, lighter on the sides of the

throat. Ears long, attenuated to an obtuse point, exceeding

half an inch in length.

The fur has the character of that of Lasiurus Pearsonii, being

delicate, very soft and silky both above and underneath. Entire

length 5 in., of which the tail measures 2; brachium If in.;

cubitus 2f in.; longest digit 4^ in.; tibia If in.; foot and

claws I in. ; ears f in. ; expanse 1 ft. 7 in.

This species resembles the Nycticejus ornatus described by

Mr. Blyth in vol. xx. of the Journ. As. Soc. Beng. pp. 517, 518,

but it is of larger dimensions, more uniform in its colouring,

and altogether destitute of the white spots and bands indicated

in the description of the N. ornatus, and of the tawny-red colour

on the membranes of that species. It has also some affinity to

the Nycticejus Tickelii, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xx. 157,

158, but its dimensions and proportions are different, and the

brighter maroon colour which spreads over the membranes, as

m Kerivoula picta, is entirely wanting in the Nycticejus nivi-

colus.

More specimens of this species are desirable to illustrate its

true character.

14. Pteropus Edwardsti, Geoffr. (Gray, Cat. Hodgs. Coll, p.3),

presents nothing peculiar.

Of the genus FeliSythc collection contains, besides the more com-

mon species, the following; — Felis C/hciff, Erxleb. Syst. Mamm.

p. 508. Leopardus Uncia, Gray, Cat. Mamm. Br. Mus. p. 41 ;

Cat. Hodgs. Coll. p. 5. Uncia Irhis, Ehrenb. sp. Gray, Ann. &

Mag. Nat. Hist. N. S. xiv. 394*.

* Dr. J. E. Gray has recently proposed that the Ounces, or Tortoise-

shell Tigers as they have been called, should form a particular group of

Cats, to which the name of Uncia may he attached. They are easily cha-

racterized by the great length and thickness of their cylindrical or rather

clavate tail, and the marbling of the colours on the fur. They are con-

fined to Asia.

1. Uncia Irbis. Felis Uncia, Schreber. F. Pardus, Pallas. Tibet.

2. Uncia macroscelis, Temm. Sumatra.

3. Uncia macrosceloides, Hodgson. India.

4. Uncia marmoratus. Felis marrnorata, Martin. F. Diardii, Jardiiic.

Penang.

5. Uncia Charltoni. F. Charltoni,G\n.y. F. Hodgs. MSS.

India, Himalaya. — Dr. Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1S51, xiv. p. 3IM.

species of Mammalia. 105

15. Felis uncioides, Hodgs. List of Mamm. presented to

E.LC. Mus.

The specimens received from Mr. Hodgson agree in all points

with those from Tibet presented to the Museum of the East

India Company by Capt. R. Strachey.

16. Felis macrosceloides, Hodgs. Coll., Journ. N. H. iv. 286.

Felis macroscelis, Hodgs. J. A. S. xi. 2/5.

Felis, n. sp., Tickell, J. A. S. xii. with a figure.

Although nearly allied to F. macroscelis, Temm., of the Ma-

layan Islands, l)r. J. E. Gray allows it the rank of a distinct

species, on account of its smaller size and some difference in the

markings. In a note on the specimen described by Mr. Hodg-

son in vol. xi. of the Journ. As. Soc. Beng. p. 276, Mr. Blyth

remai’ks, that this fine species originally discovered in Bengal

should also inhabit Tibet is a remarkable circumstance.”

Mr. Hodgson’s specimen is from Tibet; that described by

Lieut. Tickell is from the snowy range of Darjeling.

A figure of Mr. Hodgson’s specimen will be found in the

Illust. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853.

17. Felis murmensis, Hodgs. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 10,

varietas nigra.

Mr. Hodgson has recently discovered a very beautiful variety,

of a saturated brown or black colour, of which the collection

contains several specimens. In size and external character it

agrees exactly with the brown-red or bay species, first described

in the ^Proceedings of the Zoological Society.’ The lateral

marks on the cheeks, forehead and thighs are the same, and

also a slight whitish discoloration on the tip of the tail. It is

a very beautiful variety.

18. Felis Charltoni, Gray, Br. Mus.

Uncia Charltoni, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xiv. p. 394 (1854).

This is as yet a very rare species in collections. Besides the

original specimen discovered by Col. Charlton, and that for-

warded by Mr. Hodgson, none is enumerated in Catalogues of

Natural History. It is from the higher regions.

19. Paradoxurls strictus, Hodgson.

General colour grey, with a slight rusty shade ; two prominent

white spots on each side of the head, one beneath the eye oblong,

tending forward, one behind the eye larger, triangular, tending-

backward ; five continuous strij)cs, regularly defined and straight,

of a deep black colour, commencing on the neck, extend over

the whole length of the body, having on each side beneath an

106 Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little-known

interrupted band of black spots. Abdomen grey. Tail exceed-

ing the body in length ; mixed grey and black at the base, the

terminal portion black, the colour increasing in deepness towards

the extremity. Legs black. Throat grey, with a medial black

stripe. Ears developed.

Length from the snout to the root of the tail 23 inches, of

the tail 25 inches.

This species appears nearly allied to Par. Palassii, described

by Dr. Gray in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 67, but it has jio

resemblance to the figure of that species given in Gray and Hard-

wickeds Illustrations of Indian Zoology, ii. fig. 8. Its distinctive

character requires further examination.

Five well-defined and regular black lines on the back are the

chief characteristic of this species ; hence the specific name.

Mr. Hodgson considers it to be new ; and from the comparison

made by Dr. Gray at the British Museum, it appears to be

distinct from Par. Palassii,

20. Paradoxurus quadriscrtptus, Hodgson.

General colour grey, with a slight rufous shade extending

over the whole of the body, over one-half of the tail, over the

forehead and the lower part of the ear. On the back and parts

adjoining, four well-defined continuous black stripes pass from

the neck to the rump, having a shorter interrupted band on

each side; the bridge of the nose in the middle, a well-defined

narrow streak from the canthus of the eye, the neck, the feet,

and the terminal part of the tail are black ; on the upper part

of the neck the hairy covering is slightly variegated black and

grey, the separate piles being grey at the base and black at the

tip. The fur is soft, lengthened and straggling.

The entire length of this species is 50 inches ; 26 of which

are occupied by the head and body, and 24 by the tail.

This species resembles the Paradoxurus Bondar in habit and

in the softness of its hairy covering, but differs essentially in

colour and in the four strongly marked black lines on the back.

The Bondar, according to the description of M. de Blainville

(Desm. Mamm.), is of a yellowish colour, with one prominent

black line on the back : the Par. hirsutus of Hodgson, which

is identical with the Bondar of Dr. Buchanan Hamilton, de-

scribed in vol. xix. of the ^ Asiatic Researches,^ is of a yellow

colour, and without lines on the body. According to the notice

of Dr. Gray, this species is not contained in the British Mu-

seum *.

* Dr. Gray states hi Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853, p. 191 : — “ 1 cannot see any

difference between these specimens and the P. nmsanga.^’

107

species of Mammalia,

21. Hy^na striata, Zimm.

The collection contains two imperfect skins, marked by Mr.

Hodgson Hycena virgata, List of specimens presented to the

East India Company. In Mr. Ogilby^s memoir on the Mam-

malogy of the Himalayas, in Royle^s Illustrations, &c., is the

following remark : the Hysena of India {Hycena virgata), a

native of the plains, sometimes ascends even to Simla.^^ The

skins have been compared with specimens of the striated species

at the British Museum and at the East India House, but present

no character to warrant a specific distinction. The multifarious

specific names with which this species is enumerated in books

on zoology have greatly perplexed its synonymy.

Besides the common Indian species of Vulpes bengalensis,

montanus and ferrilatus, the collection contains a specimen com-

monly indicated as Vulpes laniger, which is, however, a true

Lupus.

22. Lupus laniger, Hodgson.

The entire length of the specimen from the nose to the root

of the tail is 4 feet 4 inches; of the tail only 11 inches remain,

and its length cannot be determined accurately. The general

colour above is fulvescent inclining to sordid, deeper on the

back, which is slightly variegated by the admixture of black-

tipped hairs ; underneath pale grey. On the back the pelage is

close and formed into small tufts, on the sides dense and shaggy,

in accordance with the cold regions which it inhabits ; on the

head and nose it is greyish. The ears are large, pointed, and

covered externally with a dense brownish fur. The form of the

head is that of a common European wolf, rounded posteriorly

and tapering to the nose.

This animal must be considered specifically distinct from

the Canis Lupus of Elliot (Madr. Journ. Lit. x.), and from

the Canis pallipes of Sykes (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831), to which the

name of Wolf is also assigned. It is a larger animal, and the

hairy covering is of a different character, besides other distinc-

tions which appear from the descri])tions. The black lines on

the front of the fore feet arc observed in both species. Mr.

Blythes remarks in his Report for September 1847, afford a

useful illustration of the Tibetan Wolf.

23. xMuSTELA STRIGIDORSA, IlodgSOlI.

A new species discovered by Mr. Hodgson in the Sikim Hills of

Tarai, and thus described by himself: — Snout to vent 12 inches;

head in.; tail only in.; tail and bair in. Jkdma 1| in.,

planta 2 in. Weight 7\ to 8 ounces. Intense brown, with the

108

Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little- known

lips, head and neck inferiorly, and a dorsal and ventral stripe,

yellowish- white or pale aureous.

Remark, — Is a fourth larger than the Kathia or auriventei'y

and differs from it by the dorsal stripe and also by the ventral,

the latter in the Kathia being much wider and its colour richer.

Hab. Sikim (Hodgson MS.).

The specimen sent to the Museum agrees generally with this

description ; the brown colour has a shade of chestnut, and the

under part of the head, neck and breast are nearly white, with a

slight isabelline discoloration *.

24. Meles leucurus, Hodgson.

Taxidea leucurus, Hodgs. J. A. S. xvi.

Tum])hd of the Tibetans.

Tibetan Badger,

This interesting animal was first brought to the notice of Mr.

Hodgson by the receipt of a specimen from the neighbourhood

of Lassa, and a very copious description of it is given in

vol. xvi. of the Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., with a figure of the

animal, and details of its skull and feet comparative with

the allied quadrupeds. A specimen in a tolerable state of pre-

servation, with a separate skull quite perfect, has been presented

to the Museum. The comparison of this skull with one of the

European Badger has afforded the means of determining its

true generic character. The result of the examination made by

Dr. J. E. Gray, which illustrates this point, is given in a short

notice published in vol. xii. of the Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. N. S.

xii. 221 f.

The specimen sent agrees generally with Mr. Hodgson^s

* See also description by Dr. Gray in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853, p. 191.

t The Tibetan Badger of Hodgson.

“ Mr. Hodgson having sent to the India House a specimen with its skull

of his Taxidea leucurus (Journ. Asiat. Soc. xvi. 753, 1847), I have com-

pared the skull with that of the various Badgers in the Brit. Mus. Collec-

tion. I find all the Old-World Badgers {Meles) have a moderate-sized

triangular flesh-tooth, and a very large four-sided oblong tuberculous

grinder in the upper jaw, which is rather longer than broad, and the skull

is rounded behind. The nose of the Tibetan Badger or Tumj)ha, Meles

leucurus, is rather more tapering and more compressed than that of the

European Badger {Meles Taxus), which it most resembles. The Japanese

Badger {Meles Auakuma) differs from both in having a much shorter skull

and a short, rather broad nose.

“The American Badgers {Taxidce, Waterh.) have a verj" large triangular

flesh-tooth, and an equally triangular tubercular grinder in the uj)})er jaw

not exceeding the flesh-tooth in size. The skull is also much broader,

more de])ressed and truncated behind. Of this genus I only know a single

species, T. Labradoria.’^ — J. E. Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. N. S. xii. 221. See

also Proc. Zool. Soc. 185.3, p. 191.

109

species of Mammalia.

original description. The upper parts are of a greyish-white

colour^ with a fulvescent shade which is deeper on the extremity

of the tail. The chin, throat, breast and extremities are entirely

black. In the hairy covering on the back, the separate piles

are nearly 3 inches long, white at the base one-half of their

length, with a black extremity, widely diffused and straggling,

giving the animal a rough and shaggy appearance. It bears

a great resemblance to the European Badger.

Mr. Hodgson has proposed that it should be formed into a

genus under the name of Pseudomeles.

In the Report to the Bengal Society for September (1854),

Mr. Blyth communicates some remarks on Indian Badgers. He

mentions the Tibetan Badger with reference to Mr. HodgsoiEs

description and figure in vol. xvi. of the Journ. Asiat. Soc. ;

while he indicates what he considers to be a distinct species,

with the name of Meles albogularis : comparatively with the

European Badger "it has smaller and much less tufted ears, a

shorter and much less bushy tail, and the fur shorter and

coarser.^^

The subject of Indian Badgers requires further examination.

An Indian Badger resembling the Meles leucurus is described

by Pennant in vol. ii. of Hist, of Quad. p. 16 {fJrsus indicus) ;

" Badger with a small head and pointed nose ; scarcely any

external ears; only a small prominent rim round the orifice,

which was oval ; colour of the nose and face, a little beyond the

eyes, black ; crown, upper part of the neck, the back, and upper

part of the tail, white inclining to grey; legs, thighs, breast,

belly, sides, and under part of the tail black. Five toes on each

foot, the inner small ; claws very long and straight. Length

from nose to tail about 2 feet ; tail 4 inches long ; hair short

and smooth

Dr. Shaw in his ' General Zoology ^ adds the following remark :

" Mr. Pennant is the first and only describer of this species, which

was brought from India, and was in the possession of the late

Mr. John Hunter. (It remains to be determined whether all the

Badgers hitherto indicated do not constitute local varieties of the

same species ? — T. H.)

Of the genera Lutra and Adnyx, the collection contains the

following representatives : —

25. Lutra chinensis. Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1836; Cat. Mamm.

B.M. 71 ?

Lutra tarayensis, Ilodgs. J. A. 8. viii. 819 ; Gray, Cat. II. C. p. 14.

26. Aonyx sikimensis, Hodgson.

This Mr. Hodgson considers to be a new species. It differs

110 Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little-known

chiefly from the common Aonyx of India, which is found in

Bootan and Afghanistan, by a more clear brown colour, inclining

to chestnut, but the sjDecimen is not sufficiently perfect to afford

the means of an accurate description.

In the Summary Description of four new species of Otter,^^

Journ. Asiat. Soc. viii. 319, Mr. Hodgson remarks: One of

the most remarkable features of the mammalogy of Nepal is the

great number of distinct species of Otter characterizing it. There

are at least seven species, I believe, though not one of them is

numerous in individuals, — at least not in comparison of the

common Otter of commerce, which is produced in the neigh-

bourhood of Dacca and Sylhet.^^

In the Summary” Mr. Hodgson describes four species ; most

of these are rare in collections. In the Catalogue of Hodgson^s

collection. Dr. Gray enumerates four species from Nepal: Lutra

aurohrunnea, Lutra chinensiSf Lutra monticola, and Aonyx indi-

gitatus.

27. SoREX MURiNUs, Zimmerman.

Sorex myosurus, Pallas.

The Museum contains specimens of this species from Nepal,

Bootan, and other Indian localities; among these are several very

perfect specimens presented by Capt. R. C. Tytler. One of

these, as well as a single specimen of Mr. Hodgson^s last collec-

tion, are of comparatively larger dimensions, of a cserulescent

greyish colour, agreeing with the description of Sorex ccerules-

cens of authors ; while two specimens of a former collection, re-

ceived from Mr. Hodgson in 1845, are of a darker colour, brown,

and not caerulescent, resembling the S. murinus described by

authors. Much uncertainty still exists in the discrimination of

the species of Sorex, and the real character of many species

enumerated by authors remains doubtful, until, for instance,

ccerulescens, murinus, myosurus, serpentarius, nemorivagus, soccatus,

&c., be subjected to a careful examination of specimens in a

perfect state.

28. Sorex saturatior, Hodgson.

Colour uniform deep brown, inclining to blackish, with a very

slight rufescent shade. Fur short, with an admixture of a few

lengthened piles; when adpressed to the body smooth, but re-

versed somewhat rough and harsh. Tail cylindrical, long, and

gradually tapering to the point. Snout elongate, regularly at-

tenuated. Ears moderate, rounded.

Very nearly allied in habit and dimensions to Sorex Griffithii,

Horsf. Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. Mus. p. 134, the more lengthened

Ill

species of Mammalia .

and cylindrical tail forming the chief distinction. The character

of the fur is the same in both species.

Length from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail 5^

inches, of the tail 3 in.

29. SoREX CAUDATUs, Hodgs. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. N. S. hi.

p. 203 ; Cat. Mamm. E. I. C. Mus. p. 135.

Corsira ? caudata, Blyth, Mem. on Indian Shrews, J. A. S. 1855, p. 3/.

