a 4

THE ANNALS

AND

3 MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING

ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY.

(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ ANNALS’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND

CHARLESWORTH'S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, )

CONDUCTED BY

PJ. SELBY, Esg., F.L.S., GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D.,

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

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

AND :

RICHARD TAYLOR, F.I.S., F.G.S.

PARA AAA AAR AAAARANAARIIOS

; VOL. X.—SECOND SERIES.

as no"

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS.

SOLD. BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS; 8S. HIGHLEY AND SON};

SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.} PIPER, BROTHERS, AND CO.; W. WOOD,

TAVISTOCK STREET; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET,

AND PARIS: LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND

STEWART, EDINBURGH ! CURRY, DUBLIN:

AND ASHER, BERLIN.

1852.

a ee rie eM Ee he mre ne el Min or poy

‘‘Omnes res create sunt divine sapientie et potentie testes, divitie felicitatis

humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini ;

ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.

Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper estimata; a veré eruditis

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

LINNZUS.

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

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

toutes ses opérations.’”—BRUCKNER, Théorie du Syst?me Animal, Leyden, 1767.

PCr ey peer ara . . The sylvan powers

Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells

The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild

And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs

That press with nimble step the mountain thyme

And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed,

But scatter round ten thousand forms minute

Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock

Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too

Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face

They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush

That drinks the rippling tide:. the frozen poles,

Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread,

The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne,

All, all to us unlock their secret stores

And pay their cheerful tribute.

J. Taytor, Norwich, 1818.

FLAMMAM,.

——— a

CONTENTS OF VOL. X.

[SECOND SERIES.]

NUMBER LV.

Tage

I. On the Nervous System of Ommastrephes todarus. By ALBANY

Hancock, Esq. (With two Plates.) ......seccscsersessceeseceeeseeensenens 1

II. A few Notes on the Structure of the Belemnite. By GiDEON

ALGERNON MANTELL, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., President of the West

London Medical Society, &c. .....ccssssecseseeecscaececnscsecseceneteeeseres 14

III. On a supposed new species of Eleocharis. By CHARLEs C.

PVA UG VONM WE Ace Eats OCR. oe ccclaccancdeeonccducesccescetacceseessseccew 19

IV. On some of the rarer British Gasteropodous Mollusca. By

WILLIAM CLARK, Esq. ...scccessscececccescessccerscccessecsesencsescccssens 22

V. On the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee, Troglodytes gorilla.

By S. KNEELAND, Jun., M.D., Boston, U.S.A. s0s.....sseeeeeeecesoees 23

VI. On some genera of the Icacinacee. By JoHN Mirrs, Esq.,

Wei iis Be D a Pie gcse Anikhs etna sae cin athneadec thy vaeapoqes sen cecnunvesesane 30

VII. Notes on Chalcidites, and descriptions of various new species.

By FRANCIS WALKER, F.L.S. ‘.iciccscccccoscscccsenccscstecsscsaccecscnecs 45

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Royal Institution of Great

Britain ; Botanical Society of Edinburgh ; Linnean Society... 49—68

Ornithological Notes, by John Alexander Smith, M.D ; Corfiote Shells,

by Sylvanus Hanley, Esq.; On Littorina palliata, by William

Thompson ; New Locality for Tulostoma mammosum, by Matthew

Moggridge; On the Preservation of the Fecundated Eggs of

Fishes, by M. Coste; Postscript to Mr. Clark’s Paper on Rare

British Mollusca ; Irish Mollusca, by William White Walpole ; On

the Sun Column as seen at Sandwick Manse, Orkney, in April >

1852, by C. Clouston ; Meteorological Observations and Table. 69-—80

iv CONTENTS.

NUMBER LVI. .-’

Page

VIII. Notes on the Reproduction of the Campanulariade ; with a

description of a new species of Laomedea. By the Rey. THomMas

Hincks, B.A. (With a Plate.) ..........csccscoscosccstssecececssonsocnenes 81

IX. Contributions to the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. By

THOMAS WRIGHT, M.D.&6, © ..225v 0s sic easdsess oe Se 87

X. Descriptions of some newly discovered species of Araneidea. By

JoHN BuACKWALL, F.L.S. .........00. Disccevoucnecdsvedsansesdpreenet areas 93

XI. Note of the Mollusca observed during a short visit to the

Canary and Madeira Islands, &c., in the months of April and May

1852. By R. MSANDREW, F.LAS. 20... cscccsssscssncssccscecosnccenensees 100

XII. On some genera of the Icacinacee. By Joun Miers, Esq.,

PRS. PAGS ids. ccktvsccsnagcavendapcvdevadweecs4ihu, cusses cian eee 108

XIII. Upon the Genus Doliolum and its species. By Dr. A. Kroun.

CWith @ Plate) oc scece ss coesesyecadess.isreeueaenecenscees tauren cesses LAO

XTV. On the genus Lepton. By Witiiam CiaRrK, Esq. .......:- 129:

New Books :—A History of Infusorial Animalcules, Living and Fossil,

by Andrew Pr spec M.R.I.—A SAE lee of the bea | of

Naiades, by Isaac Lea .. sienane cosseeees . 1384—138

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ......ssssssseceeeseesseee eee wrens race 138

Observations on the Circulation of the Blood in the Arachnida, by

M. Emile Blanchard; On the Distribution of Coluber natria, by

John Henry Gurney; Uses of the Stillingia sebifera, or Tallow

Tree, with a notice of the Pe-Ja, an Insect-wax of China, by J.

D. Macgowan, M.D.; Nymphea alba var. major, by J. De C.

Sowerby; On the Structure of the Belemnite; Meteorological

Observations and Table ,.,..+..,+0se+0 susesenebogen veceesenves ». 150—160

NUMBER LVII.

XV. On the Form and Structure of the Shell of Operculina Arabica.

By H. J. Carrer, Esq., Assistant Surgeon, Bombay Establishment.

(With a Plate.) ..cccscocsescscesvcescsarsssesces hésenesstaystecces svecshiatame 161

XVI. On some genera of the Icacinacee. By Joun Mrurs, Esq.,

FLR.S.,. F.LS. ccosocsscvardserceseveeseterevestverssscuptarerscasteccsaesbeteues 176

XVII. A Catalogue of British Spiders, including remarks on their

Structure, Functions, (Economy, and Systematic Arrangement. By

JoHN BLACKWALL, F.L.S. — cscecsseseeeees peaneecledveatecssyadasyas OMe ap ee

CONTENTS. Vv

Page

XVIII. Contributions to British Paleontology :—Some new Lower

Paleozoic Mollusca. By F. M‘Coy, Professor of Geology and Mine-

ralogy in Queen’s College, Belfast .......secssseesssneeesccseseeeesseeceees 189

XIX. On some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie which have net

_ been described. By WILLIAM CLARK, Esq. ...ccsceescsscecsececeeees 195

XX. On the Sloughing of the Spider-Crab (Maia Squinado). By

Bat Goser, ALSi ican ie GieGuiOrie ni eeidlawes deeds, 210

New Books :—Plante Javanice Rariores, descripte Iconibusque illus-

trate, quas in Insula Java, annis 1802-18, legit et investigavit

Thomas Horsfield, M.D.; e siccis Descriptiones et Characteres

plurimarum elaboravit Joannes J. Bennett ; Observationes Struc-

turam et Affinitates preesertim respicientes passim adjecit Robertus

BEGWID 30.02. vectsvecdeseverevcadeecteeydedvevessensesteosevovecseccssspeassons 213

f Proceedings of the Linnean Society; Royal Society ; Botanical So-

Daety: OF MAMIDUT EY |, .sadscccasersunnedacaviessatess itiacvasenes 216—237

Notice of the Occurrence, on the Durham Coast, of Diphyllidia lineata,

; by Albany Hancock, Esq.; Irish Mollusca, by W. W. Walpole ;

On the lhritability of the Leaves of Drosera rotundifolia, by

Dr. Milde; Embryogeny of Orchis, Gesneria, and other Phane-

rogamia; Meteorological Observations and Table ......... 237 —240

NUMBER LVIII.

q a “XXI. Observations on the Nidification of Gasterosteus aculeatus

and Gasterosteus spinachia. By ALBANY Hancock, Esq...........++ 241

_ XXII. A Catalogue of British Spiders, including remarks on their-

_ Structure, Functions, (Economy, and Systematic Arrangement. By

— JOHN BLACKWALL, FLAS. o.eseseeeeseeeeessseeetesneeees PEN Greer ter 248

XXIII. On some undescribed Animals of the British Rissoe. By

| WILLIAM CLARK, Esq. ..cceeccceccssscccssecotecnssceoesccoscessacesene bevaxend

5 ‘ XXIV. On keeping Marine Animals and Plants alive in unchanged

"| Sea-Water. By P. H. Gossm, ALS. -sscsssesssseessensessceeesssereses 263

_ XXV. Notes on the Genus Cyclostoma; and Characters of some

__ new species from India, Borneo, and Natal. By W. H. Benson, Esq. 268

13 XXVI. Observations on the Natural History of the Water-Snail

| and Fish kept in a confined and limited portion of Water. By Roprrr

4 HME WARINGTON, Esq, © cscccceseccocscvoccscceseseccesssacsaceosenngecssesesooeors 273

__ XXVII. Description of a new species of Wart Pig from the Cama-

| roons. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.8. .e0...0 pasieabvecsasees 280

vl CONTENTS.

: Page

XXVIII. Description of Sauresia, a new genus of Scincide from

St. Domingo. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. ....0-ceeesere 281

XXIX. Some Account of a Dredging Expedition on the coast of the

Isle of Man during the months of May, June, July and August 1852.

By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S......ccccecssssessrscercsecseeneroecees 282

Proceedings of the Linnzan Society; Zoological Society ...... 285—309

On a Parasite which is developed under exceptional circumstances on

the surface of certain alimentary substances and causes them to

appear covered with blood, by M. Montagne; Irish Mollusea, by

W. W. Walpole; Directions for Making and Preserving Micro-

scopical Preparations, by M. Harting; Arenaria serpyllifolia, by

Samuel Octavus Gray; Note of the Observation of Cilia in

Grantia, by William Murray Dobie, M.D.; Experimental Re-

searches upon the Process of Fecundation in Mosses, by M. H. :

Philibert ; Meteorological Observations and Table ......... 309—320

NUMBER LIX.

XXX. Ona new Genus of the Family of Volvocinee. By Dr. Frr-

DINAND Coun of Breslau. (With a Plate.) ......scsccsccsssecssecssseees 321

XXXI. Notice of an Australian Diplommatina ; and Characters of

new East Indian Helicide from Darjilmg and Sincapore. By W. H.

BENSON, Esq. | ccccssccesressstessseccseneconsascvessasssseessesnsGassenestae os. O40

XXXII. On the Priority of the Term Polyzoa for the Ascidian

Polypes. By GEoRGE BuSK, F.R.S, &. ...sescccsscsscereeseeeseeceecens 352

XXXIII. Note on a new species of Clionites. By N. T. Werus-

RELL, Esq., F.G.S., M.R.C.S. &c. (With a Plate.) .....e.sccessereaene 354

XXXIV. Description of a species of Belemnite, with Observations

on Aptychus. By J. Morris, F.G.S. (With a Plate.) ....c.ss.seeeee 355

XXXV. On some Crustacea dredged by Mr. Barlee in the Shet-

lands. By C. Spence Bate, Esq. (With a Plate.) ........000.. wee 306

XXXVI. On a new Arrangement of British Rissoe. By H. and

Be ADAMS wccccinesscssesesceresanssaues cates ons 904 ¥4)006) 00h s 00h tiem 358

XXXVII. Description of a new Hemipterous Insect forming the

type of a new genus. By W.S. Da..as, Me . F.L.S. &e. (Witha

PUBL S) nas esnevicnsaansey uiestnacqumnis sdpdsubeswer coast Vaateinasnaniaseg) been ents 359

New Books :—The Natural History of Animals, by Thomas Rymer

Jones, F.R.S.—Parks and Pleasure-Grounds, or Practical Notes

on Country Residences, Villas, Public Parks and Gardens, by

CONTENTS. vil

Page

4 Charles H. J. Smith.—Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, par M. F.

: Be Guerin MenevMle. 6 sc. cc cesesceen sven sscecencarsescscesenees 362—366

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ......sesessesessseesssseseneecesoeeees 366

The Natural-History Collections at the British Museum; On the Ni-

dification of the Stickleback, by Albany Hancock ; Fossil Pachy-

a dermata in Canada, by Thomas Cottle; Remarks on the Mode

4 of Vegetation of European and North American Trees transported

; to Madeira, by Prof. Oswald Heer; Colymbus septentrionalis, by

.. Matthew Mogegridge; On the Structure of the Stem of Victoria

7 Regia, by Arthur Henfrey, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c.; Meteorological

7 Crservatinns tirid: Table <.ssssisncs sc cicecccessescednecncevcccses 392—400

NUMBER LX.

_ XXXVITII. On a new Genus of the Family of Volvocinee. By

Dr. FERDINAND Coun of Breslau. (With a Plate.) ....cccecsceceseee 401

4 XXXIX. On the Tongues of Mollusca. By J. E. Gray, Ph.D.,

Oe Re Polat. COE. cosh socusnsvdpecghetubetintnag sdcsedsnescoverdtncessxpacasee 411

XL. Description of Carterodon sulcidens, Lund. By Joun REIN-

HARDT. Translated from the Danish by Dr. Wauticu, F.R.S., Vice-

A Soar eee ca pana sek ee tie es sie i eee bacaklassdasaensutas eine eoeseaus 417

XLI. Contributions to British Paleontology :—On some new Bra-

chiopoda from the Carboniferous Limestone. By FrepERIcK M‘Coy,

Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in Queen’s College, Belfast ... 421

XLII. On a species of Strombus in the Hunterian Museum at

Glasgow. By THomas GRAY, Esq., Glasgow ......sscssssseseceeeeeeees 429

XLIII. Experiments on the Transformation of the Cystoid Worms

mito Trnias. By CU. T. Von SiBBOLD .....ccsesscccctecececsscesssccccecs 431

XLIV. Some Account of a Dredging Expedition off the coast of the

Isle of Man during the months of May, June, July and August 1852.

fee 2 ev ON, Eg. F.LB., FZSe ic ocsccsvsvcccvccoscecssosvcsconevtss 434

XLV. Further Note on Atelides centrolineatus. By W.S. Dauuas,

LAD Fis Sou seadal colts Oh Pebuee we eas eun Shand ves ds vsuveneeilanUekenndpeneveced oc ebed 436

XLVI. Descriptions of several new Genera of Reptiles, principally —

from the Collection of H.M.S. Herald. By J. E, Gray, Esq., Ph.D.,

EN CELT GLC, iiscucscrierecuteedevecevbeeveccdvisteseduisiapsucceveatbons 437

New Books :—Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, par M. F. E. Guérin-

Meéneville scrcoorseosccrecsoecacesses Cag rea Lanwdignbewadges ¢qver ens sary acess 440

_ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Royal Society; Linnean

Noosa shaw ra ateasoaqsevtaslisupeiusstehicrcversas conve 444—463

Vili CONTENTS.

Ona Venomous Fly of Southern Africa, by MM. W. Oswelland Arnaud ;

Experimental Researches upon the Temperature of Reptiles, and

on the modifications which it undergoes under various cireum-

stances, by M. Aug. Duméril; Late appearance of the Swallow,

by G. Bryant; Meteorological Observations and Table ... 463—466

PLATES IN VOL. X.

Sauget } Nervous System of Ommastrephes todarus.

III. Reproduction of the Campanulariadee.—Structure of Doliolum.

IV. Form and Structure of the Shell of Operculina Arabica.

V. New species of Clionites.—New species of Belemnite.—Hippo-

lyte Barleei.—Atelides centrolineatus.

VI. Structure and Development of Stephanospheera, a new genus of

the Volvocineze.

ERRATUM.

Page 351, line 11 from top, for 1844 read 1849.

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

$© J vessccccsensscoves per litora spargite muscum,

Naiades, et circdm vitreos considite fontes :

Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores :

Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum.

At vos, o Nymphz Craterides, ite sub undas ;

Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco

Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas

Ferte, Dez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”

N. Parthenii Giannettasii Ecl. 1.

No. 55. JULY 1852.

i cara

; I.—On the Nervous System of Ommastrephes todarus.

‘ By Auspany Hancock.

[ With two Plates. |

THE Cephalopods are undoubtedly the most highly organized

of all the Mollusca; their external organs, however, are of so

abnormal a character, that any attempt to trace their homologies

_ in the lower groups of that subkingdom would at first sight ap-

_ pear almost hopeless. Notwithstanding, numerous efforts have

been made with that view by able naturalists; but apparently

without much success, for our knowledge on this subject still

remains in a most unsatisfactory state.

For the purpose of elucidating this difficult problem, I have

recently dissected with much care the nervous system of Omma-

_strephes todarus—the Loligo sagittata of English authors, and

now propose to give a detailed description of it, refraining at

present from any attempt to arrive at just conclusions respecting

the nature and signification of the organs of these active and

_ voracious animals*.

__ * Before making this attempt, it seems desirable to make a close exami-

nation of the anatomy of the neighbouring genera. :

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist, Ser. 2. Vol. x. 1

2 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

On laying open the ventral region of the head of Ommastrephes

todarus, the subcesophageal ganglions were soon ascertained to

hold their normal position. In this Cephalopod, however, they

are divided into three masses, one being placed a little in advance

of the other two; but all above the alimentary tube. The an-

terior (Pl. I. figs..1, 2, 3a) is a depressed, irregularly circular

mass, giving off from the anterior border, on each side of the

median line, five large nerves (0, 0) to the arms, and from the

posterior margin on each side two small ones (¢, ¢), which were

lost in the muscular mass in front of the eyes. A commissure (ec)

running backwards connects this with the second or median

mass, and is a very thick cord composed of numerous stout fila-

ments, most of which pass over the ventral surface of the anterior

ganglion, and becoming united to the brachial nerves accompany

them into the arms. Thus each arm receives a nerve from the

median as well as from the anterior masses. A central filament

was lost in the substance of the anterior mass.

As soon as the brachial nerves enter the root of the arms

they swell out a little, each forming an indistinct oval ganglion

(fig. 2, 3p, p); these ganglions are united with each. other by

nervous cords, and thus a complete chain of nerves and gan-

glions encircles the oral channel. The brachial nerves (o’, o’) are

continued on from the ganglions to the extremity of the arms ~~

within a central channel, giving off filaments on either side,

several of which pass through the substance of the organ and go

to the skin. The surface being thus copiously supplied with

nerves is probably highly sensitive. Filaments are given off

from the ganglionic chain at the base of the arms; these fila-

ments pass inwards and enter the muscular bands that tie the

oral lamina to the arms. This lamina arises from the wall of the

oral channel, and advancing embraces the fleshy fringe which

immediately surrounds the beaks ; it is then turned back upon

itself, and forms a broadish scalloped membrane haying points

or rays which are rather thick and fleshy. These rays corre-

spond to the muscular ties; and on the nervous filaments from —

the ganglionic chain entering the bases of the rays, they become —

united to elliptical ganglions (q, g), from which the nerves (q', g') —

much enlarged are continued to the extreme points of the rays. —

These ganglions and nerves distribute numerous filaments which —

ramify over the oral membrane ; the branches are most plentiful —

towards the points of the rays. This membrane, which corre- —

sponds very well with the external and internal labial processes —

in Nautilus, is probably an organ of taste, the sense being more —

particularly located in the points or rays ; it is moreover supplied ~

with numerous large oval follicles, mostly associated in pairs, and

having one of their extremities opening by several pores on the ~

of Ommastrephes todarus, 3

surface ; these are probably for the purpose of secreting saliva or

mucus.

The median mass (PI. I. figs. 1, 2, 3 6) is somewhat depressed,

long, narrow, and divided by a median depression in the longi-

tudinal direction. At the upper surface two large nerves (7) are

given off to the funnel ; these nerves spread out in the substance

of that organ in a radiating manner. Immediately behind the

origin of the funnel nerves the auditory nerves (7) come off;

each of these is short and passes at once to the auditory sac,

which is protected within a cavity in the cartilaginous cranium.

The sac completely fills the cavity, and has the imner surface

studded with a few tubercles apparently of soft pulpy matter.

The minute calcareous otolithe (Pl. II. fig. 4), which also ad-

heres to the inner surface of the sac, is depressed, rounded, and

enlarged at one end, and produced into a slightly curved point

at the other. The median mass gives off from the anterior

margin the great commissure (c) that connects it to the an-

terior mass, and is united above to a broad nervous collar which

closely embraces the cesophagus. On the opposite side of the

collar, above the alimentary tube, are developed the optic gan-

| glions (Pl. I. fig. 3 /, & Pl. IT. figs. 1, 2, 3 2) ; they are fused into

one, rounded and prominent behind, and produced into an obtuse

point before ; a slight depression sufficiently indicates its bilateral

formation. Lach half gives off from its outer margin a large,

broad, depressed nerve (Pl. I. figs. 2,3 4, & Pl. II. figs. 1, 2, 37),

which, as it approaches the posterior wall of the eye, is sur-

rounded by a thick fold (Pl. II. figs. 1, 2 ) of ganglionic matter ;

this fold, as well as the nerve, is striated ; the former breaks up

into numerous filaments (Pl. II. fig. 3, ), which, spreading

over the back of the eye-ball, supply the retina. The optic gan-

glions are also directly connected with the median nervous mass,

as can be seen by laying open the cesophageal collar, and removing

the membrane or sheath. Thus we find that the anterior and

median are in connexion with all the organs of the senses that

have yet been clearly determined in these animals, and the curious

mode in which they give off the brachial nerves would seem to

prove that they form but one centre. If this be doubted, how-

ever, it is only necessary to refer to other species to show that

such is really the case.

In Cuvier’s memoir on the Cephalopods it is stated, and the

iq parts are figured, that the nerves of the arms, funnel, and audi-

tory organs are all supplied by a single pair of large ganglions,

which by commissures are brought into connexion with the optic

centres, evidently much in the same manner as in Ommastrephes.

__ And Professor Owen has shown that in the Pearly Nautilus the

_ arms or tentacles, and funnel, derive their nerves from a single

A Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

pair of large ganglions, the anterior subcesophageal of that

author; these ganglions are also in connexion with the optic

centres, although they are stated to come off from the “ commis-

sure or brain”: the auditory organs were not determined. It

may therefore be concluded, that however divided in Ommastre-

phes, the anterior and median masses form essentially only one

centre.

The position of the optic ganglions is also peculiar. In the

Gasteropods, when they exist, they are usually attached to the

sides of the cerebroids towards their posterior margins, and give

off their nerves upwards—the eyes being invariably placed on the

dorsal aspect. In the naked Cephalopods they are also inclined

towards the dorsal surface, and the ganglions are directly above

the alimentary tube, and they as well as the eyes are enormously

developed; had these ganglions therefore retained their usual

lateral position, the head must have been inconveniently en-

larged. In Nautilus, however, the optic ganglions may be said

to occupy their normal position, for they are placed at the sides

of the “anterior subcesophageal ganglions,” and are apparently

connected with them as well as with the dorsal commissure or

_ brain. What are here denominated optic ganglions have been

called by some writers rudimentary optic lobes, by others the

rudiment of a brain. It is pretty evident, however, that they

are homologous with the optic ganglions of the Gasteropods, in

which the nervous element of the visual organ is divided into

three parts as in the Cephalopods. Thus, in Doris for imstance,

there is first a minute ganglion, generally closely attached to the

cerebroid ; this is succeeded by a nerve, which, on reaching the

back of the eye, is in many Gasteropods, particularly in the Nu-

cleobranchs, spread out as an accumulation of nervous matter,

which, being the third portion, would appear to correspond to

the enlargement of the nerve at the back part of the eye in the

Cephalopods.

The anterior subcesophageal mass of Ommastrephes gives off

from its posterior margin above two nervous cords (PI. I. figs. 1,

3m, & P\. II. fig. 2g), one on each side of the median line ; these

passing upwards and forwards, one on each side of the ceso-

phagus, go to be united to the posterior margin of a pair of rather

small, depressed ganglions (PI. I. fig. 17, & Pl. IL. figs. 1, 2d) —

adhering to the outer capsule of the buccal mass, forming the —

buccal retractors, to which these centres send all their nerves —

(Pl. I. fig. 1p, & Pl. IT. fig. 2e, e), which are numerous, and —

passing forward spread out in a radiating manner. These gan- —

glions are fused into a transversely elongated mass comprising —

two lateral lobes, and are interconnected with another pair of —

similar ganglions (Pl. I. fig. 14, & Pl. II. fig. 1 e) lying on the ©

of Ommastrephes todarus. 5

buccal mass immediately below the origin of the cesophagus ;

the cords (PI. I. fig. 1 2) which unite them pass therefore down-

wards inclosing that tube, and are joined to the external margins

of both pairs. The under pair of buccal ganglions give to the

buccal organ four pairs of nerves; the pair (r) next the median

line go to the tongue and the fleshy laminz on each side of it,

which laminz being in connexion with the salivary glands and

themselves glandular, must be looked upon, if not entirely, at

least to some extent, as auxiliary to them; the next pair (¢) go

to the muscles of the under jaw and anterior part of the buccal

organ ; the outer or external pair (q') supply the muscles of the

upper jaw. These three pairs come off from the anterior margin ;

the fourth pair (s) pass off from behind on the median line, and

are applied to the under surface of the cesophagus, and accom-

panying that tube backwards they form a plexus of minute twigs

on it, and go to be united to a ganglion on the stomach. This

pair of nerves is similar to that which in Doris has been consi-

dered to represent the par vagum of the higher animals. It

appears that these four ganglions are the homologues of the

buccal ganglions,—the centres which in the Gasteropods sup-

ply the tongue, the muscles of the buccal mass, and the salivary

glands, and also give off the two cesophageal nerves. But here

again, as with the centres which supply the brachial nerves,

there are two pairs instead of one, and one of them is placed

below the alimentary tube. It is pretty certain, however,

that they are only the buccal ganglions, broken up, pro-

bably on account of the peculiar arrangement of the parts they

supply.

In Nautilus, “ the parts immediately surrounding the mouth,

the muscles of the jaws, and the tongue,” take their nerves from

the broad “rounded chord or commissure ” placed transversely

above the cesophagus, and connected by its extremities to the

optic and to the great ganglions below that tube. This com-

missure Professor Owen calls the brain, and considers it ana-

logous with what we have denominated the optic ganglions in

the Cuttle-fishes. It would seem, however, that as this commis-

sure in Nautilus gives its nerves, four pairs, to the buccal mass

and tongue, it is homologous with the four buccal ganglions of

Ommastrephes. And thus it appears that the buccal ganglions of

Nautilus are situated above the cesophagus. In the Gasteropods

they are always below it.

In the Cephalopods the buccal ganglions are also connected

to the optic. A delicate cord (Pl. II. figs. 1, 2) is given off

from the anterior apex of these ganglions in Ommastrephes ; it

passes from the upper side on the median line, and is composed

6 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

of two filaments which soon diverge, and passing forwards above

the cesophagus go to be united to the posterior margin of the

upper pair of buccal ganglions.

This connexion of the optic with the buccal ganglions has not

been observed in the Gasteropods ; but it is possible enough that

such connexion may exist, for the commissure which unites the

buccal to the cerebroid in these animals leaves the latter not far

from the attachment of the optic ganglions. Yet it must be ex-

pected that in the lower mollusks some deficiencies with regard

to the optic apparatus exist, when the low state of their visual

power is compared with its perfection in the Cephalopods.

There is another apparent anomaly in respect to the optic

ganglions of Ommastrephes. Other two cords or commissures

would seem to be given off from the apex of these centres.

These cords (PI. I. figs. 1, 2, 3d, d, & Pl. II. figs. 1, 2c) issue

from the sides of the apex and from the under surface; but on

close examination have all the appearance of being connected to

the median subcesophageal centre through the commissure which

unites the latter to the optie ganglions. This, however, was not

perfectly demonstrated, though there can be little doubt of the

fact. These cords course forwards above the cesophagus, having

the optic commissure, just described, between them, and are joined

to the upper and posterior margin of the anterior subcesophageal

mass close to and behind the roots of the cords which unite this

centre to the buccal ganglions. Now it has already been shown

that there exists a peculiar connexion between the anterior and

median masses below the cesophagus; it is therefore a matter of

some interest to ascertain what is. the nature of this second union.

That first described was effected, it will be recollected, by a cord

composed of numerous stout filaments, most of which, though

attached to the under surface of the anterior ganglion, did not

appear to enter it, and that becoming joined to the brachial nerves

from this centre entered the arms in union with them. Thus the

nerves that supply these organs are derived from two sources,—

have in fact two roots, arising much in the same manner as the

sensitive and motor roots of the spinal nerves of the Vertebrata.

I have observed something of the same sort in the Gasteropods ;

in Thetis, the nerves supplying the veil appear, on passing from

the cerebroid ganglions, to have two roots.

The sensitive and motor influences in the Mollusca must be

assumed to reside in all the ganglions. And here it may be

asked, dowe not see, in the peculiar mannerwith which the brachial

nerves are supplied in this Cephalopod, something almost ap-

proaching to a proof of the fact that these powers have even in

the Invertebrata their own peculiar centres? The anterior mass

ER a ae oy a Ne En Oe eee

Rr eT a

of Ommastrephes todarus. 7

would appear to be the source of the motor power of the parts

it supplies, while the median, being in connexion with the or-

gans of sense, is probably more particularly the seat of sen-

sation, and the nerves therefore it gives to the arms, sensitive.

This interesting part of the subject requires further investiga-

tion ; but from what has just been stated, it would seem that the

ventral connexion of the two subcesophageal masses can scarcely

be looked upon in the ordinary light of a commissure ; and thus

it would appear that the second union,—that passing above the

cesophagus, and coming apparently from the apex of the optic

ganglions, is the true commissure between the anterior and me-

dian subcesophageal masses.

The third or posterior subcesophageal nervous centre is broad

and trilobed, and is attached to the posterior margin of the me-

dian centre, and is consequently situated close under the ceso-

phagus. The exact mode of attachment could not be determined

with sufficient accuracy; but it seems to be effected by a fusion

of the lateral parts with the commissure uniting the optic to the

median subcesophageal mass ; and as the great collar around the |

csophagus seems to be formed of three portions, there can be

little doubt that the lateral parts of this ganglionic mass are also

united above that tube.

This mass is represented in Octopus by a large flat ganglion,

forming as it were the posterior portion of the mass giving off

the brachial nerves ; and in Nautilus by what has been desig-

nated the posterior subcesophageal ganglions.

In Ommastrephes the mass is indistinctly formed of three

ganglions, the homologues of the visceral and branchial of

the Gasteropods; the visceral (Pl. I. figs. 1, 2, 38 e) appears to

be single, and is placed between the two branchial (f, /).

These ganglions vary very much in form and situation in the

lower mollusks, being sometimes above and sometimes below

the cesophagus ; but the visceral are always connected to the

branchial, and the latter to the cerebroids and pedial, and it

frequently happens that there is apparently only one visceral

ganglion, which is placed between the branchial exactly as in

Ommastrephes. A similar arrangement occurs in Onchidium and

Vaginulus, and in these mollusks they are situated below the

cesophagus. The branchial ganglions of the Gasteropods have

been so named, because they are @eemed homologous with those

of the same name in the Lamellibranchiata ; and because in Doris

they send a filament to the branchio-cardiac ganglions of the

sympathetic system; and moreover they furnish nerves to the

mantle, which, perhaps, in all the Mollusca is accessory to the

special breathing organs.

8 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

Each of the branchial ganglions (PI. I. figs. 1, 2, 3f, & Pl. IL.

fig. 10) of Ommastrephes gives off posteriorly a large nervous

cord (Pl. I. fig. 1 4, 4), which on its passage to what has been

called the stellate ganglion distributes two or three nerves.

The first (Pl. I. fig. 1 u) of these passes off almost immediately

to the muscles of the mantle a short way behind the head; a

little further down another branch (w") is given off, which, divi-

ding into two portions, sends one of them to the mantle—the

membrane investing the viscera. The other (w), which is the

larger, becomes attached to the anterior aorta; and after sup-

plying this great vascular trunk with numerous twigs, follows

a branch of it into the liver, where it was lost. This is the

course of this nerve on the right side. A similar nerve (w’),

from the cord of the left side, is also applied to the aorta; but

how it terminates was not ascertained. Close to the root of the

great nervous cord, on the inner side, another pair of nerves (w’)

leaves the branchial ganglions. These nerves go to the muscles

forming the sides of the mantle in front, and to the posterior

portion of the funnel. Professor Owen considers these muscles

in the Cuttle-fishes to represent the shell-muscles of Nautilus ;

accordingly this nerve, and the two above described as going

from the great cord to the mantle, are all that in Ommastrephes

represent the numerous nerves given from the posterior “ sub-

cesophageal ” (branchial) ganglions to the shell-muscles in Nau-

tilus. ‘The comparative, almost rudimentary, condition of these

nerves in the naked Cephalopods is naturally accounted for by

the rudimentary state of the muscles they supply. A similar

reduction of the nervous element is always found when the organ

is imperfectly developed, as can very easily be proved by the dis-

section of a few Gasteropods whose organs are of unequal deve-

lopment. There are, however, other two or three small nerves

(Pl. I. figs. 1, 3 v,v, & Pl. IL. figs. 1, 8m) given off from either

side, apparently from the upper surface of the optic nerve,

close to a small, round, ganglionic enlargement (PI. II. fig. 32),

which nerves, perhaps, should be considered as belonging to the

branchial ganglions ; and if so, the ganglionic enlargements must

be accessory branchial ganglions. These nerves go to the skin

of the head above and behind. The ganglionic enlargements

may, however, represent the olfactory ganglions, which, in the

Gasteropods, are not uncomifionly confounded with the optic

nerve, as for instance in the Bullide; and if so, the olfactory

organ is probably situated in the vicinity of the eye;—a conclusion

not altogether improbable, for in Nautilus the ophthalmic ten-

tacles have the structure of the dorsal tentacles of Doris, which

tentacles are assuredly the seat of olfaction. I did not succeed,

of Ommastrephes todarus. 9

“however, in detecting near the region of the eye of Ommastrephes,

any organ likely to be the seat of this sense.

The great visceral nerves (Pl. I. figs. 1, 2, 3 z), combined

as one trunk, come off from the posterior margin of the visceral

ganglion, forming the central lobe in the posterior mass. But

it is better to defer the description of these visceral nerves until

we come to speak of them under the head of Splanchnic system.

We will therefore without further interruption examine the only

remaining pair of cephalic ganglions. ‘These are the stellate

ganglions (PI. I. fig. 1 g, g) of authors ; they are large, depressed

and irregularly ovate, and rest upon the great muscular enve-

lope—the sleeve, one a little on each side of the median line, not

far from the anterior border, and having the cyst containing the

pen between them. These ganglions are connected to the branchial

by a stout commissure (h, /) which comes off from these latter, as

before stated, in connexion with two or three nerves, which we

have seen distribute most of their filaments to the mantle. This

commissure is united to the anterior margin of the stellate gan-

glions, and they communicate with each other across the median

line by a stout nervous cord (2), which passing from their inner

margins goes through the wall of the cyst inclosing the pen ; at

this part the wall of the cyst is thick and fleshy. This latter

cord or commissure, which appears hitherto to have escaped de-

tection, is of course above the cesophagus. Were therefore the

stellate ganglions only accessory branchial, they would have no

connecting commissure above that tube. These ganglions dis-

tribute to the sleeve numerous nerves (y, y, y, y) which pass off

from their outer margin in a radiating manner. The fins are

supplied from a different source. Just before the great branchial

cord reaches the stellate ganglion it gives off a stout nerve (z’ z’)

which passes freely under that centre, and becomes united to the

great posterior sleeve nerves (v, x); as they pass backwards

together these latter distribute their filaments to the sleeve, and

on arriving at the commencement of the fin, the large nerve from

the branchial cord dips through the muscles and reaches the

substance of that organ ; it then divides at once into numerous

branches, which diverging go to all parts of this powerful pro-

pelling instrument.

The fin is then supplied with nerves, not from the stellate gan-

glions, but apparently from the branchial. From this fact, it

would seem that the fin is not a mere development of the sleeve,

but must represent some other organ. What this is it is diffi-

cult to say.

As the fin nerves pass backwards in connexion with those of

the posterior portion of the sleeve, they have, on account of their

central position, their parallelism and approximation, somewhat

10 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

the appearance of a rudimentary spinal cord, as has been before

remarked. But certainly they resemble nothing so much as the

posterior trunks of the pedial nerves of some of the Gasteropods,

—of Vaginulus in particular. In that species the great pedial

nerves pass along the median line closely approximated, and

associated with the visceral and some of the branchial nerves.

This cord, so to speak, gives off filaments on either side as it

passes backwards, and might very aptly be compared to a spinal

cord were its true nature not fully understood. The anterior

pedial nerves of this animal come off from their ganglions in a

similar radiating manner to those of the stellate ganglions of

the naked Cephalopods. ‘os

Having now gone over the cephalic ganglions of Ommastrephes,

we have next to examine the splanchnic system, and this will

be found to agree in all essential features with the same portion

of the nervous system in the Gasteropods. The great visceral

nerves (Pl. II. fig. 1 g) are two in number; these, as before

stated, come from the visceral ganglion situated between the

branchial. At first these nerves form but one trunk, which is

however distinctly composed of two filaments; they soon divide

and resolve themselves into four branches ; but previously give

off two minute twigs (q',q'), one on each side, which go to the

mantle. Two (¢) of the four branches becoming attached to the

wall of the anterior vena cava, pass down that vessel as far as

the pericardium, where they unite to form a large, depressed,

irregularly quadrilateral ganglion (wu) which gives off four

branches. The two larger (v,v) of these diverging enter the

root of the gills, and after giving a branch to the branchial

vein swell out to form, on the wall of each branchial artery,

an oval ganglion (v’, v’), from which a stout nerve passes up the

organ, supplying it with a plexus of filaments as it goes. These

two branches from the ganglion on the vena cava give off in their

course each a nerve or two (w,w) which go to the generative

organs. One (x) of the other two branches from this ganglion

accompanies the vena cava into the pericardium, and passing

along with that vessel sends branches to the two branchial

hearts, to the systemic heart, and to the posterior aorta.

The other pair (7) of visceral nerves from the great trunk

come off from one of the branches given to the vena cava as a

single stem, which almost immediately forming a small gan-

glionic swelling (s), divides into two branches. These are not

so large as those applied to the vena cava ; they become at once

adherent to the intestine, and tube of the ink-bag, and supply to

the walls of these organs a minute nervous plexus most deve-

loped towards the orifices of the tubes. These two nerves were

traced as far downwards as the ink-bag, where they were lost in

oa ile ae TASS Tl

asf: Ommastrephes todarus. ll

the mvesting membrane. These four branches of the visceral

nerves, the ganglion on the vena cava, and the gastric ganglion

to be shortly described, have usually been considered as all that

represent in the Cephalopods the par vagum and sympathetic

system of the higher animals. This, however, is not correct. It

has been already stated that the buccal ganglions give off a pair

of cesophageal nerves, which passing down that tube give to it a

plexus of nervous filaments. These two nerves (PI. II. fig.1 F, F)

leave the ganglions as one trunk passing from the median line,

and are at first applied to the under wall of the tube ; they soon,

however, divide and approach the sides, and in their course ap-

pear to turn completely round the cesophagus. On attaining its

lower extremity they go to be united to a considerable elliptical

ganglion (z), situated on the first stomach or gizzard close to the

cardia. From this gastric centre various nerves ramify. Two

or three small twigs (E) are given off close to the cesophageal

nerves, and are applied to the cardiac portion of the gizzard.

From the opposite side of the ganglion a stout nerve (A) goes to

the spiral stomach, and two or three large nerves issue from the

ends of this centre; those (B, B, B) from one of the extremities,

three in number, go to the gizzard; those from the other ori-

ginate as one trunk, but soon separate into three branches ; two

of these (C, C) supply the pancreatic organ, and one (y) is con-

tinued on to be jomed to the ganglion on the vena cava, forming

the fourth cord issuing from that centre. A small twig (D) also

springs from this end and supplies the pylorus.

We see then that the nerves applied to the anterior aorta, and

those from the visceral ganglion, and their dependencies, repre-

sent only the splanchnic or sympathetic system of the higher

animals ; while in the cesophageal nerves are found the analogues

of the gastric portion of the par vagum. And it is interesting

to observe that these two parts of the nervous system—one

originating in the visceral, the other in the buccal ganglions,

exactly as in Doris,—are interconnected by a nervous filament

in the same way as they are in that mollusk. The single

gastric ganglion in Ommastrephes represents the principal centre

of the collar of ganglions about the cardiac extremity of the

stomach in Doris, and the ganglion situated on the vena cava, and

those attached to the gills, are the equivalents of the branchio-

cardiac and genital centres of that animal. It is therefore evident

that this division of the nervous system of the Cephalopod is

formed on the type of that of the Gasteropod; the only dif-

ference being that the ganglions are much less numerous than

in Doris. In other Gasteropods, however, these centres are

frequently very limited in number.

The cephalic portion, though exhibiting several deviations, is

12 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nervous System

also in general character molluscan. The Cephalopods, however

aberrant in external appearance, would therefore seem to be true

mollusks.

On taking a glance at the vascular system, the same conclu-

sion is inevitable. Milne-Edwards states, in his article on the

circulation of the “ Poulpe,” that the arterial system of the Ce-

phalopods is fundamentally the same as in the Gasteropodous

and Acephalous mollusks ; and the heart itself, though consider-

ably modified, he assimilates to that of the Acephala. It is truly

systemic, having superadded, to meet the changed and active

habits of these creatures, additional propelling organs appended

to the gills*. In Nautilus these latter are deficient, the central

apparatus being reduced to a true molluscan ventricle. There

is no true pericardium, and the great chamber in which the

blood-propelling organs are placed appears to represent the

renal cavity in Doris ; but whether truly so or not, it is probably

of the same functional purport. The glandular nature of the

walls of the great venous trunks congregated in that chamber

cannot fail to suggest the idea that it is designed for the recep-

tion of some copious outpouring from the blood; and as it

opens externally by two minute orifices at the roots of the

gills, its similarity to the renal organ in Doris is almost com-

plete. The portal heart, which in that mollusk is connected

with this organ, is indeed at present not determined, though

it is very likely that the two “ fleshy organs”? appended to the

branchial hearts will prove to be ventricles for propelling venous

blood into the liver. These fleshy organs in Ommastrephes

were examined and found to be hollow, muscular and heart-like, ~

communicating through their pedicle with the branchial hearts,

and having the orifice guarded by a valvular constriction. The

free side is perforated in the centre, the lips of the orifice being

jagged as if torn from a vascular attachment. There can be

little doubt that these are organs for propelling blood, and that

too in a venous state, and to determine this fact, all that is

wanting is a favourable opportunity; but it unfortunately happens

that the region of the heart is most liable to laceration ; the spe-

cimens examined in this instance were ruptured in that locality

by rough handling when captured.

Thus we see that the vascular system of the Cephalopods is

likewise formed on the molluscan type, and the digestive system

* These are not the only additional blood-propelling organs in Omma-

strephes. The posterior aorta previous to sinking into the fin is divided

into two branches, which, as they penetrate the fleshy substance, are each

dilated into a small but well-defined ventricle ; these ventricles will un-

doubtedly throw the blood with increased force into this powerful muscular

organ.

of Ommastrephes todarus. 13

leads to the same conclusion. We shall not, however, on this

occasion endeavour to trace out the homologies which we believe

to exist between the organs of the Cephalopods on the one hand,

and the organs of the rest of the Mollusca on the other. To this

important and highly interesting subject we hope to return, when

a more extended knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of

these highly organized animals shall have enabled us to speak

with sufficient confidence.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES I. II.

Puate I.

Fig. 1. Ventral view of the cephalic ganglions and nerves of O. todarus :—

a, anterior subcesophageal mass; 5, median ditto ; ¢, their under

commissure ; d, upper ditto; e, visceral ganglion ; f, f, branchial

ditto; g, g, stellate ditto ; h, cords or commissures uniting same

to branchial ganglions ; 7, transverse commissure of stellate gan-

glions ; 7, upper buccal ganglions; &, lower ditto; /, commissure

uniting the two pairs of buccal ganglions ; m, commissure uniting

upper buccal ganglions to anterior subcesophageal mass ; n, com-

missure between the same buccal ganglions and optic ganglions ;

0, 0, brachial nerves ; p, nerves to muscles of outer buccal capsule ;

q, 7', nerves to muscles of buccal mass and jaws ; r, lingual nerves ;

s, esophageal nerves or par vagum ; ¢, ¢, two pairs of small nerves

lost in muscles in front of the eyes; u, u', wu’, nerves to the mantle

and its muscles; v, v, two pairs of nerves to skin of head above

and behind ; w, w', nerves applied to the anterior aorta ; x, z, great

posterior sleeve nerves; 2’, x’, nerves to fin; y, y, sleeve nerves ;

z, visceral nerves.

Fig. 2. Enlarged view of anterior and median subcesophageal, visceral,

and branchial ganglions:—a, anterior mass; 6, median ditto ;

c, under commissure of same; d, d, upper ditto; e, visceral gan-

glion ; f,f, branchial ditto; h, h, commissure uniting branchial

and stellate ganglions; 7, nerves supplying funnel; /, auditory

nerves ; k, k, optic ditto ; 0, 0, o', o', brachial ditto ; p, p, ganglionic

swellings of same; q', q', nerves to oral lamina, exhibiting gan-

glionic swellings q, q ; t, t, two pairs of nerves to muscles in front

of eyes; uw, u, nerves to mantle ; z, ditto visceral.

Fig. 3. Side view of anterior and median subcesophageal, optic, branchial

and visceral ganglions :—a, anterior mass ; 6, median ditto; c, un-

der commissure of same; d, upper ditto; e, visceral ganglion ;

Ff, branchial ditto; g, g, esophagus ; h, h, commissures uniting

stellate and branchial ganglions ; 2, nerves to the funnel ; j, audi-

tory nerves; k, optic ditto; 7, optic ganglions ; m, commissure

between upper buccal ganglions and anterior subcesophageal ;

n, ditto uniting optic and upper buccal ganglions; 9, 0, o’, o!,

brachial nerves; p, p, ganglionic sven of same; v, two pairs

of small nerves to skin of head above and behind.

Pyare II.

_ Fig. \. View of splanchnic nervous system seen from above :—a, anterior

snbeesophageal mass ; 4, under commissure uniting same to me-

dian subcesophageal ; ¢, c, upper commissure of same ; d, upper

buccal ganglions; e, under ditto; f, commissure uniting the two

PRE er e c e ESUAR ES

SRR SS - "

14 Dr. Mantell on the Structure of the Belemnite.

pairs of buccal ganglions ; g, ditto uniting upper buccal ganglions

to anterior subcesophageal ; /, ditto uniting upper buccal ganglions

to optic ditto ; 7, optic ganglions ; j, optic nerves ; k, enlargement of

same at back of eye; 7, small round ganglion attached to optic nerve;

m, two pairs of nerves from same ; 7, visceral ganglion ; 0, branchial

ditto ; p, p, cords or commissures from same to stellate ganglions ;

q, visceral nerves; q', q', nerves to the mantle; r, pair of visceral

nerves applied to intestine, and tube of ink-bag ; s, small ganglion

at origin of this pair of nerves; ¢, another pair of visceral nerves

supplying the anterior vena cava; w, ganglion on the wall of vena

cava; v, v, branchial nerves, each exhibiting a ganglionic swell-

ing v'; w, w, genital nerves; 2, nerve supplying systemic and

branchial hearts and posterior aorta; y, cord or commissure uni-

ting gastric ganglion to that on vena cava; 2, gastric Fashions

A, nerve to spiral stomach ; B, B, B, nerves to pat , C, ditto

to pancreatic organ; D, ditto to pylorus; EK, ditto to cardia;

e B, cesophageal nerves or par vagum.

Fig. 2. Under view of anterior subcesophageal and optic ganglions :—a, an-

terior mass; 6, under commissure connecting same to median ;

c, ¢, upper ditto; d, upper buccal ganglions; e, e, nerves supply-

ing the outer buccal capsule ; f, commissure between same and

lower buccal ganglions ; g, commissure from upper buccal gan-

glions to anterior subcesophageal mass; h, ditto from optic to

upper buccal ganglions; i, optic ganglions; j, 7, optic nerves;

1,2, small round ganglions on same ; m, m, brachial nerves; 2, two

pairs of nerves to muscles in front of eyes.

Fig. 3. Upper view of optic ganglions :—i, optic ganglions; 7, j, optic

nerves; k, k, enlargement of same at back of eye; /, smal

round ganglions on optic nerves; m, m, nerves from same to skin

of a8) pm and behind; 2, n, filaments from optic nerve ap-

plied to back of eye; 0, eye.

Fig. 4. Otolithe from auditory sac.

II.—A few Notes on the Structure of the Belemnite. By Gipnon

ALGERNON Manret1, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., President of the

West London Medical Society, &c.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

“Dr. Mantell, who has adopted Mr. Channing Pearce’s generic

name of Belemnoteuthis for some of these fossils (Belemnites), seems

to be disposed to detract from the merit of their anatomical restora-

tion, for which the Royal Society awarded the Royal Medal to Pro-

fessor Owen in 1848, affirming that the true characters of the animal

of the Belemnite have yet to be discovered. But he forgets that a

change of name does not change the essence of a thing, and that the

essential character of a Belemnite is the phragmocone.’’—From the

Article entitled ‘Progress of Comparative Anatomy,” Quarterly

Review, March 1852, p. 383.

GENTLEMEN,

Tue personal imputation, the mystification of the point at issue,

and the misstatement respecting the late Mr. Channing Pearce,

Dr. Mantell on the Structure of the Belemnite. 15

in the above extract from the extraordinary article misnamed

“The Progress of Comparative Anatomy,” would not have pro-

voked one line from my pen, but for the assertion that “ the

essential character of a Belemnite is the phragmocone.” As the

advancement of our knowledge of the organization of the extinct

forms of Cephalopods would be seriously impeded were a state-

ment so erroneous, and emanating from such high authority, to

remain uncontradicted, I beg the favour of being permitted to

lay before your readers a concise illustration of such parts of the

structure of those two distinct types of the highest order of Mol-

lusea—the Belemnite and Belemnoteuthis—which were blended

together to form the supposed animal of the Belemnite in the

memoir above referred to.

The accompanying sketches represent certain fossils from the

Oxford clay of Wiltshire, in which the distinctive characters of

the two genera are clearly exemplified: the original specimens

were examined by many of the eminent foreign naturalists who

- were attracted to London last summer by the Great Exhibition,

and not one of those competent observers dissented from the

opinions expressed in my communications on this subject to the

Royal Society, and published in the ‘ Philos. Trans.’ for 1848 and

1850; my statement being merely confirmatory of the original

views enunciated by Messrs. Pearce, Cunnington, Charles-

worth, &c.

I am most anxious, as I Rate ever been, to abstain from any

comments that may lead to controversy, and I therefore restrict

myself to a simple description of the specimens, of which figs. 1

and 3 are representations on a reduced scale: the originals in

my possession may be seen by any naturalist interested in the

inquiry: those in the British Museum are now admirably ar-

ranged by the able curator Mr. Woodward*. It is however

necessary to state most emphatically, that the essential character

of a Belemnite consists, not, as the reviewer affirms, in the pos-

session of a “ phragmocone”’ or conical chambered siphunculated

shell, which is common to numerous genera of Cephalopods, but

of an osselet of a peculiar form and structure which invested the

phragmocone, and extended distally beyond the chambered shell

m a solid rostrum or guard. It is this mineralized rostrum

which was called Belemnite, thunderbolt, or dart-stone, by the

early naturalists.

* See my ‘ Hand-book to the Gallery of Organic Remains in the Bri-

tish Museum.’ The characters of the fossil ephalopods are succinctly

ee clearly pointed out in Mr. Woodward’s excellent ‘ Manual of the Mol-

usca.’

16 Dr. Mantell on the Structure of the Belemnite.

The BeLemnite.—In the specimen represented (fig. 1), and in

the diagram fig. 2, all the known parts Fig! 1:

of the structure of the Belemnite are

displayed: but slight traces of any

portion of the organization of the ori-

ginal are preserved, except the sepio-

staire, which comprises an external

horny capsule, a calcareous osselet of

a fibrous structure, and an internal

chambered conical shell, termed the

phragmocone.

1. The Phragmocone (fig. 1b,fig.2d)

occupies the centre of the Belem-

nite; this is an inversely conical-

chambered shell, composed of a series

of shallow concave cells of a nacreous

substance, traversed by a siphunculus

or tube (fig. 2 c), which is situated on

the ventral region of the cone. The

phragmocone terminates distally in an

elongated apex, and enlarges towards

its basilar part, and two elongated flat

processes extend from the dorsal mar-

gin of the peristome or upper margin,

as shown in figs. 1 & 2 a, a: this struc-

ture was first detected in a specimen

discovered by my son near Trowbridge.

The shape of the phragmocone, as

it appears when exposed by the re-

moval of the part next to be described,

is seen in fig. 2 d: the transverse lines

indicate the septa of the cells or cham-

bers ; the siphunculus which traverses pypewnrres PUZOSIANUS

them is shown at ec. (4 natural size, linear).

a, a, the two basilar processes of the phragmocone ; 6, the phragmocone,

much fractured and collapsed ; ¢, the rostrum or guard of the osselet,

containing within the upper part the distal portion of the phragmocone,

as seen in fig. 2.

2. The Osselet (fig. 1 ¢, fig. 2h, i).—This body is in the form

of a very elongated inverted cone, and surrounds the phragmo-

cone throughout its entire length, as shown in section in fig. 2:

the basilar or upper part is extremely thin, and blends with the

outer integument or capsule (fig. 2 6, 5): it rapidly increases in

thickness as it descends, and closely invests the phragmocone,

the delicate elongated apex of which is completely protected by

it (fig. 2,f, g): beneath this point it becomes solid, and in most

Dr. Mantell on the Structure of the Belemnite. 17

species is prolonged into a cylindrical rostrum or beak, which

terminates in a conical apex. Fie. 2.

Diagram of the known parts of the structure of Belem-

nites Puzosianus.

a, a, the dorsal basilar processes of the phragmocone.

b, b, upward extension of the attenuated osselet.

¢, siphunculus.

d, phragmocone : the transverse lines indicate the septa.

e, the capsule or outer investment of the guard.

Ff, the distal part of the phragmocone. ‘

g, the alveolus or cavity in the guard.

h, vertical section of the guard.

i, the solid part of the rostrum.

k, a suleus or groove on the ventral aspect of the

l, shows the continuation of the capsule, in section,

continued from e.

m, diverging parallel striz observable between the dor-

sal processes of the phragmocone.

n, transverse section of half the diameter of the ros-

trum, to show its radiated structure.

As the solid part of the osselet is generally separated from the

upper portion a short space above the apex of the phragmocone,

in consequence of the thinness of its walls, the Belemnite is

commonly found with a conical cavity in the upper part: this

hollow was termed the alveolus, and the solid part the rostrum

or guard; and until shown by the specimen figured in my first

memoir on the Belemnites, no one suspected that the osselet

was continued upwards, and formed a thin envelope around the

basilar termination of the phragmocone*.

The osselet of the Belemnite, as is well known, has a radiated

structure : it is formed of thin concentric laminz of very minute

prismatic trihedral fibres, which are arranged at right angles to

the planes of the successive layers :—see the sections, both longi-

tudinal and transverse, in fig. 2. The solid part, or rostrum, is

* The depression observable in the specimen fig. 1, midway between

the letters b and ec, indicates the fracture of the walls of the osselet, and the

st where the Belemnite is usually separated from the other parts. It was

removing large blocks of clay, with the imbedded Belemnites undisturbed,

that the instructive examples here figured were obtained.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x.

18 Dr. Mantell on the Structure of the Belemnite.

very thick and heavy, and invariably mineralized by cale spar :

the original structure was probably light and calcareous, like

that of the osselet of the Sepia.

3. The Capsule, or sheath; a thin horny or testaceous case

which invested the osselet, and constituted the external envelope

of the receptacle ; it is seen partially covering the osselet at ec,

fig. 1, and in section at e, /, fig. 2.

This structure was for the

first time demonstrated in my memoir, ‘ Phil. Trans.’ 1848.

With the exception of obscure indications of a carbonaceous

fibrous structure between the dorsal processes, the above descrip-

Fig. 3.

tion comprehends all the facts re-

lating to the organization of the

Belemnite with which we are at

present acquainted : no soft parts,

no traces of arms or tentacles,

no vestiges of the eyes or man-

dibles, have been discovered.

The Betemnorevutuis.—From

the extraordinarily perfect state in

which some examples of the Be-

lemnoteuthis are met with, a brief

description will suffice. Fig. 3

(from a drawing with which Mr.

Woodward of the British Museum

has favoured me) exemplifies the

essential parts of the structure of

these Cephalopods. The body is

of an elongated form, with a pair

of lateral fins, two large sessile

eyes, eight uncinated arms, and a

pair of armed tentacles ; each arm

was furnished with from twenty to

forty pairs of hooks, placed alter-

nately (fig. 4, 4). Like the Sepia

it had a pigmental sac or ink-bag,

which is generally filled with the

inspissated secretion. The inferior

part of the body is of a conical

form, and contains a brown horny

osselet, withasiphunculated phrag-

mocone, which terminates in a

rostrum of a fibrous structure

(fig. 4, 5). The osselet of the

BELEMNOTEUTHIS ANTIQUUS

(3 natural size, linear).

a, the uncinated arms and tentacles; 5, remains of the head and eyes; ec,

the mantle, with indications of fins; d, the pigmental sac or ink-bag ;

e, the osselet : the transverse lines indicate the septa of the phragmo-

cone, which is covered by a horny sheath or capsule ; f, the solid termi-

nal apex of the osselet.

SET ee, ee oe

ee ae

pombe ok

Mr. C. C. Babington on a new species of Eleocharis. 19

Belemnoteuthis appears to have been calcareous, like that of the

Sepia. In all essential points of structure the Belemnoteuthis is

1, 3. Detached hooks (natural size).

2. Three hooks with attached horny

rings: from a specimen in the

possession of Mr. Cunnington.

4. Part of one of the arms, showing

four hooked spines.

5. Transverse section of the distal part

of the osselet of Belemnoteuthis,

exposing the apex of the cham-

bered shell in the centre, sur-

rounded by the radiated osselet,

a: (magnified four diameters). Horny rings and hooks of

Belemnoteuthis antiquus.

related to the Calamaries, but the lateral position of the fins, the »

presence of a chambered shell or phragmocone, and the peculiar

character of the tentacles, establish it as a peculiar type. The

distinction between the Belemnites and Belemnoteuthis is too ob-

vious to demand further notice; no one, I presume, will again

mistake an osselet of the latter for the phragmocone of the

former detached from the alveolus of its guard: and I would

fain hope that this attempt to elucidate an important palzeonto-

logical question, will not again subject me to the imputation of

unamiable motives.

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your faithful servant,

Chester Square, Pimlico, GipEON ALGERNON MANTELL.

June 1852.

I1J.— On a supposed new species of Eleocharis. By Cuar.us

C. Basineton, M.A., F.R.S. &c.*

My attention has been recently directed by Mr. H. C. Watson

to the British species of Eleocharis, and, having been led to con-

cur with him in the idea that there is an undescribed plant be-

longing to that genus which inhabits the western coast of Scot-

land, 1 purpose pointing out in this paper the respects in which

it differs from our known species included in the genus, and

adding a few remarks upon them.

In the autumn of the year 1844, I had the pleasure of accom-

panying Professor Balfour of Edinburgh in a tour through the

district of Cantyre in Argyleshire. At Tayanloan, on the western

coast of that peninsula, he gathered two or three specimens of

the plant upon which this paper is founded, but did not observe

its difference from Scirpus pauciflorus, in company with which it

* Read before the Botanical Society of Fdinburgh, June 10, 1852.

20 Mr.C.C.Babington on a new species of Eleocharis.

was growing, owing to the similarity of their outward appear-

ance. Doubtless plenty of it might have been obtained if it had

been looked for.

To Mr. Watson we are indebted for the knowledge of this new

species, as he received two small specimens from Dr. Balfour,

and forwarded the fruit of one of them to me, with a request

that I would endeavour to ascertain its identity with any known

species. Through the liberality of Dr. Balfour I have had an

opportunity of examining all the plants belonging to this group

which are contained in his herbarium, but have only succeeded in

finding one additional specimen of the Tayanloan plant ; for the

permission to retain a portion of it I am much indebted to him.

The similarity in outward appearance of the species included

in the groups named Eleocharis and Beothryon renders it neces-

sary to pay close attention to the structure and form of their

several parts: thus the form of the mouth of the sheaths which

surround the base of the stem, the form of the nut, that of the

base of the style and of the outer glume, and the length of the

hypogynous bristles, have been carefully examined, and found to

afford distinctive characters when the more conspicuous organs

do not present any describable or constant differences.

I propose the following as a provisional name and character

for the plant, as I have totally failed in finding any described

species to which it can be referred. The name is given in com-

memoration of the gentleman to whose acuteness of observation

we owe its discovery, and who deserves so well of botanists from

his researches concerning the geographical distribution of plants.

Eleocharis Watsoni ; spicis terminalibus solitariis oblongis, glumis

acutis (?) infima obtusiuscula basin spice circumcingente, stylo

bifido, achenio utrinque convexo oblongo obtusissimo basi paululum

attenuato angulis rotundatis tenuissime punctato-striato, basi styli

persistente late depresso, setis hypogynis 4—6 achenio brevioribus,

culmis basi vaginatis, vagina abrupte truncata.

Radix ignota. Squamee radicales late, obtuse, rubescentes. Culmi

3-4 unciales, tenuissime striati, erecti, nudi, tenues, basi vagina

viridi inferne rufescente superne fusco-marginata circumdati. Setee

hypogynee breves, retrorsum hispidee, achenio dimidio breviores.

Hab. in palustribus maritimis prope ‘‘ Tayanloan”’ in com. ‘ Argyle”

Scotiee. .

It might be allowable to stop here, but I think it desirable to

add a few remarks concerning the differences between this and

the allied plants.

1, The lowest glume is larger than the others, and surrounds

the base of the spike in E. uniglumis, E. Watsoni and E. multi-

caulis, but does not do so, and is not larger than the others in

E. palustris.

= Ne Te ee ety Ste Gee ee) et ee en

Mr. C.C. Babington on a new species of Eleocharis. 21

2. The stigmas are two im all except H. multicaulis, which

possesses three. They have not been seen in #. Watsoni, but

the lenticular nut renders it nearly certain that they are two in

number. ;

3. The nut is more or less compressed, but variable in shape,

in all except EL. multicaulis, in which it is acutely triangular and

topshaped. In #. palustris it is roundish, with or without a

slight narrowing or stalklike point at the base. In E. uniglumis .

it is pearshaped. In EZ. Watsoni it is oblong, but a little nar-

rowed at the base. In all of them it is smooth, with the excep-

tion of EL. Watsoni, where its surface is closely punctate-striate

throughout.

4. The nut is shorter than the hypogynous bristles in E. pa-

lustris and EF. uniglumis ; equals them in E. multicaulis ; and ex-

ceeds them in EL. Watsoni.

5. The sheath surrounding the base of the stem is transversely

truncate, but having a very obtuse point on one side in all except

E. multicaulis, where the point is acute.

It is thus seen that there are very considerable differences

between the several plants under consideration, and it is with

them alone that EL. Watsoni is likely to be confounded, since its

generic character separates it from the group Beothryon. The

other European species of Kleocharis are E. ovata and E. atropur-

purea, which form the genus Eleogenus of Esenbeck, where the

glumes are all equally large and more densely imbricated than in

the typical group of species ; and EF. carniolica and E. acicularis

(to which our plant shows some resemblance in its short bristles),

which constitute the genus Scirpidium of Esenbeck, where the

bristles are deciduous, not persistent, as in LE. Watsoni. The

Scirpidia also are trigynous, and their nuts are obovate, much

narrowed below and trigonous; FZ. acicularis has a ribbed and

transversely striated nut, and 4. carniolica, which closely re-

sembies it in appearance, has short subulate leaves terminating

the sheaths. |

It does not seem desirable to extend this paper by discussing

the distinctions between E. Watsoni and the North American

species of Eleocharis ; let it suffice to state that every endeavour

has been made to ascertain if our plant could be identified with

any of them, but that none such has been found.

It is earnestly hoped that Scottish botanists will not long

allow this curious plant to continue in the dubious position of a

species, founded upon so small a number of specimens as hardly

to justify its separation from its allies ; indeed, could it with any

probability have been considered as a state of any one of them,

this dissertation would not have been written.

22. Mr. W. Clark on rare British Gasteropodous Mollusca.

IV.—On some of the rarer British Gasteropodous Mollusca.

By Wiii1am Crark, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Exmouth, Devon, June 1852.

I sxe the favour of you to record the discovery of some of the

rarer British Gasteropodan Mollusca, which have hitherto either

escaped the researches of naturalists, or been mentioned so im-

perfectly as to afford little assistance to science. During the

present May and June I have met with the animals of the Chem-

nitzia fenestrata, Ch. scalaris, Ch. clathrata, Ch. acicula; and seen

many specimens of the Ch. elegantissima and Ch. pusilla, men-

tioned in the 8th vol. of the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. p. 112, which con-

firm the distinctness of the two, agreeably to M. Philippi. I

have likewise reviewed all the Chemnitzie of my two memoirs in

the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. vol. vi. p. 451, and vol. vii. p. 108, and ex-

amined others of the animals of this genus, which with me in-

cludes the Odostomie and Eulimelle of authors, and I ean confi-

dently state that they do not offer the slightest generic variation ;

indeed some of them scarcely present, from their similitude, suf-

ficient specific characters.

I cannot doubt but the genus Chemnitzia will ultimately com-

prise these species and some of those of Aclis. I consider the

Chemnitzian family one of the most interesting and classic of our

indigena ; nature has stamped it with unmistakeable distinction.

I think that a disseverance of its integrity by the distribution of

any of its species in other genera, can only be looked on as a

disruption of natural affinities. ;

With regard to the Rissoe, I have examined the animal of

R. proxima, which has long been a desideratum, to settle the

doubts respecting it and Montagu’s R. vitrea; and also the

R. punctura and RK. reticulata of that author: this last discovery

solves another difficulty. The R. striata, R. semistriata, R. cos-

tata and R. soluta have also been observed. On my return to

Bath, I will arrange the minutes of all that are now men-

tioned. As these animals have long been sought for, I regret

that I cannot at once send the descriptive notes; but I am so

immersed in the examination and acquirement of these difficult

minute objects, that I am obliged to solicit this postponement ;

and I hope in the interim still further to diminish the number

of our rarer desiderata.

I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

Wituram CiarK.

P.S. I may mention that I have taken here a second example

Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee. 23.

of the Megathyris cistellula, and that Mr. Barlee has met with

several. I have also dredged at the same haul, in the laminarian

zone, live Lucina borealis and L. flexuosa, and examined both.

June 22, 1852.

I have just captured an example of the species known as the

Lepton convexum, which will solve the problem of its distinctness

or. otherwise from the Lepton nitidum, concerning the animal of

which I have full notes. Whilst 1 write, I examine my prize, which

is very vivacious, free from rusticity, and I feel confident will afford

to science the information which has been so long a great desi-

deratum. In the same glass I have a live example of the rare

Chemnitzia obliqua or C. decorata, 1 cannot yet say which (if

they are distinct), for fear of disturbing the animal, which is a

splendid, unrecorded creature, displaying specific characters of

more than usual beauty and interest. I will prepare without

delay an account of my captures.—W. C.

V.—On the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee, Troglodytes gorilla.

By 8. Knzexanp, Jun., M.D., Boston, U.S.A.

Tue Boston Society of Natural History has recently received a

valuable addition to its cabinet in a nearly complete skeleton of

the Troglodytes gorilla from Western tropical Africa. It consists

of a fine skull, with lower jaw and teeth complete ; all the ver-

tebre except the atlas; the pelvis complete; both scapulze and

clavicles ; the humerus, radius, and ulna of left side, the ulna of

right side with humerus and radius broken ; the right femur,

tibia and astragalus, the head and upper part of left femur ; all

the ribs, except two on the left side; the upper part of the ster-

num ; and a few bones of the hand and foot.

The skull is of great size and strength; the internal capacity

is only 27 cubic inches, 8 inches less than in another belonging

to the Society. From the great development of the crests, and

the massive character of all the bones, this is undoubtedly a male ;

the jaws, the complete development and worn appearance of the

teeth, indicate an adult, if not an old animal. ‘The sutures are

hardly discernible, as usual; the superciliary ridges and crests

are remarkably developed. The specific characters pointed out

by Professor Agassiz, in the decreasing depth of the infra-orbitar

canal from before backwards, and the projection outwardly of the

inner wall of the orbit, are well seen ; there are two infra-orbitar

foramina on each side. The nasal bones are united together, in

the lower half presenting traces of a median suture, in the upper

half a prominent ridge ; the portion of the bone between the inner

24 Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee.

orbitar angles of the frontals seems to confirm Dr, Wyman’s *

opinion that it is an independent piece, having its own centre of

ossification ; the foramen existing midway between the incisive

foramen of each side and the edge of the alveolus, on the left

side is replaced by two as in the Chimpanzee. The zygomatie

arches are exceedingly strong, enclosing temporal muscles of

immense size. The other anatomical peculiarities of the cranium

and face have been sufficiently detailed by Dr. Wyman (op. cit.).

The following points are interesting :—the dental formula is the

same as in Man; the median upper incisors are twice the size of

the lateral, the reverse of which is the case in the lower jaw;

they are also respectively longer, giving to the upper incisors a

convex edge, and to the lower a concave one: in the upper jaw

there is an interval of two or three lines between the incisors and

canines, and no interval between the latter and the premolars,

the reverse being the case in the lower jaw, in which, however,

the interval is less: the upper canines extend from the alveolus

13 inch, the part within the alveolus being at least 2 inches;

they are an inch broad and # of an inch thick ; the upper canines

are worn anteriorly by the lower, and posteriorly by the first

lower premolar, giving to the tooth a triangular shape, with an

anterior, a posterior, and an internal cutting edge; the action of

the lower premolar on the upper canine, and of the latter on the

lower canine, produces a distinct talon, or heel, at the base of these

teeth: the two grooves mentioned by Dr. Wyman as occurring

on the inner face are not seen in these canines, probably from

the extent of the worn surface ; there is the lower portion of a

single groove, however, which is lost in the worn surface beyond :

to produce these surfaces there must be some lateral motion of

the jaw, which would hardly be expected from the great length

of these teeth. The premolars and molars agree with Owen’s

description in the ‘Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology’?

(Art. Teeth) ; the first lower premolar is much larger than the

second, the anterior cusp being so strongly developed, and the

posterior so little, that the tooth resembles an enlarged human

canine ; all the lower molars have three cusps on the outside and

two on the inside. The lower jaw is of great strength, the ramus

being at right angles with the body of the bone; the condyle is

1% inch wide and # of an inch thick, projecting much internally :

the coronoid process is higher than the condyle. The external

face of the ramus is deeply concave for the masseter muscle,

which is nearly 3 inches wide; the ramus inclines very much

outwardly at its lower portion, and is grooved internally for the

internal pterygoid muscle: the body of the jaw is 13 inch high,

* Boston Journal of Natural History, vol. vy. p. 426.

Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee. 25

and nearly an inch thick ; the height and width at the symphysis

is 2 inches, the thickness 14 inch; the chin is convex and re-

treating, its convexity measuring 81 inches. The skull measures

_ from the posterior plane of the occiput to margin of incisors

133 inches; the diameter of face across zygomata is 6 inches ;

from the posterior plane of occiput to fronto-nasal suture 7}

_ inches; from this suture to margin of incisors 6} inches ; breadth

of zygomatic fossa 2 iriches; length of bony palate 33 inches ;

inter-orbitar space 14 inch ; lateral diameter of orbit 13, vertical

13 inch.

Trunx.—Of the vertebra, only the atlas is wanting. The

odontoid process of the axis, instead of being almost perpendi-

cular, as in Man, inclines backwards at an angle of nearly 50°:

the spinous process is an inch long, spreading out at its apex to

nearly the same width, with an evident disposition to fork as in

the human type ; it is also somewhat concave at the end of its

under surface. The bodies of all the cervical vertebre are higher,

but narrower than in Man, and received deeply one in the other.

The spinous processes are horizontal, long, and (excepting the

third, which is sharp-pointed) are swelled or club-shaped at the

end; the fourth is the longest, the third the shortest ; their

lengths are, from the posterior face of the spinal canal, as fol-

lows :—-the third, 2} inches; the fourth, 33 inches; the fifth,

34 inches ; the sixth, 34 inches ; the seventh, 31 inches : the use

of these long processes is sufficiently obvious, being required for

the ligamentum nuchz necessary for the support of the ill-

balanced head. The transverse processes are very long, the pos-

terior an inch in length; the anterior or cervical ribs begin to

_ be seen at the fourth, increasing to the sixth and seventh, which

last are of equal size—there being, as a general rule, no cervical

ribs to the seventh vertebra of the mammal neck. All are pierced

for the vertebral artery on each side; the transverse processes are

directed obliquely downwards.

The dorsal vertebre are fourteen in number, as in the Chim-

panzee (according to Cuvier ; Vrolik gives this last only thirteen).

| They much resemble the human in shape and size; the last two

} are rather larger, and more like human lumbar vertebree; the

| spinous and transverse processes are much more developed. The

| spinous process of the first is like the cervical, and 2% inches

long; the spinal canal is less in this and the remainder of the

} column ; the spinous processes of the second and third are com-

| pressed laterally at the end, and 23 inches long. At the fourth

} the spinous processes begin to descend, as in Man, to the ninth ;

} below this they resemble the lumbar spines, though pointing

} more downwards. The last dorsal has its rib on the right side

| firmly anchylosed to the body.

ee :

26 Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee.

The lumbar vertebre are only ¢hree in number,—less than in

any of the higher mammals ; but taking in the dorsals, there is in

both the same number as in Man. The bodies are larger and

thicker than in Man; the vertical diameter is less anteriorly than

posteriorly, making an anterior concavity, and showing that the

erect position is as unnatural for this as for the other Quadru-

mana.

The sacrum, which has a slight lateral deviation to the left,

consists of eight bones, firmly joined together, the intervertebral

spaces being obliterated except between the first and second.

The first bone resembles very much a lumbar vertebra, and on

one side its transverse process, though bearing the upper portion

of the articulating surface for the right ilium, is not connected

with the lateral portion of the sacral wing below; on the left side

the bony union is complete, and the spinous process is cdnti-

nuous without interruption or foramen with the median sacral

crest ; this crest at its upper portion is 2 inches high, gradually

decreasing, and lost entirely on the sixth bone, where also the

sacral canal terminates. The sacrum is long and narrow, having

a very decided concavity anteriorly. The articulating surface for

the ilium is confined to the first three vertebrae. Whether any

coccygeal vertebrze are anchylosed in the sacrum it is not easy to

say; from the uncommonly large number of sacral vertebree, viz.

eight, it would seem probable that these also include the coccyx ;

the terminal bone ends in a rounded projection, which has some-

what the appearance of an articulating surface. In Dr. W. Lewis’s

description of a Gibbon (Boston Journal, vol. i. p. 35) it is stated

that the coccyx consisted of a single bone; in our specimen this

single rudimentary coccyx may have-been attached to the sacral

terminal surface. ;

The bodies of the second and third cervical vertebree incline

backwards; the direction becomes perpendicular in the fourth,

and in the last three a little inclined forwards: at the upper

dorsal region the spine is slightly convex, in the lower dorsals

and lumbar concave; at the last lumbar and first sacral it is

again convex, and in the lowest portion again concave. The

whole number of vertebre is 32, and possibly 33; the length of

the cervical, dorsal and lumbar regions is 22 inches: from this

it would appear that the spinal column is very nearly as long as

the human, which it also comes nearer to in its curves than any

of the Quadrumana.

The pelvis departs widely from that of the Chimpanzee and

Orang, and approaches that of Man in the greater spread of the

ilium, its deep anterior concavity, and corresponding posterior

convexity, on which a well-marked longitudinal ridge indicates

the origin of the gluteus maximus; and a fainter semicircular

Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee. 27

line, extending from the sciatic notch to near the rudimentary

anterior inferior spinous process, about 23 inches above the ace-

tabulum, the probable origin of the gluteus minimus ; the ante-

rior superior spinous processes are fully 6 inches in advance of

the plane of the sacrum. The sacrum extends only to the spine

of the ischium, about 4 inches from the tuberosities of this bone,

so that the pelvis has somewhat of the lengthened narrow form

peculiar to the Quadrumana, though it projects far more from

the line of the spine than in any other members of the group.

The superior aperture has not the narrow elongated shape of the

Orang’s, the antero-posterior diameter being only half an inch

greater than the transverse, these being respectively 63 and

6 inches; in the female, according to Dr. Wyman’s measure-

ments, the difference is 3 inches. The tuberosities of the ischia

are very thick and broad, and the rami of the pubes very wide ;

the whole lower portion indicates great strength and solidity.

It is the portion of the pelvis between the acetabulum and the

lower edge of the sacro-iliac articulation which is so much shorter

than in the Chimpanzee, and which gives to the pelvis its more

human aspect. The length of the sacrum is 6} inches, the

width 4; breadth of pelvis between spinous processes of ilia

16} inches; breadth of ilium 9; length of os innominatum 144

inches ; from outside of one tuber ischii to the other 7°15 inches.

At first sight the scapula has much the appearance of the

human, having very much its shape, but somewhat enlarged ; it

more nearly resembles that of the Orang than that of the Chim-

panzee, but is more like that of Man than either in its more

equilateral form. The spine is nearly in the middle of the bone,

making the supraspinous nearly equal to the infraspinous fossa ;

after about one-third of its length it ceases to have the broad

thick edge of the human spine, reaching nearly to the posterior

border, but is continued by a sharp well-marked ridge quite to

he edge, as in the Orang; the spine is also more perpendicular

jto the plane of the dorsum than in Man, and its direction more

{that of the axis of the trunk. The acromial process is longer

jand less curved than in Man, and wants the strong angle on its

jposterior surface, a little in advance of the plane of the glenoid

jeavity ; its arch over this cavity belongs also to a much larger

jrcle. The coracoid process has a greater inclination down-

jwards than in Man and the Chimpanzee ; this direction, in

the Orang, Vrolik considers a sign of inferiority. The glenoid

pavity is much the same as in Man, the upper half being less

arrow in proportion. The subscapular fossa is very deep, and

fivided by prominent ridges into five or six smaller depressions.

Chere is no deep suprascapular notch as in the human scapula ;

Ipuit there is a decided concavity at the base of the coracoid pro-

28 Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee.

cess, without the narrowness of a notch, contrasting strongly

with the nearly straight line of the upper border of the bone in

the Orang. Length of scapula along the base 10 inches ; broadest

part 7+ inches.

The clavicles are shorter and stronger than in Man, and less

curved ; the edges are more angular; their length in a straight

line is ‘61 inches ; their circumference in the middle 2 inches, —

thence 1 incressing to each end. The subclavian ridge is well

marked.

The sternum, at its upper portion, is 4 inches wide, and about

half an inch thick ; there is a decided semilunar notch, but less —

than in Man ; the lower portions are wanting. There is no sign

of division into lateral halves in this upper portion, which is —

33 inches long. The articular surface for the clavicles is less”

curved and more horizontal than in Man.

The ribs are fourteen pairs; of these two are wanting on the

left side, at about the middle of the series. They much resemble

those of Man, and form a very capacious thorax; they are, how-

ever, longer and thicker, and the curves less complicated. Some

of them bear marks of old injuries. The angles are very well |

marked ; the last rib is united both to the body and to the seniaty |

verse process of a single vertebra. :

The humerus is 3 inches longer than that of Man, and 2 dahon |

greater in circumference at the middle, the latter measurement

being 5 inches ; the dength is 163 inches; around the middle of

the head, horizontally, 82 b iawtheee greatest width at lower quttioy|

mity 44 inches. The bone i is of very compact structure and v

heavy. It resembles that of Man, but is less twisted on itself;

the bicipital groove is deep and wide, having on its sides very

large tuberosities for muscular insertions ; the ridges for the pec-

toralis major and latissimus dorsi are well marked, as is also the.

insertion of the deltoid; the anterior face is rather convex than

concave, even more so than in Man. Both the condyles and the

condyloid ridges are more developed than in Man ; the trochlear

portion is less excavated, and the internal ridge less prominent ;

there is a deep groove between the trochlea and the surface for

the head of the radius, which is very slight in Man. The lower

extremity is perforated on the right side, but not on the left ».

the cavity for the olecranon is an inch in width and half ‘an inck;

deep, while that for the coronoid process, on the anterior surface,

is hardly sunk beneath the level of the bone: this difference is

much less in Man. |

The ulna is more curved than the human, as is also the radius ;

they curve in opposite directions, enclosing a wide space between

them ; the curve of the radius begins at the tubercle, while the

ulna is curved its whole length. The length of the ulna is

Dr. Kneeland on the Skeleton of the Great Chimpanzee. 29

_ 14°38 inches, that of the radius 133 inches. The articulating

surface for the humerus, on account of the less prominence of

| the inner ridge of the trochlea, differs from that of Man in being

_ proportionally wider, and in having a deep concave inner wall,

which in the human ulna is not only wanting, but the edge of

| this border of the joint is worn into a deep notch corresponding

with the long inner ridge of the human trochlea; at the bottom

of this cavity is an irregular long bone, apparently wedged in,

and perhaps having a separate centre of ossification ; if the ole-

| eranon process were taken off through the suture here left open,

| the head of the ulna would very much resemble the head of the

| tibia, to which it corresponds in the lower extremity—this is

' seen on both sides. The articulating surface for the head of the

_ radius is less perpendicular than in Man; the coronoid process

is also less prominent, in conformity with the small anterior con-

_ avity on the humerus: the styloid process and the accompany-

ing groove occupy a greater proportion of the lower extremity.

- With the exception of stronger ridges and sharper angles, the

‘remaining portions of the ulna and radius resemble much the

' Same bones in Man on a larger scale. The proportion between

_the humerus and ulna brings this animal nearer to Man than the

| Chimpanzee or Orang.

_ The femur in its head and neck is much like the human; it

_has a roughness, hardly a depression, for the ligamentum teres ;

the neck of the bone is proportionally shorter, and placed more

obliquely with respect to the shaft ; the trochanters, especially

_the great, are much stronger; the space between the great tro-

_ chanter and the head of the bone is less, and the concavity deeper

than in Man; the neck is also more flattened ; the whole bone is

flatter, especially just above the condyles, and its shaft more

curved. Though the inner condyle is so much longer than the

_ external as to give the lower part of the shaft an inclination out-

wards, as in Man, the curve of the middle and upper portions

restores its general direction nearly to the vertical, as in the

Chimpanzee. The femur is about 2 inches shorter than the

humerus; in this respect the 7. gorilla recedes from the human

_type, while he approaches it in the relative lengths of the ulna

sand humerus.

_ The ¢ibia is considerably shorter than the human (1]} inches

long), and more curved both laterally and anteriorly, enclosing

consequently with the fibula a large interosseous space.. The

right astragalus is preserved, resembling the human, but flatter

and longer ; the articular surface for the tibia is less convex and

‘narrower posteriorly; the surface for the scaphoid is more pro-

| minent, flatter, and with a better marked constricted neck ; the

“lateral surface for the tibia is less vertical and more quadrilateral ;

30 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez.

the surface for the fibula is less triangular ; the posterior portion

is wider, with a less deep groove for the flexor longus pollicis ;

the surfaces for the os calcis with the deep groove are much as

in Man.

There are also a few carpal; metacarpal, and phalangeal Ndains

of the fingers and toes ; the metacarpal bones are long and curved |

inwards, with large lower articulating surfaces ; the bones of the

fingers have their edges much turned under on the anterior sur-

face, for the protection of the vessels, &c. in the act of climbing.

The height of this specimen must have been nearly 54 feet,

and the breadth of the shoulders, judging from the scapulz and

ribs, 2 feet at least, and probably more. The hands extend a

little below the knees's the abdomen, judging from the iliac

fosse, must be nearly 2 feet wide ; the lower extremities much

bowed.

Boston, May 11, 1852. ®

VI.—On some genera of the Icacinacee. By Joun Miners, —

Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. a

[Continued from vol. ix. p. 492.]

STEMONURUS.

TuERe can exist no doubt that the genus Stemonurus, proposed

by Professor Blume in his ‘ Bijdragen’ in 1826, is the same as

the Gomphandra of Dr. Wallich, although they have hitherto

been considered as distinct; but at the same time there is every

sianthera of Pal. de Beauvois, established as far anhecnditbellgs as

1805, in his ‘ Flora Owariensis,’ and placed by DeCandolle in

his ‘ Prodromus’ (i. p. 636) as a doubtful genus of the Ampe-

lide: in such case, the latter name, on account of its priority,

ought to claim the preference. As however it is contrary to the

rules of science to form a compound generic term from both

Greek and Latin roots, the name would necessarily require to be

modified into Lasiandra, one that has long been preoccupied.

Besides this, we have to consider the confusion likely to arise

from increasing a list of consimilar names, already too numerous,

as Lasiandra, Lasianthea, Lasiantha, Lasianthus, and Lasianthera,

and also, that in reality the latter name is untenable, because of

the incorrectness of its signification, for in the present case it

will be seen, that it is not the anther, but the filament which i

villous. For all these reasons, 1 strongly recommend the pre-

ference to be given to Stemonurus, the next in priority, as it

most appropriate designation of this genus. ’

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 31

_ Its most marked peculiarity consists im the character of its

_ stamens ; the filaments sometimes shorter, often longer than the

petals, are generally very broad, extremely thick and fleshy,

obtuse at their summit with a small apical point, to which the

anthers are attached, and they have a somewhat prominent in-

ternal keel down the middle: the margins of their broad summit

and the upper part of the keel are fringed with long transparent

white hairs, clavate at their extremity and bent, so as to form a

_-erest over the anthers: from this character both the names of

_ Beauvois and Blume originated. The flowers, sometimes herma-

_ phrodite, are frequently polygamous in the same plant, that is

to say, either the anthers are void of pollen, or the ovarium is

_ deficient of any ovules, or both these imperfections occur at the

‘same time: it does not appear to me that they are constantly

unisexual, as generally stated. The analysis of the structure of

this genus has been attended with much difficulty, because of

_the frequent abortion of some of its parts, especially the ovarium,

_ which is often deficient of cells or ovules; and even when the

ovules exist, it is not easy to detect their presence, on account

of their extreme minuteness, in an early stage of the flower. I

was for a long while unable to solve the anomalies of its struc-

ture, and almost gave up the matter in despair, but patient exa-

mination at length overcame the difficulties: not one in twenty

instances exhibits the smallest trace of an existing ovule, nothing

but a fleshy mass appearing to constitute the ovarium, which is

always comparatively small : indications of the existence of more

cells than one are sometimes observable, but these are not large

enough to be well defined; and even in the case where a single

distinct cell exists with two suspended ovules, these are so mi-

-nute that they might readily be overlooked. After the period of

_fecundation, however, the petals and stamens fall away, when the

-ovyarium attains a rapid growth, and soon displays itself as an

oblong cylindrical body of many times its former dimensions,

seated on its small persistent calyx and crowned by a large pul-

-vinate disk: it now unmistakeably exhibits to the naked eye a

single cell containing two large suspended ovules and conforming

to all the usual characters of the order. With one exception I

have never met with flowers in an intermediate stage, and it 1s

not therefore surprising that Stemonurus and Gomphandra should

have been so long considered as two distinct genera. The nature

of the pulviniform gland that forms so prominent a feature on

‘the summit of the ovarium, and which evidently suggested the

name given by Dr. Wallich, is not altogether manifest. On

‘taking a longitudinal section of a pistillum in its early stage,

when it consists of a very small, 4- or 5-lobed, short cylinder, it

will be seen crowned by a fleshy glandular ring of the same

rey

32 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

shape, but of a different colour from the lower and central por-

tions, where the ovuligerous cell is seen, whenever discernible :

this glandular appendage is sometimes in a small degree conical

towards the centre, but more generally deeply umbilicate, and in

the middle of this depression is seen a conspicuous prominence

consisting of the real style and stigma: this is in the form of a

very short hollow tube, crowned by four or five very minute

teeth, corresponding in number to the lobes of the ovarium.