A true Sorex, as appears from the examination of the skull.

Judging from the number of specimens sent to the Museum,

this species appears to be common on the hills.

30. Sorex ? nemori vagus, Hodgs. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xv.

269 ; Coll. J. N. H. iv. 288 ; Gray, Cat. H. Coll. p. 10.

Sorex nemorivagus, ap. Blyth, P»Iem. on Ind. Shrews, J. A. S. 1855, p, 31.

A species by no means clearly determined. The specimens

sent defective.

31. Sorex pvGMiEus, Hodgs. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xv. 269;

Gray, Cat. H. Coll. p. 16.

“ Structure typical, save that no odorous glands were detected,

nor had the animal any musky smell.^^ — Hodgs. loc. cit,

32. Sorex leucops, Hodgson.

In Mr. Hodgson^s list, accompanying his present, this is

marked as a new species.

Colour uniform blackish-brown ; tail very slender and taper-

ing, exceeding in length the body and head together, terminating

with a whitish tip of half an inch long. It is named White-

lipped, but this character does not appear in the specimen sent.

It appears to be a distinct species, but further specimens and

examinations are required to determine its rank.

Length of the body and head 3 inches, of the tail 3J in.

The distinguishing character is the comparative length of the

tail and its white tip. It resembles the caudatus, but the colour

is darker, and the single specimen examined is not furnished

with the delicate hairs on the sides of the snout which exist in

the S>. caudatus.

Note. — The Sorex sikimensis, Hodgs. Ann. & Mag. Nat.

Hist., N.S., vol. hi. p. 203; Cat. Mamm. Mus. E. I. C. p. 136, has,

on a more accurate examination of its skull and other characters,

been determined to be identical with Corsira nigrescens jCvixy , Ann.

& Mag. Nat. Hist. x. 261. In the Catalogue of Hodgson^s Coll,

p. 17, Dr. Gray gives the following synonyms of this species: —

Sorex soccatus, Hodgs. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xv. 270, and

112 Dr. T. Horsfield on some new or little-known

Cat. Journ. Nat. Hist. iv. 288 j and Sorex aterrimus, Blyth,

Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xii. 1843^ p. 928 ? The latter spe-

cies is not enumerated in Blythes Memoir on Indian Shrews,

J. A. S. B. 1855 ; but the Corsira nigrescens is defined here

as Soriculus nigrescens, Blyth, with the synonym of Corsira ni-

grescens and Sorex sikimensis. The Sorex soccatus of Hodgson,

Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., is enumerated by Mr. Blyth as a di-

stinct species.

33. Mus TARAYENSis, Hodgson.

Nearly allied to Mus hrunnusculus, Hodgs., Ann. & Mag. Nat.

Hist. XV. 267.

Colour of the body and head above dark brown, delicately

variegated with blackish and rufous hairs ; a very slight gloss on

the surface. Outer sides of the extremities rather darker. Under

parts from the chin to the vent, and inner parts of the extremi-

ties greyish -brown, with a rusty shade. Tail shorter than the

body, tapering to an abrupt tip. Head lengthened and com-

pressed ; muzzle gradually tapering to an abrupt tip.

Distinguishing character. — A dark brown surface with a slight

gloss. Head lengthened. Tail shorter than the body. Under-

neath rusty-grey.

Mr. Hodgson^s collection contains only a single specimen,

and further observations are required to confirm the distinctness

of this species.

34. Mus PLURiMAMMis, Hodgson.

Colour above brown, with a rufescent shade ; fur soft, con-

sisting of brown and rufous hairs intermixed in equal propor-

tions, forming a uniform upper surface ; a rather obscure band

extending from the gape over the cheek, terminating under the

ears, and the abdomen and adjoining parts rufous-grey. Head

proportionately short, muzzle abrupt ; ears moderate. Tail equal

in length to the body, tapering to a sharp point, and minutely

annulated.

Length of the head 2| inches, of the body from the neck to

the vent 5^ in. ; of the tail the same.

The distinguishing character, according to Mr. Hodgson, rests

on the number of teats, exceeding that of other species.

35. Mus MORUNGENsis, Hodgson.

Hairy covering of the body above minutely striated with

black and rufous hairs, nearly equally mixed, giving the animal

a blackish rufous aspect ; abdomen and extremities paler, rufes-

cent-grey. Body proportionately robust and stout ; head large

species of Mammalia. 113

and thick ; muzzle short and abrupt ; ears large and rounded j

tail cylindrical, gradually tapering to the point and delicately

annulated, equal in length to the body and head together. Fur

above soft; hairs more lengthened than in Mus plurimammis,

rufous and brown intermixed, the former predominant.

Dimensions. — Head IJ inch ; body 3 inches; tail 4^ in.

Distinguishing character. — A large truncated head, robust

body, long, tapering and minutely annulated tail. General

colour rufescent-black.

36. Arctomys tibetanus, Hodgs. J.A.S. xii. 409.

In presenting this animal to the Museum, Mr. Hodgson gave

us personally the following remark respecting the two species of

this genus described by him, and their respeetive specific names

and localities: — “The Bohac, Arctomys himalay anus, Hodgs.,

A. Bobac, Schreb., is found only in the higher regions of Tibet,

while the A. tibetanus, Hodgs., inhabits exclusively the lower

regions of Himalaya ; but inadvertently the respective locality

of the two species has been alternated in my descriptions.”

Among the Squirrels sent by Mr. Hodgson there are several

specimens of the Sciurus 31‘ Clellandii, Horsfield, Proc. Zool.

Soc. 1839, p. 152, which was discovered by J. McClelland, Esq.,

in his visitation to Assam as a member of the deputation on the

Tea-plant, and described in the Report of his contributions of

Mammalia and Birds to the Company's Museum. It is thus

described : —

Sciurus McClellandii, Horsfield. Supra fuscus fulvo tenuis-

sime irroratus notseo saturatiore; subtus ex sordido fulvo-

canescens ; dorso summo linea recta atra ; linea insuper utrin-

que lateral! fusca Iseto fulvo marginata, antice saturatiore, ad

oculos extensa, postice obsoleta in uropygio utrinsecus ap-

proximata ; cauda mediori subcylindrico-attenuata nigro ful-

voque variegata ; auriculis atris barba nivea lanuginosa insigni

circumscriptis ; vibrissis longis nigris.

In the specimens contained in Mr. Hodgson^s collection, the

colour on the upper parts is brownish-grey, with a slight rufes-

cent shade, rather deeper on the back, minutely grizzled with

brown and blackish hairs ; all the under-parts are fulvescent-

yellow : on the middle of the back from the neck to the rump

is a deep black stripe, and somewhat lower a brownish-black

stripe of the same extent, adjoining which, on each side, is a

yellowish -white stripe, eommencing at the tip of the nose and

extending along the sides to the rump, gradually narrower

towards its termination. Ears large, black exteriorly, delicately

Ann. Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 8

114 Mr. W. Clark on Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina.

fringed with wliite on tke posterior border. Tail tapering, va-

riegated with black and rufescent hairs. Whiskers long and

black.

Dimensions. — Head 1^ inch; body 3 inches; tail 3 in.

This species, although provisionally arranged in the genus

Sciurus, resembles in its external habit, markings, attenuated

tail, and minutely fringed ears, the American genus Tamias, and

it remains for naturalists in the higher regions of India, who

may examine living specimens, to determine whether it has

cheek-pouches, by which Tamias is distinguished from Sciurus.

Mr. Hodgson^s collection contains a large supply of most of

the Indian Ungulata: many of these have been discovered, and

first described by himself, and are known to naturalists chiefly

by the copious details given in the Journal of the Asiatic Society

of Bengal, and by Hr. J. E. Gray^s Catalogue of the collection

presented to the British Museum. Among the subjects as yet rare

in collections may be mentioned Poephagus grunnienSj Linn.,

adult and one calf., Poi'cula salvania, Hodgs., and Budorcas tax--

icolor, Hodgs.* Of the latter, Mr. Hodgson has some three

specimens, on the whole in good preservation ; one of these is

exhibited in the Museum of the East India Company, one has

been presented to the British Museum, and one to the Museum

at Leyden. A very perfect specimen of the Cervus affinis of

Hodgson has also been sent, and is mounted in the Museum.

Whether this be reall}’’ a distinct species from Cervus Wallichii

of Cuvier remains still to be determined; the horns of both

agree in structure and subdivisions. Dr. Gray has given most

copious details regarding the various, multifarious synonyms

with which they are enumerated by authors (Cat. Mamm. Brit.

Mus. Part hi. Ungulata furcipeda, pp. 197 & 199).

X. — On the Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina.

By William -Clark, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen, Exmouth, 26th June 1855.

I BEG to present descriptions of two testaceous Gasteropoda,

which could not be obtained during the passage through the

press of my volume on the British Marine Testaceous Mol-

lusca. One of them, the Assiminia Grayana^ is of peculiar in-

terest, and has caused much discussion and difference of opinion

* These three interestiiig animals have been figured in the Illustrations

of the Proc. Zool. Soc. for 1853.

Mr. W. Clark on Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatiua. 115

respecting the structure of the tentacula and eyes^ and its natural

position. The other, the Rissoa anatina, is a Rissoidean of the

group which is represented by R. ulva. Authors have men-

tioned both these animals, and the Rev. M. J. Berkeley has pub-

lished a valuable memoir and figure of A. Grayana^ in vol. v.

p. 429 of the ^ Zoological Journal but I have thought that the

addition of later notes on several unobserved points of this last

species, and in comparison with those of the genus Truncatellay

would be acceptable to some of your readers.

In vol. xii. p. 4 of the ^ Annals ^ for July 1853, and in my

work above mentioned, pp. 380-6, I have expressed an opinion

that the genus Assiminia is superfluous, and that its only spe-

cies would be handed over to the genus Truncatella. I have

been so impressed with this view, that I invited malacologists

residing in the neighbourhood of Greenwich to send me live spe-

cimens of the A. Grayana ; this request was inserted in the

^ Annals,^ but the appeal remained unsuccessful until this date,

when I had the good fortune to obtain the long-sought-for desi-

deratum, with an unexpected addition of the Rissoa anatina,

both in a living state, through the kindness of my friend John

Gwyn JeflTreys, Esq., of Swansea, who omits no opportunity nor

spares any personal exertion to add to his valuable contributions

to the molluscan branch of British natural history.

Truncatella Grayana^ nobis.

Assiminia Grayana^ auctorum ; Brit. Moll. vol. iii. p. 70. pi. 71.

figs. 3, 4 ; (animal) pi. H.H. f. 6.

Shelly a short strong cone of 6| tumid volutions, increas-

ing rapidly in bulk from the apex to the base, which are di-

stinctly but not deeply divided; each whorl is marked with a

somewhat irregular and confused rufous- brown and a yellow

spiral band, the former being the broadest, and situate at its

base ; the latter winds round the upper part, but in many ex-

amples the bands become so blended as to diflPuse throughout

the entire area the mixed hues of the two fasciae. The trans-

verse striae of increment are well marked, and also obsolete

rather coarse spiral lines may be detected. Aperture suboval or

pear-shaped ; peristome disunited ; outer lip sharp ; no umbilical

fissure ; the apex is pointed. Axis y%ths, diameter j\jth of an

inch.

Animal. — The mantle at the aperture of the shell is simple.

The muzzle is very short and broad, flat, expanded, and curved

at the end on each side, forming minute auricles with a central

cmargination or well-impressed sinuation, and furnished witli

raised elastic annular lines that enable the animal to effect a

8*

116 Mr. W. Clark on Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina.

great protrusion of the neck and rostrum ; the latter organ in

every position is always borne much in advance of the foot ; it is

vertically cloven, and at the under part, in the centre, slightly

so, in a crosial direction, from whence the jaws or subcircular

arches of the lingual riband, supported by the buccal plates, are

almost momentarily exserted ; the oesophagean portion of the

riband springing from the stomach is short and of rissoid stamp.

The posterior part of the muzzle next the neck is suffused in

different individuals with all the phases of dark colour ap-

proaching to almost black, and with all the variations of the

most delicate cinereous hues ; the flattened or expanded anterior

curved terminal portion abruptly becomes white, and is shot

with the minutest points or flakes of a still intenser white. A not

very deep longitudinal groove, or two contiguous parallel lines,

are visible on the neck when moderately protruded, but these,

when greatly so, are lost ; they are generally supposed to act as

a conduit to the branchial water.

The dark tentacula spring from a minute mammilla, and

are very short, massive, and columnar at the base, becoming,

though still thick, somewhat spatulate and rounded at their

whitish terminations ; in the centre of this minute plateau,

at some little distance from the extremities, the large eyes

are immersed, and from the intensity of the black colour are

almost equally visible on the upper and lower surface ; this is

their natural position when the animal is on the undisturbed

march, but the instant it is disquieted, both the tentacula and

eyes assume various modifications of figure : for instance, when

the neck is greatly exserted, or the animal is in comparative re-

pose, in either of these opposite conditions they become much

contracted, especially at the tips, which are folded or withdrawn

into a minute hollow, out of which the eyes peep, and thus ap-

pear fixed at the extremities ; but, as we have shown, this is not

their true site, which here, and in all the Truncatellce, is at some

little, but distinct, distance from their final points.

Some authors have thought that the eyes are mounted on

pedicles, connate, and of the same length as the true tentacula :

this idea is wrong : we repeat their true position is an absolute

immersion in the tissue ; the tentacula are therefore strict vibra-

cula, and in nowise sustentacula. The white pupil mentioned

in my first account of Ti'uncatella was not detected in this spe-

cies. The animal on the march carries the tentacula nearly at a

rectangular divergence : this position is a marked characteristic

of the genus Truncatella.

Foot rather short, broad and fleshy, not auricled, but subqua-

drate in front, with a tendency to rounduess at the external

angles, without a central sinuation, and deeply and conspicu-

Mr. W. Clark on Assimiuia Grayana and Rissoa anatina. 117

ously labiated; when not in action rounded posteally, but in

full progression it assumes a broad lancet-shape, suddenly sloping

on each side to an obtuse termination ; there is no longitudinal

depressed line on the sole, and only a slight transverse crease is

visible when the posterior portion is drawn up to the advanced

one ; it carries on a distinct upper fuscous lobe, which is only

narrowly alated on each side, a light corneous pear-shaped

operculum, with a rather indistinct submarginal nucleus, the

spiral continuations of which show the fine oblique lines of in-

crement, as in the Littorin<2 and Rissoce, The animal is slow

and deliberate in progression ; its action is between that of Lit-

torina and Rissoa, not having the lateral oscillatory march of

the former, nor the perfectly steady advance of the latter. The

foot on the upper surface is of all the hues of lead-colour ; the

sole is pale bluish-w^hite, aspersed thickly with minute flakes of

an intenser white.

From the non-transparency of the shell, the character of the

branchia3 could not be well made out, and when examined after

extraction their delicate and minute structure suffered from col-

lapse. The neck has no appendages except the guide lines for

the branchial water, and the muzzle is altogether without them.

Verge long, slender, and falcate at the end.

It inhabits the Greenwich marshes in company with the Rissoa

anatina, and seems, like many of the littoral species, to enjoy a

kind of amphibious existence ; it is also nearly equally at home

in fresh ^vater, or in a mixture of salt, half of each. It feeds on

a common Ulva of the pools. I received the animals by post,

deposited in a small tin box in moderately moistened weed ; they

remained alive for some time, but they are constitutionally

sluggish.

The above minutes of this curious creature do not differ in

any essential character from my recorded descriptions of the

Truncatellce, and will justify the surmises I have expressed in the

earlier part of this account, that Assiminia is only a generic

synonym of the established genus Truncatella,

Rissoa anatina, auctorum.

Rissoa anatina, Brit. Moll. vol. iii. p. 134. pi. 87. f. 3, 4.

Rhell — of a light horn-colour, of 4-5 rounded tumid volutions,

with well-marked wrinkled striae of increment, as in Bithynia

ventricosa [Leachii, nonnull.), to which, in these respects, it bears

much resemblance, as well as in the entire peristome; the two

are also occasionally found in the same locality, with the colour

of their shells obscured by a similar black earthy deposit. This

circumstance is singular, as the TruncaUdla Grayana living with

1] 8 Mr. W. Clark on Asslminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina.

or near them is perfectly clean : perhaps the other two have

some difference of habitat. Axis /oths, diameter

inch.

Animal. — The mantle is simple, and the linear process seen at

that part which lines the upper angle of the aperture in Rissoa

ulvcBf and often in other Rissoce, is wanting. The muzzle is long,

subcylindrical, and armed with very contractile, dark, annulated

ridges, which allow of a great protrusion of the neck. The

buccal orifice is cloven vertically, and from it, almost without

cessation, the animal shows a pair of corneous jaws, to which the

short lingual riband proceeding from the stomach is united, and

both portions of the tongue are supported by a pair of red fleshy

plates, which are visible through the tenuity of the enveloping

tissue.

The tentacula are long, not much flattened, slender and mode-

rately pointed, of a very light ashy hue, quite smooth, divergent,

with rather large black eyes at the external bases, fixed on mi-

nute semicircular expansions ; at their lower half they are spa-

ringly studded with white, flaky, minute irregular blotches, and

sometimes a very fine cinereous line coasts their margins.

The foot is scarcely so proportionately long, slender, and con-

stricted below the auricles as in the usual run of the Rissoce ; it

is perfectly rounded posteally, but parts of the margin are some-

times notched ; anteally furnished with moderately large lateral

auricular expansions. The opercular lobe is distinct, and shows

at the junction of the foot with the body a whitish alated process

on each side, and carries a rissoidean suboval operculum of laxly

spiral rather indistinct turns, with an eccentric nucleus; the

curved lines of each volution are coarser, fewer, and less oblique

than in the generality of the Littorince and Rissoce, The upper

part of the main foot is of a darkish lead- colour, disposed in

close-set fine irregular lines ; the sole is either white, yellow or

palely cinereous, without a longitudinal depressed central line,

and aspersed thickly with minute pale-gray-coloured points or

flakes. The opercular lobe is without a caudal process, but it

may be observed, this is not an invariable adjunct of all Rissoce.

The character of the branchial plume in a young, almost

white horn-coloured shell was sufficiently apparent ; it consists

of a flat ordinary-shaped leaf deposited in the usual position in

the branchial vault, of 12 to 16 or even more coarse white strands ;

the transverse measure of the anterior ones and those nearest

to the pericardium being the shortest, whilst the central threads

arc gradually elongated. The intestine is rendered visible, by its

contents, through the filmy shell, — at least that length of it which

proceeds from the part of the animal enclosed in the second

volution to its debouchure as rectum on the right side. Verge ?

M r. W. Clark on Assiminia Grayana and Rissoa anatina. 119

- The animal continues lively for some days in a mixture of salt,

as well as in the fresh, or scarcely brackish water. These crea-

tures were received from Greenwich in company with the Trun-

catella Gi'ayana ; they are neither shy nor apathetic.

Though the shell of R, anatina resembles the Bithynia ventru

cosa {Leachii, nonnull.), and is found in company with it and

the Limneus palustris, L. truncatulus and B, impura, all of fresh-

water habitat, 1 am of opinion that the R. anatina, R, uIvcb and

R, ventrosa are essentially of marine organization, and inhabit

the salt and brackish estuaries as their natural localities, and

that the Bithynim and Limnei are mixed with them fortuitously,

— perhaps impelled into their districts by floods, and agreeably to

a well-known habit and law, live and even multiply and become

acclimated in localities that are not strictly natural to them.

In other words, I believe that both these tribes are eminently

distinct, the one being of marine, the other of freshwater habitat,

and that there is no connexion between them beyond that of

accident, chance acclimation, and the alliance which is conse-

quent on the proximity of their genera in most malacological

methods. It results from these views of ours, that the R. ana-

tina, R. ventrosa and R. ulvce are in their right places as the

Ulvan group of the Rissoideans.

It has been proposed to remove the above species to Littorina,

or Hydrobia, or Paludinella ; the two latter of these genera would

only be useless synonyms of Rissoa ; for the variations of the

malacology of the three species from the typical Rissoa^ are not

greater, perhaps not so great, as those of many of the animals

that form part of that genus, and if such differences are to be

held as of generic value, every admitted Rissoa must have its

particular genus and be itself the only species.

I have merely mentioned casually the localities of Truncatella

Grayana and Rissoa anatina, but the deficiency of the detail of

the habitats will be well supplied by presenting, by way of con-

clusion, a valuable letter from Mr. Jeffreys, which contains many

excellent remarks on these points.

^‘9 Montague Place, Bryanstone Square,

London, 25th June 1855.

Mv DEAR Sir, — Our friend Mr. Barlee told me that he had

not been successful in procuring for you specimens of the Assi-

minia Grayana, the animal of which you were desirous of exami-

ning. I went to Greenwich last Saturday, and have the pleasure

of sending you some lively examples of this curious molliisk, as

well as a few Littorina (?) anatina. The shell of the latter is

120 Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea.

closely allied to Bitkynia, but the operculum is that of Littorinaj

and the animal resembles Paludinella ulv<2.

“2nd July. — I again visited the Greenwich marshes yesterday

for the purpose of ascertaining the range of Littorina (?) anatina

and Assiminia Grayana, and to inform you more particularly of

their respective habitats. I found both of them more or less

distributed along the banks of the Thames, from a little below

Greenwich Hospital to the upper Pier at Woolwich, a distance of

about three miles. I met with them occasionally in the same

localities, but their habitats are somewhat different. The Litto-

rina inhabits muddy ditches and their banks, and it is gre-

garious. The other mollusk inhabits muddy places, but seldom

occurs under water. It is in countless profusion at and about

the roots of the water-flag, and is more generally dispersed than

L, (?) anatina. It is associated with Limneus palustris (our

tinctus) and L. truncatulus. The Littorina lives in company

with Bithynia impura and Leachii, as well as with the Assiminia,

I have little doubt that both kinds are also to be found on the

other side of the river in the Isle of Hogs, and perhaps below

Woolwich. The Assiminia has the same habit as Paludinella

ulvce, and seems to take its place on the brackish estuary of the

Thames.

“ I remain, my dear Sir, yours sincerely,

“ J. Gwyn Jeffreys.^^

“ Wm. Clark J Esq.^

Exmouth, Devon.”

I am. Gentlemen,

Your most obedient servant,

William Clark.

XI. — Desc7'iptions of two newly discovered species of Araneidea.

By John Blackwall, F.L.S.

Tribe OCTONOCULINA.

Family CiniflonidtE.

Genus Ciniflo, Blackw.

Ciniflo humilis.

Length of the female y^th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-

thorax ; breadth ; breadth of the abdomen ; length of

an anterior leg J- ; length of a leg of the third pair y’y.

The four intermediate eyes describe a trapezoid, the two ante-

rior ones, which form its shortest side, being much the smallest

Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species 0/ Araneidea. 121

and darkest of the eight. The cephalo- thorax is convex, glossy,

compressed before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation

in the medial line ; it is of a brown colour, with longitudinal

lines in the cephalic region, oblique streaks on the sides, and

lateral margins of a brownish black hue. The falces are conical,

vertical, armed with a few minute teeth on the inner surface,

and, with the maxillae, which are enlarged at the extremity and

slightly inclined towards the lip, have a pale brown hue. The

lip is dilated about the middle and truncated at the extremity ;

and the sternum is heart-shaped. These parts are of a dark

brown colour, the former being paler at the extremity. The

legs are moderately long, hairy, of a yellowish brown hue, with

brownish black annuli, and the metatarsi of the posterior pair

are provided with calamistra ; each tarsus is terminated by three

claws ; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the

inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the

legs in colour, but are without annuli. The abdomen is oviform,

thinly clothed with hairs, convex above, and projects over the

base of the cephalo-thorax : it is of a pale yellowish brown

colour, with a series of angular lines of a brownish black hue,

whose vertices are directed forwards, and whose extremities are

enlarged, extending along the middle of the upper part; this

series of angles is bisected by a brownish black, longitudinal

line, which is enlarged and somewhat triangular at its anterior

extremity ; the sides are closely reticulated with brown lines ;

two brown bands extend along the under part to a transverse

bar of the same hue, near the spinners ; and the sexual organs

are of a red-brown colour.

This small species of Ciniflo was captured by Mr. R. H. Meade

in Buckinghamshire in August 1854.

Family Linyphiid^.

Genus Neriene, Blackw.

Neriene affinis.

Length of the male |th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-

thorax ; breadth ; breadth of the abdomen y^^ ; length of

a posterior leg ; length of a leg of the third pair

The legs are provided with hairs, and have a bright yellowish

red tint ; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, and the

third pair is the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by three

claws ; the two superior ones are curved and slightly pectinated,

and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi arc

long and resemble the legs in colour, but are somewhat paler ;

the humeral joint is slightly curved towards the cephalo-thorax.

122 Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on the Descent of Glaciers »

and the cubital and radial joints are clavate_, the former having

a coni cal j pointed process projecting at right angles from its ex-

tremity, on the under side, and the latter a very minute, bifid,

black apophysis at its extremity, in front; the digital joint is

small, oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, com-

prising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed, not

very complicated in structure, and of a pale red-brown colour.

The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, with slight furrows

on the sides converging towards an indentation in the medial

line ; the falces are powerful, subconical, vertical, convex at the

base, in front, divergent at the extremity, armed with teeth on

the inner surface, and have a conical tooth-like process near the

middle, towards the inner side, and numerous minute, pointed

prominences in front ; the maxilljs are convex at the base, en-

larged where the palpi are inserted, and at the extremity, which

has a pointed process on the outer side, and incline towards the

lip, which is semicircular and prominent at the apex ; and the

sternum is broad, glossy, and heart-shaped. These parts have a

reddish-brown colour, the lip and anterior part of the cephalo-

thorax being much the darkest. The four intermediate eyes

form a trapezoid, the two anterior ones, which constitute its

shortest side, being the smallest and darkest of the eight ; and

those of each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a small tubercle,

and are almost in contact. The abdomen is oviform, thinly

clothed with hairs, convex above, projecting over the base of the

cephalo-thorax; it has a dark olive hue, the under part being

the palest, and the colour of the branchial opercula is yellow ;

along the middle of the upper part there extends a series of

obscure, curved, grayish lines whose convexity is directed for-

wards ; and two indentations occur on each side of the medial

line, the posterior pair being rather the wider apart.

Two adult males of this species were received from Mr. R. H.

Meade in June 1855, one of which had been taken in the vici-

nity of Burton-on-Trent, and the other at Hornsea, near the east

coast of Yorkshire, in the preceding year.

XII. — Note on the Descent of Glacier s_.

By J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq., E.R.S.

The different theories, propounded from time to time by so

many able observers of this singular phsenomenon, have been so

earnestly and plausibly argued, that it may be worth while to in-

quire if they cannot be reconciled with each other ; and, although

my knowledge of the subject does not enable me to do so, I

trust I shall not be considered presumptuous in offering a sug-

123

Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on the Descent of Glacier i

gestion wliich may be improved by some abler pen. My atten-

tion has been somewhat direeted to the question in consequence

of my having resided during a considerable part of last year in

Switzerland, the land of glaciers, where I had the good fortune

of making the acquaintance of that veteran geologist, M. de

Charpentier.

These theories appear to be five in number.

1st. That of De Saussure, who supposed that glaciers de-

scended solely by their own weight ; and this has been called

the Gravitation theory. His observations have justly had

the credit of being most accurate; and they extended over a

great number of years, and were conducted with much labour

and at considerable expense. They will be found in his ^Voyage

dans les Alpes,^ published in 1779.

2nd. That of De Charpentier, and adopted by Agassiz, which

supposed that the phsenomenon was caused by the surface of the

glacier being thawed during the day ; that the water thus pro-

duced percolated the porous material ; and that upon conge-

lation taking place at night the whole structure expanded in

every direction, naturally occasioning or accelerating a down-

ward movement in the direction of the slope. This is called the

“ Dilatation theory. It was first propounded by Charpentier

at a Meeting of the Helvetic Society held at Lucerne in 1834 ;

and it appeared in the 8th volume of the ^ Annales des Mines.^

It was afterwards (in 1841) published by him in a more elabo-

rate form under the title of ^ Essai sur les Glaciers.^ Agassiz^

memoir was read at a Meeting of the same Society held at Neu-

chatcl in 1837 ; and it was, I believe, published in their Transac-

tions. In his work entitled ^ Etudes sur les Glaciers,^ and pub-

lished in 1840, this theory is further developed.

3rd. That of Professor James Forbes, which attributed the

phsenomenon to the viscous or plastic nature of the glacier,

causing the descent suis viribus. This has been called in Ger-

many the “Pech^^ theory, and was published in 1843 by our

distinguished countryman in his work on Glaciers.

4th. That of Mr. Hopkins of Cambridge (mentioned by Pro-

fessor Forbes), who referred the motion of a glacier to the dis-

solution of the ice in contact with the rock; although Char-

penticr had previously instanced some striking facts to prove

that the glacier bed never thaws.

And 5th. The theory lately offered by the Rev. Henry Moseley

and published in the 7th volume of the Royal Society’s Proceed-

ings, which (assimilating a glacier to a sheet of lead) supposed

that the ])h3L‘nomcnon was owing to the heat of the sun, and

consccpicntly to an alternate expansion and contraction of the

material.

124) Bibliogi'aphical Notices.

Now the suggestion I would venture to make is, that the phse-

nomenon may be attributed to all and each of the forces above

mentioned ; and that the discrepancy of opinion between so

many experienced and trustworthy observers may arise from

their researches having been conducted at different seasons of

the year, in different states of temperature, on different soils or

kinds of rock (some of which retain or impart more heat than

others), at different heights above the sea-level, after the fall of

a greater or less quantity of glacier snow, at different degrees of

solar heat or radiation, or under many other different conditions.

Some of the theories are self-evident, and have been admitted to

a certain extent by their opponents. Perhaps the structure of

the material in various climates and at different heights may be

better known when the science of photography has been further

applied to it, as I cannot help thinking that the interesting and

kaleidoscopic forms of snow (taken by Mrs. Glaisher), which were

exhibited at the last soiree given by the Assistant Secretary of

the Royal Society, may throw some light on this vexed and diffi-

cult question.

It seems to me that the modi operandi of nature for the same

purpose are various, and that the inanimate and animated crea-

tion are governed by similar or analogous laws. An illustration

of this occurs to me in the case of certain marine mollusks and

annelids which perforate limestone and other rocks. This ope-

ration has been attributed by naturalists to many and different

causes : viz. to mechanical action, to a solvent power, to con-

tinual maceration of the material, as well as to the action of

siliceous bodies which are occasionally found in some of these

mollusks. The modern and better opinion, however, seems to

be, that all or more than one of these various methods are used

by the same species, and perhaps by the same animal, in effect-

ing its object, according to the nature of the material acted on,

the age of the individual, and other circumstances.

London, 13th July 1855.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Catalogue of British Hymenoptera in the Collection of the British

Museum. Parti. Apidce — Bees. By Frederick Smith, M.E.S.

London : Printed by Order of the Trustees, 1855. 12mo.

Amongst the many anomalies presented by the state of Entomology

in this country, the little attention paid to the interesting family of

the Bees is certainly none of the least. It is indeed singular that the

majority of our entomologists should confine themselves so religiously

to the study of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, the habits of which are

125

Bibliographical Notices.

generally obscure and often wholly uninteresting, whilst the insects of

the large order of Hymenoptera, which present so many points of in-

terest in the almost infinite variety of their oeconomy, attract scarcely

anybody’s attention. In the case of the Bees this is the more remark-

able, as we have for many years possessed a work upon the British

species of those insects (the ‘ Monographia Apum Angliae ’ of Kirby,

published in 1802), which has generally been regarded as a model of

an Entomological monograph, and which, notwithstanding the lapse

of more than half a century since its publication, still holds its place

as a standard work.

Nevertheless even in this neglected department of Entomology,

this interval of fifty years has added considerably to the list of Bri-

tish species, and shown that the learned author of the work above

mentioned, was, as might be expected, not unfrequently in error with

regard to the species knowm to him, and especially that in some cases

he has placed together as males and females of the same species

insects which are truly distinct, whilst in others the two sexes of the

same insect have been described as distinct species. Most of these

errors are now corrected, mainly by the exertions of Mr. Smith,

whose numerous and interesting papers on British Bees, published

in the ‘ Zoologist,’ have done much for the extension of our know-

ledge of this subject. The scattered nature of these notices, how-

ever, renders the appearance of the present little work particularly

welcome, as in it Mr. Smith has given in a systematic form the en-

tire results of his study of the British Bees, pursued assiduously for

more than twenty years, and in many instances with the advantage

of having corrected his previous notions by the more extended inter-

course with continental entomologists, which his present position at

the British Museum has opened up to him.

Although brought out as one of the series of Catalogues published

by the Trustees of the British Museum, this little book is certainly

far more deserving of the title of a monograph than a great majority

of the things that commonly make their appearance under that

name, many of which indeed are little more than catalogues ; — Mr.

Smith’s Catalogue contains full descriptions of all the genera and

species, accompanied by observations on their habits and oeconomy,

which are rendered particularly valuable by the author’s long expe-

rience, and will be found very interesting even to the general reader.

Of this the following account of the oeconomy of the Bees of the

genus Osmia may serve as an example, and the reader will find many

other passages of equal interest in other parts of the book : —

‘‘If I were asked,” says Mr. Smith, “which genus of bees would

afford the most abundant materials for an essay on the diversity of

instinct, I should without hesitation point out the genus Osmia. I

propose to notice in this place all that has occurred to me during an

attentive observation of their oeconomy for the last twenty years.