On the growth of the pistil, in the manner before described, the —

gland just mentioned also expands, assuming the form of a large

pulvinate disk, more or less lobed, which often exceeds in diameter,

and therefore overhangs the summit of the ovarium, while the —

style and stigma become withered into a small central umbilicated —

depression. This early stage of the ovarium is tolerably well —

depicted in plate 953. fig. 5. of Dr. Wight’s ‘ Icones,’ while its

subsequent clavated appearance is shown in plate 954. fig. 6. of —

the same work. I have frequently quoted imstances of the ex-

istence of a similar epigynous gland upon the summit of an ©

inferior ovarium, but 1 know of no instance in which it forms so —

prominent a mark as in this case. {

At one time (uj. op. ix. p. 224) it appeared to me desirable to

unite the Phlebocalymna of Griffiths, as well as the Platea of Blume, ©

with Stemonurus, which differ in no respect from the last-named —

genus, except in the absence of the villous fringe that forms such —

a remarkable crest overhanging the anthers: from Dr. Wight’s —

‘Icones’ I was at first led to believe that this was only a sexual dif- _

ference, but careful observation does not confirm this conclusion. {

I find it a constant character in particular species, and on this —

account it will probably be better to keep Stemonurus distinct ; —

but in this case PAlebocalymna and Platea will merge into another —

separate genus, the preference being given to the latter name —

on account of its priority: the differences which are observable —

between them will be discussed when we come to consider that

genus. I propose to unite with them a species which I had placed —

in Stemonurus, under the name of S. /axiflorus (Cuming, no. 189, —

from the Philippine Islands), and also Dr. Wight’s variety of

S. polymorpha, figured in plate 953 of his ‘ Icones.’

The structure of the putamen bears much analogy to that of

Pennantia : it is covered with a very small quantity of pulp, and —

is strongly ribbed by several longitudinal irregular lines: it is —

more coriaceous than osseous, and is of an oblong form, somewhat —

flatter upon the ventral face, on which side, a little below the

summit, is seen a caruncular prominence, beneath which is a

foramen communicating with the interior of the cell. On the

same side near the base is another foramen; this however does —

not penetrate into the cell, but it pierces the substance of the f

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacer. 33

shell obliquely by a hole which comes out in the point of its at-

tachment to the calyx. Between these foramina is a deep groove

filled with a thick chord of fibres: this chord, issuing from the

interior of the nut, out of the upper perforation, descends through

the basal passage just described, and terminates in the torus of

the persistent calyx. By making a careful incision through each

side of the shell, the cell is seen filled with an oblong seed, which

_ is suspended from a thick funicular support, continuous with the

vaphe on one hand and with the chord before mentioned on the

_ other: in Pennantia these parts are attached to one another, but

_ here the bundle of fibres is continuous with the raphe, as well as

with the external chord, that terminates in the basal torus. The

raphe does not descend along the centre of the dorsal face of

the seed, as in Pennantia, but takes a somewhat lateral course

towards nearly the bottom, when it makes a sudden turn, and

curving in a hippocrepical form ascends the opposite side of the

same face, terminating in a caruncular prominence upon the apex

_ of the seed. The thin integumental covering apparently con-

_ sists of two adherent membranes, in which the raphe is imbedded ;

but there is no thickening of these membranes at the base, nor

_ any appearance of a chalaza, unless the caruncular swelling at

_ the apex can be so considered. The albumen is fleshy, and its

embryo almost divides into two nearly equal portions, interposing

a vacant space between them, and leaving on the edges only a

very narrow solid rim of its albuminous substance to connect

them; the embryo entirely lines this space, and consists of two

extremely thin, almost pellicular cotyledons, which are oblong,

nearly the size of the albumen, cordate at the summit, with a

| short terete radicle in its sinus. I have had an opportunity of

examining only a single seed, and I can affirm with confidence

that its structure was that above described. A result so greatly

at variance with other recorded observations will naturally create

a suspicion that the seed so examined may have been a malfor-

| tnation, but there appeared in this case no indication of any ab-

| normal deformity : how then can we account for the existence of

| an embryo so different in size and form from that figured by

| Dr. Wight? Is it possible that this distinguished botanist, or

-tnore probably his draughtsman, can have mistaken the radicle

for the entire embryo? This will appear probable when we care-

fully examine fig. 10 of his plate 954 above referred to, which

gives a transverse section of the seed, where exactly the same

Feccted space is shown across the middle, which I found to exist,

lined with the two thin membranes above described, and which

1 conceive can be nothing but cotyledons ; and again, if we com-

pare this with fig. 11 of the same plate, which is a longitudinal

section of the same, we perceive a line or long space descending

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 3

34. Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

from the supposed embryo at the summit to the base of the

albumen, a fact which precisely accords with what I have de-

scribed in the preceding analysis. Upon such grounds I am

inclined to believe, that what I have detailed above is the real

structure of the seed in Stemonurus. In anatropal suspended

seeds with a superior radicle, it is usual to observe the raphe ter-

minate at the opposite extremity to the point of suspension ; but

in this case we find an exception to this general rule, which seems

opposed to the established theory: here the direction of the

raphe would seem to indicate a double retroversion of the ovule :

so singular a fact may be of more frequent occurrence, but I

confess that I have never met with, nor seen the record of, any

such development. On the other hand, again, we have an ana- —

lysis given by Blume of the seed of Stemonurus secundiflorus in

his ‘ Mus. Lugd. Bat.,’ in which the embryo is small in the sum-

mit of the albumen, as represented by Dr. Wight, the radicle

being terete and the cotyledons exceedingly small.

The flowers of Stemonurus are sometimes 4-, often 5-merous,

but I am not aware whether this can be depended on as a good ©

specific character ; all I can affirm is, that m those specimens I ~

have seen, where 4-merous flowers prevail, I have occasionally —

met with some that are 5- or even 6-merous. Generally, the —

inflorescence is so short, as often to appear like a cluster of ax- —

illary fasciculated flowers; in other species it consists of long —

branching panicles, in which the flowers are sometimes secundly

disposed. The flowers are always glabrous, and each articulated —

upon its separate pedicel, which is often pubescent. Ihave seen —

but few of the species on record, and those mostly imperfect spe- —

cimens. In the following enumeration the characters are therefore —

given as described by their several authors; they require doubt- —

lessly a more careful revision, for as they generally resemble —

each other so much in the appearance of the leaves, the shape of —

which often varies in the same species, it is probable that better —

and more valid characters may be found in the inflorescence. —

The outline of generic features here offered is founded wholly on

my own observation.

Stemonvrvs, Bl. Lasianthera, Pal. Beauv. Gomphandra, Wall. —

—Flores hermaphroditi vel abortu polygami. Calya# parvus, ©

brevissime cupularis, limbo fere integro, 4—5-denticulato, vel _

4-5-fido, immutatus et persistens. Petala 4-5, hypogyna, ob-

longa, carnosa, summo marginibus mucroneque apicali pro-—

pendenti inflexis, zestivatione valvata, libera, vel interdum mar-

ginibus imo coherentibus, simulque cum filamentis adhesis

in tubum cylindraceum sic leviter agglutinatis, e medio liberis”

et reflexis. Stamina 4-5, cum petalis inserta, iisdem alterna ;

Se ee

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 35

filamenta seepe aucta et demum exserta, crasso-carnosa, lata,

compressa, incurvula, summo truncato ac breviter repente

acuto, carinaque interna mediana, pilis longis albidis apice

clavatis munita ; anthere istis equilate, ovate, introrse, plus

minusve cordatz, 2-lobz, lobis singulatim 2-locellatis demum

septicidis et longitudinaliter evolutim dehiscentibus. Pollen

acute 3-gonum. Ovarium globoso-conicum, 4—5-sulcatum,

disco parvo insitum, glandula crassa sub-annulari aut sub-

lobata coronatum, sepissime sterili, quandoque fertili et ‘tunc

cito multoties elongatum et cylindricum, 1]-loculare, ovula 2

anatropa juxta apicem loculi subcollateraliter superposita,

podospermio crasso suspensa. Stylus brevissimus, conicus,

4—5-sulcatus, summo cavus, dentibusque 4—5 erectis stigma-

tosis terminatus, et simul cum glandula (in ovario fertili) in

discum magnum pulvinatum sub-lobatum epigynum demum

auctus. Drupa oblonga, parcissime carnosa, oliveeformis, in-

terdum elongata, monopyrena, calyce persistente suffulta, et

pulvino coronata: putamen lignosum, ovato-oblongum, dorso

convexius, uniloculare, monospermum, ad faciem ventralem

planiusculam infra apicem foramine parvo (loculo attingente)

perforatum, hinc extus fere ad imum longitudinaliter profunde

canaliculatum, illinc usque ad fundum introitu diagonali (loculo

evitante) pertusum. Semen conforme, funiculo infra apicem

loculi suspensum ; funiculus crassus, fibrosus, e rapheo dorsali

ortus, per foramen apicale loculi trajectus, tunc canalem

externum pervadens, et introitum basalem penetrans, denique

in toro amissus; ¢esta submembranacea, cum integumento

interno coherens; raphe hippocrepicus in faciem dorsalem

teste immersus, primum ex apice versus latus fere ad imum

decurrens, hinc repente deflexus, per latus adversum fere ad

apicem accurrens, et in carunculam apicalem desitus. Embryo

inversus, rectus, cotyledonibus magnis, cordatis, textura tenuis-

simis, latitudine curvatis, in medio albuminis carnosi fere

equanti immersis, radicula brevi, tereti, supera, 6-plo lon-

gioribus. [Ex iconibus et descriptionbus clar. Wight et Blume

embryo in apicem albuminis immersus, brevis, radicula tereti,

supera, cotyledonibus minutissimis, compressis. |—Arbores vel

frutices India Orientalis et Archipelagi Asiatici indigene : folia

alterna, elliptica, vel lanceolata, coriacea, glaberrima, petiolata ;

flores parvi, flavo-viriduli, odoratissimt, in racemos spicatos sepe

1-laterales, vel in cymas axillares rarius oppositifolias dispositi,

interdum (presertim in ovuligeris) fasciculato-aggregati ; fructus

purpureus.

1, Stemonurus pauciflorus, Bl. Bijd. 648 ;—foliis oblongis, acumi-

_ natis, basi acutis, glabris ; pedunculis brevibus apice 2-3-fidis,

2-3-floris.—Java.

36 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacmacezx.

2. Stemonurus secundiflorus, Bl. Bijd. 649 ;—arbor 10-pedalis ;

foliis oblongis, acutis, basi angustatis, coriaceis, glabris, aventis,

apice spicis 8—4-fidis, floribus secundis, filamentis carnosis,

linearibus, petalis equilongis, pilis longissimis clavatis ciliatis ;

drupa valde elongata, apice attenuata.—Java.

8. Stemonurus Javanicus, Bl. l. c. ;—foliis oblongis, utrinque acu-

minatis, coriaceis, glabris, venosis ; cymis solitariis geminisve

densifloris.—Insul. Nusa Kambanga.

8. foliis ovalibus, utrinque acuminatis, submembranaceis, glabris,

junioribus ad costam infra puberulis; cymis dichotomis soli-

tariis.

4. Stemonurus quadrifidus, Bl. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 249 ;—foliis

e basi acutiusculis, oblongis v. oblongo-lanceolatis, obtuse acu-

minatis, membranaceis, cymis umbellato-4-fidis, multifloris.—

Sumatra.—Folia 31 ad 6 poll. longa, 1-14 poll. lata.

. Stemonurus prasinus, Bl. l. c. §. Javanicus, Krthls. ;—foliis

e basi acutiuscula ellipticis, v. elliptico-oblongis, longiuscule

acuminatis, membranaceis; cymis 3-furcatis, multifloris.—

Sumatra.—Folia 43-6 poll. longa, 14-3 poll. lata.

6. Stemonurus macrocarpus, Bl. l. c.;—foliis e basi acutiuscula

ellipticis, v. elliptico-oblongis, obtuse acuminatis, subcoriaceis ;

pedunculis solitariis paucifloris, fructibus elongato-ellipsoideis.

—Ins. Borneo.—Folia 43-6 poll. longa, 24-3 poll. lata (evi-

denter 9).

7. Stemonurus macrophyllus, Bl. l. c. ;—foliis e basi acuta ellipticis,

obtuse acuminatis, coriaceis; racemis geminis confertisve; —

fructibus cylindraceis.—In Archip. Indico.—Folia 53—9 poll. —

longa, 23-41 poll. lata.

8. Stemonurus parviflorus, Bl. 1. c. ;—foliis e basi acuta vel obtusa

oblongis vel elliptico-oblongis, acuminatis, membranaceis, —

cymis brevissimis densifloris, drupis cylindricis—Sumatra.—

Folia 5-10 poll. longa, 2—4 poll. lata.

9. Stemonurus? littoralis, Bl. l. c. ;—foliis e basi acutiuscula v.

obtusa ellipticis, acuminatis, coriaceis. Nova Guinea.—Folia

6-9 poll. longa, 33—4: poll. lata.

10. Stemonurus? membranaceus, Bl. l. c.;—foliis e basi acuta

elliptico-oblongis vel oblongo-lanceolatis, acuminatis, mem-

branaceis.—Java.—Folia 6-10 poll. longa, 23-34 poll. lata.

11. Stemonurus Africanus. Lasianthera Africana, Pal. Beaw.

Fl. Owar. i. 85. tab.51; D.C. Prodr. 1.686 ;—suffrutex scan-

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacese. 37

dens, foliis lanceolato- vel ovato-oblongis, cuspidatis, imo ro-

tundatis, apice longe acuminatis vel cuspidatis, cyma oppo-

sitifolia, apice umbellatim ramosa, ovaru stylo brevi, stig-

mate obtuso.—Africa tropica; Chama, fl. St. Jago.—Folia

6 poll. longa, 2 poll. lata, petiolus 1-pollicaris: inflorescentia

2-pollicaris, ramis 4—5-umbellatis, floribus apice agglomeratis.

12. Stemonurus coriaceus. Gomphandra coriacea, Wight, Til.

Ind. Bot. i. 103 ;—dioicus, foliis coriaceis, ovalibus, utrinque

attenuatis vel obovato-cuneatis, floribus 4-andris, cymis axil-

laribus, 4 floris; 2 floribus solitariis vel 2-38, racemosis, fruc-

tibus oblongis, cylindraceis.—Ind. Oriental.

13. Stemonurus polymorphus. Gomphandra polymorpha, Wight,

Lil. Ind. Bot.i. 108; Icon. Pl. tab. 953-954: ;—glaber, foliis

oblongis vel obovato-lanceolatis, acuminatis, membranaceis,

subtus glaucis, breviter petiolatis ; cymis axillaribus solitariis

vel geminis petiolum eequantibus, masculis plurifloris, foemineis

2-5-floris, calyce integro minute 4—5-dentatis, petalis 4-5, gla-

bris, staminibus exsertis, cristato-pilosis, fructibus ovoideis.—

India orientalis.

Var. a. acuminata, B. oblongifolia, y. angustifolia, 8. longifolia,

e. ovalifolia.

This species is described as being commonly diffused over the

whole Peninsula of India, and subject to many varieties of form,

but I suspect that if these were more carefully examined, several

specific differences would be found to exist among them. I have

copied the character from Dr. Wight’s description, omitting how-

ever three features, viz. “ dioicus””—*“ petalis basi in corollam

| tubulosam coalitis”—and “antheris minute cristato-pilosis.”’

__ I find in all cases the petals are quite free, although strongly

agglutinated by their edges, and that they do not open even at

the summits until some time after impregnation, and then they

_ gradually become separated at their edges to the base, after

which, in time, they fall off. There seems to have been a general

conviction among botanists, that in Gomphandra the anthers are

pilose ; this is so stated by Endlicher and Wight, but in every

- mmstance I have found the clavate hairs that form a hooded crest

over the anthers all spring from the filaments. Dr. Wight, in

_ his ‘Icones,’ represents the male plant in this species as having

beardless stamens (see figs. 1 & 4. tab. 953), and it is worthy of

| note that the ovarium is here depicted as being ovuligerous

(see fig. 6): the female plant in plate 954 has bearded stamens

with a fertile ovarium, the progress of the development of which,

| to the state of ripened fruit, is here shown: it has hence been

inferred by that distinguished botanist, that the occurrence of

bearded or beardless stamens constitutes a true sexual distinc-

38 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

tion. My observation upon dried specimens leads me to an

opposite conclusion, for I find in every instance I have examined,

that the stamens are bearded even in the male flowers, that is to

say, where the ovarium has been quite sterile: and even in what

are called female flowers, that is, where the ovarium is ovuli-

gerous, the stamens are equally barbed, whether the anthers be

charged with pollen or filled only with a grumous mass. I am

therefore led to the irresistible conclusion, that the plant figured

by Dr. Wight as the male plant of Gomphandra polymorpha

belongs to a distinct genus, being a species of Blume’s Platea,

which will be hereafter described. As additional evidence in

favour of this conclusion, I may mention the fact, that Dr. Wight

describes the male plant in plate 953 as flowerimg in the months

of March and April, and the female plant in plate 954 as having

its fruit ripened in the same months: this would occur probably

alone on the supposition that the fruit was the production of a

previous year’s growth.

Among the Ceylon collection of the late Mr. Gardner (no. 102

is a plant which I take to be the variety /ongifolius of this spe-

cies : it is certainly different from the longifolius of Dr. Wallich’s

collection, which will be presently described ; the leaves are here

of a light pallid green ; two or three short dichotomous racemes

grow out of each axil; the calyx is entire, but the petals and sta-

mens have all fallen away; the ovarium is long and cylindrical,

and is terminated by a flattened 5-lobed disk, which considerably

exceeds in diameter that of the ovarium ; it is 1-celled, with two

large ovules suspended from near the summit of the cavity: on

account of the clavate form of the ovarium this affords a good

illustration of Dr. Wallich’s genus Gomphandra, and is well

represented in Wight’s ‘ Icones, tab. 954. figs.6 & 7. The

remarks offered upon the development of the ovarium in S. affinis

will equally apply to the present instance*.

14. Stemonurus Gardneri, n. sp. ;—glaber, ramulis teretibus,

subflexuosis ; foliis ellipticis, utrinque acutis, apice obtusius-

culo breviter lineari-angustatis, glaberrimis, valde coriaceis,

utrinque eveniis, costa nervisque supra impresso-sulcatis,

subtus prominentibus, inferne subferrugineis margine revo-

luto, petiolo longiusculo, tereti, superne haud suleato ; racemo

oppositifolio, petiolo longiori, floribus masculis paniculatis

5-meris, staminibus in alabastro petalis brevioribus, pilis cla- —

vatis antheris brevioribus munitis; fructu oblongo, disco 10-

lobo umbilicato coronato.—In Mont. Neilgherrensib.

The plant here described was sent to me by the late Mr. Gard-

ner as the Gomphandra polymorpha, being collected by him as ~

* The analysis of the structure of the flowers and of the seed of this :

species will be shown in plate 13 of the ‘Contributions to Botany,’ &e.

ai AA ah 8 Ne

Mr. J. Miers on some gencra of the Icacinacee. 89

such, in company with Dr. Wight, in the Neilgherry Hills: it

might therefore be considered as an authentic sample of this

species. Its characters however will be seen to be quite at

variance with those given by Dr. Wight of other plants of this

species, collected by him in the same neighbourhood, where the

leaves are said to be membranaceous and shortly petioled : here,

on the contrary, they are extremely opaque and thickly coria-

ceous: the inflorescence is not only there described, but figured

as being axillary; here, on the contrary, it is always opposite to

the leaves. It is not easy to say whether this plant is referrible

to any of the varieties mentioned by Dr. Wight, but from the

differences here shown, it certainly claims the rank of a species

distinct from his Gomphandra polymorpha. The leaves are 23—

3; inches long, 14-12 inch broad, on a petiole half an inch in

length ; the male panicle is branching, nearly an inch in length,

with flowers oval in bud, about 14 line long ; both the male and

female inflorescence, as in the following species, spring from the

side of the stem opposite to the petiole: the calyx is cupshaped,

with a 5-denticulated margin ; the five petals are oblong, with in-

flexed margins and apex; the stamens, shorter than these, have

fleshy filaments, with glandular hairs scarcely longer than the

anthers : the ovarium is oblong, glabrous, sterile, with a conical

hollow style. The fructiferous raceme is 3 of an inch long,

bearimg an oblong drupe, 7 lines in length, surmounted by a

depressed, umbilicated, 10-lobed disk, and supported upon its

minute, persistent calyx. The internal structure of the fruit

has been already described in a foregoing page.

15. Stemonurus Penangianus. Gomphandra Penangiana, Wail. ;

—ramulis teretibus, pallide ferrugineis ; foliis oblongo-lanceo-

latis, imo cuneatis, apice lineari-angustatis, coriaceis, glaber-

rimis, subtus pallidioribus margine revoluto, petiolo brevi,

crassiusculo, profunde canaliculato ; cyma oppositifolia, sub-

umbellatim et 2-3—4-chotome ramosa, floribus hermaphroditis,

secundis, cum pedicellis articulatis, valde deciduis, carina

interna petalorum in appendice longe propendenti inflexa

maxime producta, filamentis longe ciliatis, antheris polliniferis,

ovario brevissimo, 5-gono, apice pulviniformi et umbilicato,

stylo conico, sub-brevi, tubuloso, dentibus 5 erectis acutis

terminato.—Penang.—(v. s. in herb. Soc. Linn. Wall. Cat.

7204.)

This species is very distinct on account of its singularly

_ branching racemes, with long rows of secund flowers, which are

__ always placed on the side of the stem opposite to the insertion

_ of the petiole. The stems are quite glabrous and of a dull light

_ brown colour. The leaves are about 54 inches long, 13-1} inch

40 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez.

broad, on a petiole 3 or 4 lines in length. The primary peduncle

is 3 to 6 lines long, branching somewhat umbellately into from

three to six branches, which are again dichotomously, or some-

times umbellately subdivided into lengthened curving branchlets,

from 6 to 9 lines long, closely and pectinately beset with pedi-

cels, from which the articulated flowers have fallen off, all being

quite glabrous and of an ochreous colour. The calyx is small,

cupshaped, minutely 5-toothed ; the petals adhere by their mar-

gins below in a tubular form, the summits being quite free;

the stamens are the length of the petals, but the long ciliated

crests are far exserted ; the filaments are thick and fleshy, having

their margins and apices charged with very long clavate white

hairs; the upper part of the inner keel interposes between the

lower part of the two lobes of the anthers, which are oval, deeply

separated at their base, the lobes being attached dorsally at their

junction to the apical point of the filament; they are pollini-

ferous, the granules of pollen being sharply 3-angular : the ova-

rium is distinctly ovuligerous.

16. Stemonurus longifolius. Olax longifolia, Wall. ;—ramulis

teretibus, gracilibus, glabris, ochraceis ; foliis valde lanceolatis,

utrinque acutis, apice lineari-angustatis, glaberrimis, flavo-

virentibus, subtus pallidioribus, petiolo gracili; panicula pau-

ciflora, glaberrima, petiolo vix longiori, floribus glabris, petalis

4, staminibus 4, filamentis crassis, dilatatis, longe ciliolatis, an-

theris effcetis, ovario sterili, 4-sulcato, stylo conico tubuloso

4—5-dentato coronato.—Sylhet.—(v. s. im herb. Soc. Linn.

Wall, Cat. 6782 A. et B.)

This species is remarkable for its very long narrow leaves,

which are attenuated at their apex into a lengthened linear ex-

tension ; they are of a pale colour above, of a glaucous yellowish

hue below, about 6 inches long, including the linear apical ex-

tension of an inch in length, and { of an inch broad, upon a

slender petiole 3 or 4 lines in length. The inflorescence seldom

exceeds 4 lines in length, several flowers about 2 lines long

being almost fasciculated on an axillary peduncle of 2 lines in

length, all quite glabrous: the calyx is small, cupshaped and

5-toothed ; petals 4, linear ; stamens 4, with very fleshy filaments

nearly the length of the petals, furnished on their margins and

apex with a dense fringe of long clubshaped hairs ; the two anther

lobes are each 2-celled, sterile, and filled with grumous matter ;

the ovarium is smooth, cylindrical, + or 4 the length of the

stamens, sterile, and terminated by a hollow, tubular, conical

style, divided at its apex into four acute erect teeth.

17. Stemonurus Heyneanus. Olax Heyneanus, Wall. ;—ramulis

;

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 41

subflexuosis, glabris; foliis oblongis, utrinque acutis, apice

breviter repente angustatis, glaberrimis, opacis, petiolo gra-

cili; racemo axillari, petiolo sublongiori, bifido, vel subdicho-

tome ramoso, floribus secundis, vel subaggregatis; calyce

cupuliformi, 5-denticulato, petalis 4-5, linearibus, apicula in-

flexa longe propendenti, staminibus 4-5, crassis, demum elon-

gatis et exsertis, pilis clavatis antheris fertilibus 2-plo longi-

oribus munitis ; ovario sterili, subgloboso, 4—5-sulcato, apice

pulviniformi, subumbilicato, stylo brevissimo, fere obsoleto.—

India. Orient.—(v. s. in herb. Soc. Linn. et Hook., Wall. Cat.

6780.—Ceylon, Gardner, 102.)

This plant bears much the aspect of Stemonurus polymorphus ;

the leaves are of a pale green, of.nearly the same hue on both

sides; the specimens in the herbarium of the Linnzan Society

are oblong, with parallel sides, or sometimes tapering a little

towards the base from the upper part, where they are broadest,

and then suddenly contracted into a narrow and obtuse point ;

they are 3 to 33 inches long, 14 inch broad, on a slender petiole

_ about 4 lines in length. In the Ceylon specimens the leaves

taper more regularly to each extremity, and are somewhat nar-

rower. The flowers are generally 5-, rarely 4-merous ; sometimes

the hairs of the stamens are short and nearly obsolete, at other

_ times double the length of the anthers ; the cells of these are in

some specimens replete with perfect pollen, in others filled with

grumous matter: the ovarium is generally depressed or globose,

and I have never met with a single instance of their possessing

ovuligerous cells.

18. Stemonurus axillaris. Gomphandra axillaris, Wall. Lasi-

anthera tetrandra, Wall. Flor. Ind. Or. vol. ii. ;—ramulis tere-

tibus, flexuosis, substriatis, glabris ; foliis oblongis, utrinque

acuminatis, apice angustato-attenuatis, glabris, opacis, subtus

pallidioribus, margine revoluto ; panicula ramosa, petiolo paullo

longiori, glabra, floribus crebris, subsecundis, 4—5-meris, calyce

cupuliformi, 5-denticulato, petalis margine inflexis, apice longe

propendenti, staminibus fertilibus, longissime ciliolatis, ovario

seepe sterili, interdum ovuligero, oblongo, vel subgloboso,

4-5-gono, stylo conico, tubuloso, apice 4—5-dentato.— Sylhet.

—v. s. in herb. Soc. Linn. Wall. Cat. 3718.)

_ As in S. Penangianus, I have observed that in many cases

_ where the ovarium is ovuligerous, the anthers have been charged

_ with perfect pollen, so that such flowers may be said to be truly

hermaphrodite: in most instances, however, the ovarium is ste-

tile. The leaves are from 33 to 43 inches long, including a nar-

row and almost linear apical point of half an inch in length ; they

are 1} to 14 inch broad, on a petiole half an inch long: the

42 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

racemes, $ to 3 inch long, have numerous crowded flowers which

do not exceed 3 lines in length: the hairs of the filaments are

three or four times the length of the anthers, and arch over

them in a very graceful manner: the pollen-grains are acutely

3-gonous.

19. Stemonurus Cumingianus, n. sp. ;—ramulis flexuosis, tereti-

bus, ferrugineo vel flavido-tomentosis ; foliis oblongis, utrin-

que acutis, apice repente attenuatis, supra glabris, subtus

brunneis- et sparse pubescentibus, costa nervis petioloque

ferrugineo-pilosulis, margine subrevoluto; panicula ramosa,

petiolo tenui vix longiore, pubescente, floribus ¢ crebris, sub-

capitatis, 5-meris; calyce brevissimo, 5-denticulato, piloso,

petalis glabris, oblongis, summo marginibus apiculaque longa —

propendenti inflexis ; staminibus iisdem brevioribus, latis,

erassis, pilis clavatis longissimis ciliolatis; ovario oblongo,

piloso, dentibus 5 coronato.—Insul. Philip.—». s. in herb.

Hook. et Lindl. (Cuming, 796).

The leaves here are 5-6} inches long, and 23-8 inches broad,

on a petiole 5~7 lines in length; the panicle is trichotomously.

branched, with crowded 5-merous flowers, which are still in bud ;

the upper margins of the petals are deeply inflected, together

with their long apical points, which are all closely agglutmated

into a long process that hangs down in the centre of the anthers ;

the filaments are rather short and broad, fringed with extremely

long glandular hairs; the ovarium, seated on a short glabrous

disc, is cylindrical, and altogether very pilose, growing smaller

and more conical towards the summit, where it is hollow and

5-toothed.

20. Stemonurus Ceylanicus, n. sp. ;—ramulis glabris, ochraceis ;

foliis oblongis, utrinque virentibus, subtus pallidis, costa

mediana prominenti; paniculis axillaribus, geminis, dichotome

ramosis, petiolo brevi 3-plo longioribus, pubescentibus, floribus

in ramis secundis, crebris, calyce 5-denticulato, glabro, petalis

linearibus, sicco aurantiacis, staminibus isdem equilongis,

apice carinaque interna longissime ciliolatis; ovario steyrili,

glabro, depresso-10-lobato, apice profunde umbilicato, stylo

brevissimo in cavitatem incluso.—Ceylon.—». s. in herb. Lindl.

et Hook. (Macrae, 428).

This species differs from S, Penangianus in the axillary origin

of its inflorescence, in its much shorter and geminate panicles,

in which the flowers, though somewhat secund, appear almost

aggregated. The leaves, which are thin and almost membrana-

ceous in texture, appear when dried of a darkish green above,

and of a very pale green beneath, with prominent nervures and

veins; they are about 6 inches long, and nearly 2 inches broad,

En ee Se a a a eS

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinace. 43

on a petiole barely exceeding 3 lines in length. The panicles

are scarcely 9 lines long ; the calyx is small, obsoletely 5-toothed ;

the five petals are linear, with a long inflected apex; the five stamens

are equal to them in length, with broad, thick, fleshy filaments,

the internal keel, upper margins and summit being closely

fringed with very long clavated hairs, which are three times the

length of the anthers; these consist of two oval lobes, fixed

together by a point near the apex, where they are attached to

the filaments, the lobes below being separated by the summit

of the keel, so that they rest in two cavities in the apex of the

filaments, as occurs in most species of this genus; the ovarium

is globular, somewhat 10-lobed, depressed at the summit, and

deeply umbilicated in the centre, in the cavity of which, the ob-

solete style and stigma, forming a depressed lobe, lie concealed ;

the body of the ovarium is fleshy, with no apparent cells*.

21. Stemonurus Walkeri, n. sp. ;—yramulis teretibus, subdicho-

tome divisis; foliis oblongis, imo vix acutis, apice valde ob-

tuso et hine subito attenuatis, utrinque glaberrimis fuscis et

concoloribus, crasso-coriaceis, supra nitido-opacis, costa sul-

catis, nervis immersis, subtus costa crassiuscula nervisque

tenuissimis prominentibus, margine subrevoluto, petiolo bre-

viusculo ; racemo axillari, brevi, paucifloro, floribus ¢ 4-meris,

9 5-meris, filamentis crassis, apice sub-breviter ciliolatis.—

Ceylon.—. s. in herb. Hook. ( 3 Col. Walker, ? Gardner, 101).

This species is distinguishable by its much darker and more

fleshy, smooth leaves, which are nearly 4 inches long, and 13 inch

broad, on a rather stout petiole, about 4 limes in length; the

calyx is small, and rather deeply 5-toothed; the male flowers

have oblong petals, with an internal longitudinal keel, and a long

inflexed apical joint, four stamens equal to them in length, with

very broad, thick, fleshy filaments, which are furnished on the

upper margin with a row of clavate hairs, scarcely longer than

the anthers; the pollen is acutely 3-angular; the ovarium is

sterile, oblong, with a rather long, conical, hollow style, toothed

at its apex. The female flowers have five thick fleshy petals, and

five stamens formed like the others, but the cells are filled with

grumous matter; the ovarium is nearly the length of the

stamens, somewhat 5-grooved, globular in its lower moiety,

smaller and cylindrical in its upper half, which presents here

somewhat excentrically, a single cell with two distinct ovules

suspended from near the summit, on the side towards the axis : the

_ apex of the very short ovarium is crowned with a conical, 5-lobed,

* A representation of this species, with the details of its floral structure,

_ will be given in plate 13 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ &c.

Ad. Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacer.

disciform process, equal to it in diameter, the summit being ter-

minated by five very minute teeth *.

22. Stemonurus affinis, n. sp. ;—ramulis tortuosis, nodosis ; folis

ellipticis, utrinque subacuminatis, apice obtusiusculo attenua-

tis, opacis, supra in costam sulcatis, subtus pallidioribus, costa

nervis venisque prominulis, margine subrevoluto, petiolo tenui

teretiusculo superne sulcato ; panicula axillari, pauciflora, |

petiolo vix longiore, pedicellis pubescentibus, calyce 5-dentato _

petalisque oblongis breviter apiculatis glabris, staminibus —

lisdem vix eequilongis, filamentorum apicibus carinaque interna —

longissime ciliatis, ovario fertili, longitudine staminum, longe —

cylindrico, paullulo incurvo, apice pulvinato. —Malacca.—v. s. _

in herb. Hook. (Griffiths). ;

This species is near S. polymorpha, but differs th several

particulars. It appears to be a remarkably knotty and scrubby

tree ; its leaves are about 3} inches long, 14 to 13 inch broad, on

a petiole 4 or 5 lines in length ; its panicles are 6 or 8 lines

long, and its flowers offer a very instructive exemplification of

the development of the ovarium ; the last-mentioned species ex-

hibiting an intermediate stage, between that described in S. Pe-

nangianus, and this, which offers another manifest instance of

Dr. Wallich’s genus Gomphandra. Here the fleshy petals are

linearly oblong, with a comparatively short inflexed apex; the

stamens are not equal to them in length; the filaments exceed

the anthers in breadth, but are not quite so thick as in other

species ; they are suddenly contracted to a sharp point at the apex,

and have a less prominent internal keel, the summit of which,

together with the upper margins of the filaments, are fringed

with very long clavate hairs; the anthers are 2-lobed and sagittate

from near the almost apical point of their attachment ; the lobes

are membranaceous, each longitudinally split open and quite

void of pollen or other matter, so that it is not apparent whether

they have been fertile or sterile. The ovarium is the length of

the stamens, is cylindrical, a little curved, and rather thicker

towards the apex; in diameter it is scarcely broader than the fila-

ments, quite smooth, and surmounted by a short, compressed,

umbilicated, and somewhat 5-lobed disciform process, which

partly overhangs the summit; the body of the ovarium exhibits

only a single large cell, of nearly its whole length, from one side

of which, near the summit, two ovules, that almost fill the cavity

of the cell, are suspended, each from a short cupshaped strophiolet.

* A figure of this species, and an analysis of its floral structure, will be

shown in plate 14 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ &c.

+ This species, and the details of its floral structure, will be exhibited in

plate 15 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ &c.

Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chaleidites. 45

_VII.—Notes on Chalcidites, and Descriptions of various new

: species. By Francis Waker, F.L.S.

[Continued from vol. ix. p. 43.]

Perilampus maurus, mas. dter, antennis apice Serrugineis, tarsis

fSulvis, alis limpidis. ee

_. Body black: head as broad as the chest, nearly smooth, slightly

_ shining ; hind part slightly striated across ; front shining, very deeply

_ excavated, extending on each side of the face and of the epistoma

_ which are small and rhomboidal; epistoma larger than the face:

mouth pitchy: feelers nearly filiform, black, ferruginous towards

their tips which are conical: chest coarsely and deeply punctured,

dull, hairy: abdomen smooth, shining; ventral plate dull, slightly

_ Striated: legs black, clothed with short tawny hairs; feet tawny :

wings colourless, very pubescent ; veins pitchy; humerus at some

distance from the fore-border, less than half the length of the wing ;

ulna about one-third of the length of the humerus; radius rather

_ more than half the length of the ulna; cubitus full one-third of the

length of the radius ; brand small, not furcate. Length of the body

21 lines; of the wings 5 lines.

Port Natal. In the British Museum.

Eupelmus basicupreus, fem. Viridis, awillis et scutello nigris,

metathoracis lateribus auratis, abdomine cupreo basi micante,

antennis nigris, pedibus fulvis, femoribus viridibus, alis sub-

Sulvis.

_ Body green: head very little narrower than the chest, coarsely

_ punctured ; crown black ; channel for the reception of the first joint

_ of the antennze very deep, finely squamous, bright green with a blue

dise: eyes large: feelers black, slender, filiform, more than half

_ the length of the body ; first joint green, very long, slightly curved ;

_ second bright green: axillee and scutellum black ; axille very large,

_ nearly contiguous ; scutellum obcordate, with a very slight longitu-

dinal suture: sides of the hind-chest golden green: abdomen cu-

_ preous black, nearly spindle-shaped, depressed above, keeled beneath,

_ bright cupreous at the base, rather less than twice the length of the

chest ; sheaths of the oviduct black, ferruginous towards the tips,

_ extending beyond the abdomen to one-fourth of its length: legs

_ tawny ; thighs bluish green; fore-shanks black at the base ; a ferru-

ginous band near the base of each hind-shank : wings slightly tinged

with tawny; veins tawny; humerus rather more than one-third of

_ the length of the wing, slightly widened towards its tip ; ulna a little

shorter than the humerus ; radius much shorter than the ulna ; cubitus

‘about one-fourth of the length of the ulna, slightly curved ; brand

very small. Length of the body 23 lines ; of the wings 44 lines.

Para. In the British Museum.

46 Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chalcidites.

Sparasion Sinense, mas. Viridi-cyaneum, abdomine eyaneo-pur-

pureo, antennis pedibusque nigris, femoribus cyaneis, tibtis tar-

sisque anticis piceis, alis subfuscis.

Body convex, rather hairy: head and chest dark greenish blue,

roughly punctured: eyes and eyelets piceous: feelers black, nearly

filiform, shorter than the chest ; first joint long, stout, shining ; second

short, cup-shaped ; third very long, subclavate ; fourth and following

joints to the tenth short, transverse, nearly equal in size, but gra-

dually decreasing in length and breadth towards the tips of the

feelers: fore-chest extremely short, forming a narrow line in front of

the middle shield, the sutures of whose parapsides are distinct ;

scutcheon obconical : hind-chest obconical, declining : breast smoother

than the chest ; the punctures being fewer and smaller: petiole very

short : abdomen long spindle-shaped, thickly striated, bluish purple,

bluish green at the tip, narrower than the chest and about twice its

length ; sides nearly smooth or having only a few indistinct punctures :

legs black, hairy; hips and thighs shining, the former dark blue;

fore-shanks and fore-feet piceous: wings slightly brown, somewhat

darker along the fore-borders from the middle to the tips; veins

brown. Length of the body 4 lines; of the wings 6 lines.

Fou-chou-fou, China. In the British Museum.

Smiera torrida, fem. Fulva nigro varia, capite antico flavo, an-

tennis nigris subtus ferrugineis, pedibus fulvis, femoribus an-

terioribus flavis, tibiis posticis nigro vittatis, alis ad costam sub-

cinereis.

Body tawny, roughly punctured, thinly clothed with short tawny

hairs: two black spots behind the head; front and face yellow:

feelers black, filiform, ferruginous beneath and at the tips; first

joint tawny: three black stripes on the shield of the middle chest ;

the inner one obconical ; the side pair oblique, slightly waved, taper-

ing towards the fore-border ; axillze black, parted by néar one-third

of the breadth of the scutcheon, which has a triangular black spot

resting on its hind-border: propodeon smooth, shining: petiole

slender, cylindrical, a little longer than the propodeon, with a short

black stripe on each side: abdomen spindle-shaped, smooth, shining, —

punctured towards the tip, more than twice the length of the petiole ; _

metapodeon large ; octoon about half the length of the metapodeon ; —

ennaton, decaton and protelum together as long as the octoon; para-—

telum and telum of equal length, together longer than the octoon ; —

ventral segments concealed: legs tawny; anterior thighs yellow; a

black stripe on each hind-hip ; hind-thighs armed beneath with seven —

teeth whose tips are black; first and second very small, the other

five large ; a black stripe on each hind-shank : wings very pubescent, —

slightly gray along the fore-border ; veins tawny ; supplementary veins —

distinct as in other large species ; humerus much more than one-third —

of the length of the wing; ulna less than half the length of the -

humerus ; radius as long as the ulna; cubitus not more than one-sixth ;

Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chalcidites. 47

of the radius; brand very small. Length of the body 44 lines; of

the wings 8 lines.

Para. In the British Museum.

Smiera nigro-rufa, mas. Rufa, nigro varia, petiolo nigro, abdomine

rufo, antennis nigris, alis limpidis.

_ Body red, roughly punctured: head black; sides of the front

tawny: mouth tawny: feelers black: breast, hind-chest, paraptera,

axillee and sides of the middle chest black: three black stripes on

_ the shield; the side pair broad and oblique ; a three-lobed black mark

__ on the scutcheon : petiole black, slender, cylindrical, smooth, shining :

abdomen smooth, shining, short, globose, less than twice the length

of the chest : legs red ; hips black ; anterior thighs black at the base ;

middle shanks striped with brown towards the base ; hind-shanks at

_ the base and at the tips and hind-feet black : wings colourless ; veins

brown ; humerus near half the length of the wing; ulna not one-third

of the length of the humerus; radius much longer than the ulna;

cubitus about one-fourth of the ulna; brand rather large, slightly

forked. Length of the body 24 lines; of the wings 5 lines.

East Indies. In the British Museum.

Callimome cyaneus, Kollar, fem. Purpureus eyaneo viridique

varius, antennis nigris, pedibus fulvis, femoribus purpurets,

metatibiis piceis, alis limpidis.

Fem. Body purple, pubescent, varied with green and blue : feelers

black, subclavate, a little shorter than the thorax ; first joint fulvous :

head and thorax punctured, in structure like the other species of Cal-

_ limome : podeon very short : abdomen purple, smooth, shining, nearly

as long as the thorax; metapodeon blue, green at the base: legs

fulvous; coxee and thighs purple; metatibize piceous; tips of the

tarsi piceous: wings limpid, rather short; nervures fuscous; ulna

_ much shorter than the humerus; radius very short; cubitus a little

shorter than the radius; stigma very small; oviduct fulvous, much

longer than the abdomen; its sheaths black.

Inhabits Germany.

CHALCEDECTUS, n. g.

Eupelmo affinis, at quoad pedes posticos Chalcidi similis.

Chalcedectus maculicornis, fem. Viridis, eupreo cyaneo et pur-

pureo varius, antennis nigris, articulo 5° supra albo, tarsis

piceis, tarsis intermediis nigris basi flavis, alis fusco subnebu-

losis. .

Body brilliant green, narrow: head a little narrower than the

_ chest: crown narrow; front largely and deeply punctured, with a

_ yery deep almost smooth bluish green channel for the reception of the

_ first joint of the feelers ; face broad : mouth pitchy : eyes rather large :

_ feelers black, filiform, slender, as long as the chest; first joint ver

_ long; second linear, long, nearly half the length of the first ; third

48 Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chalcidites.

and fourth indistinct; fifth white above, a little shorter than the

second; the followimg linear, very compact, successively decreasing

in length: chest spindle-shaped: fore-chest broader than long, rounded

in front, much lower than the middle-chest, very finely shagreened :

shield and scutcheon of the middle-chest very largely and deeply

punctured: shield rather flat, adorned with a broad coppery band

whose edges are tinged with blue and purple; sutures of the parap-

sides distinct ; axillee parted by about one-third of the breadth of

the chest ; scutcheon obconical, with a coppery spot at its base : hind-

chest small, subquadrate, finely punctured, with two or three slight

cross ridges: propodeon and podeon short: abdomen lanceolate,

longer and a little narrower than the chest, slightly pubescent, trans-

versely and very finely striated, almost flat on the dise towards the

base, adorned above with coppery purple and blue colour; metapodeon

of moderate length ; octoon shorter ; ennaton longer ; decaton shorter ;

the three following segments short ; underside finely punctured, not

keeled, dorsal segments approximate beneath, parted only by two

linear, parallel, very slender plates which extend along the whole length

of the body : legs green, slightly pubescent, adorned with blue and ~

purple colour: fore-thighs rather thick ; fore-shanks purple, armed

at the tips with a slender curved spine; fore-feet pitchy, tawny at

the base; middle thigh long and slender, grooved beneath ; tip of

each middle shank armed with a stout straight tawny spine; middle

feet black, pale yellow at the base; hind-legs formed like those of

Chalcis ; hips long; thighs very large, armed beneath with seven

oblique teeth, those towards the tips are small; shanks very much

curved, widening from the base to the tips; hind-feet pitchy, witha —

slight metallic tinge: wings almost colourless, fore-wings slightly —

clouded with brown in the disks and with gray at the tips; veins —

black ; humerus much more than one-third of the length of the wing;

ulna about one-third of the length of the humerus; radius nearly as —

long as the humerus, extending almost to the tip of the wing; cubitus —

straight, very slanting, less than one-fourth of the length of the radius, a

widening from its source to the brand which is small; a few supple- —

mentary veins in the disk, as is usual in the large species of the tribe. _

Length of the body 5 lines; of the wings 6 lines. |

Para. In the British Museum.

This is one of the tropical forms whose characters are more com- —

pound or complicated than those of any genera which inhabit more —

temperate regions; and may be considered either as a connecting |

link between families, or as a common and governing centre, repre-

senting various remote groups, and associating them together. It

comes between the Pteromalide and the Lupelmide, and is one of —

the Cleonymide, and is most allied to Lycisea; but it has the head F

of Perilampus, the thoracic sculpture of the Perilampide and the —

Lurytomide, and the hind-legs of the Leucospide and of the Chal- —

cide.

Zoological Society. 49

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

November 26, 1850.—R. H. Solly, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.

_ Aw Account or FISHES DISCOVERED OR OBSERVED IN MADEIRA

SINCE THE YEAR 1842*, By Tue Rev. R. T. Lowe, M.A.

Family ZeniD&.

1. Zeus concuirer. Lilacino-cinereus, capite inermi ; thorace

pinnaque dorsali analique utrinque scutatis ; spinis dorsalibus

anterioribus brevissime filamentosis ; pinnis ventralibus 1 + 5-

radiatis ; caudali lunata.

D. 9 v. 104+25 v. 26; A. 2+(1+25 v. 26); P.13; V. +5;

‘ ‘eta ati M. B. 7; Vertebre, 13 abd. + 21 caud. = 34.

1+I1.+VI.

* Anexample of this very fine new Dory was communicated, with a

short notice, to the Zoological Society in 1845+. The row of large

_ and remarkable naked bony scutellee on each side, at the base of the

_ dorsal and anal fins, and along the breast or ventral line, afford a very

_ striking character. They resemble the depressed shells of a Fissu-

_ relia seen in profile, and are beautifully radiato-striate, with a bright

iridescent rose or lilac lustre, like the inside of a Trigonia. The

_ umbo forms a smooth short strong spine or recurved prickle. The

_ dark thumb-mark on the middle of the sides is present, as in Z. Gal-

_ lus, Three examples only have occurred, measuring from eighteen

_ inches to a little more than two feet in length.

_ The supposed affinity between Zeus and Oreosoma, Cuv.t, is much

_ corroborated by this fish.

2. ArecyropreLicus Otrersi. (Sternoptyx Olfersii, Cuv. R.

An. (2nd edit.) ii. 316. t. 13. f. 2.) —

_ Asingle example, caught with a boatscoop on the surface of the

_ water in the Bay of Funchal, June 6, 1845.

The name of Pleurothysis, proposed in the ‘ Fishes of Madeira,’

p- 64, for this portion of the Cuvierian genus Sternoptyz, has been

_ anticipated by that of Argyropelicus, previously assigned to a Medi-

__ terranean species by the Italian naturalist Cocco, and adopted in the

- Fauna Italica’ by the Prince of Canino.

_I have now succeeded in obtaining both the Cuvierian species of

_ Sternoptyz in this part of the Atlantic; though S¢. diaphana (Le St.

_ @ Herman, Cuv.) cannot, like Arg. Olfersii, be perhaps fairly claimed

_ at present to belong to the Madeiran fauna §.

_ The Atlantic and Mediterranean species of Argyropelicus may be

_ thus distinguished :

Are. Otrersi, Cuv. Corpore altiore, altitudine dimidium lon-

* Ann. Nat. Hist. S. 1. vol. xiii. p. 390. é

+ Proc. Zool. Soc. part 13. p. 103. } Fishes of Madeira, Preface, p. xii.

- § Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 393.

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 4,

50 Zoological Society.

gitudinis (dempta pinna caudali) superante; parte postica

(caudali) abbreviata ; capite duplo altiore quam longo; sterno

postice in forcipem, preoperculo inferne in aculeum simplicem

desinente. (St. Olfersii, Cuv. 1. ¢.) bag

ARG. HEMIGYMNUS, Cocco. Corpore angustiore, altitudine di- —

midium longitudinis (dempta pinna caudali) equante; parte —

postica (caudali) elongata; capitis longitudine altitudinem

aquante ; sterno postice in angulum simplex acutum, preoper-

culo inferne in aculeos duos desinente. (Arg. hemigymnus v.

Sternoptyx mediterranea, Cocco et Buon. Faun. Ital. cum fig.)

This extraordinary group of fishes offers many points of analogy

with Berycide. Bi eS,

Fam. Licup.

3. TemNopon vapiGo. (Lichia vadigo, Cuv. et Val. viii. 363.

t. 235.)

A single example was taken in, February 1846, but it appeared to

be quite unknown to the fishermen, and is therefore to be regarded

as a mere straggler in these seas.

If the genus Temnodon be retained, this fish has precisely the same

claims to a place in it as the common “Anchova’’ of Madeira (7. sal- _

tator, Cuy. et Val.).

Fam. ScomMBRID&.

4. ScomBER corias (Gm.), Cuv. et Val. viii. 39. t. 209. (The

Spanish Mackerel, Yarr. Brit. Fish. i. 131.)

In April 1844, the market in Funchal was plentifully supplied with —

these fishes for two or three successive days. They were said to have i

been brought from Porto Santo.

5. AuXIS vULGARIS, Cuyv. et Val. viii. 139. t. 216.

A single example, February 3, 1845. Not quite unknown to the 5

fishermen, but its occurrence said to be a mere chance.

6. PeLamys sarpa, Cuv. et Val. viii, 149. t. 217.

October 27, 1844: a single example, called “Sarda’’ by the fisher- a

men, to whom it is not absolutely unknown, though, like the last, of a

merely casual occurrence.

Fam. T#NIo1p&.

7. TRACHYPTERUS GRYPHURUS. Corpore elongato, macula poste-—

riore laterali spatio tertiam partem totius longitudinis equante —

a basi pinne caudalis amota; pinnarum radiis scabris; linea —

laterali inermi, postice supra marginem ventralem desinente.

D.5+166; P.10 v.11; V.1+5; A.0; Cr M. B. 6.

Intermediate between 7. fale and T. iris of Cuvier and Valen-—

ciennes’ ‘ Histoire,’ vol. x. pp. 333, 341 ; approaching, perhaps, near- —

est to the latter, but differmg in its deeper shape (D=5, instead —

— Loological Society. 51

of 9 or 10 i): and in the backwarder position of the third dark side-

spot. The ventral fins are short, only equalling one-twelfth of the

body without the caudal fin, and the four first produced rays of the

first dorsal are equal in length to the ventral fins. The lateral line

ends as in MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’ figure (t. 297) of T. iris,

‘but is quite unarmed. The ventral line is serrulate, and the whole

surface, particularly towards the ventral line, is finely shagreened or

deceit the granulations becoming stronger towards the ventral

ine, as in the same figure. ;

__ In shape and proportions it agrees better with 7. falz, but differs

in several important particulars from MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’

description of that fish.

The only individual examined of this beautiful and extraordinary

fish occurred in June 1845, and has been added by me to the collec-

_ tion of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. It was scarcely quite

dead when I first saw it, and was in the most perfect state of preserva-

tion. Another Trachypterus had occurred in June 1844, and was

probably the same species ; but the example was unfortunately thrown

away by the person to whom it had been mis-sent without my seeing

it. It was said to have been about three feet long.

The whole body is pure bright silver, appearing as if frosted from

the fine granulations of the surface. The fins are of a delicate scar-

let or vermilion, the lower point or angle of the caudal being tipped,

and the hinder end of the dorsal edged with black. On the sides are

three blackish oval or elliptic spots. This example was twenty-five

inches long, exclusive of the caudal fin, which resembles a bat’s or

griffin’s wing, and is erected in a fan-like manner; the lower lobe or

portion being suppressed or undeveloped, and only indicated by the

presence of five short spinules or abortive rays.

Fam. LABRIDz.

8. Laprus Larvatus. Flavus, capite humerisque griseo-nigres-

cente larvatis ; pinna dorsali antice caudaque utrinque infra

lineam lateralem rectiusculam unimaculatis ; corpore oblongo

elongato ; dentibus validis erebris, antice biseriatis; pinne

caudalis apicibus analisque ventraliumque margine ccruleo-

nigris.

D.17+13; A.3+1]; P.16; V.1+5; C.

Squamee lin. lat. 42—45.

In general appearance, shape, and the peculiar straightness of the

lateral line, this fine species much resembles Cossyphus Darwini, Jen. ;

but it is a true Ladbrus, with the dorsal and anal fins naked, and the

_ preopercle quite entire. Its nearest allies are therefore L. mixtus and

_ L.Scrofa; from which however, besides other characters, the nume-

_ rous strong teeth distinguish it. A single example only has occurred,

_ measuring seventeen inches and a quarter in length.

3v.4+ VI.

Qv.3+V.? B.M.5;

4°*

52 Zoological Society.

Fam. CHEIRONECTID.

Gen. Cuaunax, Lowe.

Gen. Char. Corpus subcubico-oblongum, suffabile, nudum, cute

presertim ad ilia ventremque flaccidissima laxa ; antice obesum,

postice abrupte attenuatum subcompressum. Caput osseum mag-

num subtetrahedrum, superne nuchaque latum planatum, utrin-

que s. ad genas declive; oculis lateralibus, spatio interoculart —

convexo ; ore rictuque amplissimis transversis plagio-plateis s.

depressis. Dentes intermaxillares vomerinique palatinique parvi —

scobinati. Nares simplices (nec pedicellate nec tubulose). Spi- ;

racula (foramina branchialia) postica s. ad ilia pone pinnarum

pectoralium axillas. Pinna dorsalis unica ; pectoralibus (pedi-

cellatis) carnosis ; ventralibus jugularibus spathulatis carnosis ;

analis postica; caudalis simplex truncata. Cirri, preter uni-

cum in fossula internasali, nulli.

9. CuauNnax pictus, Lowe in Trans. Zool. Soc. iii. part 4. p. 340.

t. ol, .

1+IV.

Di1t; Avds Ply: 4¢ C; 2411.

Species adhuc unica. Had. in mari Maderensi.

I have nothing to add to the full account of this curious fish above

referred to, except by way of correction to the second paragraph in

p- 344, which has been erroneously printed, and should stand thus:

“Whilst Cheironectes seems its most natural, Halieutea is its near-

est technical ally. Agreeing with Lophius in the wide transverse

mouth, and in the backward position of the breathing orifices in the

flanks, but with Cheironectes more in shape, in the granular or velyety

roughness of the skin, and in colour; it differs from both, and ap-

proaches Halieutea, in the absence of crests or cilia on the back, and

in the single dorsal fin. In these last two points, and in the rough-

ness of the skin, it agrees with Halieut@a, but differs in its Diodon-like

shape, and in the position of the breathing-holes considerably behind,

instead of above or before, the axils of the pectoral fins.”

Fam. ScorrLip.

Gen. PyaNnopon.

Gen. Char. Caput magnum compressum, oculis magnis, rostro-

brevissimo obtuso, rictu magno pone oculos longe diducto, mento

subtus ad symphysin cirro barbato. Dentes intermawillares uni-

sertati ; anteriores (5 v. 6 utrinque) validi tenues prelongi la-

maru subrecuret remoti distincti, extrorsum supra labia invi-

cem claudentes ; ossibus palati dentibus minoribus uniseriatis,

lingua biseriatis, armatis. Opercula simplicia plana. Corpus

elongatum compressum nudum? s. exsquameum; abdomine pune-

tis argenteis (ut in Scorr.o) seriatis. Linea lateralis recta

pinneque fere ut in ScorEno, pectoralibus brevioribus. 4

Zoological Society. 53

10. PHaznopon RINGENS. (Scopelus barbatus, nob. MS. olim.)

9+1.+I1X.

ma - Oda : . : : AREAS AEDES ?

1™ D. 16; 2° D.0; A..16; V.75.P,.9; ©. STL M.B.?

Closely allied to Scopelus, but with the head and teeth of Echio-

stoma, which it also resembles in its single cartilaginous beard or

_ barbule.

A single example occurred in May 1845, and was placed by me in

the collection of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, under the MS.

name of Scopelus barbatus. It was seven inches long, and the above

fin-formula is taken from it.

I have been favoured by the Duc de Leuchtenberg this winter with

the opportunity of examining a second individual, procured from a

fisherman. It agreed in all important details with the former, but

was only from five to six inches long, and had a much shorter barbule.

Both these examples were entirely devoid of scales, but from cer-

tain appearances I am inclined to attribute this defect to injury.

The colour is a uniform brownish or coal-black, except the silver

pits, which are disposed in rows along the throat and belly, exactly

as in Scopelus.

11. ScopeLus MADERENSIS (Suppl. in Trans. Zool. Soc. iii. part 1.

p- 14).

Appears to be distinguished from Sc. Humboldti by the forwarder

(medio-dorsal) position of its first dorsal fin, and by the long pec-

toral fins, which are contained from four to four and a half times in

the whole length, and reach to the end of the base of the first dorsal

fin. The anal fin has fourteen rays.

| Examples have occurred of two other forms or species, with shorter

pectoral fins, in one of which the anal fin has fourteen, and in the

other twenty-two rays. In the first of these, the length of the pec-

toral fin is one-sixth of the whole length of the fish (= +) in the

second it is one-fifth and four-sevenths of the same P=5 3 ae.

tather longer. But further investigations will be requisite before

these can be safely proposed as species. In general habit, colour,

and appearance, they agree with S. maderensis.

12. Meropras typuxops (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1843, vol. xi. p. 90).

Another example has occurred of this most curious and anomalous

little fish. It was brought to me in May 1849, from the same place,

Magdalena, at which I obtained the former. It is of much larger

size, measuring three inches and a half in length. I find nothing

_ whatever to correct in the account above referred to, except that the

‘maxillary teeth, instead of being “ uniseriate,”’ are in a scobinate or

brush-like band in both jaws; narrow in the upper, broader in the

_ lower jaw.

_ The acquisition of a second example, confirming the peculiar cha-

_ racters before ‘set down, is the more satisfactory, from the former

54 Zoological Society.

having been unfortunately destroyed by the wasting of the alcohol in

which it was kept.

Fam. Gapip2.

13. Paycis rurcatus, Flem. (not Bowdich) ; Yarr. Brit. Fish.

ed. 1. ii. 201. (Le Merlus barbu, Duham. Cuy. R. An. ed. 2.

li. p. 335.) .

A single example occurred May 8, 1845; not quite agreeing with

the figure in the ‘ British Fishes,’ yet certainly distinct from the com- _

mon ‘‘ Abrotea”’ of Madeira (P. mediterraneus, Lar.), of which, on —

the other hand, the P. furcatus of Bowdich (Excurs. p. 122. f. 28)

was unquestionably a mere accidentally fork-tailed individual.

Fam. EcHENEID.

14. Ecueneis virrata, Suppl. to Synops. in Trans. Zool. Soc.

vol. iii. part 1. p. 17, and Hist. Fish. Mad. p. 77. t. 11.

The acquisition of an adult example measuring 2 feet 64 inches in

length, has proved the fish above described to have been a young in-

dividual of HL. vittata, Riippell (Neu. Wirbel. p. 82). It is fortunate

that the happy coincidence of name necessitates no change or con-

fusion in rendering justice to my learned friend’s prior claim in the

establishment of this well-marked species. The lateral dark band or

vitta becomes indistinct in adult individuals. In the large full-grown

example above mentioned it had disappeared entirely.

Fam. Mura&Nnip2&.

Gen. LEpTroRHYNCHUS, nob.

Gen. Char, -Caput scolopaciforme, callo elongato distinctum ;

maxillis in rostrum tenue productis, utraque dentibus minutissi-

mis lime instar seabra ; rictu pone oculos diducto. Nares oculis

contigue approximate, simplices nec tentaculate. Oculi magni. —

Corpus nudum anguilliforme compressum, gracile, elongatum ;

postice longissime attenuato-productum filiforme, apice acuto. —

Aperturee branchiales sat magne, ante pinnas pectorales ob- —

lique deorsum fisse. Pinnee pectorales distincte lanceolata, sat —

magne ; pinna dorsali ad nucham paullo ante, anali ad gulam —

paullo post pinnas pectorales incipiente ; utraque usque ad api- —

cem caude continuata, membranacea, nec cute cooperta, sed ra- —

diis sat validis distinctis.

15. Lerroruyncuus Levcutenseres. (The Snipe-LEel.)

I am indebted for an opportunity of describing this interesting new

type of Murenide to the favour of His Imperial Highness the Due

de Leuchtenberg, to whom an example was brought by a fisherman —

in January last. It approaches the Anguillide by its well-developed —

pectoral fins. The prolonged beak-like muzzle also reminds one of

that of Leptognathus, Swainson. The unique individual examined, —

which measured 2 feet 9 inches in length, scarcely half an inch in |

height, and four lines in thickness, is included in the extensive col-_

Zoological Society. 55

lections formed with so much scientific ardour and discrimination by

_ His Imperial Highness the Duc de Leuchtenberg, during his late six

months’ residence in Madeira. _

Fam. BALIsTIDz.

16. Monacantuus AuriGA. Sispidus, cauda utrinque dense

hispido-villosa ; pallide olivaceo-murinus, sublutescens, fusco-

lutoso-maculatus v. interrupte longitudinaliter subfasciatus ;

fasciis luteis inconspicuis evanescentibus 3 v. 4 ab oculis antice

oblique radiantibus ; radiis 1 v. 2 anticis dorsalis prime ali-

quando in filamentum productis.

1™D).1; 24D.31; A. 30v.31; P.13 v.14; C.14+X.+1.

From eight to ten or eleven inches long. On each side, towards

the base of the caudal fin, is an oblong patch, like plush or velveteen,

of close thickset hairs or bristles. The occasional production of the

second or first two rays of the second dorsal fin 1s perhaps sexual.

Such examples have the muzzle rather longer and more produced be-

_ fore the eyes than those which have not the elongated dorsal fila-

ment. They are perhaps the M. filamentosus of M. Valenciennes,

to whose figure and description, however, in MM. Webb and Berthe-

lot’s ‘Canarian Fishes,’ I regret I have not access.

Several examples have occurred, chiefly in the autumn, during the

last five or six years, of this previously in Madeira unobserved or un-

recorded species.

| ; SQUALID.

Fam. ALOPECID.

17. Auopias vuLpEs, Buon. (The Fox Shark, Yarr. ii. 379.)

An example occurred this spring of unusual size, measuring eighteen

feet in length, of which the tail was ten feet. The skin was preserved

by the Duc de Leuchtenberg.

Fam. SPINACIDz.

18. CenrropHorus sauamosvs, Mill. und Henle, p. 90, with a

figure.

_ The Ramudo or Raimudo of Madeira, not unfrequently taken off

| the Dezertas at a depth of twelve or fourteen “‘linhas,” i. e. from 350

to 400 fathoms, belongs apparently to the above species, the habi-

tat of which was unknown to its describers, MM. Miiller and Henle.

I have only examined female examples, and the fishermen profess

_ themselves to be entirely unacquainted with the male, which I have

however formerly (March 10, 1838) once seen, though without oppor-

_ tunity for a close or accurate examination, and so perhaps without re-

marking any spine near the tips of the claspers or ventral fin-append-

| ages. The individuals examined were five or six feet long, but the

fish is said to grow to a much larger size.

_ Madeira, May 25, 1850.

56 Zoological Society.

December 10.—Prof. Owen, V.P., F.R.S., in the Chair.

DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL NEW SPECIES OF ENTOMOSTRACA. __

By W. Barrp, M.D., F.L.S. erc.

Genus Leripurvs, Leach.

1. Leripurus viripis, Baird.

Body of animal, including the flap of tail segment, about two inches

long and one broad. The carapace and whole body are of a fine green

colour, the carapace covering about two-thirds of the abdomen; the

edges of the notch in the posterior part of the carapace are strongly

toothed, and those of the inferior half of the carapace are very finely

serrated ; these teeth are of two sets, the one much larger than the

others; the larger teeth are of a green colour, tipped at the point

with dark brown; they are about eleven in number, and between each

there are two or three much smaller ones interspersed. The appen-

dages of the first pair of feet are very short and small, searcely ex-

tending beyond the edge of the carapace. The segments of the abdo-

men are each studded with a row of stout, slightly curved spines of a

green colour tipped at their edges with dark brown. The tail flap is

oval, keeled down the centre, the keel being beset with short sharp

spines, and the edges of the flap are finely serrated. The long setze

of the tail are nearly the length of the whole animal, and are covered

with short hairs.

Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. British Museum.

Genus Cypris, Miiller.

1. Cypris Donneti, Baird.

Carapace valves elongate oval. Anterior extremity narrower than

posterior, and considerably flatter ; posterior extremity rounded and

very convex; dorsal edge arched; ventral slightly reniform. The

surface of the valves is smooth and shining, of a brown colour, varie- —

gated with patches of a darker shade. The pediform antennze are

provided with about six bristles of considerable length.

Hab. Freshwater ponds, Coquimbo ; collected by — Donnet, Esq.,

Surgeon R.N. Brit. Mus.; from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq.

2. Cypris CUNEATA, Baird. 3

Carapace valves wedge-shaped, much broader at anterior than poste- —

rior extremity. Dorsal margin highly arched ; ventral deeply sinuated —

in the centre, giving the shell a reniform appearance. Valves ver

convex in the centre, and surrounded by a prominent margin, which —

at the anterior extremity, when highly magnified, is seen to be mi-—

nutely and finely serrated. The whole carapace is of a deep green

colour, and covered with fine hairs.

Hab. Duddingston Loch, near Edinburgh ; August 1850.

Genus Cannona, Baird.

1. CANDONA LACTEA, Baird. j

Carapace valves oblong ovate, convex. Dorsal margin “nearly

Zoological Society. 57

straight ; ventral slightly sinuated in the centre. Anterior and poste-

rior extremities of nearly equal size. Surface of valves smooth and

shining, and of a dull white colour.

This species resembles in shape the Candona reptans, but is only

| about one-fourth the size, and is of a uniform dull white colour.

_ Hab. Freshwater pond at Charing, Kent; collected by W. Harris,

Esq., to whom I am indebted for specimens. Regent’s Park (7. Ru-

| pert Jones, Esq.).

Genus Cytuere, Miiller.

1. Cyruere TARENTINA, Baird.

Carapace valves obovate. Anterior extremity much broader than

| posterior, and having a broad flat margin striated on the surface

| and toothed round the edge; posterior extremity pointed, having the

| same margin, but not so broad, and with much fewer teeth. The

valves are very convex in the middle, of a greyish colour, with a

white patch in the centre, and are slightly pitted all over. Dorsal

and ventral margins both somewhat prominent.

| Hab. Tarentum. In Mr. Williamson’s collection.

2. CyTHERE SETOSA, Baird.

Carapace valves oval. Anterior extremity narrower than poste-

rior. Dorsal margin arched ; ventral sinuated about its anterior third.

Surface of valves shining white, and studded all over with short stiff

hairs.

Hab. Moreton Bay, Australia, and Tenedos. Mr. Williamson’s

collection.

Genus CyTHEREIS, Jones.

1. CyTHEREIS AUSTRALIS, Baird. -

Carapace valves somewhat quadrilateral. Dorsal and ventral mar-

gins nearly straight. Anterior extremity broader than posterior, and

finely toothed ; teeth numerous. Posterior extremity emarginate on

upper or dorsal edge, and toothed on ventral; teeth tew, and stronger

than those on anterior margin. Surface of valves roughened with

small asperities, and having one tubercle on about the anterior third

of its length. A raised margin encircles the whole valve.

Approaches very near Cypridina hieroglyphica of Bosquet, Ento-

most. Maestricht, t. 3. f. 4.

Hab, Moreton Bay, Australia. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

2. CYTHEREIS RUNCINATA, Baird.

Carapace valves ovate, flat. Anterior extremity broader than poste-

rior, and rounded ; posterior extremity emarginate on upper or dor-

‘sal margin. Surface of valves very flat and rugose ; a flat projecting

border surrounds each valve, which is serrulated at anterior extremity

and toothed on posterior ; a high raised sharp ridge runs across the

centre of the valve somewhat in a diagonal direction, which is serru-

_ lated along its whole length, and a smaller similar ridge is seen near

_ the ventral margin.

_ Hab. Tenedos. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

58 Zoological Society.

3. CyTHEREIS FISTULOSA, Baird.

Carapace valves nearly quadrilateral, elongate. Anterior extremity

a little more rounded than posterior, and armed with seven or eight

small teeth ; posterior extremity armed with five or six larger teeth.

Dorsal and ventral margins nearly straight. Surface of valves gra-

nular and ornamented by four elevated straight ridges, which are per-

forated near their margins with small round holes.

Hab. Manilla. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

4. CyTHEREIS PRAVA, Baird.

Carapace valves subquadrangular. Anterior extremity considerably

broader than posterior, rounded, smooth round the edge, and having

a broad flat margin beset on inner edge with small round tubercles ;

posterior extremity emarginate, and furnished on inferior half with

several short teeth. Valves extremely gibbous in centre, and the

surface very rough, wrinkled, and tubercled. 4

Hab. Tenedos. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

5. CYTHEREIS DEFORMrIs, Baird.

Carapace valves ovate, short and gibbous; the two extremities of

nearly the same size. Dorsal and ventral margins nearly straight.

Surface of valves very coarsely granulated and cabereleill roughly

ridged, but the ridges not perforated as in the preceding species.

Hab. Manilla. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

6. CyTHEREIS SENTICOSA, Baird.

Carapace valves flat, ovate. Anterior extremity broader than poste-

rior, and rounded. Dorsal margin sloping towards posterior extre-

mity; ventral nearly straight. The surface of the valves is very rough,

wrinkled, and beset all over, but especially near the margins, with

strong spinous laciniee.

Hab. Tenedos. Mr. Williamson’s collection.

Genus Cypripina, M.-Edwards.

1. CypripINA ZEALANICA, Baird.

Carapace valves of an oval form, somewhat flattened, but convex

in the centre and striated; the strize are numerous, close-set, and

of a waved appearance. Surface of valves covered with minute punc-

tations, which probably give origin in the fresh state to short hairs, —

though they are not visible in the dried specimens. The anterior ex-

tremity is slightly narrower than posterior. The whole carapace is of

a uniform white colour. Natural size one-fourth of an inch long and —

one-fifth of an inch broad. ;

Hab. New Zealand. Two specimens were sent to the British Mu-—

seum by the Rev. R. Taylor, of Waimati in New Zealand, along with —

a collection of marine and freshwater shells, but without any history —

attached to them.

2. CyPRIDINA INTERPUNCTA, Baird.

Carapace valves oval. Anterior extremity narrower than posterior ;

Royal Institution. 59

the notch near anterior extremity very wide, and its anterior margin

blunt and projecting in form of a beak straight upwards ; posterior

extremity obtusely rounded, and terminating near the ventral margin

in a short blunt point. Dorsal and ventral margins nearly straight

| or slightly arched. The surface of the valves is of a dull white colour,

| and is densely and rather coarsely covered with impressed punctations.

| The carapace is convex, but much less so than in C. M‘Andrei, and

is of a much more oval shape.

| Hab. Near the Isle of Skye; collected by R. M‘Andrew, Esq.,

August 1850.

3. Cypripina Marta, Baird.

Carapace valves elongate oval, of exactly the same size at each ex-

tremity ; extremities rounded. Dorsal and ventral margins nearly

plane, or very slightly arched. Surface of valves of a white shining

colour, mottled with a few spots of a dull white, and covered with

minute superficial punctations. Notch or ventral margin of anterior

extremity blunt, leaving the upper and lower margins of the notch

very obtuse.

_ Approaches Asterope elliptica of Philippi somewhat in figure of

carapace, but is much more elongate, and is one-third larger.

Hab. Off the Isle of Skye; collected by R. M‘Andrew, Esq., Au-

gust 1850.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

- Friday, May 7, 1852.—W. R. Grove, Esq., M.A., F.R.S.,

Vice-President, in the Chair.

On the Supposed Analogy between the Life of an Individual and the

Duration of a Species. By Prof. En>warp Forsss, F.R.S.

In Natural History and Geology, a clear understanding of the rela-

tions of Individual, Species, and Genus to Geological Time and

Geographical Space is of essential importance. Much, however, of

what is generally received concerning these relations will scarcely

bear close investigation. Among questionable, though popular notions

9 this subject, the Lecturer would place the belief that the term

of duration of a species is comparable and of the same kind with that

of the life of an individual.

The successive phases in the complete existence of an individual

are, Birth, Youth, Maturity, Decline, and Decay terminating in Death.

Whether we regard an individual as a single self-existing organism

however produced, or extend it to the series of organisms, combined

or independent, all being products of a single ovum, its term of

duration can be abbreviated, but not prolonged indefinitely, nor can

the several phases of its existence be repeated. Conditions may

arrest or hasten maturity, or prematurely destroy, but cannot, how-

_ever favourable, reproduce a second maturity after decline has com-

- menced.

Now, it is believed by many that a species (using the term in the

sense of an assemblage of individuals presenting certain constant

er ate CU ee ke a a ec

b % PRE eee he

60 Royal Institution.

characters in common, and derived from one original protoplast or

stock) passes through a series of phases comparable with those which

succeed each other in definite order during the life of a single indivi- |

dual,—that it has its epochs of origin, of maturity, of decline and of

extinction, dependent upon the laws of an inherent vitality. .

__If this notion be true, the theory of Geology will be proportionately

affected ; since in this case the duration of species must be regarded

as only influenced, not determined, by the physical conditions among

which they are placed ;—and, thus, species should characterize epochs

or sections of time, independent of all physical changes and modify-

ing influences short of those which are absolutely destructive. Now,

geological epochs, as at present understood, are defined by peculiar

assemblages of species, and the amount of change in the organic

contents of proximate formations or strata is usually accepted as a

measure of the extent of the disturbances that affect them. Yet this

latter inference, involving as it does the supposition that the spread

and continuity of species in time are dependent upon physical influ-

ences, is adverse to the notion of a Life of a Species as stated above.

If we seek for the origin of this notion, we shall find that it has

two sources; the one direct, the other indirect. It is not an induc-

tion, nor pretended to be, but an hypothesis assumed through appa-.

rent analogies. Its first and principal source may be discovered in

the comparison suggested by certain necessary phases in the duration

of the species with others in the life of an individual, such as each has

its commencement, and each has its cessation. Geological research

has made known to us, that prior to certain points in time certain

species did not exist, and that after certain points in time certain

species ceased to be. ‘The commencement of a species has been com-

pared with Birth, the extinction with Death. Again, many-species

can be shown to have had an epoch of maximum development in

time. This has been compared with the maturity of the individual.

Between the birth of an individual and the commencement of a

species in the first appearance of its protoplast, the analogy is more

apparent than real. We know how the former phenomenon takes

place, but we have no knowledge of the latter. , 5

Between the maturity of the individual and the maximum develop. i

ment of a species there is no true analogy, since the latter can casi

be proved to be entirely dependent on the combination of favouring

conditions, and during the period of duration of a species there may

be two or more epochs of great or even equal development, and two

or more epochs of decline alternating with epochs of prosperity. The

epoch of maximum of a species may also ovcur during any period in

its history short of the first stage. Geological and geographical re-

search equally show that the flourishing of a species is invariably

coincident with the presence of favouring and its decline with that of

unfavourable conditions. Hence there is no analogy between the

single and definite phase of maturity of the individual, and the varia-

ble >" sometimes often-repeated epochs of luxuriant development in

ation of a species. oe ae

ren the death of the individual and the extinction of a species

Royal Institution. 61

there is an analogy only when the former event occurs prematurely

through the influence of destroying conditions. But in their absence,

an individual after its period of vitality has been completed must

necessarily die ; whereas we have no right to assume that such would

be the fate of a species so circumstanced, since in every case where

we can either geologically or geographically trace a species to its

local or general extinction, we can connect the fact of its disappearance

with the evidences of physical changes.

» [The Lecturer illustrated these points by diagrams and special de-

‘monstrations, selecting for explanation two local cases, the one marine

and the other freshwater; the former taken from the geological

‘phzenomena of Culver Cliff and the neighbouring bays in the Isle of

Wight, of which a beautiful and original model had been communi-

_eated by Capt. Ibbetson for the purpose, and the latter from his own

recent researches (unpublished) on the succession of organic remains

‘in the Purbeck strata of Dorsetshire, conducted as part of the labours

of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. ]

The second and more indirect source of the notion of the life of a

_ species may be traced in apparent analogies, half-perceived, between

the centralization of generic groups in time and space, and the limited

duration of both species and individual. But in this case ideas are

compared which are altogether and essentially distinct.

The nature of this distinction is expressed among the following

| propositions, in which an attempt is made to contrast the respective

relations of individual, species, and genus to Geological time and

_ Geographical space.

| <A. The individual, whether we restrict the word to the single

organism, however produced—or extend it to the series of organisms,

combined or independent, all being products of a single ovum—has

} but a limited and unique existence in time, which, short as it must be,

can be shortened by the influence of unfavourable conditions, but

_which no combination of favouring circumstances can prolong beyond

the term of life allotted to it according to its kind.

B. The species, whether we restrict the term to assemblages of

individuals resembling each other in certain constant characters, or

‘hold, in addition, the hypothesis (warranted, as might be shown from

experience and experiment), that between all the members of such an

assemblage there is the relationship of family, the relationship of

| descent, and consequently that they are all the descendants of one

first stock or protoplast—(how that protoplast appeared is not part

of the question)—is like the individual in-so much as its relations to

time are unique: once destroyed, it never reappears.

But (and this is the point of the view now advocated), unlike the

_ mdividual, it is continued indefinitely so long as conditions favourable

| to its diffusion and prosperity—that is to say, so long as conditions

_ favourable to the production and sustenance of the individual repre-

_ sentatives or elements are continued coincidently with its existence.

_ {No amount of favouring conditions can recall a species once

destroyed.—On this conclusion, founded upon all facts hitherto

62 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

observed in paleontology, the value of the application of Natural

History to Geological science mainly depends. |

C. The genus, in whatever degree of extension we use the term,

so long as we apply it to an assemblage of species intimately related —

to each other in common and important features of organization,

appears distinctly to exhibit the phenomenon of centralization in

both ¢ime and space, though with a difference, since it would seem

that each genus has a unique centre or area of development in time,

but in geographical space may present more centres than one.

a. An individual is a positive reality.

b. A species is a relative reality.

c. A genus is an abstraction—an idea—but an idea impressed on

nature, and not arbitrarily dependent on man’s conceptions.

a. An individual is one.

B. A species consists of many resulting from one.

y- A genus consists of more or fewer of these manies resulting Acta

one linked together not by a relationship of descent but by an afinity

dependent on a divine idea.

And, lastly,

a. An individual cannot manifest itself in two places at once ; it

has no extension in space; its relations are entirely with ¢ime, but

the possible duration of its existence is regulated by the law of its

inherent vitality.

6. A species has correspondent and exactly analogous relations with —

time and space,—the duration of its existence as well as its geogra-

phical extension are entirely regulated by physical conditions. ;

e. A genus has dissimilar or only partially comparable relations —

with time and space, and occupies areas in both having only partial

relations to physical conditions.

The investigation of these distinctions and relations forms the subject —

of a great chapter in the Philosophy of Natural History. That

Philosophy contemplates the laws that regulate the manifestation of

life exhibited in organized nature, and their dependence upon and

connection with the inorganic world and its phenomena. None

teaches more emphatically the difficulties with which man’s mind

must contend when attempting to comprehend the wisdom embodied —

in the universe, and none holds out a more cheering prospect of future

discovery in fresh and unexpected fields of delightful research. 4

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

Thursday, 8th April, 1852.—Dr. Seller, President, in the Chair.

Dr. Murchison exhibited some curious specimens of Extract of Tea,

prepared in the form of lozenges by the Chinese. These lozenges”

were of various forms, and had impressed upon them mottos in

Chinese characters, and the figures of different insects, musical in-_

struments, and other objects. They had been brought from Pekin

in the year 1812, and were stated to be used by the Chinese whe

er rep pir

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 63

travelling ; when introduced into the mouth, they were said to dissolve

slowly, preventing thirst, and proving very refreshing. Though it

was forty years since they had been brought from China, they still

ained a very perceptible flavour of tea.

~The following papers were read :—

. “On the Economic Uses of Chicory (Cichorium Intybus, L.),”

Mr. James Fulton. The author, after giving a general account

‘the history of the Chicory plant, and alluding to the antiquity

f its cultivation, proceeded to point out the wide range of ceconomic

ses to which it might be made applicable, and urged the importance

extending its cultivation. Its extensive use as an ingredient in

coffee is well known. As a forage plant, it forms some of the best

eadows in the south of France and Lombardy, succeeding in all

seasons; while its use as a salad is likewise extensive. Since 1835,

ge quantities of the root have been imported from the continent ;

is now cultivated in several parts of England. It had occurred to

Mr. Fulton that the bitter of the chicory root might be employed as

‘a substitute for hops, and he had accordingly used it with success, and

und that the root not only communicates a pleasant bitter, but that

; is likewise in some measure a substitute for the malt by possessing a

large amount of saccharine matter.

2. “Analysis of the Sabal umbraculifera, as grown in the Botanic

Garden,” by Mr. Allan B. Dick. The following is Mr. Dick’s

| analysis :—

Organic matter. Inorganic.

alae ea gl eR ee ger 91°90 8°10

Sa pa I ee Sr 95°00 5°00

ie fo ol oer es 37°00 —

BOIC BGI ge i hy mes 11°15

ede ce ect. Ike oe

Be ee ce ve es 8°65

ea nk eet ties 2°50

Chloride of Sodium .......... 8°45

BMOOWROVIC BOW 6. ge os xs us 1°70

rete Gt TT ee ye ly 1°30

REPRO ee a riage 1°40

Op Sinpeiere a tae coat teal capi. 4°75

Aree Med oe eee 0°99

oS ta A 5°95

99°74

3. “On Plants found in the neighbourhood of Ripon, Yorkshire,

n March 1852,” by Mr. James B. Davies.

4. “Report on the state of Vegetation in the Edinburgh Botanic

arden, from 10th March till 8th April 1852, as compared with the

ears 1850 and 1851,” by Mr. M‘Nab.

' 5. “Notice of Plants found in flower at Bowhill, Selkirkshire, on

| 23rd March,” by Dr. Balfour.

64 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

May 13th, 1852.—Dr. Seller, President, in the Chair. — AP |

Dr. Balfour read a letter from Dr. Dickie, mentioning that he hac},

added two mosses to the Flora of Ireland, viz. Polytrichum hercynt-)

cum and Hypnum rufescens. oe ra

ning following papers were read :— meeps

. “Notice of Chinese Vegetable Products transmitted for the

erie of Economic Botany,” by Mr. Robert Fortune,

2. * On Plants found i in Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Cumibe:

land, in April 1852,” by Mr. James B. Davies.

Mr. Davies gave a complete list of the plants observed by him,

with their dates of flowering.

Professor Balfour exhibited a young plant of Victoria Regia, f

one of the hothouses in the Botanic Garden, showing the ee

difference in the form of the leaves produced in its early stage of

growth from those afterwards formed. The plant showed the first-

formed linear leaf, followed by the sagittate form, after which, lea ve;

of a more or less rounded-cordate form are produced. A

June 10, 1852.—Dr. Seller, President, in the Chair. inl

vag following papers were read :—

» Ona supposed new species of Eleocharis,” by Charles ©.

Bien M.A. This paper will be found in the Present Nenohe

of ad ‘ Annals.’ iw

2. “Analysis of the Fluid (known as Gram Oil) from the os

of Gram (Cicer arietinum),” by Thomas Anderson, Esq. This paper’

consisted of an analysis made by Mr. Russell Aldridge :— On eva-

poration it yielded a black residue which would not dissolve in cold

water, buf did so readily when heated; and on cooling it beaming

turbid, showing the presence of oxidizable extractive. To a smal

portion of the fluid chloride of calcium was added, and a precipitate of

oxalate of lime obtained, showing the presence of oxalic acid ; it was

then filtered, and to a portion of the filtrate potash was added, ni

precipitate was obtained, therefore no tartaric acid. To the remainder

of the filtrate ammonia was added, which gave no precipitate phe

cold; but upon boiling it a slight one was obtained, showing a tra

of citric acid. The remainder of the original solution was evapore

down, and the residue taken up with alcohol, a small quantity «

gummy matter separated ; on evaporatimg the alcoholic ftnidy

left some sugar; the residue was then placed in a platinum eapsule

and subjected to red heat, the ashes (which were of a brown colour),

were then taken up with water, and a few drops of hydrochlorie aci

added, which gave to the fluid a yellow colour, showing the presence |

of oxide of iron. It was then filtered, and carbonate of ammonia)

added, which gave a distinct trace of lime, again filtered, and to the

filtrate phosphate of soda added, which gave a trace of magnes

Potash and soda were present in minute quantities.

«The results thus are :—

“Oxalic acid (copious), citric acid (traces), oxidizable extractive

on sugar, lime, magnesia, iron, potash and soda.”’

3. “ Notice relative to the Transmission of Foreign Seeds in Soil,”

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 65

by Mr. M‘Nab. The author stated that he had been long in the be-

lief that the transmission of fruits and seeds in a fit state for germi-

“mation would be better accomplished by being packed in soil than by

any other known method. This experiment was fully tested by him-

self during 1834, when he brought over the seeds of many of the

rarer American oaks and other trees in boxes filled with soil, while

portions of the same kinds of seeds packed, both in brown paper and

cloth bags, were in many instances totally useless.

} 4. “On a variety of the Orchis mascula (O. speciosa, Host), found

j in the county of Wicklow,’ by Mr. D. Moore of Glasnevin. This

| communication consisted of parts of two letters from Mr. Moore ad-

| dressed to Mr. N‘Nab :—

| | “27th May 1852.—I have just been looking over a proof figure

| of Orchis speciosa, Host. It was discovered by me and another per-

| son last year in the county of Wicklow, where I went again a few

| days ago and found two more plants. Koch makes it a variety of

. mascula, which it probably ought not to be kept separate from ;

| the difference being more in appearance than in well-defined cha-

| racters. It is however a noble-looking plant, growing nearly 18 inches

|) ip we 7?

tg 28th May 1852.—I herewith send you one of the smallest spe-

t cimens of the Orchis speciosa, Host, which I will thank you to show

to Dr. Balfour. Some of the flowers in the rachis are imperfect,

§} wanting the labellum. The specimen figured had also imperfect

i} flowers, which would appear to be characteristic of the species. I

#} confess I cannot find good characters to distinguish it from O. mas-

ewla, though it differs so widely in general appearance.”

| In regard to the Orchis, Dr. Balfour read the following communi-

eation from Mr. Babington :—

_| “TI see that Mr. Moore has sent you a paper upon the supposed

) Orchis speciosa of the county of Wicklow, and that it is to be brought

) before the Botanical Society on Thursday next. He has been so

i) good as to send me a specimen of the plant, and Ihave informed him

i) very recently that I could not concur in the opinion that it is the

#) O. speciosa of Host. I believe it to be nothing more than a very

‘haxuriant state of the O. mascula. A few days since I found two spe-

ij cimens, exactly corresponding with the Wicklow plant, in the wooded

)part of the Devil’s Ditch, in this county of Cambridge. They pos-

fi} sess the remarkable size of Mr. Moore’s plant, and the rather acuter

)segments of the perianth, such as he finds on his specimens. The

true O. speciosa (which is itself only a variety of the O. mascula)

“has very much more attenuated segments of perianth. It is figured

‘by Reichenbach in his recent elaborate volume upon the Orchidaceze

(@ormin ‘Icon. Fl. Germ.’ vols. xiii. & xiv.), and I have lately re-

ceived a plant which is much more like it than is the Irish plant, from

PMr. Keys of Plymouth. Our English O. mascula is noted by conti-

mental botanists as an obtuse-petaled form of the species. Mr. Moore’s

plant is far nearer to the continental type of the species.

_ 5. On Plants observed in Westmoreland and Cumberland in May

1352,” by Mr. James B. Davies.

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 5

bik

66 Linnean Society.

LINNZ AN SOCIETY, —

February 4, 1851.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

The President exhibited specimens of stems of Kingia australis,

R. Br., and Xanthorrhea arborea, R. Br., together with drawings of

the former, illustrative of its structure, especially of the siliceous

covering of the vascular fasciculi of the persistent bases of the

leaves ; and in both genera, the means by which the stems are pro-.

tected from the scorching fires of the natives.