The most abundant species is Osmia hicornis ; its oeconomy is varied

by circumstances ; in hilly country, or at the sea- side, it chooses the

sunny side of clifi’s or sandy l>anks, in which to form its burrows ;

126

Bibliographical Notices.

but in cultivated districts, particularly if the soil be clayey, it selects

a decaying tree, preferring the stump of an old willow ; it lays up a

store of pollen and honey for the larvae, which when full-grown spin

a tough dark brown cocoon, in which they remain in the larva state

until the autumn, when the majority change to pupae, and soon

arrive at their perfect condition ; many however pass the winter in

the larva state. In attempting to account for so remarkable a cir-

cumstance, all must be conjecture, but it is not of unfrequent occur-

rence ; this species also frequently makes its burrows in the mortar

of old walls. Osmia leucomelana may be observed availing itself of

a most admirable, and almost ready, adaptation for a burrow ; it

selects the dead branches of the common bramble ; with little labour

the parent bee removes the pith, usually to the length of from five to

six inches ; at the end she deposits the requisite quantity of food,

which she closes in with a substance resembling masticated leaves, —

evidently vegetable matter ; she usually forms five or six cells in one

bramble-stick. The bee does not extract the whole of the pith, but

alternately widens and contracts the diameter of the tube, each con-

traction marking the end of a cell ; the egg is deposited on the food

immediately before closing up the cell ; it is white, oblong, and about

the size and shape of a caraway-seed : the larva is hatched in about

eight days, and feeds about ten or twelve, when it is full-grown ; it

then spins a thin silken covering, and remains in an inactive state

until the following spring, when it undergoes its transformations, and

appears usually in the month of June.

“ Osmia hirta burrows in wood, seldom in any other material ; the

same habit will be observed in Osmia cenea ; but I have observed this

bee more than once constructing its burrow in the mortar of walls,

and sometimes in hard sand-banks. Osmia aurulenta and O. bicolor

are bees which commonly burrow in banks, the latter being very

abundant in some situations, forming colonies ; but although it ap-

pears to be the natural habit of these species to construct tunnels in

hard banks, with great labour and untiring perseverance, still we

find them at times exhibiting an am.ount of sagacity, and a degree of

knowledge, that at once dispels the idea of their actions being the

result of a mere blind instinct, impelling them in one undeviating

course. A moment’s consideration will sutfice to call to mind many

tunnels and tubes ready-formed, which would appear to be admirably

adapted for the purposes of the bee — for instance, the straws of a

thatch, and many reeds ; and what could be more admirably adapted

to their requirements than the tubes of many shells ? So thinks the

bee ! O. aurulenta and O. bicolor both select the shells of Helix hor-

tensis and H. nemoralis : the shells of these snails are of course very

abundant, and lie half hidden beneath grass, mosses, and plants ; the

bees finding them in such situations, dispense with their accustomed

labour and take possession of the deserted shells. The number of

cells varies according to the length of the whorl of the shell selected,

the usual number being four, but in some instances they construct

five or six, commencing at the end of the whorl ; a suitable supply

of pollen and honey is collected, an egg deposited, and a partition

Bibliographical Notices. 127

formed of abraded vegetable matter ; the process is repeated until the

requisite number is formed, when the whole is most carefully pro-

tected by closing up the entrance with small pellets of clay, sticks

and pebbles ; these are firmly cemented together with some glutinous

matter, and the bee has finished her task.

‘‘We will now observe the intelligence of the bee under different

circumstances : she has selected the adult shell of Helix aspei'sa ;

the whorl of this species is much larger in diameter than that of

H. nemoralis or H. hortensis — too wide, in fact, for a single cell ;

our little architect, never at a loss, readily adapts it to her purpose

by forming two cells side by side, and as she advances towards the

entrance of the whorl, it becomes too wide even for this contrivance ;

here let us admire the ingenuity of the little creature ; she constructs

a couple of cells transversely ! And this is the little animal which

has been so blindly slandered as being a mere machine !

“ There is still another species of this genus whose habits are so

different to the rest, that our admiration of the ingenuity of these

bees is greatly increased when we consider its curious details and re-

flect upon the degree of care and foresight exhibited by the provi-

dent parent, — this is the Osmia parietina, a bee only found in the

northern parts of this country. This species selects the underside of

a slate or stone lying on the ground, and having a hollow space be-

neath ; to the stone the bee attaches the little balls of pollen. A stone

of this kind was found at Glen Almond, Perthshire, on the Grampians,

800 feet above the level of the sea, by Mr. J. Robertson, who, on

turning it up, observed a mass of cocoons ; although he was not

much acquainted with entomology, still he knew them to be the

production of some insect ; he presented the stone to the British

Museum, and it was placed in my hands for observation. The size

of the stone was 1 0 inches by 6 ; the number of cocoons attached to

it two hundred and thirty : when first discovered, about one-third of

them were empty ; this was in the month of November. In the

beginning of the following March, a few males made their appear-

ance, and shortly afterwards some females ; they continued to come

forth occasionally until the end of June ; at this time there remained

thirty-five undeveloped cocoons ; on opening one or two of them,

they proved to contain active larvae ; these I carefully closed, and left

the whole undisturbed until the following April, at which time, on

examination, they proved to be still in the larva state ; but at the

end of May they changed to pupae, and about the end of June began

to come forth perfect insects. This, then, was the result — a portion

of a deposit of eggs made in 1849 had been three years in arriving

at maturity : when found, one-third were developed ; the following

year a second brood came forth, and whilst in my possession a third.

In the first instance, the whole deposit was subject to the same

influences, and had produced larvae ; what was the cause of the

retarded development of the rest, it were vain to attempt to deter-

mine.”

There can be no doubt that this is one of the most valuable con-

128

Zoological Society : —

tributions to entomological literature that has been brought out by

the Trustees of the British Museum. It is illustrated with several

excellent plates engraved on copper by the author himself, contain-

ing figures of ail the genera, accompanied by carefully executed de-

tails. If we might suggest any improvement it would be, that

Mr. Smith would have rendered his work more generally acceptable,

had he given characters to the families and subfamilies into which

he divides the Bees ; for as it now stands, a beginner will perhaps be

somewhat at a loss to determine which of the principal groups will

receive a bee of which he may have taken specimens. This however

is but a passing objection, and we trust that the present work, which

is published at an exceedingly low price, may lead some of our young

entomologists to turn their attention to the uiteresting subject of

which it treats.

Proceedings of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Vol. I.

York, 1855.

We have recently received this interesting volume, containing A

selection from the papers relating to the Antiquities and Natural

History of Yorkshire, read at the monthly Meetings of the Society,

from 1847 to 1854,” and recommend it strongly to the attention of

our readers. By far the greater number of the papers here published

relates to Antiquities, and are of such a character as doubtless to at-

tract the attention of our Archaeological brethren. Amongst those

more especially interesting to the naturalist we may particularize the

observations on Zamia gigas, by Messrs. Yates and Williamson ; on

the Zoophytes of the Flamborough Chalk, by Mr. Charlesworth ; on

the Sclerotic ring of the Eyes of Birds and Reptiles, by Mr. Allis ;

as well deserving of perusal.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 28, 1854.— Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Notice of the species of the Genus Orthotomus of

Horsfield, with descriptions of a new species, and

OF THOSE HITHERTO KNOWN. By FrEDERIC MoORE,

Assist. Mus. East India Company.

Fam. Sylviad.e, Vigors.

Subfam. Sylviana, Vigors.

Genus Orthotomus, Horsfield.

Syn. Edeloy Lesson. — Sutoria^ Nicholson.

1. Orthotomus sepium, Horsfield.

Syn. Orthotomus sepimuy Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 166

(1820). Lath. Hist. iv. p. 265. Temm. PI. Col. 599. f. 1. G. R.

Mr. F. Moore on species of Ortliotomus.

129

Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162. Blyth, Catal. B. Mus. A. S. Beng.

p. 145. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

The Chiglet Creeper, Lath.

Chiglet of the Javanese, Horsf.

Hah. Java.

O. septum. — The forehead, lores, over the eyes and ear-coverts,

ear-coverts themselves, base of lower mandible and chin ferruginous,

palest on the sides and chin ; top of head, back and tail brownish

olive, having a greenish tinge ; wings dusky, broadly margined with

brownish olive ; throat and breast ashy black, the rest of the under

parts yellowish ; tail with a terminal dusky band, tipped with yellow-

ish ; thighs ferruginous ; bill brownish, paler below ; legs pale.

Length, \\ inches; of wing, ly^^; tail. If; bill to gape,

tarsus, |.

The above description is taken from Dr. Horsfield’s typical speci-

mens, contained in the Mus. East India Company.

2. Orthotomus atrogularis, Temminck.

Syn. Orthotomus atrogularis, Temm. PI. Col. Texte, 599 (1836).

G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

Hah. Malacca; Borneo.

O. atrogularis. — “ The forehead, top of the head and occiput

bright brownish red ; the neck, the back and the wings of a grassy

green ; the tail of a yellowish green, marked near the end and on the

inner web with a narrow yellowish band ; the chin, throat, breast and

upper parts of flanks pure black, the sides of the abdomen yellowish ;

middle of the belly and abdomen white ; bill and feet brown. No

difference in the sexes.

^‘Length, 3^ inches.” — Temm.

3. Orthotomus flavoviridis, nobis.

The forehead, crown, round the eyes, and occiput ferruginous ;

back and rump yellowish green ; tail more dusky green ; wings

brown, broadly margined exteriorly throughout with yellowish green ;

chin, base of lower mandible, ear-coverts, centre of some of the feathers

of the throat and breast white ; lower part of the breast ash and white ;

centre of abdomen white ; throat and fore part of the breast black,

centred as above ; flanks yellowish ; extreme edge of shoulder of wing

yellow ; under part of tail yellowish, with a terminal dusky band,

tipped with yellowish ; thighs greenish ferruginous. Specimens

labelled “male.”

Length, 4 inches; of wing. If; tail, ly; bill to gape, y’y ; tarsus, y’y.

Hah. Malacca. In Mus. East India Company.

4. Orthotomus edela, Temminck.

Syn. Orthotomus edela, Temm. PI, Col. 599. f. 2 (1836). G. R.

Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162, Blyth, Catal. B. Mus. A. S. Beng.

p. 144. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

Motacilla septum. Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 313. Lath.

Hist. vii. p. 218 (nec Ilorsf. v. Lafres.).

Ann, Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi.

9

130 Zoological Society : —

Edela ruficeps^ Less. Cent. Zool. p. 212. t. 71 (1834) (nec Less.

Tr. d’Orn.).

Kachichi of the Malays of Sumatra^ Raffles.

Hah, Malayan peninsula ; Sumatra. In Mus. East India Com-

pany.

O. edela. — The forehead, lores and crown ferruginous ; the

entire lower parts whitish, but the sides of the neck slightly varie-

gated with clear ashy ; back of neck, back, wing-coverts and tail

greenish ; the wings ashy, but bordered with greenish ferruginous ;

the tail is regularly of one colour ; the bill and feet brownish.” —

Temm.

Length, inches ; of wing, If; tail, 1^; bill to gape, f ; tarsus,

5. Orthotomus ruficeps. Lesson.

Syn. Edela ruficeps, Less. Tr. d’Ornith. p. 309 (1831) (nec Less.

Cent. Zook).

Orthotomus sericeus, Temm. PI. Col. Texte, 599 (1836). G. R.

Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

Hab. Malacca ; Borneo.

O. ruficeps. — The forehead, crown, occiput, lores and upper part

of ear-coverts bright ferruginous ; the chin, base of lower mandible,

lower part of ear-coverts and the rest of the under parts silky white ;

back, rump and wings deep ash ; tail bright ferruginous, at base ashy,

and with no terminal band ; thighs ferruginous ; fflll yellowish brown,

pale below ; legs pale.

Length, inches ; wing, 2 ; tail. If ; bill to gape, f ; tarsus,

The above description is from a specimen in the East India Com-

pany’s Museum. This species may readily be distinguished by the

bright ferruginous colour of the head, the tail also being of the same

colour, and by the bill being considerably longer and stouter (though

strictly typical) than in any of the other known species.

6. Orthotomus cineraceus, Blyth.

Syn. Orthotomus cineraceus, Blyth, Journ. A. S. Beng. xiv. p. 589

(1845) ; Catal. B. Mus. A. S. Beng. p. 144. Bonap. C. G. Av.

p. 282.

Orthotomus septum, Lafres. Mag. de Zool. 1836, t. 51 (nec Horsf.

V. Raffles).

Hab. Malacca.

O. cineraceus. — “ Upper parts pure ash-grey, without any tinge of

green ; forehead and sides of the head light ferruginous, palest on the

cheeks, and there is a slight tinge of the same upon the chin ; crown

tinged with olive-brown ; lower parts white, passing to light ashy on

the sides of the breast ; tail somewhat brownish, with terminal dusky

band, and whitish extreme tips to its outer feathers ; tibial plumes

rust-coloured ; the tarsi and toes red-brown ; bill dusky above, pale

beneath.

Length about 4|^ inches ; of wing, ly®o ; tail. If; bill to gape, f ;

tarse, f.” — Blyth.

131

Mr. F. Moore on species of Orthotomus.

A specimen in the East India Company’s Museum, from Malacca,

has the centre of the throat and the whole of the breast and flanks

lightish ash, paling to silky white on the centre of the belly ; the

under tail-coverts are also white ; wings brown, the primaries mar-

gined exteriorly with pale dusky ferruginous, the secondaries with

ashy olive ; extreme edge of wing, under spurious wing-coverts and

exterior margin of the latter ferruginous white, contrasting with the

ash on the breast ; under wing-coverts white. The wing and tarsus

are both an eighth of an inch longer. Other characters as in the

description above.

7. Orthotomus longirostris, Swainson.

Syn. Orthotomus longirostris^ Swains. Cent. p. 343 (1837) ;

Classic Birds, ii. p. 62. f. 135. G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162.

Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

Hab. S.W. Australia {Sivains.). Malacca?

O. longirostris. — ‘‘ Cinereous ; sides of the body beneath cinereous,

the middle white ; head, chin and thighs ferruginous ; throat black ;

tail brownish, graduated, the latter with dusky black ends, tipped

with whitish ; bill and legs pale.

Length, inches; wing, \ tail, beyond 1; base, 1^^; bill to

gape, Y®o 5 tarsus, 3^.” — Swains.

This species differs from O. cineraceus in having a black throat,

and in the wing being three-tenths of an inch longer, the tarsus also

being longer by a quarter of an inch. Mr. Swainson has given S.W.

Australia as the habitat of this species, which must evidently be an

error.

8. Orthotomus cucullatus, Temminck.

Syn. Orthotomus cucullatus^ Temm. PI. Col. 599. f. 3 (1836).

G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162. Bonap. C. G. Av. p. 282.

Hab. Java; Sumatra.

O. cucullatus. — “Top of the head bright ferruginous ; neck, cheeks,

and the sides of the breast of a pure ash ; the neck in front, the

breast, and the middle of the belly are pure white ; the sides, the

thighs and the abdomen of a citron-yellow ; back and wings of a

greenish tint, the quills and tail margined with greenish ; upper man-

dible brown, the lower as well as the feet yellowish.” — Temminck.

9. Orthotomus longicauda, Gmelin.

Motacilla longicauda et sutoria, Gmel. S. N. L. i. pp. 954, 997.

Orthotomus longicauda, Strickl. Ann. N. II. xiii. p. 35. Blyth,

J. A. S. Beng. xiii. p. 377 ; Catal. B. Mus. A. S. Beng. p. 144.

G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 162. Tickell, J. A. S. Beng. xvii.

pt. i. p. 298. Hutton, J. A. S. Beng. xvii. pt. ii. p. 691. Bonap.

C. G. Av. p. 281. Layard, Ann. N. II. 1853, p. 262.

Sglvia longicauda et sutoria, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. pp. 545, 551;

Gen. Hist. vii. ]>p. 79, 119. Vieill. Erie. Mcth. p. 456.

Malurus longicaudus, Pearson, J. A. S. Beng. x. p. 644.

Sylvia guzuratta, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 554; Gen. Hist. vii. p. 129.

9*

132

Zoological Society : —

Orthotomus Bennettii et O. lingooy Sykes, P. Z. S. (1832) p. 90.

Lafres. Mag. de Zool, (1836) t. 52, 53. Jerdon, Madr. Journ. xi. p. 1 .

Hodgs. Cat. B. Nep. p. 63.

Orthotomus rujicapilla^ Hutton, J. A. S. Beng. ii. p. 504 (1833).

Orthotomus sphenurus, Swains. 2^ Cent. p. 343 (1838).