Read the following ‘‘ Notice concerning Linneus’s Iter Dale-

carlicum,” extracted from a letter of Mr. Charles Hartman, M.A.,

to the Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm,

in which he gives a report of his examination of the collections and

manuscripts of Linnzus in the possession of the Linnean Society of

London ; which letter is printed in the Academy’s Proceedings at

the Meeting on the 12th September 1849 (being No. 7 of the 6th

year), p. 185. Translated from the Swedish by N. Wallich, M. et

Phil-D., V.P.L.S. &c. ee eae

After mentioning the library of Linneus, Mr. Hartman proceeds

as follows :— ee

But what especially interested me was to find a manuscript of

Linneus, consisting of 176 folio pages, containing a complete ac-

count of his journey in Dalecarlia in 1734, arranged according to

the plan adopted in his other published Travels, and enriched with

remarks on divers subjects, marginal notes of contents, such as

‘Economica, Geographica, Botanica,’ &c. After the proper diary

follows a small appendix of the names, and an extremely short but

graphic character of clergymen and other persons in the parishes

of the Dalas (valleys, Dalecarlia) which were visited; a faithful

chart executed by the geographer to the party; and lastly, a seem-

ingly jocose warrant, issued to their mineralogist, in the handwriting

and under the sign manual of Linnzus himself. As this journey

has never, as far as I know, been published, or even noticed, it

may not be improper to give here a transcript of its title and pre-

face, which will best serve to give an idea of the contents of th

MSS., and the plan and object of the journey itself. The writing:

as well as the whole report being in Swedish, in the not always

very legible handwriting of Linnzus, I have had some difficulty in

deciphering it, and have been obliged to omit some words in two

places. rail

The title is as follows :—Caroli Linnaei, P.S.R. Iter Dalekarlicean

jussu & impensis Viri Generosissimi et Excellentissimi Dni Nicolai

Reuterholmi Gubernatoris Provincie Dalekarlice institutum per Dale-

karlicam Suecie provinciam quoad orientalem, Alpinam & occidentalem

partem, observationibus constans Geographicis, Physicis, Mineralogicis,

Botanicis, Zoologicis, Domesticis & Oeconomicis quotidie collectis a

mensis Julii die 3 ad Augusti d. 17 Anni 1734. |

a a iON Mase

aes Biabes os Bind Speier ees

Linnean Society. 67

_ The first page contains the following preface, relating to the ex-

| tent of the journey, &c.

a *hew.

_ ‘Having been charged, last summer, by Governor Reuterholm to

make a tour through the Eastern and Western Dalas (valleys) in his

_ province, I proceeded to Fahlun, where I enjoyed that distinguished

: gentleman’s hospitality, and obtained a generous stipend for the

journey. As soon as the time and objects of the journey became

known, I was visited by some of the cleverest and most zealous

Students of the Academy of Upsala, who were anxious to accom-

_ pany me at their own expense. I very thankfully accepted of their

prompt offer; and in order that everything might be properly regu-

lated, my companions formed themselves into a Society, with laws

and statutes to be kept conscientiously : e. g.*

} ©. Linnaeus ........ Smoland..... Praeses publice et privatim.

|} Reinh. Nasman...... Dalekarl..... Geographus...... Pastor.

Carl Clenberg ...... Helsing. .... PRYSICHB os. «3 Secretarius.

Ingel. Fahlstedt ....Dalekarl.....Mineralogus ....MasteroftheHorse.

Claud Sohlberg...... Dalekarl.....Botanicus ...... Quartermaster.

| Eric Emporelius ....Dalek....... Zoologist........ Huntingmaster.

1 Petr. Hedenblod .... Dalek....... Domesticus,,.... Aide-de-Camp.

| Beniam. Sandel...... Americ. ..,.Oeconomius .... Accountant.

| *‘Thus organized, the journey commenced on the 8rd July, 1734,

from Fahlun through the Eastern Dalar, the hills, the Western Dalar,

through Biursas, Lexan, Rattvik, Ore, Orsa, Mora, Elfdahl, Serna,

Fiell, Réris in Norway, Lima, Malung, Nas, Floda, Gagne, Ahl,

ending at Fahlun the 17th Aug. ej. anni. Observations were made

} daily, as far as possible, according to the subjects assigned to each

of our party, by which the duties of the undertaking were facilitated.

Thence it may be seen that much remains still unknown in the country

jand......; that each province possesses its advantages and how

they may be developed ; that it would be of incredible advantage to

Sweden were all her provinces similarly examined, and that one pro-

vince might thus be assisted by another. Should the reader approve,

thanks are due to him who originated the journey, without whose

aid it could not have been undertaken, and who deserves to be looked

to as a pattern to all, who love, pursue and patronize studies, who

excels in reasoning powers, and who deserve to..... To the

‘Great God, who has ordered this world in such an indescribable

'‘Thanner, and has created and preserved us to be its . . . . and Spec-

tatores, be praise and thanks for our having performed our journey

im safety.

et “Dabam Fahlu Kongsgird “ Cary Linnaeus.”

ok 1734 Aug. 25.”

- * Consult Egenhdndiga Anteckningar af Carl Linnaeus (C. L.’s own

Annotations), p. 107.

rt | BK

68 Linnean Society.

_ The following list of acquaintances made during the journey, with

remarks on each, is placed at the end of the journal :—

Biursds .... Pastor .... Lundvall, Mr. Joh....... juvenis, fidus.

Rattvik....Dean ....Humblaeus, Mag. Olaus, , sublimis, 60genarius.

Accountant.Olof Laresu...... ...... Simplex, Mineralogus.

Orsa ...... Pastor ....Schedevin, Mag. Dan. ..doctus, oeconom. ~~

Commander Olof Laresu............ simpl., bonus. =

Mora...... Dean ....Emporelius, Mag. Joh. .. 70genarius, =

Adjunctus . Wistblad, Mag. Tob. .... sibi sapiens. es

Elfdahl .... Pastor ..., Nasman, Eric .......... hospitalis. " : rs

Serna, . +++. Pastor .... Floraeus, Mr. Gabr. .... adustus. ia

Hii }. . Director .. Bredahl, Mr. Land. ,,,, 4 bumanissimus —

Norveg. omnium.

Hyttskrifv . Irrgens, Mr. Hennig..... bonus & astutus.

Overstigare.Bortgrevin, Mr. Leonh. ,, J bonus animus ger-

manic. ai

Lima...... Pastor ‘>. Gezeliag.. 202; 22 oe, phlegmat. 2 “

curiosiss. pauperri-_

Transtrand. Comminist. Dale, Mr. Lars .:...... { mus, abjectiss. doc-

tissimus. amar: |

Malung.... Pastor .... Harkman, M. Vindikt .. phlegmat. cae bo |

Was ieee Pastor .... Dicander, M. Eric ...... doctus, sapiens. 4

Floda...... Pastor .... Rabenius, Mr. Joh....... humaniss., sapiens.

Gagne ...,Comminist. Biérkman, Mr. Sven .... bonus vir, non hospitalis,

Ae. Pastor .... Lundberg, Mr. Joh. .... simplex.

Lastly is added a copy of the warrant alluded to above, which is

furnished with the seal and signature of Linneus:— “aba

‘‘ We preses and membra of the Reuterholmian Travelling Society

through Dalecarlia make known by this letter patent to all con-—

cerned, that we have nominated and appointed our master of the

horse, Mr. Ingel. Fahlstedt, at his own request and on account of his”

science, as our ordinary Membrum Mineralogicum, and as such to”

be as industrious as is in his power, to attend to his branch of re-

searches as regards the province of Dalecarlia for the good of the

public and the honour of our country, and to consider himself re-

sponsible to the Society for the due execution thereof. Done at

Fahlun Kongsg. 1734 July 2. 7

Cari

LiInnAEUs.

(Sigill.) C. CLenBEre.

Secret. Societ.

Warrant for Ingel. Fahlstedt,

Mineralogist. 5]

(L.S.) The cost of Charta Sigillata 1 Rtdr. Speue paid into the

Treasury. 4

Ben. SANDEL,

Account.”

Miscellaneous. 69

MISCELLANEOUS.

Ornithological Notes. By Joun ALEXANDER Situ, M.D.*

1. Of the Wooncock (Scolopax rusticola, Linn.), breeding in

_ Perthshire and Morayshire, §c.—It is scarcely necessary for me to

_ remind the Society that the Woodcock (Scolopaz rusticola) is one of

_ our regular winter visitors, arriving in Britain from the north gene-

_ tally in the beginning of October, and leaving again on its northern

_ journey in March and April. And although this is beyond all doubt

_ the general rule, still a good many instances have occurred from time

_ to time of their remaining to breed both in England and Scotland ;

and these have apparently become more frequent of later years, or

i eer from the increased number of observers they are now more

_ carefully watched than formerly. But although we have notes of the

occurrence of their nests at various times in Scotland, still the young

birds have been very rarely seen by our Edinburgh naturalists, so

_ that I have thought it of sufficient interest to call your attention to

_ the subject by exhibiting this couple of young Woodcocks which were

_ taken in the neighbourhood of Dunkeld in the end of the month of

April last. Judging from their appearance they seem to be about a

month, or perhaps six weeks old; and they closely resemble the old

bird in their mottled plumage: the first primary however has the

outer web edged with a very light-coloured brownish stripe, while the

others have the triangularly shaped brown spots like the adult ; the

bill is rather more than 13 inch in length, and the whole bird about

9 inches ; whereas the bill of the adult is nearly 3 inches in length,

and the whole bird about 14 inches. These birds I have been in-

formed were come upon, when the whole family party were busily

engaged catering for food ; and on their being disturbed, the parent

birds, strange to say, attempted to fly off with their young in their

claws, dropping some of them however in their flight, when the

young birds were caught by two men who witnessed the whole pro-

ceedings: three young birds were caught, but the fourth was believed

_to have been safely carried off ; they were kept alive for a short time,

but they soon pined away and died. The Woodcock has been ob-

served to breed at various times in this district around Dunkeld ; it is

however by no means a common occurrence. Mr. Muirhead, Queen

Street, tells me, that when in Morayshire last summer, about the

‘18th or 19th of June, one of the Earl of Moray’s gamekeepers, at

‘Darnaway Castle, assured him that some of the Woodcocks occa-

sionally remained and bred in the neighbourhood, and on Mr. M.

(who had never heard anything of the kind before) hinting a doubt

on the subject, the keeper offered to show him one of their nests, and

‘remarked that what was far more extraordinary was the fact, that

| occasionally on coming near a Woodcock’s nest, he had seen the old

Aird rise from it carrying one of her young brood in her claws. And

‘aecordingly on going with him to a piece of dry grassy ground, co-

| * Read before the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, April 7, 1852,

70 Miscellaneous.

vered with copse wood, where there was a Woodcock’s nest with

young birds, and carefully approaching the place, they heard the old

bird, as they supposed, give a peculiar cry or “squeel,” and saw it

immediately fly up with a young bird in its claws ; and Mr. Muirhead

declares he could not have made any mistake, as the bird was not

above ten or twelve yards from him, so that he saw it most distinctly ;

they then went forward to the nest, and found another fledged young

bird still remaining squatted in it, which he was prevented handling,

by the keeper informing him that if he did so, it would in all proba-

bility be removed, and not brought back again to the nest. He was

told that there were generally three or four eggs in the nest. Ihave

the pleasure of also exhibiting an egg of this bird which was taken

from a nest near Durris, Kincardineshire ; it is about 1 inch 10 lines

in leagth, and 1 inch 4 lines in breadth ; of a yellowish white, blotched

and spotted with gray and various shades of yellowish brown ; the spots

being more frequent towards the larger end. We have in these in-

stances another detailed account of the curious and extraordinary cir-

cumstance of birds attempting to rescue their young from anticipated

danger, and in the Woodcock these are by no means to be considered

as solitary examples ; some three instances of a similar kind oceurring

in this country being quoted in Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds’ (vol. ii.

p- 591), from that valuable storehouse of facts in zoology, the ‘ Ma-

gazine of Natural History.’ Cases of this kind however seem to be

so very strange, that we are inclined to give various explanations be-

fore we can persuade ourselves of their possibility, and to one of these I

may in passing allude: for example, a bird-fancier told me he had seen ~

instances where the presence of an addled or unhatched egg in the —

nest of some of his breeding birds, had given rise to the appearance —

at least of the old bird carrying a young one out of its nest. The

bird was sitting very closely on her recently hatched young, the —

addled egg being accidentally broken, its contents spreading over

the breast of the mother as well as over one of the young birds; and —

on her rapidly leaving the nest to feed, the young one, haying

become adherent to its mother’s breast, was carried out with it ; the

heat of the mother while in the nest helping to dry the albumen, —

and in this way glue the two together, and in some instances so

closely, that he had been obliged to seize the mother for the purpose

of removing the young one, while in other instances it dropped off —

shortly after the bird left the nest: and this he had seen to occur

both in pigeons and canaries. I am not aware how far a similar

cause may be considered as explaining any of the instances described ©

as occurring among birds in their state of native freedom; although —

in many cases I should suppose it impossible to be perfectly certain —

how the young bird was carried by the mother, whether accidentally

or by manifest design. And I suspect it will require more extended —

and carefully minute observation before we shall be quite able to ex-_

plain them ; still in the several instances noticed by Yarrell, as well

as in those to which I have alluded, there seems no reason for doubt-—

ing the fact of the young bird being actually carried off in the claws”

of the anxious parent bird. From these young Woodcocks being

Miscellaneous. 71

| hatched so early in the season as the middle of March, if not

earlier, and the others in the month of June, one would be inclined

to suppose that these birds may occasionally rear two broods in the

| year (!); or it may be explained merely by some accidental circum-

| stances retarding the nidification of some individuals until such a late

_ period.

4 2. I also take this opportunity of exhibiting to the Society this

very peculiar specimen of the Common or Corn Buntine (Lmébe-

riza miliaria, Linn.), which at first sight has more the appearance,

in colour at least, of an overgrown mealy canary. Its whole upper

| and under parts being of a pale yellow, with the exception of a very

_ few brownish spots or feathers scattered over it ; these spots consist

apparently of the darker colour along the quill of the feather, still

remaining in a few instances; the wing-coverts are pure white, but

the quills are of the usual brown colour, edged with lighter brown,

with the exception of the second quill in each wing, and two or three

| of the secondaries of one wing, which are also pure white. The tail-

coverts are yellowish white, and the lateral tail-feathers are white, the

eentral ones being of a very pale brownish colour ; indeed only three

feathers retain their usual colour. The under mandible is also pale

| yellow ; but the eyes were of their ordinary dark brown or black, con- -

trasting strangely with its light-coloured plumage. The bird is an

adult female, beg fully 7 inches*in length, and was in plump and

well-fed condition. It was shot on the 7th of February last, to the

north of the village of Maxton, Roxburghshire.

_ The Common Bunting, as it is called, is by no means a very common

_ bird in this locality, and indeed it would seem to be now much rarer

than formerly, as, unfortunately for its peace and safety, the quill-

feathers are highly esteemed by the anglers in the district for making

a very killing variety of artificial fly for trout-fishing.

_ Ihave brought with me a specimen of the bird in its ordinary

plumage, that those of you who are not very familiar with its usual

_ appearance may see the great contrast exhibited by this pale yellow

_ specimen, where the dark colours are almost entirely obliterated, and

the naturally yellowish tinge of the lighter brown parts has become

‘extended over the whole bird and transformed into a pale yellow or

yellowish white.

_ 3. L exhibit also a specimen of the Lesser Reproue (Lringilla

linaria, Linn.), shot near Stirling, which has the upper and back parts

of the head and sides of the neck pure white, and there are also a

_ few white feathers thinly scattered over other parts of its body. It

| shows very well the more usual extent in which this accidental white-

coloured variety of plumage is generally found. =

_ 4. 1 shall next notice this specimen of the Stsx1n (Carduelis

' spinus, Cuy.), which was taken on Arthur’s Seat, about the middle of

_ last September ; and my reason for doing so is that some of our natu-

“ralists seem to me to consider it much rarer in the neighbourhood of

_ Edinburgh than it really is. Our bird-catchers I am informed are

_ in the habit of taking considerable numbers in this neighbourhood by

_ means of their call-birds and nets, all through the winter months ; in

72 Miscellaneous.

some seasons however they catch them in much greater numbers than

in others; and although it is one of our winter visitors, still some of

them undoubtedly remain to breed, of which indeed several instances —

have been recorded ; and I have myself seen a specimen of the bird

which was shot in this neighbourhood in the end of the month of

April. i

"5. I am indebted to my young friend Mr. W. Dumbreck for being

able to exhibit to the Society a Scottish specimen of a very rare bird,

the Buackx-wineep Srix7, or Lonc-LeGcep Plover (Himantopus

melanopterus, Tem.). It is one of the accidental visitors to Britain

which are met with now and then at very uncertain intervals, and of

which only some two or three instances are recorded of its oceurrence

in Scotland. This I hope will be a sufficient apology for exhibiting it ;

although it was killed a good many years ago, and no notice has ever

been given of its capture. It was shot in the breeding season on the

south bank of the river Clyde, nearly opposite to Dumbarton Castle, —

and when seen was squatting on the ground, so that it was at first -

supposed to be merely a young Lapwing, or some such bird. It is

easily distinguished by its extremely long stilt-like legs, with three

toes in front and none behind; and it appears to be a young bird; —

the back part of the head and neck being dusky, the scapulars. a

brownish black, the rest of the wing greenish black; and the length —

of the primaries from the carpal joint to their extremity being only

54 inches, instead of 8 inches as in the adult, in which they extend _

considerably beyond the tail; whereas in this specimen they do not —

reach to within 14 inch or so of its extremity. The tail is ash- —

coloured, and the rest of the body is white. It measures about 13 —

inches in length, and from the termination of the feathered part of

the tibia to the foot it is 7} inches long.

6 & 7. I am also informed that the person who shot this bird was

fortunate enough when a young man to capture other two of our —

rarer birds, which may be worth a passing notice; the one is the —

Wrvyneck (Yunz torquilla, Linn.), of which an individual was killed ~

in the neighbourhood of Glasgow ; and the other (which I have seen) —

is the Rose-coLourep Pastor (Pastor roseus), which was shot in —

a garden near Caldwell, Renfrewshire. 4

I allude to these birds, as I am anxious to impress upon the Mem- ~

bers of the Society the propriety of recording all the instances of the ~

oceurrence of any of our rarer birds which may happen to come to —

their knowledge ; as it is only in this way that anything like a cor- —

rect idea of the ornithology of a particular district, or of our country —

itself, is to be obtained. a

8. Through the politeness of Mr. Dickson, of the well-known firm ~

of John Dickson and Co., Gunmakers, Princes Street, I am enabled —

to show this beautiful specimen of the very rare GreaT-BILLED or —

Surr Scorer (Oidemia perspicillata, Flem.).| It is a fine adult —

male, and was shot in Musselburgh Bay on Friday last the 2nd of-~

April. The Scoters are true sea ducks, seeking among the waves —

she surf for their varied molluscous diet. Three species are described — i

as being found occasionally on our coasts during the winter months; ~

aoe eee

Miscellaneous. 73

the Black, the Velvet, and this, the Surf Scoter ; but the last of these

is only a very rare visitor. They are dark or black plumaged ducks,

the females being brown; and this species is easily distinguished from

the others by the rounded patch of white on its forehead, between and

in front of its eyes; and the somewhat shield-shaped patch, square

above, and pointed posteriorly, on the nape and running down the

neck: The rest of the plumage is deep bluish black tmged with

rownish on the quills and the wedge-shaped tail. The appearance

of the bill is singular: prominent in the middle over the nostrils, which

are pervious (and to which point the feathers come down), then sloping

with a concave outline to the slightly rounded nail at its point ;

and it is also very prominent at the lateral parts of its base. Its colour

is of a reddish orange, paler at the sides, and becoming yellowish

| towards the nail; and there is a very strongly defined square-shaped

black patch on each of the two lateral protuberances, edged with the

reddish orange of the bill, except at its superior and anterior angle,

and in front, where it is succeeded by a triangularly-shaped spot of

bright bluish white, terminating at the nostril. The under mandible

is of a much paler reddish colour. The bill measured on the side is

nearly 2? inches in length by 13 inch in height, and about the same

‘in breadth across the lateral protuberances at its base. The eyes are

_ placed high on the head, not far indeed from the top, about 13 inch

above and slightly behind the angle of the mouth. The iris was of

a beautiful white, reminding one almost of white china ware. The

tarsi are of a reddish orange colour in front and dusky behind, and the

toes are also reddish orange with dusky spots at the joints, the inter-

_yvening membranes being of a dusky black ; the claws are small and

black. The whole bird is about 21 inches in length; and from the

carpal joint to the extremity of the first and second primaries which

are the longest, it is 94 inches, the wing reaching only to a very little

beyond the base of the tail. Fleming in his ‘British Animals’

mentions that the Surf Scoter is said by. Temminck to have occurred

in Orkney. And I shall quote a short passage from Sir W. Jardine’s -

‘interesting ‘ Ornithology of Great Britain,’ part iv. p. 162 (Naturalist’s

Library), which seems to give the best summary of its occurrence:

he says,—‘‘ The Surf Scoter is an extremely rare bird in Britain, and

even in Europe; the coasts of North America (where it is plentiful)

being its real habitation. It has been stated by most of our modern

British ornithologists, that specimens of this bird occur now and then

| in the vicinity of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but we are not

‘aware of any being lately procured there. In the ‘ Birds of Europe,’

4 specimen is stated to have been killed in the Firth of Forth, and

' Mr. Yarrell records another instance of a recent specimen coming into

the possession of Mr. Bartlett of London: all these in this country

have occurred in winter. It is of nearly equal rarity on the continent,

and few notices of it occur either in any of the recent works devoted

to natural history, or in those books of tours which lately, under the

‘apology of sport, have recorded some interesting anecdotes on the

habits of little-known species.”” So that this beautiful adult male is

_to be considered apparently as the second instance of the bird’s occur-

74 _ Miscellaneous.

ring in the Firth of Forth, and only the third or fourth time that it

has been observed in Britain.

9. And in conclusion I may call your attention to a fine specimen

of the Prnx-Foorrp Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus, Bail.), or Anser

pheenicopus, Bart., which seems to be not very uncommon in this

district at this time of the year. It was only pointed out as a new

species in this country so recently as 1839, and is easily known

by its short bill and pink feet, which the names given to it point

out, and which distinguish it from the Bean Goose (Anser segetum),

which it much resembles. The whole bird measured some 28 inches

in length, the narrow bill being (along the side) little more than

11 inch long, and much shorter than the head; its colour is black,

except a band across its middle which is bright reddish pink. Legs

and feet reddish pink, in some parts brighter than in others, with the

claws dusky. I have observed a few specimens of this bird in the

poulterers’ shops lately, said to have been shot towards the west —

country. This specimen was killed in the Carnwath district, adjoin-

ing this county to the south-west. I have had sent me the following |

note, giving notice of these geese occurring in the neighbourhood of |

Midcalder (Edinburghshire), by the friend who shot this one on the

4th of this month: this you may perhaps consider of some little”

interest, as not much appears to be known of the habits of this parti-_

cular kind of goose; and with it I conclude: he says,—* At this

season yearly, the geese come in considerable numbers for the purpose s

of feeding on the sown fields, particularly in the moorland districts, —

where the country is open and they see about them; they are very

shy and easily disturbed ; where they are in numbers today, there are

none tomorrow ; they rarely settle near the same place after being

disturbed ; the evening about dusk is the time to creep upon them, —

when they are arranging their sleeping berth commonly at the side of ©

some out-of-the-way bit of water—lakes, ponds, not running streams. —

About a hundred of them passed over this house on Sunday evening

a little before 8 o’clock ; they speak much to each other, and very

loud, giving ample notice of their approach to bed; those on Sunday ~

evening were within shot, and must have gone to sleep at some short —

distance at the Curling Ponds. The bird you got was shot about”

nine miles from this, in the Carnwath district ; and was one of a con-—

siderable flock, in the act of taking up their sleeping quarters. They —

are sometimes got by laying in wait for them about the sown fields. —

I sent the bird for a roast—the culinary qualities are much prized— —

mode of proceeding, see ‘Meg Dodds.’ I was on the look-out for |

them till 9 o’clock last night, but no success. The getting them is

quite a matter of chance.—April 6th, 1852.”

CORFIOTE SHELLS. BY SYLVANUS HANLEY, ESQ.

Although the accompanying list of species contains nothing re-

markable, yet being, I believe, the only published catalogue of the

shells indigenous to that most beautiful island, it may possibly prove

not devoid of utility to those who study the geographical distribution

Miscellaneous. 75

of the Mollusca. The want of a dredge forbad any extended. re-

search, and the time of year (January) was most adverse to any suc-

_ eessful search for the land or freshwater kinds : consequently the list

_ is most imperfect, the whole of the marine shells having been col-

} lected, on the shore, within three miles of the capital of Corfu.

_ Those distinguished by an asterisk were evidently washed up, and

| were untenanted.

} | As the ‘ Enumeratio Molluscorum Sicilie’ of Philippi is in the

hands of every conchologist, the names adopted by him, in his second

_ yolume, have been accepted, for facility of reference.

ere

_ Venus decussata. dant under stones in shallow

Cardium rusticum(=edule var. glau- but decidedly salt water).

' cum). Haliotis tuberculata! (not our Bri-

oe. : — shell, but the lamellosa

us Geedaropus*. of Reeve’s Monograph).

ice Now". r Vermetus gigas*. seme

_ barbata*. Trochus articulatus.

Chiton Siculus. fanulum.

Patella Lusitanica (= punctata of divaricatus.

Lamarck), varius.

Tarentina. Adriaticus.

cerulea. Phasianella pullus.

_ Helix aspersa. Littorina Neritoides.

striata. Cerithium vulgatum.

Carthusianella. lima.

Corcyrensis (of Pfeiffer, Monog. fuscatum.

Helic.). Pleurotoma Ginnanianum.

Bulimus acutus. Murex brandaris*.

Achatina acicula. ~ trunculus*.

Cochlicopa Algira. Ranella lanceolata.

Clausilia papillaris. Buccinum variabile.

Cyclostoma elegans. D’Orbignyi.

tessellatum (as figured in Sower- seriptum.

4 by’s Thesaurus). pusio (maculosum of Lamarck).

Rissoa Montagui. corniculum.

costata. Columbella rustica.

elata. Mitra Savignyi.

Bruguieri. Conus Mediterraneus.

Truncatella truncatula (most abun-

_ It is not unworthy of remark, that the plicated and dwarf varieties

of Buccinum corniculum are found intermingled with the ordinary

form, without any diminution of their varietal peculiarities.

ON LITTORINA PALLIATA, BY WILLIAM THOMPSON.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Weymouth, June 6, 1852.

_. GentLemey,—Messrs, Forbes and Hanley in their account of the

_Tittorine, at page 52. vol. iii. of the ‘ British Mollusca,’ state their

conviction that the result of a completed knowledge of this genus

would be a reduction of the number of true British species ; and in

76 Miscellaneous.

page 53 they feel almost sure that Léttorina palliata will fall under

L. littoralis.

A curious fact has lately come under my observation, which is

evidence in favour of Messrs. Forbes and Hanley’ s opinion, On the |

19th of December 1851, whilst searching the region of Fucus nodosus —

and F’. vesiculosus, I obtained several examples of the male Littorina

rudis in copulation with Littorina littoralis (formerly Nerita litto-

ralis) : in every instance rudis was the male. What will their pro-

geny be like? I think we find it in Littorina palliata ; the characters —

of the two former are so intimately blended in L. palliata. It may

be described as a littoralis with the convex whorls and rounded body, —

and I may add, the spire of rwdis, whilst the smaller size and the nar-_

rower basal confluence of the lips may fairly enough be considered as_

the effect of hybridism. From these circumstances I infer Littorina

palliata to be the hybrid progeny of L. rudis (male) and a female

L. littoralis. The only doubt in my mind as to this inference ‘is, —

that I have not as yet found any specimens of L. palliata on this

coast ; but neither have I found any other shell that might in any

be considered as the produce of rudis and littoralis. I found im a

eight couples ; and I think, that the copulation being only chance, the

probability of the unfruitfulness of some (which probability is greater —

than in cases where both are of the same species), and the further —

probability of the hybrids not being prolific—taking all these together, © |

—will, I think, form just grounds for the rarity of the species. 4

Should this prove to be the case, it will be a question siniicus

L. palliata is entitled to be considered a species or merely a variety.

If it be capable of reproducing like Mollusca, I think it should e

retained as a species ; it may be a question, however, whether a hy- ;

brid incapable of reproduction is entitled to be considered a species. —

Gentlemen, yours obediently,

Witi1AM THOMPSON.

a‘,

rot

NEW LOCALITY FOR TULOSTOMA MAMMOSUM.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

The Willows, Swansea, June 9, 1852.

gular aed eens the plant mentioned below to be some- F

what rare, I shall be obliged by your insertion of the following:—

Tulostoma mammosum, near Pennard Castle, Clee e %

Found only on one spot—not very plentiful there. ‘

Your obedient servant,

Matraew Mocerinege.

On the Preservation of the Fecundated Eggs of Fishes.

By M. Coste.

I communicated to the Academy, at a previous meeting, the result

of an experiment tending to prove that it was possible to preserve the

egos of salmon and trout out of the water a sufficient time to trans- |

port them to great distances and to make them hatch in places where —

it was desired to introduce these fish. The following fact shows that —

Miscellaneous. 77

_ these eggs can be preserved during more than two months without

losing the power of development. If this fact be confirmed, we shall

_ possess the means of procuring species living in distant parts of the

globe and acclimatizing them in regions which they have never yet

inhabited. This result, obtained by MM. Berthot and Detzem, is

evidently of great importance ; the following are the means adopted

by these gentlemen.

_ Eggs of salmon artificially fecundated were placed in a deal box in

layers alternating with damp sand. The box was then placed, for

" two months, in a cold room, the temperature of which, however, was

| sufficiently high to preserve them from freezing. At the expiration

of this time the eggs were shrivelled, and before taking them out of

the box they were placed in water so that they might become

moistened through the sand with which they were covered ; for when

this precaution is neglected, they perish.

Some of these eggs were sent to me by MM. Berthot and Detzem.

I placed them in my apparatus, where they have since hatched. The

experiment has therefore succeeded.—Comptes Rendus, April 5,

1852, p. 507.

- POSTSCRIPT TO MR. CLARK’S PAPER ON RARE BRITISH MOLLUSCA

; AT PAGE 22.

- June 23.—The Chemnitzia I mentioned yesterday turned out to

be the Chem. obliqua, with a perfectly smooth shell; and after I had

despatched my postscript note I met with the Chem. decorata, an

animal of more modest pretensions, having the basal volution of the

shell finely and superficially striated. This discovery settles the di-

stinctness of the two, which I doubted, having stated in vol. vii.

_p. 394 of the N.S. of the ‘Annals,’ that the C. decorata is the

_C. obliqua: I make this admission with the reservation that my pre-

sent shell is the odliqua, if such a species is in esse. And this morn-

ing I captured the rare Chem. insculpta alive. I have notes of the

_ three animals of this peculiar little section of the Chemnitzie.

IRISH MOLLUSCA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Windsor Lodge, Monkstown, co. Dublin,

May 22, 1852.

_ Gentiemen,—The following Mollusca have been obtained by me

off the Dublin coast, some of which are new to that locality : will you

please at your earliest convenience to publish their occurrence ?

Teredo megotara, Hanley. Drift wood, Killiney Bay.

_ Xylophaga dorsalis, Turton. Some very fine live specimens were

_trawled off the Skerrie Islands.

_ Sphenia Binghami, Turton. In the thick valves of Ostrea edulis:

dredged in Dalkey Sound, 14 fathoms.

__ Thracia villosiuscula, Macgillivray. Dredged in about 14 fathoms,

Dalkey Sound.

DT. convexa, Wood. - Trawled off Skerries.

@ = Solecurtus coarctatus, Gmelin. Same locality as the last.

78 Miscellaneous.

Psammobia tellinella, Lamarck. Dredged in Dalkey Sound.

Tellina pygmea, Philippi. Same locality as the last.

Cytherea Chione. One valve: dredged in about 14 fathoms, Dalkey

Sound.

Circe minima, Montagu. Two odd valves : same locality as the last.

Astarte suleata, Da Costa. Same locality as the last.

Cardium nodosum, Turton. Same locality.

C. fasciatum, Montagu. Same locality.

Iucina spinifera, Montagu. Trawled off the Calf of Man.

Leda caudata, Donovan. Two live specimens with some odd

valves dredged in 13 fathoms, Dalkey Sound.

Lima Loscombii, Sowerby. Dredged in a live state from 12 to 14

fathoms, Dalkey Sound.

Lima hians, Gmelin. A beautiful live specimen was dredged last

month in Killiney Bay in about 15 fathoms.

Anomia striata’?, Lovén. Dredged in Dalkey Sound.

Chiton levis, Pennant. Same locality.

Trochus exiguus’, Pulteney. South Bull, Dublin Bay.

T. granulatus, Born. Trawled off the Calf of Man.

T’. Montagui, Gray. Dredged in from 12 to 14 fathoms, Dalkey

Sound.

Fusus propinquus, Alder. Trawled off the Skerries ; but I have

obtained much better specimens last summer off the Saltees.

Mangelia gracilis, Montagu. Trawled_ off Skerries, in company

with M. turricula, Trophon clathratus and Nassa incrassata.

Yours truly obliged,

WixiiiamM Waite WALPOLE.

On the Sun Column as seen at Sandwick Manse, Orkney,

in April 1852. By C. Ciousron.

The perpendicular column of light which appeared repeatedly at

sunset and sunrise during April, deserves a more particular account

than the usual monthly report contains, as this is the most northern _

locality in which I have yet heard of its appearance.

When seen in the ‘evening, it was generally immediately after the

sun had sunk either below the horizon, or behind a bank of clouds

there.

It was rather wider than the apparent diameter of the sun, and

extended upwards for about 15°, widening a little towards the top,

and becoming fainter, so that there was no defined boundary ; but it

was sometimes much shorter, and could be distinctly seen, when it

was less than the semidiameter of the sun above the horizon, either —

when vanishing by descending, as it generally did, or as it last appeared

on the 3rd of May, without rising more than about 1°.

Though at first it seemed to be a law that it must descend as the

sun descended below the horizon, yet on one occasion, at least (on

the 26th), it vanished by ascending, or the base disappeared first.

It was generally remarkably perpendicular, but sometimes had a —

perceptible inclination to one side, and followed the course of the sun

northwards,

;

Meteorological Observations. 79

_ It had periods of greater and less brightness, but for the most part

was steady, something like a sunbeam among the clouds, and never

_ had any approach to the rapid motion of the aurora.

__ Its colour was pale or whitish in its upper portion, or when it ap-

_ peared. contrasted with the dark sky ; but in passing through the red,

copper, or orange-coloured sky that prevailed lower down, it partook

of its shade, and tinged the thin strata of cloud that lay across it with

a brighter hue of their own colour. Fifty-five minutes was the longest

_ period that it was visible any evening. I am told that it also appeared

very bright some mornings before sunrise.

_ If the phenomenon was uncommon, so was the state of the atmo-

sphere when it occurred. The drought was unprecedented ; only

| about ,1,th of an inch of rain falling in April, which is about =/,th of

_ the average quantity in that month in previous years. The atmo-

_ spheric pressure was great, the mercury never being lower than 30-07,

_ nor higher than 30°32. The temperature was also high for the

_ month, being 47°-64, or more than 4° above the average for April.

_ The atmosphere was very calm, and the sky near the horizon of

_ that red or copper colour which generally indicates dry and warm

_ weather, so that at last we could anticipate its appearance. I do not

_ presume to explain the mode of its production, but these circumstances

“May assist others in so doing.

ia.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MAY 1852.

_ Chiswick.—May 1. Overcast: cloudy: clear. 2. Cloudy and cold: frosty at

hight. 3. White clouds: fine: clear and frosty. 4. Dusky clouds: clear and

_ frosty. 5. Densely clouded: clear and frosty at night. 6. Cloudy: clear. 7.

_ Overcast: very fine. 8. Cloudy: fine. 9. Fine. 10. Fine: rain at night. 11.

_ Boisterous, with heavy shower, partly hail. 12. Heavy rain: thunder. 13. Cloudy :

_ overcast: boisterous at night. 14. Showery and boisterous: clear. 15, 16. Very

fine. 17. Slight drizzle : overcast : thunder, lightning and rain at night. 18. Very

_ fine: rain at night. 19. Very fine. 20. Hazy: fine: showers. 21. Overcast.

22. Cloudy: clear. 23. Cloudy. 24, 25. Overcast: fine. 26. Rain. 27. Over-

east. 28. Densely clouded. 29. Rain. 30. Fine: cloudy. 31. Fine: cloudy:

_ clear and cold. 3

Mean temperature of the month ......... ... Bes Seakends ih cvgaa es 51°45

Mean temperature of May 1851. .....07..cecciscscossecsreessecces 51°16

Mean temperature of May for the last twenty-six years ... 54°07

Average amount of rain in May .......c..sc.escecscsesececsosess 1°74 inch.

_ Boston.—May 1. Cloudy. 2. Cloudy: raitfi.m. 3, 4. Cloudy. 5. Cloudy:

rain a.m. 6. Cloudy. 7. Fine. 8. Cloudy. 9,10. Fine. 11. Cloudy. 12—

14. Cloudy: rain a.m. 15, 16. Fine. 17. Cloudy. 18. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m.

19. Cloudy: raina.m. 20. Fine. 21. Cloudy: rain A.M. and p.m. 22—25. Cloudy.

26. Cloudy: rain p.m. 27—29. Cloudy. 30. Fine. 31. Cloudy.

_ Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—May 1. Cloudy: fine. 2. Clear: fine. 3. Cloudy :

fine: clear: fine. 4. Cloudy: fine. 5. Drops: fine: cloudy: fine. 6. Clear:

_ fine: cloudy: fine. 7, Drops: rain: clear. 8. Drops: showers. 9. Rain: clear.

| 10. Drops: clear: aurora. 11. Cloudy: showers. 12. Bright: clear. 13. Rain:

_ clear: fine. 14. Bright: showers. 15. Clear: cloudy. 16. Clear. 17. Clear:

fine. 18,19. Clear: fine: aurora. 20—23. Clear: fine. 24. Bright: fine: clear:

fine. 25. Clear: fine. 26, Cloudy. 27. Cloudy: fine. 28. Bright: cloudy :

_ showers. 29, Bright: showers: cloudy : hail-showers. 30. Sleet-showers. 31.

_ Sleet-showers : showers.—This month has been fine, warm and dry.

oe Mean temperature of May for twenty-five years previous ... 47°88

a Mean temperature of this month .........se0..s-seeeseeeeeeees 50 +49

Average quantity of rain in May for six years ..........000 » 1°72 inch.

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THE ANNALS

AND

_ MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES. ]

z No. 56. AUGUST 1852.

_ VIII.—Notes on the Reproduction of the Campanulariade ; with a

description of anew species of Laomedea. By the Rev. Taomas

Hincks, B.A.

[With a Plate.]

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

__ In the present state of our knowledge respecting the reproduc-

| tion of the Campanularian Zoophytes, it is not undesirable that

the observations of as many independent inquirers as possible

should be recorded, and material be thus accumulated, which

_ may aid the physiologist in his attempts to solve the many diffi-

- eult questions connected with it.

_ Every observer possessed of tolerable accuracy and patience,

and placed in favourable circumstances, may be able to con-

_ tribute some facts previously unnoted, or at least to afford

_ valuable confirmation of results already announced.

Some of the reproductive phenomena amongst the Campanu-

_ lariade would seem to be of comparatively rare occurrence. It

is but seldom, perhaps, that one individual is privileged to wit-

ness the entire series, and his researches, however carefully con-

_ ducted, will require to be supplemented by those of others, who

_ have had the opportunity of reading a different chapter of the

_ wonderful history.

_ The observations of Dalyell and Van Beneden would give us

an imperfect view of the subject, if unaccompanied by those of

- Lovén and others. It is through the cooperation of many na-

turalists, carrying on their investigations at different seasons and

under different local circumstances, that we must hope to arrive

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 6

82 Rev. T. Hincks on the Reproduction of the Campanulariade,

at a complete knowledge of this interesting department of phy-

siology. While there are still many points altogether undeter-

mined, and many more respecting which greater certainty is

desirable, every contribution of accurate observation, however

humble, has a certain value. It is with this conviction that I

have prepared the following notes, embodying the observations

which I have been able to make on some of the British Campa-

nulariade.

CAMPANULARIA SYRINGA.

The polype of this pretty species is furnished with sixteen ten- ;

tacula, or even more. It 1s very slender and graceful, and pro- —

trudes far beyond the mouth of the cell.

The conical operculum is composed of many pieces. These §

give way to allow of egress, and close as soon as the body of the —

polype is withdrawn.

The vesicles are oval, mounted on a very short stalk with one 7

or two rings. I am unable to say whether they are of rare oc- —

currence ; but they are not described by either Dr. Johnston or —

Sir J. G. Dalyell.

Towards the close of April I obtained a specimen of the Cam-_

panularia parasitical on Sertularia argentea, on which the vesicles —

occurred in great profusion. They presented a very remarkable —

appearance. Lach vesicle was surmounted by a spherical body

containing an opake nucleus, which occupied nearly the whole —

of its interior (Pl. III. fig. 1). The vesicle itself was traversed

by a central column, which widened as it approached the top and

expanded into a somewhat roundish mass immediately below the —

orifice. Occasionally one was met with in an earlier stage of —

development. Here the external sac with its contained ovum was —

wanting, and the vesicle exhibited the appearance represented —

in Pl. III. fig. 2. The column extended only about half way up —

the vesicle, and terminated in an oval body containing granular ~

matter, and freely supplied by the nutrient stream which per- —

vaded the entire zoophyte. ‘This was evidently an “ ovigerous —

bud” in process of formation, In by far the greater number of |

cases, however, the ova-bearing bodies had passed beyond the —

mouth of the vesicle and were attached to the top of it.

I was not fortunate enough to see any of the ova in the act of ©

escaping, but one was found in the watch-glass which had evi- —

dently just emerged from its prison-house. It was circular, ©

opake white, and set round with very fine cilia. Subsequently I —

noticed one of the sacs with a rent or opening in its side, towards —

which the ovum seemed to be working its way.

By compressing some of the vesicles between glass, and then 4

examining them with the microscope, the details of their struc-—

with a description of a new species of Laomedea. 83

| ture were readily determined. They will be understood by a

reference to Pl. III. fig. 3.

| The column (a) which traverses the centre of the vesicle is a

_ membranous tube containing granular matter,—a prolongation

_ of the animal substance which permeates the creeping stem.

' Through this flows the stream of nutrient particles. Imme-

_ diately below the orifice it expands into a kind of pouch (8),

_ which in the living state is filled with granular matter. When

_ emptied of its contents, it appears as a delicate membranous sac

_ within the vesicle. A kind of neck (c) connects this with the

' mouth of the vesicle and the external ovigerous body (d). In

_ the centre of the latter is a distinct cavity (e) within which the

- ovum is contained. The external envelope (f) is of varying,

_ often of considerable, thickness. From the lower part of the cen-

_ tral cavity a canal (g) passes downward and opens into the gra-

_ nular mass (b). The lower extremity of the ovum, which is

_ somewhat produced, just penetrates this canal at 4, and through

_ this channel and at this point the nutrient stream finds entrance

tothe ovum. Such is the structure of the vesicle.

_ The following is a summary of the results obtained with re-

spect to the propagation of Campanularia Syringa :—

]. At certain seasons oval vesicles are produced in great

_ abundance on the creeping fibre, into which an offshoot from

_ the common animal substance penetrates,—a membranous tube

- containing granular matter. :

_. 2. After a time this offshoot expands at the top into an oval

_ body, in which granular substance accumulates, and through

_which the nutrient stream circulates.

__ 8. This body gradually enlarges, and at length passes beyond

_ the mouth of the vesicle, where it remains attached, receiving

supplies of the nutrient fluid through a canal which descends

_ from its lower extremity.

_ 4. In the course of its development a portion of the granular

_ substance is aggregated into a central nucleus separated from the

_xest of the structure and lying in a distinct cavity. Nourished

_ by the general circulation this is matured into a perfect ovum,

| which at length escapes through the ruptured walls of the con-

_ taming sac.

___ The ovigerous body must increase considerably,—probably un-

ergoes most of its development after passing beyond the mouth

of the vesicle, for it is often met with of such a size that it could

not be contained within.

_ With respect to the membranous pouch inclosing granular

matter, which always occurs immediately below the orifice, it is

“ho doubt the early stage of an ovigerous body destined to suc-

84 Rev. T. Hincks on the Reproduction of the Campanulariade,

ceed the external one when it has discharged its contents and —

withered away. I have never seen more than one such in the ©

same vesicle. 4

The mode of reproduction which I have described is very dif- —

ferent from that which is commonly met with amongst the Cam- —

panulariade. No Medusoids were seen to issue from the vesicles —

of Campanularia Syringa. Nor do the ovigerous bodies which —

surmounted them resemble those described and figured by Laster

and Lovén as occurring on certain species of Laomedea; for the —

latter assumed a true Medusan form, and tentacles were deve- —

loped at the upper extremity. :

The vesicles of C. Syringa, on the contrary, bear a very close —

resemblance to those which occur at times on Sertularia argentea —

and others of the same genus, and which have been well described ~

by Sir J. G. Dalyell as “ compound vesicles.” In the case of the

Sertularia, it would appear from the observations of this natu-—

ralist, that the ovigerous body is sometimes completely developed ~

within the vesicle, and does not pass beyond it; and so it may be —

at times with the Campanularia, though [I have not met with

such a case. :

Taking into consideration the facts presented by the joint

history of the Sertularia and Campanularia in connexion with

this mode of propagation, it appears that the ovigerous body is a

spherical expansion (bud) of the offshoot from the common ani-—

mal substance, which penetrates the vesicle, within which the 7

ovum (or ova) is developed in a distinct central cavity, to which —

the nutrient stream has free access; that the development is”

sometimes perfected within the vesicle, when (in the case of the

Sertularia) the Planula escapes through the orifice; while at

others the ovigerous body passes beyond the case and remains

attached to it externally, still maintaining its connexion with the

central tube, until the ciliated ovum or Planula has reached ma-

turity and has liberated itself. :

There is a perfect analogy between the Campanularia and Ser-

tularia in respect to this method of propagation. To show the

close resemblance of the compound vesicle of Sertularia argentea

to that of C. Syringa, as just described, I have copied Sir J. G.

Dalyell’s figure of the former (PI. III. fig. 4). The relation of this

mode of reproduction to that by free Medusoids I have not been

able to determine. .

CAMPANULARIA VOLUBILIS.

Whilst examining specimens of C. volubilis, procured in Fe-

bruary, my attention was attracted by one or two very minute

Medusze which were jerking themselves about in the watch-glass

containing the zoophyte. At first I observed only one, but sub-

: with a description of a new species of Laomedea. 85

_ sequently two more made their appearance, and I could have

little doubt that they were the progeny of the Campanularia.

The zoophyte was covered with vesicles containing Medusoids in

_ various stages of development. One was observed working its

- way slowly towards the orifice by means of the characteristic

jerk. It was furnished with curled arms resembling those of

_ the free Medusa in the watch-glass, and though I could not de-

_ termine its shape with accuracy, I have no doubt of the identity

of the two.

_ The Medusa was an exquisite little creature, about the one-

_ | fortieth of an inch in height, of graceful form and the purest

_ transparency. Its presence was indicated to the naked eye by

_ five opake white dots marking the four arms and the peduncle.

Its perfectly translucent umbrella could only be detected by the

aid of the microscope. My specimens only lived for two or three

days. During that period they were tolerably active, and jerked

themselves about in Medusa-fashion with some rapidity.

The following is a description of the Medusoid (PI. III. fig. 5).

_ Umbrella globose or subconic, a little depressed at the top, per-

fectly transparent ; a membranous veil round its inner margin.

Tentacles four, curling, muricate, colourless, springing from a

somewhat triangular tubercle. Between each pair of arms on

the margin there are three tubercles, the central one the largest ;

the two smaller ones have each a little circle or ocellus towards

the upper end. Radiating vessels four, very distinct, running to

_ the four tentacles. Subumbrella somewhat conic. Peduncle

short, swollen towards the base, with a narrow neck, and ex-

_ panding slightly towards the mouth. No colour could be de-

_ tected on any portion of the body. The arms were generally

_ curled up in three coils, but occasionally were unrolled. Height

goth of an inch.

. Ihave seldom met with a lovelier being than this fairy-like

_ Medusa. In some points it reminded me of the Modeeria figured

_ in Professor Forbes’s ‘ Monograph on the Naked-eyed Medusz.’

- The Campanularia was infested by a strange crustacean (?)

parasite. I observed one which had made its way within a cell, and

attached itself to the body of the polype. Afterwards it emerged

and fastened upon one of the tentacles.

Ge ae Re

a3 ares

Ces Sp

eps

LAOMEDEA GENICULATA and GELATINOSA.

The bell-shaped progeny of L. geniculata have nearly thirty

_ tentacles. There is a prominent ocellus at the base of every

other arm. The Medusoids are excluded in very different stages

_ of development ; some small, with the arms stunted ; others much

larger, with the arms of considerable length. The Medusoids of

the Laomedea gelatinosa \ have always found with sixteen arms.

86 Rev. T. Hincks on the Reproduction of the Campanulariade.

In other respects they resemble those of L. geniculata. Hach

vesicle contains about five of them. ;

New species or LAOMEDEA.

Dr. Johnston describes and figures a species of Campanularia

under the name of C. dacerata. I have lately had the opportunity

of ascertaining that this is only the early state of a Laomedea

which has occurred to me in considerable abundance on the

Devonshire coast, and which is as yet, I believe, undescribed. It

may be thus characterized :-—

Laomepea Lacerata (Hincks). (Pl. III. fig. 6.) Stem filiform,

ringed throughout ; cells on short pedicles, ovato-conical, the upper

portion divided into a number of deep convergent segments.

This is the smallest of the British Laomedee and is of extreme

delicacy. The largest specimen which I have met with does not

exceed the sixteenth of an inch in height.

The stems, which are slender and slightly ringed throughout,

rise from a creeping fibre and bear the cells on short pedicles,

composed of four or five rings, and somewhat irregularly dis-

posed. The cells are ovate, the upper part conical and cleft into

a number of deep segments, which converge and form an acute

apex. The polype when issuing pushes aside the pieces, which

close again upon its retreat. They form an admirable operculum

to the cell.

In its young state this Laomedea is identical with the Campa-

nularia lacerata of Dr. Johnston’s work. Single cells are fre- —

quently met with, supported on short ringed pedicles, which

spring immediately from the creeping fibre, as represented in —

Plate III. fig. 6 a. ‘

Laomedea lacerata was obtained abundantly in tufts of Bower- —

bankia, and on weed, at Exmouth.

I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

Tuomas Hincks.

Exeter.

P.S.—In a paper entitled “Notes on British Zoophytes,’ —

which was published in the ‘ Annals’ for November 1851, I de- —

scribed a species of Furrella as new, under the name of F, pro- —

ducta. Since that time Mr. Wyville Thomson has directed my —

attention to Van Beneden’s figure and description of Laguncula —

elongata, which I had not previously seen, and 1 have now no ©

doubt of the identity of the two species. a

The name F. producta must therefore be cancelled, and I would —

substitute for my former note under this heading, a record of the

ecurrence of the Laguncula elongata of Van Beneden (Farrella ~

Mngata it should be) as a British species. 3

Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. 87

EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.

Fig. 1. Vesicle of Campanularia Syringa.

— 2. The same in an earlier stage.

— 3. The same, highly magnified, to show the details of structure.

— 4. “Compound vesicle ” of Sertularia argentea from Sir J. G. Dalyell.

— 5a. Medusoid of Campanularia volubilis. 6. Two of the tentacles

and the intermediate tubercles. c¢. A tentacle and its bulb.

— 6. Laomedea lacerata (highly magnified). «a. The same in the young

state.

IX.—Contributions to the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight.

By Tuomas Wricut, M.D. &c.*

_ Ir has been supposed that the tertiary beds of England, when

_ eompared with those of the continent of Europe, are deficient in

_ mammalian remains; this opinion, like many other hasty gene-

_ralizations, if it be not entirely fallacious, requires modification.

The valuable series of mammalian remains obtained from time

_ to time from the lacustrine strata of Kyson, Hordwell, and the

_ Isle of Wight, lead us to believe that if similar facilities existed

in these localities for working the beds from whence mammalian

_ bones and teeth are obtained, as is the case in the neighbour-

hood of Paris, the richness of the English tertiaries in these re-

_ mains would no longer be a doubtful question. We have been

- led to this conclusion from facts which have come under our

| observation during the two consecutive summers we were en-

| gaged in drawing up a description of the coast sections of Hamp-

shire and the Isle of Wight, and which have already appeared in

__ the pages of this Journal. Until last summer no remains of the

_ new genus Dichodon had been found, except in one spot in the

_ Hordwell section, when T had the good fortune to discover, near

_ Alum Point, Isle of Wight, a portion of the lower jaw of this

_ singular genus with the true molars “in situ” in beautifel

_ preservation. This jaw fortunately supplies some points in the

anatomy of this rare mammal, which were absent in the only

_ specimen hitherto found, and which it is the object of this note

_ to furnish.

Dichodon cuspidatus, Owen.

The dental formula of the lower jaw of Dichodon cuspidatus,

- according to Professor Owen, consists of three incisors, one ca-

- nine, four premolars, and three true molars, arranged in a con-

_ tinuous series in each ramus, and it is inferred that these were

* Read at Cheltenham at a Meeting of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Club,

_ May 4, 1852.

88 Dr. T. Wright on the Palaontology of the Isle of Wight.

opposed by the same number of teeth in the upper jaw. “There —

are wanting therefore to establish ea visu the entire dental series, _

only the first and second premolars of the upper jaw and the last —

true molar of the lower jaw, the germ of which had not been —

sufficiently calcified at the time of the animal’s death to yield —

satisfactory evidence of its true form*.” Having recently dis- —

covered a portion of the left ramus of the lower jaw of this rare —

mammal in the lower freshwater formation of the Isle of Wight, —

containing the three true molars in an admirable state of pre- —

servation, I am enabled to supply a description thereof.

The crowns of all the true molars exhibit a double series of

sharp conical lobes; the teeth are fixed obliquely in the jaw, —

their crowns having a direction forwards, inwards and upwards, —

the obliquity of the inclination increasing from before back- —

wards ; the first and second molars are nearly alike in size, form

and structure ; the first, however, is somewhat smaller than the —

second ; the crown of each tooth rises high above the ramus of —

the jaw; it consists of four semiconical-shaped lobes, two ex- —

- ternal and two internal, separated from each other by a deep —

transverse and a shallow longitudinal valley ; the two external —

lobes are sharply lanceolate ; each has a median ridge of enamel —

and two sharp supernumerary processes or cusps, situated at the ©

external sides of the base of each lobe ; the inner surface is con- —

vex and smooth, and as the apices of the lobes are not worn, the —

double fold of enamel, with its intermediate dentine, is beauti-

fully shown in our specimen. LB

he internal lobes are larger and more fully developed than —

the external pair, but their apices do not attain the same height —

as those of the external lobes; their internal surface is smooth ~

and convex, their external surface is moderately concave, and ©

inclined to a high angle ; at the base of the external surface of —

each of the internal lobes there are two small tubercles or rudi- —

mentary cusps: the posterior marginal surface of all the lobes is _

slightly polished by dentrition, whilst their sharp lanceolate —

points are not worn, from which circumstance it may be logically

inferred, that the lobes of the teeth of the lower jaw locked into —

corresponding spaces in those of the upper jaw, as in the hedge-

hog (Hrinaceus europeus), the mole (Talpa vulgaris), and other —

Insectivora.

The third true molar differs from the first and second in pos-—

sessing six instead of four lobes; the four anterior lobes are of

the same form and structure as those of the second molar,

only they are somewhat larger; the third or posterior pair are

smaller than either of the others, and they have a more rudi-

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. p. 42.

Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. 89

mentary form; the anterior cusp is absent at the base of the

xternal lobe, and the posterior cusp is a small process which rises

| between the external and internal lobes.

Locality.—I found this rare fossil in a bed of greenish tough

nacious clay, being No. 35 of my section*, and which stratum

have shown to be the equivalent of No. 14 of my section of

ordwell, Beacon, and Barton Cliffs+, from whence Mr. Falconer

btained the specimen which formed the subject of Professor

Owen’s paper. It is important, therefore, to note that these

mammalian remains have been found in precisely the same geo-

logical horizon on both shores of the Solent sea ; thus affording

another link in the chain of evidence which proves the former

union of these tertiary beds. I have promised the loan of this

specimen to Professor Owen, who will figure it in the forthcoming

_ new edition of his ‘ British Fossil Mammalia ;’ for this reason I

have not figured it here.

Tooth of an unknown Saurian.

I had the good fortune to meet with a very perfect reptilian

_ tooth in the Wealden clay of Brixton Bay; the accompany-

ing figure, of the natural size, was drawn on wood by Mr. W.

__H. Baily, as it is important that paleontologists should possess

a faithful drawing of its singular form, to enable them to com-

_ pare future discoveries with the subject of this note, and even-

_ tually to determine the genus of Saurians to which it belonged. I

_had the pleasure of showing this tooth to Professors Forbes, Ger-

_yais and Owen, Dr. Mantell, and Messrs. Waterhouse and Wood-

_ ward, who were all unacquainted with the form. Dr. Mantell

_ thought it had some resemblance to a tooth found in the Wealden

_ of Tilgate Forest, and which he imagined belonged to the Hy-

_laosaurus. ‘ These teeth,” he observes, “ are about 14 inch in

height, and commence at the base with a cylindrical shank,

_ which gradually enlarges into a crown of an obtusely lanceolate

_ form, convex in front, slightly depressed, and terminating in an

_ angular rounded apex, the margins of which are generally more

_ or less worn, as if from dentrition. The crown is solid, but the

_ fang encloses a small pulp-cavity ; the surface is enamelled, and

_ covered with very fine longitudinal striz ; the base in every spe-

_ eimen appears broken transversely, and has not a smooth sur-

_ face, as if it had been loosened by absorption and shed natu-

_rallyt.” The Doctor has given a figure of this tooth which dif-

_ * Dr. Wright, Geology of the North-West coast of the Isle of Wight

(Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 2. vol. vu. p. 14).

_ * Annals of Nat. Hist. S. 2. vol. vii. p. 433.

{ Hand-Book of the Fossils of the British Museum, p. 326.

90 Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight.

fers so much from our specimen, that we cannot suppose

belonged to a reptile of the same genus.

Description.—Our new tooth is divisible into the crown and

the root : the line of demarcation between these parts is clearly

defined by the terminal undulation of the enamel. The crown

is somewhat of a bayonet-shape; from the frontier line of the

enamel to the apex, it measures in front 1 inch and 23ths;

behind 2 inches and th; the antero-posterior diameter at its”

widest part exceeds 1 inch, and its transverse diameter is 7%t

of an inch (d).

The crown (d, d, c) is unequally convex in front and concave (a)

behind. The general form of the crown is shown in a, b, ¢

the anterior side thereof (a, 5) is convex and sabre-shape

and the posterior border (a, 4) is slightly concave; the extern

Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight. 91

convex surface (4) is covered with smooth enamel, which forms

four blunt ridges on its most prominent part, and terminates

inferiorly in a delicate rugous structure, forming a well-de-

ed arch (5), the convexity of which is directed towards the

ex; the posterior surface of the crown (qa) is flat below and con-

ve above ; the enamel is smooth above and rugous below, as on

he anterior surface, but it extends much farther down the

srown (nearly half an inch) and forms an arch, the convexity of

which is directed towards the root; the internal surfaces of the

ynterior and posterior borders (a) are abruptly truncated, appa-

mtly by dentrition, and near the base of the posterior ‘border

ere is an oblique fold or depression, close to which are marks

abrasion by dentrition: the unequal extent of the enamel on

the external and internal surfaces of the crown proves that the

external plate of the ramus of the jaw was deeper on the external

than on the internal side.

__ The root (a, b, c, e) is nearly cylindrical ; from the external ter-

nal fold of enamel to its fractured part, it measures 1 inch

and ;8,ths ; its surface is much concealed by the matrix, and has

asses of pyrites adhering thereto; it forms a hollow cylinder

(2) which inclosed a pulp-cavity ; the structure and form of the

oot is that of a tooth which was implanted in a distinct alveolus

of a large and powerful jaw. Part of the apex is broken off, the

position of which we have indicated by dotted lines ; there can

no doubt that it was sharply pointed, and that this tooth was

instrument destined to pierce the soft structures of other ani-

ls, and consequently that it belonged to an extinct genus of

carnivorous reptiles.

Diadema Autissiodorense, Cotteau.

Nn. Diadema Autissiodorense, Cotteau, Cat. Méthod. des Echi-

nides dans l’étage Néocomien, p. 5.

2 Test pentagonal, depressed ; interambulacral tubercles a little

larger than those of the ambulacral areas, more especially as

__ they approach the ovarial disc ; interambulacral areas with two

rows of primary tubercles, ‘and two incomplete series of

_ secondary tubercles at the ambulacral sides thereof, which

| gradually disappear on the upper surface ; ambulacral areas

prominent, with two rows of primary tubercles much dimi-

nished in size at the upper surface. Pores in a double series

near the ovarial disc and at the circumference of the mouth.

Height ;4,ths of an inch; transverse diameter }2ths of an

Description. —In its general outline this beautiful Urchin re-

embles D. depressum of the Inferior Oolite, but the details of its

92 Dr. T. Wright on the Paleontology of the Isle of Wight.

structure are very distinct from that form. The circumference >

is pentagonal from the convexity of the ambulacral arez, and the

base and summit are much depressed. (al

The interambulacral areas are one-third broader than he

ambulacral ; two rows of primary tubercles occupy the contre, 9 0}

the plates ; there are about ten pairs of tubercles in each a

which are of a moderate magnitude, and gradually Senianad

size from the circumference to the base and summit ; the mam.

millary eminences are small, their summits are deeply exenulated,

and the tubercles, of proportional size, are deeply perforated; at th a

circumference six rows of granules separate the tubercles from ez

other, but towards the upper surface the four central rows 2 ard |

absent, which leaves a naked space in the middle of the area;

three rows of granules in like manner separate the tubercles

from the poriferous valleys ; at the base of the area, and extend-

ing as far as the circumference of the test, are incomplete rows”

of secondary tubercles ; these gradually diminish im size and dis-

appear at the upper surface, which is occupied with an unequal-_

sized, close-set granulation about three rows deep; the emai

lacral areas are one-third narrower than the imterambulaera

they are however very prominent and convex, and are occupied |

with two rows of primary tubercles about ten in a row; the lower |

six pairs of tubercles are nearly as large as the corresponding

tubercles in the interambulacral areas, but the upper four pairs

are much smaller, so that whilst there is a great uniformity ir

the size and form of the tubercles on the base and cireumference

of the test, there is a very marked difference between those o

the ambulacra and those of the interambulaera in the vicinity 0}

the ovarial disc ; the intertubercular space is occupied by a zig- |

zag band of granulation, which is narrow below where the tu, .

bercles are large, but becomes broader above where they are |

small. The pores are arranged in double pairs near the summ i

and mouth, but in‘the other part of the avenues they are im

single pairs; the apical disc is absent in our specimen, and be

mouth is large and decagonal.

Affinities and differences.—This species nearly resembles D

Bourgueti, Ag., but differs from it in the rudimentary conditio

of the upper tubercles of the ambulacra, and in haying the po

in double pairs above and below ; the intermediate eda io |

likewise less homogeneous than in D. Bourguett. a

Locality.—I collected this Urchin from the lower greensand a

Atherfield, in No. 4 of the Cracker group of Dr. Fitton’s section

it must be very rare, as none of the cabinets of Atherfield fossil

hitherto examined by me contain a specimen of this Diadema

It has been collected by M. Cotteau from the Néocomien stag

at Auxerre, where it is likewise very rare. |

_ Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea. 93

_ History.—Discovered by the author in the Isle of Wight in

850, and by M. Cotteau in France in 1851, but first described by

he latter in his ‘ Catalogue Méthodique des Echinides recueillis

dans l’étage Néocomien,’ and which brochure I received since

‘read this communication. As there is no figure of this Urchin

extant, I intend giving one of the beautiful specimen before

“me, along with some other new forms of that group which I hope

‘shortly to publish in the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’

X.— Descriptions of some newly discovered species of Araneidea.

By Joun Brackwatt, F.L.S.

“In November 1850, Francis Walker, Esq., of Arno’s Grove,

Southgate, afforded me an opportunity of inspecting an exten-

ive collection of spiders made by him in England and Switzer-

land in the summer of the same year; and a request that I

might be permitted to describe the following species comprised

in the collection, which appear to be new to science, was most

obligingly complied with by Mr. Walker.

Tribe OCTONOCULINA.

Family Lycosip2.

Genus Lycosa, Latr.

1. Lycosa calida.

Length of the male 3th of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax +1, ; breadth 4, ; breadth of the abdomen ;4, ; length of a

posterior leg 5% ; length of a leg of the third pair 5%.

_ Cephalo-thorax large, convex, glossy, compressed before, with

a slight longitudinal indentation in the medial line of the pos-

terior region ; its colour is dark brown, approaching to black at

the anterior part ; a broad band of reddish brown extends along

_ the middle, another occurs on each side, and a narrow one of the

_same hue is situated immediately above each lateral margin.

_ Four of the eight eyes are minute and form a transverse line in

- front, the two intermediate ones being somewhat larger than the

- lateral ones; the other four are large, and are situated on the

_ sides and in front of the cephalo-thorax, constituting a quadri-

lateral figure, whose anterior side is rather the shortest; the

anterior eyes of the quadrilateral are the largest of the eight.

Falces conical, perpendicular, armed with a few teeth on the

inner surface, and of a pale reddish brown colour, with two ob-

scure, longitudinal streaks of dark brown in front. Maxille

strong, short, straight, somewhat enlarged and rounded at the

94 Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea. ,

extremity, and of a pale yellowish brown colour. Lip nearly

quadrate, dark brown at the base, but paler at the apex. Ster-

num almost circular, with blackish spots on the margins, and a

longitudinal streak of the same shade extending from its anterior

part, on each side of the medial line, more than half ofits length.

Legs long, slender, provided with hairs and sessile spines ; they

are of a pale reddish brown colour, the femora of the anterior

pair being dark brown at the base; 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 humeral jot”

of the palpi is dark brown ; the cubital and radial joints are red-

dish brown, the latter, which is much the stronger, being abur

dantly supplied with black hairs; the digital jomt is brown, of

an oblong oval form, convex and hairy externally, concave with in, .

comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed

not very complicated in structure, rather prominent, with a she

projecting, pointed process near the outer side, and are of

brownish black colour tinged with red. The concavity of t

digital joint does not extend to its termination, which is comps

Abdomen slender, oviform, convex above, projecting a little over”

the base of the cephalo-thorax ; it is of a light orange-brown

colour, with an irregular band of black on each side of the me-7

dial line ; these bands converge towards the spinners, where they

meet, and on the anterior part of the light orange-brown space —

comprised between them there is a narrow oval figure of orange-

brown circumscribed by a fine black line ; the sides are spotted

with brownish black, and a longitudinal line composed of con-

fluent spots of the same hue occurs on each side of the und

part, the intermediate space being densely covered with white

hairs. | i!

This species was captured in June at Interlacken in the can-

ton of Berne. Sa

Family Sauricipz.

Genus Salticus, Latr.

2. Salticus notatus.

Length of the female ith of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax 7/5; breadth +, ; breadth of the abdomen +}, ; length of a

posterior leg % ; length of a leg of the second pair }. ook.

Legs robust, provided with hairs and sessile spines ; they are

of a pale yellow colour, the coxe of the posterior pair having a

black spot on the upper side ; the fourth pair is the longest, the

first and third pairs are equal in length, and the second pair is”

the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by two curved claws,

below which there is a small scopula. The palpi resemble the

Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea. 95

in colour. Cephalo-thorax nearly quadrilateral, and spa-

ngly clothed with black and whitish hairs ; it slopes abruptly

the posterior region, and is prominent in front, projecting be-

nd the base of the falces, which are small, vertical, and armed

ith a few teeth on the inner surface: the sternum is oval.

ase parts, with the maxille and lip, are of a brown-black

our, the last two, which are the palest, having a reddish

ge, particularly at their extremities. Hyes disposed in three

ys, constituting three sides of a square, im the front and on

sides of the cephalo-thorax ; the intermediate eyes of the an-

rior row are greatly larger, and the intermediate eye of each

ateral row is much smaller than the rest. Abdomen oviform,

ointed at its posterior extremity, convex above, projecting over

he base of the cephalo-thorax ; it is of a brown-black colour,

with short whitish hairs thinly distributed over its surface; a

pale yellowish brown band, broader in the posterior than in the

anterior region, extends along the middle of the upper part, and

n obscure, narrow band of whitish hairs is curved round the

erior part and produced on the sides nearly to the spinners ;

he sexual organs are reddish brown.

_ An adult female Salticus notatus was found in June among

erbage in a wood at Southgate.

Family Toomisip2&.

Genus Thomisus, Walck.

3. Thomisus umbratilis.

Length of the male ,3,ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-

thorax ;1,; breadth ;';; breadth of the abdomen ;4,; length of

aa anterior leg +; length of a leg of the third pair 4.

_ Eyes disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in

tivo transverse curved rows, forming a crescent, whose convex

side is in front; the eyes of each lateral pair, which are seated on

tubercle, are much larger than the intermediate ones, those of

the anterior row being the largest of the eight. Cephalo-thorax

large, convex, abruptly sloping behind, compressed before, glossy,

and of a brownish black colour, with a longitudinal band of red-

brown on each side, and a broad one of the same hue extending

along the middle. Falces short, strong, subconical, vertical, of a

‘dark brown colour, with reddish brown extremities, and an ob-

Scure spot of the same hue in front. Maxille convex near the

base, pointed at the extremity, and inclined towards the lip ; they

are of a pale reddish brown colour, and have a dark brown spot .

| at the base on each side. Lip triangular and reddish brown, the

apex being the palest. Sternum oblong, heart-shaped, approach-

i |

96 Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea, —

ing to oval; it is of a pale reddish brown colour, with dark brows

spots on the margins, opposite to the insertion of the legs. Legs

robust, provided with hairs and spines ; they are of a pale red-

dish brown colour, the entire femora of the anterior pair, th

anterior extremity of those of the other pairs, a spot on each sic

of the genual joint, and one on each side of the tibize of the pos-—

terior legs being brownish black ; the first and second pairs ar

decidedly longer and more powerful than the third and fourt

pairs, the first pair being the longest, then the second,

third pair the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by two

pectinated claws. The palpi are short; the humeral joint 3

brownish black, and the cubital, radial and digital joints are ¢

a pale reddish brown colour marked with a few dark brown spots

the radial joint is stronger than the cubital, and projects tw

apophyses from its anterior extremity; one on the outer si C

which is long, slender and pointed, and the other, which 1

strong, prominent, obtuse, with a protuberance at its base, on tl

outer side, is situated underneath; the digital joint is oval, oO

vex, and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palp:

organs; they are moderately developed, rather complicated i

structure, and are of a dark reddish brown colour. Abdome

depressed, corrugated on the sides, broader at the posterior thai

at the anterior extremity, the latter, which appears as if cut in

straight line across, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax

its colour is dark brown tinged with olive and freckled on 1 h

upper part with minute yellowish brown spots, those on the poi

terior part, being confluent, form a few obscure transverse bars

five circular yellowish brown depressions occur on the uppe

part; the three anterior ones are much the most conspicuow

and describe a triangle whose vertex is directed forwards ; imm«

diately before this vertex there is a small yellowish white spot ;

narrow band of the same colour, spotted with brown, exten

along each side, and a short, obscure, curved, yellowish whit

line is situated near the outer side of each branchial operculum

This spider was taken at Interlacken in June. op a

s ié

i ‘oe

Genus Philodromus, Walck. “aa

4. Philodromus vivax. | si

Length of the female ith of an inch; length of the cepl al

thorax ;4, ; breadth #4, ; breadth of the abdomen 3; length of

leg of the second pair 3; length of a posterior leg 74. fy

Cephalo-thorax short, broad, slightly compressed befianes col

- vex and glossy; it is of a dark brown colour, with a large ye

lowish brown oval in the cephalic region, comprising an obliq

brown line directed backwards from each lateral eye of the po

‘

Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea. 97

terior row ; these lines converge towards the posterior extremities

_ of two fine and nearly contiguous lines of the same hue origi-

Biintins immediately behind the intermediate eyes of the anterior

_ row, the four lines presenting the form of a small anchor; on

ach side of the medial line of the posterior part of the cephalo-

thorax there are several short, oblique, yellowish brown streaks,

“and the lateral and frontal margins are yellowish white. Falces

“short, subconical, vertical, and yellowish brown in front, except

at the base, which, with the outer side, is dark brown. Maxillze

sibbous at the base, inclined towards the lip, convergent at the

extremities, and of a pale yellowish brown colour. Lip oval,

‘dark brown, with a yellowish tinge at the apex. Sternum heart-

shaped ; it is of a yellowish brown colour, the lateral margins

and an obscure, narrow, longitudinal line in the middle being

‘dark brown. Legs long, moderately robust, provided with a few

essile spines ; they are of a yellowish brown colour, with spots

and longitudinal streaks of dark brown ; the second pair is the

longest, then the first, and the fourth pair is the shortest ; each

‘tarsus is terminated by two curved claws, and has a climbing

apparatus on its under side. The palpi are short and resemble

the legs in colour. Eyes disposed on the anterior part of the

‘cephalo-thorax in two curved, transverse rows, forming a crescent

whose convexity is directed forwards ; the lateral eyes of each row

ere seated on distinct prominences, and the intermediate eyes of

the anterior row, which are nearer to each other than those of

the posterior row, are rather the smallest of the eight. Abdomen

somewhat depressed, broader in the posterior than in the an-

terior region, but rather pointed at the spinners, projecting a

little over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; on the upper part and

sides it is of a dark olive-brown colour, spotted with numerous

‘irregular, yellowish white spots; those on the sides are the

largest, several small ones, forming a row immediately above the

“spinners, being angular, with their vertices directed forwards ;

the under part is yellowish white, three brown bands extend-

ing along the middle and uniting in a point at the base of the

inferior pair of spinners; the sexual organs are of a deep reddish

brown colour.

This interesting Philodromus was captured at Interlacken in

June.

: Family Drassip.

Genus Drassus, Walck.

5. Drassus reticulatus.

Length of the female, not including the spinners, 2ths of an

inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax 4; breadth 4; breadth of the

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 7

98 Mr.J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea: —

abdomen 7 3 length of a posterior leg +4; length of a leg of the

third pair 5%. iy pall

The eyes are round, and are disposed on the anterior part of

the cephalo-thorax in two nearly parallel, transverse rows; the

posterior row is rather the longer, and the intermediate eyes

which are the smallest, aud nearer to each other than they arerk

the lateral eyes of the same row, form a square with the i =

mediate eyes of the anterior row, which are much the larmestal »

the eight and black, all the others being diaphanous. Cephalon

thorax oval,’ convex, pointed before, and thinly covered y

hairs : niaxillce long, convex at the base, depressed near »

middle, enlarged at the extremity, which is obliquely truncate d

on the inner side and curved towards the lip, whieh is long,

oval, and rounded at the apex: sternum oval, broader in the. DOS=

terior than in the anterior region, and supplied with hairs, which |

are densest on the margins: legs robust, moderately hairy, nd

provided with a few sessile spines ; the fourth pair is the longest, —

the first slightly surpasses the second, and the third. pair is th J

shortest ; each tarsus is provided. with hair-like papill on the —

under side, and has two curved, pectinated claws at its ext: mi |

mity. These parts, with the palpi, are of a yellowish brown ©

colour, the digital joint of the latter and the lip being 1

darkest. The falces are powerful, conical, armed with one or tw

very minute teeth on the inner surface, slightly prominent A

of a red-brown hue. Abdomen of an elongated oviform fi oa

projecting a little over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; it. is sp :

ringly clothed with short whitish hairs, and is of a pale olive-

brown colour, reticulated with fine, dull, yellowish white lined

the sexual organs are minute and reddish brown; and the spir

porn are prominent, cylindrical, and of a pale yellowish bent

colour. oe |

The spider from which the foregoing description was made

was captured in August near Lancaster. it

Family Linyruripa. dl

Genus Linyphia, Latr.

6. Linyphia pernia.

Length of the male zioth of an inch; length of the cophalil

thorax 3';; breadth ,; breadth of the abdomen 25 leengehl of

an anterior leg 4+; length of a leg of the third pair 4. wot

Falces long, powerful, subconical, with a protuberance at tl

base, in front, and a few teeth on the inner surface ; they are in.

clined towards the sternum, and are of a reddish brown colour

Maxille rather darker-coloured than the falces, straight, nd

somewhat enlarged at the extremity, which is curvilinear at

Mr. J. Blackwall on newly discovered species of Araneidea, 99

exterior angle. Lip semicircular, prominent at the apex, and,

like the sternum, which is heart-shaped, of a very dark brown

lour. Cephalo-thorax oval, convex, glossy, with an indentation

| the medial line of the posterior region, and some coarse hairs,

irected forwards, behind the eyes; its colour is dark brown.

yes disposed on black spots on the anterior part of the cephalo-

orax ; the four intermediate ones form a trapezoid whose ante-

r side'is the shortest, and those of each lateral pair are seated

obliquely on a protuberance and are nearly contiguous; the an-

rior eyes of the trapezoid are the smallest of the eight. Legs

long, slender, provided with hairs and spines, and of a red colour ;

the first pair is the longest, then the second, and the third pair

is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws ; the

_two superior ones are curved and minutely pectinated, and the

inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi are short, and

resemble the legs in colour, with the exception of the digital

_ joint, which is dark brown ; the radial joint is stronger than the

ital, and has some long hairs in front; the digital joint is

ewhat oval, having a large lobe on the outer side, near its

ise; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, compri-

ng the palpai organs, which are highly developed, complicated

structure, with a broad, compressed, curved. process projecting

arly at right angles from their base, on the outer side, and are

»a dark reddish brown colour. Abdomen oviform, very spa~

ringly supplied with short hairs, convex above, projecting over

the base of the cephalo-thorax ; it is of a yellowish brown colour

on the upper part and sides, a series of black angular lines,

_whose indistinct vertices are directed forwards, extending along

_the middle of the former ; the extremities of the anterior lines of

the series are much the most strongly marked, and a small yel-

lowish white spot occurs immediately above the spinners; the

under part is of a pale brown colour.

| This species was found among juniper bushes at Southgate in

| May. ;

) Family Epittripz.

Genus Epéira, Walck.

7. Epéira calva.

Length of the female ith of an inch; length of the cephalo-

horax ;',; breadth ;4,; breadth of the abdomen ;4,; length of

‘an anterior leg 3; length of a leg of the third pair 5.

Eyes disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax ; the

ur intermediate ones are placed on a black prominence and

: ribe a quadrilateral figure, whose anterior side is the shortest ;

_ those of each lateral pair are seated on a small black tubercle and

100 Mr, R. McAndrew on the Mollusca observed during a

are almost in contact; the posterior eyes of the quadrilateral —

figure are the largest, and the anterior ones are the smallest of —

the eight. Cephalo-thorax rounded on the sides, compressed —

before, elevated and convex in the cephalic region, depressed be-

hind, glossy, and of a very dark brown colour, with a broad

band in the middle, which decreases in breadth to its posterior

extremity where it is yellowish white, the anterior part bei

yellowish brown. Falces powerful, conical, vertical, armed wi

teeth on the inner surface, and of a reddish brown colour, the —

base being the darkest. Maxille short, straight, enlarged and

rounded at the extremity : lip semicircular, but somewhat pointed

These parts are of a very dark brown colour, their extremit

being faintly tinged with red. Sternum heart-shaped, with small

prominences on the sides, opposite to the insertion of the ak 4

its colour is brownish black. Legs moderately long, provi ed. :

with hairs and a few fine spines; they are of a yellowish brown

colour, the femora being marked with brown longitudinal streaks ; —

the first pair is the longest, then the second, and the third pair ©

is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by the customary ~

number of claws of the usual structure. The palpi are short and ©

of a yellowish brown colour, the radial and digital joints being ©

the darkest. Abdomen oviform, convex above, projecting greatly ©

over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a pale vallowisil |

brown colour on the upper part, and is marked with four minute ©

brown spots which form a quadrilateral figure whose anterior. 7

side is the shortest ; a narrow, irregular, dark brown line extends ©

along each side, from the anterior part, more than two-thirds of ©

its length, and contiguous to the inferior margin of these lines, ©

which are most distinct at their extremities, there is a parallel

band of yellowish white ; the sides are dark brown freckled with”

paler brown, and the under part is brownish black, bounded ©

laterally by a yellowish white band extending from the anterior

extremity beyond the spinners; the sexual organs are almost —

concealed by a scale-like process situated on each side of them. —

The specimen of Epéira calva described above was taken im_

June at Interlacken. 1

XI.—WNote of the Mollusca observed during a short visit to t e

Canary and Madeira Islands, &c., in the months of April and

May 1852. By R. MtAnprew, F.L.S.

On the 12th of March I sailed from Liverpool in a small yacht,

on a voyage undertaken to benefit the health of some members:

of my family. We reached Lisbon after a boisterous navigati

of ten days passed without any occurrence worthy of note, a

short visit to the Canary and Madeira Islands, §e. 101

were afterwards, by a continuance of bad weather, detained in

port till the end of the month. In addition to the species of land

shells previously met with by me in the neighbourhood of Lisbon,

such as Helix porentina, H. barbula, &c., 1 obtained a Pupa the

size of P. secalina, and a Testacellus. The weather only once

rmitted of my attempting to dredge, when I tried in deep

ater towards the south side of the Tagus, but got very little of

ything. Nassa scalariformis was the only addition to my pre-

ous list from the locality. Cymba Olla is sold in the market

Lisbon, and doubtless eaten by the natives. We set sail from

sbon on the 1st of April, and almost immediately after passing

e bar, began to observe numerous marine animals, such as

ellelle, Salpe (in chains), Portuguese men-of-war, &c. In

at. 34°, and about fifty or sixty miles from the nearest land, a

Loligo was brought on board by the patent log:—a similar cir-

-cumstance occurred on another occasion further north, and at a

Il greater distance from land.

5th April.—Dredged two hauls at eight miles from the shore,

off Mogador, depth 35 to 40 fathoms, bottom fine sand and

mud.

Obtained twenty-two species of shells, all known inhabitants

of the British seas, with the exception of the six following, viz.

a Tellina, Venus undescribed, but previously dredged by me in

Gibraltar Bay, Dentalium dentalis, Buccinum modestum, Ringui-

_ cula auriculata, and a Natica, species not ascertained. One of

_ the species (Venus striatula) would hardly have been looked for

| so far south.

_ We spent two days in the port of Mogador, during which a

strong wind with a heavy surf coming into the harbour rendered

landing inconvenient, and dredging all but impracticable; I

managed however to work a little under the lee of the island

which forms the harbour, by going very early each morning be-

_ fore the breeze freshened up. I had no opportunity of examining

_ the shore of the main land—indeed only landed there once, but

the country in the vicinity of the town was far from inviting—

presenting nothing but bare sand, rising behind into hills topped

with a shrubby vegetation. The island, on the contrary, at the

_ time of our visit was covered with a perfect carpet of flowers.

“The only land shells I could find there were—

Helix lactea. Bulimus decollatus.

aspersa. acutus.

_ pisana (the most abundant). pyramidatus.

A Caracolla (white with pink in-

side).

| Of marine shells, between what were collected on the shore’

102 Mr. R. MeAndrew:oh the Mollusoa observed diring a

and those dredged, I got ninety-eight species ; of which fifty-four”

are common to the British seas, ninety are known to inhabit the”

Mediterranean, one (Psammobia rugosa) the south coast of Por-

tugal, one (a Kellia or Galeomma, but genus not ascertained) the

coasts of Algarve and Asturias, one (Marginella glabella) 7

and the Canaries, five (two small Marginelle, a Chiton, a Bue

cinum, and Mitra zebrina) I met with in the Canaries, and one ( 2

Turbo) is new to me. 785 ina

Laminaria ave as abundantly developed in Mogador he

as on our own coasts, the prevailing species apparently idatkte al

with the common tangle, but of a paler colour ; numerous Sf ecl-

mens of Patella pellucida ave found upon it. a |

Two days’ sail from Mogador brought us to Laneeveles a one

the Canaries. Among these islands we spent exactly a month |

which allowed time for only a partial examination of a sme L

portion of the coasts of Lancerote, Grand Canary and Teneriffe, ©

and I appropriated a full fortnight tothe latter island. I have

reason to think that Fuerteventura, and the smaller islands | 0:

Graciosa, Alegranza, and Monte Claro, which I did not visit '

would have furnished results of greater interest. |

The marine Mollusca described in the costly work of Webb D

and Berthelot on the Natural History of the Canaries, comprise

188 species, of which eight are Cuttle-fishes, and six naked Mola

lusca, leaving 124 species of marine shells, of which a list y

furnished to me by my friend Prof. Edw. Forbes. Of these I did

not succeed in taking 4

Argonauta Argo. Scissurella Berthelotii.

Planaxis leevigata. Mytilus elongatus.

Conus betulinus, Prometheus and Arca Noe.

guinaicus. Cardium costulatum.

Cymba Neptuni, porcina-and pro- Cardita corbis.

boscidalis. Crassatella divaricata.

Marginella lineata. Lutraria rugosa.

Cassis flammea and testiculus. Mitra ebenea.

Cerithium nodulosum. Trochus, two or three species

Murex trunculus. doubtful.

But as several of these are known African shells, and were re-

ceived from fishermen, it is possible that some may have been

obtained from the coast of Africa, the great Canarian fishin

ground.

Of six species of Hyalzea I only procured three.

Of five species of Cleodora I only procured three.

Of two species of Atalanta I only procured one. ett

Several of the species I have obtained are either new or not

identified ; but when they are all worked out and named, I reckon

that my list of shells of the Canaries will include ahout 260 to

short visit to the Canary and Madeira Islands, &c. 103

270 species, of which 100 are enumerated in the work referred

to, and 160 or 170 are new to the fauna of the district.

List of Shells procured in the Canary Islands.

Species.

. arctica.

. irus.

. nucleus.

cuspidata and costulata.

obtusa, rostrata?

phaseolina, pubescens.

candidus, coarctatus.

mediterranea.

vespertina, costulata, ferroensis.

depressa, distorta, balaustina, serrata.

anatinus ?

castanea.

subtruncata ?, stultorum.

.. chione, one new ?, one undescribed.

verrucosa, casina, and one?

minima.

. incrassata, compressa ?, triangularis.

. calyculata.

echinatum, rusticum, papillosum, leevi-

gatum, fasciatum, and one?

. Adansoni, leucoma, flexuosa, divaricata,

pecten, spinifera, transversa ?, and one

(minute).

. rotundata, apicalis.

rubra?, suborbicularis.

tulipa, and one (costulata of W. & B., -

but nearer M. petagnee of Scacchi ;

inhabits masses of nullipore, pre-

serving its communication with the

external world by means of a trumpet-

shaped prolongation of the epider-

mis).

.. Yhombea, marmorata.

. gryphoides.

-- lactea, tetragona, antiquata, imbricata.

. glycimeris.

. tarentina.

. Tustica,

. Squamosa, hians, subauriculata.

Jacobzeus or maximus, opercularis?, co-

rallinoides, pusio, pes felis, gibbus,

and another,

oe ee ee

— HM WwWNe ee ROR NNNN Ke eee

or iw}

ie 0)

bo bb

Owen — he tO

104 Mr, R.M*Andrew on the Mollusca observed during a

Patella

Dentalium ..

Umbrella. .

*Lottia ....

Calyptrea ..

Vissenclix ‘

Emarginula . .

Haliotis ....

Trochus ....

Monodonta . .

Solarium ..

Bifrontia ....

Phasianella ..

Ianthina ...

Littorina....

Bisson...

Jeffreysia....

Skenea......

Turritella. .

Cecum ...

Cerithium

Scalaria

Stilifer......

Chemnitzia ..

Odostomia ..

Eulimelia. .

Truncatella . .

Natica ..

Species.

12 or 1

— OD Deb

.. not identified.

. trispinosa, and two others.

. fascicularis, canariensis, and two oftical

: a reticulata ?

. *luteum, and another.

* striata, affinis, neritea.

. vulgatum, fuscatum, per lim a

Viegas BETES, ie 4

truncata, and three not deren

crenata, guttata, Lowei, and ie q

dentalis, rubescens, and one undasceay

(small).

vulgaris.

reticulata, gibba.

tuberculatus. E385

exiguus, striatus, magus, connie

nulatus, ziziphinus, errr cites

or six species not identified.

Berthelotii.

zanclea.

. Tugosus, and another? rte

. pullus. Ee ea

fragilis, and one (small). ‘ te) a

canariensis, costata, parva?, purpure »

elata?, textilis?, striata?, ape

and about six species not i ontitiedd

triplicata.

and another.

nata, aeacaiae a and five not | ic

tified. SS

distorta, nitida’, and one.

rufa, a er pusilla?, iz

stincta?, and one undescribed. _

conoidalis, ‘and four or five. ae

scille. as,

porcellana, millepunctata, sericea, bics 4

losa?, and another.

Species.

1 or 2

Cerithiopsis 1

]

eet ses 4 or 5

as waats 7

1°

pura 3

elit 4

9 or 10

- Pleurotoma 2

ar as 4

Columbella 2or 3

CORUS... 60s 2

Cypreea .. 6

Sieh ty 1

Marginella . 5

; '

pegs: 2

2 or 3

Pe 1

aera 1

3 or 4

oe 1

: 1

_ short visit to the Canary and Madeira Islands. &c, 105

(marine) viridis. -

tuberculatus.

abbreviata? of W. §& B. = levigata,

Lam.’

corallinus, Edwardsii, * Brandaris, *sax-

atilis, and one or two of doubtful

generic position.

heemastoma, viveratoides, and one?

minus, and one new?

. reticulata, incrassata, mutabilis, varia-

bilis, canariensis, prismatica, scalari-

formis ?

. *perdix, and fragments of species not

identified.

. senegalensis.

maroccanus, rostratus, pulchellus.

.. nodiferum, pileare, cutaceum ?, and one.

. purpurea, Lefroyii, striolata, Vauque-

lina, lineata, Ginniniana, gracilis,

teres, and one or two more.

.. elegans, balteata.

. columbellaria, nigra, zebrina, littoralis ?

rustica, cribrella, and another ?

. mediterraneus, papilionaceus.

. spurea, *lurida, pyrum, *moneta, pu-

lex ?, candidula ?

spelta?

a glabella, guancha, and three others.

cylindracea, truncata, mammillata, one

undescribed, and one new?

ampulla, hydatis.

hybrida, and one or two (large).

Peronii.

. canariensis, &c.

In the foregoing list the species marked * were not found. by

yself, but given to me as native; those mentioned as “ unde-

scribed ” I had previously obtained in the Mediterranean.

It is to be remarked that the genera Nucleus and Leda are not

| represented in the Canary or Madeira Islands.

106 Mr, R.M¢Andrew on the Mollusea observed during a

Marginella glabella and] are common in Lancerote and Grand Ca- —

Conus mediterraneus - nary, but were not observed in the more

westerly island of Teneriffe. ai ies

Of land and freshwater shells fifty-seven are enumerated it in the

work already referred to ;—of these I did not procure above half;

they are generally of a peculiar and interesting character.

Of Vitrina I believe there are two species ; one of them, the

smaller, found under stones in dry situations; the other I met

with living in moist wood of laurel-trees not far from La |

An adult specimen of the animal measured fully 14 inch in —

length when living. In the same locality I found dead avery? |

thin, pellucid shell of a green colour, and carinated like a Cara-—

colla. It differs from any that I am acquainted with. Se

On our way from Teneriffe to Madeira we landed for som

hours on the Great Salvage, an island of about a mile in exten

in either direction, uninhabited, except for a few weeks in th

year, when it is visited for the collection of barilla, feathers, &e.

We found upon it a few goats, and rabbits in vast abundance

so that our people were able to catch some in their hands; also

sea fowl, which quietly allowed themselves to be taken from under

the ledges of rock, and innumerable lizards. After diligent search —

I could only find one species of land mollusk, a snail allied to”

Helix pisana, but apparently distinct from it. On the rocks a

the shore were Littorina striata, three or four species of Patella,

and a Trochus, all of large size, and in great abundance. a

16th May.—Arrived at Madeira: dredged three times -

Funchal roads and once in the bay of Porto Santo : obtained —

Species. rete

Gastrocheena . 1

Saxicava’.... 1 .. arctica.

Venerupis . 1 . irus.

Neewra ..'.... 2 .. costulata, cuspidata.

Poromya.... 1 .. granulata.

Lyonsia .... 1 .. striata. anne

fy ee 1 .. phaseolina. bee

Solecurtus .. 2 ~.. eandidus, coarctatus. aT

Tellina,..... 5 . depressa, distorta, donacilla, balausti ‘in:

and another. a0

Psammobia . . 1 .. costulata.

Ervillia .... 1 .. castanea,

Cytherea .... 2 .. ¢Chione, and one undescribed.

Venus ...... 2 -. verrucosa and casina.

fee. cs. 1 .. minima. 4

Cardium .... 5 .. echinatum, rusticum, Petites levi-

; gatum, and another ?

Cardita .... 1 -. calyculata.

Lucina .... 4 .. Spinifera, divaricata, pecten, andaetlal

Species.

eee ee

7 ee 0& S

Oe wee et ee DO

ONE ee eee RO RH

—

_ Bifrontia sks 1 ee

: Tanthina ..

- Mangelia.. 5 or 6

| 2 ;

ices) Vera

| =

short visit to the Canary and Madeira Islands, &c. 107

. rotundata, apicalis.

rubra.

. tetragona.

glycimeris.

tarentina.

squamosa.

maximus or Jacobzeus, pusio, similis,

coralloides, polymorphus, pes felis,

opercularis ’, gibbus, and another.

. tridentata, trispinosa, and two others.

vulgaris.

reticulata.

crenulatus, leevigatus, ziziphinus, ma-

gus, and another.

zancleea (operculum pyramidal, gra-

duated).

, communis, and two others.

. undescribed.

Murex 4% .. corallinus, Edwardsii, and cristatus.

Cassis .. . sulecosa.

Buccinum minus.

. prismatica, incrassata, variabilis.

3 =

mieurbo .,.... 1 .. Tugosus.

_ Phasianella .. 1 .. pulla.

> mussoa..... . 4or5d .. violacea, cimex, and two or three.

| Cerithium .. 3 . lima, adversum, and another.

Turritella .. 1 new ? and one undescribed.

| Sealaria .... 3or4 Turtoni, cochlea, and one or two others.

Eulima 3 . subulata, nitida, and one other.

Chemnitzia .. 3 . rufa, and two others.

Eulimella 1 . scillee.

Natica...... 2 .. porcellana?, and another.

Neritina ] . viridis.

]

. teres, nana, Vauquelina, Ginniniana, and

one or two others.

zebrina, littoralis ?

pulex, candidula ?

rustica, and one other ?

guancha ?

auriculata.

108 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

Species.

Cylichna .... 3 .. cylindracea, and two others... -

Amphispira. . ] .. hyalina.

Philine 1 .. aperta.

Spatangus 1

Asterias .. ]

Ditrupa .. 1

Of the foregoing species (about 125) 58 inhabit Britain, 98 |

100 the Mediterranean or coasts of Portugal (including all the —

British species) ; of those remaining, 16 are common to the Ca- —

naries, 1 (a Tellina) to Mogador, leaving 3 species of Rissoa, 2 of

Emarginula, 1 of Scalaria, 2 of Argiope, and 1 of Tae

posed to be new. id coke

The land shells of these islands having been well. noche

by other parties, it is unnecessary to say anything upon them.

I was much struck by their great abundance in the Dezertas and

Porto Santo. eas ot

Beaumaris, July 5, 1852.

XII.—On some genera of the Icacinacer. By Joun Mens, 5 - |

Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. doh sean

[Continued from p. 44.]

PLATEA.

In commenting upon the genera of the Icacinacee, I have fre- —

quently spoken of Phlebocalymna, a manuscript name proposed —

by Mr. Griffiths for a plant collected by him in the Malacca ~

Peninsula, but as I am unable to discover that any of its cha-_

racters are appreciably distinct from the Platea of Blume, the ©

former must necessarily merge into the latter genus, which was —

- first established by that distinguished botanist in his ‘ Bijdra-—

gen,’ and more lately recorded in his ‘Mus. Bot. Lugd.,’ —

where he enumerates another new species. In describing the |

characters of Stemonurus, I have stated (anée, p. 32), that the

chief or perhaps only feature that can distinguish Platea, is the -

absence of the glandular hairs, that form a beautifully fring ed

crest over the anthers in the former genus, and as this was —

believed only to be a sexual difference, 1 had considered Plated qa

as identical with Stemonurus. In the former, as also occurs in

many species of the latter genus, the filaments are said by Blume -

to be short and broad (whence probably the generic name from —

wareia, amplus), while in Phlebocalymna, although when in bud —

they are short and broad at base, they become afterwards long and —

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez. 109

linear: the differences in regard to their relative length and breadth

_are probably only specific, as we find them to occur in Stemonurus.

_ After desiccation, the flowers of Phlebocalymna appear of an orange

colour, which is probably retained from the living state; they

are somewhat more transparent and agglutinated at their edges

than in Stemonurus, the calyx is more distinctly 5-lobed, and the

segments are imbricated in estivation, a feature also recorded by

Blamein his character of Platea: in Griffiths’s plant from Mergui,

_ the calyx is furnished at its base, at the point of its articulation

with the pedicel, with a distinct bract. In this plant, and in

_ another from Moulmein, the flowers are axillary, and almost fas-

eiculated in a very short raceme, but in Cuming’s plant from

- Manilla, the inflorescence is in a spreading panicle, with numerous

_ flowers upon lengthened pedicels. Blume, in his generic cha-

_ racter of Platea, states that the flowers are dicecious, and that in

- the female flowers the corolla and stamens are altogether wanting.

_ The same might almost be said of several species of Stemonurus,

for as soon as the fertility of the ovarium is clearly discernible,

_ the petals and stamens will be found to have fallen off, and from

analogy we may safely conclude the same to have occurred in

_ Platea. Mr. Griffiths in his manuscript note on Phlebocalymna

says, “ genus novum Icacinearum, familia singularis ob albumen

in lobos divaricatos et tegumen seminis vasculosissimum :” this

remark can hardly apply to his proposed genus, of which it does

not appear that he had seen the seed, and it is more than pro-

bable that the allusion was made to Bursinopetalum, a genus

placed by Dr. Wight (Icon. tab. 956) in the Olacacee, of which

the Icacinee had been universally held to be a tribe: in that

genus, by the growth of the placentary column of the abortive

cells, and its protrusion into the cavity of the fertile cell, the

_ albumen becomes hippocrepically folded, and somewhat divided

- into two lobes, in the manner clearly demonstrated in the figure .

_ referred to. I have elsewhere shown that Bursinopetalum belongs

_ to the Aquifoliacez. Blume in his ‘ Mus. Bot. Lugd.’ gives a

_ new generic character of Platea: this will require some modifica-

tion, if we include in it Phlebocalymna, and with this view I

now offer the following diagnosis :—

- Prarea, Blume. Phlebocalymna, Griffiths.—Flores hermaphro-

diti vel seepissime abortu polygami: an unquam vere dioici?

Calyx brevissimus, cupularis, 5-dentatus, dentibus in preeflora-

-tionem imbricatis, persistens, sed non augescens. Petala 5,

- linearia, carnosula, estivatione valvata, apice propendenti in-

. flexo, marginibus rorido-glandulosis, imo in tubum laxe ad-

herentibus, e medio libera et. reflexa, in flor. fem. fertil. cito

decidua. Stamina 5, cum petalis inserta, iisdem alterna, fila-

110 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez.

menta interdum brevia, sepe petalis fere equilonga, linearia,

compressa, imo cum petalis laxe adhzrentia: anthere ovato=

oblong, basi breviter bifide, dorso affixze, 4-loculares, 2-lobze,

lobis singulatim 2-locellatis, demum septicidis, et longitudina=

liter evolutim dehiscentibus. Pollen globosum, reticulatum. —

Ovarium sterile disco 5-gono 10-striato piloso immersum ; fer=

tile liberum, conicum, pilosulum, disco annulari glabro imsitum,

abortu 1-loculare, ovula 2 juxta apicem loculi subcollateraliter

suspensa. Stylus brevis, sulcatus, pilosus, dentibus 3 stig-—

matosis erectis terminatus, demum in discum magnum sessile ~

pulviniforme fructus coronans auctus. Drupa baceata, mono-

pyrena, putamen oblongum, lignosum, angulato-rugosum, ~

1-spermum. Semen stru¢cturam Stemonuri emulans?—Arbores —|

Asie tropice, folia elliptica, coriacea, glaberrima, vel juniora ~

interdum subtus lepidota, breviter petiolata, flores perpauci in

cymas vel racemos breves axillares dispositi, interdum fasciculati, |

sicce aurantiact: fructus atio-purpureus. al od To ae

1. Platea excelsa, Bl. Bijdr. 646 ;—arbor 80-100 ped., fc i

oblongo-lanceolatis, acuminatis, integerrimis, subtus cinereo-

virentibus.—Java. nal

2. Platea latifolia, Bl. Bijdr. 646 ;—arbor 40-G60-ped., foliis

ovalibus, acuminatis, basi parum attenuatis, integerrimis,”

costatis, subtus griseo-lepidotis.—Java. iio arog

{. 2) }. a

8. Platea Sumatrana, Bl. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 249 ;—foliis e—

basi obtusata vel rotundata elliptico-oblongis, acuminatis, sub-

coriaceis, venosis, subtus cinereo-virescentibus.—Sumatra. _

4. Platea Griffithiana, n. sp. ;—ramulis substriatis, subrugosis,

foliis oblongo-ovatis, e medio inferne paullo angustioribus, —

apice obtusiusculo breviter ac lineari-angustatis, coriaceis,

utrinque pallidis et concoloribus, nervis inferne prominentibus, —

margine revoluto, petiolo brevi, canaliculato, racemo axi |

petiolo vix longiori, pedunculo pedicellisque aspero-pilosu

floribus cum pedicellis articulatis, et hine bracteatis; cal

glabri lobis ciliatis, petalis carnosulis, glabris, filamentis |

aribus, compressis, imo latioribus, ovario brevissimo, steril

disco pentagono immerso, stylo conico, piloso, dentibus tribus

stigmatosis pube celatis—Mergui.—v. s. in herb. Lindl. et”

Hook. (Griffiths, 849). Beet:

The leaves are 53 inches long, nearly 3 inches broad, on a

deeply channelled petiole 4-5 lines in length; the raceme is

about 7 lines long, few-flowered; the lobes of the calyx are di-

stinctly imbricated ; the petals conjoin by their margins in a

tubular form, leaving the upper portion free and reflexed; the ©

easily separated, they are narrow, linear, compressed, and three-

- fourths of the length of the petals; the anthers are filled with

lien. :

fii

5. Platea Lobbiana, n. sp.;—ramulis angulatis; foliis ellipticis

imo subacutis, apice obtusiusculo subito attenuatis, glaber-

__-rimis, coriaceis, supra lucidis, utrinque pallidis et concolo-

_ribus, costa supra sulcatis, nervis utrinque prominulis, venis

| immersis, margine valde revolutis, pagina inferiori minute

| eavo-punctatis, petiolo brevi, tereti, flavescenti, transverse ru-

| goso, superne paullo canaliculato ; racemo brevissimo, axillari,

-_ petiolo vix longiori, floribus subfasciculatis, sicce aurantiacis,

_ hermaphroditis, calyce piloso, petalis linearibus, glabris ; ovario

_ piloso, ovuligero, disco annulari glabro insito.—Moulmein. —

|v. 8. in herb. Hook. et Lindl. (Lobb, 385).

_ The leaves in this species are 44 to 5% inches long, and 13 to

_ 22 inches broad, on a rather slender terete petiole about + inch

in length: the flowers are hermaphrodite; the lobes of the

calyx are imbricated; the petals adhere by their margins in a

' tubular form, leaving the upper portions free and reflexed ; the

_ filaments for half their length cohere to the petals, but are easily

- separated, they are narrow, linear and compressed, nearly the

length of the petals ; the pollen is globular and reticulated ; the

style is hollow, terminated by three erect obtuse teeth ; the ova-

_rium is conical, hairy, seated on an annular glabrous disk ; it is

-l-celled, with two ovules collaterally suspended from near the

~ summit of the cell.

6. Platea Wightiana. Gomphandra polymorpha, var. Wight,

_ Icon. tab. 933 ;—foliis oblongis, apice obtusiusculo repente

_ attenuatis, glabris; panicula axillari, divaricatim dichotomo-

‘ramosa, folio 4-plo breviori, floribus aggregatis, staminibus

_ exsertis, filamentis lmearibus, apice latioribus.—Coonoor in

_ Mont. Nielgherrensibus.

_ This is the plant to which I alluded when speaking of Ste-

_ monurus (ante, p. 37): although figured as the male plant of

_ Gomphandra polymorpha, it would seem to be hermaphrodite, for

| the ovarium, as shown in the section given in fig. 6, is repre-

_ sented as ovuligerous.

7%. Platea laxiflora, olim Stemonurus laxiflorus, n. sp. ;—ramis

_ flexuosis, nodosis, ramulis teretibus, subglabris, rugoso-stri-

_ atis; foliis oblongis, utrinque acutiusculis, apice repente atte-

_ nuatis, utrmque glabris et concoloribus, venis subtus promi-

112 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez.

geminis, axillaribus, 3-chotomo-ramosis, et laxe divarie

pedunculis pedicellisque gracilibus parce pubescentibus, caly

corollaque glabris.—Ins. Philip.—v. s. in herb. Hook. et.

(Cuming, 891). ie OSB

The leaves are about 53 inches long and 13 inch broad

petiole 5 lines in length; the panicles are about 13 inch

the peduncle and its widely spreading branchlets hemg

slender, and nearly glabrous; the persistent calyx is sn

with five small teeth ; the petals are linear and thin in tes

these in the greater number of instances, together with th

mens, are wanting, having fallen away, as almost univers

curs in the female flowers of Stemonurus found in herbaria

it is probably owing to this circumstance, that Prof. Blo me,

his generic character of Platea, states that the female flowers

deficient of corolla and stamens. The stamens are the len

of the petals, the filaments being quite free, very compress

and broad at the base, tapering above, thin, and almost mer

branaceous in texture, somewhat inflexed at their summit, wh

they are terete and affixed near the dorsal smus of the ant

which are oblong, 2-lobed, bifid and sagittate at base, an -

ginated at the apex; the lobes are membranaceous, opened by a.

longitudinal fissure, the cells being quite void. The ovarium i

cylindrical, as long as the stamens, and crowned with a

5-lobed pulvinated disk, which is slightly umbilicated i

centre, where a short prominence is seen, this being the

style and stigma: its single cell contains two large sus

ovules. It is worthy of remark, that in all the flowers re

the corolla, I could find no instance in which the petals p

any appearance of opening, so that it is very probable that

together with the stamens, in falling away retain the cylin

cupular form they present in the bud. i

. SARCOSTIGMA. ee

The following observations on the structure and affinities of

Sarcostigma were completed in readiness for the press, when the

last part of the ‘ Plante Javanicee Rariores’ made its appearar

in that important work we are favoured with an interesting

count and an excellent figure of a new species of this’ ge

from Java. The remarks there offered, in regard to the affini

of Sarcostigma, will be seen to be greatly at variance with

own deductions ; and hence it becomes necessary that I she

offer a few explanatory words on the subject. It would be:

sumptuous in me to attempt to contravene the inferences there

deduced by the most profound botanist of our time, showing the

relation which that genus bears to Phytocrene, Nansiatum, and”

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 113

Todes ; but fully acknowledging all that is there affirmed, I may

venture to show, that a yet stronger and much closer extent

of analogy will be found to exist in the structure and deve-

lopment of the floral parts, as well as a greater approximation

in habit, to what we find in Stemonurus and Pennantia. From

ty the facts shown below, it will be seen that Sarcostigma accords

_ with nearly all the essential characters I have endeavoured to

5 éstablish in the preceding series of memoirs, as the leading fea-

tures of the Icacinacee, viz. trees with alternate, glabrous, coria-

ceous, petiolated, exstipulate leaves; an axillary racemose inflo-

rescence, with small flowers, more or less polygamous, and di-

_ stinctly articulated on a short pedicel; a small cupshaped, per-

sistent calyx supporting the fruit, and unchanging with its

_ growth ; a corolla of four or five fleshy, linear petals, with val-

_ Yate estivation, arising from the hypogynous or stipitated sup-

port of the ovarium; free stamens, equal in number to, and

alternate with the petals ; introrse 2-lobed anthers; an ovarium

_ presenting a similar form, the same internal structure, and the

subsequent development of that seen in Stemonurus and Pen-

nantia, and a fruit, in all appearance, closely analogous to that

existing in those genera. Hence it seems evident from the facts

here shown, that wherever Pennantia, Stemonurus, and Platea

are placed in the system, Sarcostigma should follow in juxta-

position with them, unless the evidence now wanting, of the

structure of its seed, should tend to a different location. If

therefore Sarcostigma be found to hold a relation with the Phy-

_ tocrenee, the questions will naturally arise, whether this hitherto

dubious family should not be brought into a more proximate

toe in the system with the Icacinacee, or whether I have

_ been in error in referring the genus under consideration to the

latter family. The group of the Phytocrenee was first proposed

_by Endlicher as a suborder of the Menispermacee, a family with

which they hold little relationship. Prof. DeCaisne, if I mistake

not, first pointed out the identity of Phytocrene with the Gyno-

cephaia of Blume, a genus placed among the Artocarpacee : hence

_Phytocrene and Nansiatum were removed by Prof. Lindley and

other botanists to that family. This conclusion appears to me

to have been too hastily drawn, for the Artocarpacee differ from

them essentially in their stipular leaves, the presence of only a

single floral envelope, which is often imperfect or altogether

‘wanting, in their having fewer stamens than the number of the

lobes of its perianthium, in their bifid style, which is often

basilar, in their ovarium, with only a pi suspended ovule,

which is amphitropal or orthotropal, and an exalbuminous seed,

often erect, though sometimes pendulous, with a thickened testa,

‘aad thick, fleshy cotyledons, often unequal in size. Phytocrene is

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 8

ie.

“4

114 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the leacinacez.

very different in habit from any of the Artocarpacea, having ex- —

‘stipulate leaves, flowers with a regular and symmetrical calyx

and corolla, stamens equal in number to the petals, an ovarium ~

with two anatropal ovules, suspended from the summit of the

cell, and a seed with a considerable quantity of albumen, en-

closing an embryo with large foliaceous cotyledons, and a small

inferior radicle. In regard to the structure of the seed of Phyto-

crene, our evidence is yet quite uncertain. Prof. Lindley (Veget.

Kingd. p. 274) describes and figures an albumen of a very gra-

nular, or rather ruminated texture, enclosing two large foliaceous

cotyledons, with a very small inferior radicle ; and Mr. Brown, in

his generic character, greatly confirms this view, by stating it~

to possess an embryo with large foliaceous cotyledons, enclosed” |

in albumen. Prof. Blume, on the contrary (Mus. Bot. Lugd

Bat. p. 41. tab. 7), describes and figures the embryo as being

quite exalbuminous, with large foliaceous crum cotyledon

of a rugosely granular texture, possessing a short superior ra=

dicle: he here acknowledges Phytocrene to be identical with his

Gynocephala, the fruit of which he describes as consisting of an

aggregation of several elongated drupes, upon a fleshy receptacle,

forming a globe as big as a man’s head. It must at the same

time be acknowledged, that the extremely villous habit of Phy-—

tocrene, the peculiar structure of its woody stem, its closely ag-

gregated flowers in globular heads, the membranaceous texturt

of its calyx and corolla, both clothed externally with very dense

long hairs, and its peculiar stamens, present characters to which —

little resemblance can be traced in Sarcostigma. 1 urge these

reflections, however, with extreme hesitation, in deference to the

conclusions of an authority, whose determinations all botanist

will regard with the highest consideration. It is to be regretted

however, that Mr. Brown has not favoured us with his views,

and the reasons on which they are based, in regard to the rea

affinities of the Phytocrenee ; but he says decidedly that Sarco.

stigma, which in his opinion “so obviously belongs to” thi

group, bears no relation to Hernandiacee, to which family tha

genus had originally been referred by Drs. Wight and Arnott

We may, however, infer something more tangible on this poimt

from his admission of “its near relationship” to Pyrenacantha, &

genus with a single floral envelope, and other characters, tha

have led to its position near the Antidesmeea. The genera Phy

tocrene, Nansiatum, and Iodes form a very natural group, pos

sessed of consimilar features, offering constantly a regular caly.

and corolla, divided into segments equal in number to the sta

mens, all alternating with each other in distinct series; the

have therefore every claim to rank among the Dialypetale «

Endlicher ; but this disposition does not exist in Miquelia, a ge

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 115

nus carefully figured and described by Prof. Blume (loc. ante

_citat.), and placed by him and Mr. Brown among the Phyto-

erenee: this genus, with a very different habit, offers only a

‘single floral envelope, with stamens alternate with its segments,

and a l-celled ovarium with two suspended ovules, characters

similar to those of Pyrenacantha, from which it differs in its ex-

_albuminous seeds: these two genera are therefore clearly refer-

able to the Apetale of Endlicher, which are nearly equivalent

_ to the Monochlamydee of DeCandolle. If Sarcostigma then be

related to the Phytocrenee,—an affinity which, if we accept, we

must admit has not yet been demonstrated,—it is clear that it

cannot bear any relation to the two genera before mentioned,

which appear to have been associated with that group upon very

insufficient grounds ; and if, as above indicated, the Phytocrenee

be allowed to rank among the Dialypetale, it appears to me their

position would not be far from the Tiliacee or Dipterocarpee, to

which families they offer many analogous characters: from

_ Prof. Blume’s analysis, they would much resemble the latter in

_ the structure of the seed ; under Prof. Lindley’s view, they would

‘more nearly approach the former.

__ The observations that now follow were written several months

ago, and as they are confined wholly to the description of facts,

there is no occasion to retract anything there advanced in con-

_ sequence of what is said above.

_ The genus Sarcostigma, to which I have alluded (huj. op. ix.

_ p. 223) as belonging to the Sarcostigmea, one of the tribes of the

_ Lcacinacee, was founded in 1832 by Drs. Wight and Arnott, on

an Indian plant collected by Dr. Klein, and described by them in

_ the 14th volume of the ‘Edinburgh New Phil. Journal.’ Like

_ Desmostachys, it is somewhat scandent in its habits, but it has

_ large oblong leaves upon very short petioles, and, as in that ge-

bus, it has an extremely long and slender spicated inflorescence,

_ studded at close intervals with fascicles of small flowers, which

in drying retain their bright yellow colour, and are very deci-

_ duous, being articulated upon very short and almost obsolete

pedicels. The flowers, in the only case I have seen, are all

female, and their stamens, which are sterile, are alternate with

the petals; the internal structure of the ovarium corresponds

_ with the usual character of the order: in the form of its epigy-

nous stigmatoid summit it resembles Stemonurus, and what I

_ have stated concerning the nature of this part in that genus ap-

pears confirmed by the circumstances that occur here : in some

eases this appears like a flat, glabrous, fleshy disk, with a depres-

sion in the centre, as in the following genus Discophora, but it

seems afterwards to attain the form of a somewhat conical um-

_braculiform process, overhanging the ovarium, with a crenated

; Qk

116 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Teacinacew.

margin, and hollow in the centre. This process therefore, as in —

Stemonurus, would seem to be a growth subsequent to the —

period of impregnation: it will be remembered that a somewhat —

analogous succeeding development on the summit of the ovarium

has been described in the case of Apodytes. In the rugous sur-

face of its putamen, as recorded in the manuscript of Dr. Klein, it —

resembles Mappia and Stemonurus. Dr. Vogel collected another —

species, now first described, at Cape Palmas, on the Guinea coast —

of Africa; in its general appearance, the size and shape of its ©

leaves, and in its singularly long, slender, spicated inflorescence, —

it bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Klein’s plant and to that —

from Java, and although all the flowers have fallen off at the ©

articulations with the pedicels, the identity of the genus cannot —

be mistaken. The following generic character has been derived, ©

partly from my own observations as far as the specimen I have

seen has afforded evidence, partly from Dr. Klein’s original notes, ©

and I have since added other features from Mr. Brown’s - de- 4

scription :—

Sarcostiema, W. & A.—Flores polygami. Calyx minimus, —

breviter cupulatus, obtuse 5-dentatus, persistens. Petala 5,

lineari-oblonga, glabra, imo disci stipitati adnata, estivatione e

valvata, sub anthesi patentim reflexa, marcescentia et persis- :

tentia. Stamina 5, cum petalis inserta, iis alterna et equi

longa, in flor. fem. ‘sterilia et subbreviora ; jfilamenta linearia, —

compressa, in sterilibus apice antheris fere obsoletis 2-loba,

(in fertilibus anthere ovales, versatiles, loculis parallelis, ap-~

proximatis, longitudinaliter dehiscentibus, sec. cel. R. Br.). —

Ovarium in flor. masc. parvum, sterile, pubescens, in flor. fem. —

cylindricum ventricosum pubescens, disco seu gynophoro brevi —

tereti stipitatum, 1-loculare ; ovula 2 ex apice loculi subcolla- —

teraliter superposita, podospermio carnosa suspensa : (stylus

brevis crassus et sigma capitatum sec. Kleim): in oyario ado-—

lescente, s¢ty/us nullus, nisi id quod videmus in discum sessilem

stigmoideum umbraculiformem margine-crenatum centro ca-—

vum demum mutatum, et stigma verum centrale proinde obso-—

letum. Drupa oblonga, compressa, monopyrena; puta

rugosum ; cetera ignota.—Frutices Asie meridionalis, Java, e

Africe tropice, subscandentes ; folia majuscula, alterna, bengal

coriacea, glaberrima, breviter petiolata ; racemi longissimi, gra-_

ciles, simpliciter spicati e fasciculis 1—4-floris alternis; flores

minuscult, sicce flavi, cum pedicellis fere obsoletis articulati, e

cito caduci.

1. Sarcostigma Kleinii, W. & A. Edinb. New Phil. Journ. xive

299 ;—subscandens, glaberrima, laxe ramosa, ramulis tere-—

tibus ; foliis oblongis, basi rotundatis vel subacutis, apice ob-

man

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 117

tusiusculo acuminatis, et paullulo attenuatis (junioribus lan-

ceolatis), coriaceis, supra pallidis, venis valde reticulatis pro-

minulis, subtus stramineis, nervis venisque prominentibus,

margine cartilagineo, petiolo subtenui, canaliculato, rugoso ;

_-vacemo gracili, extra-axillari, folio magno multo longiori,

_ floribus 1-4 minusculis, in fasciculis subsessilibus aggregatis,

_ articulatis, calyce pilosulo, drupa ovali, breviter pedicellata.—

_ India Orientalis ad Travancore.—». s. in herb. Hook. (Wight,

943, cum descript. cl. Doct. Klein).

- The branchlets are slender and somewhat scandent ; the leaves

“are of a pallid hue on both sides, but a little more yellow be-

“neath ; they are of a very coriaceous substance, rather polished,

with raised reticulations above, the margins somewhat revolute

and cartilaginous, with the nervures and reticulated vems very

| prominent beneath ; they are 6 to 8 inches long, 2% to 3% inches

__ broad, on a short, deeply channelled petiole half an inch in length,

__ ‘and transversely rugous as in Platea; the raceme arises.from the

side of the stem opposite to that on which the petiole is inserted,

as in some species of Stemonurus; it is about 11 inches long,

very slender, and charged for nearly its whole length with

_ clusters of few flowers, in which the calyx is somewhat pilose,

_ but the petals are quite glabrous, and retain their yellow colour

_ in drying; they are about a line in length. The drupe is sup-

_ ported by its calyx and corolla, both unchanged, withered, and

_ persistent, upon the gynophorus, which is now elongated to a

& poner! of the length of 13 line; it is 11 lines long, and 7 lines

_ broad when dried ; a single drupe alone remains in the specimen

_ referred to. Dr.“Klein in his manuscript note says, that several

_ aggregated lengthened racemes sometimes grow out of the leafless

nodes of the old wood*,

_ 2. Sarcostigma Vogelit, n. sp. ;—suffrutex glaberrimus, ramulis

; teretibus, subrugosis; foliis majusculis, oblongis, utrinque

acuminatis, apice acute et breviter attenuatis, coriaceis, gla-

berrimis, supra pallidis, subtus flavescentibus, nervis venisque

reticulatis et transversis prominentibus, petiolo brevissimo,

canaliculato, rugoso ; racemo spicato, extra-axillari, longissimo,

gracili, floribus subaggregatis, articulatis, caducis ; drupa car-

nosa, rubra, pendula.—Guinea ad Cap. Palmas.—v. s. in herb.

Hook. (Vogel, 25, 27 et 68).

____ This plant was collected in the Niger Expedition by Dr. Vogel,

_ who describes it as a shrub (sérauch): it bears very much the

oe habit and appearance of the former species, but the leaves are

_ _ * A drawing of this plant, with details of the structure of its female

_ flowers, will be given in plate 18 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany,’ &c.

118 Mr.J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

not quite so thick in texture ; they are smooth, somewhat undu-

lating on the margins, 7 to 10 inches long, and 3 to 33 inek es

broad, on a very short, channelled and rugous petiole, about 3

lines in length ; the raceme is distantly extra-axillary, and in-—

serted on the opposite side of the stem, as in the former species ; —

it is 12 or 13 inches long, very slender, slightly pubescent and~

angular at base, for the length of about 3 inches, and in t

yemainder is glabrous and beset with alternate nodules, co

ing of single or aggregated, very short pedicels, left bare by t

falling away of all the articulated flowers. The fruit, accordi

to Dr. Vogel’s notes, is red, fleshy, oval and pendulous, 2

from his rough sketch of a transverse section it would appear

be somewhat compressed and to contain two seeds: if this be

the case, it would bear out a still stronger analogy to the in-

stance I have recorded in Pennantia*. + Ned

3. Sarcostigma Horsfieldii, R. Br. Pl. Jav. Rarior. 241. tab. 47.

—Java. te ade ae

“oe i ie

DiscoPpHora.

The characters that warrant the establishment of this gen

are few, but when taken in conjunction with the peculiar ha

of the plant and the different country of its origin, they serve to”

mark its place. The specimen upon which it is founded is a

native of Guiana, with ovuligerous flowers which are far ad-

vanced, for the petals and stamens are fallen away, leaving only

the calyx and ovarium, which is crowned with a discoid process :

in the internal structure of the ovarium, and the form of its per-

sistent calyx, articulated on its pedicel, it is strictly conformable

with other genera of this family; and in the peltoid disk that

crowns the ovarium it resembles Sarcostigma, Pennantia, and

Stemonurus, all of Asiatic origin ; but in this case this process _

much smaller and somewhat reniform. In one instance I fo d

a single petal remaining, just sufficient to mark its character. As

it cannot be referred to any one of the genera above mentioned,

I propose to call it Discophora, from dicKos, discus, pépw, fero.

The few characters known may be designated in the followin a

manner :— oe

Discornora, gen. nov.—Calyx minimus, brevissime cupuli-

formis, fere integer, obsolete 5-denticulatus, persistens. Pe-

tala 5, linearia, glaberrima, textura tenui, nervo mediano lon-

gitudinali notata, cito caduca. Stamina ignota, mox decidua.

Ovarium liberum, cylindricum, glabrum, 1-loculare; ovula 2,

juxta apicem loculi superposita, podospermio crasso subcolla-

* This plant will be figured in plate 19 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany.’

Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species. 119

teraliter suspensa, anatropa. Stylus cum stigmate confusus,

demum subreniformi-discoideus, parvus, subconcavus. Fructus

___ignotus.—Frutex Guianensis ; folia alterna, oblonga, majuscula,

_ glaberrima, petiolata; racemi azillares, divaricatim ramos;

_ flores parvi, cum pedicellis articulati.

. Discophora Guianensis ;—omnino glaberrima, ramulis tere-

_ tibus, substriatis ; foliis oblongis, utrmque acuminatis, apice

_ lineari-angustatis, coriaceis, supra nitidis, nervis sulcatis,

--venis immersis, subtus fuscis, nervis rubentibus cum venis

transversis prominentibus, punctis minutis resinosis notatis,

_ margine revolutis, petiolo incurvo canaliculato ; racemis axil-

-laribus petiolo 2~3-plo longioribus, dichotome et divaricatim

_ ramosis, pedicellis bracteatis, bractea oblonga obtusa crassi-

- -uscula pubescenti, floribus cum pedicello articulatis.— Deme-

rara.—v. s. in herb. Hook. (Parker).

_ The branches are terete with a smooth bark; the axils are 14

to 2 inches apart ; the leaves are quite smooth, thick, and coria-

ceous, 8 inches long, 2} inches broad, on a petiole of } to 2 inch

in length: a raceme about 1} inch long springs out of each axil,

‘sending out from the base upwards several alternate branches at

“nearly right angles, which are again divided ; the branchlets and

‘pedicels are slightly pubescent and furnished at their base with

a short, obtuse, fleshy bract, covered with short fine hairs; the

ovarium is 4 lines long, 14 line diameter ; the stigmatiferous disk

is about one-third of the diameter of the ovarium ; the calyx and

petals are quite glabrous; the latter are linear, submembranaceous,

‘marked with three parallel nervures, and are of a reddish yellow

-eolour when dry*.

ae,

XIII.— Upon the genus Doliolum and its species.

By Dr. A. Kroun+.

[With a Plate. ]

‘Quoy and Gaimard describe and figure in their work, the ‘ Voy-

age of the Astrolabe’ (p. 599. pl. 89. figs. 25-28), a small cry-

stalline Tunicary not 2 lines long, which they first discovered at

Amboyna, and subsequently found again on the coast of Vani-

coro. For this animal they created a genus, to which they gave

the very appropriate name of Doliolum, placing it in the near

* A representation of this species, with analytical details, will be seen in

late 20 of the ‘ Contributions to Botany.’

_ + Wiegmann’s Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1852. — Translated by

homas H. Huxley, F.R.S., Assistant Surgeon R.N.

120 Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species.

neighbourhood of Salpa. The species was called D. desitcuclotecrg

I am not aware whether this animal has been since examined by ©

other naturalists, although it occurs not unfrequently a BE

Mediterranean. Ons)

Once, on a previous occasion, I found it at Messina ; but in the

course of last spring I took it frequently at Naples, and per-

suaded myself that not only in point of structure (not very per-

fectly made out by Quoy and Gaimard), but also in developm er

it is decidedly an Ascidian. It is a free swimming Ascidian,

which in many respects closely resembles the Salpe, and so far

forms an interesting transition between the two orders of th ‘

Tunicata. The genus, however, is not limited to this one species

as I discovered three other kinds at the same place and time. — q

Before proceeding to describe the different species, it will a |

desirable to consider what they all have in common. jd ae

The genus Doliolum is mainly characterized by the cireu

stance, that the body of the animal (as the name indeed indi i

cates) resembles a cask open at each end. The anterior some-

what broader end is prolonged into a very short, often hardly —

perceptible tube, which answers to the ingestive or respiratory —

siphon of other Ascidians, and, like this, has its lip divided into ™

a number of segments. These lobes, generally about ten in

number, are somewhat pointed. At the opposite end, whose aper-

ture represents the cloacal aperture of other Ascidians, the? Te ay

becomes gradually narrower*.

The mantle is relatively very thin, and contains oedittoradl gra

nules in its substance. The second layer of the body (Lezbes-

schicht) is, as in al] Tunicata, that which supports the nerves ar a

muscles. h

The nervous centre consists of a round ganglion plead in the

middle of the dorsal surface ; from it three anterior and as many

posterior branches proceed. "Two of these pass divergingly to the

sides of the body, the third runs along the median line. The

muscular apparatus closely agrees with that of Salpa in its

rangement. It consists, according to the species, of either eight

or nine flat bands, which, like hoops, encircle the body at tole-

rably regular intervals, and so give it a still stronger resemblance

to a little cask.

The anterior band surrounds the base of the respiratory siphon,

the posterior immediately encircles the margin of the posteriot

aperture. Both are less strongly marked than the other bands.

With regard to the internal organs, the respiratory apparat us

$n res srs hres eens

* The two apertures are diametrically opposite likewise in the Pyroso

mata; and here also the cloacal aperture, which opens into the cavity of |

the common mass, has a smooth edge (see Savigny, Mém. sur les Anim. |

sans Vertébres). hist

Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum. and its species. 121

presents the most striking deviation from the ordinary arrange-

ment. Instead of a sac, it forms a partition stretched across the

eavity of the body, flat in one species, bent at an angle in

- another ; and dividing the space into an anterior and a posterior

_ compartment.

_ Its structure is much simpler than that of the compound

_ Ascidians, since it is pierced by only two series of symmetrical,

_ transverse, or somewhat oblique clefts (‘‘ stigmates branchiaua,”’

_Milne-Edwards), the edges of which are, as in all Ascidians, beset

with cilia. In the median portion of the branchial membrane

the clefts are wider, beyond it they narrow again.

These clefts then are the only means of communication of the

anterior and posterior divisions of the cavity of the body with one

another.

_ Upon the walls of the anterior division, the ciliary apparatus

for conducting food to the mouth is arranged ; 7. e. the well-known

_ yentral groove and its prolongations, which are less known, and

_ may be here more minutely described. The ‘anterior end of the

relatively short ventral groove gives off two narrow ciliary bands,

which diverge from one another and run up at the base of the

_ respiratory siphon, along the parietes of the cavity of the body

_ to the dorsal surface ; here, converging towards one another, they

_ become united in front of the nervous ganglion. A third ciliated

‘band runs from the posterior extremity of the ventral groove to

the mouth*.

__ Upon the wall of the posterior space lie the reproductive or-

_ gans and the alimentary canal; and anteriorly to the latter, in

' its pericardial cavity, the heart, which pulsates very rapidly, and

is, as in the Salpe, a short sac. The circulation and the course

_ of the blood are not to be perceived, as the blood is pellucid and

- eontains no granules.

_ The alimentary canal is but moderately developed in propor-

_ tion to the size of the body. The mouth is placed upon the

_ branchial membrane, upon the great longitudinal ridge between —

the lateral clefts. It leads into a short cesophagus, to which the

_ rounded stomach with the intestines bent into a loop succeeds.

_ Like the compound Ascidians and the genus Clavelina among

_ the simple forms, Doliolum propagates both by ova and by buds.

__* A similarly constructed ciliary apparatus is to be found in all Tunicata,

_ according to my investigations. The anterior ciliated band, forming a com-

_ plete circle, has been described by some zoologists as a vascular ring, some-

_ times as a nervous ring. So also an accessory part of the same apparatus,

especially frequent in the Cynthie as a rounded prominence, has been re-

_ garded sometimes as a nervous centre, sometimes as an organ of peculiar

__ structure and doubtful function (see Siebold, Vergleichende Anatomie,

_ p. 260). This elevation is distinguished, however, by no other circumstance,

than by being marked upon its surface by a spiral ciliated groove.

122 Dr, A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species.

But while in the former this double means of multiplication is

allowed to each single creature, in the latter each generation ~

possesses only a single mode ; so that, as in the Sa/pa, the first —

generation propagates by ova, and the second multiplies by bud- —

ding, the third again producing ova, and so on in a continual —

alternation. In support of this view I may adduce the fact, that —

on examining a certain number of adult individuals of the same —

kind, in some, generative organs are always found, in others only

a stolo prolifer—the producer and bearer of the gemme. Further —

evidence will be adduced in the section upon Development. =

In the sexual generation the male and female organs are ~

sometimes united in the same, sometimes carried by different

individuals. The gemmarium (keim-stock) of the asexual indi-

viduals is a short, cylindrical, somewhat curved, posterior pro- ~~

cess, which arises close in front of the posterior aperture and |

exactly in the middle line; in some species upon the dorsal, in —

others upon the ventral side. It can be moved to a slight extent, —

by one of the posterior muscular bands, which appears to be

peculiarly modified for this purpose in all asexual individuals

of which more by and by. The buds, whose number is but

small, are developed only from the extremity of the gemmarium,

along which we find them arranged one behind the other as

more or less projecting prominences. aoa

The asexual generation, developed from ova, has to undergo a _

metamorphosis. As in other Ascidians the larva is Cercariform. —

All the species move by jerks, as Quoy and Gaimard state; by

a sudden contraction they dart forwards, and then remain at rest |

for awhile. ee

Description of Species.

A. Species with eight muscular bands and the gemmarium

ventral. one

1. Doliolum denticulatum* (Q. & G.). oy

The branchial membrane is bent into a sharp angle projecting q

=P aeee

backwards, and extends further than in the succeeding species. —

Its upper half reaches as far as the second muscular band, a

at times beyond it; the lower half extends as far as the third

muscular band only. acti

The mouth is placed upon the lower half of the branchial ~

membrane; from it the cesophagus passes in a curved direction ©

backwards and downwards to the deeper-seated stomach. The

intestine describes a wide arc, passing at first backwards and —

* This specific denomination is unfitting, since in the other species the

anterior aperture is toothed. I propose therefore for this species the name

of D. Ehrenbergii. ee

Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species. 123

eventually upwards upon the right side of the cavity of the

In the sexual individuals of this species I have only been able

to discover the males, and I thence presume that the sexes are

separate. The male apparatus lies upon the left lateral wall of

the posterior cavity, and consists of a testis and a relatively long

and wide seminal canal. This canal is commonly distended with

spermatozoa, and extends as far as the fourth muscular band.

The testis is composed of single rounded lobes, which, like the

folioles of a rosette, are grouped round the commencement of

the seminal canal.

| As to the asexual individuals, the change in the arrangement

of their muscular bands produced by the development of the

gemmarium, consists in the separation of the ends of the penul-

timate band ; the narrow and pointed extremities of which run

_ for some distance upon the base of the gemmarium. Fully de-

veloped individuals of this kind attain the length of 2 lines or a

little more.

ee 2. Doliolum Miilleri (Krohn).

_ This species is wider in the middle, and thence resembles a

“more squat cask. The mantle is very soft and almost mucila-

-ginous, so that foreign bodies readily become imbedded in it.

‘The branchial membrane has the form of a vertical partition

placed in the posterior part of the cavity of the body and slightly

convex behind ; there are about twelve pair of clefts. The mouth

‘seemed to be nearer the lower half. The alimentary canal, on

the other hand, is in the middle of the cavity, remote from either

wail. The cesophagus descends towards the stomach, to which

the short intestine succeeds, descending at first and then curving

“upwards in a loop.

_ The sexual individuals of this species are hermaphrodite. Close

to the stomach and intestine we distinguish three structures

closely applied to one another. The largest, the testis, is pyri-

form, and lies with its narrower end near the anus. The two

other bodies are spherical ; the one is filled with clear nucleated

vesicles, which I consider to be germs; whence the whole must

be regarded as an ovarium. The other body is unquestionably

a fully developed ovum, in which we easily. recognize the outer

‘Investment, the granular yelk and the germinal vesicle with its

spot. In some individuals I found it free, in the posterior cavity

of the body.

__ With regard to the asexual individuals I will only observe, that

their penultimate muscular band is arranged similarly to that of

the preceding species.

_ Varieties of this very common species, which is often met with

124, Dr. A. itrdhe on the genus Doliolum and its species.

in swarms in March and April, have a ved spotted body, and the

alimentary canal blue or pale red.

Fully grown individuals reach the dimensions of 14 dine. in

length.

B. Species with nine muscular bands, and with the gemmarium :

upon the dorsal surface.

1. Doliolum Nordmanni (Krohn).

In form this species appears at first so nearly to appros

D. denticulatum, that they may be readily confounded together.

It is only upon more close examination that the characteristic

differences in the branchial membrane and the number of the

bands become obvious. The branchial membrane in this spec Ss

forms a flat septum stretched obliquely from above and behind,

downwards and forwards across the cavity of the body, with only

four pair of clefts. The mouth is exactly in the centre of the —

branchial membrane. The alimentary canal in all respects re-

sembles that of D. Miilleri. 4

I have nothing to say about the generative organs and th e

sexual relations, since all the individuals observed were asexual

With respect to the gemmarium I must observe, that a peculiar

filiform, transversely annulated, or rather wrinkled appendage i ;

attached to its free extremity, which is found in no other specie Se

The modification of the arrangement of the muscular bands,

which has been already referred to, affects here the ante-penul-

timate band, which, in consequence of the position of the gem- 7

marium, is open above. .

This is the smallest of the species, since in its full-grown sta e

it is not more than 1 line in length. i

2. Doliolum Troschelit (Krohn).

I have but rarely observed this species. It is much larger

than that just described, as I have met with individuals more

than 3 lines in length. Upon the whole it resembles D. denti-

culatum and Nordmanni, only that the body is more elongated.

It is especially remarkable from its singularly broad muscular

bands*. The alimentary canal is quite similar to that of the

preceding species; but of the branchial membrane I can say

nothing, since it was accidentally absent in all the specimens,

having been probably injured and torn off in some manner. _ a

* Upon superficial examination, this species, on account of its bro oa

muscular bands, might readily be taken for a very young proles solitaria

Salpa punctata (Forskahl). Among the Salpe observed tr me at Messi ni 4

(Annales des Sciences Nat. 1846), this solitary Salpa-form is the only one

all whose muscular bands form complete and relatively very broad circles.

Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species. 125

~ Sexual individuals were not seen. In the asexual ones the

ante-penultimate muscular band has the same arrangement as in

‘ D. Nordmanni*.

Development and Metamorphosis.

_ The development of the buds was observed in D. Miilleri, but

presented no remarkable feature. The buds shoot one after

another, as it seems, from the gemmarium, for the outermost is

always the largest, and often already changed into a young

‘Ascidian, whilst the others are far behind in their development,

‘and indeed the more, the greater their distance from it. Buds

which are so far developed as to allow the majority of the organs,

and among the rest the swiftly pulsating heart, to be distin-

_ guished, are placed vertically (like those of the Compound Asci-

-dians and Clavelinide according to Milne-Edwards), with the

anterior extremity forwards, and are attached to the gemmarium

_ by a short pedicle. This pedicle is inserted upon the abdominal

surface close below the alimentary canal; when the bud is de-

tached it falls with it, and subsequently wholly disappears. Such

‘recently detached budded forms may be so far confounded with

young asexual individuals, inasmuch as their pedicle may be

_ readily taken for the little-developed and as yet budless gemma-

rium, which has the same form and position. More close exa-

‘mination, however, will eliminate this error, since all free bud-

_ forms already exhibit the rudiments of the sexual organs.

- The asexual individuals developed from ova are born, as has

_ been said, in the form of Cercaria-like larve, and therefore un-

_ dergo « metamorphosis. This metamorphosis is characterized,

however, by many peculiarities, whose explanation is only to be

~ found in the mode of life of the adult animal. It is well known

that in the larve of the fixed Ascidians, the tail very soon disap-

_ pears, as an organ which has become useless, when the larva has

found a fitting locality in which to fix itself. Only after this has

taken place does its body become gradually changed into the

perfect animal.

In Doliolum, on the other hand, which, as we have seen, is a

_ free swimmer, there is no need for the tail to disappear so soon ;

_ * J must leave it undecided whether the cask-like Tunicary with eight

muscular bands, but much larger than D. denticulatum, which is described

~ by Quoy and Gaimard as D. caudatum (1.¢. p. 601, pl.89. fig. 29. & 30), really

_ belongs to this genus. In the figure the one end of the body is indeed

siphon-like, but its lip is without lobes. From the opposite extremity a

dense pyramidal process projects, like the processes of many associated

_ Salpe. ‘1 should be inclined to regard the animal rather as a Salpa than as

a Doliolum, especially since the completely circular muscular bands which

S4 4 any are, as we have seen above, no decisive criterion of the genus

_ Doliolum.

126 Dr. A. Krohn on the genus Doliolum and its species.

it persists during almost the whole period of development of the —

new creature, serves as an organ of locomotion, and begins to —

wither away only when the young has reached its perfect deve-—

lopment and independence*. 5 sg

The tail, however, dies away quite as Milne-Edwards has —

already observed in the course of metamorphosis of Amouroucium

proliferum, and as I a short time since observed in larvee of Phal-—

lusia mammillata obtained by artificial fecundation. a

The contractile central portion or axis of the tail, composed of

a simple series of rectangular, nucleated cells, is gradually re-

tracted from its sheath into the body of the young animal and ‘

so becomes gradually shorter and shorter. Soon the young ani-—

mal casts off its larval investment, and only slight traces of the

tail are left upon its ventral surface, close under the digestive -

canal, in the form of a round body which soon disappears. =

The following observations will afford more detailed evidence ~

of the above view; they were made upon separate, not yet fully ©

developed individuals of D. Nordmanni. ee

To all these individuals the tail was still attached; in some it —

remained in all its integrity, while in others it had begun to dis-_

appear. The whole, tail and animal, was surrounded by the lar-

val tegument, a very thick, glassy membrane, which must not be

confounded with the mantle, which is closely applied to the body

of the young animal. This could be readily distinguished fron

the homogeneous larval tegument by the granules imbedded i

its substance. The larval tegument was about a line long, and —

drawn out at each end into a tolerably acute point. The rela-—

tively short and very thin tail, or rather its wasted axis, appeared -

articulated from the presence of the above-mentioned cubical

cells, and external to these a thin muscular layer was perceptible, —

whose fibres ran longitudinally from the root to the pointt. The

root projects far into a vesicular appendage attached close under

the intestinal canal, and filled with a clear fluid, which is pro-

bably only a dilatation of the second tunic (Letbes-schicht), and —

diminishing pari passu with the tail, collapses, and at length dis- —

appears. The young animal appears in most specimens to be ~

already so far developed, that all the organs and the lobes of the ©

anterior aperture (which are at first turned inwards, and only

* The animal described by Joh. Miiller as Vewillaria flabellum (Archiv, ~

1846), and considered by him to be probably the larva of Amouroucium

proliferum, is, according to my observations, an incompletely developed —

Ascidian, whose tail, as in Doliolum, appears to persist until the perfect

form is nearly assumed. The perfect, as yet unknown animal will probably —

be found to agree with Doliolum in its mode of life. ——

+ This layer of fibres seems to be wanting in no Ascidian larva. In the ©

tail of the Vewillarie it has been already quite correctly deseribed by —

J. Miiller. It perfectly accounts for the rapid movements of the tail. 7

Mr. T. H. Huxley on the genus Doliolum. 127

‘subsequently unfold themselves and project) are visible. Upon

the dorsal surface the rudimentary gemmarium had already made

its appearance in the form of a conical projection. The young

animal was not capable of any independent movement, and its

tail was only seen at intervals slightly twitching and vibrating.

. . Final Remarks.

-' In the course of the preceding observations, the analogies

which connect the genus Doliolum with the Salpe have been re-

ferred to. These analogies consist not only in the similar mode

of life, the similar diametrical opposition of the apertures, and

especially in the similar muscular apparatus of each, but also, as

_ I have endeavoured to show, in the similar mode of propagation,

- according to the laws of the Alternation of Generations, by

_ which, as in the Salpa, sexual and asexual generations occur in

regular succession. Yet, in the genus Doliolum the typical cha-

_ racters by which the Ascidian is separated from the Salpa pre-

‘dominate ; such are distinctly seen in the absence of the respi-

ratory siphon, in the structure of the respiratory apparatus, and

in the metamorphosis.

__ By their approximation to the Salpa, and by the simpler struc-

ture of their branchize, however, Doliolum seems to me to stand

_ lower than the Compound Ascidians; although, like the higher

Ascidians, it is solitary, and, unlike them, it is free.

_ The Ascidians then, according to their mode of life, may be

_ divided into fixed and free. To the former belong the numerous

. ag of simple and compound or aggregated Ascidians, to the

latter the solitary genus Doliolum and the aggregate genus

_ Pyrosoma.

Note by the Translator.

Dr. Krohn does not appear to have met with a memoir upon

_ Doliolum and Appendicularia (Vexillaria) published in the ‘ Phi-

losophical Transactions’ for 1851. I have there described and

figured D. denticulatum, and I am delighted to find that in all

essential points, what I have stated is confirmed by one of the

_ most accurate and careful of the German observers.

Dr. Krohn does not seem to have been more successful than

myself in making out the ovaries of D. denticulatum ; but I should

_ hardly be inclined to adopt his supposition, that this species, in

opposition to its immediate congeners, is dicecious ; the explana-

tion I have suggested (/oc. cit. p. 601) seems to me still to be the

_ more plausible.

It will be observed that Dr. Krohn considers what I have

called the testis to be the vas deferens, and vice versd. I feel quite

128 Mr. T. H. Huxley on the genus Doliolum.

sure, however, that in the specimens I examined the relations of.

the organ were as I have described and figured them.

From the excellent description of the development of Doliolum — }

given in Dr. Krohn’s memoir, it seems highly probable that my —

guess as to the nature of the “ shrivelled tubular process,” p. 601,

is correct, viz. that it is the remains of a pedicle of attachment. .

In common with all previous observers, Dr. Krohn appears —

to have confounded what I have called the “endostyle” with —

the true “dorsal folds” of Savigny. Recent careful examina-—

tions of many species of Ascidians have convinced me that the —

distinction which I drew between these structures (on Sa/pa and —

Pyrosoma, ‘Phil. Trans.’ 1851, p. 572) is well founded. The

“ endostyle ” invariably exists at the base of the “ dorsal folds?”

in ordinary Ascidians, and consists essentially of a band of thick,

cylindrical, elongated cells, arranged round a common axis. Two

similar accessory bands are in the ordinary Ascidians developed 4

upon the folds on each side of the “ endostyle.” te

Dr. Krohn does not seem to have noticed the ciliated sac, or 4

the peculiar manner in which the anterior ciliary bands termi-—

nate at this part. I have described similar bands in Sapa and

Pyrosoma (loc. cit. § 17-52), and I find that such exist in all

Ascidians. The “ accessory part, of the same apparatus ” men-—

tioned by Dr. Krohn is the “ tubercule antérieure ” of Savigny. ©

It is not, as Dr. Krohn supposes, a mere appendage of the ciliated ;

bands, but it is a very peculiar structure placed in the space be- —

tween the ciliated bands and the tentacular circlet (in ordina :

Ascidians), and is always in more or less close connexion wit

the ganglion. It is the same organ as the “ciliated sac” of |

Salpa, Pyrosoma, and Doliolum, and is, I think, very arcane:

an organ of sense. I have found it varying very remarkably in ~

shape and size in species of Boltenia, Cynthia, Molgula, and

Phallusia. 4

- The existence of a well-developed testis in Aipeiteoteil .

(Vexillaria) (loc. cit. § 84) appears to me to present an insu- —

perable difficulty to Dr. Krohn’s hypothesis, that this creature is _

an incompletely developed Ascidian ; and in addition to this cir- —

cumstance, there is the absence of a cloaca (the anus opening —

directly on the dorsal surface (§ 82)), which stamps the form as —

altogether peculiar.

With regard to the muscular apparatus of the tail of Ascidian

larvee, I may here state as a fact, which I believe to be alto-

gether new, that it is composed of a layer of large, elongated, —

thick walled cells applied end to end. The cells contain a large

clear nucleus with a nucleolus. Their walls present a delicate —

fibrillation, which is continued from one cell to another, so that —

it appears at first as if the cells were inclosed within a bundle of —

AER hale ea nas

Mr. W. Clark on the genus Lepton. 129

‘fibres ; resembling exactly the embryonic muscular fibres of the

_ frog described by Kolliker. The larve in which I observed this

belonged to a very peculiar small Cynthia, in the Collection of

the British Museum. Contrary to the usual course, the larvee

had attained a very considerable degree of development in the

space between the inner tunic and the outer wall of the branchial

_ sac, and had so become preserved with their parent.

|. Another point of great interest about the larvee may be men-

\tioned here. The integument of the tail and of the body of young

_ larve, in which the body contains nothing but a mass of cells, and

offers no trace of any organs or apertures, presents clear and un-

_ mistakeable signs of the presence of cellulose. The determination

of this point is one of the desiderata left by Lowig and Kdlliker

ales des Sciences, 1846), and it shows, I think, very clearly

| that the Ascidians do not necessarily get their cellulose; as they

suppose, from the Diatomacee or other ingesta. Do the cells of

_ the tail of the foetal Ascidian secrete onlbildae as the “ Primordial-

_ schlauch ” in plants secretes it ? If so, they must fix carbon ; and

the physiological distinction between animals and plants will

disappear, as the anatomical ones have already disappeared.

In referring to the analogies between the Salpe and Doliolum,

Dr. Krohn appears to uphold the doctrine of the fundamental

difference between the Salpe and other Ascidians. In the me-

moirs referred to, I have endeavoured to show, on the contrary,

that there is but one type of Ascidian structure, and that the

variations upon this type pass insensibly into one another. Sub-

sequent investigations, which I hope to make public at no distant

riod, have to my mind demonstrated the truth of this propo-

ion. The great difficulty I have found among the Ascidians

has been, indeed, to discover any good anatomical distinctions

among the genera.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE III. B.

Fig. 1. Doliolum Miilleri, asexual individual, from the ventral side : a, gem-

miferous tube’or “ gemmarium ;” 6, penultimate muscular band.

| with its ends inserted into the gemmarium.

Fig. 2. Larva of D. Nordmanni: e, larval tegument; d, young Doliolum ;

e, vesicular appendage ; f, axis of the tail.

< Fig. 3. The same further developed and more magnified. Letters as before.

~ XIV.—On the genus Lepton. By Wiii1am Crarx, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Exmouth, July 5, 1852.

“ave stated in the July ‘Annals’ for 1852, that the discovery

of the animal of the Lepton convexum has put it in my power to

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 9

130 Mr. W. Clark on the genus Lepton.

settle the disputed identity or distinctness between it and L. ni-

tidum, and that after due examination I would communicate the ©

result. I redeem my pledge by presenting a short memoir on»

the genus Lepton. Though the L. squamosum, the type, has been

mentioned by authors, I have thought that it would be desirable

to give my account of the animal, with some additions and a few

observations on the natural position of the genus. eee

Lepton, Turton.

pe ww

Lepton squamosum, auct. een ae

Solen squamosus, Mont.

Animal inhabiting a very flat, subrhomboidal, white, porcel

lanous, punctured shell; its ground colour is a clear white: the

mantle is very large, having the margins sinuated, often puckered

into two or three folds at the will of the animal ; they extend be-

yond the shell more than one-third of the vertical measure at its

centre, from which spring a row, on each side the middle of the

ventral range, of twenty-five rather long, slender, milk-white ten-

tacular pointed filaments ; but the mantle thus clothed is only pro-

truded largely beyond the shell, from the middle of the anterior

side, throughout the ventral range, to the same level at the pos-

terior end; from these points to the umbones it is never seen,

being either closed or not protruded, but its suture or edges are

furnished with about forty long, strong, blunt, frosted white,

rather close-set cirrhi varying in length ; a part of these range at

the posterior side of the beaks, above the sessile anal orifice, which

occupies a small space without cirrhi, between the termination of

the protrusion of the margin and the commencement of the

larger filaments on the broader, larger, and posterior side; of

that part of the filaments at the anterior side of the beaks, one

is thicker, broader at the base, and double the length of the

others ; this is the last of the larger ones, which at one time I

thought was tubular and might be an oviduct, but further exa-

mination seemed to disprove this idea. None of the filaments

show much motion; the long one only, when the animal ad-

vanced a step, made an arcuated contraction, similar to that of

the fore-finger in extenso when quickly brought down to the

palm of the hand; it then resumed the straight position to await

another step: all the other cirrhi are either retractile or con-_

tractile, separately or en masse. 71, A

_ The foot is hyaline azure, with a broad longitudinal medial

line of intense snow-white, and a still intenser flake at the ante-

rior end; it is fixed to the centre of the body by a moderately”

long pedicle; on first protrusion it takes a vertical position, and

)

{

Mr. W. Clark on the genus Lepton. 131

has a linguiform tapering aspect, but this part almost imme-

diately, after feeling about, ranges itself anteriorly and_hori-

_ zontally ; and at the same time, on the other side of the pedicle,

a bevelled, attenuated, pointed portion issues, somewhat shorter

_ than the first ; this is longitudinally cloven as far as the pedicle,

and can form a sort of oval disk, but on the march it is rarely

_ expanded : at the base of the cleft is the byssal gland, which oc-

easionally pours out a glutinous red filamentous matter, that in

confinement is copious, and discharged anteriorly, which at first

Ithought was fiecal matters, and was puzzled to account for such

an issue anteally, but the subsequent view of the single sessile

_ posteal anal conduit and the ejection of pellets cleared up the

difficulty. This foot is in every respect similar in miniature to

that of the Pectunculus pilosus and of the Arcade.

- The animal is vivacious, and allowed itself to be examined

many times daily ; it marched with quickness, but I only once

_ saw it progressing in a vertical position ; the usual posture of the

shell is to rest on one of the disks, which is frequently changed

for the other ; the adductors did not appear to allow of a greater

opening of the valves than the ordinary extent. The animal, when

placed at the bottom of a glass, always crawled up and moored

itself by a filament at the side; sometimes, however, it slipped its

- moorings and floated free on the surface of the water with the

umbones downwards, and after an interval refixed itself by spin-

_ ning a byssal thread.

- Tecannot speak at present of the branchiz and palpi, as the

~ animal and shell are in my collection, and are thus preserved. to

__ show that the shell, though usually described by conchologists as

x gaping, can, in consequence of the flexibility of the thin lamimar

‘valves, be completely closed. There is no branchial siphon ; but

_ there are mantellar folds, which, with the great ventral opening,

amply provide for the admission of the water.

_ The animals of this interesting group exhibit, in the tentacular

_ filaments and curious foot, as well as in the sculpture of their

shells, very considerable variation from Kellia rubra and Kellia

_ suborbicularis ; the types of one of the genera of the family in

_ which they have been located by authors, doubtless from the

want of knowledge of the animal. Taking into consideration

_ that the Leptons have many of the attributes of the Arcada, and

especially giving due weight to the remarkable similarity be-

_ tween the foot of Lepton sqguamosum and the Pectunculus pilosus,

_ Iam almost induced to believe that it is in a false position, in

connection with the Kelliade, and that it ought to follow or pre-

- eede Galeomma, which, with me, is an undoubted genus of the

The punctures of this species and of L. convexum are in the

132 Mr. W. Clark on the genus Lepton.

test; with respect to its congener, the L. nitidum, it has

stated that it is smooth and without punctures : this is a mis

as I can show fifty specimens not only well-marked on

greenish epidermis, but in the substance of the shell. —

I have the satisfaction to state, that I have observed another

live L. squamosum, and also obtained full notes of the animal of

one of our great desiderata, the L. nitidum, from a most hi

animal, which for several days gave me every facility for ex

nation. The L. squamosum, just alluded to, was kept thirty-fow

days in a glass of sea-water, changed daily, and was apparently

as vigorous as when first placed in captivity ; it thus appears

that the Conchifere can exist for a long time in pure sea-water,

on the animalcule it contains, though that aliment may not be

their sole resource in freedom. sig

I may observe, that the habitude of crawling and swimming

with the foot uppermost in Lepton, and in several other minute

bivalves, perhaps in all, shows the close alliance of the Acephale

with the Gasteropoda, all of which, in their minute conditi

have precisely the same peculiar system of dorsal natation. I

ought to have mentioned that the liver is light green and mixed

up with a flake-white ovary ; but from the extreme tenderness 0

the branchie, I cannot speak of them and the palpi with ce y

as to form and number. =

July 2nd.—As I had just finished the above, a lively specimen

of this species was met with, which, on being placed im water, at:

once unfurled its long and beautiful fringes, and exserted the

ample niveous mantle and foot. This is certainly the Prince o

British bivalves ; the snow-white colour of both animal and shell

sheds over this interesting creature the inexpressible charms 0

purity and elegance. It now lives in the same vase with its

pigmy congener, the L. conveauin. ”

Lepton nitidum, Turton et auct.

The animal inhabits a light greenish yellow or pure wh

subrhomboidal, moderately convex, more or less punctured sh

The mantle is frosted white with the margins plain, but as n

proportionately protruded beyond the edge of the shell

L. squamosum ; it is in like manner clothed with cirrhal filam

of about the same length, and of pruinose white, but unlike

species, they are rather less developed dorsally than ventral

each filament at its terminal edge is studded with four or f

white points or cilia, so sharp and minute as to require

powerful lens to see them. There is no conspicuous leading pi

cess, as in the preceding species, but the mantle, at the

anterior point, forms a visible projection or fold. In this

Mr. W. Clark on the genus Lepton. 133

cies, and contrary to L. squamosum, the longer and broader end

is anterior, but the beaks are so central, that there is little dif-

' ference in the sides ; the single sessile anal tube is exactly as in

the last species ; there is no branchial siphon,—the water enters

at the extensive ventral aperture. The foot is almost in every

respect similar to that of its congener; it is perhaps larger in

roportion, of pale azure hue, marked with intense but irregular

ake-white minute blotches; the posterior extremity is as long

as the portion anterior to the pedicle; its termination is per-

fectly aciculate, and like its congener deeply grooved as far

as the junction with the body, at which pomt is the byssal

bet and the superabundant filamentous matter is similarly

discharged.

_ The L. squamosum is a lively creature, but this, not one-third

_of the size, is far more active, creeping up a glass as easily as a

-Gasteropod ; but the posterior portion of the foot is not expanded ;

_ perhaps in freedom it is deployed on the march ; in confinement

‘both shell and foot are carried laterally. The liver is light

ie united to a flake-white ovarium, now, in June, full of ova.

Transverse length 4, vertical ;';, diameter ;'; of an inch. It

_ would appear that this species in every essential is identical with

the L. sguamosum, and it settles the position of the yet undis-

covered L. convexum. This is the first record of this rare animal

that has appeared.

fae

‘be

Exmouth, June 20, 1852.

I have this day the pleasure to state, that the problem is solved

as to the identity or distinctness of the Lepton nitidum and

tL. convexum by the capture of a live specimen of the latter,

having the shell sculptured with the rough and intensely marked

characteristic punctures of that species. On putting the animal

into water it instantly deployed its organs ; and for their descrip-

_ tion I have only to refer to the preceding account of the L. niti-

dum, which in future will take the appellation of a variety of its

old associate. The two are so identical, that afterten days’ exa-

raination I can make no alteration in the minutes, except the

having seen the animal march on the disk of the foot, more than

once, with the shell in a vertical position ; it has all the same

-habitudes as the L. squamosum, and of course differs in no re-

spect from its smoother variety, the late L. nitidum. It is now

alive, and probably by changing the water daily it will live as

long or longer than the L. squamosum mentioned above. It is

therefore evident that the punctures of this species are very

-yariable, ranging from the most minute granules that scarcely

‘interrupt its smoothness to the coarsest sculpture.

As the specific appellation of nitidum is obviously improper,

the more significant one of convexaum ought now to be adopted.

134 . Bibliographical Notices.

Exmouth, July 18.

Since the above was written I have taken two examples, on on

this OIE of the smoothest variety of the ‘ conveaum, late the

‘nitidum’ ; both are in the vase with the highly punctured one

captured 20th June last, now quite vigorous, in company with

the L. squamosum alluded to as taken 2nd J uly ; this capture i

has given me the advantage of a live examination of the two

completely opposite conditions of the ‘ convexum,’ whereas the!

one above was only referable in comparison’ with an. account

a live ‘nitidum’ taken last year. And I can again state that t

two varieties are identical. os

Lepton Clarkia (nova species).

Annals Nat. Hist. New Series, vol. ix. pp. 191 & 298.

The above references give every particular of the shell of thi is

new species, of which it is probable I may detect the animal ; but”

the hinge is so completely identical with that of the L. conveaum,

that it may be presumed its organs will not greatly differ from 1

I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

WILLIAM CraRK.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

A History of Infusorial Animaleules, Living and Fossil. 4

By Anprew Prircuarp, M.R.I. 8vo, pp. 704. Whittaker & Co.

A new edition of the only English yersion of the laborious inyesti- -

gations which have made Prof. Ehrenberg’s name famous amor iS

micro-naturalists (if we may for the nonce coin a word as good as

micro-mammalogists), must be looked upon as a praiseworthy an

creditable undertaking. _

So far as mere facts are concerned, so many have accumula

during the fourteen years that have elapsed since the publication

the great work, to which we have been indebted for the first i

pulse to investigation, and for the first guidance in the conf

and difficult task, that the gathering them into one place, and ma

them all accessible to the English reader, is a service of no sm

merit.

Again, however much Prof. Ehrenberg may condemn then

heretical, it is indubitable that a large body of Fathers of

less authority have added their writings to his Canon. In ee

have not unfrequently ventured to impugn and protest against |

statements of the head of the church microscopical himself.

Mr. Pritchard has with a laudable eclecticism gathered al/ t

wheat and tares, poppy and clover, into one sheaf (a very consid

able sheaf too) ; but thrashing and winnowing is evidently in his vi

Bibliographical Notices. 135

no part of the editorial duty; or to speak without a metaphor, the

book has been collected, not edited at all.

__ We by no means make these remarks in a spirit of detraction.

The book is a very useful one, and will be of great service to those

who are at work upon the Infusoria. To publish such a book at all

involves a great risk to any one who undertakes it, and our sole regret

_ is, that such a risk having been incurred, the opportunity should not

have been seized for building an edifice, instead of merely filling a

large cart with materials; some of them very rough stones indeed,

_as for instance the following :—

It will be sufficient therefore to say, that since the time of their

discovery (1676) up to the present period, all that we know of the

“true spermatozoa of animals is, that they are not distinguishable

from Cercaria found in the liver of snails, the animal organization of

which has been made out by Bauer, Wagner, and Ehrenberg.”’ (p. 4.)

- 28. The power of infusorial organization is instinctively shown

by the strong chewing apparatus with teeth which they possess, and

their exhibition likewise of a complete mental activity.” (p. 7.)

A tap or two with the editorial hammer would, we think, have

- shown Mr. Pritchard that these two blocks are very much cracked

and quite unfit for his purpose. In fact, the former statement is

formally repudiated at pp. 61 and 177 of his own work.

Tn almost all ages of the world there has been evinced a restless

_ desire within us to pry into the nature or principle of life, and the

_ precise conditions on which it is retained; and notwithstanding that

our bodies, its present abiding-place, are confessedly frail and perish-

able, the unravelling of an invisible and immaterial agent has been

‘sought for by a reference to them.” (p. 26.)

We quite agree with the author, that those who have been trying

_ ‘**to unravel an invisible and immaterial agent”? might have been

hetter employed. The occupations of Sisyphus and the Danaides

were encouraging in comparison.

Mr. Pritchard tells us in the preface that the work has been pre-

pared in conjunction with Mr. Arlidge. There is internal evidence

- enough indeed, without this assurance, to show that two heads have

_ been employed upon it. It is no business of ours to draw invidious

_ comparisons, but as we have given a specimen of the productions of

_ the one head, we must in justice lay before the reader a more cre-

ditable sample, evidently the work of the other.

“It would be but an exercise of the imagination to seek after re-

semblances between the majority of the Infusoria and higher animals ;

the resemblances could be but fanciful, existing only in external form.

In studying the Infusoria, the mind should be unbiassed by a know-

ledge of the organization of the higher animals ; we ought not to set

_ out with the assumption, that such living atoms must be furnished

_ with the organs of superior existences, and then indulge the imagina-

tion by accommodating appearances observed to our preconceived

hotions ; but we should rather endeavour to learn under what simple

conditions and contrivances animal life can be manifested and con-

_ tinued.” (p. 60.)

136 Bibliographical Notices.

No one who regards the modern progress of zoology can fail to

agree with the view here expressed ; but how does it harmonize with —

Prof. Ehrenberg’s main and fundamental doctrine, that or, a

has no relation to size, and that the Infusoria have all the organs ©

which characterize the higher animal ? ‘Yee

Indeed, while we can conscientiously recommend the present work —

as a very useful assistant to those who are working for themselves, —

we must caution our readers against the very unphilosophical sub-—

servience to the authority of a name which it too often exhibit

Thus, after a discussion of the polygastric theory of Ehrenberg, we

find it said of subsequent observers— Leia aad

** With Van der Hoeven, all coincide in denying the existence of an —

inclosing wal] to the vesicles, and of an intercommunicating tube be-—

tween them ; and all assert the ever-varying number and disposition,

as well as the movements (even rotatory) of these supposed stomachs.” —

And yet we are told further on— a.

“From the preceding conflicting opinions and observations no

satisfactory deduction can be made; Ehrenberg’s opinions, however,

are entitled to great respect, although the theory of a polygastric —

structure may not admit of demonstration.” re ae

We have every respect for Prof. Ehrenberg, but we are really at a

loss to understand why /zs opinions, if they be ‘incapable of demon-—

stration,”’ are more “ entitled to great respect ’’ than those of any one —

else, especially when these opinions are at variance with those of an

unanimous host of at least equally competent observers. oo

Authoritative assertion in science, it is well to remember, is not evi- —

dence ; it only affords a presumption, better or worse founded ac-

cording to the real value of your authority, that evidence may exist. —

Great authority may be a good ground for a temporary suspension of —

judgement when opposed to less authority, but it is valueless when —

opposed to good evidence. .

A great authority, whose “opinions are incapable of demonstra- —

tion,” is a sort of scientific balloon, brilliant to look at and much

gaped at of the multitude ; but containing nothing but gas and sand

and liable to come down with a crash at the touch of the first criti

penknife. ‘a

A Synopsis of the Family of Naiades. By Isaac Lea. Third edition, q

greatly enlarged and improved. Philadelphia, 1852. 4to. —

By the title of this work we might be led to suppose it would afford —

the conchologist the means of determining the species of this very —

interesting family of freshwater bivalve shells, or at least give a re-—

ference to the books where the species are figured and described, and —

the countries they inhabit. Unfortunately the author has not thought

this desirable. The work simply consists of a list of 767 species, e

followed by the names by which other authors have described

accompanied by an abbreviation of the name of the author.

Then follows a list of the species of each subgenus, arranged

alphabetical order, under Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South

America, and New Holland, as they happen to inhabit. a)

Bibliographical Notices. 137

The author, who has been studying these shells for many years,

appears to have set out with the determination to make the ‘ Synopsis’

afford the collectors of these shells as little assistance as possible

Thus, he does not mention in which of the works of the various

authors cited for the names, the shell under consideration is described

or figured, or refer to any general work on the subject in which they

are described, nor even to the very numerous species which he has

himself described and figured for the first time (more than half the

_ species in the ‘ Synopsis’) in the Transactions of the American Aca-

_ demy, which have been collected together into five quarto volumes,

under the title of ‘Observations on the genus Unio.’ He merely

adds “Lea” after the name, without making any reference to the

volume or page or plate of the ‘Transactions’ or ‘ Observations’

‘in which they are figured and described, so that the student has to

look out each species through the various volumes, where the shells

are arranged without order as they occurred to hand.

In the same manner the names in the “ Geographical Distribution

of the Species” are not accompanied by a reference to the page in

which the species occur in the ‘Synopsis.’ Their place in the Syste-

matic List can only be found by turning to the ‘“ Index of Spe-

cies,”’ which carefully abstains from referring to the place where the

_ species can be found described in the ‘Transactions’ or ‘Observa-

tions,’ though this edition of the ‘Synopsis’ is now printed of the

same size as those works, and may be regarded. as a sixth volume of

_ the ‘ Observations.’

’ We had hoped that as the author became more acquainted with

_ the difficulties of the subject, he would have obliterated the ill-natured

_ observations he had made on Rafinesque, Say, Barnes, Conrad,

Deshayes, and other authors, but his dislike appears to have increased

_ with his knowledge, and in every page we have some special pleading

_ why Mr. Lea’s name should be adopted, and that of some other

_ author rejected, forgetting that his successors, not having these per-

sonal feelings, will examine the question for themselves and do jus-

_ tice to his predecessors and contemporaries.

_ Mr. Lea informs us in this edition, that he has doubled the number

_ of species in his ‘Synopsis’ by the new species he has described : if

only a tithe of the 300 species which he has described as new prove

_ good, which we venture to doubt, knowing how exceedingly variable

_ these shells are in our European rivers, Mr. Lea’s name will be handed

_ down to posterity as an active collector and describer of these mutable

_ shells. Mr. Lea appears to have no other idea of arranging the spe-

_ cies, than by taking some leading character, as the general form and

_ kind of surface, and applying it artificially for the divisions of the

species of each of the subgenera :—the result is most unsatisfactory

and artificial.

If the shells do not afford good sectional characters, we believe it

| would have been preferable to have arranged the species in each sub-

| genus geographically, dividing the numerous American species ac-

cording to the two sides of the continent they inhabited, and subdi-

viding them according to the great river-system to which they be-

138 Zoological Society.

longed ; at any rate it would have been putting to the test the geo-

graphical characters of the species, and this arrangement can only be

made by an American acquainted with the branches and creeks

the different rivers. re

Mr. Lea uses this test for the European species, and reduces all the —

Anodons to a single species, but believes that a very little stream in 4

America affords at least one, and often many, distinct species of th

animals !—J. E. G. Ge

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. —

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

December 10, 1850.—Prof. Owen, V.P., F.R.S., in the Chair. —

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DESTRUCTIVE SPECIES OF DiprerRou

INSECTS KNOWN 1N AFRICA UNDER THE NAMES OF THE

Tsetse, ZIMB, AND TSALTSALYA, AND ON THEIR SUPPOSED

CONNEXION WITH THE FourtTH PLAGUE OF Eeyrr. By

J. O. Westwoopn, F.L.S., Pres. Ent. Soc. etc. :

The species of insects which attack the larger of our domestic qua-

drupeds may be divided into two chief classes ; first, those which do —

so in order to obtain a supply of food for their own support; and ~

second, those which do so with the object of depositing their eggs in

such a position, that the larvee, when hatched from them, will be

tain of finding a proper supply of food derived from some part of t

animal, either external or internal. ia ae

The insects composing the first of these two classes require for t

performance of their dreaded functions an organization of the parts

of the mouth especially fitting them to pierce the skins and hides of

the quadrupeds upon the blood of which they subsist, and we accord-

ingly find that it is precisely these insects which have the mouth

organs most fully developed in the different families to which th

respectively belong. The Stomoxys calcitrans, and especially the

different species of Tabanus, are pre-eminent in this respect; and

the formidable array of lancets in the mouth of one of the lat

insects is not to be met with elsewhere among the whole of the fli

composing the order Diptera, to which they belong. The effects

the attacks of these insects upon the horse are perceived by

drops of blood which flow from the orifices caused by their bite

and sometimes these wounds are so numerous, that the beasts “a

all in a gore of blood.” A still smaller species, named by Linneeus

the Culea equinus, also infests the horse in infinite numbers, runni

under the mane and amongst the hair, and piercing the ap Fe

their blood. This insect, although given by Linneeus as a Culex

appears from his description to belong to the genus Simulium,

which genus also belongs an insect of fearful note, which attacks t

horned cattle in Servia and the Bannat, penetrating the generatiy

Zoological Society. 139

organs, nose, ears, &c. of these animals, and by its poisonous bite de-

stroying them in a few hours. A species of the same genus of minute

Tipulide is common in marshy districts in England, and I have often

experienced its attacks, which have resulted in the raising of a tu-

mour on the part of the flesh which has been attacked, attended by a

considerable amount of local inflammation ; and hence we may readily

believe the well-authenticated effects produced upon the cattle above

described. There are various other insects which attack the horse

and ox, such as the Hippodosce, various species of ticks, Anthomyia,

&c.; and if these do not, from their smaller size, cause a discharge of

blood like the large Tabanide, it is certain that the irritation which

they produce not only by their presence upon the skin, but also by

the sharpness of their bite, must be very irritating to the quadrupeds

which they infest.

_ The insects which do not themselves feed upon our cattle, but

_ simply infest them for the purpose of = their eggs in some

_ convenient place or other upon their bodies, are in no instance that

_I recollect provided with an increased development of the mouth

- organs; on the contrary, the @stride are either entirely destitute of

a mouth, or have only very small rudiments of some of the ordinary

parts of the mouth, so as to be entirely unfitted for biting or wound-

ing cattle. The effects however which some of these species pro-

duce are as annoying as those caused by the bites of the Taéani. The

female fly of the common horse bot, strus Equi, it is true, instils

‘no dread into the horse round which she is intently engaged in flying,

_ depositing her eggs here and there in particular spots where the horse

_ is certain to lick the hairs, by which means the eggs are introduced

_ into the mouth and pass into the stomach. So little indeed is the

_ horse affected by the presence of this insect, that I have often stood

_ lose to one round which the @strus Equi has been flying, until the

_ latter has come within reach of my hand, when I have caught it with-

_ out trouble. Another species, Hstrus hemorrhoidalis, is however

_ much more troublesome ; depositing her eggs on the lips of the horse,

_ and producing in her endeavours to effect this such an excessive titil-

_ lation, as to cause great uneasiness to the horse, which tosses its head

_ about to drive off its enemy, gallops about, and as a last resource

_ takes refuge in some neighbouring water, where the @stri never fol-

_ low it. The same kind of effect is also produced in rein deer by the

_ strus Tarandi*, and in oxen by another species of Gstrus, Gist.

_ Bovis, respecting which however much difference of opinion has arisen.

_ At certain seasons, the whole terrified herd, with their tails in the air,

_ or turned upon their backs, or stiffly stretched out in the direction of

the spine, gallop about the pastures, finding no rest till they also get

into the water. This @strus is asserted by some writers to make a

strong humming noise, and hence it has been supposed that the herd

_of cattle are alarmed at the noise; but this must surely be an incor-

* At the present time (April 1851) some of the rein deer in the Gardens of the

Society, which were imported last autumn from Lapland, are infected to a re-

_markable extent with the tumours of this species; there must, I think, be from fifty

to a hundred tumours on one of these animals.

140 : Zoological Society.

rect conjecture, as the @istri, if they make any hum at all, are far out- —

stripped in this respect by many other insects which instil no dread —

into oxen. Neither are they alarmed in consequence of beg sub- —

jected to the same kind of attack upon so sensitive a part as the lips, —

as is the case with the horses attacked by Gistrus hemorrhoidalis. It —

is however asserted by some writers, that the dread is produced by |

the pain inflicted by the @strus in depositing her eggs, her ovipositor

being represented as constructed like an auger or gimlet, only haying

several longer points it can wound with more effect. When it is stated,

however, that the female Estrus Bovis does not occupy more thana ~

few seconds in depositing each egg, we may fairly doubt whether, with ~

her long, fleshy, tubular ovipositor, she has been able to pierce the —

hide of an ox; or whether, as Mr. Bracy Clark suggests, she only

makes use of this long instrument to thrust the egg down to the sur- =

face of the skin, which she does not pierce, but only glues its eggs to —

it, the young larvee when hatched burrowing into the flesh. If this —

be the case, the act of oviposition must be unattended with pain, asin

the case of the deposition of the eggs of @strus Equi, and we must —

search for the cause of the alarm of the herd, either in an instinetive

knowledge that a certain insect flying around them is the parent of a ~

grub which at a future time will be a torment to them, or in the attacks

of some other insect ; and I confess that I am inclined to consider that

Virgil’s beautiful description of the annoyance caused by

“ Myriads of insects fluttering in the gloom,

(Estrus in Greece, Asilus named at Rome,)

Fierce and of cruel hum ”’—

has a Tabanus rather than an @strus for its origin. |

The larva of the Estrus Equi resides beneath the skin of the back ~

of the ox, causing large tumours, and having the extremity of its ~

body constantly placed at the orifice of the wound, where it was in- ~

troduced as an egg, or introduced itself as a grub, the openings of its —

respiratory apparatus being placed at that part of the body. a

These introductory remarks on the different modes in which insects

attack our horses and oxen, and the different effects which they pro- _

duce, will enable us the better to estimate the effects produced by an | |

insect, or several species of insects, of tropical Africa upon the horses —

of travellers who have lately returned from that part of the world, —

where their enterprising researches have been rewarded by the disco- —

very of the great central lake Tchad. Captain Frank Vardon, a gen- ~

tleman who has travelled far in the interior of Africa, has placed im ~

my hands some fragments of Dipterous insects which attacked his —

horses, causing the death of one of them. The following is an ex- ~

tract from his note to me in reply to my inquiry as to the mode of ©

its attack :— ’ ¥

“33 Oxford Terrace, Hyde Park, May 1850.

“Dear Sir,—I had always heard that the fly of South Africa so

destructive to cattle was a large gad-fly, the size of a bee or hornet.

This is quite erroneous: it is not very much larger than the common ~

house-fly, but a longer and more ‘rakish’-looking insect, and easily —

distinguished by the transverse black bars on its body. ci

Zoological Society. 14]

' **T fancy it is not met with south of the Tropic of Capricorn. It

_ is usually found on hills, plains being free from it. I have ridden

up a hill and found the Sétsé¢ increasing at every step, till at last forty

_ or fifty would be on my horse at once. The specimens you saw cost

_ me one of the best in my stud. He was stung by some ten or a dozen

_ of them, and died in twenty days. I myself have been bitten by the

_ Séts¢; you would almost fancy it was a flea biting you. Some parts

_ of South Africa are, I should say, rendered inaccessible by the presence

_ of this pest ; I mean of course to.a man who travels in the usual way,

with his oxen and horses. —

__ * How far the Sétsé extends in the interior is of course as yet un-

known, but I have certain information as to its being 200 miles north

of the ‘Great Lake’ recently discovered by my friends, Messrs. Living-

ston, Oswell and Murray.

‘te * Yours faithfully,

a “FRANK VARDON.”

* J. O. Westwood, Esq.”

_ The various specimens forwarded to me by Captain Vardon have

enabled me to determine that the insect is a new species of Wiede-

mann’s genus Glossina, which may be thus characterized :—

_ Guoss1na morsitans, Westw.

Luteo-albida, thoracis dorso subcastaneo, griseo subtomentoso, vit-

tis quatuor longitudinalibus in medio interruptis nigris, scutelli

apice punctis duobus parvis fuscis ; abdomine paltide lutescenti,

segmento basali utrinque macula parva laterali nigra, singulo

segmentorum quatuor proximorum ad basin fascia nigricanti, in

medio interrupta, notatis ; alis parum infumatis.

Long. corp. lin. 5; expans. alar. lin. 81.

_ | The head is of a dirty buff colour, narrower than the thorax, with

| large eyes; the epistoma is paler coloured and clothed with whitish

hairs; the proboscis is rather longer than the height of the head ;

it consists of a slender, horny seta or compound bristle, chestnut-

coloured in its chief length, but dilated at the base into a large oval

_ bulbous horny lobe, and upon maceration I was enabled to withdraw

| from the upper side of the seta (which is consequently grooved), two

Le very delicate styles as long as the proboscis ; the sides of this instru-

ment are defended by a pair of elongated, slender setose palpi, as long

as the proboscis itself; these are concave on the inside and blackish

_ at the tips, and the setee with which they are clothed are also black,

as well as the branched setze with which the arista of the antennz is

furnished; the outer surface of the arista itself, under a powerful

microscope, is evidently villose. The antenne are inserted in a de-

pressed obconic space between the eyes, rounded above, and there

_ are two dark spots on the upper part of the epistoma; the two basal

hg of the antennze are dark in front, and the large third joint is

_ dirty buff-coloured. The thorax is chestnut-red, clothed with a very

delicate grey tomentosity and finely punctured ; it is impressed across

the middle of the dorsum, and is marked with four longitudinal broad

142 Zoological Society.

black bars, abbreviated in front and behind, the two central ones being

longest in front, and the two lateral ones longest behind ; the wo

former are united in front by a black streak from the front margin.