Orthotomus sutoriusy v. rujicapilluSy v. sphenurusy Hodgs. Gray’s

Zool. Misc. (1844) p. 82.

Orthotormis sutoria et O. patlay Hodgs. P. Z. S. (1845) p. 29.

Sutoria agilis, Nicholson, P. Z. S. (1851) p. 194.

The Indian Tailor Bird.

Phutki, of the Hindoos, Jerdon.

Tuntuni, of the Bengalese, Hamilton, Blyth.

Patia, or Leaf Birdy^ Nepal, Hodgson.

Hab. India generally ; Ceylon ; Burmese countries ; Malayan

peninsula ?

This species is too well known to require further description.

“ The Tailor Bird is tolerably common in most wooded districts, and

universally spread, frequenting cultivated ground, especially gardens,

groves of trees, and is also found in high jungle, in the more open

spaces. It lives in pairs or in small flocks, incessantly hopping about

the branches of trees and shrubs, peas and other vegetables, with a

loud reiterated note, and picking various insects (chiefly ants and

small larvse) off the bark and leaves, and not unfrequently seeking

them on the ground. It has the habit of frequently jerking up its

tail while feeding or hopping about, and at times (especially when

calling) it has the power of raising the feathers on the lower part of

the throat, and displaying on either side a small black stripe. This

has been noted by no one except Lieut. Hutton, who states, ‘ it is

only seen when the bird is in motion, and wholly disappears when in

a state of rest.^ It has various notes, one of which sounds like tweey

tweey tweey as mentioned by Col. Sykes, and another which is gene-

rally used when alarmed or angry, and sounds like chicky chicky chicky

chickyy chick. It is a familiar bird, and ventures close to houses,

but when observed becomes wary.” — Jerdon.

Dr. Nicholson says, “ It has a loud, short, and not unmelodious

song ; its general cry being ‘ wheet, wheety wheety often repeated ;

but its alarm cry is like ‘ cheertahy cheertahy cheertahJ ”

The following are a few observations on the structure of two speci-

mens of the nest of the Tailor Bird, found in the garden belonging

to Capt. Hearsey, by Lieut. Hutton : ‘‘The first was neatly formed

of raw cotton and bits of cotton threads, woven strongly together,

thickly lined with horse-hair, and supported between two leaves on a

twig of the Amaltsis tree (Cassia fistula). These two leaves were

first placed longitudinally upon each other, and stitched in that posi-

tion from the points to rather more than halfway up the sides with

a strong thread spun from the raw cotton by the bird, leading the

entrance to the nest at the point where they join the branch of the

tree. Both of these leaves were of course green and living. Subse-

quently, however, they were blown down by a high wind, and being

now withered, the nest appears enclosed between two dead leaves.

Mr. E. L. Layard on new species of Paludomus. 133

The second specimen was at tlie end of a branch of the Bhela {Seme-

carpus anacardium), about two feet from the ground, and constructed

of the same materials as the above, viz. raw cotton, cotton threads,

also a little flax, and lined with horse-hair alone ; the leaves were

stitched together partly with thread prepared by the bird, and partly

with spun thread ; and so well concealed was it, that even after Capt.

Hearsey had discovered it (by accident) he could scarcely find it

again to show to me. In it were found an egg and two young birds

nearly fledged. These I placed, with the nest, in a trap-cage, and

thus succeeded in capturing both of the old birds. The young birds

are similar in colours to the adults, except that they are paler and the

top of the head cinereous with a faint rufous tinge ; bill yellowish.

The eggs are white, spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with tawny

spots.’^

Further notices of the habits and nest of this curious bird are given

by the following authors, at the places above referred to, viz. Hodgson,

Sykes, Blyth, Layard, Nicholson, &c.

March 14. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair.

1. Observations on the Genus Paludomus of Swainson,

WITH Descriptions of several New Species, and the

Description of a New Species of Anculotus. By

Edgar L. Layard, F.Z.S., C.M.E.S. etc. etc.

A cursory survey of the genus Paludomus^ which Swainson many

years ago separated from Melania, at once satisfied me that several

genera or subgenera, differing in structure and habits, were united

together under one name by Mr. Reeve, in his monograph on the

genus in the ‘ Conchologia Iconica,’ where he describes the charac-

ters of the genus as follows : — “ Animal fluviatile, with a horny sub-

triangularly-ovate concentrically-striated operculum.”

Had Mr. Reeve been furnished with the operculum and a correct

account of the habits of each species, he never would have left the

genus as it now stands. I was not aware that Dr. Gray had sepa-

rated one division from it, until so informed by him when I intro-

duced the subject to the notice of the Zoological Society on a former

evening ; and I rejoice to find that my observations on the Mollusca

in their natural state confirm the views to which that learned zoolo-

gist has arrived, from the structure of the opercula.

This induced me carefully to examine the whole group ; and the

ample collection of Mr. Cuming, ever open to the investigator, my

own cabinet, particularly rich in this family, and my memoranda

taken in Ceylon, have furnished the results here presented to the

Sf)ciety.

1 j)ropose to separate the genus into four divisions, founded upon

the structure of the oi)crculum.

Tiie first I shall designate Paludomus, as, witli the addition of

the |)Osition of the nucleus in the operculum, the characters, as given

by Reeve, sufficiently describe that organ, and from its j)artiality to

134

Zoological Society : —

sluggish waters (two species being found in the marshy borders of

tanks or artificial lakes), it better suits the name than any of the

other divisions. A note of interrogation after a species implies that

I have not seen the operculum, but from the form I consider it to

belong to the division in which it is placed.

Genus 1. Paludomus, Swains.

Animal inhabiting gently-running or still water. Operculum homy,

subtriangularly ovate, with the apex superior and slightly inclined ;

concentrically striate ; nucleus subcentral, sinistral.

P. Icevis, Layard.

P. palustris, Layard.

P. chilinoides, Reeve.

P. phasianinus, Reeve.

P. acutus. Reeve.

P. hicinctus, Reeve.

P. constrictus, Reeve.

P. nigricans^ Reeve.

P. paludinoides. Reeve.

P. punctatus^ Reeve.

P. globulosus, Rejeve ?

P. decussatus, Reeve ?

P. Stephanus, Benson?

P. conicus. Gray.

P. hifasciatus, Reeve.

P. spiralis. Reeve.

P. pictus, Reeve ?

P. hacula. Reeve ?

P. ahbreviatiis, Reeve ?

P. clavatus. Reeve ?

P. Maurus, Reeve ?

P. rudis. Reeve?

Genus 2. Ganga *, Layard.

Animal inhabiting gently-running water. Operculum horny, sub-

triangularly ovate ; apex superior, slightly inclined, concentrically

striate ; nucleus subcentral, dextral.

6r. dilatata. Reeve. G. neritoides, Reeve ? G. olivacea, Reeve ?

Genus 3. Tanalia, Gray.

Animal fluviatile, delighting in the most rapid mountain torrents.

Operculum horny, subtriangularly ovate ; apex lateral, lamellated ;

nucleus lateral, dextral.

T. loricata, Reeve.

T. crinascens. Reeve.

T. (Brea, Reeve.

T. Layardi, Reeve.

T. undata. Reeve.

T. fimiculata. Reeve.

T. Gardneri, Reeve.

T. Tennentii, Reeve.

T. Reevei, Layard.

T. similis, Layard.

T. violacea, Layard.

Genus 4. Philopotamts, Layard.

Animal fluviatile, amphibious, delighting in rocky torrents. Oper-

culum horny, subtriangularly ovate ; apex superior, paucispiral ; nu-

cleus sub-basal, dextral.

Ph. snlcatas. Reeve. Ph. Thwaitesii, Lay. Ph. regalis. Lay.

Cingalese name for a river.

135

Mr. E. L. Layard on new species of Paludomus.

One characteristic habit, separating the whole of these species, as

far as I can ascertain, from Melania, is that they are constantly found

adhering to stones, or the submerged roots of trees and stems of

aquatic plants, which the Melanice never are ; neither do they burrow

in sand, as do the Melanice, though they often resort to a sandy

locality, perhaps for the purpose of breeding. The habit in Ph. sul-

catus of crawling several feet out of the water on the damp grass is

remarkable.

A few remarks on the various species in detail may prove not un-

acceptable.

Paludomus chilinoides. Reeve.

This is the commonest species of the whole tribe. It is found in

gently-running water generally, but often in paddy fields and other

marshy grounds to which these running waters have access.

The animal is blackish-mottled, forehead produced into an obtuse

point, slightly indented in the centre and fringed with red dots ;

tentacula two, acuminate ; eyes two, sessile, situated about one-fifth

of the distance up the tentacles.

I have taken the operculum of this species as the type of the

family ; it therefore needs no description.

Paludomus l^vis, Layard.

Shell oblong-ovate ; axis 1 1 lines, diam. 7 lines ; spire acute, ex-

serted, moderately long ; whorls rounded, not depressed round the

upper part, smooth. Colour olive-yellow, the lower whorls seldom

marked, but the upper always spotted with one or two rows of arrow-

headed dots ; apex bluish ; aperture white.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides.

Hah. Ceylon, in slow-running streams on the northern side of the

mountain zone extending into the flat country beyond Anarajahpoora.

I also obtained a few in a paddy field in the south of the island, near

the village of Heneratgodde. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

I think this may prove to be but a variety of Pal. chilinoides,

although the experienced eye of Mr. Cuming at once separated it

from that species. It is found in the same localities, and only differs

from it in wanting the depression round the upper part of the whorls

and in the colouring ; the mollusk is similar.

Paludomus palustris, Layard.

Shell ovate, thin ; axis 10 lines, diam. 6 lines ; spire exserted,

long ; whorls rounded, rather flat, spirally closely grooved with mi-

nute granular striae (visible under the lens). Colour of adult shell *

a rich yellow spotted with dark brown, the markings frequently run-

ning into wavy lines ; apex bluish ; a})erture white.

♦ In young shells the ground colour is almost hidden hy the dark markings,

and the aperture is found to be spirally marked with thin lines of the same

colour.

136

Zoological Society : —

Operculum nearly oval, the apex slightly inclined to the left ; con-

centric nucleus subcentral, sinistral.

Hab. The grassy margins of a tank at Anarajahpoora. Mus.

Cuming et Layard. •

Paludomus nigricans. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides, Reeve.

Hab. Balcaddua Pass, mountain torrent, affecting the little pools

and not found in the rapids.

Paludomus constrictus. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides^ Reeve, but with the apex very

much inclined to the left.

Hab. Kadaganava Pass, mountain streams. I have not taken it in

situ. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

Paludomus bicinctus. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides. Reeve.

Hab. Balcaddua Pass, in the Mahavillaganga, shallow quiet places

on sand. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

Paludomus phasianinus. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides. Reeve.

I cannot help thinking that this is but a geographical variety of

Pal. chilinoides, of which the Ceylon race will be the connecting link.

Seychelles type. Mus. Cuming. Ceylon var. Mus. Layard.

Paludomus paludinoides. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides. Reeve.

Hab. Ganges. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

Paludomus decussatus. Reeve.

Operculum as in Pal. chilinoides.

Hab. Balcaddua Pass, mountain torrent, in company with Pa/, ni-

gricans, Reeve. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

Paludomus parvus, Layard.

Shell ovate ; axis 6 lines, diam. 4 lines ; spire exserted, moderately

lo]ig ; whorls slightly rounded, smooth. Colour dark olive-yello w

more or less marked with fine spiral brown lines ; aperture white.

Operculum as in P. chilinoides. Reeve.

Hab, Bombay. Mus. Cuming et Layard.

Paludomus globulosus. Reeve.

I am not quite satisfied that the opercula which I received with the

specimens of this shell presented to me, are really the proper oper-

cula of the species, but it probably belongs to this group.

I was told that the shells came from Rambodde Pass, between

Newera Elia and Kandy, but never saw it in situ, as I did not visit

that locality. Mus. Layard et Cuming.

137

Mr. E. L. Layard on new species of Tanalia.

Paludomus spiralis. Reeve.

I include in this group, from its resemblance to my Pal. palustris.

The only specimens I ever saw are in Mr. Cuming’s cabinet.

Paludomus dilatatus. Reeve.

Operculum concentric ; nucleus subcentral, dextral.

Hab. Ceylon, Rambodde Pass, mountain torrent. This species was

given to me along With. Pal. glob ulosus ; I therefore know nothing of

its habits.

Genus Tanalia, Gray.

Tanalia loricata. Reeve.

This species grows to its largest size in the Calloo ganga, above

Ratnapoora, where it is found in the most rapid foaming currents ad-

hering to rocks. It resorts to deep sandy pools and reaches at some

seasons, but apparently will not exist in a river devoid of rocks and

rapids. Most of the streams of the southern provinces answering to

this description contain it ; but I never met with it to the northward,

where the rivers become more sluggish.

The mollusk is almost black.

Tanalia crinascens. Reeve.

I doubt this being more than a geographical variety of the preceding

species ; and not being aware that it had been separated from it, did

not pay attention to the operculum, though it evidently belongs to

this group. I have only received the species from one locality,

Kadaganava Pass, between Colombo and Kandy ; but have interme-

diate varieties, on which half the spines are solid, as in loricata.,

half capped and hollow, as in crinascens.

T. ^REA, Reeve. T. Layardi, R. T. undata, R.

I seek in vain for sufficient distinction in these species to separate

them from loricata. Take a strongly-marked specimen of each, and

the division appears an excellent one ; place a hundred of each, and

the gradations are imperceptible.

As far as my recollection serves me, there is nothing different in

the animals ; but as I was not aware of the separation of ccrea and

Layardi, I did not closely scrutinize them ; however, of undata

dozens passed in review with careful survey.

They are found with loricata and the pseudo-variety crinascens

before mentioned ; and the opercula are undistinguishable, save that

tliose of (Brea having a wider aperture to fill, are larger and not

(piite so angular. I look upon them as varieties of loricata.

Tanalia Gardneri, Reeve.

Operculum not distinguishable, except in size, from that of lori-

cafa. In very large specimens the angle is often very great, and is

bent outward on the exterior side.

Hub. I found this species in a waterfall pool at Tambillichna,

below Ratnaj)oora ; also in the Calloo ganga, but only in the most

rapid current, mixed with loricata and the next species.

138

Zoological Society: —

Tan ALIA Tennentii, Reeve.

Operculum the same as in the preceding species, but, if anything,

always more angular.

Hah. as in T. Gardneri.

Tanalia Reevei, Layard.

Shell oblong ovate; axis 1 ~ inch, diam. 1 in. 2 lines. Spire exserted,

short. Whorls rounded, spirally corded with rather distant obtuse

ridges, longitudinally striated with well-marked close-set striae, the

great characteristic mark of the species. Aperture : outer lip edged

with deep purple-brown, columellar lip white. Colour a dark yellow-

brown, thickly marked with longitudinal, slanting, jet-brown wavy

bands.

Hah. The Calloo ganga, Ratnapoora.

I have much pleasure in dedicating this beautiful species to the

gentleman who has so extensively investigated this peculiar family.

Tanalia violacea, Layard.

Shell globose ; axis 6 lines, diam. 5 lines. Spire very short,

slightly exserted. Whorls rounded, ventricose, spirally grooved

with close-set, fine, minutely decussated striae (in one variety the

striae become ridges) . Colour a dark bluish-brown, almost amounting

to black, with darkish brown patches appearing in some specimens.

Aperture deep violet inside ; columella white, stained on the outside

edge with dark brown.

Hah. A small mountain torrent in a dense forest between Gilly-

malle and Pallabaddoola, towards Adam’s Peak, Ceylon,

Tanalia similis, Layard.

Shell rather globose ; axis 8 lines, diam. 6 lines. Spire short,

exserted. Whorls rounded, ventricose, spirally grooved with close-

set, fine, minutely decussated striae. Colour rich olive-yellow, pro-

fusely marked with longitudinal, wavy, dark lines, interrupted by

four or five fine transverse bands of the same colour. Aperture : the

dark markings of the shell show through, and are dimmed by a bluish

haze ; columellar lip white, stained on the outside edge with dark

brown, which runs round the outer lip in a thin band.

Hah. A mountain torrent at Kandangamoa, near Ratnapoora.

Tanalia flniculata. Reeve.

I never could find any species which answered to Mr. Reeve’s

description of this shell, until Mr. Cuming kindly lent me the type

specimen, when an hour’s immersion in soap and water showed that

the ‘^ jet-brown” was merely the accumulation of the freshwater algae

(which always cover this sluggish family) and the red cabooky dust

of “India’s utmost isle.” This cleaning revealed a bright yellow

epidermis, variegated with dark brown wavy lines, and the very

minutely striated structure of the shell ; and the specimen imme-

diately ranged itself with a series of a very variable shell, which I had

in vain endeavoured to reconcile with any published description.

Mr. E. L. Layard on new species of Philopotamis. 139

A more lengthened description of this species, which I shall still

call T. funiculata, Reeve, may prove acceptable, and prevent others

from experiencing the same difficulty which I have felt.

Shell oblong ovate; axis 13 lines, diam. 10. Spire exserted.

Whorls rather depressed round the upper part, spirally corded with

rather distant obtuse ridges placed at unequal distances, sometimes

with a thread-like ridge between two larger ones, the whole minutely

longitudinally striated. Colour a bright rich yellow, variegated with

closely set, dark brown, broadish, zigzag lines. Interior whitish ;

exterior lip faintly marked all round with purplish-brown, with fre-

quent dark brown spots ; columellar lip white, with the exterior

margin stained with a bright pale brown. This description is taken

from the original type shell ; in some examples the ridges are almost,

if not quite, obsolete ; the spire is hardly exserted, the zigzag lines

lost, and the aperture almost pure white ; one of these specimens

measures, axis 9^ lines, diam. 8 lines. In another, measuring, axis

1/ lines, diam. 14 lines, the strise are much coarser, and some of the

upper ridges present a decided indication of nodules ! The outer lip is

pretty deeply edged with dark brown, and the bright brown of the

columellar lip, though still present, is soon changed into a deep rich

hue.

The species is abundant in a mountain stream not far from Ratna-

poora, probably the very stream whence my lamented friend Dr.

Gardner procured the type specimen, as it is crossed by the high

road leading thither from Colombo ; and, as I have had opportunity

of witnessing, Dr. Gardner never failed to examine every stream he

passed.

Philopotamis sulcatus. Reeve.

Operculum ovoid ; apex slightly inclined, sinistral, paucispiral.

Nucleus sub-basal, dextral. Alollusk black ; forehead produced, as

in Paludomus chilinoides ; tentacles and eyes also the same.

Hub. Weyweldenia, a rocky rivulet. I found this species loc. cit.,

and I then remarked that vast numbers of them were crawling on the

wet grass on the banks of the stream. I subsequently found it at

Kandangamoa and in the Calloo ganga.

Philopotamis regalis, Layard.

Shell oblong ovate; axis 1 inch, diam. 9 lines. Spire exserted,

short. Whorls rounded, depressed at the upper part, spirally corded

with close-set slight ridges, longitudinally minutely striated, and

crowned with a single row of short, sharp, hollow, angular spines,

closely set. Colour yellowish-olive, painted with wavy, dark brown

longitudinal lines. Aperture pure white.

Operculum unknown, but most probably as in P. sulcatus.

llah. Stream in the Cnia Corle, Western province, Ceylon.

Philopotamis Thwaitesii, Layard.

Shell oblong ovate ; axis 13 lines, diam. 9 lines. Spire exserted,

short. Whorls almost carinated round the upper part, spirally

corded with iinecjual -sized, close, but irregularly set ridges, granulated

140

Zoological Society : —

or minutely striated. Colour yellowish-olive, painted more or less

with wavy, dark brown longitudinal lines. Aperture pinkish-white,

occasionally having the outer lip dotted with dark piiik-brown marks.

Hah. Same as P. sulcatus.

This is a rare shell, if really distinct from sulcatusy from which

and from regalis it may at once be distinguished by the shallowness

and irregularity of the ridges.

Anculotus CARINA.TUS, Layard,

Shell somewhat globose ; axis 5 lines, diam. 4 lines. Spire ex-

serted, short. Whorls inflated, rather square, sharply keeled round

the inferior angle, minutely longitudinally striated. Colour dull

olive, marked faintly with two or three broad bands of dark rufous-

brown, which are very apparent in the aperture ; columellar lip

white, stained with a light dash of the same rufous-brown on the

exterior margin.

Hah. Streams in the Mahakeshwar Hills, Bombay Presidency.

Mus. Cuming.

March 28. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. Gould exhibited male and female specimens of a very rare

English Duck, described in 1847 by Mr. Bartlett, under the name

of Fuligula ferinoides. The specimens exhibited were lent to Mr.

Gould by M. Van den Bergh, of Rotterdam. Mr. Gould men-

tioned, that only three instances of the occurrence of the bird in

England are on record ; one of the specimens is in the collection of

J. H. Gurney, another in that of Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, and

the third in the museum of the late Earl of Derby, at Liverpool.

Characters of some New^ or imperfectly-described

Species of Tanagers.

By Philip Lutley Sclater, M.A., F.Z.S.

I have been collecting Tanagers for some time, with the view of

ultimately attempting a monograph of the family. But the forms in

many of the genera are so closely allied, and the limits of the family

itself at present so unsettled, that a larger collection of species, and

a much greater familiarity with the subject-matter than I have yet

had time to acquire, are requisite before such a monograph can be

satisfactorily completed. Puzzling indeed to ornithologists would

seem the question, ‘‘What is a Tanager?” as puzzling perhaps as to

political economists Sir Robert Peel’s celebrated poser, “What is a

pound?” My ideas on this point, that is, I mean, as to the posi-

tion and extent of the family or subfamily of Tanagers, coincide, I

believe, nearly with those of Mr. G. R. Gray.

A Tanager I consider to be a dentirostral Finch — to be distinguished

from other more typical Fringillidce by the presence of one or more

teeth or notches in the upper mandible (sometimes further developing

themselves into serrations, as in certain species of Euphonia and Ta-

chyphonus), and the culmen being always more or less indexed, never

straight. The colours of the group are generally very brilliant. They

141

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new sj>ecies of Tanagers.

feed on ripe fruit, some on insects, and perhaps in habits rather

resemble Sylviadce than true Fringillidce.

With these \dews, J keep among the Tanagers the Pityli and

Saltatoj'eSy excluded therefrom by certain modern systematists, and

retained among the FringillidcEy while the whole of what may be

termed the more typical portion of the group is removed far away to

the neighbourhood of the SylvicolincB.

Now I think it will be impossible to settle these, and other families

belonging to the South American Fauna, in a really satisfactory way,

until we know much more than we do at present of the habits and

customs of the animals of that vast continent. Unfortunately those

who have hitherto written upon the ornithology of that country have

in general had too little previous scientific knowledge of the subject.

Not, of course, that this makes them less accurate observers of facts,

but only less likely to hit upon the right facts to be observed. A per-

son previously well acquainted with the varied forms of South Ameri-

can ornithology by study of the European collections, so as to know

what points required looking up, would, 1 have little doubt, be in a

much more favourable condition for observing these animals in their

native haunts, and thereby solving many of those doubts which at

present so perplex the student of natural history. As, however, we

may perhaps have to wait some time before a determination of the

question “What is a Tanager?” can be arrived at in this manner,

I propose adopting as provisional limits for the family or subfamily,

nearly those given by Mr. G. R. Gray in his ^ Genera of Birds,’ ex-

cluding only the genera Pipilo, Embernagra, and Emberizoides^ which

appear to me to go better with Zonotrichia and its allied forms. To

show the arrangement I contemplate, I have formed a list* of the

genera and species, which may perhaps be useful for collectors to

mark off their duplicates or desiderata ; though, as a mere catalogue

of names, it is, of course, of no scientific value. Some of the many

lately- formed genera now used, I may hereafter find occasion to con-

solidate, the principle of subdivision having been carried to great

lengths in this as in other families.

My present list contains the names of 222 species, though I have

no doubt that many more remain to be discovered. These are all

believed to be real, not nominal species ; indeed I have myself seen

specimens of nearly the whole of them, and the ten or twelve I have

not personally examined I believe rest on good authority. The

names used are many of them taken from Bonaparte’s ‘Conspectus,’

his “ Note sur les Tanagras” in the ‘ Rev. et Mag. de Zool.’ for 18.51,

the ‘ Museum Heineanum’ of Cabanis, and my own papers in Sir

William .Tardine’s ‘Contributions.’

The Tanagers are essentially a South American family. Out of

the whole 222 species, 19.3 are from the continent south of the Isth-

mus of Panama, and the rest mostly cither from Central America or

Soutlicrn Mexico. Three or four only are peculiar to certain of the

West Indian islands, and three only, well-known members of the

genus Pyranga, extend as summer migrants into the United States of

* Tanagrarum Catalogus Specificus. Auctorc IMiilippi Lutley Sclater. j3asing-

stoke, 1851. 8 VO. 16 pp.

142

Zoological Society : —

North America. Through South America they range down to the Rio

de la Plata, but on the western coast I am not aware that they have

been observed nearly so far south. M. d’Orbigny met with but one

species * at all on the occidental slope of the Andes ; Tschudi men-

tions but three or four as occurring in the vicinity of Lima, on the

coast-region of Peru.

Subjoined are the specific characters of five species occurring in

my list, of which accurate descriptions have not yet been published.

1. Arremon axillaris, Sclater. A. supra olwaceo-viridis ;

capite atro ; superciliis productis albis ; vitta verticali et cer-

vice postica cinereis : suhtus niveusAaterihus cinerascentibus ;

macula utrinque cervicali vittam quasi imperfectam formante,

mentoque summo atris ; remigibus rectricibusque nigricantibus :

tectricibus alarum majoribus Jlavo-olivaceis, minoribus et axillis

Icete Jlavis : mandibula superiore nigra, inferiore fiava : pedi-

bus dare brunneis.

Long, tota 5*2, alse 3'0, caudse 2*0 poll. Angl.

Avis junior. Semitorque collari vix conspicuo.

Hab. In Nova Grenada.

Obs. Species Arremoni semitorquato maxime atfinis, sed hujus

axillis olivaceis, illius Isetissime flavis.

2. Ramphocelus dorsalis. Bp. MS. S Coccmeus : dorso

medio obscurius coccineo : alis caudaque nigris : rostro nigro,

mandibula inferiore basi Icete alba.

$ Fusco-brunnea : alis caudaque nigricantibus : uropygio et

ventre toto erubescentibus : rostro brunneo.

Long, tota 7*0, alse 3*2, caudse 3*2.

Hab. In imp. Brasiliensi.

Obs. R. brazilio maxime atfinis at dorso medio obscurius coccineo.

I should hardly have ventured to have separated this species from

R. brazilius, from which it only differs, so far as I can make out, in

the patch of darker colouring in the middle of the back ; but as the

Prince Charles Bonaparte has done so, and his MS. name has

attained wide circulation on the MM. Verreaux’s labels, I think it

best to give a published description of the grounds of the alleged

specific difference. However, M. Jules Verreaux, — a good authority,

— considers the two species truly distinct, and has assured me, if I

recollect right, that he has seen and shot them both frequently at

Rio and Pernambuco.

3. Buthraupis chloronota, Sclater. B. supra viridis ; pileo

ccerideo : alis caudaque nigris, illarum tectricibus minoribus

cceruleis ; majoribus et secondariis viridi limbatis : subtus

jlavus, crisso saturatiore : gutture toto atro : rostro pedibusque

nigris.

* The Tanagra striata, Gra., in the ravines of Palca in Peru, 18° S.L. M. d’Or-

bigny attributes a wide range to this species, which he says occurs besides in the

Banda Oriental, near Monte Video, at Buenos Ayres, near La Paz, and in the

provinces of Yungas, Sicasica, Cochambamba, Valle Grande, and Chiquisaca in

Bolivia. (Voy. p. 272.) But, quaere, does he not confound with T. striata,

Tschudi’s T. frugilegus ?

143

Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Tanagers.

Long, tota 8*8, alse 4*6, caudae 3*8.

Hah, In republ. Equatoriana.

Ohs, Affinis B, eximice^ sed major, dorso toto viridi nec uropygio

cseruleo.

I have seen only one specimen of this species, which was re-

ceived by the Freres Verreaux of Paris from Ecuador. It is closely

allied to B, eximia, but is larger in all its dimensions, nearly equalling

in size B. cucullata. Its distinguishing character is the uniform

green back, whence I have named it chloronota, I have examined

multitudes of B. eximia^ and invariably found the uropygium blue.

4. Euphonia concinna, Sclater.

E, hirundinacea. Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 18.51, p. 156? —

E. affinis, Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, p. 1/5 ?

E. supra nigro-violacea valde purpurascens ; pileo summo flam :

infra gutture nigro-violaceo ; ahdoinine aurantio-flavo : cauda

suhtus immaculate nigra.

Long, tota 3*8, alae 2*2, caudse 1’4,

Hah. In Nova Grenada.

Ohs. E. chloroticcB similis, sed cauda subtus immaculata, fronte

latius nigro, dignoscenda.

This bird is one of the group so closely affine to E. chlorotica, but

may be distinguished from all of them (as E. melanura from E. vio-

lacea and its affines) by the absence of white markings on the exterior

rectrices. The middle of the belly is also of a brighter orange tint,

and the black front is broader than in E. chlorotica. A skin of this

species, received from the MM. Verreaux, is labelled E. hirundinacea,

Bp., and it is probably the species referred to by that name in the

Note surles Tanagras,” Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1851, p. 156. It is

not however the true E. hirundinacea. Bp. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837,

p. 1 17 ; for on examination of the type of that species, which is now

in the Derby Museum at Liverpool (labelled E. hirundinirostris /),

I found it coequal with the bird described by me (Cont. to Orn.

1851, p. 86) as E. laniirostris, which again is not the true lanii-

rostris of MM. de Lafresnaye and d’Orbigny, but a closely allied

species, called in the Baron de Lafresnaye’ s museum E.fortirostris.

This must, of course, for the future bear the first proposed specific

appellation hirundinacea, and will stand as follows : —

5. Euphonia hirundinacea. Bp.

Euphonia hirundinacea. Bp. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 117. — E,

laniirostris, Sclater, Cont. to Orn. 1851, p. 86. — E. hirundini-

rostris, Bp. in Mus. Derb. — E.fortirostris, Lafr. in mus. suo.

E. ceneo-nigra : capite summo antico et corpore toto suhtus flams:

rectricihus 2 utrimpie extimis late alho intus notatis : rostro

et pedihus nigris.

Long, tota 4*5, alse 2*5, caudae 1*5.

Hah. In Guatimala {Bp.) ; Chirique in Veragua {Kellett in Mus.

Brit.) ; Nova Grenada?

Ohs. E. violacecjc similis, sed seneo-nigra nec purpurascens ; rostro

robustiore.

144

Botanical Society of Edinburgh : —

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

June 14, 1855, — Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

Professor Balfour stated that Pontederia elongata had been culti-

vated in the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, and distributed under

that name. It seems to be only a variety of P.crassipes, produced by

being grown in soil in place of water. The effect of this treatment

is to cause the inflated petioles to elongate and lose their globular

form. When the plants are put into deep 'water so as to float, the

roots being unable to reach the soil, they assume the proper form

of P. crassipes.

The following papers were read ; —

1 . Remarks on the Catamites and Sternbergia of the Carboni-

ferous Epoch,” by Dr. Fleming.

Dr. Fleming arrived at the following conclusions : — 1. That many

species have the original matter, now forming a thin film of coal,

smooth on the outside, or not exhibiting externally any traces of

joints or longitudinal ribs. 2. From the inside of their woody cylin-

ders, now converted into coal, diaphragms proceeded at regular, but

occasionally at irregular, intervals, dividing the inside of the hollow

stem into a series of chambers.

These partitions appear to have possessed a very loose texture

towards the centre, but become more dense in substance towards

their junction with the stem, and usually leave traces of coaly matter

at the sides. The jointed character of the casts of the inside, in

general all that is noticed by the geologist, is thus referable to the

dissepiments, and cannot be regarded as resembling the jointing of a

Calamus. 3. The inside of the woody cylinder, although smooth on

the outside, was grooved longitudinally in the spaces between the

partitions or on the walls of the chambers, and hence the rubbed

surfaces of the casts. 4. The stem, unlike Stigmaria and Lepido-

dendroUi had no woody axis, nor dense medullary sheath.

The author next exhibited specimens of Sternbergia, displaying,

like the Calamite, the external cylinder of coal with a smooth surface,

and giving no indication of the internal arrangements. The inside

exhibited diaphragms having the same origin as in the Calamite, but

less regularly disposed, frequently wanting, and giving to the surface

of the cast, not a distinctly jointed, but a transversely crumpled ap-

pearance. He concluded, by stating that, from the smooth surflice,

and thickness of the coaly matter into which the plant had been con-

verted, joined to its independent or detached condition in the rocks,

it could not be regarded as the remains of a discoid pith, hut, like

the Calamite, as a plant which had a hollow stalk, the cavity divided

into chambers by transverse partitions, the remains of which give to

the casts their characteristic appearance.

2. “ On the Dyeing Properties of Lichens,” by Dr. W. Lauder

Lindsay.

In this paper the author endeavours to direct public attention spe-

Prof. Harkness on Fossil Diatomaceae.