The scutellum is dirty buff, with two dark dots at its extremity, from

which, as well as from various dark dots at the sides, arise long black

setze ; the halteres are nearly white. The wings are slightly stained

with dusky ; the veins black, except at the base of the wing, where

they are dirty-buff. The legs are dirty-buff, with the outside of the

thighs stained with dark brown. The last two joints of the tarsi are

black, with large pulvilli. The abdomen is flat, oval in outline, an

dirty fulvous buff.in colour, clothed above with numerous minute

black setze, which are greatly elongated at the base of the abdomen

and the extremity and sides of each segment; the first segment is

marked at each side close to the anterior angle with a round black

spot, and each of the four following segments has a broad basal fe scia

of dark brown, interrupted in the middle. The sides and under sur-

face of the thorax are varied with black patches; the abdomen is

pale-coloured beneath, with a large terminal oval plate, down the

middle of which runs a pale longitudinal line, preceded by two smal

oblique oval patches, thickly clothed with minute black sete.

The peculiarities of the genus Glossina, whereby it is at once dis

guished from Stomoxys, to which it is nearly allied, consist in the dilata-

tion of the extremity of the discoidal cell, the rounded horny bulbous

base of the proboscis, which is not angulated at its base, and the long

and slender flattened palpi, which together form a sheath protecting ©

the proboscis. Wiedemann’s typical species (which has remained 7

unique to the present time), Glossina longipalpis, (subsequently de-

scribed by Robineau Desvoidy under the name of Nemorhina all-

palis,) is a native of Sierra Leone, where it was collected by Afzelius.

M. Macquart, judging from the structure of the mouth, considers it

probable that it does not live upon the blood of animals, like S¢¢

moxys, but upon the nectar of flowers; the two setee which are en-

closed in the proboscis and compose the sucker being so slender, that

it is difficult to conceive that they can pierce the skin, the palpi bei

also elongated so as to form a protection to it, and thus further indi-

cating its weakness. There is however so great a difference between

the structure of the proboscis in these insects and Stomoays, that Ido ~

not doubt that they are able to pierce the skin of a horse, the proboscis

of Glossina being a long, straight, horny, needle-like instrument, and "|

not elbowed, with fleshy lips, as is that of Stomoxys. Moreover, the

bulbous dilated base of the proboscis must evidently play an import-

ant part in the economy of the insect, either by giving additional

support to the proboscis when in the act of piercing the skin, or by

containing powerful muscles for the action of the enclosed setze ; or,

as suggested to me by Prof. Owen, this dilated base may be analogous

to the dilated base of the sting of the Scorpion, and like it contain a

reservoir of some powerfully poisonous liquid. —

The account of the irritating powers of the Glossina given by Cap-

tain Vardon is, it is true, not so detailed as could have been desi ed,

but we learn sufficient to arrive at the conclusion that its effects are,

Zoological Society. 143

to a certain extent, exactly like those of the Tabanide; how far the

attacks may be attended with tumours, similar to those produced by

the Simulium, and whether a tropical climate may not extend the

effects of the attack, producing inflammatory action upon animals

perhaps never before in those latitudes, are questions which have yet

_ to be answered. One thing however appears to me evident, that the

_ Sétsé is no other than the Zimb of Bruce, (an insect respecting whose

real family and even existence so many doubts have been expressed, )

or at least that that insect is a larger species of Glossina, to whose

real habits Bruce has added those of a species of @strus. With the

view of establishing this assertion, as well as of,clearing up what I

consider the inconsistencies of Bruce’s account, I shall beg to intro-

duce his description of the Zimb.

_ “Nothing was more opposite than the manners and life of the

Cushite and of his carrier the shepherd. The mountains of the Cush-

ite and the cities he built afterwards were situated upon a loamy black

earth, so that, as soon as the tropical rains began to fall, a wonder-

ful phenomenon deprived him of his cattle. Large swarms of flies

‘appeared wherever that loamy earth was, which made him absolutely

dependent in this respect upon the shepherd; but these affected the

‘shepherd also. This insect is called the Zimb * in modern or vulgar

Arabic; it has not been described by any naturalist. It is in size

very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion, and the wings,

which are broader than those ofa bee, are placed separate, like those

ofafly. They are of pure gauze, without colour or spot upon them ;

the head is large ; the upper jaw or lip is sharp, and has at the end

of it a strong pointed hair of about a quarter of an inch long; the

lower jaw has two of these pointed hairs, and this pencil of hairs,

_ when joined together, makes a resistance to the finger nearly equal

to that of a strong hog’s bristle; its legs are serrated on the inside,

_ and the whole covered with brown hair or down. As soon as this

_ plague appears and its buzzing is heard, all the cattle forsake their

_ food and run wildly about the plain till they die, worn out with fa-

_ tigue, fright and hunger. No remedy remains but to leave the black

earth and to hasten down to the plains of Atbara, and there they re-

_ main whilst the rains last, this cruel enemy never daring to pursue

_ them farther. :

_. * What enables the shepherd to perform the long and toilsome

_ joutneys across Africa is the camel, emphatically called by the Arabs

_ the ship of the desert. Though his size is immense, like his strength,

_ and his body covered with a thick skin defended with strong hair, yet

_ still is he not capable to sustain the violent punctures the fiy makes

__ with his pointed proboscis. He must lose no time in removing to the

_ sands of Atbara, for when once attacked by this fly, his body, head

_ and legs swell out into large bosses, which break and putrefy to the

certain destruction of the creature. Even the elephant and rhino-

_ eros, who, by reason of their enormous bulk and the vast quantity

_. of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to desert and dry

_ places as the season may require, are obliged to roll themselves in

a4 * “ See Appendix. It is the same name as Zebul in Hebrew.—E.”

144 Zoological Society.

mud or mire, which when dry coats them over like armour, and en- —

ables them to stand their ground against this winged assassin; yet I

have found some of these tubercles upon almost every elephant and

rhinoceros that I have seen, and attribute them to this cause. AM

the inhabitants of the sea-coast of Melinda, down to Cape Gardefan,

Saba, and the south coast of the Red Sea, are obliged to put them-—

selves in motion and change their habitation to the next sand in the

beginning of the rainy season, to prevent all their stock of cattle from

being destroyed. : :

« Of all those that have written upon these countries, the prophet

Isaiah alone has given an account of this animal and the manner of ~

its operation (Isaiah, vii. 18, 19): ‘And it shall come to pass in that ©

day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part —

of the rivers of Egypt ....and they shall come, and shall rest all of

them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon ~

all thorns, and upon all bushes.’ ” (Travels, ii. pp. 314-317.) |

‘‘ Tsaltsalya, or Fly.—We are obliged with the greatest surprise ©

to acknowledge that those huge animals, the elephant, the rhinoceros, ~

the lion and the tiger, inhabiting the same woods, are still vastly this ©

fly’s inferiors ; and that the appearance of this small insect, nay, his ©

very sound, though he is not seen, occasions more trepidation, mo

ment and disorder, both in the human and brute creation, than whole’

herds of these monstrous animals collected together, though their

number was in a tenfold proportion greater than it really is. Provi-

dence from the beginning it would seem had fixed its habitation to

one species of soil, being a black fat earth, extraordinarily fruitful. —

“We cannot read the history of the plagues which God brought

upon Pharaoh by the hands of Moses, without stopping a moment to”

consider a singularity, a very principal one, which attended the plague

of the fly. The land of Goshen, the possession of the Israelites, was

a land of promise which was not tilled or sown, because it was not

overflowed by the Nile. But the land overflowed by the Nile was the

black earth of the Valley of Egypt, and it was here that God confined

the flies.—I have magnified him about twice the natural size.—He

has no sting, though he seems to me to be rather of the bee kind;

but his motion is more rapid and sudden than that of the bee, and

resembles that of the gad-fly in England. There is something par-

ticular in the sound or buzzing of this insect. It is a jarring noise,

together with a humming, which induces me to believe that it pro-

ceeds, at least in part, from a vibration made with the three hairs at

his snout. "4

** The Chaldee Version is content with calling this animal simply

Zebub, which signifies the fly in general as we express it in English.

The Arabs call it Arob in their translation, which has the same gene-

ral signification. The Ethiopic translation calls it Tsal tsalya, oka ch

is the true name of this particular fly in Geez, and was the same im

Hebrew. The Greeks have called this species of fly Cynomyia, which

signifies the dog-fly ; in imitation of which, those I suppose of the

church of Alexandria that, after the coming of Frumentius, were cor-

recting the Greek copy and making it conformable to the Septuagint,

Zoological Society. 145

have called this fly Tsal tsalya Kelb, in answer to the word Cynomyia.

Salal in the Hebrew signifies ‘to buzz’ or ‘to hum,’ and as it were

alludes to the noise with which the animal terrifies the cattle; and

_ Tsal tsalya seems to come from this by only doubling the radicals :

¢Tsalalou*, in Amharic, signifies ‘to pierce with violence.’ ’—

Appendix, vii. 284 et seq.

_ From this account we learn that it is the sound of this insect which

_ produces a great amount of trepidation in the cattle of Abyssinia. This

accords with Bracy Clark’s ideas of Estrus Bovis. Bruce’s description

f the position of the wings clearly indicates a Dipterous insect, and

his figure shows a bee-like insect, with a long straight porrected pro-

boscis exactly like that of Glossina. Bruce adds, that the insect

ctures the thick skin of the camel with its proboscis, the parts

ttacked breaking out into large bosses, which are also occasionally

found upon the rhinoceros and elephant. It will be observed how-

ever that Bruce merely supposed these tumours to arise from the

attack of the Zimb. ‘’

| I think we have sufficient grounds for believing that Bruce has

here jumbled together the notion of the buzzing of the @strus

stillmg dread into a herd of cattle, his knowledge of the piercing

ers of the proboscis of the Sétsé, and his knowledge of the tu-

urs caused by the presence of the larvee of @stri under the skin

the camel +, rhinoceros and elephant. The College of Surgeons

possesses a specimen of the larva of the @strus of the rhinoceros,

nd the camel is also subject to the attacks of a species of the same

genus ; whilst J consider that Bruce’s figure is made up from memory,

taking the statement of its resemblance to a bee and its possession

of a proboscis together t. No instance, in fact, is known of a spe-

ties which attacks these animals with its proboscis, forming tumours

10 their backs such as are described by Bruce, which agree on the

whole with the tumours caused by the larvee of @strus Bovis; and

we have already seen that no @strus is capable of inflicting a wound

ith the organs of the mouth, of which in fact all the known species

are destitute, whilst the boring powers of their ovipositors are very

estionable.

The accounts given by Mr. R. Gordon Cumming of the destructive

powers of the Tsetse fully confirm the opinion here advanced, and

ove that although “‘its dite is certain death to oxen and horses,”

it, causes no dorsal tumours like’an @strus. ‘This hunter’s scourge,”

Je says, “‘is similar to a fly in Scotland called Kleg §, but a little

smaller; they are very quick and active, and storm a horse like a

* “ The name of this fly is undoubtedly derived from a word signifying ‘to buzz’

in Hebrew and Ethiopic.

_ > Pliny was aware of the attacks of @stri upon the camel, and he informs us

the merchants of Arabia were in the habit of anointing their camels with

ale- and fish-oils. (Hist. Mund. lib. xxxii. p. 302, et lib. xi. cap. 16. p. 36.

edit. Pancoucke.)

‘{ It is evident from the note added by the editor of the 8vo edition, from

which the above extracts have been made, that the drawing of the insect was not

bond fide one made on the spot, but was manufactured at home.

§ Kieg is the local name for the Hematopota pluvialis. oe

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 10

146 Zoological Society. bd

swarm of bees, alighting on him in hundreds and drinking his blog

The animal thus bitten pines away and dies, at periods varying from —

a week to three months, according to the extent to which he has been —

bitten.’ .. . . ‘The next day one of my steeds died of the ‘ Tsetse.’

The head and body of the poor animal swelled up in a most Saat A

ing manner before he died; his eyes were so swollen that he could —

not see, and in darkness he neighed for his comrades who stood feed-

ing beside him *.”’ 45 a9

The Marquis di Spineto, in a memoir published “On the Zimb of —

Bruce as connected with the Hieroglyphics of Egypt+,” endeavoured -

to ascertain the characters of this msect, and came to the conclusion 4q

that it belongs to the order Diptera, notwithstanding Bruce says that —

it very much resembles the Bee genus, and that it has “several of the —

properties of the Bombylius, the Tabanus, the Cistrus, and the Hip-

pobosca, without belonging to any of them. In some of its generic -

and even specific characters it is like the Bombylius and Gistrus, in

others like the Hippobosca and the Muscide, in a few like the Taba-

nus and the Dog-fiy, whilst in the aggregate it differs from every one

of these insects.” The Marquis points out the various relationships

which the insect, as described by Bruce, presents to these different —

genera, considering that the porrected hairs or bristles forming the —

mouth ‘perform the office of suckers, simply because it does not ia

its eggs in the flesh of animals; for according to the account which —

Bruce gives of the evils attending the attacks of this fly, the bosses

which are produced swell, break and putrefy, but never exhibit any

larvee or maggots,”’ thus differing from the habits of the @stri; to

which however he adds, by some curious misconception, that “ the

larve of the Estrus live in wood, which does not seem to be the case

with the Zimb.”’ y

The Marquis however identifies the Zimb with the Kuyéyua or —

‘Dog-fly’ of the Greeks, the ‘Tsal tsalya Kelb’ of the Alexandrian ~

Church, the ‘Af an ouhor’ of the ancient Egyptians, the ‘Arob’ or

‘Oreb’ of Exodus viii. 21, and the ‘strus’ of Aristotle; and con-—

siders that it is the precise species of fly which caused the fourth of ~

the plagues of Egypt}. As such, he also regards it as the insect

represented on the Egyptian monuments at the head of the cartouches —

which enclose the hieroglyphical titles of the Pharaohs, and as a sym-

bol of Lower Egypt (where only the insect occurs), the preceding”

figure being intended for a sceptre, in contradiction to the opinion of

M. Champollion, who regards the figure of the insect as that of a-

bee ; and consequently the signification of the two symbols as that of —

** King of an obedient people.” I can by no means however agree

with this opinion of the Marquis Spineto, since an examination of -

various Egyptian monuments in the British Museum and elsewhere

Five Years of a Hunter’s Life in the Far Interior of South Africa, ii. pp. 220,

+ Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag. 1834, vol. iv. p. 170. 3

} In the Article ‘“‘ Musquitoe” (Brit. Cyclop. Nat. Hist. iii. 299), I have sug-

gested various reasons for supposing that the fourth plague of Egypt was caused

by some species of Culicide, which, although not disproved, are certainly weakened

by the knowledge now obtained of the real habits of the Tsetse or Zimd. ‘a

ae eIaES

eT ee

eins o>

Zoological Society. 147

_ (in all of which the insect is represented under precisely the same

_ form) has convinced me that it is intended to represent a Hymeno-

pterous insect, and not one of the Diptera. It is in fact more like

the figure of a common Wasp than any other ordinary insect ; the

appendages of the head, which are obliquely porrected, are evidently

intended for antennze, and not for a bipartite proboscis; the wings,

it is true, are only represented as two in number, but as the two on

_ each side of the body in the Hymenoptera are hooked together, they

_ would, by common observers, be regarded as but one; while the con-

tracted form of the base of the abdomen is precisely that of some of

the Vespide figured in the great French work upon Egypt. The

Polistes represented in pl. 8. fig. 2g. of that work indeed might al-

most be considered as the identical species intended to be represented

on the monuments.

Mr. S. Birch indeed informs me that there is a coloured represen-

tation of this hieroglyphic figure on one of the Egyptian monuments

in the British Museum, and that the banded colours of the abdomen

leave no doubt that it is intended for a Wasp. Moreover the Egyptian

name of this insect was the same as that of Upper Egypt, whilst the

ding figure was intended for a reed as emblematical of Lower

Egypt, and consequently the two figures indicated the power of the

monarch over both these parts of the empire.

__- To render this article more complete, I have added descriptions

of two more tropical African species of Glossina, from the Collection

of the Rev. F. W. Hope, together with that of another remarkable

_ hitherto undescribed genus allied to Glossina, but distinguished by

| the very singular recurved proboscis and long styliferous abdomen,

also from tropical Africa.

_. Guossina Tacutnoipes, Westw.

_ Cinerea, faciei striga longitudinali media fulva, epistomate ar-

genteo-sericeo, thoracis dorso brunneo-maculato, scutello griseo

maculis duabus brunneis punctisque duobus minutis apicalibus

nigris, abdominis dorso carneo-griseo segmento singulo maculis

duabus maximis fuscis, pedibus luteo-albidis, tarsis supra nigris.

_. Long. corp. lin. 4; expans. alar. lin. 84.

| Had. in Africa occidentali tropicali. (Mus. D. Hope.)

_ | This species is smaller than the preceding and differently coloured.

| The terminal joint of the antenne is more lunate in form and

| dusky coloured in front; the palpi are dusky coloured at the tip

| and clothed with black hairs. The upper surface of the thorax is

_ash-coloured, divided across the middle by an impressed line; the

_ anterior half is marked on each side roals the fore angles with an

_ oval brown spot, extending laterally and backwards into a lunate line,

enclosing a smaller oval spot on each side towards the hinder angles :

‘in the middle are two slender abbreviated brown lines, and two minute

Spots resting upon the transverse impressed line over which they are

extended and dilated into a pair of somewhat larger spots in the middle

of the upper surface of the thorax, each with a slender transverse line

10*

148 Zoological Society.

extending from it to the sides of the thorax, where it meets a curved |

lateral brown line enclosing a fainter oval spot, the hind extremity of —

each of which nearly joins, at the hinder angles of the back of the tho- —

rax, a straight line running forwards into the disk, where it vanishes. —

The upper side of the abdomen may be described as of a brown colour,

with the lateral and posterior edges and an ill-defined longitudinal

central band of fleshy ash: it is thickly clothed with minute black _

hairs on the disk, and with long ones at the base and sides. The

wings and their veins are coloured as in Gl. morsitans. ©

GtosstnA TABANIFORMIS, Westw. GOs

Griseo-fusca epistomate sericeo, thorace fusco-maculato, abdomin

Susco-rufescenti apice sensim obfuscato, pedibus fusco-lute

tibiis tarsisque nigro lineatis alis fusco infumatis. i

Long. corp. lin. 6; expans. alar. lin. 134. ae ied? aa

Hab, apud littus aureum Africee tropicalis occidentalis. (Mus, D a

Hope. a

tne species is very much larger than either of the preceding. The 7

head is comparatively much smaller and the wings much larger; the

front of the head is dusky ; it, as well as the basal joints of the an-—

tenne, is rather thickly clothed with black hairs; the arista of the

antennze is luteous, with a dark line behind, and the branding setze

with which it is furnished are black; the palpi are thickly clothed ¥

externally with short black setae; the thorax is dark greyish brown, —

also very thickly clothed with short black setee and long curved lateral

bristles ; the back of the thorax is marked with a dark central 1

gitudinal line, having a less distinct one on each side of it, betw

which and each side are two large brown spots, one behind the other ;

the scutellum is paler, and marked with two ill-defined dusky spots ;_

the wings are stained brown; the legs are dirty luteous buff; the

tibiee marked with one, and the tarsi with three very delicate longi-

tudinal black lines ; the tibiee are compressed, and the black line oceu-

pies the superior compressed ridge. a

Tribe Myorari1a, Macquart, Hist. Nat. Ins, Dipt. ii. 29.

Genus Stytomyia, Westw. (Stylogaster, Wik. nec Macq.)

Corpus subelongatum capite thorace’ parum latiori, facie antice

dimidio supero carinato, dimidio infero valde concavo. An-

tenne porrecte articulo basali minimo, 2do obconieo, 3tio sub-—

ovali precedentis longitudine, vel precedenti multo longiort

compresso parum curvato, arista versus apicem marginis supert

inserta, porrecta. Haustellum capite et thorace conjunctim

triplo longius, porrectum, in medio geniculatum, dimidio basalé

parum deflexo et ad ejus apicem crassiori, dimidio apicalé

valde incurvato. Thorax brevis quadratus. Abdomen supra

subconvexum parum curvatum, apice pone segmentum 5um in sty

lum elongatum (longitudine quinque articulorum precedentium

a@qualem), deflecum valde angustum, contracto, hujus style

apice supero in uno sexu, oblique truncato; seta elonga fa

supra hirsuta, lobo breviori compresso filamentisque duobus

Zoological Society. 149

elongatis simplicibus in cavitate truncata insidentibus. Ale

breves cellula 1ma postica clausa pediculata et postice dila-

tata, vena obliqua cellulam postice contiguam claudente .sub-

obsoleta ; cellula anali brevissima vie pone pseudalulam ex-

tensa vena brevissima transversa clausa. Pedes elongati gra-

cillimi, calcaribus. duobus tibiarum parum elongatis, tibiis

posticis difformibus, unguibus pulvillisque minutissimis.

This genus is very close to the American genus Stylogaster, but

_ especially differs from the description given thereof by M. Macquart,

in the very minute condition of the anal cell of the wings. The form

of the head and the unequal division of the haustellum, as repre-

" sented in M. Macquart’s pl. 13. fig. 15, are also characters at variance

ith those of the insects of which I have composed the present ge-

s. The anal cell is of small size in Stachynia, Mcq. (Dalmannia,

Rob. D.), but it is still more minute in Stylomyia. The long slender

legs and minute claws and pulvilli are also unlike those of all the

other Myoparie. :

Stytomy14a Leonvum, Westw.

Rufo-fulva, facie argenteo-sericea antennis rufo-fulvis arista nigra,

vertice subplano macula ovali. nigra ocellos postice includente,

haustello nigro basi subtus parum pallidiori, thorace scutello

abdomineque rufo-fulvis stylo concolori fascia lata fere apical

nigra, pedibus fulvis tarsis apice fuscis, tibiis duabus posticis

| dimidio basali fusco, apicali albido ; tarsis nigris.

- Long. corp. lin., stylo excluso, 4; expans. alar. lin. 6. 2

_ Hab. in Sierra Leona, Africee. (In Mus. D. Hope.)

__ The facets of the middle portion of the inner margin of the eyes

are rather larger than the posterior ones. The wings are but slightly

tinged with grey, and the veins are blackish. The extremity of the

anal style with its filaments are fulvous coloured. The two posterior

tibize are very slender at the base; the apical half is dilated on the

‘upper edge, the under edge not being quite straight.—Not¢e. All the

_ details are taken from the species figured.

Srytomyia conrusa, Westw. Fulva, facie argentea, vertice om-

nino nigro; antennis fulvis articulo 3tio antennarum longitu-

dinem 2di vie superanti, ovali-conico, arista nigra; tuberculo

antennifero pallide fulvo, haustello nigro basi fulvo ; thorace

supra nigro marginibus lateralibus angulisque anticis distincte

et irregulariter luteis setis longis nigris. Scutello fusco setis

duabus longis terminalibus nigris, pedibus quatuor anticis om-

nino luteo-albidis tibtis apice obscuris, femoribus duobus posti-

eis fascia angusta ante alteraque pone medium fuscis ; tibiis

dimidio basali fusco fascia lata media alba, tertia. parte api-

cali fusco, tarsis fuscis ; abdomine fulvo segmentis 2do—5to

margine postico tenui obscuro ; styli dimidio basali fulvo-rufa,;

apicali nigro, genitalibus exsertis fulvo-rufis ; corpore subtus

_ _ fulvo-albido. Precedenti e tertia parte minor.

Hab. ? (In Mus. Brit.)

ee Sj ee

150 Miscellaneous.

Although in general form and proportion of its parts, especially of —

the terminal style of its abdomen, the specimen of this species in the —

British Museum agrees exactly with St. Leonum, yet the short third —

joint of the antenne, and the extraordinarily enlarged size of the |

middle facets of the inner margin of the eyes, might indicate it to be ©

the opposite sex of the preceding. The second segment of the abdo- —

men is furnished on each side with a small fascicle of elongated black —

hairs. ‘ ie

This species is introduced by Mr. F. Walker into his ‘ List of the —

Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum’ (part iii.

p- 680), under the name of Stylogaster stylatus; but it appears to —

me that it neither accords with Macquart’s generic characters of Sty-

logaster, nor with the concise Fabrician specific description of Conops

stylata (Syst. Antl. 177), nor yet with Wiedemann’s more detailed —

observations, especially with reference to the sexual difference in the

form of the antenne (Auss. Eur. Zw. Ins. ii. 245), |

MISCELLANEOUS. cate

Observations on the Circulation of the Blood in the Arachnida. a

By M. Emite Buancuarp. |

Unriu very lately the circulatory apparatus of the Arachnida re- —

mained nearly unknown, It was supposed, indeed, that the pulmo- —

nary Arachnida would resemble the Crustacea in their mode of cir- —

culation, whilst the tracheary Arachnida, on the other hand, would —

resemble insects ; but observations on this subject are still almost en- —

tirely wanting, and all the peculiarities belonging to the type remained —

unknown. The question, however, made a great step, as far as regards —

the Scorpionide, in consequence of the researches of Mr. Newport; —

and in a memoir published three years since, I described the course —

of the principal arteries in the Araneida, in which they had not as yet —

been traced. Notwithstanding the appearance of these works, many, —

points remained to be cleared up. A new examination of this circu- —

latory apparatus has recently led me to ascertain its details in a tole- 4

rably complete manner. I had made my previous researches on spe- —

cies found in France, which are of very small size; but, during last —

autumn, a very lively specimen of a Mygale of the largest dimensions ~

(M. Blondii), which inhabits South America, having been received —

at the museum, I have derived considerable assistance from it, in ~

the investigation which I have long been pursuing, on the anatomy —

and physiology of the Arachnida. I injected this Mygale, intro- ~

ducing the injection by the heart, and succeeded by this means in ©

following, and isolating by dissection, all the arteries distributed to —

every organ, even to their most delicate ramifications, x

In this short abstract of my labours, I abstain from describing the ©

course of these numerous arteries in detail, as the description will ap- —

pear shortly in my work entitled ‘ L’ Organisation du Régne Anus s

I content myself here with indicating the general result; a result —

which does not apply only to the species which has served me in a

Miscellaneous. : 151

special manner in my researches, but equally to all the Araneida, as

I have since convinced myself.

In these Articulata, the heart, usually divided into five chambers,

offers four pairs of auriculo-ventricular orifices; the aorta, which

_ springs from the anterior chamber, penetrates into the thorax and

: furnishes two arteries on each side, the branches of which are distri-

buted to the posterior diverticula of the stomach and to the thoracic

' muscles. Beyond this the aorta divides into two great trunks, which

above give off the arteries of the first diverticula of the stomach and

of all the muscles of the anterior portion of the thorax. The oph-

thalmic arteries spring from the inner part of each of these trunks.

_ Below, they are prolonged to form the arteries of the mandibles

_ (antennes pinces), and about their median portion they furnish a

voluminous artery which divides immediately to form the arteries of

the legs and of the ventral portion of the abdomen. All these vessels

_ present a number of branches and ramifications not inferior to those

which are generally seen in vertebrated animals. Besides these, each

_ of the chambers of the heart furnishes a large artery on each side,

__ the branches of which are distributed to the liver and intestines.

For the return of the blood the circulatory apparatus is much less

_ perfect ; in general there only exist canals, the walls of which are in-

_ capable of being isolated by dissection. Nevertheless, the legs and

_ the mandibles (antennes pinces) are penetrated by a very distinctly

_ limited venous canal ; but in the thorax the principal passages are

_ merely circumscribed by the bundles of muscles. On the other hand,

__ in the liver, we observe, at various points and principally on the sides,

_ vestiges of membranous walls.

_ All the venous blood collected from the different parts of the body

is conducted into the lower region of the abdomen, where it is intro-

_ duced into the respiratory organs, by means of two large pulmonary

_ eanals formed by a delicate membrane ; arrived at the organs of re-

_ spiration, the nutritive fluid soon passes into the pulmono-eardiac ves-

| sels, which are equal in number to the auriculo-ventricular orifices of

_ the heart, into which they empty themselves. These vessels, of a

_ very delicate consistency, are always adherent to the inner walls of

_ the abdominal teguments.

_ Thus the circulation of the blood in the Arachnida is executed by

_ means of an arterial system of the most complete description; and

a venous system, which, although no doubt very imperfect when

- compared with that of the Vertebrata, offers, nevertheless, in the re-

_ gularity of its course and the well-circumscribed limits of most of its

assages, a degree of complication of which naturalists hitherto could

ve formed no idea.—Comptes Rendus, March 15, 1852, p. 402.

ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF COLUBER NATRIX.

_ Referring to Mr. Gray’s article in the June Number of the ‘ An-

nals of Natural History,’ on the distribution of the Coluber natriz, I

_ beg to state that it is a mistake to suppose that this reptile is not

_ found in Norfolk. I have seen specimens from two localities in East

a Norfolk, and I have heard of them in West Norfolk. I have also

jeer

Peer ay

152 Miscellaneous.

heard of them at Fritton in East Suffolk, where I am informed that

they are frequently observed in summer to swim across a lake from a

quarter to half a mile in breadth *,—Joun Henry GURNEY. _

Easton, Norfolk, July 5, 1852. + 9 Ror

Uses of the Stillingia sebifera, or Tallow Tree, with a notice of the 4

Pe-la, an Insect-wax of Chinat. By J.D. Maceoway, M.D. |

The botanical characters of this member of the Euphorbiaces are _

too well known to require description ; but hitherto no accurate —

account has been published of its varied uses, and although it has

become a common tree in some parts of India and America, its value —

is appreciated only in China, where alone its products are properly

elaborated. Inthe American Encyclopedia it is stated that this tree —

is almost naturalized in the maritime parts of South Carolina, and

that its capsules and seeds are crushed together and boiled, the fatty —

matter being skimmed as it rises, hardening when cool... io

Dr. Roxburgh in his excellent ‘ Flora Indica,’ says :—‘ It is now —

very common about Calcutta, where, in the course of a few years, it

has become one of the most common trees. It is in flower and fruit —

most parts of the year. In Bengal, it is considered only an orna- —

mental tree; the sebaceous produce of its seeds is not sufficient in —

quantity, nor its qualities so valuable, as to render it an object worthy |

of cultivation. It is only in very cold weather that this substance —

becomes firm ; at all other times it is ina thick brownish fluid state, —

and soon becomes rancid: such is my opinion of the famous vegetable —

tallow of China.” " te “gaat te ieee

Dr. Roxburgh was evidently misled in his experiments by pursuing —

a course similar to that which is described m the ‘ Encyclopeedia —

Americana’ (and in many other works), or he would have formed a —

very different opinion of this curious material. Uh a Oia ae

Analytical chemistry shows animal tallow to consist of two proxi- —

mate principles—stearine and elaine. Now what renders the fruit —

of this tree peculiarly interesting-is the fact that both these principles —

exist in it separately, in nearly a pure state. By the above-named ~

process, stearine and elaine are obtained in a mived state, and conse-

quently the mass presents the appearance described by Dr. Roxburgh. —

Nor is the tree prized merely for the stearine and elaine it yields, —

though these products constitute its chief value: its leaves are em- —

ployed as a black dye ; its wood being hard and durable may be easily

used for printing-blocks and various other articles; and finally, the —

refuse of the nut is employed as fuel and manure. 4

The Stillingia sebifera is chiefly cultivated in the provinces of

Kiangsi, Kougnam, and Chehkiang. In one district, near Haugchan, —

the inhabitants defray all their taxes with its produce. It grows alike

on low alluvial plains and on granite hills, on the rich mould at the —

* Two other friends have made the same correction of Mr. F. Edwards’s 4

observations.—J. E. Gray. ia

+ Drawn up for the Agricultural and Horticultural Soeiety of India.

Miscellaneous. 153

margin of canals, and on the sandy sea-beach. The sandy estuary of

_ Haugchan yields little else ; some of the trees at this place are known

. to. be several hundred years old, and though prostrated, still send

forth branches and bear fruit. Some are made to fall over rivulets,

_ forming convenient bridges. They are seldom planted where any-

thing else can be conveniently cultivated—in detached places, in

corners about houses, roads, canals, and fields. Grafting is performed

_at the close of March, or early in April, when the trees are about

_ three inches in diameter, and also when they attain their growth.

The ‘ Fragrant Herbal’ recommends for trial the practice of an old

ardener, who, instead of grafting, preferred breaking the small

branches and twigs, taking care not to tear or wound the bark.

_ In mid-winter, when the nuts are ripe, they are cut off with their

twigs, by a sharp crescentie knife, attached to the extremity of a

long pole, which is held in the hands, and pushed upwards against

the twigs, removing at the same time such as are fruitless. The

_ capsules are gently pounded in a mortar to loosen the seeds from

_ their shells, from which they are separated by sifting. To facilitate

the separation of the white sebaceous matter enveloping the seeds,

they are strained in tubs, having convex, open wicker bottoms placed

over caldrons of boiling water. When thoroughly heated they are

reduced to a mash in the mortar, and thence transferred to bamboo

sieves, kept at an uniform temperature over hot ashes. A single

operation does not suffice to deprive them of all their tallow, and the

| steaming and sifting is therefore repeated. The article thus procured

_ becomes a solid mass on falling through the sieve, and to purify it,

_ it is melted and formed into cakes for the press. These receive their

. form. from bamboo hoops.a foot in diameter and three inches deep,

which are laid on the ground over a little straw. On being filled

_ with the hot liquid the ends of the straw beneath are drawn up.and

ppree over the top, and when of sufficient consistence are placed with

eir rings in the press. This apparatus, which is of the rudest

_ description, and constructed of two large beams placed horizontally

so as to form a trough, is capable of containing about fifty of the

Yings with their sebaceous cakes; at one end it is closed, and at the

other adapted for receiving wedges, which are successively driven

into it by ponderous sledge-hammers, wielded by athletic men. The

tallow oozes in a melted state into a receptacle below where it cools ;

it is again melted and poured into tubs, smeared with mud to prevent

its adhering. It is now marketable, in masses about 80 pounds each

| -—hard, brittle, white, opake, without taste, and without the odour of

_ animal tallow; under high pressure it scarcely stains bibulous paper ; it

| melts at 104° Fahrenheit. It may be regarded as nearly pure stearine ;

the slight difference is doubtless owing to the admixture of oil ex-

pressed from the seed in the process just described. The seeds yield

about eight per cent. of this vegetable stearine, which sells for about

five cents per pound.

The process for pressing the oil, which is carried on at the same

time, remains to be noticed: it is contained in the kernel of the nut,

the sebaceous matter which lies between the shell and husk having

154 Miscellaneous.

been separated in the manner described. ‘The kernel and the husk —

covering it are ground between two stones, which are heated to prevent |

clogging from the sebaceous matter still adhering. The mass is then ©

placed in a wimnowing machine, precisely like those in common use ~

in other countries. ‘The chaff being separated exposes the white —

oleaginous kernels, which after being steamed are placed in a mill to ~

be mashed. This machine is formed of a circular stone groove, —

twelve feet in diameter, three inches deep and about as many wide, —

into which a thick solid stone wheel, eight feet in diameter, tapering —

at the edge, is made to revolve perpendicularly by an ox harnessed to ~

the outer end of its axle, the inner turning on a pivot in the centre ©

of the machine. Under this ponderous weight the seeds are reduced

toa mealy state; they are then steamed in the tubs, formed into |

cakes, and pressed by wedges in the manner above described, the —

process of mashing, steaming, and pressing being repeated with the ~

kernels likewise. The kernels yield above thirty per cent. of oil, and ~

it sells for a little more than three cents per pound. It is called ~

Tsing-yu, and answers well for lamps, though inferior for this purpose

to some other vegetable oils in use. It is also employed for various |

purposes in the arts, and has a place in the Chinese Pharmacopeeia,

because of its quality of changing gray hair black, and Ee ae )

virtues. The husk which envelopes the kernels, and the shell which ~

incloses them with their sebaceous covering, are used to feed the ~

furnaces, scarcely any other fuel being needed for this purpose. The

residuary tallow cakes are also employed for fuel, as a small quantity

of it remains ignited a whole day. It is in great demand for chafing ©

dishes in the cold weather. And finally, the cakes which remain 7}

after the oil has been pressed out are much valued as a manure, ~

particularly for tobacco fields, the soil of which is rapidly impoverish

by the Virginia weed. Artificial illumination is generally procured

in China by vegetable oils, but candles are also employed by th

who can afford it, and for lanterns. In religious ceremonies no other

material is used. As no one ventures out. after dark without a lan- —

tern, and as the gods cannot be acceptably worshiped without

candles, the quantity consumed is very great. With an unimportant —

exception, the candles are also made of what I beg to designate as —

vegetable stearine. When the candles, which are made by dipping, —

are of the required diameter, they receive a final dip into a mixture

of the same material and insect-wax, by which their consistency is

preserved in the hottest weather. They are generally coloured red, —

which is done by throwing a minute quantity of alkanet root (A4n-—

chusa tinetoria), brought from Shangtung, into the mixture, which —

forms the coating of the candle: verdigris is sometimes employed to

dye them green. The wicks are made of rush, coiled round a stem —

of coarse grass, the lower part of which is slit to receive the pin of —

the candlestick, which is more economical than if put inte a socket. —

Tested in the mode recommended by Count Rumford, these candles”

compare favourably with those made from spermaceti, but not when —

the clumsy wick of the Chinese is used. They cost about eight cents

per pound. at

Miscellaneous. 155

Prior to the thirteenth century, bees’. wax was employed as a coating

for candles; but about that period the white insect-wax was dis-

_ covered, since which time that article has been wholly superseded by

the more costly but incomparably superior product of this insect.

It has been described by the Abbé Grassier, Sir George Staunton,

and others; but these accounts differ so widely among themselves,

as well as from that given by native authors, as to render further

_inguiry desirable.

From the description given by Grassier, entomologists have sup-

_ posed the insect which yields the Pe-/a, or white wax, to be a species

of Coecus. Staunton, on the contrary, describes it as a species of

| Cicada (Flatalimbata). As described by Chinese writers, however,

_ it is evidently an apterous insect ; hence the inference, either that

ips,

_ there are two distinct species that produce white wax, or that the

- insect Staunton saw was falsely represented as the elaborator of this

beautiful material. ‘This, like many other interesting questions in the

natural history of this portion of the globe, must remain unsolved,

until restrictions on foreign intercourse are greatly relaxed, or wholly

removed. In the mean time, native writers may be consulted with

advantage ; and from the chief of these, the Pun-tsau and Kiunfangpi,

_ two herbals of high authority, the subjoined account has been prin-

_ cipally derived. The animal feeds on an evergreen shrub or tree,

_ Lagustrum lucidum, which is found throughout central China from

_ the Pacific to Thibet, but the insect chiefly abounds in the province

of Sy’Chuen. It is met with also in Yunnan, Hunan, and Hupeh.

A small quantity of a superior description is produced in Kinhwa,

Chehkiang province. Much attention is paid to the cultivation of

‘this tree; extensive districts of country are covered with it, and it

forms an important branch of agricultural industry. In planting,

_ they are arranged like the mulberry in rows about twelve feet apart,

and both seeds and cuttings are employed. If the former, they are

soaked in water in which unhusked rice has been washed, and their

_ shells pounded off : when propagated by cuttings, branches an inch

im diameter are recommended as of the most suitable size. The

round is ploughed semi-annually, and kept perfectly free from weeds.

n the third or fourth year they are stocked with the insect. After

_ the wax or insect has been gathered from the young trees, they are

cut down, just below the lower branches, about four feet from the

ground, and well manured. The branches which sprout the follow-

_ ing season are trimmed, and made to grow in nearly a perpendicular

direction. The process of cutting the trunk within a short distance

of the ground is repeated every four or five years, and as a general

rule, they are not stocked until the second year after this operation.

_ Sometimes the husbandman finds a tree which the insects themselves

_ have attained, but the usual practice is to stock them with the nests

_of the insect, which is effected in spring. These nests are about the

__ size of a ‘‘ fowl’s head,”’ and are removed by cutting off a portion of

_ the branch to which they are attached, leaving an inch each side of

_ the nest. The sticks, with the adhering nests, are soaked in un-

_ husked rice-water for a quarter of an hour, when they may be sepa-

rated. When the weather is damp or cool, they may be preserved in

156 Miscellaneous.

jars for a week; but if warm, they are to be tied to the branches of

the trees, to be stocked without delay, being first folded between

leaves. By some, the nests are probed out of their seat in the bark —

of the tree without removing the branches. At this period’they are —

particularly exposed to the attacks of birds, and require watching. —

In a few days after being tied to the tree, the nests swell, and in-

numerable white insects, the size of ‘nts,’ emerge, and spread

themselves on the branches of the tree; but soon with one accord ©

they descend towards the ground, where, if they find any grass, they 7

take up their quarters. To prevent this, the ground beneath ake |

quite bare, care being taken also that their implacable enemies, the 7

ants, have no access to the tree. | ate Pt

Finding no congenial resting-place below, they re-ascend and fix 7)

themselves to the lower surface of the leaves, where they remain |

several days, whence they repair to the branches, perforating the @

bark to feed on the fluid with. - From nits they attain the size and |

appearance of “pediculus hominis.’ Having compared it to this, ©

the most familiar to them of all insects, our authors deem further

description superfluous. Early in June they give to the trees the

appearance of being covered with hoar frost, being changed into wax ;

soon after this they are scraped off, being previously sprinkled with 4

water. If the gathering be deferred till August, they adhere too

firmly to be easily removed. Those which are suffered to remain to

stock trees the ensuing season, secrete a purplish envelope about the

month of August, which at first is no larger than a grain of rice ; but

as incubation proceeds, it expands, and becomes as large as a fowl’ ;

head, which is in spring, when the nests are transferred to other

trees, one or more to each, according to their size and vigour, in the

manner already described. i

On being scraped from the trees, the crude material is freed from

its impurities, probably the integuments of the insect, by spreading”

it on a strainer covering a cylindrical vessel which is placed in a

caldron of boiling water ; the wax is received into the former vessel,

and on congealing is ready for the market. The Pe-la or white wax

in its chemical properties is analogous to purified bees’-wax, and also”

spermaceti, but differs from both, being in my opinion an article

perfectly sui generis. It is purely white, transparent, shining, not

unctuous to the touch, inodorous, insipid, crumbles into a dry inad--

hesive powder between the teeth, with a fibrous texture, resembling

fibrous cale-spar ; it melts at 100° Fahr., is insoluble in water, dis-

solves in heated essential oils, and is scarcely affected by boiling

alcohol, the acids, or alkalies. i; oa

The aid of analytical chemistry is needed for the proper elucidation

of this most beautiful material. There can be no doubt it would

prove altogether superior in-the arts to purified bees’-wax. On extra-

ordinary occasions the Chinese employ it for candles and tapers. it

has been supposed to be identical with the white lac of Madras ;

as the Indian article has been found useless in the manufacture of

candles*, it cannot be the same; it far excels also the vegetable

wax (Myrica cerifera) of the United States. q

* Dr. Pearson’s Philosophical. Transactions, vol. xxi.

Miscellaneous. 157

Is this substance a secretion? There are Chinese who regard it as

such, some representing it to be the saliva and others the excrement

of the insect. European writers take nearly the same view, but the

best authorities expressly say that this opinion is incorrect, and that

the animal is changed into wax. I am inclined to believe that the

insect undergoes what may be styled a ceraceous degeneration, its

whole body, being permeated by the peculiar produce in the same

manner as the Coccus cacti is by carmine.

Its cost at Ningpo varies from 22 to 33 cents per pound.

_ The annual produce of this humble creature in China cannot be far

from 400,000. pounds, worth more than 3¥100,000.—Silliman’s

- American Journal, July 1851.

ee ‘Ningpo, August 1850.

NYMPHAZA ALBA VAR. MAJOR.

en Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park, July 21, 1852.

_ Dear Sir,—A white Water Lily, found growing somewhere not

far from London; has been brought to me as a new species. I have

doubts about its being any more than a large variety of the Nymphea

alba, but I inclose you a description of it, which, if you think it

worth while to draw the attention of botanists towards it at this

season, you will oblige me by inserting in the ‘Annals and Mag. of

Nat. Hist.’

_ It was brought to me quite fresh by Mr. Rich. . About a month

; ago the flowers were imperfect and small, some having five sepals to

the calyx, and being more or less irregular; but a perfect one

, brought on the 17th was at least 7 inches in diameter, and Mr. Rich

has had larger.

or I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,

Wm: Francis, Esq. J. De C, Sowersy.

Nymphea alba var.? major.

__ Flower large, all its parts more elongated than in the ordinary

form of N. alba. The disk of the stigma very concave ; the appen-

dages of the radii cylindrical, three times as long as wide. Petaloid

stamens broad-lanceolate, attenuated towards the apex, much longer

_than the next row of stamens, _ Anther-cells diverging at the base.

Petals numerous, rather pointed, the innermost longer than the sta-

-taens. Sepals of the calyx ovate-elongated. Leaf broad ovate, nar-

rowed towards the point. Ribs or primary veins ten on each side of

_the central one ; on the back of the leaf they are narrow, raised and

rigid ; the secondary veins also are raised and firm. In other points

‘it agrees with the ordinary N. alba: they both grow in the same

piece of water.

_ In the common W. alba the disk of the stigma is nearly flat ; the

‘appendages to its radii are ovate, only one and a half times as long

as wide. The petaloid stamens are ovate-lanceolate, the same length

as the next stamens, with the anther-cells parallel. The inner petals

are shorter than the stamens, ovate and obtuse. The sepals oval,

158 Miscellaneous.

pointed. The leaves broad oval, not narrowed towards the emargi-

nate apex; the primary veins nine on each side the central one; on

the back of the leaf convex, soft; secondary veins concave on both —

sides.—J. Dr C. S. 4

ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE BELEMNITE.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,—When a disputant affirms a statement ‘most em- —

phatically,’ it may be suspected that the emphasis is added to supply —

the want of inherent truth. This is the case with Dr. Mantell when ~

he so affirms that the “phragmocone is common to numerous genera —

of Cephalopods,””—a statement which is made to appear true only ©

by attaching to the term ‘ phragmocone’ a meaning peculiar to the ©

asserter. A ‘conical chambered siphunculated shell’ is no doubt com- —

mon to numerous genera of Cephalopods: before Owen’s anatomy of —

the Nautilus, Belemnites, and Spirula, it was deemed to characterize —

all that section of the class which Cuvier grouped together under the

wide Linnean term of Nautilus, and with which the “ Siphonifera” —

of Férussac and D’Orbigny is synonymous. The term ‘ phragmo- —

cone’ was first proposed by Professor Owen, and applied by him to ~

a particular modification of the ‘conical chambered siphunculated ~

shell’; to that viz. in which the cone is short and straight, the —

chambers very shallow, and rapidly enlarging, uniformly concave to- —

wards the outlet, with the siphuncle marginal and ventral, and the —

whole invested by a partly horny, partly calcareous layer continuous —

with the sheath protecting the more advanced parts of the Belemnite —

(Phil. Trans. 1844, pp. 68, 69). This modification of the ‘conical .

chambered siphunculated shell’ is common to all the subgenera into —

which the ‘ Belemnites’ of Cuvier have since been divided, and it is —

‘ peculiar’ to them. a

The most variable and therefore least important part of their com- —

plex shell is the ‘dart,’ ‘ guard,’ or ‘ osselet’ ; its different forms and —

proportions afford, indeed, the characters of most of the species, and —

in the Bel. brevissima, Duv., e. g., it is reduced to the size of the —

similarly solid calcareous terminal mucro of the shell of Beloptera, —

Sepia, &c., to which, according to Cuvier, Buckland, and other emi- —

nent naturalists, it is answerable. So much, therefore, for Dr. Man- —

tell’s other affirmation that the part which he chooses to call ‘ osselet’ —

is the essential part or character of the Belemnite. I shall not tres-

pass on your space by any notice of Dr. Mantell’s views of the value —

of Professor Owen’s researches on the extinct Cephalopods possessing ~

the ‘ phragmacone,’ or of my own opinion of the influence of the Pro- —

fessor’s works in general on the progress of Comparative Anatomy : —

and I limit myself to a single sample of the nature of the discoveries —

to which Dr. Mantell vaunts his peculiar claims. The part, e. g.,

which he calls the capsule or sheath is the part so called by Buck- ©

land, together with other parts subsequently pointed out by Owen. —

The author of the 6th Bridgewater Treatise (p. 372) describes— ~

‘A conical thin horny sheath, or cup, commencing from the base of ©

Meteorological Observations. 159

“the hollow cone of the fibro-caleareous sheath, and enlarging rapidly

| as it extends outwards to a considerable distance. This horny cup

_ formed the anterior chamber of the Belemnite, and contained the

ink-bag and some of the viscera.” Owen subsequently traced a

similarly organized membrane continued backwards from the margin

__ of the alveolus, where Buckland’s ‘ capsule’ commences, “to line the

_alveolar cavity of the spathose guard,” and to cover the exterior sur-

face of the guard itself; the first description of which latter struc-

ture we find in the following words of his memoir, ‘ Phil. Trans.’ 1844,

ag 69 :—‘‘ The exterior surface of the spathose guard of the Belem-

_ nites of the Oxford clay, though smoother than in some other spe-

cies, is minutely granular, and occasionally presents faint traces of

vascular i impressions, proving it to have been invested by an organized

membrane of the living Cephalopods.” With his usual cautious ex-

-actitude he forbears to extend to this investing organized membrane

the term ‘capsule,’ which his predecessor had correctly restricted to

_ that part which, so far as it truly performs the function of a capsule,

- eommences, as Dr. Buckland describes, where the fibro-calcareous

_ sheath terminates. Every fact has its value; but this varies inde-

finitely, and does not become greater, when, by an abuse of terms, a

pe particular is laid claim to by a self-asserted discoverer.

I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

THE QUARTERLY REVIEWER.

eee

so aie tees

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1852.

Chiswick.—June 1. Clear and fine. 2. Cloudy: fine: rain. 3. Cloudy. 4.

_ Overcast: fine: clear. 5. Very fine: slight rain. 6. Rain: clear at night.

eS 7. Constant rain. 8. Thick whitish haze: low fog in the evening: heavy rain.

ie 9. Excessively heavy rain throughout. 10. Rain: cloudy: clear. 11. Overcast.

_ 12. Slight rain: overcast. 13. Fine: rain at night. 14. Showery. 15. Fine:

_showery: clear. 16. Rain: uniformly overcast. 17. Cloudy throughout. 18.

Rain: showery: heavy rain. 19. Heavy clouds: clear and fine. 20. Overcast:

“rain. 21. Rain: cloudy. 22—24. Fine. 25. Uniformly overcast: fine: rain at

fe night. 26. Rain: heavy showers. 27. Overcast: heavy showers. 28. Fine:

'% densely overcast. 29. Overcast: cloudy: clear. 30. Fine: rather windy : clear

- at night.—More rain fell on the 7th, 8th, and 9th, than on any three consecutive

_ days for at least twenty-six years near I ondon.

Mean temperature of the month .,.......secsccsessseees caneseess 08 Ol

Mean temperature of June 1851 oci.0... sci cscs cceseeeece ces 59 *21

Mean temperature of June for the last twenty-six years ... 60°61

Average amount of rain in June sees. ececcsseeeeenecseweces 1°77 inch.

Boston.—June 1. Fine. 2. Fine: rain p.m. 3. Cloudy : rain A.M. 4. Fine

| raina.m. 5, Fine. 6. Rain: raina.m. 7,8. Cloudy. 9. Cloudy: rain a.m:

_ 10,11. Cloudy: raina.M.and p.m. 12. Cloudy: rain a.m. 13. Cloudy: rain r.m,

14,15. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 16. Rain: rain A.M.and p.m. 17. Fine.

3 raina.M. andp.M. 18,19. Cloudy: raina.m. 20. Cloudy: raine.m. 21. Rain:

_Yraina.M. 22. Cloudy: raina.M.andp.m. 23—25. Fine. 26. Cloudy: rain a.m.:

27. Cloudy. 28. Cloudy: rain p.m. 29, 30. Cloudy.

| Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—June 1, 2. Showers. 3. Rain: showers. 4, 5.

damp. 10. Drizzle. 11. Drizzle: showers. 12. Damp: bright. 13. era

fine: cloudy. 14. Showers: cloudy: fine. 15. Bright: fine: clear: Mien SS. 6.

_ Bright: fine: cloudy. 17. Clear: fine: cloudy. 18. Damp: fog. right :

, lear: fine. 20. Damp. 21. Damp: fog. 22,23. Rain. 24, D5. eight: showers.

_ 26. Bright: rain. 27. Bright: showers: fine. 28. Clear: fine : drops: fine.

is 29. Clear : fine: cloudy : ot 30. Rain.

a , ae f we > $.6

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: THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES. ]

. No. 57. SEPTEMBER 1852.

- XV.—On the Form and Structure of the Shell of Operculina

_ Arabica. By H. J. Carrer, Esq., Assistant Surgeon, Bom-

bay Establishment.

[With a Plate. ]

_ Tue interest which attaches to the forms and structure of Fora-

- minifera is naturally very great, for no one can have seen their

beautiful little shells and the extensive tracts in the Nummulitic

series, which are almost entirely composed of their remains,

_ without wishing to know something of the animals by which

they were constructed.

_ Fortunately many are now living to help us out in this re-

spect, and although for the most part very small, yet, here and

there are found some sufficiently large, as will hereafter be seen,

_ to afford us almost all the information we could expect to obtain,

were the fossil species even living, in their largest forms.

In the month of June 1847, I communicated a paper to the

_ Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, containing, among

_ other observations, a summary up to that time of all that was

_ known of the structure of Foraminifera; and by way of intro-

- duction, as well as for the purpose of rendering this paper more

- complete and more useful, I will here insert the latter, adding

_ what has been done since, and then a description of the form and

_ structure of the shell of Operculina Arabica, which will, I think,

elucidate all that has hitherto been stated of, and leave little to

be added to, the general structure of Foraminiferous shells, both

recent and fossil.

_ For ten years after D’Orbigny gave his description of the

- animal of Foraminifera, no one appears to have taken much

trouble to question its accuracy, until Dujardin took up the

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x.

162 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Form and Structure

subject in 1835, while residing at Toulon (where he had ample |

opportunities of testing the truth of D’Orbigny’s imaginary ©

discovery), and after having carried on his researches most per- ~

severingly for some time, at length came to the conclusion, com- ~

municated to the Académie Royale des Sciences of Paris in the

month of June of the year mentioned, that the Foraminifera 7

were not Mollusca, nor did they belong to any of the established ~

classes. uw

“Tn describing their organization, Dujardin stated that all

their chambers were occupied by a red or orange coloured animal —

matter, highly contractile, and possessed of the consistence of ©

mucus ; that this was susceptible of extending itself into threads —

which were filled with irregular granulations, but without the —

presence of any organs. On carefully observing these animals

in their living state, he had seen, with a high magnifying power, ©

in Miliola a soft mass projecting from its aperture (analogous to —

the substance of the interior) which slowly underwent a change ©

of form, and from which a tuft of minute filaments radiated —

from a common centre of attachment ; these filaments prolonged —

themselves in ramifications to five times the diameter of the spe-

cimen (Miliola) from which they proceeded, and at length be- ©

came of such extreme tenuity, as to be followed only by changing -

the direction of the rays of ight. Further, he observed in these ~

filaments a movement of reptation, by which the animal advanced

from 5 to 6 millimetres per hour. The filaments appeared to be

composed of a primitive animal matter, which extended itself

forward in the manner of roots ; hence the name Rhizopoda which —

Dujardin proposed for these animals. In Miliola and Gromia_

these filaments came from their aperture ; in Crestellaria from ©

the last chamber, and in Vorticialia from different pores of the

disk. E

“As to their manner of reproduction, Dujardin had noticed”

during the previous year, that in Troncatulina, the animal mat-

ter was grouped together in certain cases in globular masses, as_

the green matter of Zygnema. 4

“ Finally, in concluding his communication he states, ‘ We see

that it is impossible to keep these animals among the microscopic

Cephalopoda: what rank shall be assigned to them ?? * Eb

“The discovery then of the animal of Foraminifera appears to.

be due to Dujardin. a

“In November 1835, he exhibited at Paris several living spe-

cimens of Vorticialia and his genus Gromiat+, and during that

winter continued his researches into their organization with a

* Acad. Roy. des Se. séance Juin 22, 1835.

+ Ibid. séance Noy. 15, 1835.

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 163

view to establishing the relation that might exist between them

and Infusoria.

“In comparing them with Infusoria, he states, in a note ad-

dressed to the Académie Royale des Sciences of Paris*, ‘I have

always been guided by an idea suggested by Bory St. Vincent,

who, after having seen the living Rhizopoda, was struck with the

great analogy which existed between the filamentous prolon-

ations of these animals and the expansions of the Ame@ba or

Proteus, and. directed my attention to the point.’

__ “Lastly, Dujardin exhibited before the Acad. Roy. des Se. at

Paris in 1836+ some animalcules, called by Ehrenberg Arcella

aculeata, but which Dujardin regarded as freshwater Forami-

nifera, and through these he imagined the series to be continued

m the Ameba to Miliola,—that is, through Difflugia, a species

Ameba, to Arcella, from the latter to Gromia, and from Gro-

ia to Crestellaria, and thence to Miliola.

“After Dujardin, Ehrenberg took up the subject, and the re-

t of his researches is as opposed to D’Orbigny’s description

it is confirmatory of Dujardin’s observations.

“Tn a memoir read at the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin

18381, Ehrenberg stated that the Foraminiferous shells were

inhabited by elegant little bodies which played an important

part in nature, and the fossilized remains of which might fre-

quently be found to number more than a million in a cubic inch

of chalk ; also, that after a series of observations made on recent

species both living and dead in the Red Sea and elsewhere, he

liad come to the conclusion that their place in the animal king-

dom should be among the Bryozoa.

- “Jn the month of October 1839§, Ehrenberg also exhibited

living specimens of these animals to the Academy at Berlin, [two]

which were taken at Cuxhaven, and in January 1840 he exhibited

en other species of these animals ||, at the same time communi-

iting the following observations on their organization :—

_“* The first and largest cell of these animals, sometimes also

e second, and occasionally as far back as the fourth, contain

mly the transparent part of the animal; beyond this, the cells

are filled with two large organs differently coloured. One and

the principal is an alimentary canal, thick, gray, greenish, which,

like the whole of the body, is articulated ; this extends itself

from chamber to chamber, and its divisions are united by an

* Séance Fev. 1, 1836. + Séance Juin 11, 1836.

ee séance de 16 Janvier 1840, L/’Institut, No. 350, Sept. 1840,

1 ‘Acad. Roy. des Se. Berlin, séance de 16 Janvier 1840. Vide |’Institut,

No. 350, Sept. 1840, p. 309.

: || Ibid. [and Taylor’s Scientific Memoirs, vol. iii. p. wee

164 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Form and Structure

cesophagus or siphon. When the shell is removed by acid, the”

siliceous carapaces of Infusoria which the animal has swallowed

may be observed (in Nonionina and Geoponus) as far back even

as the last articulation of the alimentary canal. The structure

of this canal is not polygastric but simple ; expanded in the arti-

culations, and possessed of a single aperture which is situated

anteriorly. In Nonionina the articulations are distinct and con-

nected by one siphon; in Geoponus they are multiple, and each

set connected by its preper siphon.’ . aa

“Independently of the alimentary canal, a horny brown yel- ~

lowish mass is seen in every articulation of the spire, the first ~

excepted : this, which is granular, Ehrenberg considers to be the —

ovary. sg

ff 2 searching for a purely negative character, Ehrenberg

states that it consists in the want of pulsatory vessels ; that while

he has always recognized pulsations in the Mollusca and the |

smallest aggregated or compound Ascidia, he could never do so ~

in Nonionina and Geoponus, the two species of Polythalamia

(Foraminifera) which he more particularly examined*.”—Journ. ~

Bombay Br. As. Soc. vol. iii. pt. 1. p. 158. . a |

This is all that had been discovered up to the time of my 7

compiling this paper. I had seen the filamentous prolongations 7

myself, and, on dissolving off the shell of a species of Robulina

(D’Orbigny), had found a brown mass occupying the chambers ©

(as it then appeared to me) in loops, in the largest or last formes

ones, and diminishing posteriorly ; it was also constricted a

each end of the loop by the narrow aperture in the septum, and

thus beaded, as it were, posteriorly, where there were no longer

any loops, but a simple dilatation of the substance of each

chamber. I will not now vouch for the complete accuracy of

these observations, for they were made on board ship, with a

simple lens and under considerable disadvantages; and othe

people have not since described the internal substance of the

chambers as occurring in loops, nor have I since seen it in this

form myself. 4

About the time I wrote this paper, MM. Joly and Leymeric

were engaged in the microscopical examination of Nummulites

and the results of their investigations were made known througl

the ‘ Comptes Rendus’ on the 24th Oct. 1847. Meanwhile too

Dr. Carpenter examined the fossilized remains of Foraminifer

generally, and his communication on the subject was read befor

the Geological Society of London, 2nd May 1849, together wit!

some extracts from Mr. Williamson’s description of the anima

and shell of Polystomella crispa (Trans. Microscop. Soe. vol. ii

* Acad. Roy. des Se, Berlin, séance de 16 Janvier 1840, and Scientii |

Memoirs, Parts X. and XI. ifm |

{

;

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 165

_ p. 159), which I shall here insert, with Dr. Carpenter’s remarks,

__as the whole appears in the ‘Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.’ vol. vi. pt.1.

_ p. 28, for I have not Mr. Williamson’s paper to refer to :—

_ “Of the contained animal itself, which he obtained by dis-

_ solving away the calcareous matter of the shell with dilute acid,

_ Mr. Williamson says, that it consisted ‘of a very thin external

_ membrane filled with gelatinous matter.’ ‘No trace of minute

_ internal organization, such as a specially located intestinal canal,

_ or ovaries, could be detected by Mr. Williamson; nor was he

_able in any instance ‘to discover with certainty the presence of

_ any foreign bodies in their interior.’ The several segments are

described by him as connected by a series of prolongations, which

_ pass through the septa near their inner margins. The segments

_at first formed have only single connecting necks ; but the number

_ of these soon increases, and the outer segments are connected by

ten or more such necks, which pass through as many distinct

orifices in the septa. If all these orifices were brought together

on the central plane, so as to coalesce into one, they would ex-

actly correspond with the single perforations in the septa of

_Nummulites. The animal of Polystomella is considered by Mr.

_ Williamson to derive its nutriment from pseudopodia, which are

_ projected through numerous minute apertures over the whole

| surface of the shell. He has not clearly traced these pseudo-

podia, however, into connection with the segments occupying

the interior whorls, which, like those of Nummulites, are in-

vested by those of later formation ; but he mentions (as Ehren-

berg had done) that near the umbilicus they are projected in

fasciculi; and he states that the surface of the central calcareous

nucleus (which is formed by a thickening of the walls of the

smallest cells) is pitted by small but deep depressions, which

tmay be designed to facilitate the exit of the pseudopodia from

the innermost convolutions. Mr. Williamson goes on to point

out, that to these pseudopodia must be attributed the deposition

of new matter upon that portion of the central nucleus which is

not covered by the investing whorls; and in this view he is in

‘accordance with M. D’Orbigny, who, in his recent work, ‘ Sur

les Foraminiféres Fossiles du Bassin Tertiaire de Vienne,’ fully

_ recognizes the power of the pseudopodia to secrete the calcareous

covering. I may remark, that I cannot see how the investing

layers covering the disk of Nummulites complanata, and the other

species of the same group, can be formed in any other way ;

‘since in these the chambers are only marginal, the segments of

the animal not extending over the disk ; and we have no reason

to believe in the existence of any external mantle, spreading

_over the whole surface, whereby these investing layers could be

formed.”

166 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Form and Structure

We now come to the structure of the shells, to which, of all:

others, both in description and illustrations, Dr. Carpenter ap-

pears to me to have contributed most. 2 2 ee

MM. Joly and Leymerie seem to have gone no further, than

to have shown, that in fossil Nummulites exist hemispherical

eranulations or little circular depressions, corresponding to gra- 7

nulations both on the external and internal surface of the shell, —

and that these are nothing more than perforations with which |

the shell was pierced during the existence of the animal. Also, 7

that there existed a semilunar hole im each septum arching ove!

the margin of the preceding whorl, and that the rest of the p

tition was imperforate. (Mém. sur les Nummulites, Sect.

5 i ee however, whose investigations were carried on 7

independently of those of MM. Joly and Leymerie, has gone

much further than this, and therefore it will be as well to give a >

short summary of all that he has observed. ie a ae

Commencing with the septa, he states (Joc. cit.) that each \

sists of two layers, by which every chamber has its own pro]

wall, and that the intervening portion, which he terms the “7n- 7%

terseptal space,” “must have been vacant in the recent shell, un- ©

less occupied by the soft parts of the animal itself ;’—“ that each ©

septum is perforated by an aperture, close to its junction with

the margin of the preceding whorl” (as he believes was first ob-

served by D’Orbigny, and figured first by Mr. Sowerby) ; and, ©

“ that these perforations pass through both layers of each sep-

tum, so as to establish a free communication between one cham- ©

ber and another.” That this case is different, however, “with ©

regard to certain more minute apertures, which may be seen by

a careful examination, under a sufficient magnifying power, t

exist on the surface of every septum, though not consistent eithe

in number or position ;” “ they penetrate that layer only of the

septum on whose surface they open,” “ and establish a commu-

nication between each chamber and the adjoining intersepta

spaces.” “Other apertures of the same kind may be generally

traced, on careful examination, in the walls of the chambers that

form the surface of the whorl ; and these too appear to commu-

nicate with the interseptal spaces by channels burrowed into

those walls.” “ape

“Thus the cavity of each chamber communicates with that «

the one before and behind it in the same whorl, by the larg

aperture first mentioned, which frequently appears as if made wy

by the coalescence of a number of smaller perforations (fig. 7 8),

suggesting the idea that the animal substance which originally

passed through it was not a single large canal, but was com-

posed of a bundle of minute tubes or threads. This idea is

q of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 167

Be onterned by the circumstance, that the outer margin of the

included whorl (fig. 7 c) frequently presents a series of furrows,

' corresponding to the notches at the inner edge of the septum

(bd). Each cavity also communicates freely with the interseptal

“spaces on either side by the smaller apertures and passages last

' described; and from this space, as we shall presently see, there

_ was a free passage to the external surface of the shell.

_ “The texture of the shell itself differs remarkably from that

of any of the Mollusca with which I am acquainted, approach-

ing that which I have described in the common Crab (Reports

_ of the British Association, 1847, p.129). It is everywhere per-

forated by a series of tubes of extreme minuteness which pass

_ directly from one surface to another, their openings being plainly

visible on each (fig. 16). The diameter of these tubes is about

1-—7500th of an inch, and their distance from each other about

1-15,000th. In a thin vertical section of the shell (fig. 15)

_ they are seen to run parallel to each other, and to be free from

_ sinuosities or interruptions. The whole of this portion of the

shell, therefore, is minutely porous. The structure in question

_ can be seldom clearly distinguished in those Nummulites which

_ have had their texture altered by calcareous or siliceous infiltra-

_ tion; but as the appearances which these present correspond

closely with those exhibited by specimens of N. devigata which

have been subjected to the same change, I have no doubt that

_ the tubular structure in question is common to the whole group.”

-*€ All the Nummulites which I have examined present a remark-

able departure from this structure in that portion of the shell

which forms the margin of each whorl. Here, instead of an

assemblage of minute, closely-set, parallel tubuli, we have a

‘much coarser arrangement, the solid substance being perforated

_ with a smaller number of tubes of two or three times the dia-

meter of those last mentioned, which pass in a radiating manuer

from the inner to the outer surface. Some indications of this

difference are seen in fig. 4; but it is much more clearly dis-

played at 0, b, fig. 15, which represents a portion of a very thin

section taken in the same direction, and viewed by transmitted

light. The openings of these tubes on the outer margin of the

whorl are not readily discernible, partly in consequence of the

somewhat oblique direction of the orifices, and partly through

_ these being usually covered with a calcareous incrustation. When

this has been removed by the application of dilute acid they are

easily seen when properly looked for, as was first pointed out to

me by Mr. J. Morris.”

_ Lastly, Dr. Carpenter has observed, in addition to the tubes

_ which run from the punctations on the surface into the chambers

168 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Form and Structure

of the Nummulite, another “ series of perforations of considerable ©

size, which pass directly downwards from the exterior, through 7

the superposed investing layers of the successive whorls, however 7

numerous, until they reach the floor and chambers of the central ©

plane, which they do not penetrate.” These, he feels satisfied, 7

“always terminate over the septa, and actually pass mto the ©

interseptal spaces.” a

Now let us see how far these statements are confirmed by the ~

structure of the shells of Operculina Arabica, which were ob- ©

tained in the following way :— an

While medical officer on the survey of the south-east coast of 7

Arabia, I observed that Foraminifera were frequently brought mi .

on the grease of the ship’s sounding-lead, and after this I obtained

the loan of a lead which I used to cast for this particular pur- 7

pose myself. They were found to be most numerous in about ~

10 to 20 fathoms of water, rather in sandy than in muddy bot-

toms, scanty in deep water, and never (by the lead) among rocks |

and coral-ground. In one bed passed over, which was several ~

miles in diameter, in about 20 fathoms of water, and about six

miles off shore, the grease of the sounding-lead came up covered

with them at each throw ; they were the largest living specimens ~

I have ever seen, and principally consisted of the genus Oper- ~

culina (D’Orbig.), Discorbis (Lam.). Most measured from 2 to ©

38-12ths of an inch in horizontal diameter, and one or two

3-10ths. Some contained animals, and others were empty; the |

latter were readily distinguished from the former by their pearly >

whiteness ; while those which contained animals were invariably

covered with a thin greenish cuticle like the deciduous epidermis )

of shells generally. “ih

The following is a description of this Operculina, which, as it ~

is most probably a new species, I have designated by the specific

name of “ Arabica.” i

Operculina Arabica (H. J.C.). 4

Description. Free, equilateral, oval or discoidal, thin, flat or ~

wavy; formed of one spire increasing gradually, not em-—

bracing; regular, equally apparent on both sides; consisting

of 3-4 whorls, contiguous, enlarged on the outer border.

Chambers numerous, 1-75, narrow, apparent on both sides, —

increasing gradually in length and breadth from a semitrans-—

parent, prominent, central cell; radiating, reflected in their

outer third to a point, particularly in the last-formed whorl ;—

divided by semitransparent septa, and covered externally

with a green substance like the epidermis of shells generally. |

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 169

Intercameral communications numerous in the septa of the

last-formed. whorl, the largest long, narrow and crescentic,

arching over the margin of the preceding whorl.

Dimensions.—1-6th of an inch in horizontal, and 1—96th in

vertical diameter ; widest part of last whorl 1—-24th of an inch

(Pl. IV. fig. 1).

Observations.—This description is chiefly taken from one of

the largest and most regularly formed shells I possess. They

_ are by no means always plane, but, on the contrary, frequently

_ wavy, like Nummulites; and the chambers sometimes increase

_ in size more rapidly than at others, causing the shell to assume

amore or less elongated or oval form; the chambers are also

sometimes broader, sometimes narrower ; and occasionally a sep-

tum only extends part of the way out towards the margin of the

whorl, when it suddenly bends backwards to meet the preceding

one, or it may stop short altogether, and then the chamber be-

hind and before it coalesce at their outer parts. Irregularities .

_ of this kind in the formation of the chambers of Foraminifera

are not at all uncommon, and apparently so usual in Num-

_ mulites levigata, that they would seem to constitute a character.

_ The imperfectly developed chamber extending from the margin

_ of the foregoing whorl outwards instead of in the opposite di-

rection, seems to point out the course in which the chambers are

formed; and if each chamber is to be regarded only as the full

development of a single animal, the imperfect one must be consi-

dered as an abortion, and those which have coalesced as a mon-

strosity. Most frequently there is here and there a large open-

_ ing in the shell, over one or more of the chambers, which leads

into the latter ; they are more or less round, larger or smaller,

and the smoothness of their margin would seem to indicate that

they had been formed by the animal itself, if not by some other

animal.

_ Microscopic Examination.—The chambers of the shell, after

the green cuticular substance has been removed, are found to be

covered externally with large and small papille; the former

1-2150th, the latter 1-8600th of an inch in diameter (fig. 2).

The former also are about twice their own breadth apart, and

the latter occupy the intervals between them; both are con-

fined to the ares over the chambers; they do not appear over

the septa nor on the margin of the shell. The large papille

appear to be imperforate, while the small ones appear to present

each a puncture in the centre. The septal spaces, as well as the

central cell, are semitransparent, and the former have a single,

beaded line of semitransparent papille along their course.

- The internal surface of the chambers merely presents the small

170 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Form and Structure —

papille with their puncta; there are no large papille on at, and 7

their cavities are otherwise complete, with the exception of the 7

channels of intercameral communication, and some minute vas-

cular apertures which will be presently mentioned. (i

The septa (fig. 54,4) occupy, transversely, about 1-6th of 7

the breadth of the chambers, and each septum incloses within 7

its walls two calcareous tubes or vessels, one on each side, som

little distance below the contiguous surface of the shell (fig.7 a,

these we shall call znterseptal vessels. They are irregular —

in their size and course, though generally about 1-1900th of

inch in diameter, in the last-formed septa of a shell haying

dimensions of the one described, and diminish in calibre back-

wards or towards the first-formed whorls. Each yessel com

mences in the centre of an intricate network of smaller on

spread over its own side of the margin of the preceding who:

and under the layers of the shell (f, f, f) ; these networks, whi

are joined together, we shall call the marginal pleaus. In

course each interseptal vessel gives off two sets of ramuseuli, an

the marginal plexus one set. Of those coming from the inte

septal vessel, one set terminates on the surface of the shell,

ticularly about the borders of the septum (d,d); the other g

into the walls of the shell, and through the septum, to ope

probably on the inner surface of the chamber (e, e, e) ; while the |

set from the marginal plexus opens on the margin (g, g, g). As

this vascular system appears to extend throughout every part

the shell, and must be for the circulation of some fluid, we 1

call it the interseptal circulation. It would have been more p

per to have commenced with the ramusculi, as we shall see he

after that they appear to absorb the fluid which is subsequen

transmitted into the larger vessels, but at this period of our d

scription it would not have been so intelligible. meee

We have now to examine the internal structure of the shell

and commencing with that part forming the walls of the cham

bers, we observe, that it is pierced by innumerable tubes, which

pass directly downwards from the small papille on the external, —

to the small papille on the internal, surface of the chambe

(fig. 3d,d). I could see no tubes passing down from the lar

papille, which I have before stated to appear imperforate, like |

those over the septal spaces, These tubes are about 1-9000th —

of an inch in diameter, and about the same distance apart ; they

are vertical over the centre of the area of the chamber, and slop .

outwards at its boundaries, but do not pass through or ete

over the margin of the shell, neither over the septal spaces, nor

over the central cell; hence the semitranspareney of the two

latter, and the fringy, beaded appearance which the tubes p:

—

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 171

sent at these parts, particularly around the central cell, where

_ they assume the form of rays.

| Besides these tubes, a vertical section of the shell presents a

series of horizontal lines 7-8 or more in number, parallel to each

other, but not equidistant (fig. 3c,c); these appear to be the

lines of contact of the layers of which the shell is composed.

_ Lastly we come to the margin, which exhibits a very curious

and interesting structure. It is almost entirely composed of

calcareous spicula, arranged parallel to, but overlapping each

other (fig. 4). These spicula are 1-237th inch long, and 1-900th

_ of an inch broad, transparent, apparently hollow, and pointed at

each extremity; they appear to be straight, although from

their position one would be inclined to think that they must

be a little curved. When a transverse section is made of the

margin, we observe that it consists of upwards of 100 of these

_spicula, which form a triangular bundle or cord (fig. 6 a), the

_ apex of which is directed inwards or towards the chambers, and

_ the base (a) outwards to form the free, rounded margin of the

shell; while its sides are overlapped by an extension of the walls

of the chambers, which open as it were to receive it. Its base

_ presents a regularly wavy outline (when viewed in the trans-

verse section) from the longitudinal arrangement of the spicula,

which do not appear to be covered by a layer of the shell; and

. | sore to its sides run the papillary tubes of the chambers (0),

coming more vertical as they increase in distance from this

position ; while towards its apex appear the divided large vessels

of the marginal plexus (c). In the transverse section also, when

_ reduced to a thin layer, transparent intervals appear in the form

of zigzag lines radiating from the apex to the circumference of

_ the cord, which would seem to indicate that the spicula were

arranged in it in more or less horizontal planes, dipping towards

the apex.

It will naturally now be asked, how this spicular cord (fig. 5

_h, h), which commences with the first cell, terminates; but I

regret that there is not a single specimen in my possession to

afford the information. This arises probably from the extreme

thinness of the last-formed chamber ; for with the two or three

preceding ones, it is almost always broken or absent. All I can

state in connection with this is, that there are always more or

less vessels of the marginal plexus cut through or broken in a

transverse section or fracture of the spicular cord, and frequently

a large one close to its apex, which, after the shell has been

filled with a solution of carmine and then laid in pure water,

_ purges it almost completely from the colouring matter with

_ which it had been filled ;—a broken interseptal vessel will also do

this. Hence it is not impossible, that a natural opening of the

ys Mr. H. J. Carter on the Form and Structure

kind may exist at the termination of the spicular cord, for this |

purpose ; but, then, it has nothing to do with the spicular cord

itself, of the natural termination and uses of which I am equally —

ignorant. It should here also be mentioned, that when a ©

thoroughly empty shell, which may be known by its pearly ~

whiteness, is gently laid on the surface of a solution of carmine, —

so as to float there, the latter is seen, first to colour the margin,

then the interseptal vessels become filled, and lastly the walls of ©

the chambers; none of the semitransparent parts of the shell

become coloured. This will take place sometimes in a few hours, —

but with some shells it requires a day or two for its completion. —

By keeping one side of the shell dry the air is enabled to pass —

out of it, while the solution enters the depending side, and in —

this way the whole of the hollow structure of the shell becomes —

coloured. When the shell is washed and dried in this state, the

carmine is seen to be chiefly in the interseptal vessels, and this —

is perhaps the best way of tracing out the terminations, or rather —

origins, of the ramusculi. On the other hand, when the shell is |

placed in pure water and watched with a magnifying glass,a

stream of carmine particles will be seen slowly issuing from the —

vessels of the marginal plexus, at the broken end of the spicular —

cord, or from any other part of the large whorls, where an inter- —

septal vessel may have been broken ; and after a time, according ~

with that which the shell has taken to imbibe the colouring —

matter, it will become perfectly white again. Whether this be —

owing to the watery distension of the gummy fluid suspending

the carmine, or a natural consequence of the structure of the —

shell itself, further observation must determine. The fact of the —

carmine accumulating at the orifices of the ramusculi, as it would —

in a filter, seems also, with what has just been stated, to point —

out the course of circulation in them ; and if we may be allowed —

to carry out the analogy still further, which is now seen to exist —

so strikingly between Foraminifera and Porifera, we might —

compare the interseptal circulation in the former to the aqueous

circulation in the latter, and thence might infer, that the water —

entered by the ramusculi or small pores, and came out by the —

larger ones, gathered together into one vessel, opening in its —

natural state at the end of the spicular cord ; but, until a perfect

specimen be obtained to determine this, all must of course re-

main conjectural.

Growth.—From what I have stated respecting the existence

of a substance, resembling the cuticle of shells, over the external

surface of Operculina Arabica, and the presence of innumerable

puncta, which appear to be connected by tubular communica-

tions with the chambers beneath, it is not unreasonable to infer,

that by this arrangement successive additions may be made to

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 173

_ the external surface of the shell, and the laminated structure,

which it presents on a vertical section, thus formed; while the

addition of chambers would appear to commence from the open-

- ing in the septum close to the preceding whorl, and an inter-

septal vessel, arising as before described from its marginal plexus,

to extend outwards, on either side, pari passu with the chambers

_ to the circumference, which it may fall short of or not, as already

stated. Again, it would appear that this addition does not take

place singly, but that there are always two or more chambers

(fig. 8 5, b, 6) in process of formation, the last being the smallest,

and that, one after another, they gradually reach the margin.

I have come to this opinion, not from the recent specimens of

_ Operculina in my possession, in which, as before stated, all the

_ last-formed chambers are broken, but from having observed the

- ochraceous casts of microscopic nautiloid species of Foraminifera

_ which have been fossilized, to present this form, when dissolved

out from their matrix.

Analogy to Poriferan—When Dujardin, guided by the sug-

_ gestion of Bory St. Vincent, was struck with the analogy which

exists between the filamentous prolongations of Foraminifera and

those of the Ama@ba or Proteus, he could have little thought,

that however nearly the latter might be allied to the Sponges,

_ the former would be found so similar to them in their compact

_ structures. Who, indeed, looking at the nautiloid form of a

_ foraminiferous shell and an amorphous piece of sponge, would

say, that they bore the least resemblance to each other? Yet

they are, as we have seen, most intimately allied, both in their

fleshy and their compact structures. It must be now generally

allowed, that the rhizopodous nature of Foraminifera is identical

_ with that of the 4meba or Proteus, and through the latter with

the sponge-cell ; and in addition to this, we have the former, at

least the genus Operculina, still more nearly allying Foraminifera

to the Sponges, by possessing a spicular structure, if not a cir-

culating system also, like that of sponges. It is curious too, that

without any reference to the use of the pores in these two orders

of animals, they should have received names of the same signi-

fication, as if the intimate relationship which is now found to

exist between them was instinctively anticipated, before it was

proved by demonstration. The genus of Porifera to which

Operculina comes nearest is, of course, the calci-sponges, that

called Grantia, after their distinguished discoverer Dr. Grant ;

and of this genus, it would seem to approach nearest to the

tubular species, which have but one vent.

Structure of the Shell of Operculina compared with Nummulites.

—It will be very gratifying to those whose investigations of the

structure of Nummulites must have been attended with so much

174 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Form and Structure

labour, difficulty and doubt, to see, how satisfactory the exami : |

nation of a recent foraninifetous shell, so nearly allied to Num- —

mulites as that of Operculina, confirms and elucidates their Shil |

servations. The vertical tubes passing from the surface of the ~

shell to the interior of the chambers (see Dr. Carpenter’s illus- |

trations, fig. 15, loc. cit.) ; the intereameral communication (id. 4

fig. 7b); the linear markings or grooves immediately under

the latter (id. fig. 7 c), which appear to have been produced by

the previous existence of a spicular cord in this position ; and the

radiating lines (id. fig. 15 6, b), caused by the arrangement of the

spicula in horizontal layers inclined towards the apex of the cord, “4

with the sloping papillary tubes on each side of it.—The “ mi-—

nute apertures” (7d. fig. 7 a), which only penetrate one layer of ©

the septum, and others which open on the internal surface of the

walls, are probably the orifices of the ramusculi of the interseptal —

vessels which go in this direction.—And the “perforations of ~

considerable size, which pass directly downwards from the exte- ~

rior through the superposed investing layers of the successive —

whorls” “until they reach the floor of the chambers of the cen- —

tral plane which they do not penetrate ” (id. fig. 8 a) ;—the ver- —

tical interseptal vessels, or an enlargement and union into one

tube of the ramusculi, which pass upwards and downwards from

the horizontal interseptal vessels as seen in Operculina. es

The latter, that is, the union of the vertical with the. homnentall ql

interseptal vessels, I have been able to make out in some speci- —

mens of Nummulites acuta, Sow. (Geol. Trans. 2nd Ser. vol. y.

pl. 24. fig. 15), which have had their cavities thoroughly infil- —

trated with ochraceous oxide of iron ; as well as everything else —

mentioned by Dr. Carpenter ; and with the exception of the spi- |

cula themselves, everything that I have seen in Operculina.

MM. Joly and Leymerie seem to me to have described one

thing and to have figured another. They describe the papillary

tubes, and seem, from the distance between them, to figure the -

orifices of the vertical interseptal vessels (pl. 11. op. cit.), which —

Dr. Carpenter has particularly described. a

The columns represented by Sowerby in Lycophrys py ea 4

(Geol. Trans. loc. cit. fig. 15), and to which Dr. Carpenter has —

alluded (loc. cit. p. 26), appear, to me, to be made up of the pa- —

pillary tubes etic descend from chamber to chamber (fig. 99,9),

and which in purely calcareous fossils are filled with a white —

opake matter, but in those infiltrated with oxide of iron, with —

ochraceous matter; while the intervening parts are composed of

the septal substance, through which the interseptal vessels pass

to the surface and margin in Orbitoides as well as in —

mulites.

The same system of circulation would also appear to be car- —

of the Shell of Operculina Arabica. 175

‘ried on in Orbitolites, where the mass is made up of spheroid or

ovoidal cells: for if the nearly flat Indian species, which has a

“papillary eminence in the centre of the convex side, be rubbed

down, the latter presents a ramification of transparent substance

like that filling the septal spaces of Nummulites and Orbitoides ;

hich, radiating upwards and outwards from this eminence,

passes into the general structure of the shell.

‘The transitionary forms of the chambers in Operculina, through

umulites and Orbitoides to Orbitolites, would, when viewed in

a vertical section, appear to be thus :—In Operculina there is a

ngle plane of spear-head shaped chambers ; in Nummuliies a

ntral plane of conical chambers with layers of compressed. ones

above and below it; in Orbitoides, a central plane of quadran-

gular chambers with numerous layers of compressed ones above

and below it ; and in Orbitolites, a mass of circular or ovoidal

cells more or less definitely arranged. Hence, if these be their

respective peculiarities, Orbitoides Mantelli will, from Dr. Car-

nter’s illustration (fig. 31, loc. cit.), belong to the latter, and

would therefore be now more properly named Orbitolites Man-

‘tell.

One other observation I would here make with reference to

geology, viz. the natural union which now seems to be pointed

out between the Chalk and the Naummulitic series, by the great

‘prevalence of the same class of animal remains in each—that is

to say, the abundance of flints which indicate the previous ex-

istence of siliceous sponges in the former, and the myriads of

_ Foraminifera which are closely allied to the calci-sponges in the

_ latter.

Bombay, May 12, 1852.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.

_ Fig. 1. Operculina Arabica, natural size.

_ Fig. 2. Large and small papille on the external surface of the shell, highly

ia magnified.

_ Fig. 3. Vertical section of the shell over the chambers, highly magnified,

showing :—a, a, large papille; 6, 6, small ditto; c, c, horizontal

lines indicative of the layers of the shell; d, d, vertical tubes.

_ Fig. 4. Spicula in situ, highly magnified.

_ Fig. 5. Diagram of horizontal section of three large chambers of the shell,

i showing the interseptal vascular system and spicular cord: a, a, a,

chambers; 0b, b, b, septa; c, c, ¢, interseptal vessels; d, d, d, ra-

musculi coming to the surface of the shell ; e, e, e, e, ditto, going

to the walls of the shell, &c. through the septa, the dotted lines

indicating those branching out into the former; f, f, f, marginal

tine 9, 9. 9, ramuscult of margin ; h, h, spicular cord ; 4, half-

ormed septum with termination of interseptal vessel.

_ Fig. 6. Diagram of vertical section of the shell to show the form of the spi-

% cular cord: a, margin or free surface of spicular cord; 0, vertical

176 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacez.

or papillary tubes, here sloping outwards on each side the cord;

e, truncated vessels of the marginal plexus ; d, d, small channels

of intercameral communication ; e, grand semilunar or crescentic¢

channel of ditto ; f, septum. Deseo : 4,

Fig. 7. Diagram of vertical section to show the situation of the intersepta

vessels: a, a, interseptal vessels; b, septum ; c, grand char

‘ intereameral communication ; d, part of spicular cord.

Fig. 8. Enlarged view of first-formed chambers of Operculina Art

a, central cell or chamber; 6, 6, 6, probable forms of las

bers in process of development. ‘ via

Fig. 9. Diagram of vertical section of Nummulites acuta, Sow.: a, §

cord? ; 5, truncated vessels of marginal plexus ; ¢, c, chamb

central plane; d, d, vertical interseptal vessels (the “ perforations,’

&e. of Dr. Carpenter) ; ¢, e, horizontal interseptal vessels; f, f,,

chambers on each side the central plane; g, g, g, vertical tubes

XVI.—On some genera of the Icacinaceer. By Joun Mis

: Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. ie

[Continued from p. 119.]

EmmMorum.

Tuts neglected genus was proposed by Desvaux in 1825 upon

a plant from Guiana. By Endlicher it was referred to Leretia

of the ‘ Flora Fluminensis,’ with which it neither accords in the

appearance of the leaf nor the mode of its inflorescence: Hamil-

ton’s character as given in his ‘ Prodromus,’ notwithstanding its

brevity, is sufficiently well marked to show that it does not differ

from Pogopetalum, founded by Mr. Bentham in 1840 ; indeed the’

Emmotum fagifolium, Desv., corresponds with Pogopetalum acu-

tum, Benth., both from Guiana, so as to leave no doubt of their

identity : according therefore to the austere rule of science, the ©

latter name must give way to the former. Mr. Bentham in

establishing his genus recorded two species, and has since de- ~

scribed two others, and I have now to add a fifth. All the spe- —

cies, which are from Gwana and intertropical Brazil, seem to:

form good-sized trees, with very thick coriaceous leaves of a

peculiar appearance ; their inflorescence is in axillary crowded

fascicles of rather small flowers, which are distinguished by

having petals densely beset on their inner face with long red

silky hairs arising from an elevated costal nervure. Their chief

peculiarity, however, consists in the unusual structure and sin-

gular mode of dehiscence of their anthers, which are formed of

two opposite, unilocular, valveless, and separate cells, the pollen

being discharged extrorsely through a fissure arising from the

secession of the dorsal margin of each boat-shaped cell from the

very fleshy connective, features that have hitherto escaped obser-—

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 177

vation. Hmmotum offers also another peculiarity in its ovarium

with three radiate cells, placed excentrically on the somewhat

gibbous and anterior side of the ovarium. These points of struc-

ture are so different from the development met with in other

genera of the Icacinacee, as naturally to lead to the suspicion

that Emmotum may not belong to this family; but we must

remember that in other respects it accords, viz. in its exstipulate

alternate leaves, small flowers with a persistent unchanged calyx,

petals with valvate estivation, alternate stamens, simple style,

and suspended collateral ovules. I have therefore retained the

genus doubtfully, as a separate tribe of the Icacinacee (ante, 8. 2.

yol. ix. p. 223), until its true place in the system can be

ascertained, which will be determined by a knowledge of the

structure of the fruit and seed and the form and position of

its embryo. The name, I presume, has been derived from

_ é&v and pords, linteum, on account of the densely intertwined.

hairs that line the petals, a character that also suggested the

mame of Pogopetalum. These hairs, when examined under the

microscope, appear flattened and covered with numerous promi-

nent transparent glandular dots as in Leredia. The following is

an outline of its generic features :—

‘Emmortvm, Desv. Pogopetalum, Benth.—Flores perfecti. Calyx

| brevissimus, 5- rarius 4-dentatus, liber, fructifer immutatus.

Petala 5, rarius 4, lmeari-oblonga, carnosula, intus ad cari-

nam longitudinalem pilis rufis seepius longis et erispatis den-

| sissime barbata, zestivatione valvata, mucrone apicali introflexo.

| Stamina 5 vel 4, petalis alterna, iis vix breviora, omnino libera ;

jilamenta carnosula dilatata, mcurva, apice repente acuta ; an-

there 2-loculares, connectivo crasso, interdum loculis utrinque

sejunctis breviores, vel spe in mucronem subulatum incur-

- vulum ultra loculos subantrorsim positos producto, imo cor-

dato affixee, Joculis membranaceis, cymbeeformibus, evalvibus,

margine posteriori a connectivo omnino soluto hinc extrorsim

dehiscentibus. Pollen ovale, longitudinaliter suleatum. Ova-

rium liberum, oblongum, subgibbum, pilosum, disco hypogyno

parvo sistens, 3-loculare, loculis excentrice radiantibus ; ovula

in quoque loculo 2, juxta apicem appensa et subcollateraliter

_ superposita. Stylus excentricus, erectus, teres. Stigmae den-

_ tibus 3 brevissimis erectis minutum. Drupa globosa, abortu

_ 1-locularis; cetera ignota.—Frutices Guianenses et Brasi-

_ lienses sempervirentes ; folia alterna, exstipulata, coriacea, in-

_ tegra, nitida, subtus tomentosa; cyme fasciculate, axillares,

_ multiflore ; flores parvi, aggregati, cum pedicellis brevissimis

articulati, bracteatt.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 12

Peers

178 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Leacinaceze.

1. Emmotum orbiculatum. Pogopetalum orbiculatum, Ben

Linn. Trans. xviii. 685. tab. 42 ;—arbor 2-orgyalis, ramulis

cinereo- vel fulvo-tomentosis, foliis ovato-orbiculatis, apice bre=

vissime ac obtusissime acuminatis, coriaceis, nitidis, supra

lucidis, rachi tomentoso, nervis parallele incurvo-divaricatis,

venis creberrime transversis immersis, subtus cum pe

crasso profunde canaliculato imcano- vel fulvo-tomentosis

ovario hispido, fructu globoso, calyce immutato suffulto.-

Guiana Brasilie ad fluv. Padauri, confi. fluv. Nigrii—Se

burgk.—(v.s.in herb. Mus. Brit. et Hook. fruetuimmaturo,

Preto, Prov. Pernambuco.—Gardner, n. 2941.) ye

This species is remarkable for the shape of its leaves, which

are almost orbicular at the base and summit, are 24 to 3+ inches

long, 23 inches broad, on a deeply grooved petiole 6 or 7 lines

in length ; they are thick and coriaceous, very polished above, ¥

with a finely shagreened surface, and densely covered beneath’

with short yellowish tomentum: the simple racemes with afew ©

immature drupes are about $ mech long. it Ue

2. Emmotum acuminatum. Pogopetalum acuminatum, Benth. ~

loc. supr. cit. 685 ;—arbor 5-orgyalis, foliis ovatis oblongisye, 7

apice longissime et anguste attenuatis, mucronulatis, coriaceis, 7

fusco-rufulis, supra lucidis et glaberrimis, in costam sulcatis, ©

nervis paucioribus vix prominulis, venis transversis immersis, |

subtus pallide ferrugineis, glandulis minutis creberrime punc-

tatis, pube rara instructis, petioloque suleato leviter pubescen- ©

tibus, demum glabris; racemis geminis, floribus aggregatis

griseo-pilosis, petalis ovali-oblongis, intus in carinam pilis

longis rufis lanatis, marginibus utrinque glabris ; ovario pi

destitutis et e glandulis minutissimis asperis glauco-pruinoso, 7

disco glabro insito ; stylo excentrico elongato, stigmate obso- 7

iete 3-dentato.—Rio Negro, Brasilie (Schomb. 970).

The branchlets are somewhat compressed and angularly 7

striated: it is however distinguished from the other species by 7}

_ the long attenuated summit of the leaves, which are also of a |)

remarkably dark copper or reddish colour when dried; they are

about 4 or 43 inches long, including the suddenly narrow apex

of half an inch in length ; they are 12 to 22 inches broad, on a

petiole 5 lines long ; the nervures, about seven pairs, are parallel,

very divergent, curving, with finely reticulated transverse veins}

the upper surface is polished and finely shagreened ; beneath they

are of a ferruginous hue, dead, almost glabrous, and when

viewed under the lens seem covered with minute raised glandular ~

dots: generally two racemes spring out of each axil, from } to 3 |

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the \cacinacee. 179

inch long, which, when younger, appear like a crowded globular

axillary fascicle. The anthers in structure resemble those of the:

following species. The long red hairs that densely spring from

the inner keel of the petals under the lens appear marked by

large prominent glands in two uneven series, so that they seem

almost torulose.

_ 3. Emmotum fagifolium, Desy. in Ham. Prodr. Fl. Ind. Occid.

p.29. Pogopetalum acutum, Benth., Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot.

i. 377 ;—ramis angulatis, rufo-tomentosis ; ; foliis oblongis,

ovatisve, apice repente lineari-attenuatis, basi rotundatis vel

truncatis, valde coriaceis, supra sublucidis, glaberrimis, nervis

divaricatis, pubentibus, approximatis, incurvo-parallelis, sul-

eatis, venis transversis immersis, subtus prasertim im nervis

_. Sparse sericeo-pubescentibus, nervis tenuibus subprominulis,

__ petiolo canaliculato tomentoso ; racemis geminis, axillaribus,

petiolo vix longioribus, floribus aggregatis, aurantiaco- vel

cano-tomentosis, petalis lineari-oblongis, intus pilis longis

rufis in carinam lanatis, lateribus glabris, filamentis tenui-

oribus, dilatatis, antheris ovatis, vix mucronulatis, loculis op-

' positis, complanatis, ovario pilis longis hispido (nec glabro),

stylo elongato, gracili—Guiana Gallica, Desvaux.—». s. in herb.

Hook. (Leprieur et Martin).

There can be little doubt that this is the plant described by

- Desvaux as the “ Bois d’ Agouti,” and which is identical with the

_ Pogopetalum acutum of Mr. Bentham: the leaves in form much

_ resemble those of the preceding species; they are from 33 to 63

inches long, and 24 to 33 inches broad, on a slender petiole half

an inch in length ; the apex is very suddenly acuminated by a

linear point, half an inch in length, and often little more than a

‘line in breadth. The flowers are closely aggregated, each being

articulated on its short pedicel ; the calyx is cupuliform, pubes-

ent, and cleft into five ovate, fleshy and somewhat acute lobes,

“which are slightly imbricated in estivation, as in Platea; the

_ petals are clothed outside with short gray adpressed hairs, and

the prominent internal keel is furnished with a line of very

-densely-set long red spreading woolly hairs, which are flattened

and marked with glandular dots; the stamens are nearly as long

as the petals ; the filaments are fleshy, compressed and broader at

the base, somewhat terete and subulate above, and suddenly bent

hack at the apex, where the point is affixed to the front of the

red fleshy connective, just above its short basal sinus; the

anthers are therefore strictly extrorse; the connective is almost

terete, somewhat compressed, erect in position, and about one-

sixth of the length of the filament ; the two anther-cells are di-

R 12*

(lx

PY s

her's

180 Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee.

stinctly separate, thin, membranaccous, white, flattened, boat-—

shaped and valveless, fixed one on each side of the connective ;—

they are longer both above and below, so that the anthers are

emarginated at the apex and base ;,they generally open extrorsely

by the separation of the posterior margin of the cells from the

connective, or they sometimes, though rarely, separate by both

margins. The ovarium has been described as being glabrous,

but I have constantly found it clothed with long, erect, setaceous,

shining, white hairs; the lower part is invested by a glabrous,

adnate, cupshaped disk: the style is erect and somewhat bent,

glabrous, rather subulate, slender, and of the length of the sta-

mens: there is no apparent stigma, but the apex of the style is

hollow and crowned with three very minute teeth: the ovarium

contains three radiate, excentric cells, each showing two ovules

suspended from near the apex. Bee

eae

4. Emmotum affine, n. sp. Pogopetalum affine, Planch. MSS. ;—

foliis ovalibus e basi rotundato gradatim angustioribus ap:

fossulato et deflexo longe attenuatis, subconvexis, supra niten-

tibus, costa sulcatis, nervis subprominulis, venis ereberrime

transversis immersis, subtus ferrugineis, et glauco-pruinosis

pilis brevissimis adpressis sub lente visuris, margine valde

flexo, petiolo subtenui sulcato rufo-glaucescente ; racemis axil-

laribus, floribus aggregatis cano-pilosis, petalis intus in cari-

nam pilis longissimis rufis dense lanatis lateribus glabris: sta.

minibus spec. preced.: ovario piloso, disco glabro imsitu.—

Brasilia.—v. s. in herb. Hook. (Sellow.) -

This species comes very near E. acuminatum; the leaves are

very shining above as in that species, and ferruginous beneath,

but the hairs that clothe its under surface are so minute as to be

seen only under a strong lens ; they are somewhat convex above

and the margins are very revolute, the attenuated apex being

deeply channelled and curved downwards; they are about 4

inches long and 2 inches wide, with a somewhat slender and

almost terete petiole, which is often suddenly deflexed. The in-

florescence is axillary in a few of the upper leaves, but is mosth}

terminal in branching alternate racemes, each about three-

quarters of an inch long. . a

5. Emmotum nitens. Pogopetalum nitens, Benth. loc. citat. ;=

ramis striatis ; foliis oblongis, acuminatis, coriaceis, supra gla

berrimis, pallide glaucis, sub-nitentibus, subconyexis, nervi

subprominulis, venis transversis immersis, subtus pube sericeé

adpressa densa incana aut fulva vestitis, nervis valde promi.

-: nentibus, margine reflexo, petiolo elongato cano-tomentos

Mr. J. Miers on some genera of the Icacinacee. 181

canaliculato szepe deflexo ; paniculis racemosis, ternis, axilla-

ribus, petiolo sublongioribus, floribus dense aggregatis, griseo-

pilosulis, petalis lineari-lanceolatis, acutis, summo patentim

reflexis, intus ad carine hasin apicemque fasciculo pilorum

donatis, pilis brevibus albidis ; staminibus incurvis crassius-

culis, connectivo tereti, imo cordato, in mucronem obtusum

incurvum longe protenso, antherarum loculis sejunctis, antice

contiguis, subparallelis, margine dorsali dehiscentibus ; ovario

pilis brevibus micantibus adpressis vestito, disco glabro insito ;

_ stylo brevissimo valde excentrico.—Brasilia intertropica.—v. s.

in herb. Hook.—Prov. Goyaz, Minas Geraés et Pernambuco

(Gardn, n. 294], 3309, 4451); Rio S. Francisco (Blanchet,

2889).

In this species the leaves, in the dried state, present a re-

markably pallido-glaucous and lurid aspect above, and are co-

yered below with yellow, very short, adpressed and bright tomen-

tum ; the upper surface is shining, with prominent nervures, and

under a lens appears marked with numerous minute impressed

dots, between which are seen still more numerous raised resinous

spots; they are generally about 4 inches long and 2 inches

broad, on a longer and more slender petiole, about 9 lines in

length. One, two or three short branching racemes, about the

Jength of the petioles, crowded with numerous flowers, spring

from each axil ; the stamens are incurved, about the length of

the petals, the anthers being nearly as long as the broad fleshy

filaments ; the thick, fleshy, almost terete connective is slightly

cordate at its base, is somewhat incurved and subulate, and ter-

‘ininates in an obtuse point that much exceeds the length of the

~anther-cells ; this is affixed just in the angle of its sinus in front,

to the obtuse apex of the filament, so that the anthers, though

at first sight apparently basifixed, are in reality also extrorse in

position: the anther-cells are white, of thin texture, linearly

Bistsheped, quite separate, nearly parallel, and fixed extrorsely

“upon the sinus of the inner face of the connective, and they dis-

_charge their pollen by the secession of the exterior margins from

_the body of the connective. The pollen is oval, marked by three

longitudinal lines. The ovarium is shorter than the stamens,

covered with short erect hairs, and seated on a small fleshy

glabrous disk ; it is 3-celled as in the last- described species ; the

style is very short, very excentric, hollow at its apex, and termi-

nated by three very minute teeth.

182 Mr. J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, Economy,

XVII.—A Catalogue of British Spiders, including remarks.

their Structure, Functions, Giconomy, and Systematie Arran

ment. By Joun Burackwatt, F.L.S.

[Continued from vol. ix. p. 471.]

186. Epéira signata.

Epiira signata, Blackw. Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. Second Se

vol. vi. p. 341.

This distinctly marked spider was taken at Broadstairs’ in K

in the month of September, and occupies a place in Mr. Walker’

cabinet. It is an immature male which had to undergo its

change of integument, as indicated by the tumid ween e of

digital joints of the palpi.

187. Epéwa umbratica.

Epéira umbratica, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. Pp

Sund. Vet. Acad. Handl. 1832, p. 238; Hahn, Die Arac

B. ii. p. 24. tab. 46. fig. 112; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. $

erstes Heft, p. 2; Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p- 127; Ko

Die Arachn. B. xi. p. 128. tab. 389. fig. 930, 931.

umbraticola, Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 105.

Titulus 9, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 44. tab. 1. fig. 9

Epéira umbratica is much more abundant in various parts 0

England and Wales than it is generally supposed to be, its

parent scarcity being attributable to its nocturnal habits and t

care with which it conceals itself during the day.

In June the female constructs, under the exfoliating bat 0

trees and in crevices in old rails, a subglobose cocoon of white

silk of a slightish texture, measuring 2ths of an inch in dia

meter, in which she deposits about 160 spherical eggs of a ;

lowish brown colour, agglutinated together in a lenticular mas

On the exterior surface of the cocoon small pieces of bark, woot

and other extraneous materials are distributed, Witte serve t

assimilate it to surrounding objects. 1

This spider spins a large net, having wide inital betw

the radii and the cireumvolutions of the elastic spiral line, an

preys chiefly on moths. ie

188. Epéira solers.

Epéira solers, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 4.

agalena, Hahn, Die Arachn. B. ii. p. 29. tab. 47. fig. u

Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 126. “q

Atea sclopetaria, Koch, Die Arachn. B. xi. p. 134. tab. 390. fig. 9

935; Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 4.

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 183

___ In a catalogue of spiders, published in the ‘Transactions of

the Linnean Society,’ vol. xix. p. 118, this species is included

under the name of Epéira agalena; the mistake originated in

_ copying the appellation from M. Hahn’s work, ‘ Die Arachniden,’

where it is connected with a figure and description of Epéira

lers.

_ The sexes pair in June, and in that and the succeeding month

the female fabricates a subglobose cocoon of yellowish brown silk

of a loose texture, about an inch in diameter, and deposits in

it 140 or 150 dark brown spherical eggs, agglutinated together

“ma globular form.

- This spider occurs, but not abundantly, in pastures near

‘Llanrwst, spinning among coarse plants and low bushes a net of

“moderate extent, between the centre of which and a slightly con-

eave cell of white silk, constructed at a short distance from it, a

“communication is established by means of a strong line; con-

-cealed in this retreat, the vibrations of the connecting medium

“speedily convey intelligence to the watchful owner of the snare

that a victim is involved in its meshes.

7 189. Epéira similis.

Pptira similis, Blackw. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 186.

_ The first specimen of Epéira similis which I had an opportu-

‘nity of inspecting was an adult male taken at East Lodge, En-

field, and obligingly forwarded to me by Miss Gertrude Buller

‘Elphinstone. I have since received specimens from Hampshire ;

aad a collection of living spiders, transmitted to me in September

1843 from Ellesmere, in Shropshire, by Miss Margaret B, Lewis

of Cichle, Anglesey, contained a young male of this species,

which, as the digital joints of its palpi were very tumid, had to

‘undergo its final change of integument before it arrived at ma-

turity.

_ Epéira similis and Epéira calophylla are very closely allied ;

but the males may be distinguished from each other without dif-

iculty by differences in the structure of their palpi and palpal

r rgans.

KS 190. Epéira calophylla.

Epiira calophylla, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 70;

_ Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 108; Sund. Vet. Acad.

Handi. 1832, p. 252.

Zilla calophylla, Koch, Die Arachn. B. vi. p. 148. tab. 216. fig. 538,

539

saa

| Eucharia atrica, Koch, Die Avachn, B. xii, p. 103, tab. 419.

fig. 1030, 1031.

Titulus 10, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 47. tab. 1. fig. 10.

184. Mr. J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, Giconomy, q

This common spider, which is widely distributed in Great

Britain, frequents shrubs, buildings, and crevices in rocks and

walls. It pairs in autumn, and the female constructs a subg

bose cocoon of soft pale brown silk of a loose texture, measuri

2 an inch in diameter, in which she deposits 80 or 90 spherical

eges of a brown colour, slightly cemented together in a subglo-

bose mass. The cocoon is attached to walls and the inferior

surface of stones by a thin covering of whitish web. I have ob-

served that the female changes her integument five times before

she arrives at maturity, once in the cocoon, and four times 4

quitting it. ~ :

In December 1842 and March 1848 I procured several

coons of Epéira calophylia comprising larve of two distinct spe-

cies of insects belonging to the family Ichneumonidae, which fed

upon the ova contained in the cocoons and increased rapidly im

size; on being converted into pupz, the females were observed

to have the ovipositor turned over the posterior extremity of the

abdomen. In the spring of 1843 both sexes of each species, in

the imago or perfect state, issued from the cocoons, which I had

placed in closed phials. These insects are very dissimilar in

size and colour, and the eggs deposited by each in a single

cocoon differ in number inversely as the dimensions of the

females which produce them ; occasionally I have noticed the

larvee of both species in the same cocoon, but F have never detected

them in the cocoons of any other spider, however favourable th

circumstances might be as regards time, condition, and localit

under which they were examined. a

Epéira calophylla usually employs a radius as a medium 0

communication between its net and a small tubular cell of white

silk which constitutes its retreat, instead of spinning a separat

line for that purpose; and this peculiar appropriation, whethe

the radius be in the plane of the net or whether it be withdra

from that plane, as is frequently the case, imparts an unfinis

appearance to the snare, as it prevents the spider from givi

spiral form to the elastic line on which the viscid globules art

disposed, though this is sometimes attempted with a greater 0

less degree of success. No sooner does the spider arrive at on

of the radii adjacent to that in connexion with its cell than i

returns, traversing the framework of the snare till it arrives a

the adjacent radius on the opposite side, when it retraces it

steps, and thus, oscillating between the two, spins a number 0

curved, viscid lines or arcs of circles diminishing in length fi

the circumference of the net towards the centre. Lister wai

well acquainted with this peculiarity, so common in the snare 0

Epéira calophylia, but has fallen into the error of supposing

it occurs invariably. See his ‘Tractatus de Araneis,’ p. 48.

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 185

Sometimes this species places its net in situations not entirely

surrounded by objects to which it can immediately proceed to

attach boundary-lines. In such cases its operations are deserving

of attention. After connecting several radii with the most ac-

~ cessible points, it fixes a filament to that extremity of one of

them which is furthest from the centre of its net: along this

radius the spider proceeds, drawing out the filament from the

_ Spinners and guiding it with the claws of a posterior leg, till the

_ point of union with one of the adjacent radii is attained ; upon

ibis radius it steps, and passing to its other extremity there

makes fast the filament, by this simple process connecting with

oo lines distant objects between which no direct commu-

nication previously existed.

Epéira calophylla presents a striking example of the insuffi-

‘ciency of the characters employed by M. Koch in distributing

the Araneidea into genera and families: though connected with

_ the Epéiride by the closest relations of affinity, yet he has placed

it in his genus Hucharia, which he includes in the family The-

- ridiide (Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 7).

191. Epéira cucurbitina.

i LEpéira cucurbitina, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. i. p. 76;

Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 107; Sund. Vet. "Acad.

Handl. 1832, p. 245.

_ Miranda eucurbitina, Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 53. tab. 159.

fig. 371, 372.

Titulus 5, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p.34. t. 1. fig. 5.

In well-wooded districts this species is not uncommon. The

_ sexes pair in June, and the female attaches to the stems or leaves

_ of shrubs, in the vicinity of her snare, a subglobose cocoon of

_ bright yellow silk of a loose texture, measuring $rds of an inch

in diameter, which usually contains 150 or 160 spherical eggs of

pa yellow colour, cemented together in a subglobose mass, and

ee ol te lel

enveloped in fine, soft, yellow silk.

Arachnologists affirm that the small net spun by Epétra cucur-

bitina is always placed horizontally; but this is a mistake, as I

_ have frequently seen it in an inclined position.

192. Epéira ornata.

_ Epéira ornata, Blackw. Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. Second Series,

vol. vi. p, 342.

A specimen of this showy Epéira is in Mr. Walker’s cabinet.

It was taken in April 1848, but in what locality is not stated.

193. Epéira fusca. Be

Epéira fusca, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii, p. 84; ]

Lion. Trans. vol. xix. p. 127. sie

Menardi, Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 108.

Meta fusca, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p.

Die Arachn, B. viii. p. 118. tab. 285. fig. 685-687.

Caves, cellars, overhanging banks and other obscure pla

constitute the principal haunts of Epéira fusca in North Wal

In autumn the female fabricates a large oviform cocoon of whit

silk of so delicate a texture that the eggs, connected together k

silken lines in a globular mass jth of an inch in diameter,

be seen distinctly within it. Its transverse axis measures @

itths, and its conjugate axis ,%;ths of an inch, and it is attach

by numerous lines, generally forming a short pedicle at one ex-_

tremity, to the walls or roofs of the places it inhabits. The

eggs, which are yellow and spherical, are between 400 and 500

in number. os ee

In transferring this species and Epéira antriada, included

the genus Meta (Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p.

from the Epéiride to the Theridiide, and thus widely separating —

them from a species so closely allied as Hpéira inclinata, wie

is suffered to remain in the former family, M. Koch appears

have lost sight of those principles of affinity and analogy whi

afford the only safe guide in the classification of natural objec

194, Epéira antriada.

Eptira antriada, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 83; :

Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol, xix. p. 128. eae

Meta muraria, Koch, Die Arachn. B. viii. p. 125. tab. 288. fig. 693,

694. ee

Obscure damp situations are generally resorted to by this —

spider, which is plentiful in many parts of England and Wales

It spins an extensive net with an open circular space at the cen- —

tre, which it usually occupies when watching for its prey; from —

this station it drops quickly to the ground on being disturbed, ~

regaining it when the danger is past by means of a line drawn —

from the spinners in its descent, and previously attached to the —

circumvolution of the unadhesive line bounding the central aper- —

ture. Like Tetragnatha extensa, it has the habit of extendi

the first and second pairs of legs in a line with the body.

Immature individuals of the species Epéira intriadaa Epé

inclinata, Epéira cucurbitina and Epéira diadema, and adults of —

the species Linyphia minuta and Linyphia tenuis, are frequently —

infested by the Polysphincta carbonaria of Gravenhorst, hich

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 187

_ feeds upon their fluids and ultimately occasions their death.

_ Since the publication of my account of this parasite in the ‘ An-

- nals and Magazine of Natural History,’ vol. x1. p. 1, I have ob-

_ served that the colour of the larva, after its final change of inte-

- gument, becomes dark brown streaked and spotted with white,

_ particularly on the sides, and that a series of dorsal prolegs is

_ developed on the segments of its body comprised between the

_ third and tenth, both inclusive. These dorsal prolegs are short,

and, with the exception of that on the tenth segment, are more

or less bifid at the summit; on their extremities are disposed

- numerous fine curved processes or claws, with which the larva,

_ when about to fabricate its cocoon, attaches itself to the lines

_ spun by its victim. Only two instances are noticed by Messrs.

_ Kirby and Spence in their ‘ Introduction to Entomology,’ sixth

edition, vol. 11. pp. 227, 228, of the larve of insects having pro-

legs situated on their backs.

195. Epéira celata.

_ Epéira celata, Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol, xviii. p. 668.

__ M. Walckenaer has disposed of Epétra celata as a synonym of

_ Epéira fusca (Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. iv. p. 471); but it

differs materially from that species in size, structure, colour and

cconomy, and has a much closer affinity with Epéira antriada.

It inhabits damp caverns and hollow banks in Denbighshire and

Caernarvonshire, to the sides of which the female, in the month

of May, attaches a subglobose cocoon of whitish silk of a loose

texture, measuring about 3 an inch in diameter ; in it she depo-

sits between 200 and 300 spherical eggs of a yellow colour, ag-

glutinated together in a lenticular form.

196. Epéira inclinata,

Epéira inclinata, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. li. p. 82;

Sund. Vet. Acad, Handl. 1832, p. 250.

Zilla reticulata, Koch, Die Arachn. B, vi. p. 142, tab. 214. fig. 532,

533.

Titulus 1, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 24. tab. 1. fig. 1.

Epéira inclinata abounds in many parts of Great Britain, but

seems to prefer districts which are well-wooded. It spins in the

intervals between the branches of trees and-shrubs a net similar

in design to that constructed by Epéira antriada, and like that ~

species drops quickly, on being disturbed, from its station in the

civeular aperture at the centre of its snare, drawing from the

spinners in its descent a line which enables it speedily to regain

its former position.

188 On the Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders.

In autumn the female attaches to the under side of stones,

fragments of rock, and lichens growing on old trees, several glo-

bular cocoons of whitish silk of a loose texture, measuring, on

an average, Sths of an inch in diameter ; each contains from 80_

to 140 spherical eggs of a pale yellow colour, cemented toge

in a globular mass. i

I captured an adult female of this species in August 18

which was entirely destitute of the left intermediate eye of the

posterior row, and the right intermediate eye of the same row -

had not half of the usual size; and in another adult female, re-

ceived from the Rev. Hamlet Clark in the autumn of the same

year, the right intermediate eye of the posterior row had not

one-eighth of the natural size, being merely rudimentary.

197. Epéira diadema.

Eptira diadema, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 29; _

Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 106; Sund. Vet. Acad. —

Handl. 1832, p.235; Hahn, Die Arachn. B. ii. p. 22. tab. 45. —

fig. 110; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn, Syst. erstes Heft, p. 2

Die Arachn. B. xi. p. 103. tab. 384. fig. 910. ee a

lutea, Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 62. tab. 161. fig. 378;

Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 3; Die Arachn. B. xi. —

p: 123. tab. 388. fig. 926, 927. va

Titulus 2, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 28. tab. 1. fig. 2. —

‘2

oF;

This spider is plentiful in Great Britain, constructing an ex-

tensive net, without any circular opening at the centre, among —

gorse, heath and bushes. Its tarsi, like those of Epéira qua- ~

drata, Epéira apoclisa, and other species belonging to the same —

genus, are supplied with several small, curved, pectinated claws —

at their extremity, in addition to the three larger ones common ~

to them all. There is, besides, a strong, moveable spine, in- —

serted near the termination of the tarsus of each posterior leg, —

on the under side, which curves a little upwards at its extremity, —

and presents a slight irregularity of outlme at its superior sur-—

face when examined under the microscope. These spines, which —

have been denominated sustentacula (Transactions of the Lin- ~

nean Society, vol. xviii. p.224 note*), subserve an important pur- —

pose: by the contraction of their flexor muscles they are drawn —

towards the foot, and are thus brought in direct opposition to —

the claws, by which means the spider is enabled to hold with a —

firm grasp such lines as it has occasion to draw from the spin- —

ners with the feet of the hind legs, and such also as it designs —

to attach itself to. As the Epéire, when occupying a position at —

the centre of their snares, are supported chiefly by the susten- —

tacula and a line connecting the spinners with their station, the —

d Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Lower Paleozoic Mollusca. 189

reason why their heads are always directed downwards on such

_ occasions is apparent.

_ Epéira diadema and some of its congeners envelope their prey

ii a sheet of web by the following curious process. Causing

the victim to rotate by the action ot the third pair of legs and

_ the palpi, the first pair of legs also being frequently employ ed in

a similar manner, they extend the spinners laterally, and apply-

ing to them alternately the sustentaculum of each posterior leg,

pibey seize and draw out numerous fine lmes in the form of a

fillet, which they attach to their revolving prey, and thus involve

it in a dense covering of silk from one extremity to the other.

By means of this stratagem they are capable of overcoming for-

miidable and powerful insects, such as wasps, bees, and even

~ large bectles.

In October the female of this species attaches to the hterige

surface of stones a subglobose cocoon of yellow silk of a loose

_ texture, measuring rds of an ich in diameter, in which she de-

_ posits between 700 and 800 spherical eges.of a yellow colour,

_ agglutinated together in a lenticular form. Withered leaves and

bits of dry fern are frequently distributed on the exterior surface

of the cocoon. After deserting this nidus, the young spin a few

_ lines on which they group themselves into a compact mass, some-

_ what resembling the granulated fruit of the Rudi.

XVIII.—Contributions to British Palaontology:—Some new

Lower Paleozoic Mollusca. By ¥. M‘Coy, Professor of Geo-

logy and Mineralogy in Queen’s College, Belfast.

. _Sanguinolites decipiens (M‘Coy).

Dese. Elongate-oblong, dorsal and ventral margins subparallel ;

beak incurved, small, depressed, about one-fifth the length

from the anterior end ; hinge-line long, not elevated (the in-

flected edges forming a nearly horizontal posterior lunette ex-

tending its entire length) ; cardinal angle about 115°; anterior

end rounded, narrowed by an elongate, elliptic lunette; a strong

sigmoidally contorted diagonal ridge extends from the beak

to the respiratory angle; posterior slope steeply inclined ;

posterior end slightly oblique, subtruncate, rounded ; ventral

margin with a wide, rather deep smus in the middle, from

which a wide concavity extends nearly to the beak, and from

the diagonal ridge to the anterior end, which is convex an-

terior to the beaks; surface marked with sharp concentric

wrinkles from the anterior lunette to the diagonal ridge.

Length 8 lines; in proportion to the length, greatest width

190 Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Lower Paleozoic Mollusca.

(from beak to opposite margin) ;+8,; length of anterior end # ia

from the beak to end of hinge-line 56,3, ; greatest depth of

valve (about middle of diagonal ridge) 4%.

I have seen numerous specimens of this species from

Ludlow rocks, usually confounded with the so-called ¢

cymbiformis (Sow.), which it strongly resembles at fi

although the anterior end is considerably longer. Tha

however, has simple erect dorsal margins, and belongs

genus Orthonotus, while the distinctly inflected dorsal

forming the elongate, concave, posterior lunette show the

sent species to belong to the genus Sanguinolites. =

Not uncommon in the Upper Ludlow rock of Benson Kr

Kendal, Westmoreland ; and in the micaceous grits of Llee

lawdd Myddfai, near Llandovery, S. Wales; greenish schists

Balmae shore, Kirkeudbright. ae

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Capulus ? Euomphaloides (M‘Coy).

Desc. Depressed, spirally inrolled, whorls rounded; spire de-

pressed, of one and a half turns ; surface apparently smooth, or

faintly marked by broadly undulated wrinkles of growth (in-

dicating the waving of the right lip). Diameter 1 inch, pro-

portional diameter of body-whorl 4%, height 745.

This curious species is so much depressed, that were it not

for the small size of the spire and the undulation of the lip, as _

revealed by the flexuous lines of growth, it might be taken for a

Euomphalus. I at one time thought it might be desirable to

form a particular genus for those paleeozoiec species, such as the

Nerita Haliotis (Sow.), Pileopsis neritoides (Phill.), &c., having

the form of Neriéa, but an undulating lip and lines of growth;

on examining carefully the recent Pileopsis intortus and allied”

species, I found so gradual a passage from them to the ordinary

cap-shaped forms, that I prefer leaving them altogether for the

present. None of my specimens of that type of shells show the -

mouth clearly, so that it is possible they may want the inner lip,

in which case the genus would be a very good one, and ons

found I believe in the older rocks. ) hog

Rare im the Lower Ludlow limestone at Green quarry, Leint-—

wardine, Shropshire. oh hell

(Col. University of Cambridge.) <a

Pleurotomaria crenulata (M‘Coy). cay

Desc. Obtusely trochiform, length and width nearly equal ; apical

angle 85°; spire of four obtusely rounded whorls, most con-_

Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Lower Paleozoic Mollusca. 191

vex below the middle; band broad, depressed, bounded by two

_ delicate prominent keels, the upper edge being a little below

the middle of the whorl ; a space equal to the band in width

is visible below it on the turns of the spire; base flattened,

_ gently convex, slightly umbilicate ; surface with close, sharp,

trregular, interrupted strie, slightly arched backwards from

the spire to the suture, and in the opposite direction beneath

it; the oblique stri faintly crenulated by very minute spiral

a trim, the band with coarse, irregular, heck ward arched lines

only. engin 6 lines, proportional width ;85,, length of body-

1) whorl ,59,.

ee This bears some slight resemblance to the Turbo carimatus

" (Sow.) of the Upper Ludlow, but is generically distinct by its

-striz arched backwards to the band; its spire is also shorter, and

, _ there are no spiral ridges on the base.

° In the Upper Ludlow rock of Brigsteer, Kendal, Westmore-

i nd.

_ (Col, University of Cambridge.)

Murchisonia cancellatula (M‘Coy).

: " Dese. Conic; apical angle about 50°; spire of four whorls, ob-

__ tusely angulated a little below the middle ; the part above the

| keel oblique, slightly convex near the sutures, slightly concave

near the keel; portions below the keel convex ; body whorl of

moderate size; base apparently imperforate (but imperfectly

seen) ; mouth obscurely rhomboidal, a Bittle wider than high.

peneth : inch 2 lines, proportional width 2 5, height of body-

whorl ;4%, ; entire surface above and below the keel reticulated

by ones equal spiral and backward curved, oblique, trans-

verse woke, eight or nine in one line.

_ _ Mr. Salter, on a casual examination of some of our specimens

_of this species, supposed them to belong to his Murchisonia sca-

_ faris (Geol. Journ. vol. v. t. 1. fig. 2), which he there says is a

common Bala species, recognized by its elongate shape, &c., and

imperfect specimens of the exterior of which he says show the

_ fine strize curving back to the keel; but as the carinated species

_ Ihave seen from Bala are quite different from the present, and

_ agree with the above figure in the elongate form, so different

~ from the present shell, which also has strong spiral striz, not

is _ said to exist in the M. scalaris, nor im the Bala forms which I

"have seen, I conceive this to be a perfectly distinct species.

: In the Upper Bala rock of Allt yr Anker, Meifod, Mont-

- gomeryshire ; abundant in the sandstone of Mullock quarry,

a Dalquorhan, near Girvan, Ayrshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

192 Prof. F. M‘Coy en some new Lower Paleozoie Mollus

Murchisonia gyrogonia (M‘Coy). |

Desc. Acutely conical ; apical angle 45° ; spire of three and

whorls, very strongly angulated in the middle by the

jection of an acute carina, the upper and under sides of the

volution being flat and steeply inclined; sutural angle 70° to

75°; body-whorl rounded below, with an additional fine keel

about halfway between the principal one and the anterior end,

which is almost hid by the suture on the spiral whorls ;

face (when preserved) marked with sharp striee, which, on th

upper part of the whorl, extend from the suture obli ely

backwards to the keel, curving in the opposite direction below

the keel. Length 4} lines, proportional length of last whorl

Too» Width 77%. a

This is most allied to the Murchisonia perangulata (Hall) ¢

the Bird’s-eye limestone of the New York series, but is distin-

guished by the shortness of the spire in proportion to the body-

whorl, and by the additional keel below the band on the las'

turn. It is also closely allied to the M. pulchra (M‘Coy, Sil.

Foss. Irel. t. 1. fig. 19), but is on comparison found to be di-

stinct by the fewer, longer, and more produced whorls of the

spire. oa

Wesy abundant in the fine sandy schists of Ysputty Evan,

N. Wales ; also in the calcareous strata W. of Llanfechan, Mont-

gomeryshire. 7?

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Murchisonia simplex (M‘Coy).

Desc. Acutely conical; apical angle 55°; spire of about four or

five whorls, angulated in the middle by the projection of an

obtuse thick keel, another keel a little smaller 1 the

suture and the keel above, and a third nearer the suture

low on each turn; surface marked with fine striz of grov

arched back to the keel at a moderate angle above, and nearly

vertical below; base imperforate. Width of small specimens

6 lines, length of last turn 5 lines (imperfect specimens double

this size). A a

The more elongate form and imperforate base distinguish this

species from some of the “ Trenton limestone ” varieties of the

Pleurotomaria umbilicata (Hall) ; and the same characters and

the absence of the spiral striz on the base distinguish it from the

Ewomphalus triporcatus (M‘Coy). a

I should have supposed the M. scalaris (Sow. and Salt.), Geol.

Journ. vol. vy. t. 1. fig. 2, Ayrshire, belonged to this species, but

that one, instead of five, keels are indicated in the figure -

text.

Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Lower Paleozoic Mollusca. 193

_ Limestone of Allt yr Anker, Meifod, Montgomeryshire ; also

in the sandstone of Dalquorhan, near Girvan, Ayrshire ; greenish

trappean sandstone of Glenquhaple, Ayrshire.

_ (Col. University of Cambridge.)

Murchisonia torquata (M‘Coy).

Desc. Acutely conic ; apical angle about 26°; whorls six, having

__athickened prominent suture, below which the upper portion

_ of each is slightly concave, becoming very convex in the lower

half; band narrow, below the middle on the most convex part

_ of the volutions; strie sharp, strongest on the thickened

_ edge of the suture, arching obliquely backwards to the band.

_ Length 6 lines, proportional length of last turn ;49,, width

50.

_ As neither the collar-like thickening of the upper edge of the

suture, nor the greater projection of the lower part of each whorl,

are indicated by Mr. Sowerby in his figure or description (in the

Sil. Syst.) of the P. Corallit, I suppose the present species to be

distinct.

Common in the Upper Ludlow of Spital and Benson Knot,

Kendal, Westmoreland ; tilestone of Storm Hill, Llandeilo, Caer-

marthenshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Euomphalus lyratus (M‘Coy).

Desc. Spire only slightly elevated, of two very convex turns, each

- with three narrow spiral ridges, one at the upper suture, one

- considerably above the middle of the body-whorl and corre-

_ sponding to the lower suture on the spire, and the third half-

~ way between these two; surface crossed by slightly oblique,

_ thin, cord-like ridges, nearly twice their thickness apart.

- Diameter about 6 lines, proportional height about 4°.

Only one imperfect specimen has occurred of this obviously

istinct species, not allowing of the characters of the base or

ire being completely ascertained.

Bi — in the Bala schists at Llansaintfraid, Glyn Ceiriog, Den-

ighshire.

Euomphalus triporcatus (M‘Coy).

esc. Obtusely conic; apical angle about 95°; spire of about

_ three or four flattened whorls, each bearing three nearly equal

and equidistant, thick, obtuse carinz, one of which is at the

_ suture, which it renders canaliculate, one in the middle, and

nn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 13

194 Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Lower Paleozoic Mollusca. 1

one forming the circumference of the basal whorl, and par-

tially concealed by the suture in the spiral whorls; base con-

vex, with three smaller spiral carine and a minute umbilicus; ~

surface crossed by sharp, scaly, delicate, transverse striz. —

Width 1 inch, proportional length about 73%, length of last —

whorl ;*4,. 4 oa

Col. Portlock has, I think, figured this species (Geol. Rep. ©

t. 80. fig. 3) as the E. subsulcatus of Hisinger, which has double

the number of spiral keels on the upper surface. I should have —

referred those specimens to the E. cornu-arietis (His.), but that

seems to have four large ridges to each whorl, and no indication

is given in the figure or description of the spiral carine on the”

base. It much resembles some of the varieties of the Pleuroto-

maria umbilicata (Hall) from the Bird’s-eye limestone of New

York, but is certainly distinguished by its smaller umbilicus, and ~

the three additional spiral keels on the base ; those latter are ge-

nerally best seen in the concavity left when the upper whorls of —

a specimen are broken away (described from internal casts).

Common in the Bala slates of Cyrn-y-Brain, Wrexham, Den-

bighshire ; and in the schists of Golden grove, Llandeilo, Caer-

marthenshire. io {=

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Maclureia macromphala (M‘Coy).

Desc. Discoid, sinistral, usually elliptical, of about three and a

half rapidly enlarging whorls ; spire depressed below the level ©

of the outer turn, which bears an obscure, obtusely rounded

angulation, bounding the slightly oblique upper plane of the

shell ; circumference obtusely rounded ; under side having the

middle of the whorls obtusely angulated, thus defining a wide,

shallow umbilicus. Diameter 10 lines, proportional diameter

of last whorl 5°,, height of last whorl ;%9,, diameter of umbi-

licus ;855. Surface crossed by minute, thread-like lines of

growth, extending obliquely backwards from the suture, and

then crossing almost directly into the umbilicus. = P|

This little species is easily distinguished from the M. magna

by its very wide umbilicus (resembling that of the carboniferous

Euomphalus pentangulatus), and by the more rapidly enlarging

whorls, which also separate it from: the imperfectly known

M. matutina and M. sordida (Hall), from the calciferous sand

stone of New York. atl

In the concretionary and schistose limestone of Craig Head

near Girvan, Ayrshire. ~ .

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 195

Eccyliomphalus Scoticus (M‘Coy).

Desc. Discoid, flat, of one and a half gradually enlarging, widely

separated, spiral whorls ; back obtusely subcarinate, rounded,

__ lower side rounded, upper side with a flat space, bounded on

each side by one obscure keel, the outer one most distinct ; sur-

_ face crossed by rather distant sharp lines of growth, each pair

with four or five much finer intermediate strize. Diameter

1 inch 5 lines, proportional diameter of last whorl ;%3,, height

__ This species is more regularly involute than the EH. Bucklandi

(Portk.), and has the principal keel on the upper side nearer to

e beak. There are three or four of the larger strie in the

pace of | line about the middle of the under side of last whorl.

_ Not uncommon in the schistose Chazey limestone of Knock-

dollian quarry, three miles from Ballintrae ; also in the calcareous

schists of Mullock quarry, Dalquorhan, near Girvan, Ayrshire.

_ (Col. University of Cambridge.)

XIX.—On some of the Animals of the Chemnitzize which have

not been described. By Wit11am Cxiark, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Exmouth, July 20, 1852.

I BEG to present, agreeably to a notice in the ‘Annals, N. S.

vol. x. pp. 22 and77, an account of several animals of the Chem-

nitzie that have not occurred to naturalists or been very slightly

alluded to. My former papers and this will contain descrip-

tions of about twenty species, a number more than fourfold

ha than has yet been recorded, and most of which I have

this summer re-examined: I propose to follow up the accounts

of those that have just been met with by a few short additions

and corrections to the several species enumerated in the ‘ Annals,’

N.S. vol. vi. p. 451, vol. vii. p. 380, and vol. viii. p. 108.

Before I enter on the descriptive matter, it will be proper to

Say a word or two in explanation of some of the organs of this

Very singular genus, which, in my method, includes the Odo-

stomie and Eulimelle, and a few of the species of Aclis.

_ With respect to the organs of the animal, I will first mention

‘the peculiar anterior process styled by most authors the mentum,

which I think ought to be considered the muzzle or rostrum, as

it is a continuation of the neck, over which a bridge is thrown,

formed of the eyes and tentacula; and close under them, but on

196 Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitaiz. —

the upper part of the base, or hinder portion of the rostrum, is

the proboscidal orifice, from which, though a circumstance of the

rarest occurrence, I have in three species seen the evolution of

that organ, in the Chem. pallida, C. acuta and C. plicata; the

animals kept it exserted from half a minute to three minutes.

Mr. Alder’s figure in the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. vol. vii. p. 464, from a

sketch of M. Lovén, gives a very good representation of it; the

remaining or terminal portion of the rostrum appears to be

mute, and is more or less of its length attached to the animal’s

foot; in other words, it is less free than the muzzle of the

Risso, of which I consider it the representative and remnant,

and which it will be seen has entirely vanished in Hulima

_ Though authors speak of a mentum in that genus, [ can find

none; they have, I think, mistaken for it the upper margin ¢

flap of the foot, which in front is divided by a narrow groove:

this separation is more or less apparent in most, if not in all

spiral Gasteropoda ; it has however little resemblance to the

rostrum of the Chemnitzie, which is a long, narrow, thick, di-

stinct, and otherwise variable organ, proceeding from the neck

as its continuation, and has much the aspect of a mute rissoideat

muzzle; whilst the margins of the foot of the Eulime and othe

Gasteropoda, and they are generally present in the Chemnitzia,

are to assist flexibility on the march, in the same manner as the

digitations of the feet of all animals assist progression. Lovén,

who has described the mentum in his genus Turbonilla, ow

Chemnitzia, has not, though he has described the animal of

Eulima, mentioned the presence of a mentum or rostrum in tha

enus. i

The point of issue of the proboscis, from the upper part of th

rostrum, is more advanced and visible in Chem. plicata than i

any other species I have yet examined ; it was from this anima

that it continued evolved more than three minutes, affording m

a sight that falls to the lot of few malacologists. I believe

speak within compass, when I state that I have examined mor

than a thousand live Chemnitzie of twenty species, yet, except 01

the three occasions alluded to, I never witnessed its exsertion. ©

All the Chemnitzie have a semitubular fold more or less de

loped in the mantle, which, though it issues at the upper angl

of the aperture, close to the debouchure of the rejectamenta

orifice, appears more like a branchial one than for fecal fune

tions. In the érue C. acuta it is largely exserted and very com

spicuous. Can this fold be analogous to the process I have de:

scribed at the same point in many of the Rissoe? Can it hay

the double, though apparently incompatible, duties of depura

tion, and to supply the animal, when the operculum on ce ail

exigencies is required to be nearly closed, with the branchia

. Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 197

fluid? Can all the Gasteropoda, at the upper angle of the aper-

- ture on the right side, have branchial conduits independent of

the reception of the water into the respiratory vault, under the

lax mantle, by the protrusion of the neck and head of the

animal ?

_ The presence*of a proboscis brings this genus very near to

‘the Canalifere ; but the Eulime are still nearer, as they have no

head or rostrum, and the proboscis issues nearly at the fork

_ between the tentacula, as in the Muricidal families. This state-

ment renders it necessary to cancel that part of one of my papers

wherein I doubt the evolution of a strict proboscis, but after

‘what I have seen that question is set at rest.

_ The rostrum varies greatly in the proportions of its arcuations,

“scissions, and points of attachment to the foot ; in the Chem. uni-

dentata it is plain and truncate, in C. acuta it forms an open

-subeircular channel with a cochleariform termination, and in

Chem. conoidea it is cloven nearly to the base, simulating a

second pair of tentacula.

_ Ihave omitted to remark that the orifice of the rostrum is not

_ precisely in the position of the proboscidal fissure of the Muri-

cide ; it is not quite so low in the fork, though exactly under the

tentacula at the point of the invasion of the neck, and its con-

‘tinuation, the rostrum, by those organs ; this position is proved

by the proboscis when evolved lying upon the rostrum, and by

“its breadth equalling that of the neck, a point I formerly doubted,

‘and entirely hiding that organ from view. This leads me to say,

‘that for the fourth time, a few days since, I witnessed the emis-

‘sion of the proboscis from a specimen of one of the slender

“yarieties of Chem. acuta: I had an excellent view, as the animal

-exserted and. withdrew it several times, which was not the case

‘before ; it was not quite so slender at the point, nor so much

-arcuated as in Mr. Alder’s figure ; its orifice was perfectly seen.

From the above remarks and the descriptions that follow,

together with those recorded in former papers, which com-

‘prise animals of the genera Chemnitzia, Odostomia, and Euli-

-mella of modern authors, I submit to naturalists the propriety

of merging the two latter in Chemnitzia, an appellation that

fortunately has no other significancy than that of compliment to

a laborious author in this branch of natural history. The simi-

larity of the organs of the animals of the three genera, so far

from affording essential generic characters, does not suffice with-

out the assistance of the shell for specific distinction. Surely

the Chem. rufa and C. elegantissima should not be separated from

the smoother Chem. Scille and C. acicula, merely because the

one is smooth and the other ribbed: if so, to be consistent, it

“would be necessary to separate the smooth Chem. pallida from

198 Mr. W.Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitz:

the ribbed Chem. decussata and interstincta. As to the sy

fold, all the Chemnitzia have it, though in many it does

come into the limits of visibility ; but is that a reason to separat

precisely congeneric animals? The tooth or fold, according t

the species, is as often absent from view in the aperture as pre-

sent, and it is curious that this condition is thot unfrequenth

seen in the same species. I would ask then, are the inhabi

of such shells to be consigned to Chemnitzia or Odoston

Chemnitzia, even including the Odostomie and Eulimelle, is

so abundant in species as to supply an excuse for dividing them

to assist arrangement into genera that have names, but no di

stinct generic qualities. I think that in the most numerous

tribes, judicious grouping would be more scientific than the for.

mation of effete genera. te

It is necessary to offer a remark which is applicable to all th

Mollusca, especially to the minute ones, and peculiarly so to the

Chemnitzie. Great care must be taken to distinguish between

bond fide specialties and those apparent ones brought on by an

uneasy condition of the animal, which ought always to be de.

scribed on the undisturbed march, when all the organs are na-

turally deployed, as at rest they are contracted; and violent ex.

ertion, which often arises when the animal in creeping arrives at

the level of the water in the glass in which it is confined, o1

meets with an impediment, has the effect of producing unnatura

forms: for example, the foot is often made to appear dee

emarginate or hollowed out by the excessive protrusion of thi

auricles, and the termination of the rostrum is in like mannei

distorted by the right and left points being exserted beyo:

nature; but all these forced positions vanish on the deliberate

march. A neglect of these maxims has occasionally led me inte

errors, which will be noticed under their respective heads ; I will

not call them trifling, as perhaps on such, the distinctness of a

particular species might hinge. i

Chemnitzia acicula.

Lulima acicula, Philippi.

Eulimella acicula, auct. “a

Eulimella affinis, nonnull. Pa

The animal inhabits a smooth, bluish white, subhyaline she

of eight flat volutions, and has the reflexed apex, the constant

characteristic of the Chemnitzig. The mantle is even with th

shell, with the exception of the small fold I have alluded to

above ; the body does not nearly equal half the entire length

of the shell. The general colour of the animal throughout. is

subpellucid frosted white, mixed with minute snowy flakes, The

is ..

_ Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 199

head or rostrum, called by some naturalists the mentum, is,

| when fully extended, rather long, very broad, square in front,

slightly emarginate in the centre, and on the march is always in

advance of the foot, as is usual with the muzzle of the Rissoe ;

it is grooved the whole length, and the groove is continued

towards the neck, just separating the tentacula at their basal

centre; at its upper surface, close to the base, is the orifice of

the proboscis. The tentacula diverge to almost right angles,

and resemble short, broad, minute leaves, each with an opake

white stripe or stamen through the centre; they bevel to a fine

edge, and with their large flexible margins can, like all the

Chemnitzie, simulate the ear-shaped folds characteristic of those

organs, which in this species are conspicuous, but the proteiform

tips are only slightly developed. The eyes are very black, not

quite close to each other, and immersed a little posterior to the

internal bases of the tentacula. The foot is rather long, extend-

ing to two volutions, very thin, in front bluntly auricled, termi-

nating, when in full march, in an acute point, and carries, on a

simple lobe at the junction of the foot with the body, a pyriform

light corneous operculum marked with arcuated oblique striz of

growth. The animal is free, creeps with rapidity, and dwells in

muddy ground mixed with shelly spoil in 14 fathoms water, off

Teignmouth, Devon. Malacologists will perceive that the organs

of this animal are in every respect generically the same as those

of Chemnitzia rufa and Ch. elegantissima. This species has never

before been observed alive.

_ L have examined several live specimens of that variety of the

present species termed by authors Lulimella affinis, and I find

that the animal of the two is identical ; the only difference is in

the shell, which in the ‘ afinis’ is more taper, and has the

whorls more rounded and better defined by the divisional lines.

Chemnitzia clavula.

Eulimella clavula, Brit. Moll.

_ The animal inhabits a pearly white, but not glossy shell, of

five rather rounded volutions, including the moderately reflexed

apex; the body is about half the entire length of the shell, with

a narrowish, elongated, oval aperture, quite free from angularity.

The animal is clear frosted white. Rostrum very narrow, rounded

at the end, not bilobed nor grooved, and carried just before the

foot ; neck greatly protruded, on the march showing an open

canal formed of two parallel longitudinal lmes. Mantle even, no

fold visible. Tentacula short, broad, swelling out behind like a

minute wide leaf; the auriform folding nearly disappears on the

march ; they are not divergent; indeed, I may say, they are

200 Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Cher

borne so close and straight as almost to hide the rostrum and

proboscidal fissure ; they may be termed small, short, triangular,

and terminate each with two white inflations, that is, one

pletely apical, the other close below it quite lateral, subsemicir-

cular, and as if soldered to the external sides of the points. I do

not recollect having before observed this tentacular peculiarit

The eyes are at the internal bases, not very close together. The

foot is a very deceptive organ, from its quality of exhibiting dif-

ferent appearances; it is very little concave in front, and

long tentacular auricles ; the margins are thin, often reflexed up-

wards towards the shell, and it posteally assumes a form varying

from the needle pomt to an obtuse termination, carrying on a

simple lobular eminence of the main foot, at its junction witl

the body; a minute delicate pearl-coloured obliquely striated

operculum. The animal is very active and free. Taken with the

’ Chem. acicula in the same locality. The animal of this species

has hitherto escaped observation. if wha aig

I stated in the 7th vol. of the ‘ Annals,’ N. S. p. 391, that ]

considered the Ch. clavula a variety of Ch. acicula, and confi-

dently predicted no animal would ever be discovered of su -

riety which would exhibit decided specialties. I believe this

error has originated from having had varieties of the Ch. acicule

sent me for examination instead of the true ‘ clavula’ I appre-

hend this must have been the case, as no one with the true

shells can confound the two. Whether I am right or wrong in

this conjecture, the acquisition of eight living examples of the

Ch, clavula proves, that as regards both the shell and animal it

is very distinct from Ch. acicula. ;

Chemnitzia scalaris, Philippi.

Chemnitzia rufescens, auct.

Animal subhyaline white, sometimes of a pale red muddy

brown, aspersed with minute opake snow-white points, inhabiting

a white plicated shell of seven or eight volutions, with transverse

striz between the ribs, having the body marked with two or

three narrow spiral light reddish brown bands, and two on the

penultimate volution ; the apex is intensely reflexed on its next

neighbour. Mantle even, except emitting a small cloyen fold t

the upper angle of the aperture. Rostrum deeply notched in

front, with the segments gently arcuated. The tentacula ar

moderately long, strong, and divergent, and exhibit the usua

folding auriform phases of their margins, but the varying infla-

tions of the tips are less developed than in many other species

the eyes are black, not very close together, and fixed at the im-

ternal bases of the tentacula, which do not entirely coalesce

Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitziz. 201

_ being divided by a distinct groove, that is the continuation of

one on the rostrum from the pomt where the cleft terminates.

_ The foot is short, very slightly auricled, and on the march does

‘not extend much beyond the body volution, posteally declining

to an obtuse termination, at a little distance from which is the

almost simple upper lobe carrying the usual pyriform elliptically

striated operculum.

Habitat: shelly mud, in 10 fathoms water, six miles from the

_ shore, off Teignmouth, Devon.

This animal has scarcely been observed, and the only obser-

yation as to colour does not quite accord with the live specimens

_ Ihave examined. I am now inclined to think, contrary to my

opinion in the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. vol. vii. p. 387, that there are two

varieties of this species: the one scalar, or with turreted sub-

angular volutions, which is considered the type, under the title

of Chemnitzia scalaris ; the other, with rounded volutions, has

the specific appellation of C. rufescens. I have taken both

alive, andscould detect no difference in the animals, except in

colour ; the C. scalaris being sometimes subhyaline frosted white,

at others pale red-brown, and the same variations attend the so-

called C. rufescens. I may be in error as to the identity of the

- two, but that is my present impression.

Aug. 10th.—I this day took at the same haul two shells, one

of which proved the typical C. scalaris, the second was the form

- termed by authors C. rufescens ; they were both put in a vase,

- and being lively, I again saw that their organs were identical.

Chemnitzia fenestrata, auct.

Animal inhabiting a longitudinally plicated and spirally ridged

white shell of eight rather flat volutions which bevel from their

bases to the sutural lines; the apex has the usual reflexion of

the tribe. The general colour of the external organs is a sub-

hyaline frosted white, the internal posterior volutions are a deep

red-brown. Mantle even with the aperture, except a small shoot

at the upper angle. Rostrum slender, long, flat, barely hollowed

at itstermination. The tentacula are comparatively long, slender,

and fold after the characteristic manner of the race, and have

the white inflated tips; they are united at the bases, on which,

close together, are imbedded at the internal angles the conspi-

cuous black eyes. The foot in slow march is short, broad and

obtuse, but when the pace is accelerated it attenuates and ex-

tends to the bottom of the second basal volution ; anteriorly it

forms a concave sweep, ending on the right and left in very

slight auricular points, and posteriorly in a moderate lanceolate

shape, carrying on a simple lobe, close to its junction with the

body, a light, corneous, pyriform, obliquely striated operculum. —

This elegant little creature is very vivacious, and free from shy- —

ness. ine

Habitat: muddy ground, in 10 fathoms water, six or sev

miles from the land, off Exmouth. |

It is one of the unrecorded species.

Chemnitzia obliqua, Alder.

Odostomia diaphana, nonnull.

The animal inhabits a very pale yellow-white smooth shell of

four rather tumid volutions, besides the apical reflexion, which is

less than usual, the divisional lines are by no means oblique, and

the body exceeds the length of the spire ; its colour is a brillian

frosted subhyaline white. The mantle is even, except a conspi- —

cuous tubular fold at the upper angle of the aperture. eg

rostrum is short and cloven in the centre almost to the eyes; —

each segment forms an arcuation to each side equal to an angle —

of 40°. The tentacula are strong, rather long, without much ~

auriform folding, subrotund and taper, terminating with minute —

circular snow-white spots or inflations on the tips; the eyes are

close together at the internal basal angles ; the great peculiarity ~~

attached to the tentacula is, that instead of a moderate diver- ~~

gence on each side the rostrum, they form large arcuations and —

are carried at right angles with the axis of the shell. Foot thin, —

rather concave in front, slightly auricled, long and broad, and —

when fully extended reaches beyond the body whorl, terminating —

in a distinct bifurcation, which is very apparent in slow march, —

but on a quicker pace being attained, the fork in some measure —

decreases in consequence of the greater extension of the foot; on

a small simple lobe, close to the junction of the foot with the —

body, is fixed an elongated, narrow, corneous, delicate light yel- —

low operculum with close-set oblique striz of growth. ya

Taken at Exmouth from a shelly bottom, six miles from —

shore, in 12 fathoms water. It has hitherto escaped the re- —

searches of authors. 4

I have thought the “ obliqua,” if unconnected with the Ch. —

Warrenii (the C. decorata of authors), a doubtful species, but —

the above description removes all doubts of its not being in esse.

Chemnitzia insculpta, Montagu. * 4

The animal occupies an ivory-white shell of five moderately —

rounded volutions, with well-marked but not oblique aaa 4

lines ; the three lower whorls at the basal portions have very fine _

distant either concentrically circular or spiral strie. The colour —

_ red on the neck. The mantle has the usual fold at the upper

angle of the aperture. The rostrum is short, cloven to the eyes,

with the segments arcuating as in C. obliqua. The tentacula

coalesce at their bases, and are very broad and short, which con-

dition may, in some measure, be owing to the margins not

: is opake frosted white, with a rather large patch of dull claret-

being folded inthe auriform fashion on the march ; they termi-

nate in very small white slightly inflated tips ; the eyes are close

_ together at the internal bases. The foot appeared short and

_ broad as the animal moved in slow march, but perhaps, if the

_ pace had been accelerated, it might have been somewhat ex-

_ tended; in front it is gently concave with blunt auricles, close

_ under which it becomes a little constricted, and terminates in a

_ deep regular emargination carrying on a plain lobe a remarkably

thin, light, horn-coloured, narrow, subelongated, obliquely stri-

ated operculum.

It inhabits six miles from shore at Exmouth, in a shelly bot-

_ tom of 14 fathoms water. It has not been examined before.

Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 203

Chemnitzia Warrenii, Brit. Moll.

Chemnitzia decorata, nonnull,

Animal inhabiting a white subturreted shell of four compressed

volutions, with oblique sutures ; the basal part of the body whorl

_ being finely, superficially, and irregularly spirally striated. The

_ mantle is even with the shell, but has the power of relaxing

itself so as to produce a small conduit at the upper angle of the

aperture. The rostrum is short, cloven as far as the eyes, having

_ the segments curved to the right and left; the tentacula are

_ short, triangular, bevelled, not broad, attenuating to a fine point,

and armed with small white inflated tips; they are carried in

front of the head with an angular divergence of about 75°; the

eyes are close together at the internal united bases. The foot is

short, concave in front, slightly auricled, posteally terminating

obtusely with a light, horny, thin, obliquely striated operculum,

_ seated on a simple lobe that is scarce distinct from the upper

_ part of the foot near its junction with the body.

Habitat as in the two preceding species. This animal is now

- noticed for the first time.

Chemnitzia interstincta, Mont. et auct.; Annals, N.S. vi. 458.

Animal inhabiting a closely plicated white shell of five and a

half flattish volutions, the body not being half the length of the

shell; the apex is less reflexed than usual; the aperture has

generally a visible tooth, and there are one or two rows of crenz

204 Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitz. q

or lattice-work on the base, between the ribs, of the three lower —

volutions. The general colour of the animal, as regards the por- —

tion contained in the body whorl, is a frosted rather opake white. —

The mantle is even with the shell, scarcely showing a fold at the —

upper angle of the aperture. The rostrum is very slender, not —

cloven, but truncate at the end, and as usual on the march pre- —

cedes the foot. The tentacula are rather long, slender, not par- —

ticularly divergent, and have but narrow margins for the auri- ~

form folds ; they are taper, bevelled, and terminate in prominent |

white tips; the eyes are not very close together at the internal —

bases. Foot short, narrowish, rarely extending when fully de-

ployed much beyond the body volution, truncate in front or |

very little concave, with short auricles, and a little contracted

below them, carrying on a simple upper lobe, at the junction of —

the foot with the body, a thin, pear-shaped, light, corneous, ob- |

liquely striated operculum ; the foot has a rather obtuse though

lanceolate termination. |

I have reproduced this species, already described by me in the

‘Annals,’ partly with the view of correcting some slight errors,

but principally to place it in immediate view for comparison with —

its tumid variety, and with the next species, the Chemnitzia in- —

distincta, and its variety that has been named Ch. clathrata, all —

of which have been strangely jumbled together ; but very large —

series of both species and their varieties have, I think, enabled |

me to unravel various misapprehensions. With respect to the |

shell of the present species, it has only one well-marked tumid |

variety, which, as regards the animal, differs in no respect from —

its chief, as the posterior volutions of both, in the shell, are of a 3

dark lead-colour; but the variety is invariably of larger size; —

the whorls, though the same in number, are more tumid, and ~

the body volution is more than half the whole length of the —

shell; there is rarely on the body and next turn more than one —

well-pronounced row of crenze, and a tooth is always visible in

the aperture. I have a fine series of more than twenty examples —

of the variety, and 100 of the type, all of which have been exa- —

mined alive. a a

It is difficult to say whether Montagu’s figure represents the —

shell with the flat or tumid volutions, but as far as the indiffer- —

ent engraving will allow one to judge, I should guess it to be the —

tumid variety. I believe, however, all collectors consider the —

flatter shell the type, it being by far the most abundant. AsI —

find the animals of both absolutely identical, I cannot hesitate —

to consider the differences of figure as of mere varietal value. —

The true Ch. interstincta has usually a fold in the aperture, but —

it is not uncommon without it, and these exceptions are mul- —

tiplied in most collections by an admixture of some half-grown

Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzix. 205

ical indistincta and the variety ‘ clathrata, which are inva-

4 riably without the tooth ; it never exceeds 5} volutions,

The type is very common in the coralline district, but the

tumid variety is oftener met with in shelly mud.

Chemnitzia indistincta, Mont. et auct.

Chemnitzia clathrata, Brit. Moll.

The animal inhabits a white subopake shell of six or seven,

sometimes eight, rounded volutions, with close-set waved longi-

tudinal plice that have 3-5 rows of short lines forming a lattice-

work between the ribs, sometimes on them, at the bases of the

three or four last whorls ; the body is not near half the length

of the entire shell; the aperture 1s always destitute of a tooth.

The animal in the body volution is pale yellowish subhyaline

white, aspersed with minute snow flakes, but the posterior volu-

tions are dark lead-colour, visible through the shell. When the

neck is greatly protruded, two parallel longitudinal lines are

seen forming an open canal, perhaps for branchial purposes.

The rostrum is long, rather narrow, and just rounded at the

termination. The tentacula are very short, united at the bases,

with their thin margins unfurled on the march, which gives

them, instead of the usual auriform figure, a very large, subtri-

angular, broad, leafy aspect; they terminate in large inflated

white tips, and are often delicately powdered with a pale, thin,

cloud-like suffusion of excessively minute lemon-coloured points ;

the eyes are very black, distinct, and close together at the in-

ternal bases. The foot is large, thin, subhyaline, either trun-

cate or concave in front, dependent on the will of the animal,

with very large auricles, which in progression are used as

feelers; the margins of the foot are often reflexed, as if to em-

brace the sides of the shell; it is long, and when fully extended

reaches to the third basal volution, and ends in a needle point ;

sometimes on each side there is a row of small flake-white spots ;

it carries on a simple upper lobe, scarcely distinguishable from

the mass of the foot, a hght corneous, thin, obliquely striated

pyriform operculum.

The animal marches with rapidity, and is far more active than

the Ch. interstincta. It inhabits, with the variety ‘ clathrata, a

peculiar district of shelly mud, between the laminarian and coral-

line zones in 10 fathoms water, off Teignmouth.

That this is Montagu’s Turbo indistinctus is scarcely doubtful ;

he says that his examples have six volutions, and no fold in the

aperture—that is the number of the ordinary run of specimens ;

but both the type and variety, when very fine, have 63 to 8 turns,

as our magnificent series will show.

206 Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. j

There can be no doubt of the Ch. indistincta being distinct —

from the Ch. interstincta ; we, in our first accounts, thought other- —

wise ; but the greater number of volutions, the invariable absence —

of a tooth, the much more diffused lattice-work of the former, —

and the specific differences of the animals, afford decisive marks —

of distinction. 7

We have examined more than twenty live specimens of the —

typical species, in comparison, often in the same vase, with forty —

of the variety ‘ clathrata, which only differs from the type, as |

regards the animal, in having the posterior volutions pale pink, —

that gives the shell the appearance of being of a still paler pmk

hue, but in fresh shells the colour is a dull pearly white ; this dif- _

ference in the animals is probably dependent on food: another

variation, perhaps the effect of the same cause, is, that the contour

of the variety is somewhat less slender than the type; but the

similar number of the volutions, the character of the lattice- ~

work, and of the want of the tooth in the aperture of both, —

together with the identity of the animals, forbid the differences

I have noticed to be considered of more value than of mere and ~~

not uncommon variations. 1 eae

Chemnitzia pallida, Mont. et auct.

C. eulimoides, Ann. Nat. Hist. N.S. vol. vi. p. 452 ; vol. vii. p. 389.

C. rissoides, Aun. Nat. Hist. N. S. vol. vi. p. 455. a

Odostomia notata, O. albella, O. dubia, O. alba, O. nitida, O. ris- ~~

soides, O. eulimoides, O. glabrata? auct. variorum. |

There is nothing to add to the description in the ‘ Annals’ of

the above species, of which several are now alive before me; 1

have only to observe, that having examined the animals of the —

annexed so-called species, I am bound to add them to the syno- —

nymy of Chemunitzia pallida ; one, as the papers referred to dare q

will show, of the most variable species as regards the shell; but —

the animals of all these spurious articles have the unvarying di- —

stinguishing character of C. pallida, which is absent es all —

the other Chemnitzie that can in any way be confounded with ~

this group,—I mean the liberal, though irregular aspersion of —

many of their organs with minute sulphur-yellow or gold-co- —

loured spots and points; and above all, the organs of their animals

are similar. This species is an inhabitant of all the zones, and —

receives that impress as to form and size which results from the —

incidents of the respective localities ; these causes have doubtless _

led to the formation of the pseudo-species, which I think only —

in some cases can claim even the distinction of varieties.

_ Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 207

Chemnitzia acuta, mihi, Ann. Nat. Hist. N.S. vol. vi. p. 452.

Odostomia acuta, auct.

O. conspicua, Alder ?

O. turrita, nonnull.

O. striolata, Alder?

_ Animal inhabiting a glossy shell of 5-6 rounded volutions of

a more or less pale livid red, pinkish, or pearly hue; the apex is

greatly reflexed, and the aperture furnished with a conspicuous

tooth. The ground colour of the animal is a sordid white, mixed

with clouded pale yellow, red, or brown patches and points,

_ which are irregularly distributed on many of the organs; the

tissue of the skin is smooth, rarely frosted or breaking into a

_ mottled flaky aspect. The mantle is even, except that at the

upper angle of the aperture, there is a very evident folded

_ tubular canal, which I have alluded to in the preliminary obser-

_ vations on the genus. I will only add, Mr. Lowe writes, “ pallio

ecanaliculato ;” M. Lovén says, “ processus pallii dexter canali-

_ culatus ;” from which it may be inferred that the canal is some-

times present, at others not, or not visible. The rostrum is

slender, deeply channelled, or hollowed out its whole length,

having a cochleariform termination, and at the upper surface of

its base emits the proboscis. The tentacula are moderately long,

_ divergent, subtriangular, bevelled, with the margins only slightly

_ folded, and the tips are less white and inflated than usual; the

eyes are rather close at the internal angles. Foot short, opake

_ white, often aspersed on both surfaces with the varying hues I

_ have spoken of above, deeply hollowed out in front, forming with

_ the angles long auricles, which, when drawn together by the

_ animal, have the appearance of a second pair of tentacula; its

_ posteal termination, at the will of the animal, assumes the varying

phases of the pointed and obtuse forms, carrying at the junction

of the foot with the body, on a simple eminence, a pyriform red-

brown or yellowish obliquely striated operculum.

There being some inaccuracies in my account of the Ch. acuta

in the ‘ Annals’ referred to above, I have reproduced it, as it is

an important species embracing several others of doubtful pa-

_ rentage, and some varieties, which latter produce the three fol-

_ lowing distinct forms. The slender subcylindrical variety passes

in all collections for the coralline zone Ch. plicata; this is an

error : an examination of the animal shows it to be a Ch. acuta,

_ differing materially in its organs from the true ‘ plicata,’ which

_ is essentially a littoral animal, rarely, if ever, found beyond that

limit : I have hundreds of examples taken alive. The next form

is that of the common livid flesh or pearl-coloured glossy shell

208 Mr. W.Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitziz. —

of 5-6 volutions, with a cone of broader basal dimensions ; this. ;

is the type, and though usually smooth im the aperture, is

sometimes furnished with transverse crene in the throat; I

have four which were examined alive in comparison with ‘the

smooth ones, and they are, both in shell and animal, iden- —

tical ; it is difficult to account for the occasional presence of di-

stinct crene in the same species. The third form is of the

larger size of 6-8 volutions with white shells ; these are smooth, —

though sometimes furnished with strize in "the throat of the

aperture ; I have several of each, which are so exactly repre-

sented by the figure of Mr. Alder’s O. conspicua in the ‘British

Mollusca,’ that I am induced to consider that species as a |; .

crenated Ch. acuta ; and it is not improbable that the O. striolata

of the same anthor, like the Ch. turrita, of which I have spoken —

largely in the ‘ Annals,’ N. S. vol. vii. p. 392, may be a striated

Ch. acuta, which are all more or less furnished with spiral strie —

on the volutions. I must observe, that the crenated examples bf | : |

Ch. acuta must not be confounded with any variety of Ch. co- —

noidea, as the animals of the two are very different ; and as re- —

gards the shell, the cone of the one attenuates suddenly, whilst —

in the Ch. conoidea it diminishes more gradually and tumidly.

The Ch. acuta is by far the most abundant Chemnitzia of the —

South Devon coasts, and is taken in the coralline and muddy —

shelly districts. Independent of the three principal varieties, —

each varies greatly in the contour and colour of its individuals ; —

it is, after the Ch. pallida, the most variable of the Chemnitzie. ie |

Chemnitzia unidentata, Mont.; Annals, N.S, vol. vi. p. 453.

I have lately examined many live examples of this species, and * :

have only to request that for “ head proboseidiform”— rostrum — 4

truncate in front, not cloven,’ may be substituted. 2 ba gal

Chemnitzia conoidea, Annals, N.S. vol. vi. p. 453. °

Odostomia conoidea, nonnull.

A splendid series of all sizes of this beautiful species has been j

examined, and I have little more to observe, except that I find q :

it has a ies and tumid variety.

Chemnitzia plicata, Mont. ; Annals, N.S. vol. vi. P. ag j

Two hundred live specimens of this, I believe, strictly littoral — 4 :

animal have occurred; and I beg that the following sentence,

“but I believe it also inhabits the laminarian and coralline |

districts,” may be erased.

Mr. W. Clark on some of the Animals of the Chemnitzie. 209

_Chemnitzia rufa, auct.; Annals, N. S. vol. vi. p. 457, & vol. vii.

~p. 886.

_ Chemnitzia formosa, nonnull. ; and Annals, N. S. yol. vii. p. 387.

I have seen several large specimens in the present month, June

852; the only correction I offer is for, ‘The head or muzzle

proceeds from the coalescing tentacular membrane, forming a

sort of head-veil a little beyond the foot,” read “ the rostrum is

mg, flat,” &c. &e.

é Chemnitzia fulvocincta, Annals, N. 8. vol. vii. p. 387.

___ The above reference explains all I know of this species, which,

with most authors, is a synonym of Ch. rufa.

: Chemnitzia spiralis, Mont. ; Annals, N. S. vol. vi. p. 457.

41% Odostomia spiralis, nonnull.

_L haye no additional observations to make on this species.

Chemnitzia Sandvicensis, Walker, Test. min. rar.; Annals, N.S.

| _vol. vii. p. 388, and vol. viii. p. 110.

Odostomia dolioliformis, nonnull.

I have nothing more to offer on this species.

. Chemnitzia decussata, Mont.; Annals, N. S. vol. vin. p. 111.

Odostomia decussata, nonnull.

Chemnitzia elegantissima, Mont. ; Annals, N. 8. vol. viii. p. 112;

. Brit. Moll.

I request that the following sentence may be added to the de-

_ seriptive matter :—The Ch. elegantissima is never marked with

purple streaks as in Ch. pusilla, and the tentacula are carried

more in a line with the body than in that species ; the shell is

also more taper and of a more opake sordid texture, but recent

examples must be compared to see the value-of this distinction.

| Chemnitzia pusilla, Philippi; Annals, N. 8. vol. viii. p. 118.

_ The addendum to the preceding species will apply to this; I

hhave only to observe, that the constant variations in colour, con-

tour, and texture of the shells have been verified by the exami-

nation of near twenty live individuals of this species.

| Chemnitzia Gulsone, Annals, N. S. vol. vi. p. 459, and vol. vii.

= p- 108.

_ Ihave searched in vain for a second example of this rare ani-

mal ; 1 am anxious to review it ; however, I do not despair of again

- meeting with it.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 14

210 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Sloughing of the Spider-Crab. — q

The only other British Chemnitzie which I have not se

alive are the Ch. Barleei, Ch. excavata, Ch. Scille (Ch.

which is the Ch. cylindrica (juv.), and Ch. truncatula of autho

Though in a former paper I have included the Achs wniea

amongst the Chemnitzie, it may possibly turn out to be of a

different type :—this observation is made without further know-

ledge on this point; I know pretty nearly its habitat from

ving found recent shells, but with the animal so collapsed as

to emit the organs. I will make no remark on the Aclis as

and A. nitidissima, as the animals still elude our researches. |

I have now stated all that I know, agreeably to my views,

this difficult and interesting genus, and corrected some popt

errors as well as those of observation, and particularly many

my own; for however greatly our amour propre may suffer by

such admissions, there is absolutely no other alternative but te

submit to them, which, if omitted, or not made at the proper

moment, would leave us pretty much in the same position as the ~

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s regiment of conscience-money

payers, which curious public fact, illustrative of one of

mysterious operations of the human mind, if properly ponder

on, will suggest to us all, in respect of the present and the

after, many salutary, important, and high considerations.

I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

Winuam Cx.

XX.—On the Sloughing of the Spider-Crab (Maia Squinad

By P. H. Goss, A.L.S. fin

AN opportunity having just occurred to me of witnessing the

sloughing of a large Crab, I put down the principal points that

I observed, hoping that they may throw light upon a subject

that has always appeared so full of difficulty ; namely, the man-

ner in which the limbs are withdrawn from the exuvie. __

As I was out this morning searching for alge and ,

at low water, in the little cove of Hele near this town, I

looked into a crevice that formed a small tide-pool beneath a

huge overhanging rock. In the remotest corner crouched a

Spider-Crab (Maia Squinado), face outwards, as is the custom

with crabs in such circumstances. On pulling it out, I was

astonished and delighted to observe how completely the carapace —

and the limbs were covered with parasitical zoophytes and alge.

A delicate Ceramium was conspicuous among the latter, and the

former consisted of Antennularie and Plumularie in great profu-

Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Sloughing of the Spider-Crab. 211

sion, and in the highest possible condition ; many of them loaded

with ovigerous vesicles.

_ While in the act of securing the crab in my collecting-basket,

esteeming it only on account of the zoophytes it carried, I felt

the body fall away from the carapace, which hung for an instant

by the frontal part and then gently detached itself, with a

feeling to my fingers as if it had been torn away. On looking

at the crab I saw the new carapace perfectly formed and coloured,

with no marks of injury where the slough had parted from it.

_ The whole of the limbs and the under parts still remained in-

vested with the old skin.

_ My collecting-jar was not large enough to receive the animal,

which I was therefore compelled to bring home dry in the basket.

But I immediately covered it with sea-water on my arrival, after

had been exposed about three-quarters of an hour. It was

ery inert and seemed exhausted. My attention was taken up

with one of the zoophytes, which was new to me, and I did not

Jook again at the crab for about a quarter of an hour. It was

then in the very act of sloughing the remainder of its exuviz.

The whole of the limbs, the abdominal segments, the sternum,

with all the members of the mouth, came off entire, being con-

ected by the common integuments.

When I looked at it, the first thing that struck me was the

pulling of the legs out of their sheaths. The posterior ones

were freed first ; the anterior pairs were about half out, and the

~ ‘animal pulled first at one, then at another, until they were quite

drawn out, as if from boots. The joints, as they came out, were

agreat deal larger than the cases from which they proceeded. It

_ was evident that in this instance, neither were the shells split to

- afford a lateral passage for the limbs, nor were the limbs reduced

_ to tenuity by emaciation. It seemed to me that the parts, which

had an almost jelly-like softness when extruded, were compressed

_'as they were drawn through the narrow orifices by the fluids

‘being forced back, these returning through their vessels, and

_ distending the liberated portion of the limb, as it was freed.

__ The enlargement of the whole animal was as immediate and

_ imperceptible in its progress as that of a caterpillar in the act of

fmoulting. I measured some of the dimensions soon after the

completion of the process, and found them as follows :—

i In the slough. Inthecrab.

_ Length of the carapace to the tip of frontal spines... 3% in. 4% in.

> _ Width of the carapace at the lateral spines ...,...00066 3455 5» 3%

| Diameter of thigh of first true leg ...sesseeseeseeesenes va» vx»

‘The claws of the anterior feet, and the black horny points of

212 Mr.P.H. Gosse on the Sloughing of the Spider-Crab.

the ambulatory feet, were increased in size more than propor-

tionally, as were the abdominal foot-processes.

The whole of the branchize were represented in the most beau-

tiful order in the exuviee, with the crescentic flabellum laid over

each series perfectly in situ. They were enveloped in an amp le

and most delicate mucous membrane, which was attached to th

margin of the crust all round, and was evidently ont, mem. 4 |

brane of the branchial cavities. The coats of the > Wi :

its minute teeth, were also there in the form of a membranous |

bag, attached to the mouth by the lining of the cesop

The coats of the antenne and of the eyes remained steoahaall

the carapace; and the glassy cornee of the latter” were 1

reversed, 1 ae

On opening a joint of one of the legs of the exuviz, 7 ound —

the thin shelly plates that afford attachment to the muscles s

in situ.

I was struck with the beautifully regular though minute s

rature of the opposing edges of the claws in the renewed ani- ||

mal, the teeth closing accurately into the intervals of the. ie O-

site series when appressed. Scareely a trace of any such struc.

ture could be discerned in the slough ; the teeth PRE n

probably worn smooth by use. a

I did not see any of the struggling that is sometinicns po

of; it seemed to be a very easy and simple matter. The n

integuments were perfected, though soft, before the old we

thrown off, and the immediate cause of the separation of

crust appears to me, the sudden growth of the animal with

forcing asunder the upper and lower crusts at the posterior

margin: then the pulling out of the limbs presents no more

difficulty than what depends on the enfeebled condition of the

muscular energy. a

The great claws of the common crab and of the lobsteaiia |

course, suggest a more difficult operation. But the congruit; ty ;

seen in the operations of nature makes it unlikely that one 1

of procedure would obtain in these and another in a aie 0

affined as the Spider-Crab. Hence, I presume that even these

members, bulky as they are, are drawn through their na x .

joints, not by being emaciated, but simply by being ligne and

by their fluids being displaced i in detail. a

Ilfracombe, Devon, August 14, 1852.

Bibliographical Notices. 213

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

_ Plante Javanice Rariores, descripte Iconibusque illustrate, quas in

Insula Java, annis 1802-18, legit et investigavit Tuomas Hors-

¥retp, M.D.; e siccis Descriptiones et Characteres plurimarum

_ elaboravit Joannres J. BenNEtTT; Observationes Structuram et

_ Affinitates presertim respicientes passim adjecit RosEertus

| Brown. Fol. Lond. Part 4, 1852.

_ We are glad to announce the publication of the fourth and conclu-

_ ding part of this valuable work, the earlier parts of which are noticed

in the second and fourteenth volumes of our ‘ Annals.’

_ The acknowledgements there made to Dr. Horsfield for his emi-

' nent services in science, and to the Hon. Court of Directors for their

liberal patronage of them, render it unnecessary for us to say more

than that the ‘ Plante Javanicee Rariores’ will ever be considered a

record ere perennius of the merits of the one (associated as he here

_ is with his friends Mr. Brown and Mr. Bennett, to whom the pre-

sent work owes its existence), and, among other splendid publications

equally due to the liberality of the East India Company, of the mu-

_nificent character of the other.

_ To this concluding part Dr. Horsfield has added a very valuable

map of Java, on which the routes in his different journeys are traced,

2 geographical preface illustrating the map, and a very interesting

postscript, in which he gives a rapid sketch of his excursions, with

observations, especially on the volcanos of the island.

_ Dr. Horsfield’s labours in Java began and ended under the pro-

tection of the Dutch Government, to the officers of which he grate-

fully acknowledges his obligations. His first visit to Java was in 1800,

as a surgeon on board a vessel from Philadelphia, and it was during

this voyage that he was so struck with the beauty of the island, that

he felt an irresistible desire to study its productions. In the next year

he therefore returned to Java, and entered the Dutch service, re-

eeiving the appointment of surgeon in the Colonial Army. His first

Report to the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences led to a more

liberal appointment, which enabled him to extend his researches.

From 1800.to 1811 Java was in the possession of Holland, and it

was restored in 1816. It was in the five intervening years that

Val Horsfield enjoyed the patronage of Sir Stamford Raffles, and

formed that friendship which ever after constituted the pride and

charm of his life. It was through the influence of this eminent man

that his labours were made known to Sir Joseph Banks: and a col-

lection of plants sent to him in 1814 was the occasion of the first

communication from Mr. Brown, who eventually, on Dr. Horsfield’s

arrival in England in 1819, examined and arranged the herbarium,

containing 2196 species. The present work is the jot production of

that great botanist, and of his friend and associate Mr. Bennett, and

must be considered the most important contribution to our botanical

‘knowledge that has been made in this country of late years.

214 Bibliographical Notices.

We copy Dr. Horsfield’s closing passage of his postseript:— =

«I have the pleasing duty,” he says, “to acknowledge the ability —

and assiduity with which Mr. Bennett has performed the task he has ~

undertaken. The minuteness of detail and extent of research with ©

which he has elaborated the articles he has contributed, elucidate. 7

clearly and satisfactorily the characters and habits of the subjects as —

well as the history of their discovery, and the labours bestowed on —

their investigation by preceding botanists. Mr. Brown has, agreeably

to his original intention, contributed his remarks on the affinity and

structure of the subjects described ; he has also afforded many valu-

able suggestions in the progress of the work, and the whole has |

received his examination and revisal. I embrace with pleasure the —

opportunity now afforded me of publicly expressing my great obliga-

tions to Mr. Brown. The examination and arrangement of my her-

barium, the laborious duties connected with the superintendence of

the figures contained in this work, the preparation of the illustrative _

details, and the time devoted to the description of the subjects, are by

no means the only marks of friendship which I have received from

that distinguished botanist, who, ever since my arrival in England, ~

has afforded to me his advice and assistance in my researches con- ~

nected with natural history, and on many other important occasions.”” ~

Of the plants contained in the concluding part, five in number, ©

nearly all are remarkable for such singularities of structure as to

render the determination of their affinities a task of considerable dif- —

ficulty ; and the elaboration of the whole part is due to Mr. Brown. |

The plant least removed from ordinary forms is Actinophora fra- ~

grans, a genus indicated in Dr. Wallich’s list and there referred to ©)

Buttneriacee ; with respect to which Mr. Brown observes, that ‘it

certainly does not belong to Buttneriacee as I originally defined it, ~

but this may equally be said of several genera included in that order,

and which, like Aetinophora, are more obviously referable to Tili-—

acee ; at the same time, as I observed in proposing the separation of -

Buttneriacee, these two families gradually pass into each other.”

The more remarkable characters of Actinophora are its “ enlarged

subfoliaceous spreading calyx, accompanying a crustaceous evalvular

monospermous pericarpium.”” bie

The two succeeding articles are dedicated to a new species of Sar-

costigma (S. Horsfieldii, R. Br.), and Iodes ovalis of Blume; two ~

genera referred by Mr. Brown to the natural family of Phytocrenea

of Arnott. He discusses the question of the value of their floral en- ~

velopes, and comes to the conclusion that they are properly to be ~

regarded as calyx and corolla. He notices also the views of different ~

anthors as to their affinity, and gives a synopsis of the characters of

the family Phytocrenee and of the genera belonging to it, viz.

Phytocrene, Wall., Sarcostigma, Wight and Arn., Iodes, Blume,

Nansiatum, Buch. Ham., and Miquelia, Meisn. (including Jenkinsia,

Griff.). Asa genus “ Phytocreneis affine,’ he enumerates also

renacantha, Hook., properly united by M. Planchon with Adelanthus

of Endlicher. While removing Sarcostigma from Hernandiacee in

which Messrs. Wight and Arnott had placed it, Mr. Brown inci

aL EVs

Bibliographical Notices. . 215

"dentally observes that the two genera, Hernandia and Inocarpus, of

' which that family has been composed, do not appear to be very

_ nearly related to each other.

The fourth species figured in this part is Cardiopteris lobata,

Wall. List, which is identified. with Cardiopteris Javanica of Blume.