145

cially to the two following facts, viz. First — that, in our own country,

many native Lichens, which grow more or less abundantly, might,

with advantage and oeconomy, be substituted for the somewhat ex-

pensive and scarce foreign Roccellas and other dye-Lichens usually

employed in the manufacture of orchil, cudbear and litmus ; and,

secondly — that, in our colonies, and foreign countries to which we

have access, species valuable as dye-Lichens probably grow in abun-

dance— might be collected and transported easily and cheaply — and

thus become important and lucrative articles of commerce.

3. On Biatomacece found in a Sub-fossil state in Dumfriesshire,”

by Robert Harkness, Professor of Geology, Queen’s College, Cork.

In this paper, the author remarked ; — “ While examining the

boulder deposits which occur on the northern shore of the Solway

Frith last summer, my attention was directed to a locality about a

mile west of the mouth of the river Annan, where there is an inter-

esting association of indurated gravel beds, hill deposits, and peat-

bog, overlaid by the vegetable soil of the district. The boulder

gravel, which here is the lowest deposit exposed, consists of the ordi-

nary Silurian sandstone, mixed with the carboniferous grits, and a

few fragments of the Bunter sandstone of the neighbourhood. It

had a hardened nature, and in this respect bore considerable affinity

to many conglomerates. Above this bed of indurated boulder gravel

there is seen a silty deposit, which consists of beds of fine drab-

coloured sandy clay, having vegetable remains scattered through the

mass. These vegetable remains, when in such a condition that they

can be recognised, are, for the most part, fragments of Equiseta.

The contents of this silty deposit are, however, not confined to such

organisms as ordinary swampy vegetation. On submitting portions

of the silt to microscopic examination this substance is found to

afford many species of Diatomaceee, associated together in an inter-

esting manner. Professor Gregory states that the following forms

of Diatoms occur : —

Epithemia Hyndraanni.

Cymbella Scotica.

maculata.

Cosciuodiscus radiatus.

Cyclotella operculata,

Kutzingiana.

Campylodiscus cribrosus (?).

Tryblionella acuminata.

punctata.

marginata.

Surirella minuta.

nobilis (or biseriata?).

Navicula didyma.

ovalis.

rhomboides var {Gregory).

varians {Gregory).

This association of marine and freshwater forms indicates the oc-

Ann. ^ May. N. Hist. Scr. 2. F'd/. xvi. 10

Pinnularia major.

viridis.

acuta.

tenuis {Gregory).

Gomphonema tenellum.

Doryphora amphiceros (fine).

Synedra radians.

Nitzschia (sp.?).

Grammatoj)iiora marina.

Melosira sulcata.

distans.

Fragilaria virescens.

Odontidium mesodon.

Mcridion circularc.

Adman tliidium lanceolatum.

146

Miscellaneous.

currence of conditions of an estuary nature, and leads to the inference

that the circumstance under which the silt was deposited approached

such as now prevails at the mouths of rivers.

“The occurrence of marine forms of Diatoms in silt, puts us in

possession of another element, by means of which we are enabled to

ascertain the changes which have taken place in the physical geo-

graphy of the earth. It furnishes us with a means applicable in

many instances where other and more perfect organisms have disap-

peared, the siliceous skeletons of these minute bodies being capable

of resisting that agent by means of which the solid coverings of mol-

luscs are dissolved. Many of the raised sea-beaches, now affording

no shells, will probably he found to contain Diatoms, which will tell

of the conditions under which these raised sea-beaches were originally

deposited, and provide us with information concerning the circum-

stances which operated in the production of strata of this nature.”

Dr. Gregory alluded to the interesting fact that Diatoms had been

found by Ehrenberg in all fossiliferous rocks as far down as the

Silurian ; and that while the higher organisms exhibited striking dif-

ferences in the rocks of different epochs, there was, in the case of

Diatoms, a striking similarity.

4. “ Notice of the time of Flowering of certain Trees and Shrubs

in the Royal Botanic Garden during the past month,” by Mr. M‘Nab.

5. “ Notes on the Effects of last winter upon Plants in the Royal

Botanic Garden, Belfast,” by Dr. Dickie, Professor of Zoology and

Botany, Queen’s College, Belfast.

The lowest point to which the thermometer fell during the month

of February 1855 was on the 15th, viz. 13° F. In 1845, on March

5th, the thermometer in the Botanic Garden indicated 10° F., lower,

than in 1855. The injury to the plants, however, in 1855, was

greater, because in February last a generally low temperature, with

east and north-east winds, prevailed during two weeks.

6. “Account of the Origin and of some of the Contents of the

Museum of Economic Botany attached to the Royal Botanic Garden

of Edinburgh,” by Professor Balfour.

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the Organization of the Pedicellate Glands of the Leaf of

Drosera rotundifolia. By M. A. Trecul.

There are some plants certain organs of which are capable of

executing very remarkable movements under the influence of a

mechanical excitement. Amongst these are the leaves of Mimosa

pudica and sensitiva, and of Bioncea muscipula, the stamens of Ber-

beidSi &c. The Drosera has been classed with the plants which pos-

sess this singular property. It is generally supposed that as soon as

a fly or other insect, attracted by the viscous juice secreted by the

Miscellaneous.

147

glanduliferous hairs which cover the surface of the leaf, settles upon

it, the hairs stiffen and curve towards those of the opposite side, so

as to form a sort of net under which the little creature remains im-

prisoned. It is certain that we often find one or more insects

struggling or dead under the hairs of this leaf, and this, I believe, is

the best proof that we possess of the excitability and movements of

the hairs in Drosera. I think however that these hairs are not ex-

citable, and that they are incapable of performing the movements

attributed to them. I have often endeavoured to irritate them, but

have never succeeded in observing anything which would indicate the

L^ast degree of excitability, although I have been placed in circum-

stances very favourable for these experiments ; for after a recent shift-

ing of the Orchideous plants at the Museum, a great many specimens

of Drosera grew up amongst the Sphagnum employed in this ope-

ration, and there were for a long period leaves of all ages in the con-

servatory, so that I was enabled to experiment upon organs at differ-

ent degrees of development. Nevertheless, I never perceived the

least inflexion which was not occasioned by the pressure which I

employed.

It appears to me that the following is the cause of the capture of

insects by the leaves of Drosera. During their development these

leaves are rolled in upon themselves, the margins of the limb are

curved towards the centre, and the hairs have the same direction.

In growing, the limb spreads by degrees and the hairs also stiffen

successively from the circumference to the centre. If, before the

whole of the hairs have become stiff, some insect comes to suck the

viscous juice which exudes from their glands, it presses into the

space which they leave between them at the centre of the leaf, and

becomes entangled in the mucosity. The growth of the leaf con-

tinues nevertheless, the incurved hairs arc straightened one after the

other, but the unfortunate insect dies before they become quite

straight.

The glands which secrete the viscous matter above mentioned are

deserving of the attention of botanists from their interesting struc-

ture, which has not yet been sufficiently studied. Meyen gives the

most detailed description of them in his memoir ‘ Ueber die Secretions-

Organe der Pflanzen but this description, although apparently mi-

nute, is notwithstanding very incomplete. It may be resumed as

follows : — “ The glands of Drosera are elliptical and pedicellate ; a

spiral vessel runs up the pedicel and penetrates into the gland.”

Meyen adds in his ‘ Physiology’ (p. 478), that the gland, like the

j)edicel, consists of a very compact cellular tissue. Let us now see

whether this is the structure of the secreting organs. We shall soon

see that the form of the glands of the margin of the leaf oi' Drosera

rotundifolia has not even been indicated. In fact Meyen has only

described the elliptical pedicellated glands, and yet he speaks of mar-

ginal and central glands ; i)ut he only distinguishes their inccpiality

ol size : he has seen only that they are longer than the others, but

has not noticed that their organization is different.

10*

148

Miscellaneous.

The marginal glands which form the fringes of the leaf have a

very different form from those of the surface. In the marginal

glands, the substance of the pedicel seems to expand at the apex into

an elegant oblong cup, at the bottom of which the carmine-coloured

glandular tissue is spread. The central glands on the contrary are

simple papillae of a more or less rounded, ovoid or elliptical form, the

outer ones being of a more or less red tint, whilst those nearest to

the middle of the limb are colourless.

The structure both of the central and marginal glands is very re-

markable, for it is not merely a single spiral vessel that exists in the

gland, but a voluminous group of large reticulated cells occupies the

centre of the organ. These reticulated cells have expanded meshes

in the colourless central glands of the leaf, but the meshes of those

nearest the margin are narrow. The middle of the marginal glands

is also occupied by a considerable group of similar cells.

The pedicels of the marginal glands are dilated at the base and of

a green colour ; they become insensibly narrower, their green colour

becomes paler and passes to rose in the upper part which supports

the gland, which is elongated and attenuated at the base. These

pedicels are composed of an epidermis, a coloured parenchyma, and

a vascular system. 1. The epidermis is formed of long cells, which

become shorter from the base of the pedicel to its apex ; they are

colourless at the base of the organ, tinged with rose colour at its

upper part. In many cases the epidermic, or rather superficial

utricles, were furnished with grains of chlorophyll on the wall con-

tiguous to the green parenchyma : this is a fact to which I would

call the attention of anatomists. Some small stomata are most fre-

quently scattered between the epidermic cells towards the dilated

base of the pedicel, and some may even be found at a considerable

height upon it. There are also some small eminences, or short,

simple or bifurcated hairs, scattered on its surface. 2. The green

parenchyma is also composed of elongated cells, which contain a pro-

portion of chlorophyll equal to that of the tissue of the leaf itself.

This parenchyma goes on diminishing^ with the diameter of the

pedicel, so that towards the top it only consists of one or two series

of cells surrounding the vascular axis ; the green matter also dimi-

nishes in the interior of the cells, and at last is even sometimes

replaced by the rose colour. 3. The vascular system is usually com-

posed of single central bundles, but towards the base of the pedicel

there are sometimes two bundles distant from each other which unite

higher up. Each bundle is composed of two or three trachese of

great delicacy, often having two spiral fibres at a little distance and

turning in the same direction.

This is the structure of the pedicels of the marginal glands. If we

examine that of the glands themselves, from their posterior to their

anterior face, that is to say, from the surface corresponding with the

lower surface of the leaf to that which corresponds with the upper, we

find the elements arranged in the following manner. First, there is

an epidermis of colourless or rose-coloured cells, then a layer of cells

Miscellaneous.

149

containing chlorophyll of a pale green or nearly yellow colour ; —

these two parts form the oblong and slightly coneave cup already re-

ferred to, at the bottom of which the vascular system, considerably

increased, is placed. Lastly, these vessels or reticulated cells are

covered by utrieles of a carmine red colour. They form on the sur-

face of the cup, with the vascular cells which they enclose, a promi-

nent oblong gland, which is very elegantly bordered by the periphery

of the cup.

The order in whieh these elements are presented, is not without

analogy with that which rules the arrangement of those of the stem

of a Dicotyledonous plant. Thus, in this respect, we may compare

these marginal glands (as has been done with leaves) to a segment of

the stem of a plant ^vdth two cotyledons. Thus at the exterior of the

gland there is an epidermis as in the segment of stem, and then a

layer of cells with green matter, representing the herbaceous en-

velope ; then the vessels as in a stem ; and lastly, the rose-coloured

cellular tissue of the gland represents the pith. This comparison is

the more just, as the glands whieh fringe the leaf are, so to speak,

only the termination of the delicate teeth of the latter represented by

the pedicels, just as the marginal glands of the stipules of roses ter-

minate their mueh shorter teeth and even their nervures. — Com'ptes

Rendus, 25th June 1855, p. 1355.

On a new Organ observed hi Callitriehe (C. platycarpa, ^c.).

By M. A. Chatin.

The organs for which I propose the name of cystise give a whitish

appearance to the lower surface of the leaves in Callitriehe^ where

they exist in immense number. Under the lens they appear like

brilliant points, but the microseope shows that each cystia is a small

utricular apj)aratus presenting a closer esemblance to a doctor’s cap*.

The cystiae are usually formed of eight cells, enlarged at their

apical or free portion, and united in a common, narrow circular base,

inserted into the larger, irregular cells of the epidermis. Towards

the middle and upper parts the cystia is adorned with ribs, like some

Cucurbitaceous and Eu])horbiaceous fruits (especially that of Hura

crepitans).

These organs are at first filled with a liquid, which is often replaced

by gases (oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid) tow^ards the period of

rtowering. The liquid usually contained in these organs contains

tloating granules, which sometimes attach themselves to the walls,

and wliich are, for the most j)art, rendered brown by iodine. The

cystim when filled with gas serve as floats ; their presence coincides

with the absence of ])neumatophora in the tissue of the leaves.

J'be organogeny of the cystiee is peculiar. Each of them, like the

stomata, arises from a cell which is distinguished by its small size

and its rounded form from the large twisted cells which constitute

the epidermis. Like that of the stomata, the original cell of the

* The peculiar structure in (|uestion was ricscribed ' y Dr. Lankester in 1850;

sec .In7i. Nat. Wat. vol. vii. S. 2. j>. 123. — En.

150

Miscellaneous.

cystise is soon divided by a septum, and if at this moment it did not

rise above the epidermis, it would be impossible to say decidedly

whether it was a cystia or a spiracle in course of development. But

afterwards the two cells of the cystia each divide into two others,

forming four cells, which by a further subdivision are converted into

the eight elements composing the perfect organ.

All the stomata of the lower surface of the leaves, and those of the

stalk, give place in this manner to cystise, whilst the transformation

only takes place in the minority of those placed on the upper surface

of the leaves. Thus nature makes use of an organ already existing to

form a new apparatus. — Cornptes Rendus, 18th June 1855, p. 1291.

description of a new Tanager of the Genus Calliste.

By Philtp Lutley Sclater, M.A.

Calliste venusta, Sclater. C. Icete cceruleo-viridis : intersca-

pulio alis caudaifie nigris, eodem viridi limbatis : fronte, loris,

gula sinnma et auchenio nigris : pileo lateribusque capitis flams :

ventre medio crissocpie pal tide ochraceis : rostro nigro : pedibus

pallidis.

Long, tota 4*5 ; alse 2*5 ; caudae 1*5 poll. Angl.

Hab. In Nova Grenada et in rep. Equatoriana provincia Quixos.

I have been acquainted with this pretty Calliste for some time,

but have always considered it as the xanthocephala of Tschudi, and

have described it as such in my “ Synopsis of the genus Calliste'’'* in

the Contributions to Ornithology. But having lately had the oppor-

tunity of examining Tschudi’ s type specimens in the Neuchatel Mu-

seum, I find that his Callospiza xanthocephala is not this bird, but

the same as my Calliste I amprotis (Cont. to Orn. 1851, p. 65). That

species closely resembles the present, but may be distinguished by its

orange cap and brilliant golden-yellow ear-coverts.

The extreme inaccuracy of Dr. Tschudi’s figure, which looks more

like this species than the other, must be my excuse for committing

this error, in which however I am not alone, as even in the Berlin

Museum (where Tschudi’s types ought to be known) I have observed

the present bird called xanthocephala.

Mr. Gould’s collection from Quixos contained examples of this

species. M}’’ own specimens are from Santa Fe di Bogota. — Proc.

Zool.Soc., Nov. 14, 1854.

On the Spermatophora of the Crickets. By C. Lespes.

In the Crickets the ejaculatory canal does not turn back as in

nearly all insects to form the penis. During copulation, which is

accompanied by some singular manoeuvres, the male introduces into

the vulva of the female the extremity of a small apparatus which

contains a drop of the seminal fluid. This spermato])hore consists of

a small horny vesicle, and of a slender, flattened appendage ; the

latter is the only part that penetrates into the vulva. In the course

of a few hours the female drops the whole apparatus.

As soon as the male has lost one of these spermatophora, a new

Meteorological Observations. 151

one takes its place. It may easily be seen at the extremity of the ab-

domen by raising the dorsal plate which terminates it, and this repro-

duction may be observed repeatedly upon the same male.

The spermatophore is produced hy an appendage of the genital

segment, — the ventral plate of this segment being flattened posteriorly

and converted into a twisted glandular plate. When the spermato-

phore is formed, the vesicle is expelled from the secreting apparatus,

and takes its place between two fleshy palettes, by which it is sup-

ported at the moment of copulation. It remains in this position for

a longer or shorter time, but if the male is prevented from copulating

he will after a time allow it to drop. — Comptes Rendus, 2nd July

1855, p. 28.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1855.

Chiswick. — June 1. Overcast. 2. Cloudy and fine : very clear. 3. Fine :

cloudy : overcast. 4. Heavy clouds : very fine. 5. Cloudy : fine. 6. Hot and

dry; rain. 7. Very fine. 8. Cloudy: very fine. 9. Showery. 10,11. Very

fine. 12. Very fine : clear at night. 13. Slight haze. 14. Overcast : rain. 15.