_ After tracing some curious points in the botanical history of the ge-

- nus, Mr. Brown proceeds to notice the more remarkable peculiarities

of its structure, and discusses the questions of its hermaphroditism,

_ the position of the micropyle of its seed, and the singular arrange-

ment of its perfect and imperfect stigmata. In illustration of the

latter point we quote his description of the pistillum. ‘‘ The external

structure of the pistillum is very singular. In an early stage of the

flower, immediately before or even at the time of expansion, there

"are apparently two stigmata: of these the more obvious is capitate,

undivided, fleshy, but not papillose, and is supported on a distinct

_ style ; the second is quite sessile, much shorter in this stage than the

capitate branch, and having its upper or inner surface distinctly stig-

matic or papillose. In the next stage, the latter, which I regard as

the efficient stigma, gradually enlarges, becoming longer than the

_ capitate organ, which in my opinion is an imperfect stigma, and as in

_ this stage the ovarium though enlarged has not perceptibly increased

in diameter, this capitate stigma has the appearance of being lateral.

‘The perfect stigma, which continues to lengthen, its upper surface

becoming more evidently hispid or papillose, not unfrequently re-

' mains crowning the samara even when ripe, but frequently also it

is then deciduous, while the imperfect capitate stigma, which has

- undergone no change either in size or surface, more generally remains

after the real stigma has fallen.” With respect to the affinities of

_ this curious genus, Mr. Brown does not regard any of the approxi-

mations hitherto made as satisfactory ; and although aware of several

important objections to the view, is “inclined to consider Cardio-

pteris as an isolated genus or family to be placed at no great di-

stance from Phytocrenee, chiefly through Jodes.”

The concluding article contams a monograph of the genus Ben-

_ nettia, established by Mr. Brown in Dr. Wallich’s List in 1847, and

_ recently published by M. Tulasne under the name of Cremostachys.

Mr. Brown regards Bennettia as bearing ‘“ the same relation to Anti-

_ desma (for Antidesmee contains at present no other well-established

E genus) that the polypetalous bear to the apetalous genera of Huphor-

_ biacee,

may even be regarded as of more than ordinary importance, their

_ usual form in the male flower being necessarily connected with the

_ eestivation of stamina.” This remarkable peculiarity is thus described

_ inthe species figured, Bennettia Javanica, R. Br. :—‘‘ Stamina decem

In the present case he states that “ the presence of petals

distincta. Filamenta brevissima, latiuscula, sepalis et petalis oppo-

_ sita. Antheree biloculares, loculis connectivo lato distinctis longitu-

dinaliter dehiscentibus ; omnes cucullis petalorum semi-inclusze, ita

ut duze petalo singulo oppositee esse videantur (exterior interiorque),

sed dum exterior ad filamentum petalo oppositum pertinet, interior

eloculis respondentibus filamentorum duorum petalis alternantium

_ formata est.” Mr. Brown adds, that “the affinity between Huphor-

216 Linnean Society.

biacee and Antidesmee is rendered more obvious by the addition to —

the latter of Bennettia ; but the structure of ovarium and the mono- —

spermous drupaceous pericarpium readily distinguish them. odes —

and Sarcostigma also agree with Bennettia in several important —

points, particularly in their unisexual minute flowers, ovarium with —

two pendulous ovula, monospermous drupa, and in most respects in —

the structure of seed ; they differ in habit, being twining or scandent —

shrubs without stipules, in their monopetalous persistent inner peri- —

anthium or corolla, in estivation and reduced number of stamina, in —

structure of antheree, and in the embryo being inverted, not trans- —

verse.” The number of species of Bennettia described is seven, —

“chiefly distinguishable by minute, but,’ as Mr. Brown believes, —

‘constant differences in their male flowers and in the form of their —

fruits.”” With the exception of the Javanese species, they are all —

from Tavoy, Singapore, and Pulo-Penang, where the genus was first —

discovered by Jack, who referred it, with doubt however, to Limonia.

In treating of this genus Mr. Brown incidentally refers to the prin- —

ciple which he laid down in 1810, when proposing and characterizing _

the family of Combretacee, which he placed among Polypetalee ~

‘non solum propter petalorum in pluribus existentiam, sed quia vera —

natura partium affinitatesque ordinum, ex contemplatione generum —

in quibus structura magis evoluta, quam ex iis in quibus aliqua 5

suppressa, tutius erui queant ;” a principle in conformity with which —

he in 1814 also “placed among Polypetale Huphorbiacee, a family —

to which the same reasoning is still more strikingly applicable.” :

Preparing for Publication. —

An Elementary Introduction to the Study of Paleontology; with —

numerous Figures Illustrative of Structural Details. By F. M‘Coy, —

Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Queen’s College, Belfast. 2

Also, by the same Author,

A Manual of the Genera of British Fossils ; comprising Systematic —

Descriptions of all the Classes, Orders, Families, and Genera of Fossil —

Animals, found in the Strata of the British Isles ; to be completed in

four or five Parts, forming one volume, 8vo, of about 500 pages, with —

nearly 1000 Wood Engravings. a

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

LINNAZAN SOCIETY. ie

Feb. 18th, 1851.—W. Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. —

Read “A Catalogue of Recent Land and Freshwater Mollusca —

found in the neighbourhood of Nottingham.’ By Edward Joseph —

Lowe, Esq., F.R.A.S. &e. wi)

Warer Suuxtzs (Univalves).

Neritina fluviatilis. Abundant in the river Trent near Beeston and —

near Nottingham, and in the river Soar near T hrumpton,

Linnean Society. 217

Paludina achatina. Common at Thrumpton in the river Soar, in

_ the river Trent below Nottingham, and in the Lenton Canal.

_ Bithinia tentaculata. Swarms in a stagnant ditch near Lenton

_ Priory, common in most ditches at Lenton, in a clear brook at Bees-

_ ton and another at Attenborough, in the river Trent and tributaries

_ to that river near Beeston and Sawley, and also under the Seven

_ Arches in Nottingham Meadows.

B. ventricosa. Only found in a narrow ditch near the railway at

i Lenton, where it is tolerably abundant, and under the Seven Arches

_ in Nottingham Meadows.

Valvata piscinalis. Abundant in brooks at Beeston, Lenton, and

_ Bulwell, and in the river Trent near Beeston.

_. V. cristata. In rare numbers in a brook on Bulwell Bogs.

_ Succinea putris. Rather abundant at Thrumpton.

S. Pfeifferi. Common at Sawley and near Highfield House, and

~ found between Beeston and Attenborough.

Limneus auricularius. Abundant in the Musco-Sic dike near

_ Highfield House; found at Lenton, Beeston, Attenborough, and

_ Sawley.

L. pereger. Very abundant at Lenton, Beeston, Attenborough,

_ Sawley, Bulwell, Thrumpton, Highfield House, and Nottingham

_ Meadows.

L. stagnalis. Abundant in a dike at Lenton, a dike at Atten-

borough, a mill-dam at Bulwell, a backwater at Sawley (called the

_ ‘Old Trent’), and in few numbers in the river Trent near Beeston,

_ and a stagnant ditch between Beeston and Attenborough.

L. palustris. Abundant on moist mud at Sawley and near the

railway at Thrumpton, and very large in a stagnant ditch between

Beeston and Attenborough.

L. truncatulus. Rare in a ditch at Lenton and under the Seven

Arches in the Nottingham Meadows.

Ancylus fluviatilis. Tolerably abundant in clear dikes at High-

field House, Attenborough, Bulwell and Oxton, and at the mouth of

a well at Newstead Abbey.

Valletia lacustris. Tolerably abundant in a small ditch at Lenton

near the railway, and under the Seven Arches in Nottingham

Meadows.

Physa fontinalis. Abundant in dikes at Lenton and Attenborough,

_ the canal at Lenton and a pond at Wollaton, and in small numbers

in the Musco-Sic brook near Beeston.

P. acuta (of Sowerby). Abundant in the river Trent at Beeston

_ and Attenborough, rare in a brook on Oxton Bogs, in the canal at

Lenton, and in a ditch between Beeston and Attenborough.

Aplexus hypnorum. Abundant in a dike at Beeston and rare in.a

_ ditch near the Beeston railway station.

Segmentina lineata. Rare in a brook on Oxton Bogs.

Planorbis corneus. Very abundant in brooks at Lenton, Beeston,

Bulwell, Sawley, Attenborough, &c.

P. carinatus. Very abundant in brooks at Lenton, Beeston, Bul-

_ well, and Attenborough, in the river Trent at Beeston, and under

the Seven Arches in Nottingham Meadows.

218 Linnean Society.

P. marginatus. Abundant in dikes at Beeston, and of ine wea

in a stagnant ditch between Beeston and Attenborough. =

P. vorter. Very abundant in the river Trent, and in dikes at —

Beeston, Lenton and Attenborough, and under the Sevres Arches in 3

Nottingham Meadows. a

P. spirorbis, Abundant in the river Trent at Beeston, and in 4

dikes at Beeston, Lenton, and Attenborough. Ae

P. albus. In few numbers in the river Trent near tine & i6q

P. contortus. Not common on the bogs at Bulwell, and rare\in }

a ditch at Lenton. q

P. imbricatus. Not common on dead leaves in the lake at t High 7

field House. i

P. nitidus. Rare in the lake at Highfield House and i ina pond

at Wollaton. 4

(Bivalves. ) :

Cyclas rivicola. Rather abundant in the river Trent near Bees 7

ton and in the river Soar at Thrumpton. |

C. cornea. Very common in the river Trent near Beeston, ent i in

brooks at Lenton,- Beeston, Attenborough, Bulwell, and Highfield —

House, and under the Seven Arches in Nottingham Meadows. 4

C. lacustris. Very abundant in a brook at Beeston and oie ai :

at Highfield House.

Pin amnicum. Abundant in the river Trent at Beeston, in a —

ditch near Beeston railway station, and in a brook at Beeston.

Anodon cygneus. Abundant in the lake at Highfield peti in

the Old Trent at Sawley, and in mill-dams at Bulwell. 4

A. cellensis. Abundant in the lake at Highfield House and ind

the river Trent near Beeston,

A. anatinus. Abundant in the lake at Highfield House, a teat q

and canal at Lenton, and the rivers Trent and Soar. .

A. avonensis. Rare in the river Trent near Beeston. “7

A. anatinus, yar. (very ventricose). In the lake at Highfield Hvis 4

Unio pictorum. Common in the lake at Highfield House, the river —

Trent at Beeston and Sawley, and the river Soar at Thrumpton. q

U. tumidus. Not uncommon in the river Trent near Beeston, mee 4

rare in the lake at Highfield House.

U. ovalis. Found in the lake at Highfield House and in the river

Trent at Beeston. q

U. Deshayesii (if a var.). Not common in the river Trent near

Beeston. .

Dreissena polymorpha. Very common and large in the lake at

Highfield House, common in the canal at Lenton (where it is small), —

the river Soar at Thrumpton, and a pond at Wollaton, and in ge a

numbers in the river Trent near Beeston.

Lanp SHELLs. .

Helix aspersa. Very common at Beeston and around Notnaree,

1. hortensis. Rare at Bulwell. 4

H. nemoralis. Very abundant in most hedges.

H. hybrida (if a var.). Rare at Highfield House. a

H. arbustorum, Rare at Thrumpton, Sawley, and Highfield House,

Linnean Society. 219

HH. pulchella. Tolerably abundant at Highfield House, rare at

¥ E Beeston and Oxton.

HZ, fulva. Notuncommon at the foot of a hill at Thrumpton, rare

at Highfield House, Oxton, and Stanton-on-the-Wolds.

H. hispida. Common at Nottingham Castle, Beeston, Bulwell, Saw-

_ ley, Oxton, Highfield House, Thrumpton, Stanton-on-the-Wolds, &c.

_ Hi. concinna. Tolerably abundant at Highfield House, and found

. at Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

_ Hi. depilata. Found in small numbers at Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

Hi sericea. Rare at Bulwell, Oxton, and Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

H. virgata. Rare at Stanton-on-the-Wolds and at Highfield House.

H. ericetorum. Abundant at Stanton-on-the-Wolds.

_ H rotundata. Very common at Highfield House and Nottingham

_ Castle, and found at Bulwell.

H. alliaria. Not abundant at Sawley and Thrumpton.

_ i. cellaria. Abundant at Nottingham Castle, Sawley, and High-

field House.

_ H. aculeata._ Rather rare under decayed leaves at Highfield House

and Stanton-on-the-Wolds.

_ Hi. caperata. Very abundant at Stanton- on-the-Wolds in one

field, but not found elsewhere.

H. erystallina. Not abundant at Highfield House, Bulwell, and

_ Oxton.

be H. granulata. Rare on Bulwell Forest.

5 H. lucida. Not common at Bulwell, Oxton, Highfield House, and

_ Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

H. nitidula. Rare at Bulwell and Oxton.

H. pura. Rare at Oxton.

H. pygmea. Rare at Highfield House and Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

Vitrina pellucida. Common at Oxton both on the warren and

_ on the bogs, less abundant at Highfield House, Beeston, Bulwell, and

_ $tanton-on-the-Wolds.

_ Carychium minimum. Tolerably abundant under leaves at High-

field House, Bulwell, Beeston, and Stanton-on-the- Wolds.

Bulimus obscurus. Abundant at Nottingham Castle and Highfield

_ House.

£ B. lubricus. Common at Highfield House, Sawley, and Thrump-

_ ton, and found at Bulwell, Oxton, and Stanton-on-the-Wolds.

_ Azeca tridens. Rare at Highfield House,

P Pupa umbilicata, Very abundant at Nottingham Castle and at

Highfield House.

— Clausilia nigricans. Exceedingly common at Thrumpton, Bulwell,

and Highfield House.

The following Mollusca are to be found associated together in

_ the same localities,

A dike running at the foot of Beeston and passing behind the lake

_ at Highfield House contains, where it passes through Mr. Barker’s

_ field, the following shells : Planorbis corneus, P. marginatus, P. cari-

natus, P. vortex, P. spirorbis, Limneus pereger, and Aplexus hypnorum.

The dike is choked with weeds and filth from the village, and warm

_ water from a neighbouring mill here runs into it; P. corneus is found

220 Linnean Society.

much larger in this warm dike than elsewhere in this neighbourhood.

200 yards lower down the dike contains (where it runs through the

Rev. J. Wolley’s fields), besides the above Planorbis tribe, Cyclas

lacustris, Limneus auricularius, L. pereger, Pisidium pulchellum, and

Valvata cristata. A few hundred yards beyond this the water becomes

free of weeds and clear, and the whole tribe of Planorbis are left be-

hind. From Broadgate, all through the Highfield House estate, the

dike only contains Limneus pereger, and in one or two places Aucylus

fluviatilis, and on the moist mud on its banks Succinea Pfeifferi and

Limneus truncatulus. The Musco-Sic brook branches out from it at

Broadgate and joins it again at the east extremity of the Highfield

House estate ; this brook at first contains Planorbis marginatus, P.

vortex, P. carinatus, P. corneus, Bithinia tentaculata (very large), Val-

vata piscinalis, Limneus pereger, Cyclas cornea, Pisidium pirheiene

and Limneus auricularius.

A very clear brook at Attenborough with Alge growing in. it,

contains Planorbis corneus, P. carinatus, P. marginatus, P. vortex, P.

spirorbis, Ancylus fluviatilis, Bithinia tentaculata, Limneus pereger, L. —

auricularius, L. stagnalis, and Physa acuta. ;

A similar brook at Lenton near the railway contains Planorbis c

corneus, P. vortex, P. spirorbis, P. carinatus, Limneus stagnalis, L. —

auricularius, L. pereger, Physa acuta, P. fontinalis, Valvata BURR

Cyclas cornea, and Bithinia tentaculata. 2

A small ditch some fifty yards from the last-named locality con- —

tains :—Bithinia ventricosa, B. tentaculata, Limneus truncatulus, L. —

pereger, Valletia lacustris, Planorbis vortex, P. spirorbis, P. carinatus, —

and P. contortus. 3

The lake at Highfield House contains :—Anodon cygneus, A, cel- a

lensis, A. anatinus, A. var. of anatinus, Unio pictorum, U. tumidus, —

Dreissena polymorpha (very large), Planorbis nitidus, P. imbricatus, —

and Limneus pereger. 4

The river Soar at Thrumpton contains :—Cyclas rivicola, C. cornea, —

Unio pictorum, Dreissena polymorpha, Anodon cygneus, A. CHEERY, Z

Limneus pereger, L. stagnalis, and Paludina achatina. q

The river Trent near Beeston contains :—Pisidium pane) oy 4

Anodon anatinus, A. avonensis, A. cygneus, Cyclas cornea, C. rivicola, E

Bithinia tentaculata, Limneus pereger, L. stagnalis, Physa acuta, —

Neritina fluviatilis, Planorbis carinatus, P. vortex, P. spirorbis, P. —

albus, Unio pictorum, U. tumidus, U. ovalis, Limneus palustris, Valvata —

piscinalis, and Dreissena polymorpha. 3

Under the Seven Arches in Nottingham Meadows are, Planorbis

carinatus, P. spirorbis, P. vortex, Bithinia ventricosa, B. lagna 4

Valletia lacustris, Cyclas cornea, and Limneus pereger.

In the river Lean at Bulwell there are Valvata piscinalis, V. cris-

tata, Planorbis carinatus, P.contortus, P. vortex, Bithinia tentaculata, —

Limneus pereger, Anodon cellensis, and Ancylus fluviatilis. _

A moist mud-bank left by the Trent floods at Sawley contains

Limneus truncatulus, L. palustris, L. pereger, and Helix alliaria.

A dry bank near has Helix nemoralis, H. arbustorum, H. hispida, —

and Bulimus lubricus.

A cool bank at Thrumpton contains Helix nemoralis, H. arbustorum,

Linnean Society. 221

_ H. hispida, H. fulva, Clausitia nigricans, Bulimus lubricus, Suecinea

~ P, Pfeifferi, S. putris, Helix cellaria, and H. alliaria.

- A sand-bank in the lane at Highfield House has Helix nemoralis,

H. hispida, H. concinna, H. virgata, H. arbustorum, H. rotundata,

__ H. cellaria, H. pulchella, Bulimus lubricus, B. obscurus, Azeca tridens,

_ Pupa umbilicata, and Clausilia nigricans.

- The Nottingham Castle-yard contains Helix aspersa, H. hispida,

H. nemoralis, H. cellaria, H. rotundata, Bulimus lubricus, B. obscurus,

and Pupa umbilicata.

~ Oxton Bog and Warren has Helix fulva, H. lucida, H. pura, H.

ig pulchella, Hi. hispida, Bulimus lubricus, Vitrina pellucida, Physa acuta,

and Segmentina lineata.

_ The Hill Farm at Stanton-on-the-Wolds has Helix hispida, H.

sericea, H. depilata, H. concinna, H. fulva, H. aculeata, H. pygmea,

Hi. caperata, H. ericetorum, H. nemoralis, H. virgata, Bulimus lubri-

cus, Carychium minimum, and Vitrina pellucida.

Read further, a memoir ‘‘ On the Aquilaria Agallocha, Roxb., the

Agallochum or Aloé-wood Tree of Commerce.” By the late William

Roxburgh, M.D., F.L.S. &c. Communicated by the President.

The memoir, which appears to have been written in 1810 or 1811,

contains a detailed description of this important tree, as well as much

e _ other information in addition to that published in the posthumous

: ‘Flora Indica’ of the author. The plants described were sent to the

' Calcutta Botanic Garden by Mr. Robert Keith Dick, Judge and

: B hitaiststrate at Silhet; and an extract is given from a letter addressed

by that gentleman to Dr. Roxburgh, in which he states that the

_ wood is brought for sale from the country of Kuchar and from the

southern parts of the zillah of Silhet, particularly the divisions of

_ Puthureea and Lunglah, where the tree is known by the Bengal

name of Tuggur. Its extreme height is from sixty to seventy cubits,

and the trunk from two to two and a half cubits in diameter. No

part of the wood, except that which is used for the extraction of the

_ Uttur, is applied to any useful purpose. Few trees contain any of

_ this precious perfume, and such as do, have it very partially distri-

_ buted in the trunk and branches. The people employed in its col-

lection, however, cut down all the trees indiscriminately, and then

_ search for the Aggur by chopping through the whole tree, and re-

_ moving such portions as are found to contain the oil or have the

smell of it. In this state Mr. Dick describes four different kinds, of

which the first, called Ghurkee, sinks, and sells at from 12 to 16

_ rupees per seer of 2 Ibs.; the second, called Doim, produces from

_ 6 to 8 rupees per seer; the third, Simuda, floats, and is sold at from

_ 8 to 4 rupees; and the fourth, Choorum, in small pieces, which also

float, at 1 to 14, rupees per seer. The oil is obtained by bruising the

wood in a mortar, and then infusing it in boiling water, when the

_ Uttur collects on the surface. Neither root, leaves nor bark yield any

_ Uttur. Some trees will produce a maund (80 lbs.) of the four sorts.

So far Mr. Dick, Dr. Roxburgh thinks that there is a wonderful

_ agreement between the various but imperfect accounts of the trees

222 Linnean Society.

said to produce the Calambac or Agallochum of the ancients. ee

which he describes. He notices the descriptions given by Lamarck

and Cavanilles, which he thinks, as far as they go, agree well with

the plant of the Botanic Garden; as do those of Rumphius, m

some allowance for the imperfection of his figures. Keempfer's

figure and description also exactly correspond with young specimens —

in the Botanic Garden sent from Goalpara by Dr. Buchanan and

from Silhet by Mr. Smith; and a description of the fruit by Mr.

James Cunningham is quoted as very exact. Dr. Roxburgh gives —

his reasons for believing that not only the Ophispermum Sinense of —

Loureiro, but also the Aloérylum Agallochum of that author, are both —

of the same genus, if not the very same species, with the plant from —

Silhet. There runs indeed so uncommon a coincidence through the

whole of these notices as to induce him to believe that they all

relate to the same identical object. He concludes by retracting what

he had previously said, in his account of Amyris Agallocha, as far as —

relates to its yielding Calambac, which he acknowledges to have been :

founded on erroneous information.

Dr. Roxburgh’s memoir was accompanied by some remarks. by

the late H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., F.L.S., consisting chiefly of refer-—

ences to and extracts from various Oriented authors, i in relation to

this fragrant wood, the countries in which it is found, the tree coral q

which it is derived, its various kinds, and the processes used in ex-

tracting the oil. On the subject of the etymology of the word Agal- :

lochum, he observes that it is not right to derive it from the Arabic, —

which on the contrary is confessedly borrowed from the Greek, that —

is to say, from the Agallochon of Dioscorides. Neither is its origin —

to be sought in the Hebrew Ahalim and Ahaloth, as proposed by —

Salmasius, since it is more obvious to deduce it from the language _

of the country whence the drug was brought; and the Indian name ~

Aguru, or with the Sanscrit pleonastic termination ca, Aguruca, is

much nearer to the sound of the Greek term. The Portuguese Pao ~

de Aquila, he adds, is an undoubted corruption either of the Arabic ~

Aghdlujt or of the Latin Agallochum; and it is by a ludicrous mistake —

that from this corruption has grown the name of Lignum Aquile, —

whence the genus of the plant now receives its botanic appellation. —

The paper was accompanied with a coloured drawing of the young ~

plant, and of a flowering branch, together with a detailed analysis —

of the parts of fructification. :

March 4.—N. Wallich, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. | |

Read “‘ Notes on Bdellium.” By B. A. R. Nicholson, Esq., M.D.,

of the Bombay Army. Communicated by the Secretary. :

Dr. Nicholson states that the tree which he identifies as prodasing

the Bdellium of Greek and Roman authors, occurs in the hilly —

districts of North-western India, where it is known to the natives —

by the name of Googul. He extracts the account of Bdellium from —

Ainslie’s ‘ Materia Indica,’ and comments on some of the statements —

therein contained. Thus, for example, Ainslie says that ‘all of this —

gum-resin found in India is brought from Arabia, where the tree is q

rns

eer ~~

Linnean Society. 223

called Dowm;” but Dr. Nicholson states that wherever the tree is

found in the North-western provinces, the bazaars are supplied with

the gum from it; and that he never heard the tree called Dowm in

Arabia, although he has been in many parts of that country, where

he has seen the Googul. Dr. Ainslie again quotes Sprengel, who

erroneously states that Dowm is the Arabic name for Borassus fla-

belliformis, and cites Keempfer and Rumphius in proof that Bdellium

is procured from that tree; but Dr. Nicholson believes the Arabic

~ name Doom to be exclusively applied to the dividing-stemmed Palm

_ (Hyphene Thebaica, Gertn.), which is common on the banks of the

_ Nile, in the Thebaid and Upper Egypt, two or three trees of which

he has seen growing at Mocha, and a single tree at the west end of

the native village opposite to the Portuguese settlement in the Island |

B of Diu in Kattiawar. He has frequently examined this Palm without

detecting any gum; and it is well known in India that the Tari,

_ Borassus flabelliformis, does not produce gum. Another Palm, Cha-

_merops humilis, L., has been also affirmed to produce Bdellium, and

_ Matthiolus is quoted as having witnessed the fact at Naples; but

_ Dr. Nicholson states that he particularly examined this Chamerops

at Girgenti in Sicily in all stages of its growth, in flower, in fruit,

- and without either, and never observed anything like gum.

_ After refuting these erroneous notions as to the origin of the gum,

Dr. Nicholson proceeds to state that he met with the Googul plant

for the first time in 1832 on the Hills of Balmeer, in the Chotee

Thur or Little Desert, on taking and sacking which town large

_ quantities of the gum were found in several of the Banyan houses.

_ The bush is also plentiful about Joolmaghur, thirteen miles south-

west from Balmeer; and the author has observed it on the Kulinjur

Hills in Parkur, as well as on those of several parts of Kutch and

Wangeer. Having been shipwrecked in 1836 on the southern coast

of Arabia, about 200 miles east of Cape Furtash, and being carried

_ by the Arabs to the town of Geda, about three miles distant from

the coast, he observed that large quantities of the gum Googul,

there called Aflatoon, were brought to Geda by the Bedouins from the

interior, where he was informed that the tree producing it was very

plentiful, and that the gum is annually carried thence to Mocha on

camels, and exported from Mocha to Bombay and other places. He

_ subsequently found the Googul bush on the hills of Yemen, and in

_ 1841 on the hills above Wankaneer in Kattiawar. The gum is

chiefly used as a frankincense; but the natives of Guzerat, and pro-

_ bably of other provinces where the tree is found, collect and bruise

_ the recent berries and twigs, boiling the juice out in cauldrons, and

_ having mixed it with their chunam (lime), to which it imparts in-

_ creased tenacity, commence all their dwellings with lime thus mixed,

it is said from a religious motive. The gum is found most abun-

_ dantly after the rains, when it is collected in pieces as it exudes

_ from the tree, and is often very dirty from the careless way in which

_ it is gathered, being mixed with the bark and twigs, and sometimes

- even with the subjacent soil. The harder and nearly transparent

_ drops are picked out by the Banyan merchant, and fetch a higher

price than the rest.

224 Linnean Society.

The author states that he is indebted to the late Dr. Charles Lush, _

F.L.S., Superintendent of the Honourable East India Company’s_

Botehival Gardens ‘at Darpoorie, who in 1842, from the sketches and

specimens then in the author's possession, identified the plant as caived

Amyris Kataf of Forskahl, and assisted in identifying the

the Bdellium of the ancients. He believes that if at all Enon

Roxburgh, it must be under the names of Amyris nana or of B

wellia.

The paper concluded with a description of the plant, and with

some remarks on the geological character of the localities in which -

it is found; and was accompanied by a sketch of a branch, and by

specimens of the gum in its pure and mixed states. a2

b mba amt

May 6.—R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read some “‘ Notes on the Leaf of Guarea grandi ifolia, Dee.’ +i

R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., as follows :— !

In the enclosed specimens of a Guiirée from Jamaica, the G.

difolia, Dec., it will be seen that the lower leaflets have fallen pret

while younger ones are being developed at the extremity of the —

same petiole. At the time of flowering, the number of leaflets varies —

from a single pair to eight or ten pairs; but as these fall off in the |

course of a few months, the petiole elongates, and at each successive 5

rainy season, of which there are two in the year, throws out from

the end a fresh foliage of several pairs. The lower and older part i

of the petiole in the meantime remaining attached to the stem, be- —

comes completely ligneous and round, and acquires a rind distinct

from the wood, and covered with lenticelles and a resemblance to —

pith in the centre ;—-takes on, in short, the character of a branch, —

from which it is only to be distinguished by the axillary inflorescence, —

the absence of buds in the axillz of the leaflets, and the analogy with —

the closely-allied genus Trichilia, in which the same phenomenon is —

seen in leaves deciduous after the second development. In Guarea, —

at least in this species of it, the leaf seems to be continuous with ~

the branch, without articulation, and to have no definite term of life, —

hanging on till overtopped and killed by other leaves. Its usual ~

length at that period is from a yard to four and a half feet. ti

In Adrien de Jussieu’s Memoir on the Meliacee are the followings

remarks :— “7

“‘The resemblance of the leaflets borne on the same petiole t

leaves borne on the same branch becomes more striking still in cer- —

tain genera, as Guarea, where the extremity of the petiole, after a 4

series of leaflets perfectly developed, presents some which are not

yet so, and which appear to belong to another shoot. It would be —

interesting to ascertain what becomes of them, a thing that I have

not been able to do, having had none but dried specimens ta q

examine.’ 4

This shrub usually grows at the base of large timber trees, paces as |

the Hriodendron anfractuosum, in the pasture districts of St. Ann’s

parish, establishing itself between their elevated buttress-like roots, —

and with its leaves hanging down to the grass, forms natural arbours, —

or rather stables, in which the cattle repose during the heat of the —

Royal Society. 225,

- The negroes use them to wattle the walls of their huts, and

1 the bush “ Alligator Tree,” probably from the two Spanish words

i ligar,” to tie with. Where it stands free, it attains the size of

a full-grown apple-tree ; but it invariably, I believe, grows within

shelter of some other and larger one.

xcept this genus and Trichilia, I found no other in Jamaica that

d the character of leaf above described.

__ The President exhibited numerous specimens of recent and fossil

Cycadee. Among these was a fine specimen of a new species (Cy-

sidites Saxbyanus, R. Br.) found in the Isle of Wight by Mr. Saxby

Bonehurch. The President remarked that all the specimens of

sadites hitherto found in the Isle of Wight agreed in having an

iptical outline, unaccompanied with any inequality in the woody

ipsis, and also in having a bud in the axilla of each leaf; in these

| Tespects differing from the Cycadites of the Isle of Portland and from

al all the recent species of Cycadee with which we are acquainted, which

lave a circular outline and only scattered buds.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

‘March 4, 1852.—A paper was read, entitled, “‘On the Anatomy

f Doris.” By Albany Hancock, Esq., and Dennis Embleton, M.D.,

Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology in the Newcastie-on-Tyne

Jollege of Medicine, in connection with the University of Durham.

Jommunicated by Professor E. Forbes, F.R.S.

_ The authors have proposed to themselves to describe the anatomy

the three genera typical of the three groups of the Nudibranchiate

Mollusca. An account of the structure of Eolis has already appeared

in the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’

_ A detailed description is given of the anatomy of Doris, the fol-

lowing species of which have been examined, and are referred to in

ie paper: D. tuberculata, Auct., D. tuberculata, Verany, D.Johnsiont,

D. tomentosa, D. repanda, D. coccinea, D. verrucosa, D. pilosa,

D. bilamellata, D. aspera, and D. depressa; but D. tuberculata of

nglish authors has been taken as the type of the genus, and the

standard of comparison for the rest.

_ Digestive System.—The mouth in all the species is a powerful

‘muscular organ, provided with a prehensile tongue beset with siliceous

beet which when the tongue is fully developed, are arranged in a

ian and two: lateral series. Certain species possess, besides, a

prehensile spinous collar on the buccal lip, occasionally associated

‘with a rudimentary horny jaw. The mode of development of the

..... spines is shown to be the same as that of the teeth of the

‘ertebrata.

The esophagus varies in length; in some it is dilated at the top,

orming a crop; in others it is simply enlarged previously to enter-

ng the liver mass. The stomach is of two forms; one, as in D. tuber-

oe is very large, receiving the cesophagus behind, and giving off

intestine in front, and lying in advance of the liver; the other is

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 15

226 Royal Society.

received within the mass of the liver, and is very small. The liver}

in all is bulky, mostly bilobed, and variously coloured, and pours its}

secretion by one or more very wide ducts into the cardiac end of

the stomach. A small laminated pouch—a rudimentary pancreas, |

is attached in some species to the cardiac, in others to the pyloric)

end of the stomach. ‘The inéestine is short, of nearly the same

calibre throughout, rather sinuous in its course, and terminates in a

nipple-formed anus in the centre of the branchial circle. 733

The Reproductive Organs are male, female and hermaphrodite.

The male organs consist of penis and testis; the latter is connected

with the former and with the oviduct. The female organs are, ova-

rium, oviduct, and mucus-gland. The ovarium is spread over the

surface of the liver in the form of a branched duct with terminal

ampulle. The oviduct terminates in the mucus-gland. The an-

drogynous apparatus is a tube or vagina opening from the exterior

into the oviduct, having one or two diverticular spermathecze com-

municating with it in its course. On the right margin of the body

near the front is a common opening, to which converge the three

parts of the reproductive organs. The spermatozoa are developed —

within large and fusiform spermatophora, and are observed in the

spermathecze, oviduct and ovary. te

Organs of Circulation and Respiration.—The circulatory organs”

are, a systemic heart, arteries, lacunze and veins. The existence of —

true capillaries in the liver-mass seems probable. A second heart—_

a ventricle, having a portal character, is also described. The systemic —

heart lies immediately beneath the dorsal skin, in front of the respi-

ratory crown, and comprises an auricle and ventricle enclosed within —

a pericardium. In the systemic circle the blood is returned to the”

heart without having passed through the special respiratory organ. —

It is that blood only which is returned from the liver-mass that

circulates through the branchie. uo

The authors conclude from their observations, that in the Mol- —

lusks there is a triple circulation: first, the systemic, in which the

blood propelled along the arteries to the viscera and foot is returned,

with the exception of that from the liver-mass, to the heart through

the skin; there it becomes partially aérated, the skin being provided

with vibratile cilia, and otherwise adapted as an instrument of re-—

spiration; second, the portal, in which venous blood from the system

is driven by a special heart to the renal and hepatic organs, and

probably to the ovarium, where it escapes, doubly venous, with the

rest of the blood which has been supplied to these organs from the

aorta, and which is therefore only singly venous, to the branchize ;

third, the branchial circulation, in which flows only the more dete-

riorated blood brought by the hepatic vein, but in which also that

blood undergoes the highest degree of purification capable of being

effected in the economy, namely in the special organ of respiration.

This triple circulation has not yet, as far as the authors are aware,

been described as existing in the Molluscan Subkingdom. From.

the fact of the blood in Doris being returned to the heart in a state

of partial aération, it is clear, they say, that this animal is, in thi

Royal Soctety. 227

respect, on a par with the higher Crustaceans; and from the blood

arriving at the heart in the same condition, according to the re-

‘searches of Garner and Milne-Edwards, in Ostrea and Pinna, the

t Triton of the Mediterranean, Haliotis, Patella and Heliz, it can

“scarcely be doubted that this arrangement will be found throughout

the Mollusca.

From a consideration of the facts cited in the paper, it may be

‘deduced that the skin or mantle is in the Mollusca the fundamental

organ of respiration, and that a portion of that envelope becomes

evolved into a speciality as we trace upwards the development of

ne respiratory powers.

Upon the dorsal aspect of the liver-mass is a branched cavity,

hat of the renal organ, lined with a spongy tissue, and opening

eernally at the small orifice near the anus.

Organs of Innervation.—These are in two divisions, one corre-

sponding to the cerebro-spinal division, the other to the sympathetic

or ganglionic system of the Vertebrata. The existence of the latter,

it is stated, is now for the first time fully established. The centres

f the first system are seven pairs and a half of ganglia. Of the

even pairs, five are supra-cesophageal, two, infra-cesophageal: the

single ganglion belongs to the right side and has been named visceral.

here are three nervous collars around the cesophagus, one of which

onnects the infra- with the supra-cesophageal. ‘The total number

f pairs of nerves from the cesophageal centres is twenty-one, and

here are also four single nerves.

_ The sympathetic system exists, and is more or less demonstrable,

n the skin, the buccal mass, and on all the internal organs. It

consists of a vast number of minute distinct ganglia, varying in size

‘and form, the largest quite visible to the naked eye, of a bright

Orange colour, like the ganglia around the cesophagus, and inter-

connected by numerous delicate, white nervous filaments, arranged

in more or less open plexuses. This beautiful system is connected

with both sets of esophageal ganglia.

The authors having found the sympathetic nervous system in

i reral species of Doris, in Kolis papillosa, and in Arion ater, believe

it to exist in all the more highly organized Mollusca.

_ The supra-cesophageal nervous centres in the Mollusca are in

some instances so concentrated as. to have led to the idea that they

form only one mass; in others the ganglia are more or less distinct,

and separated from each other. Doris has been taken as the repre-

sentative of one class, Aplysia of the other, and on a comparison of

both the supra- and infra-cesophageal ganglia of these with each other,

there has been found a close correspondence between them, with the

exception of the visceral ganglion. The single one in Doris is re~

presented in Aplysia by a pair of ganglia, situated in the posterior

part of the body near the root of the branchiz. ‘The supra-cesopha-

Beal ganglia in the Lamellibranchiata appear homologous with those

of Doris.

_ Having determined the existence of a true sympathetic or organic

nervous system in Doris, the authors feel themselves more in a

position to trace a parallelism between the cesophageal nervous

15%

228 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

centres of these Mollusca and the cerebro-spinal system of the Ver-

Organs of the Senses.—The auditory capsules are microscopic,

the dorsal tentacles to be the olfactory organs. ee

The organs of touch are, the general surface of the skin, but

more particularly the oral tentacles or veil. Taste is most probably

located in the lips and channel of the mouth, the tongue being a

prehensile organ, and ill-adapted as the seat of such a function.

In conclusion, the authors comment on the high organization of

the Doride, and express their belief that the genus, as at present

understood, will require to be breken up into several groups.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. |

July 8, 1852.—Dr. Seller, President, in the Chair.

The following papers were read :—

1. “On the presence of Fluorine in the stems of Gramineze, Equi-_

setacese, and other Plants, with some observations on the sources —

from which vegetables derive this element,’”’ by George Wilson, M.D.

The author commenced by stating, that the earliest observer of the ©

presence of fluorine in plants was Will of Giessen, who found traces ©

of it in barley, the straw and grain of which were analysed together.

The author reported to the Botanical Society, some four years ago,

the results of his earlier researches into the distribution of this ele-

ment throughout the vegetable kingdom, which were not very nume-

rous or very encouraging. One reason of this was the small extent

to which fluorine occurs in plants ; another, and practically as serious

a reason, was the difficulty of separating and recognising fluorine when

accompanied by silica. The presence of this body in a plant, besides _

greatly complicating the investigation, rendered the employment of

platina vessels essential, and thus limited the amount of material

which could be subjected to examination, besides making it difficult

or impossible to observe the progress of an analysis.

The author then stated, that, in the course of some recent inyesti-—

gations into the presence of fluorine in siliceous rocks, he had suc- |

ceeded in devising a process which was also applicable to plants, and

could be carried on in the ordinary glass vessels of the laboratory.

The process in the case of plants was as follows :—The plant under

examination was burned to ashes as completely as possible. o

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 229

shes were then mixed in the cold with oil of vitriol, so as to secure

decomposition of the salts of volatile acids present. The mixture

was then transferred to a retort, or flask, provided with a bent tube

dipping i into water, and the liquid raised to the boiling-point, when

fluorine, if present, was evolved in combination with the silicon of the

silica, as the gaseous fluoride of silicon, which dissolved in the water

th separation of some gelatinous silica. The resulting solution was

eutralized with ammonia and evaporated to complete dryness, when

e whole of the silicon passed into the condition of insoluble silica,

ind water dissolved the fluoride of ammonium. The solution of this

fluoride could then be dried up and moistened with sulphuric acid,

when hydrofluoric acid was evolved, which might be made perma-

ently to record its presence by causing it to etch glass in the usual

ay. ‘The author has in the meanwhile applied this process almost

lely to the stems and trunks of plants, especially to those containing

a, reserving for subsequent investigation their other organs, espe-

¢ y, their seeds and fruits. The following were the results ob-

tained :—

Liable of Plants examined for Fluorine. The numbers represent

grains of ashes, except in the case of Tabasheer and Wood Opal.

The blanks imply that the weight was not known :—

Ashes in grains. Name of plant.

200 Hguisetum limosum ............ Distinct etching.

Bambusa arundinacea .......... Ditto.

Charcoal (derived chiefly from Oak,

and to a smaller extent from Birch) Ditto.

ROR te Ee Bee Ditto.

Barley straw. . SI Ditto.

Hay (Ryegrass) TS Ditto.

35 ©Equisetum varieyaium thea ..... Faint etching.

19 —— hyemale............ Ditto.

255 ——— palustre............ Ditto.

Dactylis cespitosa ............ Ditto.

99 Elymus arenarius.............. Ditto.

495 Saccharum officinarum.......... Ditto.

bn 8040). Afviean Teak... 2.yu2 600.008 Ditto.

Smilax latifolia .............. No etching.

Rosmarinus officinalis ». ........ Ditto.

235 Bambusa ss Pi ey oth Ditto.

Polypodium vulgare. . yer vs Ditto.

537 Tree Fern. . EAE a ee ad Ditto.

24 Phalaris arundinacea ... 29 PEAS Ditto.

240 Malacca Cane .......5..00..... Ditto.

50 Cocoa-nut shell.......0..0.0... Ditto.

427 Teetona grandie si 2vriich eek. Ditto.

BO." Tabapheer i245) 2 eee yakt vee Ditto.

£000; Wood Opal... ad. cack dvi: tel. Ditto.

_ On this table the wiintie einditiod) that the siliceous stems ‘which

he had found to abound most in ‘fubeine! were exactly those which

‘emtained most silica. In particular, deep etchings were procured

aaa

230 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

from the Equisetacez and from the Graminez, especially the commo}

Bamboo. The last was known to contain silica in such abundant

that it collected within the joints in white masses, nearly pure, an}

had long, under the name of Tabasheer, been an object of interest t

natural philosophers. The horse-tails were scarcely less remarkabl

for the amount of silica contained in their stems, which had led tf}

the employment of one of them (quisetum hyemale) in polishin,

wood and metals. The African Teak, which like the Bamboo i

known sometimes to secrete silica, was also found to contain fluorine

though much less largely than the plants named ; whilst thes :

siliceous stems of Barley and msi 9 also yielded the element &

marked quantity. The Sugar-cane, however, gave less striki

than might have been expected, and the same remark “pp ied

Malacca-cane. Two specimens of silicified wood and one of Ts

gave no evidence of the presence of fluorine. So far, however, as th’

plants named in the preceding table are concerned, the author doe

not wish it to be inferred from the negative results which are detailed

that the plants in question are totally devoid of fluorine. Witl

larger quantities of their ashes, positive results would, in all proba

bility, be obtained. F

The author’s general conclusions were as follows :—1st, that fluo‘

rine occurs in a large number of plants; 2nd, that it occurs in markec

quantity in the siliceous stems of the Gramineze and Equisetaceze ;

3rd, that the quantity present is in all cases very small; for althoug

exact quantitative results were not obtained, it is well known that a

fraction of a grain of fluoride will yield with oil of vitriol a quantity

of hydrofluoric acid sufficient to etch glass deeply, so that the

portion of fluorine present, even in the plant-ashes which contain it

most abundantly, does not probably amount to more than a fraction

per cent. of their weight. The proportion of fluorine appears to be

variable, for different specimens of the same plant did not yield con-

eordant results. ;

In this, however, there is nothing anomalous, for some Bamboos

yield Tabasheer largely, whilst others are found to contain none. It

seems not unlikely that soluble fluorides ascending the siliceous stem

of a plant, on their way to the seeds or fruits in which they finally

accumulate, may be arrested by the silica, and converted into inso-

luble fluosilicates (fluorides of silicon and of a metal) ; and a Bamboo,

for example, secreting Tabasheer, may effect this change where one

less rich in silica cannot determine it. The slow or quick drying of

a stem may also affect the fixation of fluorides in the stems or trunks

of plants. q

The sources of the fluorine found in plants may be ded as

preeminently two,—lst, simple fluorides, such as that of calcium

which are soluble in water, and through this medium are carried inte

the tissues of plants; and 2nd, compounds of fluorides with othet

salts, of which the most important is probably the combination ¢

phosphate of lime with fluoride of calcium. This occurs in the

mineral kingdom in apatite and phosphorite, and in the animal king-

ape in bones, shells and corals, as well as in blood, milk, and other

uldas,

aca 1

CSULL

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 231

A recent discovery of the author, communicated to the Royal

Society of Edinburgh, has shown that fluorides are much more widely

distributed than is generally imagined, and that the trap rocks near

_ Edinburgh, and in the neighbourhood of the Clyde, as well as the

_ granites of Aberdeenshire, and the ashes of coal, contain fluorides, so

that the soils resulting from the disintegration of those rocks cannot

- fail to possess fluorides also. All plants accordingly may be expected

to exhibit evidence of their presence in the following portions of their

tissues or fluids :—

1. In the ascending sap, simple fluorides.

_ 2. In the descending sap, in association with the albuminous vege-

_ table principles, and in the seeds or fruits, in a similar state of asso-

ciation, fluorides along with phosphates.

3. In the stems, especially when siliceous and hardened, fluorides

in combination with silica. The investigation is still in progress.

_ 2. “On the presence of Iodine in various Plants, with some re-

_ marks on its general distribution,” by Mr. Stevenson Macadam.

_ The present paper owes its origin to some observations lately made

y M. Chatin of Paris, and communicated by him to the French

Academy of Sciences.

Chatin is of opinion, that in the atmosphere, in rain-water, and in

ils there is an appreciable amount of iodine ; that the quantity of

this element present in one district differs from that in another; and

‘that the relative amount of iodine in any one lovality determines to

' a great extent the presence or absence of certain diseases. For in-

stance, in the district of country which he classifies under the general

title of the “ Paris zone,”’ the quantity of iodine present in the atmo-

‘sphere, in the rain-water, and in the soil is comparatively great, and

_ to this he ascribes the absence of goitre and cretinism; whereas in

_ the zone corresponding to that of the ‘alpine valleys,” the amount

of iodine has diminished to one-tenth of that found in the “ Paris

- zone,” and to this scarcity of the element he attributes the prevalence

_ of goitre and cretinism, which in that zone are endemic. Considering

| that the subject was one of great importance, more especially if the

_ conclusions arrived at by Chatin (in reference to the functions fulfilled

_ by iodine in preventing the occurrence of the diseases referred to)

could be legitimately deduced from the experiments which he per-

formed, the author has this summer undertaken a series of analyses

| in reference to the general distribution of iodine. Mr. Macadam’s

_ researches have as yet been mostly directed to the atmosphere and to

rain-water, and he considered that a notice of the results obtained

| might be interesting to the Society, alike from the intimate connexion

| which exists between the plant and the atmosphere, and from the

| fact, that he has been led to seek, and to detect, the presence of

| iodine in a department of the vegetable kingdom in which it has not

hitherto been observed.

| Chatin has not published a detailed account of the processes adopted

_ by him; but from the manner in which he speaks of the good effects

_ produced by the addition of potash to substances under examination,

_ which, to use his words, “arrested the complete decomposition of the

being drawn through— .

232 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

iodine compounds whilst the waters were evaporating,” and by the

addition of carbonate of potash and carbonate of soda, which “ ren-

dered the iodine present in soils much more easily extracted,” the

author was led to believe that the fixed alkalies had been largel em-

ployed by him. Accordingly, in the first experiments, the alkalie;

were used in their caustic condition, for the purpose of ee re 17

free iodine, and retaining any. compound of iodine which might be

encountered. ee ee EN

Mr. Macadam commenced with an examination of the atmosphere,

By the arrangement he employed, the air was made to traverse,—

Ist, a tube containing slips of paper, which had been previously

dipped in a solution of starch ; and 2nd, a double-necked gas bottle,

containing about 3 oz. of a dilute solution of caustic soda. A con-

tinuous stream of air was drawn through the arrangement for some

hours. This experiment was conducted in the morning, and in the

afternoon a stream of air was for several hours drawn through the

same arrangement, caustic potash being substituted for the caustic

soda. The starch-papers did not exhibit the slightest coloration,

even when moistened with distilled water. The solutions of potash

and soda, however, on being treated with starch and nitric acid, at

once exhibited the rose colour characteristic of the presence of iodine

in stall quantity. So far the experiments seemed to lead to the de-

sired conclusion ; but when portions of the original alkaline solutions,

which had not been subjected to a current of air, were carefully

tested, it was found that iodine was present in them, in quantity to

all appearance as great as it was in those portiens which had been -

used in the experiments. oh

Wishing to trace back the iodine to its source, samples of the

carbonate of potash, carbonate of soda and lime, which had been

employed in the preparation of the caustic solutions, were analysed, —

and in all three iodine was present in perceptible quantity, Desirous—

of making certain that the reagents used in the investigations were as —

pure as other commercial substances of the same kind, various speci-—

mens were procured from different sources, and in every sample which

was subjected to examination the presence of iodine was detected. So

far then as the determination of iodine in the atmosphere is con-—

cerned, the experiments were of no value. The alkalies through

which the air had been drawn undoubtedly contained iodine origi-—

nally, and therefore no certain conclusion could be drawn as to the

probability of their being more highly iodized by contact with the

atmosphere. To the presence of iodine in potashes, or, to use words”

more strictly botanical, in the ashes of forest timber, further refer-

ence will be made in a subsequent part of this paper.

In the next experiment the alkalies were dispensed with, the air

1. A tube with slips of starched paper, kept somewhat damp.

2. A gas-bottle immersed in a freezing mixture; and

3. A gas-bottle containing a solution of nitrate of silver.

A continuous current was kept up for fully five hours, commencing

at mid-day. At the conclusion of this experiment, the papers were

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 233

ot altered in the slightest degree; the gas-bottle (2) contained about

a quarter of an ounce of liquid, and the nitrate of silver (3) had not

een perceptibly changed. The condensed liquid was neutral to test-

papers ; a drop of starch was added to it, and subsequently nitrite of

potash and hydrochloric acid, which together form a most delicate

‘means of detecting iodine ; the result was negative. The nitrate of

silver solution was cautiously evaporated to one half-ounce ; sulphuret-

‘ted hydrogen added to precipitate the silver, and liberate as hydriodic

‘acid any iodine which might be present ; the liquid raised in tempe-

yature, carefully avoiding ebullition, and filtered. The filtrate, on

the addition of starch, nitrite of potash and hydrochloric acid, did

not exhibit the slightest trace of iodine. Mr. Macadam therefore

concluded, that in the large volume of air which he had drawn through

the arrangement, there had not been an appreciable amount of iodine.

_ The experiments as yet referred to were made at different heights

‘on Arthur’s Seat, and their negative results led to arrangements being

made for a trial on a scale much more extensive. Through the kind-

‘ness of the proprietor of Kinneil Iron Works, the author was enabled

to proceed to Borrowstowness, and attach his apparatus to the re-

‘ceiver from which the air under great pressure is forced into the

blast-furnaces. By means of a stop-cock fixed in the receiver and a

jong flexible tube, the air was conducted to the following arrange-

1. A wide tube containing slips of paper dipped in starch.

_ 2. A condensing worm, surrounded by a freezing mixture and

attached to a receiver.

_ 38. A tall jar containing chips of pumice-stone and a few iron filings,

with sufficient water to cover them.

_ 4. A similar jar with pumice-stone, scrapings of clean lead and a

solution of acetate of lead.

_ 5. Acondensing worm immersed in a freezing mixture and attached

to a receiver.

_ . The air, under a pressure of 3 lbs. on the square inch, was allowed

_ to traverse the arrangement for fully four hours, when the apparatus

_ was taken asunder, and the contents of the vessels being placed in

_ stoppered bottles, the whole was brought to Edinburgh for examina-

_ tion. The slips of paper (1) were not sensibly altered in tint, and

_ did not betray the slightest indications of even a rose colour when

~ moistened with distilled water. The condensers (2 and 5) contained

_ each a very small quantity of liquid, which, on being tested, did not

_ show a trace of iodine. The small quantity of liquid in the con-

_ densers may be accounted for by the comparatively high temperature

possessed by the air rushing through so quickly as it did. The con-

_ tents of the jar (3) were thrown on a filter, and washed with cold

_ water. To the filtrate was added half an ounce of a solution of car-

_ bonate of potash, and the whole evaporated to a quarter of an ounce ;

ho iodine was present. The carbonate of potash used in this trial

; was prepared by calcining cream of tartar, and was so far free from

iodine, that none could be detected in 2 oz. of the solution, of which

half an ounce was employed. There was therefore no likelihood of

__ iodine being added in the alkali used, even though the analysis of the

oeriareg et

234: Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

contents of the jar had shown its presence. The jar (4) with th

lead solution was treated in the same manner as described in a forme

part of this paper, when referring to the employment of silver, an:

the result was also negative. Notwithstanding the large scale o

which this experiment was conducted, a volume of air of not |

than 4000 cubic feet having been forced through the arrangement

Mr. Macadam has been unable to verify the results of Chatin, yet

feels disinclined to pronounce those results unwarranted, and

therefore resolved to make another trial on a still larger seale. It is

proposed to fit up an apparatus of a stronger and more durable nature,

and to allow a volume of air of not less than 100,000 eubie feet to

pass through. |

Whilst the experiments on the atmosphere were p Mr.

Macadam was also examining large quantities of the rain-water whi

fell in Edinburgh for the last two months. For this purpose, he

added to 3 gallons of the water some ounces of a solution of acetate

of lead. On standing twenty-four hours, a precipitate had fallen

the bottom, from which the liquid was drawn off. The precipitate

was treated as formerly described, and no iodine was detected. As

the iodide of lead is slightly soluble in water, and as it might be pre-

sent in the liquid which had been removed from the precipitate, the

whole was evaporated to 1 oz., and afterwards tested for iodine, but

none was present. A second experiment was tried with a similar

volume of rain-water, viz. 3 gallons, substituting nitrate of silver for

the acetate of lead; a precipitate was observed after standing for

twenty-four hours, but neither it nor the liquid contained a trace of

iodine. Another experiment, made with 3 gallons of rain-water,

which had been collected at Unst in the Shetlands, and to which

acetate of lead was added, gave the same negative results.

Mr. Macadam is well aware, that, consequent on the evaporation

of water from the surface of the ocean, portions of the salts contained

in it are carried up and disseminated through the atmosphere, ready

to be rained down upon inland places, and that in this way iodine,

most probably as iodide of sodium, will be present in the air. Accord-

ingly at first he was confident that he should succeed in verifying

Chatin’s observations in a district so near the sea as that around

Edinburgh, and more especially in the water obtained -from Unst,

which had fallen in the immediate vicinity of the ocean; but when

we consider what a very small per-centage of iodine is present in the

water of the ocean, many gallons being required to give even a faint

indication, equal to that exhibited by soaeth of a grain of an alkaline |

iodide, and if, further, we suppose that when the water rises in va-

pour from the sea, it carries up the salts in the same proportions as_

they exist in sea-water, it is evident that it would be requisite to eva-

porate some hundred gallons of rain-water, before even a minute trace |

of iodine could be obtained. |

At a former part of this paper reference was made to the presence

of iodine in the potashes of commerce. The samples first tested were

those usually to be purchased in Edinburgh, but subsequently genuine

and authenticated specimens of both crude and refined potashes were

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 235

procured from Glasgow. It is to Canada and the United States that

we owe our supplies of these materials. As imported into this country,

‘they are contaminated with many foreign ingredients, and amongst

the rest the author has detected iodine. The most ready means for

separating and recognising this substance is to heat a considerable

| quantity of the salt with a minimum of water. On cooling the solu-

tion, the greater portion of the carbonate of potash, as well as the

impurities, falls to the bottom of the vessel, whilst the iodide of

_ potassium remains dissolved in the water. When testing for the

_ iodine in the potashes, this solution was evaporated to dryness, treated

_ with alcohol, boiled and filtered. The filtrate, on bemg evaporated

to dryness, left a residue, which on resolution in water acted distinctly

_ with the starch-test for iodine.

__ The presence of this element in potashes leads the author to believe

that iodine will be found more generally distributed in the vegetable

_ kingdom than it has formerly been supposed to be. The potashes

_ from the States and from Canada are principally the dried lixivium

_ of the ashes of forest-trees ; but whilst by much the greater portion is

so, the parties in charge are not very scrupulous about what plants

they employ, and occasionally everything which comes in the way,

and which will burn, is added to the pile. It may therefore be ob-

jected to the statement, that forest-trees contain iodine, that the

| iodine found in the ashes may be derived from the succulent herbs

and shrubs, and not from the trees themselves; but this objection

will be at once removed when it is stated, that in the lixivium of

_ charcoal the author has obtained very distinct traces of iodine. Now

_ the charcoal sold aud used in this country is principally oak, with a

little birch, elm and ash.

_. The amount of iodine in forest-trees must be comparatively small.

_ When experimenting with the potashes, one is apt to forget the small

bulk into which a large quantity of timber falls when the organic

matter is expelled, and the saline ingredients are alone left. So far

as can be estimated from the present qualitative experiments, the

relative quantity of iodine in forest-trees is much less than that in

- succulent plants growing in marshy places.

In conclusion, it was mentioned that the presence of iodine in some

freshwater plants was now generally recognised, and that the author

_is at present engaged in testing the various plants growing in the lochs

in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. The method employed in their

analysis is to dry the plants, and burn them cautiously ; indeed the

burning should be rather termed charring ; the ashes are reduced to

fine powder, digested in water and filtered ; the clear liquid evaporated,

and subsequently treated like the potashes. In every case the pro-

cess used for the liberation of iodine is that suggested by Dr. Price,

viz. nitrite of potash and hydrochloric acid ; and in many cases where

| no indications of iodine could be obtained by the ordinary methods,

_ good results were procured with Dr. Price’s process.

In the following plants, hitherto not known to contain iodine, Mr.

Macadam has detected that element :—

Myosotis palustris... ...... Duddingstone Loch.

Mentha sativa .......... Ditto.

236 - Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

Menyanthes trifoliata .... Duddingstone Loch, |

Equisetum limosum ...... Ditto.

Ranunculus aquatilis...... Dunsappie Loch.

Potamogeton densus ...... Ditto.

Chara vulgaris .........- Ditto.

The author has also confirmed the presence of iodine in the fol:

lowing plants, in which it had been previously found by other ob-

servers ; the specimens, however, are from different localities :—

Iris pseud-acorus ............ Duddingstone.

Phragmites communis ........ Ditto.

And in the ashes of coal.

As having some connexion with the subject treated of, the author}

intimated that he had obtained distinct indications of the presence of

bromine in the crude potashes. It is unfortunate that our tests for

bromine are so much inferior in delicacy to those of iodine, that it is

necessary to operate upon very large quantities before the tests are

distinct. There is no doubt that from its presence in trees, it will be

found in greater abundance in the more succulent plants; but the

few trials yet made have been unsuccessful in determining its presence

in any but the crude Canadian and American potashes.

The experiments (excepting those pursued in the open air) were

conducted in the laboratory of Dr. George Wilson, to whom the

author feels deeply indebted for the kind manner in which he has

afforded him every assistance in his power during the whole course

of the investigation. |

3. Dr. Balfour read the following letter by Mr. Richard Fryer to

Dr. Pappe of Cape Town, relative to a case of poisoning by the

bulbs of Homeria collina, specimens of which were exhibited to the

meeting :—

“On perusing your ‘Flora Capensis Medica,’ the circumstance

stated at page 26 of the poisonous effects of the bulb of the ‘Cape

Tulip,’ brought to my recollection a dreadful accident which occurred —

in Hantam, in this district, many years ago, and, as I was called

upon at the time in a judicial way to examine some of the bodies and

take evidence upon the causes of death, I can vouch for the accuracy |

of what I shall here relate. It appears that one of the shepherds of —

a farmer residing there, brought home in the evening a bundle of —

bulbs, which the Dutch call ‘ Mutjes’ ; that towards dusk these were |

put under the ashes to roast, and when the other servants assembled —

in the kitchen they were taken out and eaten amongst them; the

party consisting of three hottentots, two women, and one male slave.

About half an hour after they had partaken of them they were all

seized with dreadful nausea, followed shortly afterwards by severe

vomiting, and a speedy prostration of strength. The farmer being

called, ascertained immediately, from some of the bulbs still uncon-—

sumed, that they had been eating the ‘ Homeria collina,’ of the yel-

low sort ‘ Wilde Dagga.’ Sweet oil, milk, and everything thought —

good were immediately administered, but before midnight the three

hottentots and one woman had died in excruciating agonies. The

eaten one bulb.”

Miscellaneous.

237

male slave recovered, but for a year afterwards he looked like a ske-

leton, and the surviving woman ascribed her safety to only having

MISCELLANEOUS.

a Notice of the Occurrence, on the Durham Coast, of Diphyllidia

lineata.

By Autsany Hancock, Esq.

i the early part of last year, the Rev. G. C. Abbes brought to me

a small mollusk which he had obtained from the boats at Whitburn.

On examination, this creature proved to be Diphyllidia lineata, a

3 “most interesting addition to the marine fauna, not only of the di-

strict, but of England.

“Shetland by Mr. Barlee.

Pepin by my frien

locality.

| July 21.—Gastrochena modio-

| lina; the scarcer variety found

in eases composed of broken

| shells, &c.

Pandora cbtusa.

SLyonsia norvegica.

Thracia pubescens ; one valve.

_ Psammobia tellinella.

vespertina.

Cardium Sasciatum.

"s nodosum.

tirce minima, of the most beauti-

ful marking.

Lepton squamosum.

_ Arca tetragona, —

| Modiola tulipa.

§ Lima Loscombii.

_ Dentalium Tarentinum.

It has occurred only once before in the Bri-

tish seas ; in September 1849, a single specimen having been dredged

. These two, the only British examples,

are much smaller than those obtained in the Mediterranean, and are

“more attenuated in form. Thinking,

a ossibly be a distinct species, I was induced to examine its

Beat structure ; and Mr. Alder having kindly supplied individuals

ok the true D. Veneata. a strict comparison was instituted, which has

resulted i in determining that the two forms are identical.—T7rans. of

pe yreside Naturalists’ Field Club, vol. i. p. 128.

IRISH MOLLUSCA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Windsor Lodge, Monkstown, co. Dublin,

therefore, that our specimen

August 5, 1852.

_ GentLemEN,—The following Mollusca are the results of three

days’ dredging in Birterbu pi Steen & co. Galway. The first day I was

Dr. Battersby of Torquay, who being

pressed for time had to return to Dublin sooner than he expected,

leaving me to pursue the conchological research in that delightful

Chiton Asellus ; very large.

Trochus Montagut.

Odostomia eulimoides.

Mangelia gracilis; dead.

purpurea ; dead.

striolata.

septangularis.

Cylichna conulus.

cylindracea ; dead.

—— truncata; dead.

July 22.—Someof theshellsfound

on the 21st, as also Thracia con-

vera; dead.

Thracia pubescens.

Solen pellucidus.

Cardium pygmeum.

Lucina spinifera.

flexuosa.

238 Miscellaneous.

July 23.—Many of the species Natica Montagui.

obtained the first day, together Mangelia teres.

with Lima subauriculata. purpurea.

Chiton levis. Bulla Cranchii ; very fine.

All the above shells were procured alive, except those specified ¢

otherwise, and some of them are new to that locality. ;

I remain, yours most truly obliged,

W. W. WaLpote.

On the Irritability of the Leaves of Drosera rotundifolia.

By Dr. Miipe.

Towards the end of June I placed on the middle of a strongly

vegetating leaf of a plant of Drosera rotundifolia which I had hac

for a short time in a cup of moss in my room, four small flies oi

about the size of a pin’s head. The insects remained nearly motion-

less upon it, and their efforts to escape from the sticky matter were

ineffectual. After about five minutes I again looked at the leaf, when:

to my astonishment I saw that the glandular hairs of the anterior

margin of the leaf, which had been previously extended horizontally,

had turned back towards the surface of the leaf and partially covered

the flies. I had no time until the following day to observe the leaf

again carefully, when I found that the anterior margin and the sides

of the leaf had turned over towards its middle and thus completely

enveloped the flies. It was only after the lapse of five days that the

margins of the leaf and hairs had returned to their places, so as to

leave the dead flies lying free on the surface.—Bot. Zeitung, x. 540.

EMBRYOGENY OF ORCHIS, GESNERIA, AND OTHER PHANEROGAMIA.

Dr. Cobbold laid before the Edinburgh Physiological Society a

brief account of some investigations into the embryogeny of Orchis,

Gesneria, and other Phanerogamia. These observations, together

with a preliminary account of the labours and opinions of Schleiden,

Amici, Brown, Geraud, Griffith, Hofmeister, Meyen, Mirbel, Mohl,

Dickie, and about forty others, formed the subject of an essay, written

in the summer of 1849. Dr. Sanderson, who at the same time inves-

tigated this subject, has since published in the ‘Annals of Natural

History,’ an admirable memoir on the embryogeny of Hippuris vul-

garis, the facts there recorded being strikingly confirmed by what the

author of this paper observed as occurring in the above genera. From a

review of the whole matter, the following conclusions are tobe drawn :—

Ist. That, prior to impregnation, the ovule always contains an

embryo-sac.

2nd. That the embryo-sac is commonly formed at the apex of the

nucleus,

3rd. That in the interior of the embryo-sac there exists a fluid,

more or less granular,

4th. That the sac frequently protrudes beyond the exostome (ovule

tube,—Griffith).

5th. That in the interior of the sac, prior to impregnation, one or

more cytoblasts, or embryonic vesicles, are formed.

Meteorological Observations. 239

6th. That their formation takes place by the aggregation of mole-

iles (Amici, Meyen).

~ 7th. That the cytoblasts, or embryonic vesicles, also contain a fluid

ore or less granular (globulo-cellular cambium,—Mirbel).

_ 8th. That the pollen is always necessary for fertilization (apparent

“xception given by Smith).

_ 9th. That the pollen, when applied to the stigma, sends out one

vt more tubes (prolongations of the intine), which contain granular

-natter (fovilla).

10th. That in most cases the «anion of the pollen-tube with the

upex of the embryonic sac constitutes the very act of impregnation.

llth. That the result of this union is the formation of an embryo.

12th. That this formation takes place, either by the metamor-

‘ohosis of one of the pre-existing germinal or embryonic vesicles

ander the dynamic influence of the fovilla (acting catalytically ?) ; or,

‘as is more probable, by the union of the contents of the pollen-tube

ith that of a germinal vesicle, similar to what occurs in the conju-

gation of Confervee. When two or more vesicles exist, as in Orchis,

one only becomes fertilized, the remainder abortive.—Proc. Edinb.

Phys. Soc. —_——-

: METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JULY 1852.

_ Chiswick.—July 1. Fine: cloudy: slightly overcast. 2. Cloudy and fine. 3,

4. Very fine. 5. Excessively hot: thermometer higher in the shade than it has

been for at least twenty-six years: lightning at night. 6. Very hot. 7. Cloud-

less: hot and dry. 8. Dry haze: sultry: clear at night. 9. Very hot. 10. Very

fine. 11. Hotand clear. 12. Sultry. 13. Fine: lightning, with distant thunder

vat night. 14. Overcast: thunder: very hot: lightning, with rain at night. 15.

Cloudy and fine: clear. 16. Slight haze: very hot: excessively heavy and con-

stant rain at night. 17. Rain: cloudy and warm: clear at night. 18. Very fine:

heavy clouds: clear. 19. Very fine. 20. Overcast. 21. Light clouds: very fine:

clear, 22—24. Very fine. 25. Overcast: thunder: rain. 26. Cloudy and fine:

clear. 27. Slight haze: very fine. 28—30. Very fine. 31. Heavy dew: very

fine : cloudy.

Mean temperature of the month .....+..ceessseeesers chehmntas 67°37

A Mean temperature of July 18515 oi. cc. esc eke ses cecodsescnds ove 60:71

Mean temperature of July for the last twenty-six years... 63°40

Average amount of rain in July cs sae. .cescssseeeeecsceeeese 2°37 inches.

_ Boston—July 1,2. Fine. 3. Cloudy. 4. Fine: thermometer 84° at 5 p.m.

5. Fine: therm. 91° at2 p.m. 6. Fine: therm. 86° at3r.m. 7. Fine: therm. 81°

at3p.m. 8. Fine. 9. Fine: therm. 89° at2 p.m. 10,11. Fine. 12. Cloudy.

13. Fine. 14. Cloudy. 15. Cloudy: rain, with thunder and lightning early a.m.

16. Fine: rain, with thunder and lightning p.m.: therm. 86°. 17. Cloudy:

therm.86°3 p.m. 18. Fine. 19—22. Cloudy. 23. Fine. 24. Cloudy. 25. Fine:

Tainr.M. 26. Cloudy: rain A.M.andp.m. 27,28. Fine. 29. Cloudy. 30. Fine.

31. Cloudy.

Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—July 1. Bright: cloudy. 2. Rain: cloudy. 3.

right : cloudy: fine. 4. Cloudy: clear: fine. 5. Bright: clear: cloudy : thunder

and lightning. 6. Rain: cloudy: fine. 7. Hazy: fine. 8. Bright: fine: fog.

. Hazy: showers: thunder and lightning. 10. Bright: cloudy. 11. Bright:

lear: fine. 12. Bright: fine: cloudy: fine. 13, 14. Bright: fine: clear: fine.

‘5. Bright: fine: cloudy: fine. 16. Hazy: fine: clear: fine. 17. Cloudy: rain.

‘18. Bright: cloudy: clear: fine. 19. Hazy: cloudy: clear: fine. 20. Bright:

Cloudy: rain: fine. 21. Rain: cloudy: fine. 22. Bright: hazy: fine. 23.

zB right: fine: cloudy: fine. 24. Drops: fine: cloudy: fine. 25, 26. Cloudy:

damp. 27.Damp. 28. Cloudy: fine: cloudy: damp. 29. Fog. 30. Rain: fog.

31. Damp : cloudy : damp.—This month has been remarkably fine and warm.

Mean temperature of July for twenty-five previous years ...... 54°79

Mean temperature of this month ......... Seas cceda Covesdscasawene 61°36

Average quantity of rain in July for six years ....sssseeeceeeees 2°71 inches.

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THE ANNALS

| MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[SECOND SERIES.]

No. 58. OCTOBER 1852.

_ XXI.—Observations on the Nidification of Gasterosteus aculeatus

and Gasterosteus spinachia. By Arpany Hancock *.

Ir is only within the last few years that naturalists have clearly

determined that some species of fish make nests for the recep-

tion of their spawn; though Aristotle was actually acquainted

_with the fact about twenty-two centuries ago.

Five or six kinds are now ascertained to nidify ; and of these,

two belong to the genus Gasterosteus,—one, G. aculeatus, the

Three-spined Stickleback ; the other, G. spinachia, the Fifteen-

_ spined Stickleback. The former is a well-known, active, and

_ pugnacious little fish, inhabiting almost every pool and rivulet

_ in the kingdom; the latter is much rarer, and is a denizen of

the sea.

Mr. Jonathan Couch states, in his interesting work entitled

‘Illustrations of Instinct,’ that the first detailed notice of the

_ nest-building of the Three-spined Stickleback occurs in a little

_ magazine, ‘The Youth’s Instructor,’ for the year 1834. This

‘notice is from the pen of Mr. T. Crookenden, a gentleman un-

known as a naturalist ; but who has given a very faithful account,

‘so far as it goes, of the nidification of this species. It contains all

that is at present known on the subject, and its accuracy can be

verified by any one who will take the trouble to look into almost

any pool of water during the summer months,—the breeding

season of the Stickleback. At this time, these fish will be ob-

served near to the margins, busily engaged in building and

guarding their nests ; and shoals of the fry may be seen, in dif-

ferent stages of development, swimming about in all directions.

But if we wish to study, to advantage, the nidification of this

* Read before the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club, August 11, 1852,

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 16

242 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nidification of 4

species, a few specimens should be placed in confinement about —

May or June; and then all their movements can be narrowly ©

watched and accurately observed. Care must be taken, however, ©

that they be left unmolested, and that their new abode resemble, —

as much as possible, their usual haunts. I have lately had an ©

opportunity of noticing the habits of this fish, during the breed- —

ing season, under the above favourable conditions. j

We have, for some time past, kept a glass trough filled with —

aquatic plants and animals; the bottom of this vessel is covered —

with mud, and the rock-work, piled up in the centre, is over- —

grown with a delicate hair-like Conferva ; a few floating plants —

spread over the surface of the water, and innumerable Entomo-—

straca and other small Crustaceans, as well as various animal-—

cules, swarm in all parts ; the minute, but deadly, poison-armed ~

Hydra also prevails where food is so plentiful; and a solitary —

individual of the great water beetle, Dytiscus marginatus, rambles —

over its watery domain, lord and master of all. Several of the —

freshwater Mollusca also people the trough, which on the whole ~

has much the appearance of a miniature pond. Into this new —

home were put four or five sticklebacks last May ; and they, at —

once, made themselves perfectly at ease. One, without the §

hesitation, took possession of a certain spot, which it guarded —

with the greatest pertinacity, attacking vigorously any of its —

companions that might happen to approach the chosen locality. —

The beetle too, which sometimes came slowly paddling by, was —

pounced upon and unceremoniously tumbled over ; but secure —

within his scaly armour, as the knights of old, he little heeded

the onslaught of his naked assailant ; so overpowering all oppo- —

sition he scrambled onward in his undeviating path. bo pels

This fish was rather small, had the throat of a bright red —

colour, and the eyes of a brilliant bluish green. At first, all the ©

others were pale ; but, in the course of a few days, one of them ~

gradually assumed the rich hues of that just described, and soon ~

afterwards it also became attached to a spot, taking up its abode —

in one of the corners of the trough. On examining attentively —

the two selected localities, a nest was found in each, composed

of a collection of delicate vegetable fibres, resting on the bottom —

of the trough, and matted into an irregularly circular mass, —

somewhat depressed, and upwards of an inch in diameter ; the —

top being covered over with the same materials, and having, in —

the centre, a large hole. The fishes searcely ever strayed from

their nests, but were constantly on guard, defending or repairing —

them ; they were perpetually prying into the hole at the top

and thrusting their heads right into it. On one occasion, one

of them entered by this hole, and mbt! forced itself right —

shies

moved onward, its |

through the side of the nest: as it gradual

Gasterosteus aculeatus and G. spinachia. 243

body had a peculiar, lateral, vibratile motion. They would fre-

_ quently seize hold of the nest and give it a violent tug, shaking

_ and tearing loose the vegetable matter of which it was composed ;

at other times they would carry to it, in their mouths, fine Con-

_ ferva-stems, and press them with considerable force into the walls

_ of the nest, or thrust them into the hole, which, by this means,

_ was sometimes partially concealed. Occasionally, each was ob-

_ served hovering over its nest, with the head close to the orifice,

__ the body being inclined upwards, at an angle of about 45°, fanning

__ it with the pectoral fins, aided by a lateral motion of the tail. This

_ curious manceuvre was apparently for the purpose, so to speak,

__ of ventilating the spawn, which could be distinctly seen through

es the orifice at the top; at least, by this means, a current of water

was made to set in towards the nest, as was rendered perfectly

_ evident by the agitation of particles of matter attached to it.

_ This fanning or ventilating process was repeated, at short in-

_ tervals, durmg the day, and every day until the spawn was

_ hatched, to accomplish which took between two and three

weeks.

_ Only one nest contained spawn ; the other was torn in pieces,

and the materials scattered about, in the hope that we might

have the pleasure of seeing it reconstructed. In this we were

not disappointed ; the fish immediately began to form a new

nest in exactly the same spot, and by the following day it was

_ more than half completed. It took a mouthful at a time, and

was at some pains in adjusting each load, spreading the mate-

_ rials out, and pressing them down with its mouth ; it then drew

_ its body slowly over the whole, vibrating, all the time, in the

_ same peculiar manner as when it forced its way through the

_ nest, as before stated*.

_ On the 13th of June the hole at the top of the fruitful nest

_ was found to be much enlarged, so that the entire mass of

_ spawn was exposed to view ; and, on looking attentively, a few of

_ the newly hatched fry were seen flitting about the walls of the

nest. The assiduity of the parent was now greatly increased ;

it never left the spot; by night it rested cither on the nest or

_ by its side, and during day nothing was allowed to approach.

It fiercely seized a quill that was passed down towards the ob-

_ ject of its solicitude, with such vigour that the shock of attack

was distinctly felt by the hand. Combats with its companions

became more frequent ; but its ire was chiefly directed against

_ its neighbour, which, like itself, was engaged in parental duties.

_ This having also a nest to defend never shrank from the conflict,

# * It is probable that it is the male fish which builds and guards the

nest ; and, if so, it might, perhaps, be shedding the milt when dragging its

body over and through the nest in the manner described.

= 16*

244 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nidification of

and the encounters were therefore fierce and prolonged ; but,

nevertheless, conducted with all due caution, and apparently with

much science, as the gentlemen of the ring would express it.

The sparring was very wary, and generally lasted a few seconds

before the combatants closed. The attack was usually com-

menced by one quietly creeping up, watching its opportunity ;

on this, the other, acting on the defensive, would turn its broad

side to the enemy and raising the ventral spine wait to receive

the onslaught ; the assailant, intimidated by this formidable de-

monstration, would then slowly retreat, and in its turn had im

the same manner to defend itself. After thus advancing and

retreating for a few times, one, taking advantage of an unguarded

moment, would rush in upon its opponent and butt at it with

its head, apparently endeavouring to bite; the other, rallying,

returned the compliment, and after dashing at each other in this

way two or three times, with extraordinary rapidity, the round —

would terminate, and each fish retreat to its nest to recommence

its more immediate nidimental duties.

The fry were, at first, so minute and transparent that they

could searcely be discerned as they lay partially concealed amid

the meshes of the nest: every now and then a slight fluttering

motion betrayed their position, otherwise it was almost impos-

sible to distinguish them. As I was closely watching their mo-

tions, at this time, one of the newly hatched fishlings, with in-

trepidity beyond its experience, ventured to pass the limits of its —

eradle: in an instant the watchful parent was there, and with

gaping mouth seized the little wanderer, which immediately dis- _

appeared, the jaws having closed upon it. Seeing this, I at once ©

gave up the fry for lost, deeming that here was an instance of ©

instinct at fault, and that all the affectionate solicitude of the —

parent was to end in its devouring its offspring. In this I was —

mistaken: the old fish, quietly returning, dropped the straggler —

into its nest lively and uninjured. During the whole of this —

day none of the fry were permitted to ramble beyond the pre- —

cincts of their fold; when any attempted to do so—and many ~

did attempt—they were invariably brought back in the mouth —

of the parent: none escaped its vigilant eye, and it was amusing —

to see with what a hurried, fluttering motion the little things —

dropped almost perpendicularly down into the nest, so soon as —

they were released from the jaws of the parent. q

It was three days before all the eggs were hatched, and the ©

attention of the parent, during all this time, was unremitting. —

On the second day I marked its manceuvres for five minutes, —

and found that, in this short period, it ventilated the nest eight

times, warded off an attack of the neighbouring fish, and —

brought back to the nest a straggler or two. During this day —

Gasterosteus aculeatus and G. spinachia. 245

| the spawn was frequently examined by the parent, who would

| occasionally seize hold of it and give it a good shake; appa-

rently for the purpose of throwing off adherent matter, that the

water might freely circulate about the eggs. The parent would

| then dive, head foremost, into the nest and bring out a mouth-

| ful of mud, which it would carry to some little distance and

| discharge with a puff.

__ The third day was passed much in the same manner, only as

_ the eggs were now all hatched, the nest was less frequently

_ fanned or ventilated; and the fry, about forty in number, were

_ allowed greater liberty; the strongest being permitted to re-

_ ereate themselves among the Conferve that grew on a stone

about 2 inches from the nest. On the fourth day the fanning

_ had ceased altogether, and the rambles of the young were less

_ restricted. They were not yet, however, permitted to pass be-

_ yond certain limits; when any transgressed these bounds they

_ were immediately seized, as heretofore, and carried back to the

_ nest ; into which they were always very glad to escape from the

clutches of their ardent parent. Notwithstanding all her vigi-

__ lance, one contrived, on the fifth day, to escape her eye, and pass-

_ ing the fatal boundary was immediately devoured by the other

_ fish, which now seemed always on the watch, neglecting its own

barren nest, being intent only on appropriating to itself the

_ nestlings of its fruitful neighbour. In this act of cannibalism

we see the reason for the parent’s anxious care and its jealousness

of its kind; and it is evident from Mr. Crookenden’s account,

previously quoted, that they greedily devour each other’s spawn.

The young fry, however, have other enemies as well as their own

_ species. One day a favourite Hydra (H. fusca) was observed to

be distended in a most extraordinary manner; on examination

it was found to have swallowed the head and shoulders of one of

the young fish many times larger than itself; and the caudal

extremity, which was too much for it, and which was projecting

__ out of its mouth, had been seized upon by another Hydra, Thus,

_ it would appear that these low organized, but powerful and vo-

racious animals occasionally regale themselves on the flesh of the

_ Vertebrata. This happened when the fry were three or four

weeks old.

| All the old fish, with the exception of that with the young,

_ were, in consequence of their cannibal propensities, turned out

of the trough ; and danger being thus removed, the fry were no

__ longer restricted in their rambles, but enjoyed the whole range

_ of their crystal abode. Henceforth the parent’s assiduity gra-

_ dually relaxed, though for days afterwards it was its’ custom to

take the young occasionally into its mouth, and after carrying

them a little distance to let them drop out again. I took one of

246 Mr. A. Hancock on the Nidification of

the fry out one day for examination with the microscope; on

returning it to the trough, it was in so sickly a state as to be

scarcely able to leave the vessel, which was held in the hand.

The old fish, perceiving the helpless condition of its offspring,

came up to the surface of the water, and seizing hold of the ex-

hausted young one carried it off almost from amidst my fingers,

and taking it to some distance puffed it out of its mouth into a

tuft of Conferve. This courageous act of our little fish would

seem, in some measure, to give credence to the assertion, so fre-

quently made, that some of the sharks protect their young by

receiving them into the mouth on the approach of danger.

Other facts might be related evincing parental attachment ;—

but perhaps enough has been said to satisfy those, who take an

interest in such matters, that in this respect the Three-spined —

Stickleback is scarcely, if at all, inferior to the hen, whose affec-

tionate regard for her offspring has ever been the theme of ad- —

miration. Incubation, with the fish, is out of the question ; it~

attends its nest, however, as diligently as any of the feathered -

tribes, keeping it in constant repair, fanning it with its fins, and —

removing anything that might obstruct the free action of the

water upon the eggs; it defends its young with the same un- —

daunted courage, and though it cannot gather them under —

spreading wings as the hen gathers her brood, yet all those —

which stray are brought back to the nest, that they may be ©

under the protection of their ever-vigilant and courageous —

parent. i

The nest of the Fifteen-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus spt-

nachia) was first noticed by Mr. Jonathan Couch on the Cornish —

coast in 1842. Since then it has been observed two or three —

times on the coast of Northumberland. It is composed of pen- —

dent seaweeds bound together, by a silk-like thread, into pear- —

shaped or fusiform masses : the spawn is deposited in the centre

of the mass. Mr. Couch says, “ One of these nests was visited —

every day for three weeks, and the old fish was found invariably _

guarding it ; it would examine the nest on all sides, and then re- —

tire for a short time, but soon return to renew the examination. —

On several occasions,” continues this gentleman, “I laid the eggs —

bare by removing a portion of the nest, but when this was dis- —

covered great exertions were instantly made to recover them. —

By the mouth of the fish the edges of the opening were again —

drawn together, and the other portions torn from their attach- —

ments and brought over the orifice till the ova were again hid —

from view. And as great force was sometimes necessary to effect

this, the fish would thrust its snout into the nest as far as the ~

eyes, and then jerk backwards till the object was effected. While —

thus engaged, it would suffer itself to be taken in the hand, but

Gasterosteus aculeatus and G. spinachia. 247

} repelled any attack made on the nest, and quitted not its post so

} long as I remained.”

} Mzr. Richard Howse, who found three or four of these nests

} in a pool among the rocks at Tynemouth, a year or two ago,

informs me that each was attended by a fish, and that they

} scarcely ever left their nests, but kept hovering about, atten-

| tively examining them, and thrusting their projecting muzzles

| amidst the seaweeds of which they were composed ; the fish

_ would occasionally poise themselves close to the nests, and fan

_ them with the pectoral fins in the same manner as the Three-

a spined species. And, indeed, it is quite evident, from the ac-

counts given by these two gentlemen, that the habits of both

_ species, in all that concerns. nidification, perfectly coincide ; both

_ guard the nest with the same unwearied perseverance, drive off

_ enemies, make all necessary repairs, fan or ventilate the nest, and

keep it in all respects in good order.

_ It is satisfactory to observe this exact similarity of habits, for

_ Mr. Couch has changed his opinion, apparently upon insufficient

_ grounds, respecting the nest, which he attributed to the Fifteen-

spined Stickleback. He now considers it to belong to the com-

_mon Shanny (Blennius pholis), arriving at this conclusion after

having examined the young hatched from ova taken out of one

_ of the nests. “Being from the first,” says this gentleman,

_ “impressed with the conviction that they were the young of the

_ Fifteen-spined Stickleback, I was much surprised to notice the

| great difference of their shape from that of their supposed

parent, more especially in the parts before the eyes, which,

' mstead of being elongated and slender, were short and round.

_ In consequence of this they were closely examined with glasses,

and drawn with the aid of a microscope of low power; and

_ though I failed to detect satisfactorily the ventral fins of that

fish (chiefly perhaps from their slender form and transparency),

_ yet, from the declivity of the head, protuberance of the belly,

_ the pectoral fin, and the length of the dorsal and anal fins,

which in some specimens were continuous with the caudal, and

_ in others separated by a slight notch, I had no hesitation in

referring them to the common Shanny.”

Now, the young of the Three-spined Stickleback differ just as

_ widely from the mature fish as the young of the Fifteen-spined

species are stated to do; and what is of still more importance,

_ the differences are of exactly the same kind. In the former, as

_ well as in the latter, the parts before the eyes are short and

_ round, and can scarcely be said to project at all in front;

the declivity of the head is consequently great ; the belly is pro-

_ tuberant, and the dorsal and anal fins are long and continueus

_ with the caudal. The young of the Three-spined Stickleback

248 Mr.J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, Giconomy,

would therefore appear also to possess, at first, the characters of

the Shanny ; but as development goes on, the jaws are pushed

out, the belly is reduced in comparative size, and the dorsal and

anal fins are shortened, and become ultimately separated from

the caudal. Thus, in course of time, the young gradually as-

sume the form and characters of the parent. And there can be

little doubt that this would have been found to be the case with

the young of the Fifteen-spined Stickleback, had Mr. Couch

watched their development a little longer. The obtuse form of

the head, on which that gentleman places much stress, is the

embryonic condition of all fishes; the elongation of the jaws is

always an after-development.

In conclusion it may be remarked, that of the three or four

other species of fish, described to nidify, one, a native of Deme-

rara, is stated to remain by the side of the nest with as much

solicitude as the hen guards her eggs ; the same is said respect-

ing another species inhabiting the Black Sea: but in none, so

far as I am aware, has parental attachment been observed to

equal that evinced by the Three-spined Stickleback. Yet we

must not, therefore, conclude that it does not exist to the same

extent in others of the finny tribes, The habits of these animals

are very little known ; and who can say what time may bring to

light respecting the ceconomy of the mhabitants of the dee

regions of the sea? It is only, as it were, the other day that

nothing was known of the nidification of the Three-spined Stickle-

back,—a resident of almost every pool, river, and rivulet in the

kingdom.

XXII.—A Catalogue of British Spiders, including remarks on

their Structure, Functions, diconomy, and Systematic Arrange-

ment. By Joun Biacxwatt, F.L.S.

[Coneluded from p. 189.]

198. Epéira bicornis.

Epéira bicornis, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 124;

Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 126; Koch, Die Arachn. B. xi.

p. 92. tab. 382. fig. 902, 903.

arbustorum, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 3.

In the wooded parts of Denbighshire this rare species occurs

on the trunks of trees. It pairs in June, and in July the female

constructs a subglobose cocoon of light brown silk of a loose

texture, about 5rd of an inch in diameter, which includes her

eges.

Sa lr ee,

Peel ih i a De Ge Si ah 1 Nw pK De iS

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 249

199. Epéira conica.

| Epéira conica, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 138;

f Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 109; Sund. Vet. Acad.

Handl. 1832, p. 248; Hahn, Die Arachn. B. ii. p. 45. tab. 57.

f fig. 130.

| Stnga ies Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 6; Die

i Arachn. B. xi. p. 145. tab. 392. fig. 943-945.

_ Titulus 4, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 32. tab. 1. fig. 4.

_ Ihave seen immature individuals of this remarkable spider

_ which were captured in Middlesex, and in 1852 I received from

_ Mr. Meade an adult male which was sent to him from that

_ county. Lister states that he has frequently found Epéira

_ conica in lofty and umbrageous woods in Cambridgeshire and

_ Yorkshire.

i 200. Epéira tubulosa.

_ Epéira tubulosa, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 86.

__ Singa hamata, Koch, Die Arachn. B. iii. p. 42. tab. 88. fig. 197, 198 ;

Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 6.

5 melanocephala, Koch, Die Arachn. B. ii. p.44. tab. 88. fig. 199.

_ Titulus 7, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 40. tab. 1. fig. 7.

According to Lister, Epéira tubulosa is sometimes met with in

_ great abundance in moist situations ; it is one of the few native

‘ species, however, which I have not yet succeeded in obtaining.