Cloudy; fine: rain. 16. Fine: showery: overcast: heavy rain. 17. Cloudy:

slight showers. 18. Clear: cloudy: rain. 19. Overcast and fine. 20. Light

clouds : fine ; clear : frosty at night. 21. Clear and fine. 22. Fine : very dry air.

23. Overcast. 24. Very fine. 25. Cloudy and fine. 26. Overcast : very fine.

27. Dry haze : very fine. 28 — 30. Very fine.

Mean temperature of the month 57°‘98

Mean temperature of June 1854 56 *93

Mean temperature of June for the last tw^enty-nine years ... 60 *39

Average amount of rain in June 1’89 inch,

Boston. — June 1. Cloudy : rain a.m. 2. Cloudy, 3, 4. Fine. 5. Cloudy. 6.

Fine. 7. Cloudy: rain a.m. 8. Cloudy. ,9. Fine: rain p.m. 10. Fine: rain

with thunder p.M. 11. Fine. 12, 13. Cloudy. 14. Rain a.m. and p.m. 15. Cloudy:

rain A.M. and P.M, 16. Fine. 17, 18. Cloudy: rain p.m. 19,20. Cloudy. 21,

22. Fine. 23—27. Cloudy. 28—30. Fine.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — June 1. Bright a.m.: rain p.m. 2. Damp a.m. :

foggy P.M. 3. Hazy a.m. : cloudy p.m. 4. Hazy a.m. : clear p.m. 5. Bright a.m. :

clear p.m. 6, Rain, thunder a.m. : drops p.m. 7. Foggy a.m. : cloudy p.m.

8. Bright, fine a.m. : foggy p.m. 9. Showers a.m. : showers, foggy p.m. 10.

Cloudy A.M. : clear p.m, 11. Bright a.m.: cloudy p.m. 12. Rain a.m. and p.m.

13. Foggy A.M. and p.m. 14. Clear a.m. and p.m. 15. Cloudy a.m. : clear p.m.

16. Showers A.M. : drops p.m. 17. Drizzle, showers a.m. and p.m. 18. Bright

a.m. : drizzle, showers P.M. 19. Clear a.m. and p.m. 20. Cloudy a.m. : small

rain P.M. 21. Foggy a.m. and p.m. 22. Foggy a.m. : bright p.m. 23. Bright

a.m. and p.m. 24. Bright a.m. : bright, rain p.m. 25. Rain a.m. and p.m. 26.

Drops a.m. : rain p.m. 27. Bright a.m. ; clear p.m. 28. Clear, fine a.m. : bright,

fine P.M. 29, 30. Bright, fine a.m. and p.m.

Mean temperature of June for twenty-eight previous years . 52°*78

Mean temperature of this month 52 -23

Mean temperature of June 1854 52 *86

Average quantity of rain in June for fifteen previous years . 2 21 indies.

Meteorological Observations made by Mr. Thompson at the Garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, near London-,

by Mr. Veall, at Boston; and by the Rev. C. Clouston, at Sandwich Manse, Orkney.

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

No. 9.5. SEPTEMBER 185.5.

XIII. — Observations on the Genera Pachybdella {Diesing) and

Peltogaster {Rathhe)^ two animal forms parasitic upon the

abdomen of Crabs. By Professor Steenstrup*.

In tlie most recent systematic work on the Worms, Intestinal

Worms and the lower division of the great Articulated series in

general, Diesing^s ^ Systema Helmintlmm ^ (1850, vol. i. p. 434-

435), we find amongst the Bdellidea, in the suborder Monaco-

tylea, subtribe Cej)halohdellida, a new genus Pachybdella, esta-

blished upon a parasitic animal discovered some years before

by Rathke under the abdomen of the common Crab, Carcinus

Manas, and described by him under the name of Peltogaster

Carcini-\. Diesing himself appears to have had no specimens of

the animal before him, but to have merely drawn up his generic

and specific characters from Rathke’s descriptions and figures,

which again are founded upon two specimens of this remarkable

parasite, one of which was obtained from the Norwegian coast,

the other from the Black Sea. Neither Rathke’s description

nor his figures, however, furnish a sufficient notion of the

structure of the animal to enable us to arrive at any definite

conclusion as to its systematic position, or as to the group,

whose characteristic marks it might have lost in consequence of

its parasitic existence. It is only from the circumstance that

Rathke refers the animal to the genus Peltogaster, which had

been recently established by him, and of which he has more

fully described another species J (P. Paguri, Rathke), from the ab-

domen of the Hermit Crab, that we learn that this author would

* From Wiefrmanii’s Arcliiv. 185.5, No. 1. p. 15.

t Nova Arta Aead. Csrs. Leop. Car. 1845, tom. xx. ]>t. 1. ])]>. 241-2 J!>.

X Fartly in the same paper, p. 245-247, and partly in the Neiiest. Sclir.

der Nat. Ges. in Danzig, 1842, l>d. ii. p. 10.5-1 II.

Ann. ying. X. Hist. Scr. 2. Vol. xvi. 1 1

154 M. Steenstrup on the genera Pachybdella and Peltogaster.

place the genus Pachyhdella amongst the Vermes, accepting this

class in its widest sense. In this class, however, Pathke has given

his genus no determinate place ; he only thinks that these ani-

mals are by no means to be arranged with the Bdellide or Trema-

tode worms, of which we are at once reminded by the form of

their bodies, the pits with which they attach themselves, and their

parasitie mode of life ; he would rather regard them as transition

forms from the ^Porms to the Actinice and the Radiated animals

most nearly allied to these. Thus, according to his view, the

pit with which these sac-like parasites attach themselves to the

abdomen of the crab, is only a sucker, from which no tube leads

into the body of the animal ; and the other opening, which exists

at the free extremity of the body, is a mouth, which leads into a

large cavity, serving at once as a digestive cavity and for the

development of the ova, — a double office which he considers to

be proved by the extended observations which he was enabled to

make upon the P. Paguri, but which we must admit with the

author is something very peculiar and hitherto unheard of in

the case of a worm.^^

Our knowledge of Diesing’s so-called genus Pachyhdella is

however fortunately not confined to the scanty information,

welcome as it may be in every respect, which Rathke has fur-

nished upon the individuals found and examined by him ; other

statements are extant, which, although they have hitherto been

overlooked, are deserving of every attention, as they throw a

light upon the distribution and systematic position of this

parasite.

With regard to the occurrence and diffusion of Pachyhdella, I

will refer to the sac-like parasite found by Bell under the abdo-

men of Carcinus Mcenas and Portunus marmoreus from the Bri-

tish Channel, and which he has described in such a manner,

that there can be no doubt he had a Pachyhdella before him.

On the first-mentioned crab he appears to have found the parasite

only oceasionally, but it occurred in considerable numbers on

the other. This author, who only refers to the parasite en pass-

ant, regards the pit by which it attaches itself as the oral aper-

ture, and the other orifice, which Rathke considers to be the

mouth, as the anus. Bell consequently ascribes a complete di-

gestive canal to the animal. The parasites which occurred upon

Carcinus Manas were so similar to those which Bell found in

greater abundanee upon Portunus marmoreus, that he does not

appear to have felt any doubt as to the identity of the species.

1 can prove the occurrence of Pachyhdella not only in the

Channel, but also in the Mediterranean, from several individuals

in the Zoological Museum of this University (Copenhagen). In

the year 1848 I received a few Crustacea from the former locality.

M. Steenstrup on the genera Pachybdella and Peltogaster. 155

from M. V. Prosch, a ship-surgeon^ and amongst these was a

Portunus hirtellus, under the abdomen of which there was a very

large sac, which I took to be a Lernaeid parasite, without how-

ever being able to refer it to any known form of the family of

Lernseidje. I have since, however, recognized in it a form ap-

proaching so closely to Pachybdella Carcini, that it could only

be distinguished therefrom by a few immaterial points in the

outline of the body, and the wrinkling of the hinder opening.

From a specimen of Carcinus Mcenas, taken by Captain Svenson

on the ‘‘ Black banks in the North Sea, I obtained a very large

individual of a form exactly agreeing with P. Carcini, Rathke ;

and I have since found three other individuals, resembling the

first, in a bottle containing several specimens of Portunus hir-

tellus from the Mediterranean.

If the preceding statements would lead to the supposition

that this form of parasite is by no means to be reckoned amongst

the greatest rarities of these seas, this appears still more di-

stinctly from some observations which I found in Cavolini’s

memoir upon the Development of Fishes and Crustacea, on

reading it through last autumn with a very different object.

From this I found that Cavolini had not only known and figured

these animals, but that he had had them in quantity, and, as it

ap])ears from his figures, several species of them, found under the

abdomen of two species of crabs, which are called Cancer de-

pressus, Fabr., and C. verrucosus, Forsk., in his memoir. These

sacs are found both upon the males and females ; they are repre-

sented under the abdomen of the males of both species (tab. 2.

figs. 1 & 14), and under that of the female of the former (fig. 13).

They occur so commonly, that the fishermen are generally of

opinion that the eggs of the crabs are contained in them. The

form represented under the tail of the C. verrucosus in Cavolini^s

fig. 14, so closely resembles the P, Carcini figured by Rathke,

that it might be taken for the same species ; that represented in

figs. 1 & 13 on Cancer depressus rather resembles the one above

mentioned from Pagurus hirtellus, but Cavolini states that the

opening at the narrow end has only four knots or teeth, whilst

my specimens had at least twice that number (8-10). The com-

])arison of the outline of the animal with that of the fruit of

Thlaspi Bursa-pastoris is very characteristic, but shows that his

specimens must have been somewhat longer in proportion than

those which 1 obtained from Pagurus hirtellus.

Frf>m the above observations it is sufficiently evident, that

these Pachyhdella-Yike parasites are not only more abundant

than has been supposed, but that several species of them occui',

according to the various s[)ccies of crabs upon which they live.

But still more important consequences result from Cavolini^s

11*

156 M. Steeiistrup on the genera Pachybdella and Peltogaster.

investigations. He has traced the development of the eggs

which fill these sacs in such enormous quantities, and ascer-

tained that the young proceeding from the sacs from both spe-

cies of crabs are of the same kind, and that the young is a true

Crustaceous animal. He finds a resemblance between these

young animals and the Cancer paludosus of Muller (Zool. Da-

nica, tab. 48), but at the same thinks that they must be ap-

proximated to the Monoculus Telemiis of Linngeus*. On tab. 2.

fig. 15, Cavolini figures a portion of the eggs taken from ^‘the

sac^^ that is the Pachybdella, under the abdomen of the crab

which he calls Cancer verrucosus \ they are still immature, and

are united by mucous threads into chains. Fig. 16 «. represents

the mature egg with the developed embryo within it, and

fig. 16 c, the embryo just after its exclusion from the egg, with

three distinct pairs of swimming feet, provided with bristles. It

cannot be denied that this embryo is exceedingly like that of

many Entomostraca, and we might therefore be induced at first

to regard the Pachyhdella as a kind of Lernseid animal. But as

I must leave it to future observers, who may have the opportu-

nity of collecting these animals in large quantities, to give a

conclusive answer to this question, and only propose in the fol-

lowing pages to indicate some remarkable relations between the

Pachyhdella and other forms of Crustacea, I will only add here,

that Cavolini, notwithstanding the experiments which he made

with this view, did not succeed in tracing the further changes of

this embryo, and that he, in accordance with the spirit of his

time, did not suppose that the young animal itself might be-

come converted into the sac in which the eggs were found,

but rather that it was developed into a Crustacean, which after-

wards fastened this ovisac under the abdomen of the erabs.

From CavolinFs observations, however, it appears that Pachy-

hdella is undoubtedly a Crustaeean, and one which is gradually

brought into its sac-like form in consequence of its parasitic

mode of life.

Even if we admit Diesing’s separation of the original contents

of Rathke’s genus Peltogaster, — according to which the shorter

and broader form with the sucking pit at one end of the body,

which occurs under the abdomen of crabs, will form a peculiar

genus under the name of Pachyhdella, and this we may be so much

the more inclined to do, as it appears from the preceding state-

ments that there are several species exceedingly closely allied to

it in external appearance, — w^e should certainly establish no

* The Monoculus Telemus, Linn,, which Linnaeus himself says is “ ge-

neris etiamnum tluhii,” is very clearly from his diagnosis and description

the Jlyalo'a tridentofa of Forskiil.

M. Steenstrup on the genera Pacbybdella and Peltogaster. 157

more than a generic or subgeneric division^ as tbe other balf of

tbe original contents of tbe genus appears to be so closely allied

to this, and only to dilfer in tbe more elongated form of tbe

body_, in tbe position of tbe sucking pit further from the extre-

mity, and almost under the middle of tbe body, and in tbe resi-

dence of tbe animal under the abdomen of a species belonging

to another family of Crustacea {Pagurus Bernhardas) . If there-

fore Pachybdella has proved to be a true Crustacean, analogy

leads us to regard Peltogaster in tbe same light.

However, we need not perhaps rest entirely upon this conclu-

sion, as there are certainly direct observations in existence that

tbe young of the Peltog aster sacs found under the abdomen

of tbe Macroura and Anomura (?) are Crustacean in form. Thus,

Diesing has not noticed that Kroyer, in bis Monograph of tbe

Northern species of Hippolyte, has briefly mentioned tbe para-

sites by which they are infested, and especially certain sac-like

creatures, which must undoubtedly be referred to the animals

now under consideration*. In the fourth section of the Mono-

graph, which bears the title of Ein Paar Bemerkungen iiber

Schmarotzerthiere auf Hippolyten,^^ the author, after describing

some other parasites, continues as follows (p. 56) : — “ Lastly,

under the abdomen Hippolyte pusiola, I discovered an enig-

matical parasite (tab. 5. fig. 110«) which it is difficult to refer to

its right position, — nay, its structure appears so simple, so com-

pletely destitute of all organs, that one might perhaps easily be

led to regard it, not as an independent animal, but as a mere

pathological phsenomenon, a swelling or excrescence on the Hip-

polyte-\. It evidently forms a new genus, which on the one

hand appears to have some analogy wdth the Lernseidse, and on

the other possesses an external affinity to some Hirudinese and

intestinal worms. Of this form I know several species : 1 found

one of a whitish colour and of considerable size, in abundance

on the abdomen of Pagurus pub escens near Spitzbergen ; another,

smaller and of an orange-red colour, occurred on Pagurus Bern-

hardus in the Kattegatt ; the third, which occurs on Hippolyte

pusiola, is nearly of a globular or oval form, of a wdiite colour,

and about 2 lines in diameter. Of 25 specimens of H. pusioluy

eight bore these parasites under the abdomen ; some specimens

had two, and upon one I found no less than three of them. I

propose to describe these more fully on some other opportunity.^^

* This is also noticed by Loven in his annual Reports.

t “ I should perhaps not have ventured to mention this creature decidedly

as a distinct animal, if I had not seen tlie eggs rush out on opening a spe-

cimen ; these, when examined under the microsco])e, exhibited fully deve-

loped young, consisting of an anterior body and an abdomen or tail, the

atter ])rovided with swimming feet or bristles,” &c. — Kriiyer.

158 M. Steenstrup on the genera Pachybdella and Peltogaster.

I am not aware that Professor Kroyer has since published

anything upon this subject ; but from the preceding it is evident,

that at least the two first-mentioned vermiform species are true

Peltogastri, and that the third must also be placed very near

this genus, notwithstanding the difference in the form of the

body, appears from the fact that Kroyer places them all in

one and the same genus. If the interesting observation upon

the young given by Kroyer in the preceding note applies to all

the three species, it becomes a positive observation of the

Crustacean nature of the vermiform Peltogastri ; but if it

applies only to the third and last form — to which, as is evident

from the text, the note in which the observation is given par-

ticularly belongs, — -it is at any rate a new confirmation of the

opinion that these sac-like structures, filled with eggs, which

occur under the abdomen of the long-tailed crabs, are them-

selves to be regarded as Crustacea.

Even if it may remain doubtful to which of the smaller natural

divisions of the Crustacea the genera in question are to be re-

ferred, the above-mentioned observations upon the form of the

young show distinctly that they are Crustaceous animals ; so that

it is evident they cannot be represented in our systems as her-

maphroditic animal forms. As long as it is not universally

admitted that the separation of the sexes, or unisexuality, is a

general rule (not to say, law) in nature, and that in our science

it must not be admitted that any single animal possesses an

opposite sexuality or hermaphroditism, without a scientific proof

of this abnormal behaviour with regard to this particular

animal, the opponent of hermaphroditism, which is still ascribed

to a good many animals, must find himself in this position, —

that the sexual relations of the less known and uninvestigated

animal forms are adopted from the relations of those animals

which are most nearly allied to them, and which have been sub-

mitted to a closer examination in this respect, although innu-

merable examples of the uncertainty of this procedure are suffi-

ciently well known. Thus, as long as the two genera of parasites

under consideration could be regarded as Hirudinoid animals,

we were under the necessity of supposing them to be herma-