Genus TetraGNnatua, Latr.

201. Tetragnatha extensa.

_ Tetragnatha extensa, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 203 ;

Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 101 ; Sund. Vet. Acad.

Handl. 1832, p. 256; Hahn, Die Arachn. B. ii. p. 43. tab. 56.

fig. 129; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 5.

—— gibba, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 5.

_ Titulus 3, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 30. tab. 1. fig. 3.

This is the only species belonging to the genus Tetragnatha

_ which has been found in Great Britain. It frequents damp

localities, constructing among bushes and plants in the vicinity

__ of brooks, ditches and pools a slight net having a circular aper-

_ ture at the centre. The specific name extensa has reference to

_ its habit of extending the first and second pairs of legs forwards

_ and the posterior pair backwards in a line with the body.

In June the female attaches to some object near her snare, a

subglobose cocoon, about }th of an inch in diameter, composed

_ of fine silk of a loose texture, which is either whitish with small

_ tufts of a dull green colour on its exterior surface, or else is of a

250 Mr. J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, iconomy,

dull green colour with whitish tufts. The eggs deposited in dif-

ferent cocoons vary greatly in number ; but I have never noticed -

fewer than 60 nor more than 214 in a single set ; they are sphe-

rical, of a pale yellow colour, and are agglutinated together in a

subglobose mass.

Tribe SENocULINA.

Family Dysderide.

Genus DyspEra, Latr.

202. Dysdera erythrina.

Dysdera erythrina, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. i. p. 261 ;

Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom.i. p. 90; Hahn, Die Arachn.

B.i. p. 7. tab. 1. fig. 3; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes

Heft, p.20; Die Arachn. B. v. p. 76. tab. 165. fig. 389 ; Blackw.

Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 128.

Specimens of Dysdera erythrina have been taken under stones

in the central parts of the city of Manchester ; others have been

transmitted to me from Cambridge by Professor Potter and

Mr. Alfred Bishop, and from Oxford by Mr. W. H. Baxter ; and

Mr. Walker informs me that he has met with this spider on the

south coast, near the seashore.

203. Dysdera rubicunda.

Dysdera rubicunda, Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 79. tab. 165. fig. 390,

391; Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 129.

The only individual of this species which has come under my ~

observation was an adult male, contained in a collection of spi-

ders sent to me from Cambridge by Charles C. Babington, Esq., —

M.A. M. Walckenaer is certainly mistaken in supposing that

Dysdera rubicunda is merely a variety of Dysdera erythrina (Hist.

Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 444), as well-marked differences in —

the structure of the palpal organs of the males prove to demon-

stration that they are distinct.

204. Dysdera Hombergii.

Dysdera Hombergii, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t.i. p. 263 ;

Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 129; Koch, Die Arachn. B. x.

p- 95. tab. 351. fig. 819, 820.

eieoney saeiter Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag. Third Series,

vol, i. p. 190.

gracilis, Wider, Museum Senckenb. B. i. p. 200. taf. 14. fig. 1.

punctata, Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 84. tab. 167. fig.395, 396.

Distinguished arachnologists have mistaken Dysdera Hom-

et Ae a Bie Ts i chien rere LS Beh iy DUE cs

nities

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 251

- bergii, first briefly described by Scopoli (Entomologia Carniolica,

. 403, No. 1119), for the young of Dysdera erythrina, from which

it differs in colour and organization. Being convinced of its spe-

_ cific distinctness by a careful examination of specimens captured

| in 1832, in the same year I gave a description of it in the ‘ Lon-

| don and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine,’ under the appel-

lation of Dysdera Latreillii; but the trivial name, of course, is

_ superseded by that originally given to it by Scopoli. The tarsi

| of this species, unlike those of its congeners, have three claws at

their extremity, and are destitute of scopule.

Crevices in rocks and walls and the under side of lichens

_ growing on trees are the favourite resorts of Dysdera Hombergit,

_ which is plentiful in the wooded districts of Denbighshire, Caer-

| marvonshire and Lancashire; and in the spring of 1849 I re-

_ ceived an immature female from Mr. J. Hardy, who took it in

Berwickshire. The sexes pair in May, and in the succeeding

_ month the female envelopes herself in an oval cell of white silk of

' a slight texture, on whose exterior surface are disposed minute

__ pebbles, small pieces of indurated soil, and other heterogeneous

_ materials; in this cell she deposits between 20 and 30 sphe-

_ vical eggs of a pale pink colour, which are not cemented together.

Genus Srecestrria, Latr.

205. Segestria perfida.

_ Segestria perfida, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. i. p. 267.

Jlorentina, Hahn, Die Arachn. B.i. p. 5. tab. 1. fig. 1 ; Koch,

Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 20; Die Arachn. B. v.

p- 72. tab. 164. fig. 385, 386.

cellaria, Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 88.

The claim of this fine species to a place among our indigenous

ie spiders rests on the authority of Dr. Leach, who has recorded an

_ istance of its capture at Plymouth, in the Supplement to the

4th, 5th and 6th editions of the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’

article Annulosa.

206. Segestria senoculata.

Segestria senoculata, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t.i. p. 268 ;

Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 89; Sund. Vet. Acad.

Handl. 1831, p. 145; Hahn, Die Arachn. B.i. p. 6. tab. 1.

fig. 2; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 21;

Die Arachn. B. y. p. 75. tab. 164. fig. 388.

Titulus 24, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 74. tab. 1. fig. 24.

Segestria senoculata is of frequent occurrence in many parts

of England and Wales, and in December 1848 a young indivi-

dual was transmitted to me from Berwickshire by Mr. J. Hardy.

252 Mr. J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, diconomy,

It spins a long tube, which serves for a domicile, in the crevices

of rocks and walls, and under lichens growing on trees. Towards

the end of May or the beginning of June the female deposits

between 80 and 90 spherical eggs of a yellowish white colour,

not agglutinated together, in a lenticular cocoon of white silk of

a fine but compact texture, measuring {th of an inch in diameter,

which is inclosed in a silken cell, attached to objects near her

retreat, and covered with particles of earth and the refuse of her

rey.

. This species, when in captivity, does not complete its several

changes of integument and arrive at maturity in less than two

years, and I have ascertained that its existence sometimes extends —

through a period of four years. Only three spinning tubes are

connected with each intermediate spmner of this spider; they

are situated at its extremity and are of large dimensions.

Genus Scua@nosates, Blackw.

207. Schanobates Walkeri.

Schenobates Walkeri, Blackw. Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. Second

Series, vol. vi. p. 343.

An adult male of this very interesting spider was captured at

Broadstairs in Kent in the month of September, and is in Mr.

Walker’s cabinet. It is preserved in Canada balsam, and has

suffered from compression, circumstances which render an inyes-

tigation of its structure difficult. After a most careful inspection

under the microscope, I could not ascertain that it had more than

six eyes ; but even should it ultimately be found to possess eight

of those organs, it must still, by its other essential characters,

constitute a new genus. .

Genus Oonoprs, Templeton.

208. Oonops pulcher.

Oonops pulcher, Templeton, Zoological Journal, vol. y. p. 404. pl. 17.

fig. 10; Blackw. Linn. Trans. vol. xix. p. 129.

Deletrizx exilis, Blackw. Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag. Third Series,

vol. x. p. 100.

Dysdera pulchra, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. iv. p. 382.

In the ‘ London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine,’ I

proposed the genus Deletriz for the reception of this minute

spider, which I described, under the specific name of evilis, from

immature females whose colours had been injured by captivity. —

At that time I was not aware that I had been anticipated by —

Mr. Templeton, whose genus Oonops, founded on the organic —

peculiarities of this species, has the claim of priority.

and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 253

M. Walckenaer does not admit the validity of the well-defined

| genus Oonops (misprinted Conops), but has placed this spider in

the genus Dysdera. See the synonyma.

| Oonops pulcher occupies interstices in rocks and walls, and

among lichens growing on trees, in Lancashire, Denbighshire

| . and Caernarvonshire, being abundant in the wooded parts of the

_ last two counties. By the agency of a small scopula, connected

| with the extremity of each tarsus, it is enabled to move with

_ celerity and security on dry objects having polished perpendi-

cular surfaces. In May the female fabricates near her retreat

_ several contiguous subglobose cocoons of white silk of a delicate

. but compact texture, measuring about jth of an inch in dia-

_ meter, in each of which she usually deposits two spherical pink

+ eggs, not cemented together.

Family Scytodide.

Genus Scytopgs, Latr.

209. Scytodes thoracica.

Scytodes thoracica, Walck, Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. i. p. 270;

i. Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect. tom. i. p. 99.

_ —— tigrina, Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 87. tab. 167. fig. 398.

Dr. Leach has stated in the Supplement to the 4th, 5th and

6th editions of the ‘ Encyclopedia Britannica,’ article Annulosa,

that Scytodes thoracica has occurred twice near Dover ; but that

both individuals were females.

Genus Savientra, Blackw.

210. Savignia frontata.

| e Savignia frontata, Blackw. Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag. Third Series,

vol. iii. p. 105 ; Research. in Zool. p. 312. pl. 2. fig. 1, 2.

The male of this small and interesting species was discovered

on iron rails at Crumpsall Hall in the autumn of 1832, and has

since been met with, at different seasons of the year, in various

parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire and Caer-

narvonshire. As regards its ceconomy, I can merely state that

it is active during the day, decidedly aéronautic, making frequent

ascents into the atmosphere, and that it can exist for a long period

immersed in water. Though the male is far from being uncom-

mon, yet I have not succeeded in capturing a single female.

By the conical protuberance on the anterior part of the ce-

phalo-thorax, the relative length of the legs, the converging

maxille and semicircular lip, Savignia frontata is connected with

the spiders belonging to the genera Walckenaéra and Neriéne.

254, Mr. W. Clark on some undescribed Animals

XXIII.—On some undescribed Animals of the British Rissoz.

By Wii11am Cxark, Esq. i

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Norfolk Crescent, Bath, Sept. 1852,

Ir is stated in the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. vol. viii. p. 48, that I had

examined some unrecorded animals of the British Rissow, and

when the minutes were reduced I would communicate the result ;

I now fulfil that engagement; and to show that an account of

these minute species is considered a desideratum, I need only

quote the learned authors of the ‘ British Mollusca,’ who, speak-

ing of the Rissoa striatula, remark, “The animal of this, as of

too many other Risso, is yet unknown.” ‘The following ob-_

servations were taken in 1851, but in the present summer I

have reviewed, at Exmouth, the several species alluded to, and

added some new ones; I may therefore speak with increased

confidence of their descriptive accuracy as far as regards the

external organs, but I apprehend that a correct anatomy of such

minute creatures is a vain expectation; we must therefore rely

on analogy, for at least the general characters of their mterior

organization.

It is necessary to mention that the almost microscopic organs

of these diminutive species require the aid of good glasses to see

their true forms and attributes ; the present descriptions are the

result of the organs being viewed through Coddington lenses of

as high powers as were consistent with distinctness: inferior

means give false appearances, and are often the cause of discre-

pancies between observers of the same animal.

Rissoa striata, Montagu.

Animal inhabiting a white shell of 5-6 rather tumid, semi-

plicated, spirally striated volutions ; it is hyaline white in most

parts ; an exception is the upper and under surface of the rostrum

and buccal fissure, which are of a sordid light red brown. Mantle

even with the shell, except that a minute cirrhal filament, very

difficult to be seen, issues from it at the upper angle of the

aperture, as in the type R. parva, in which it is never absent.

The head is a long flat muzzle deeply grooved above and

below, with minute lappets on the upper surface near its termi-

nation, and on the march is carried a little in advance of the

foot: the tentacula are moderately long, divergent, strong but

flattened, very little setose ; they do not attenuate to points like —

the type, but are of the same breadth throughout, and of opake

of the British Rissoe. 255

snow-white ; in progression they are extended considerably be-

_ yond the head: the eyes are conspicuously black, and placed on

minute scarcely projecting external offsets. The foot is truncate

in front, grooved so as to form a labium, and slightly auricled ;

_ it is altogether stronger than in R. parva, and like it rarely ex-

tends to the limit of the body volution, and terminates poste-

riorly in a moderately pointed lanceolate shape ; there is very

slight trace of a longitudinal line in the centre of the sole ; the

_ operculigerous lobe has the margins laterally so lax and dis-

united as to form wings, which, on the march, at the will of the

animal, continually change their appearance; on it, near the

junction of the foot with the body, is the light horny oval oper-

- ¢culum of three spires, the two first minute and scarcely trace-

able; the last enlarges rapidly, and shows distinct striz of

growth. There is no caudal cirrhus on the opercular lobe, which

is nearly coextensive with the main foot, and so pointed as to

_ appear like one, and in some specimens is unequally emarginate

at the sides.

__ The animal is not shy, and marches with vivacity ; it has been

_ remarked that it is disproportionately small for the shell, and

| the tentacula very short; I do not think our southern examples

- confirm this view: it inhabits all the districts. The records of

| this common species are so scanty, that it may almost be looked

on as undescribed.

Rissoa semistriata, Montagu.

The animal occupies a shell of six moderately convex volu-

tions, each partially striated, the middle portions being smooth.

Its colour is nearly white, with the palest tinge of yellow. The

mantle is even with the shell, except a short minute filament

that is protruded by the animal from the portion which lines the

upper angle of the aperture, like that I have mentioned in the

Rissoa parva above, and in the R. ulve, in the ‘ Annals,’ N.S.

vol. vi. p.33. The head is a short muzzle, not so long as in the

. type, but similarly grooved in the centre above, and cloven at

_ the extremity and below. The tentacula are flattish, rather

_ long, divergent, frosted, pale yellow or white, with the tips

_ slightly clavate ; the eyes are on gently raised prominences at

the external bases. The foot is nearly the shape of the type,

contracted in the middle, pointed behind, and sometimes emar-

_ ginate, but it is proportionately longer, larger, and thicker ;

_ there is no groove or longitudinal line on the sole; the upper

lobe anteally expands into narrow white wings, and terminates

behind with three caudal processes, whereof the middle is the

longest, and writing of it to Professor Forbes I termed it a

bashaw of three tails ; it carries the light corneous. suboval oper-

256 Mr. W. Clark on some undescribed Animals

culum at some distance from the end of the foot, but the two

first turns of the spire are nearly obsolete ; the third occupies the

greater portion of the plate, and is well marked with oblique

lines of growth.

I have lately examined many lively specimens, and can con-

firm the fact of the operculigerous lobe terminating in three

filaments, as well as the presence of the short mantellar process

that is produced and retracted, at the will of the animal, from

the upper angle of the aperture. What are the functions of this

organ is doubtful ; it has not the aspect nor is in the position of

a reproductive element ; it has inore the resemblance of a ten-

tacular instrument ; but in some Rissoe it acquires an imperfect

tubular appearance, as in the Chemnitzia, in which, particularly

Ch. acuta, it seems to perform the office of the branchial siphon

of the Canalifere. I believe that this appendage has scarcely

been noticed by authors; it appears to exist in many of the

Risso@, but if in all is doubtful ; it has no connexion with the

operculigerous lobe, or its wings or caudal cirrhi, but is a strictly

mantellar process. The animal is free, unusually rapid on the

march, inhabits all the zones, and has not before been observed.

Rissoa costata, Montagu.

Animal inhabiting an elaborately sculptured, costated, spi-

rally striated, basally ridged pale yellow shell of 5-6 rounded

volutions, hyaline white, except the large black eyes and pale

red buccal disk. Head a long proboscidiform muzzle finely cor-

rugated in quietude, cloven vertically at the orifice as in R. parva,

but showing more partially than in that species the corneous

jaws and buccal apparatus. The mantle is plain and even. The

tentacula are long, flat, not filiform, rather thick at the base,

tapering gradually to a rounded extremity ; they are not setose :

the large eyes are fixed on prominences at the external angles. —

The foot at rest is short, on the march it extends to the middle —

of the antepenultimate volution ; it is labiated in front, but not

auricled, constricted above instead of in the middle, as is more

usual in Rissoa, and then expands and tapers to a narrowish

attenuated rounded termination. The operculigerous lobe di-

lates into subcircular lateral ale, bearing close at the junction of —

the foot with the body, a suboval corneous faintly spiral oper- —

culum with the turns rapidly increasing, as in the paucispiral —

Inttorine and typical Rissoe. It has a distinct caudal cirrhus.

Malacologists, from the curious sculpture and entire flat stri- —

ated broad margin of the peristome of the shell, have thought —

that this hitherto unrecorded animal would display singular —

features ; that is not the case ; it is a very simple creature, and ~

of the British Rissoe. 257

scarcely differs from the 2. parva, except in having the tips of the

_tentacula rather flatter, more rounded, and in the different posi-

_ tion of the constriction of the foot. The animal is active, marches

up a glass with uncommon rapidity, and displays a freedom be-

_ yond the usual habits of the tribe. It is found in all the zones.

Some live examples of this species having occurred, I add to

the above account, that the front part of the foot is marked with

an intense snow-white flake of the figure of the letter V, visible in

consequence of its transparency above and below ; I have also to

remark, that the anterior terminal line of the foot is unusually

_ deeply incised, so as to form two labia; the lower, or that of the

sole, at the centre part, on the march is produced much beyond

_ the upper lip. I have never before seen this feature so exten-

_ sively developed in any Rissoa.

| And lastly, I state, that I failed to detect satisfactorily the

_ small pendent process in the mantle at the aperture, which is so

conspicuous in R. parva and R. semistriata; yet it may exist : I

had the same difficulty in R. striata, but afterwards I saw it in

_ several examples.

Rissoa reticulata, Montagu.

Rissoa Beanii, nonnull.

Rissoa seulpta, nonnull.

__ The animal occupies a spiral, cancellated, pale yellow or brown

shell of 5-6 tumid volutions; its ground colour is yellowish

_ white. Mantle even with the shell, except the filamentary pro-

_ cess at the angle of the aperture. Head proboscidiform, fur-

__nished with the usual cloven disk and buccal appendages; the

_ rostrum near its termination at the upper surface appears to have

attached to it two very small similar shields, one on each side,

independent of the terminal minute subcircular flat lobes. The

_tentacula are compressed, slender, rather long, rounded at the

extremities, not setose ; the eyes are at the external angles, on

_ short light yellow or orange pedicles. Foot subrotund, scarcely

| auricled, but grooved in front sufficiently to form a shallow

_ labium, slightly constricted anteriorly, at one-third the length,

_ gently tapering to a rather obtuse lanceolate but not emarginate

_ termination ; the operculum is carried on an upper plain mode-

_ rately alated lobe, at nearly the point of the junction of the foot

with the body ; it is pyriform, with indistinct rapidly increasing

_paucispiral gyrations; the terminal part of the lobe, like the

R. semistriata, is furnished with three blunt, cylindrical, short

_eirrhi, and occasionally one of the sides of the main foot is emar-

ginate. The branchial plume is composed of 12-15 single, pale

yellow, short strands, which are visible when the neck is greatly

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 17

258 Mr. W. Clark on some undescribed Animals

exserted. The animal is active and freely shows its points.

Common in the coralline zone, but rather rare alive.

This is the true Turbo reticulatus of Montagu; it is, however,

subject to considerable variation of the contour and quality of

the cancellations, which have led to the fabrication of some spu-

rious articles.

This species has not before been described. The specific ap-

pellation of ‘reticulata’ must be substituted for ‘ Beanii ;—a

complimentary term ought not to take the place of the long-

accredited and not doubtful one of the admirable Montagu.

Rissoa punctura, Montagu.

This species has been confounded with the preceding, but

having met with many live specimens, it will be seen that Mon-

tagu has properly distinguished it. The animal is lively and

freely shows its organs, and in this instance I have it in my

power to effect a concentrated description ; it is in every respect

identical with the R. reticulata, with the exception of a parti-

cular-seated and constant variation of colour ; the opereuligerous

lobe is a very pale muddy reddish brown, but it is marked, on

each side close to the junction of the foot with the body, with an

irregular rather large dark smoke-coloured stripe, which is inva-

riably wanting in R. reticulata.

Though differences of colour are not generally to be received

as good specific characters, yet, when we see certain markings in

an animal in a particular position, which are always absent in one

that resembles it in almost every other point, we are entitled to

consider them as fair specific differences; and in this case di-

stinctness is corroborated by a considerable variation in the con-

tour of the two shells, the R. punctura bemg much smaller, with

more rounded and less tumid volutions, as well as having the

sutures more deeply impressed than in the R. reticulata. =

Since these observations I have taken many of this and the

preceding species, and in the present animal have always found

the dark lead-coloured marks on the operculigerous lobe, with

the addition under the neck, near the eyes, of a small red dot;

but these particulars are absent in the R. reticulata, the same

parts being pure white. Both inhabit the coralline zone, and at

Exmouth the R. reticulata is strictly confined to a coralline area, ;

whilst the R..punctura occupies the interstitial grounds of that —

district, in muddy patches, mixed with comminuted shelly spoil. —

I eannot doubt the distinctness of the two.

Rissoa soluta, Brit. Moll.

The animal occupies a simply elegant minutely pane stri-

ated almost microscopic pale yellow shell of 3-4 round

of the British Rissoz. 259

tions. The mantle does not extend beyond the aperture. The

colour is hyaline white with a trifling exception. Head probos-

-cidiform, having its terminal pale red disk vertically cloven, in

_which the buccal organs are distinctly visible. The tentacula

are moderately long, rounded at the tips, very pilose, the sete

_ springing from them horizontally, but only visible with high

| powers ; eyes at the external angles on small scarcely raised pale

} sulphur-coloured eminences. Foot subtruncate, slightly auricled,

| labiated or grooved anteally, and long and narrow. Operculi-

_gerous lobe small and not much alated ; no caudal cirrhus was

| detected ; the light corneous operculum is suborbicular and pau-

| cispiral, fixed nearly at the extremity of the foot. The animal

_ is exceedingly vivacious and free, marching up a glass with sin-

| gular rapidity. It is very abundant alive in the coralline zone,

in 14 fathoms water, off Budleigh Salterton, Devon.

es Rissoa proxima, Brit. Moll.

_ The animal inhabits a thin sordid white shell of four rounded,

| deeply separated, rather oblique volutions, which are, particularly

the body one, closely but superficially spirally striated; the

ducity of the strie renders this species very liable to become

labrous from attrition. The general colour of the external or-

| gans is a brilliant subhyaline white, but, though aspersed with

inute opake snow flakes, the transparency is scarcely impaired.

The mantle is even, and does not emit a process from the por-

tion that lines the upper angle of the aperture. The head when

uiescent is a short subcylindrical rostrum, quite smooth and

unded at the termination; it is not tunicated, lobed, grooved,

nor vertically cloven on the upper part, and on the lower area it

rms a disk, which has not a distinct vertical fissure as in

. parva, but shows a fine crosial incision, which is the ali-

entary orifice, and within it are probably the corneous jaws

d buccal apparatus, but I could not detect them, perhaps from

ing of the hyaline colour of the rostrum, which is so pellucid

as to allow the intenser white canal or cesophagus leading to the

Bitomach to be seen through the walls.

When the animal is on the march it often suddenly evolves

e rostrum to double its usual length, at the same time expand-

g the termination into a large disk or finely dentated flattened

tose, which it throws back on the margin of the upper point of

aperture, and then as quickly withdraws the extension to its

‘usual limits; whether this curious manceuvre is part of the ani-

mal ceconomy, or of the nature of that which is sometimes seen

in the typical Rissoe when disturbed, I cannot determine until

Ne more specimens are observed; at present, I think the action

peculiar to this species.

; 17*

260 Mr. W. Clark on some undescribed Animals

The tentacula are flat, strong, rather short, flake-white, smooth,

gently attenuating and becoming minutely claviform at the tips,

which are each clothed with six comparatively long, intensely

aciculate sete ; the eyes are unusually large, black, and fixed on

minute demi-semicircular lateral excrescences at the external

bases, and are so amalgamated with them as scarcely to present

a prominence. The foot is a curious organ, being large, fleshy,

anteriorly grooved, so as to form a slight labium, deeply indented

in the centre, and produced into large, long, arcuated, pointed |

auricles ; posteally it becomes divided into two long, distinct tails

or streamers, nearly coextensive with the shell in its axial ad-

measurement ;. close to the bifurcation is a small opercular lobe

without a caudal cirrhus, on which is fixed a beautiful white

horny suboval operculum of 4-5 spires ; the two or three first are

small and concentrated, the last suddenly enlarges and closes

the aperture, and is marked with delicate oblique striz of growth.

The neck when greatly protruded is blotched at the sides and on

the top with a claret-coloured red: these marks and the eyes

also, when not exserted, are conspicuous through the tenuity of

the shell. j DIP

This rare animal, of which I have taken seven live examples,

dwells in a muddy-bottomed shelly district of the coralline zone

in Exmouth Bay, eight miles from shore, in 15 fathoms water. ~

This species has occasioned a difference of opinion; some na-

turalists have thought it distinct, others have considered it the

Montaguan R. vitrea in a perfect condition, and looked on his

shell as a specimen denuded of its strie by attrition ; they say that

many of the so-called R. vitrea of the cabinets, when placed under

the microscope, exhibit traces of the striz of the ‘ proxima’: in

this fact they are probably correct, because these smooth examples’

may really be that species; but they are wrong in their conclu-

sions that it is Montagu’s shell, as will appear by the discovery

of a perfect specimen and lively animal of a species, which, I

think, whatever doubts may still exist, must now be considered

the “smooth shell” of that author, long known as the Turbo

vitreus, and which has not the slightest traces of spiral striz.

The present difficulty has arisen from Montagu’s description

either suiting a worn ‘ prowima,’ or the shell I propose to regard as”

the ‘vitrea.’ If I had not made the present capture, I should, like”

others, have judged the two to be different conditions of the

same species; but in the next article I think it will appear that

even the shells of the ‘provima’ and ‘vitrea’ exhibit a slight

but constant variation, and that the animals are very distinct. —

August 14.—I have just taken another lively example of this

species, and I need only remark, that the peculiar gait above

mentioned was less apparent than in the animal already de-

of the British Rissoz. 261

‘seribed ; I therefore am inclined to consider it of that nature

which may be observed in the Rissoe, when in creeping they

arrive at the level of the water, and commence exserting and

retracting with rapidity the buccal apparatus.

In the animal just discovered the curious tails of the foot were

well developed, the angle of separation being about that of the

fore and middle finger of the hand when placed as far apart as

possible. In all the animals I have observed I never met with

_ a similar termination of the main foot.

Rissoa vitrea, Montagu.

_ The animal occupies a pale yellow essentially smooth shell of

43 tumid, though less rounded and more taper volutions, with

shallower sutures than the R. prozima. The general colour

of the animal is very pale dirty white. The mantle does not

a ose beyond the aperture. The head or rostrum is subcy-

indrical, double the length of the ‘proxima, invested with a

tunic to near its extremity, grooved above, emarginate at the

end, forming two minute, flat, symmetrical, arcuated, terminal

_ lobes, vertically cloven beneath as in R. parva; the colour on

both surfaces is a moderately suffused pink, through which the

buccal apparatus is visible ; and when the neck is much exserted

_ it will appear coloured with pale pmk hues. The tentacula are

flat, much longer than in the ‘ prowima, but not clavate like it

. at the tips; they have however the same fine sharp setz at the

Fes

extremities; the eyes are at the centre of the bases of the ten-

| tacula, not raised, nor half the size of those of its congener.

The foot is truncate in front, very slightly labiated, with un-

usually short obtuse auricles ; not bifurcated posteriorly, but has

_ am entire somewhat taper and rounded termination not extend-

ing beyond the second volution: the operculum is fixed on a

'simple lobe scarcely distinguishable from the upper part of the

| foot; it is rather more circular than in the last, species, but,

though paucispiral, the turns are less distinct, the oblique striz

ed of increment coarser, and the colour instead of being clear white

isa dull yellow. All this is different in the ‘ proxima,’

ot _ The examples now described are the only two that have occurred

_ of this rare animal ; it and the ‘zrowima’ were placed in the same

_ glass, and being lively I had good opportunities for comparison ;

the animals are organically different, but I think the ‘ proaima’

_ jis a greater departure from the rissoidean type than the ‘ vitrea’ ;

_ still it will probably remain with the Rissog, though some of the

_ specialties are on the verge of generic deviation. In the remarks

on these species I fear. that conciseness is neglected, but the

- confusion in which they have long been enveloped must be the

262 On some undescribed Animals of the British Rissox.

apology, as without the present close examination, the doubts of |

their identity or distinctness would still have remained, and the

slight though constant difference of contour in the two would b

many be considered accidental.

It may be useful to the shell collector, to the younger student,

and as a memorandum of the remaining desiderata of this genus,

to offer a few short remarks on all the British Rissoe not enu-

merated above. The Rissoa parva, the type, has been described

in the 5th volume of the ‘ Annals,’ N.S. p. 359; I have there

mentioned that the R. rufilabris, R. costulata, and R, interrupta

are varieties of the type, to which I believe I may add the

R. labiosa. The R. inconspicua has been spoken of by Mr. Alder

in the ‘ British Mollusca ;’ I will therefore only say, that havin

examined the animals of numerous specimens of its varieties,

find no marked variation ; they all have the lead-coloured stripes

on the ale and sides of the foot. I have also stated in the ‘ An-

nals,’ N.S. vol. vi. p. 33, that I thought it a coralline zone va-

riety of R. parva; I withdraw that opinion, as I am satisfied of

its distinctness. The animal of the elaborately sculptured R.

striatula, the most elegant of the Rissoe, if it be one, still escapes

observation. I have this summer taken some delicate specimens

in the coralline district, and yet hope to see the inhabitant. |

The R. lactea of Michaud I do not know, but from the figure

in ‘ Brit. Moll,’ I should have judged it a variety of the R. reti-

culata, one of the large, short, tumid shells, and would have

said the same of the R. abyssicola, if it had not been considered

distinct by Professor Forbes. The R. crenulata is the well-

known Turbo cimex, as the R. calathus is the old ‘ calathiscus’ of

authors : neither of the animals are recorded. The R. Zetlandica —

is a well-established northern species, but the inhabitant is un- —

known. The R. rubra is very common alive in certain localities ; —

I have never seen the animal, and can scarcely believe it to be a —

true Rissoa, as the semitestaceous operculum and its apophysis —

are more like those of a Chemnitzia. 3

An account of the R. cingilla has appeared in the ‘ British —

Mollusca.’ The R. pulcherrima, nonnull., is a dwarf, nearly rib- —

less R. inconspicua, which is one of the most variable species in —

form, size and markings. In comparison, care must be taken

not to examine what is called an adult R. pulcherrima with a —

young ‘ inconspicua’ of the same size, but of larger growth, as it

may lead to false ideas of distinctness; adult shells, of whatever —

growth, and in like manner, young shells, must be compared —

together, as the aperture in the two conditions is very different, ©

there being in the young ones always a subangularity, but in~

those with completed peristomes it is nearly orbicular. The

On an Aquarium for Marine Animals and Plants. 2638

R. littorea, Delle Chiaje, is an apocryphal British species ; and

the so-called R. eximia is an undoubted Chemanitzia allied to

C. excavata; 1 have described the shell, the animal being undis-

} covered, under the title of C. Barleecit. The R. ulve and its

_ varieties have appeared in the ‘ Annals,’ N. 8. vol. v. p. 858. I

} cannot speak of the R. anatina and R. ventrosa, not having met

| with them alive. The account of the animal of R. fulgida is

_ published in the ‘British Mollusca’ from my notes; it differs

_ much in the proportionate dimensions of its organs, but there

| is no sufficient generic variation to remove it from this genus.

| At Exmouth it is abundant on the alge of the half-tide littoral

} levels. The Turbo subumbilicatus of Montagu is still in obscu-

rity; it is perhaps a variety of one of the species of the estu-

aries, and if it could be identified, its position would probably

be in this genus. I mention the Jeffreysia diaphana and J. opa-

_lina, because they have recently been styled Rissoe; they ap-

_ pear from several characters to form the passage to the Chem-

| nitzia. I think I have now named every Rissoa.

I conclude this still imperfect monograph by calling on the

naturalists of this branch of science to make it more complete,

_ by searching in their respective localities after the animals which

_ continue to elude our view ; as without the inhabitants of shells,

_ the essential part of this portion of nature is hidden from us.

_ Conchology as a science is little better than the toy of the shell-

fancier ; we can only admit that these persistent forms, inde-

pendent of the animal, are useful as objects of comparison with

some of the antediluvian relics of our globe, as they prove that

_ nature, at least a part of it, existed in the palzeontozoic epochs

as at the present time.

I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

WiiuraM Ciark.

XXIV.—On keeping Marine Animals and Plants alwe in un-

changed Sea-water. By P. H. Gossz, A.L.S.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

Iw a recent Number of ‘Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal’ (July

: 1852) a paper has just been pointed out to me, on maintaining

_ the balance between animal and vegetable life in an aquarium.

_ Mr. Warington, whose experiments are there alluded to, has

264 Mr. P. H. Gosse on keeping Marine Animals and

succeeded in keeping living plants and animals together im

fresh water, and announces that he is ‘ attempting a similar ar-

rangement with a confined portion of sea-water, employing some

of the green sea-weeds as the vegetable members of the cirele,} |

and the common winkle or whelk to represent the Limnee,”||

which in the former case he had found useful in wrgaie the |

slime produced by the decay of the vegetable matter. |

Priority of publication is universally acknowledged to give a

title to whatever honour attaches to a new discovery, and this I

shall not dispute with Mr. Warington. _ I may be permitted to

state, however, that I have for some considerable time been ae

suing experiments on the same subject.

For several years past I have been paying ohenties ta our

native Rotifera, and in the course of this study had kept fresh

water in glass vases unchanged from year to year, yet perfectly

pure and sweet and fit for the support. of animal life, by means

of the aquatic plants, such as Vallisneria, Myriophyllum, Nitella

and Chara (but. particularly the former two), which were growing

init. Not only did the Infusoria and Rotifera breed and mul-

tiply in successive generations in these unchanged vessels, but

Entomostraca, Planarie, Naides and other Anuelides, and Hydra,

continued their respective races ; and the young of our river fishes

were able to maintain life for some weeks in an apparently healthy

state, though (perhaps from causes unconnected with the purity

of the water) I was not able to preserve these long.

The possibility of similar results being obtamed with sea-

water had suggested itself to my own mind, as it has to that of —

Mr. Warington ; and the subject of growing the marine Alge

had become a favourite musing, though my residence in London —

precluded any opportunity of carrying out my project. But —

in the course of last winter, ill-health drove me to the sea-side, —

and gave me the opportunity I had been long desiring. My

notion was exactly that of Mr. Warington, that as plants in a —

healthy state are known to give out oxygen under the stimulus —

of light, and to assimilate carbon, and animals on the other

hand consume oxygen and throw off carbonic acid, the balance —

between the two might be ascertained by experiment, and thus —

the great circular course of nature, the mutual dependence of —

organic life, be imitated on a small scale, ;

My ulterior object in this speculation was twofold. First, 1

thought that the presence of the more delicate sea-weeds (the

Rhodosperms or red families especially, many of which are

among the most elegant of plants in colour and form), growing —

in water of crystalline clearness in a large glass vase, would be a

desirable ornament in the parlour or drawing-room; and that

the attractions of such an object would be enhanced by the

ae ere

Plants alive in unchanged Sea-water. 265

curious and often brilliant-hued animals, such as the rarer shelled

Mollusca, the graceful Nudibranchs, and the numerous species

of Sea-anemones, that are so seldom seen by any one but the

| professed naturalist.

But more prominent still was the anticipation that by this

plan great facilities would be afforded for the study of marine

animals under circumstances not widely diverse from those of

mature. If the curious forms that stand on the threshold, so to

speak, of animal life, can be kept in a healthy state, under our

_ eye, in vessels where they can be watched from day to day with-

out being disturbed, and that for a sufficiently prolonged period

to allow of the development of the various conditions of their

existence, it seemed to me that much insight into the functions

and habits of these creatures, into their embryology, metamor-

_ phoses and other peculiarities, might be gained, which otherwise

would either remain in obscurity or be revealed only by the

wayward “ fortune of the hour.” .

_ Nor were these expectations wholly unrealized. My experi-

| ments, though not yet entirely successful, and needing much

- more attention and time to complete them, have yet established

the fact, that the balance can be maintained between the plant

and the animal for a considerable period at least, without dis-

- turbance of the water; while my vivaria have afforded me the

means of many interesting researches, the details of which I am

_ preparing for the press.

The first thing to be done was to obtain the Algz in a grow-

ing state. As they have no proper roots, but are in general

_ very closely attached to the solid rock, from which they cannot

be torn without injury by laceration, I have always used a ham-

_ mer and chisel to cut away a small portion of the rock itself,

_ having ready a jar of sea-water into which I dropped the frag-

- ment with its living burden, exposing it as little as possible to

the air. The red sea-weeds I have found most successful: the

| Fuci and Laminaria, besides being unwieldy and unattractive,

discharge so copious a quantity of mucus as to thicken and

vitiate the water. The Ulve and Enteromorphe on the other

hand are apt to lose their colour, take the appearance of wet

_ silver-paper, or colourless membrane, and presently decay and

slough from their attachments. The species that I have found

| most capable of being preserved in a living state are Chondrus

erispus, the Delesserie, and Iridea edulis. The last-named is the

_ very best of all, and next to it is Delesseria sanguinea, for main-

taining the purity of the water, while the colours and forms of

_ these render them very beautiful objects in a vase of clear water,

particularly when the light (as from a window) is transmitted

| through their expanded fronds. Many of my friends, both sei-

i *

266 Mr. P. H. Gosse on keeping Marine Animals and

entific and unscientific, who have seen my vases of growing Alge||

at various times during the present year, both at Torquay anc||

at this place, have expressed strong admiration of the beautifu}|

and novel exhibition.

I have not as yet been able to preserve the water to an inde-

finite period. Sometimes the experiment has quite failed, th

plants decaying and the animals dying almost immediately ; but

more commonly, the whole have been preserved in h th for

several weeks. The following notes from my journal give the

particulars of the most successful of my efforts.

On the 3rd of May I put into a deep cylindrical glass j jar (a

confectioner’s show-glass) 10 inches deep by 53 inches wide,

about three pints of sea-water, and some marine plants and

animals.

On the 28th of June following, I examined the contents of the

jar as carefully as was practicable without emptying it, or need-

lessly disturbing them. It had remained uncovered on the

tables in my study, or sometimes in the window, ever since, a

little water only having once been added merely to supply the

loss by evaporation. The water was perfectly clear and pure.

A slight floccose yellow deposition had accumulated on the sides

of the jar, but there was very little sediment on the bottom. I

had taken no note of the plants or animals when I had put them

in; but as none of them had died, and none had been either abs-

tracted or added, the following enumeration gives the original —

as well as then present contents.

There were at this time in the jar the following Alge all in a —

growing state, and attached to the original fragments of rock :— —

Two tufts of Delesseria sanguinea, each with numerous leaves. —

Two of Rhodymenia jubata, one small, the other a large tuft. —

A small Ptilota plumosa, growing with one of the last-named. —

A Chondrus crispus, with

An Ulva latissima, growing parasitically on one of its fronds.

These seven plants had supplied for eight weeks the requisite —

oxygen for the following animals, which were at this time all

alive and healthy :—

Anthea cereus.

Actinia bellis, a large specimen.

bellis, a half-grown one.

—— anguicoma, large.

anguicoma, small.

—— nivea (MS.).

—— rosea (MS.).

—— rosea, a small specimen.

—— mesembryanthemum, young.

mesembryanthemum, young, another variety.

Plants alive in unchanged Sea-water. _ 267

Crisia denticulata, a large tuft.

C ?, young.

Pedicellina Belgica, two numerous colonies.

Membranipora pilosa.

Doris (bilineata ?).

Polycera 4-lineata, very small.

Phyllodoce lamelligera, about 11 inches long.

A coil of small Annelides.

Several Serpule,

Acaride.

Entomostraca.

Infusoria.

Grantia nivea. And other smaller zoophytes and sponges

_ which I could not identify.

Soon after this examination I went on a journey, and did not

_ return till the 7th of July. The weather had set iri very hot:

_ whether this, combined with the closeness of the room, had had

_ any effect I do not know; but on my return I found the water

beginning to be offensive, a sort of scum forming on the surface,

and the animals evidently dying. Some were already dead, but

most of the others recovered on being removed to fresh sea-

water. This result, though it put an end to my experiment at

that time, I do not regard as conclusive against the hypothesis ;

for of course animals are liable to death under any circum-

stances, and the corrupting body of one of these in so limited a

_ volume of water would soon prove fatal to others, even though

there might be no lack of oxygen for respiration. It is possible

that one of the large Actinie may have casually died during my

absence, the timely removal of which might have averted the

_ consequences to the others; but this is only conjecture. Perhaps

there was too large an amount of animal life in proportion to the

vegetable ; but the maintenance of all these in health and acti-

_ vity for nearly nine weeks seems hardly to agree with such a

supposition.

I have always found one of the most unpleasant phenomena

in the experiments to be the appearance, in the course of

_ a few weeks, of greenish or yellowish matter about the sides

of the jar, hindering their transparency. This I have reason

_ to think is the early state of Confervoid plants, for filaments of

green Conferve soon begin to shoot from this accumulation, and

_ would probably choke up the water im time. Mr. Warington’s

suggestion of employing the phytophagous Mollusca to get rid of

_ the accumulating vegetable matter, had not occurred to me ; it

_ is ingenious, and might perhaps obviate this inconvenience. I

had myself observed that the presence of some of the Trochi

268 Mr. W, H. Benson on the genus Cyclostoma,

seemed to be helpful in keeping the water pure, but I did not

know how to account for it. je Ob oe

Should these experiments be perfected, what would hinder

our keeping collections of marine animals for observation and —

study, even in London and other inland cities? Such a degree —

of success as I have attained would admit of so desirable a con- :

summation, for eyen in London no great difficulty would be ex- —

perienced in having a jar of sea-water brought up once in a —

couple of months. I hope to see the lovely marine Algze too, —

that hitherto have been almost unknown except pressed between —

the leaves of a book, growing in their native health and beauty,

and waving their delicate translucent fronds, on the tables of our —

drawing-rooms and on the shelves of our conservatories.

I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, ;

P. H. Gosse. —

Ilfracombe, Sept. 10, 1852.

XXV.—WNotes on the genus Cyclostoma ; and Characters of some 4

new species from India, Borneo, and Natal. By W.H. Benson, —

Esq. =

1. Cyclostoma Nilagiricum, nobis, n. 8.

Testa umbilicata, depresso-turbinata, solida, liris spiralibus 8-9 ma- —

joribus, quibusdam parvis obsoletis insequidistantibus interjectis —

munita, castanea, ad peripheeriam albido-articulata, infra fascia, —

latissima saturatiore, superne strigis radiatis angustis undatis al- —

bidis frequentioribus, subtus rarioribus ornata; spira ad apicem —

exsertiuscula, obtusata ; anfractibus 5, convexiusculis, ultimo ad pe- —

ripheeriam subfaniculato-carinato, superne angulato, circa suturam _

late planato, subtus circa periomphalum excavatum leevi

compresso, umbilico mediocri profundo, subcylindrico; apertura

obliqua, pyriformi-rotundata, aurantiaca, fauce ceerulescente, pe- :

ristomate expanso, incrassato, reflexiusculo, aurantiaco, breviter

adnato, prope umbilicum leviter sinuato, superne angulato, pro- —

ducto, intus sulco intrante impresso. > aa

Diam. major 43-45, minor 34-36, axis 22-24 mill. ed

Hab. ad latus occidentale Montium “ Nilgherries ” teste Jerdon.

This shell was at first supposed to be C. Indicum of Deshayes, —

but proved to be widely different. It is allied to C. Jerdoni, —

nobis, and to C. Ceylanicum, Pfeiffer. Cyclostoma Indicum is

placed by the last-mentioned author between C. validum and —

C. linguiferum, being provided with a linguiform process to the —

lip, near the umbilicus, of which feature, however, no notice is —

taken by Deshayes either in his specific character or in his ex~

tended description. The remark in vol. viii. of the ‘Annals? —

with descriptions of some new species. 269°

p. 193, that C. Indicwm extended its range to the Nilgherries,

requires to be expunged, having reference to the present species,

| Vicinity of Bombay.

The young of C. Nilagiricum preserves its distinctness from

6. Jerdoni in the same condition by its sculpture, colour, the

depression of the spire, the broad flattening observable above the

- shoulder of the whorl, the angulation of the shoulder, the exca-

_ yation of the periomphalum, its compressed angulated edge, and

. _by the blue colour of the interior, which is bordered with chest-

nut in the young, but gradually gives place to the orange of the

| peristome in the adult example of C. Nilagiricum, while the

4 whole of the interior is white in both states of C. Jerdoni. The

q spiral striz are not very conspicuous on the underside of C. Nila-

giricum, and are entirely discontinued at a short distance from

4 the periphery, the region of the umbilicus being smooth. In

most of the allied species the umbilicus and its neighbourhood

are pale, but in this species the dark chestnut ground colour of

| the shell extends over the whole exterior surface where not

_broken by flecks or streaks of whitish. Dr. T. Jerdon procured

it from the forest on the western edge of the Nilgherries, while

C. Jerdoni was found by him to inhabit the north-east face of

_ the same mountain group.

saline

2. Cyclostoma Malayanum, nobis, n. s.

Testa depresso-turbinata, levigata, spiraliter exilissime obsolete stri-

ata, supra castanea, albido undulatim strigata, interdum pluri‘as-

- ciata, subtus albida, castaneo anguste fasciata, infra peripheeriam

fascia latiuscula saturata, albido sparse articulata, ornata; spira

_ exsertiuscula, apice acutiuscula ; anfractibus quinque subconvexis,

_ ultimo rotundato, subtus convexo ; apertura vix obliqua, magna,

circulari, albida; peristomate duplicato, leviter adnato, externo

plane expanso, superne arcuato, labio angusto ; umbilico mediocri,

Seto, subperspectivo.

Diam. major 43, minor 32, axis 29 mill.

Hab. in montibus vallibusque Insularum Penang et Lancavi, necnon

. in Peninsula Malayana. Teste Dr. T. Cantor.

_ This shell, collected by Dr. Cantor, is one of the group which

contains C. Pearsoni, Siamense, Tuba, &c. The peculiarly flat-

_ tened double peristome will at once serve to distinguish it from

_ any of the allied species. The colouring also is of a particularly

_ sober character.

3. Cyclostoma Anostoma, nobis, n. s.

Testa perforata, turrita, tenui, exiliter striata, pallide castanea, apice

acutiuscula albida ; anfractibus septem convexis, ultimo antice bre-

“f

270 Mr. W. H. Benson on the genus Cyclostoma,

viter ascendente, basi rotundato ; apertura ampla, vix obliqua,

leviter sursum spectante, subcirculari, fauce castanea, margine

rufo; peristomate duplicato, tenui, interno continuo, subito ex-

panso, externo plane dilatato, preecipue ad partem columellarem,

vix reflexiusculo. .

Axis 23, diam. anfr. penult. 10, diam. apert. extern. 9, alt. apert. 74

mill. |

Hab. in Insula Borneo.

In form much resembling C. altum of the Philippines, but —

shorter and more rapidly tapering from the base to the summit, —

differing also in tenuity, in the pale apex, the absence of a funi- ©

culate keel at the base, the more convex whorls, and the more —

coarsely striate ultimate volution. The penultimate whorl is not ~

broader than the last, as it is in C. altum; at the same place —

where the channel occurs on the inner lip in that shell there ap- —

pears a very slight indentation. The summit and sneceeding —

whorl are white, as in C. Guldingianum, Pfeiffer. Two slightly —

impressed lines traverse the last whorl spirally in the only spe-

cimen received through Dr. Bacon. They appear to be atcidential E

and have therefore been omitted in the specific description.

4. Cyclostoma quadrifilosum, nobis, n. 8.

Testa umbilicata, globoso-turbinata, sub epidermide hispida, et crebro

oblique lamellata, nitida, spiraliter 4-lirata, interstitiis striis minu-

tissimis spiralibus, alias obliquas decussantibus, munitis, castanea,

superne strigis pallidis distantibus ornata ; sutura impressa; spira

conica acutiuscula; anfractibus 5 convexis, ultimo liris 4 filiformi-

bus instructo, prima supera, secunda ad peripheeriam, tertia infe-

riori, quarta basali; umbilico angusto pervio ; a Hee vix obliqua,

subcirculari, fauce castanea; peristomate duplicato, interiori ad

dextram recto, vix porrecto, ad sinistram expanso, sinuato, intus

leviter incrassato, albido, exteriori expansiusculo, nigrescente, an-

tice superne prorsum arcuato.

Diam. major 6, minor 5, axis 5 mill.

Hab. in Insula Borneo.

The fourth filiform carina, which is present in both specimens

received (the other three being situated as in C. 3-liratum, Pfr.),

the lamelliform epidermis, the spiral strize, the duplication of the

peristome, and the other characters of the aperture, seem to Jus-

tify the distinction of this species from C. 3-liratum, which in-

habits the same island, but which I only know from Pfeiffer’s

description. C. 4-filosum is a little smaller than that species.

The outer lip is separated from the internal peristome by a slight

sulcus. The two upper threads are continued on the penulti-

mate whorl, as in 8-liratum.

with descriptions of some new species. 271

5. Cyclostoma Wahlbergi, nobis, nu. 8.

| Testa mediocriter umbilicata, depresso-turbinata, scabre et acute ra-

} diato-striata, luteo-glauca, epidermide fusca; spira vix elevata,

acutiuscula ; anfractibus 4 convexis, ultimo rotundato; apertura

ampla, alta, rotundata, peristomate acuto; umbilico aperto, pro-

fundo.

Diam. major 14, minor 11, axis 7 mill.

___ This is probably the species which Wahlberg got at Natal, and

which, by some misconception, was attributed to the fauna of

‘South Africa, by Krauss, as C. translucidum, a South American

shell possessed of a calcareous operculum; whereas that of the

“present species is thin and horny. The example described was

collected at Natal, with Bulimus Kraussi, and transmitted to

' Mr, S. Stevens with other specimens of a smaller size.

, Cyclostoma Phenotopicum, Benson, Annals, vol. vii. p. 190.

_ The following characters require to be added to the previous

description of the shell, of which I have received an adult speci-

men from Darjiling :-—

Peristomate verticali, integro, expansiusculo, subreflexo, superne du-

plicato, lamella exteriori ibidem subangulata.

Diam. major 13, minor 10, axis 53 mill.

_ Besides the figure of C. spwraculum, Sowerby, No. 272 of the

‘Thesaurus,’ which is Péerocyclos hispidus (Spiraculum hispidum

_ of Pearson), Sowerby added No. 273, a figure of a small shell,

also from India, which he referred to the same species. It was,

however, destitute of the spiracle and with a different aperture,

_ and was so clearly distinct that it has been referred by several

authors to other species. In the ‘Conchylien Cabinet’ Pfeiffer

Bissigned it, at first, with a mark of doubt, as well as C. Papua,

— Quoy, to C. helicinum, Chemnitz ; although he afterwards saw

reason to distinguish C. helicinum from C. Papua, which he now

iB tefers, together with C. Distomella, Sowerby (a very different

Shell ?), to C. Hebrateum, Lesson. Gray also attributes fig. 273

_ of the ‘ Thesaurus,’ with a mark of doubt, to C. Papua. A glance

at the figure, Conch. Cab. pl. 28. f. 14-15, would at once dis-

; _ pose of this reference; while I have no hesitation in referring

_ the stray form in the ‘Thesaurus’ to an uncoated specimen of

_ C. Phenotopicum, with which its size, form, zigzag markings,

and conformation of the mouth exactly agree.

Cyclostoma constrictum, Benson, Annals, vol. viii. p. 188.

Another specimen of this shell from Darjiling confirms an ad-

_ ditional character for this species, tending still further to show

272 Mr. W.H. Benson on some species of Cyclostoma.

its relation to the more Westerly Himalayan species, C. strangu-

latum, which was alluded to in my former remarks. The follow-

ing character should be added :—“ Callo_suturali retroyerso,

pone constrictionem posito (ut in C. strangulato).” :

Cyclostoma funiculatum, Benson, Journ. Asiat. Soc. 1838.

Specimens received of the young of C. funiculatum, in differ-—

ent stages of growth, show very different forms, which might

cause the shell to be assigned to other species, or even to a dif-

ferent genus, if unaccompanied by the thin horny operculum. —

In the young state, with 54 whorls, the shell is pale horn colour,

with a slight rufous tint, the periphery of the last whorl is an-_

gular, the base slightly convex, nearly planate, the mouth oblong-_

quadrate, the right and left lip nearly parallel, and forming a

right angle, somewhat rounded, with the horizontal base. In

this state, moreover, the shell is perforate. In the next stage, _

with six whorls, the shell has become thicker and more opake, —

the epidermis reddish olive, the periphery of the last whorl more —

acutely angular, the base concave, while the umbilicus is filled ©

up, the mouth is elliptical, and the square base of the aperture ©

has given place to an angular inferior termination, In the adult —

the aperture is rounded, the peristome reflected and thickened —

with an orange enamel, and the periphery of the last whorl is

rounded, and has a funiculate border round the impervious

rimation. The adult C. funiculatum is figured in plate 31 B. of —

the ‘ Thesaurus,’ f. 316-7. y ORATOR

ant

Cyclostoma Aurora, Benson, Annals, vol. viii. p. 186. a

The shell described was an uncoated and worn specimen. The —

following addition will represent the species when perfect:—

‘ Carinarum interstitiis striis elevatiusculis spiralibus obductis, —

rubente, supra strigis castaneis fulguratis, subtus fasciis plu-

ribus, mediana latiori, variegata; epidermide tenui fugace ob- —

tecta. Operculo ut in C. Involvulo.” afi cal

The specimens which have enabled me to make the above cor=

rections were collected for me, at Darjiling, by Mr. Robert Trot-

ter, of the Bengal Civil Service, together with some new forms ”

of Helix, and a new Clausilia, the third species which has been)”

found in Northern India, where the genus is confined to the”

mountain ranges, and appears to have been debarred, by the in=

tervention of the Gangetic plain, from penetrating to the moun- ~~

tains of Central or Southern India, whereas in ultra Gangetic

India the continuous mountain ranges have enabled species to

descend to a low latitude in the Malayan Peninsula. =

On the Habits of the Water-Snail and Stickleback. 278

XXVI.— Observations on the Natural History of the Water-Snail

and Fish kept in a confined and limited portion of Water. By

~ Roserr Waninerton, Esq.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

‘The accompanying observations were thrown together with

_the intention of laying them before the Members of the Natural

History Section of the British Association at their late Meeting

in Belfast, but from sudden and unexpected business engage-

“ments I was prevented from attending, and thus, most unwill-

amgly, obliged to forego the pleasure I had anticipated of dis-

cussing the details of the subject with so many of our leading

practical naturalists as are generally assembled on such occa-

sions. My time also was so much occupied as to prevent my

“copying them, in a readable form, before the Sections closed :

“should you, however, consider them worthy of a place in your

valuable Journal, their insertion will much oblige.

-.” Yours very truly,

Rosert WaRINGTON.

_ Apothecaries’ Hall, Sept. 10, 1852.

| My object in bringing the accompanying observations before

he public is to endeavour to direct, more in detail than I have

herto been able to do, the attention of naturalists, and those

vho take a delight and pleasure in the study of Nature’s won-

derful and glorious works, to a very simple means of easily in-

vestigating the habits and ceconomy of all those numerous classes

animal and vegetable life that are capable of being brought

thin the limited precincts of the small water-cases I have

sewhere described*. And when I state that these observations

have been made by one most ignorant on the subject of natural

liistory, and a perfect tyro in this field of research, as the details

this communication will fully demonstrate; when I mention

so that they have been made at leisure intervals of very short

wation, snatched as an amusement and as opportunities oc-

ed from the weightier matters of professional business ;—I

ope that it may encourage others to follow in the same most

teresting course of investigation, when, aided by a little perse-

verance, they may ensure for themselves an abundant reward.

the matured naturalist I am sure will agree with me in the ar-

gument, that if such observations can be made by those unac-

inted with the subject, and without trouble or inconve-

* Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society, vol. iii. p. 52; and Garden

' a age for January 1852.

_ Ann. & Mag. N, Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 18

274 Mr. R. Warington on the Habits of the Water-Snail

nience, it does offer a means of research which should’ de-

velope some most interesting and important results, and that:

the same principle is capable of being extended to a much larger

scale ; a demonstration of which I believe will be very speedily

exhibited. As regards the growth of the plants employed: in

these miniature ponds, I have already briefly treated in the

‘Garden Companion’ for January last, and shall therefore confine

myself in the present comniunication to the two other membe:

of the circle ; and first— iy yiialeee

The Water-Snail. This important element in all the cases

where the removal of the decaying vegetable matter, or the

growth of Confervee, is necessary, to enable the generality of fish to

live healthily, as must arise in most stagnant waters and ponds,

offers to our consideration some very interesting phenomena,

In commencing my experiments in the early part of 1849, I had”

employed the Limnea stagnalis for this purpose, but was soon

obliged to substitute some less voracious inhabitant for my small”

domain, for I found that as it grew in size its appetite increased _

to an enormous extent, and the plants were punished most.

severely, the leaves of the Vallisneria spiralis being bitten quite |

through ; and if the snails were in too large a number, the whole

of the vegetation was rapidly removed; other varieties of the

Limnea were consequently introduced at an early period, namely

L. auricularia and L. glutinosa, as also Physa fontinalis, Bithina

tentaculata, Planorbis corneus and P. carinata. These last tw OF |

varieties have been found highly serviceable, as from the cor-

nuated formation of their shell and small mouth, the fish can-

not so readily get them out to feed upon. With the LZ. auricu-

laria and L. glutinosa this is easily effected in consequence of:

the large aperture of their shell; and if the fish fails in his

deavours by a sudden attack to shake the snail out, he will attempt —

to suck it from its retreat, as is the case with the gold-fish ; wi

the minnow (Leuciscus Phoxinus), however, it is different, as the

smallness of its size renders this manceuvre impossible, unless.

the snail be very minute; it has recourse therefore to another

and quite as efficient a means of obtaining its object, and I have

seen these beautiful little fellows seize on their prey and shake

it, as a terrier dog would a rat, between a piece of the rocks

work and the glass, until they have broken its thin and delicate

shell to pieces, and having effected this to their satisfaction,

quietly consume their victim. he | chia saa

It will be seen from these facts, that the snails will require tor

be renewed at intervals, particularly as I have previously shown

that the increase of the snaib by its eggs, which are deposited im —

very large quantities, is entirely prevented from the fish con

suming them the instant they exhibit signs of locomotion.

and Fish kept in a limited portion of Water. 275

_ ‘These water-snails have the extraordinary power of moving

ng the surface of the water with great rapidity with their

is downward, the foot being attached as it were to the atmo-

heric air. The Planorbis also can fix itself, without any appa-

nt means of attachment, by its side to the flat surface of the

ass, and will remain thus for several days.

under the impression that they had a power of swimming or

sustaining themselves in the water, as they would rise from the

ttom of the pond, a portion of the rock-work, or a leaf of the

nts, and float for a considerable period, nearly out of their

ells, without any apparent attachment, and by the contortions

d gyrations of their body and shell, move some little distance,

in @ horizontal direction, from the point which they had left. On

‘mnore carefully watching this phenomenon, however, I found they

were attached by a thread or web, which was so transparent as to

de altogether invisible, and which they could elongate in a similar

way to the spider; they also possessed the power of returning upon

s thread by gathering it up as it were, and thus drawing them-

ves back to the point which they had quitted. These facts

e clearly proved in the following manner :—A Limnea stag-

is had glided its way along a young and short leaf of the Val-

ia which terminated below the surface of the water, and

waving reached the extremity launched itself off from it ; after

roving about with a sort of swimming or rolling motion in a

\orizontal direction for some time it lowered itself gradually, and

n effecting this the long flexible leaf of the Vallisneria was bent

with an undulating motion, corresponding exactly with every

_ thovement of the snail, clearly showing that it had a firm attach-

ment to the extremity of the leaf. On another occasion a L. glu-

tinosa gradually rose from the surface of a piece of submersed

; and when at the distance of about 3 or 4 inches from it

“stayed its progress, floating about in a circumscribed horizontal

direction for some time ; at last it rose suddenly and rapidly to

the surface, evidently from the rupture of its thread of attach-

‘ment. The most convincing proof, however, of this fact that I

‘an perhaps adduce, and one that I have often repeated with all

the before-mentioned Limnee, is that when the snail has been

some inches distant from the supposed point of attachment, a

vod or stick has been carefully introduced, and slowly drawn on

one side between them in a horizontal direction, and by this

means the snail can be made to undulate to and fro, obeying

exactly the movement of the rod: this requires to be done very

_ gently, as, if too much force is used, the web is broken, and the

snail rises rapidly to the surface. ae

276 = Mr. R. Warington on the Habits of the Water-Snail

The next subject of interest which I wish to call attention

to is— DSIESG Came

The Stickleback, Gasterosteus leiurus. This most beai 1a

little creature has afforded a subject for much interesting obser-

vation for some time past, and I fear that what I have to offer)

will prove very much a repetition of what has already been pub- 7)

lished on the subject. As however the proceedings and obser- 7

vations of those who dare not rank themselves in the class of)

naturalists, sometimes from their want of knowledge cause circum=)

stances to arise which would not otherwise occur, so in the pre-))

sent case my failures through my own ignorance may develop

some new points in the ceconomy of these small fry. Mr. Edwards)

of Shoreditch, whose London garden pond has afforded much)

interesting matter to many microscopists, informs me, in a note

dated August 27, 1852, that it is about fourteen years since he

first noticed the fact of the stickleback building a nest, guardin

the spawn and defending the young ones: no publication, how=7

ever, of these observations seems to have taken place. Since thi

period, the facts have been published by M. Coste in France in)

1847, and quite lately by Mr. Kinahan*, in a paper laid before)

the Dublin Natural History Society. N18 90. aa

My observations in the miniature ponds commenced in May

1851, when, having received from a friend at Mitcham severa

of these little fish, male and female, the latter being full 6

spawn, they were introduced to their new abode. A curious

scene followed: the male fish immediately took up certain post

tions, the strongest apparently having the first choice, which the

maintained against all intruders, and a species of border warfar

was continually maintained across the proscribed boundarié

of each, and although at times driven out by a fierce attack fror

a stronger fish, yet, immediately the battle had ceased, they re

turned to their previous position, which they defended mos

vigorously. These battles were at times most desperate, fo

these puny combatants would fasten tight on each other fe

several seconds, tumbling over and over, until their strengt

appeared completely exhausted. If there were more fish presen

than there were positions for, they fared most grievously, bein;

driven altogether into one corner of the pond, and from whie¢

they ventured forth only to be driven back again on all sides

where they were continually exposed to the attacks of their com

anions. | ee

The day after they had been placed in their new domain,

strongest of the male fish was observed most busily employe

gathering small ligneous fibres from different parts of the 7

* Zoologist for July 1852. © 2209

and Fish kept in a limited portion of Water. 277

‘aid carrying them in its mouth to one particular spot, where he

appeared to force them into the sand and gravel with his nose.

emg perfectly unacquainted at the time with the fact of this

ttle creature building a nest, I watched him more attentively.

e had selected a spot behind a piece of rock-work, almost hidden

om view at the front of the case and towards the room; but on

looking down from the top of the water I could perceive that he

had already constructed a small hole as round as a ring and with

: d broad margin to it, formed of the materials he had been

so industriously collecting, and on which he appeared to have

aced numerous particles of sand and small pebbles. This

ot he guarded with the utmost jealousy, continually starting

rth from his position and attacking the other fish with most

traordinary fury. The desperate ferocity with which this

fish attacked the others, and the continued turmoil the whole

pond was kept in, determined me to do a most absurd act,

which I instantly afterwards regretted, and my want of know-

ledge of the subject at the time had prevented my foreseeing,

namely to remove this fish from the pond. I therefore caught

it in a small muslin net, and without the slightest trouble,

s he attacked the net the instant it was introduced. But

what was the consequence? No sooner was he removed from

the water than the other fish darted to the spot he had been

protecting, pulled forth a mass of eggs which had been

Jeposited there, and which I had not previously seen, tore it to

ces among them, and devoured it before I had time even to

hake my prisoner out of his confinement ; however, it taught me

a fact in natural history, and it may perhaps be novel to others.

So ended my experience of 1851.

- Now I think it will be evident from what I have stated that these

ges must have been deposited by the female fish, and the nest

ade around them afterwards ; and this I think was also the case

_with the fish experimented on this year by my friend Mr. Gratton,

who had a fine brood of young sticklebacks hatched after fourteen

or fifteen days, the nest being formed immediately after the in-

troduction of the fish.

_ The appearance of the male fish during this spawning period

s beautiful beyond description. The eye is of the most splendid

en colour, having a perfectly metallic lustre like the green

eathers of some species of humming-bird. The throat and belly

are of a bright crimson, the back of an ashy green, and the whole

fish appears as though it were somewhat translucent and glowed

/ with an internal incandescence: his ferocity during this period is

p extraordinary. How so small a creature can bear up so long

under such a state of apparent excitement appears marvellous.

_ Later in the year the colours slightly change, the back becomes

at. Os

278 Mr. R. Warington on the Habits of the Water-Snail

more of a green tint, the throat and belly of a paler red, and. al

the glowing appearance subsides. The female fish is of a brown

colour on the back, the eye also brown and the belly white... _

I now pass on to the present year, when I had the plea- |

sure of seeing the nest built from the very commencement and —

through all its stages. The place selected for the nest was)

the bare flat top of a piece of oolite where it formed a right”)

angle by resting against the glass partition which separated tw

of these ponds, in one of which were kept four minnows. and

two small eels, and in the second the sticklebacks which form the

subject of this observation. In this the male fish commence

gradually to deposit and accumulate his materials. I wil

endeavour to give in detail the exact description of his proceed-

ings while I had the opportunity of watching him, avoiding a

much as possible the repetition of his operations ; for as each loose

fibre or small piece of material was brought singly to the choser

spot, the same routine would be gone through over and ovet

again :—Now he arrives with a large fibre in his mouth, deposits

it, rearranges the whole of the materials, already accumulated,

with his mouth, removing one fibre to this place and anothe

to that, and departs on his search for more. Now he as

carrying a small piece of gravel, which is carefully placed on part

of the fibres as it were to keep them down; he then draws him-

self slowly over the whole and is off again. Now he brings

another fibre, which he dibs in with his snout so as to make i

interlace with the others; then he attempts to interlace in the

same way the fibrous rootlet of a Lemna which is growing above

his head, but which the instant he thinks he has fastened anc

loosens his hold of, rises again by its expanded lobe to the sur.

face ; this fibre appears to be well fitted for his purpose; for he

repeats his attempts to fix it among his gleanings over and oye!

again. Now he is busy making a circular hole in the middle of

the accumulated materials with his snout ; a piece of the fibre is

next taken out from the mass, projected from his mouth, watchec

as it falls very slowly through the water; then, as it proves tot

light for his purpose, it is again seized, carried to some distanee,

and projected away, and he is off to rearrange the remainder, care-

fully tucking in the ends with his snout ; he then draws himse

slowly across the whole and is off again. Now he catches a sigh

of the female fish, pursues her with great rapidity, seizes her bs

the tail and by the lateral spine, but she escapes his grasp amc

conceals herself behind the rock-work. Again he conveys mor

material to the nest, and the next journey is again laden with

another small piece of gravel ; the whole is then slightly she

then compressed, and he is off again; thus he conveys withou

cessation decayed rootlets, gravel, sand, and whatever materia

°° and Fish kept in a limited portion of Water. 279

ean find that will answer his purpose. But I must observe that their

‘specific gravity is continually tested : thus, having found what ap-

"pears a suitable fibre, it is carried a little way, then projected toa

short distance from his mouth and watched as it falls; if it falls

rapidly, it is again seized and carried direct to the nest ; if more

slowly, it is tried again in the same manner ; and if it then proves

piece is found better fitted for his structure than what he has

already obtained, it is rapidly conveyed to the spot ; much altera-

tion in the arrangement of the materials takes place, so as appa-

‘rently to dispose of the new prize to the best advantage, and it

only after continued and indefatigable perseverance that he

succeeds in rearranging them to his wishes. If there should be

“any strong fibre which he has a difficulty in causing to remain

m the position he requires, a small quantity of sand is brought

“in his mouth and adroitly placed on the top of it to keep it down;

‘if this does not effect the purpose desired so as to please him,

“the refractory piece is taken out and rejected altogether. At

‘imes he hangs or hovers close over the surface of the nest and

throws his whole body intoa curious and rapid vibratory motion,

which he causes a rapid current of water to be projected on

e materials as though it were to prove their stability ; and when

this operation is performed, the lighter particles and light mud

are as it were fanned or winnowed out by the generated current,

and may be seen floating away : this operation will also explain

the reason for testing the gravity of the materials before they

“are used. Another very curious operation is the action of draw-

ing his body slowly over the surface of the materials which form

the nest. I believe that at this time he excretes a glutinous

“inatter which acts as a species of cement, and tends to keep the

cere together, at the same time that the pressure of his body

y render them more compact. Or it may be that the whole

surface of the nest is by this action charged with the milt, and thus

e impregnation of the eggs more perfectly ensured, as precisely

é€ same motion is employed after the eggs are deposited, and

m the appearance of the fish it seems to be attended with

leasurable sensations. These two last-described operations are

y frequently repeated.

f during this time any other male fish makes his appearance,

he is chased with the utmost ferocity and driven to conceal

himself in any cranny which he can find; should, however,

another fish be also building, desperate battles ensue whenever

they approach each other’s position, or chance to meet while

collecting their materials.

5 ' The whole time occupied in accumulating these materials. for

_ the nest was about four hours, during which interval a goodly

ar . . .

_ quantity had been obtained ; and a small opening appeared to be

280 Dr. J. E. Gray on a new species of Wart Pig. L «i

carefully constructed near each end of the mass, the use of which

will be now explained. All having been apparently arranged for

the female fish to spawn, and the operations of fanning out the |

light particles, the improving their order, the dibbing in the ends, |

the loading them with additional sand, and the consolidation of

them as described fully effected, and the whole reviewed carefully

for several days in succession, as it were awaiting the coming of the |

female, on her appearance the following curious scene ensued.

The female fish came out of her hiding-place, her attention be

fixed apparently on the nest, when immediately the male bee:

as it were mad with delight ; he darted round her in every dir

tion, then to his accumulated materials, slightly adjusted th

fanned them, and then back again in an instant ; this was repea

several times; as she did not advance to the nest, he endeavoured ~

to push her in that direction with his snout ; this not sueceeding, ©

he took her by the tail and by the side spine and tried to pull ©

her to the spot, then back to the nest, and having examined the ©

two small openings alluded to, he thrust his nose in at the lower ©

and gradually drew himself under the whole of the materials, —|

making his exit at the opposite one, as though to prove to her that

everything was prepared for her spawning. These manceuvres, 7)

however, failed in their purpose ; she examined the nest several |

times ; but the appearance of the minnows, &c. moving about

the other side of the glass partition against which the nest’

been formed, I believe deterred her from depositing her eggs there,

and she afterwards spawned elsewhere. The nest which had costso |

much trouble was ultimately abandoned and neglected, and was |

gradually dispersed by the snails. .

There are several other interesting particulars regarding the

habits of the several fish, &c., which I have had the opportunity

of experimenting with, and which may form the subject of some

future memoranda. I would merely remark in conclusion, 1

I have after many difficulties and failures succeeded in keep

sea-water perfectly clear for upwards of six months, and the

have for the last five weeks had several sea-anemones living i

which at present appear extremely healthy, and the water

not been disturbed for the last fourteen days. My great di

ficulty in the midst of London has been to obtain materials

work with. ,

XXVII.—Description of a new species of Wart Pig from the q

Camaroons. By J. BE. Gray, Ph.D,, V.P.Z.S.

Tux Zoological Society has recently received, from the Camar on :

River in West Africa, a new, and, for the family, a very beautiful -

species of Pig, which appears to be undescribed. It belongs to —

igh

Dr. J. E. Gray on Sauresia, a new genus of Scincide. 28%

the genus Choiropotamus, which is characterized by the males

being furnished with a large bony protuberance on each side of

the face, about middle distance between the end of the nose and

the eyes; both sexes have elongated, rapidly attenuated ears,

ending in a pencil of long hairs; the tail is thick, long and

placed high up the back.

_ The position of the tail and the lengthened form of the ears at

once distinguish these animals from the true Pigs (Sus), which

_ always have a slender tail, and small, hairy, rounded ears.

= e Choiropotami are confined to Africa, while the species of

‘Sus have only hitherto been found in the European and Asiatic

quarters of the world.

_ The Camaroon Wart Pig, Choiropotamus pictus. Uniform red

| brown ; the face, forehead, ears, and some large blotches on the

legs black; the edge of the ears, whiskers, streak over and

under the eyes, and a continued, rather crested streak along the

middle of the back, pure white.

_ Hab. The Camaroon River, West Africa. A male.

_ This is immediately known from the Chotropotamus larvatus

of South Africa by the brightness of the colour, the latter being

black, whitish washed, white on the side of the face, with a large

_ black spot under the eyes. Sus Koiropotamus of Desmoulin

_ without the protuberances on the face is the female of this

species; the African Hog of Daniel’s ‘ African Scenery,’ t. ii.,

being the adult male.

; XXVIII.— Description of Sauresia, a new genus of Scincide from

_ St. Domingo. By J. KH. Gray, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S.

Tuis genus is described from a specimen brought from St. Do-

mingo by M. Salle intermixed with other reptiles. Though

imported by a French collector and bought from Paris, I do

not find any description of it in the second part of the Catalogue

of Lizards lately published by M. Dumeril and his nephew

M. Auguste Dumeril, which contains the species of this family.

It belongs to the well-marked tribe of Diploglossine, charac-

_ terized by the hard, minutely striated scales ; but it differs from

all the genera of that tribe at present known, in having very

_ weak feet with only four rudimentary toes, being in fact the re-

_ presentative of the genus Seps in the other tribes, and forming

_ a good passage between Diploglossus and Ophiodes.

Savuresta. Body and tail cylindrical elongate; limbs four,

short, weak, far apart ; toes 4:4, anterior toes very short, two

middle longest, subequal, interior shorter ; hinder very unequal,

282 Mr.T. C.Eyton’s Account of a Dredging Expedition

interior very short, indistinct, second longer, third longest, 3

fourth moderate, far back. Scales rather thick, broad, 6-sided 4

longitudinally striated. Rostral plates rounded, erect ; su ra-—

nasal plates two pair ; frontal plates two, anterior ‘broad, 6-sided,

posterior elongate, 6-sided ; supercilial shields 3:3. Ears open, |

rounded ; nostril lateral ; loreal shield 3°3 ; lower eyelid i

with a series of erect band-like scales.

Sauresia sepsoides. Gray brown (in spirits), with a broad dark

brown streak, edged above by a narrow pale line on ab fae

upper part of each side of the body and tail. ;

Hab. St. Domingo.

ain - _ em

XXIX.—Some Account of a Dredging Expedition on the yas |

of the Isle of Man during the months of May, June, July and

August 1852. By T. C. Eyron, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.8. gs

Havine been staying at Douglas, Isle of Man, for a’ pat : |

of nearly four months during the past summer, and having a |

small yacht, I have been out dredging, chiefly from off Douglas ~

Head to Maughold Head, weather permitting, pretty constantly

during that period ; it may not therefore be uninteresting tothe

readers of this Magazine to know what the products have been,

more especially to those who may follow me over the same |

ground. Professor Forbes has investigated the fauna of the ©

sea off the island, but his labours have been confined chiefly to

the S.W. coast, while mine, on the contrary, have been on the |

N.E. side of the island. The beds I have been working upon

extend nearly continuously from about a mile and a half off ~

Douglas Head to Maughold Head ; the depth varies from 16 to

27 fathoms. The greatest portion of the bottom is covered ‘with

Nullipore ; on some portions scarcely a live shell is found; other —

parts, especially off Douglas Head, Laxey Point and Maughold 4

Head, abound in scallops and oysters; the former are chiefly —

dredged by the fishermen to set the deep sea line with, and fur- —

nish an excellent bait for many kinds of fish, especially haddock. —

The fishermen generally bait their lines with the scallops: ob- —

tained the first haul, while the dredge is down for another, ~

throwing the shells overboard, which will account to a certain —

extent for the large number of dead shells on the beds. 'The 4

following is a list of the fish I observed while on the island:—

The Haddock, Morrhua Aiglefinus, Cuv. Taken with the” Tong r

lines : is in best season in the winter and spring. 2 4

The Cod, Morrhua vulgaris, Cuv. Taken in the same ks q

as the last. 4

opie q

on the coast of the Isle of Man. , 283

: _ The Bib, Morrhua lusca, Flem. Taken with hand lines) in

_ Douglas Bay.

Whiting, Merlangus vulgaris, Cuv. Douglas Bay.

i : Whiting Pollack, Merlangus Pollachius, Cuv. Taken with

hand lines in Douglas Bay and other places round the island ; it

__ is called by the fishermen the Callack.

The Ling, Lota Molva, Cuv. Taken with long lines.

Rock-Ling, Motella vulgaris. Also taken with the long lines.

The Plaice, Platessa vulgaris, Flem. Taken with the long lines

and also trawling.

The Flounder, Platessa Flesus, Flem. Taken as the last : the

i‘ left-handed variety is not uncommon.

Dab, Platessa Limanda, Flem. Taken as the last.

Band Fluke, Platessa Limandoides, Jenyns. This fish is taken

_ trawling on a sand bed between the Calf and the Irish coast,

and is called on the island the Sand Sole.

Turbot, Rhombus maximus, Cuv. Found of a very large size

s in the Calf Sound ; one was taken while I was on the island 90 lbs.

_ weight, with a long line set at the turn of the tide in the Sound ;

it is also taken trawling.

Brill, Rhombus vulgaris, Cuv. Taken in the same manner as

_ the preceding.

Sole, Solea vulgaris, Cuv. ‘Taken trawling.

Cornish Sucker, Lepadogaster cornubiensis, Flem. Taken com-

: monly among the rocks in Douglas Bay.

Conger, Conger vulgaris, Cuv. Taken with long lines in

abundance.

Sand Kel, Ammodytes Tobianus, Cuv. Common.

Red Gurnard, Trigla Cuculus, Linn.

Grey Gurnard, Trigla Gurnardus, Linn. Both of the last are

taken with lines commonly.

Armed Bullhead, Aspidophorus europeus, Cuv. Taken in a

seine set for salmon.

Father-lasher, Cottus Bubalis, Ruph. Common.

Sea Bream, Pagellus centrodontus, Cuv. Common round the

island : taken with hand lines.

Mackerel, Scomber Scomber, Linn. Common during July and

August.

Dory, Zeus Faber, Linn. Not uncommon.

Spotted Gunnel, Murenoides guttata, Lacép. Common in

puddles among the rocks on the coast.

Ballan Wrasse, Labrus maculatus, Bloch. Taken commonly

with lines 3 it is called by the fishermen the Bolland.

Red Wrasse, Labrus carneus. Taken occasionally with hand

lines, but not so common as the last species.

Salmon, Salmo Salar, Linn. Taken in nets at the mouth of

rivers at Ramsay, Peele and Douglas.

284 Ona Dredging Expedition on the coast of the Isle of Man. :

Salmon Trout, Salmo Trutta. Taken in the same’ eer as

the last species. apt 2

Herring, Clupea Harengus, Linn. The Isle of Man is pee: ;

brated for its herrings, which appear generally on the Peele side —

of the island in June ; towards August they are chiefly found on ~

the Douglas side, but are not considered such good-eating then —

as they are when taken on the Peele side. A very large number —

of fishing smacks, or luggers, as they are called on the island, “are 4

employed in the herring trade ; I have counted upwards of ninety q

within sight at one time from the Calf; there are also several |

carrying-boats employed to take the herrings off for fale to E |

Liverpool and elsewhere. |

Skate, Raia Batis, Linn. Common. )

Sand Ray, Raia maculata, Mont. Not uncommon, bie not qa

so frequent as the last. 4a

Worm Pipe-fish, Syngnathus lubriciformis, Jen. One “speci- 4 )

men taken under stones in Douglas Bay.

The following is a list of the Mollusca dredged up ri

Cyprina islandica.

Cardium serratum.

Venus scotica.

casina.

gallina.

ovata.

Tapes Virginea.

Pectunculus Glycimeris.

Pecten maximus.

opercularis.

varius.

—— Tigrinus.

Pusio.

Psammobia ferroensis.

Saxicava rugosa.

Lima Loscombii.

Osteodesma corbuloides.

Mytilus edulis.

Anomia ephippium.

striatum.

Ostrea edulis.

Dentalium entalis.

Pileopsis hungarica.

Patella pellucida.

vulgata.

Acmeea virginea.

Emarginula reticulata.

Fissurella reticulata.

Trochus tumidus.

striatus. ;

ziziphinus. eur non

granulatus. 2mo2 yniates

magus. Cl S2Gilvi Ss Gare

Trophon muricatum. iG

Strombus pes pelecani.

Cypreea europea.

Var. diaphana. . |

Bulla lignaria: only one broken |

specimen. Ge aan

Murex erinacea. bat tl

Fusus islandicus. FOTO"

antiquus. SiNaG

Buccinum undatum. — esd

Tornatella fasciata. 9

Natica monilifera. ¢ adi ile

Nerita littoralis. io sacend am

Turritella communis. auBi

Chiton fascicularis.

asellus. OE

marmoreus. sf ong

—— ruber. 25198

—— albus. u ehod

Eolis angulata. org Say ipa

—— arenicola. ton Has oe

Linnean Society. 285:

- The following Crustacea were also captured :—

Inachus doryrhynchus. Pagurus cuanensis.

_ —-— tenuirostris. levis.

Pisa tetraodon. Munida Rondeletii.

_ =—— Gibbsii. Galathea squamifera: on the

| Ebalia Pennantii. shore.

_ Hyas coarctatus. Paleemon squilla.

Portunus pusillus. Capsella phasma.

_ Acheus Cranchii. Idotea tricuspidata.

Pilumnus hirtellus. Oniscus oceanicus.

_ Pinotheres pisum. Praniza cerulata.

| Besides the above lists, I have specimens of many other ani-

_ mals which I propose to add in another paper, not having been

_ able to name some of them very satisfactorily at present ; and

also a list of Sponges.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

LINNZAN SOCIETY.

June 17, 1851.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a Letter from Thomas Forster, Esq., M.B., F.L.S., dated

from Bruges, May 21st, 1851, and addressed to the Secretary, con-

taining some observations ‘‘On the present season in relation to

the Migration of Birds and other Natural Phenomena.”

Dr. Forster commences his letter by referring to a passage in

White’s ‘ Natural History of Selborne,’ where it is remarked that

the Swallow-tribe, and particularly the Martins, must suffer great

devastation in the course of their winter migrations, inasmuch as, in

certain seasons ‘“‘the numbers of single birds which return in the

spring bear no manner of proportion to those who retire in autumn.”

Dr. Forster’s Journal, now of forty years’ standing, shows that this

disproportion is greatest in late springs, particularly when accom-

panied with much wet and windy weather. The present season has

been especially remarkable. After a winter the mildest ever re-

membered in Belgium, the spring was cold and showery, and nearly

all the periodical phenomena were later than usual; while many

tribes of plants suffered severely from some obscure atmospherical

influence, apparently referable to the same class of causes which

produce epidemics in the human subject and epizooties among

animals. The Hyacinthus plumosus died off in most gardens, and

also the Muscari racemosus. As soon as the flowers showed them-

selves the stock began to wither and in a few days died away, whole

beds going off in the same way. Great numbers of Tulips perished

in the ground; the leafing of trees was very late; and the Mulberry

had not at the date of the letter shown any signs of budding. The

Swallow (Hirundo rustica) arrived on the (8th of April, and had

286 Linnean Society.

become pretty numerous. The Swift (Hirundo Apus) cain boa ehartal

7th of May, in less numbers than usual. Dr. Forster had not yet (on

the 21st of May) seen the Sand-Martin (Hirundo riparia), which is

usually found in April; and even of the Martin (Hirundo urbica),

usually plentiful at Bruges in the first week of May, the most care

ful search had not enabled him to detect a single bird. The Night-— 4

ingale and Black-cap came to their time, but the Grey Wag-tail —

was not seen until the day of the date of the letter. The remarkable —

scarcity of flying insects, the usual food of the swallows, caused them

to seek for other species, and a naturalist of the neighbourhood had —

assured Dr. Forster that he saw them hunting for their prey on’ —

walls and trunks of trees, like the Creeper, a fact which Dr. Forster

considers as tending to support his opinion of the reasoning

of animals. Up to this time the Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris),

although usually abundant, had not made its appearance; nor had

another constant inhabitant of the gardens, Buprestis nitens, yet been

seen. The large black Cockroach had increased to an alarming —

extent in many of the old houses and on the premises of the bakers. _

Some foreign newspapers had erroneously spoken of the weather as”

fine in Belgium, but there had been only three tolerably fine days —

since the 21st of March, and the average temperature since the 25th” 4

of that month had been 8° Fahr. below the mean. ‘4

Read also, a Memoir “ On the position of the Raphe in Anatropal

Ovules.” By Benjamin Clarke, Esq., F.L.S. &c.

Mr. Clarke believes that this character, which has hitherto at-

tracted but partial attention, is a character of much constancy in the’ —

several families, and therefore deserving a more complete examina- —

tion He states the most usual position of the raphe, when each of”

the carpellary margins bears a single row of anatropal ovules, asin’

Peonia, to be lateral and turned towards the raphe of the ovules of _

the opposite row; and the curvature of the ovule has the same di-—

rection even in cases where the ovule is not anatropal, as in Colutea

arborescens. ‘The position of raphe with reference to placenta is less _

regular where the ovules are more numerous, but in some cases, as

in Gomphocarpus, it is observed to be always next the placenta,

the ovules being pendulous with long funiculi; and in Cuphea and q

Reaumuria also next the placenta with the ovules erect.

It is, however, when the anatropal ovule is single that Mr. Clarke

believes the position of the raphe affords the most important cha-

racters, and he proceeds to consider the various relations which it

bears to the placenta under six different heads, as follows :—

1. Ovule pendulous ; raphe turned away from the placenta. ~~

2. Ovule pendulous ; raphe lateral. ia

Ovule pendulous; raphe next the placenta.

Ovule erect; raphe turned away from the placenta.

. Ovule erect ; raphe lateral. a

. Ovule erect ; raphe next the placenta. 1

. The pendulous ovule, with the raphe turned away from the gmat

conta; was first observed by Mr. Brown, and afterwards figured and”

rm o> SUB Co

ye Linnean Society. 287

_ described by Dr. Schleiden as “‘ ovulum spurié pendulum anatropum,

_ raphe aversa.””. Mr. Clarke finds it to be of more frequent occur-

rence than is generally supposed; it is found among Endogenous

plants, not only in Typha and Sparganium, but also in Chamedorea

legans (the ovule of which is, however, not completely pendulous) ;

and Zannichellia and Potamogeton show a decided tendency towards

it by the direction to which the ovule curves. He considers it a

principal argument in favour of its being frequent at least, if not

constant, in Endogenous plants, that it occurs in those groups by

means of which the Endogenous and Exogenous divisions approach

each other, as in Aroidee and Piperacee, and in Ranunculacee and

Alismacee. As Exogenous plants, in which the raphe is averse, he

_ instances,—1. Ranunculacee (when the ovule is pendulous); 2. Ne-

| lumbium; 3. Malpighiacee (in those genera in which the funiculus

_ is next the dorsal rib of the carpel); 4. Coriaria; 5. Rhus Towico-

_ dendron, and not improbably Anacardiacee generally ; 6. Huonymus ;

_ 7. Visnea; 8, Pennantia, which he thinks should perhaps be referred

_ to Olacinee; 9. Chenopodiacee ; 10. Amaranthacee; 11. Parony-

_ chia capitata (in the three last cases the ovule is not completely in-

| verted, being campylotropal, but the direction of the curvature is

_ such, that were the inversion complete, the raphe would be averse) ;

f 12. Plumbaginee ; 13. Laurinee ; 14. Aucuba; 15. Calycanthus (in

_which the ovule at the base is erect with the raphe next the placenta,

and the upper one or two ovules are bent away from the placenta so

_ as to become nearly horizontal, showing a tendency to ruphe aversa) ;

16, Belvisiee?; 17. Dipsacus sylvestris; 18. Galenia and Tetra-

gonia; 19. Fumaria officinalis (which shows at least a decided ten-

dency to the same structure in having the radicle beneath the hori-

_ zontal seed and turned to the hilum). Mr. Clarke adds, that he has

_ examined numerous cases where the carpel when single is anterior,

and has not yet met with any examples of this character, except in

the instances of Dipsacee, Tetragonie and Fumaria. He notices

some remarkable variations in the position of the raphe in the ovules

of Visnea Mocanera, both when solitary and when there are two;

and concludes this section by some observations on the question

_ whether the campylotropal ovule of Amaranthacee, &c. (in which

__ the embryo subsequently formed is turned towards the placenta) is

_ acharacter equivalent to the pendulous anatropal ovule with raphe

aversa. ‘That it is so, he thinks proved by the examples of Statice

and Plumbago, the structure of which he describes and compares with

that of Gomphrena and Philoxerus; and he adduces the instances of

_ Trianthema on the one hand, and Galenia and Tetragonia on the other,

aswell as certain genera of Sapindacee, in which the embryo is more

or less curved, to show that there is no absolute distinction between

anatropal and campylotropal ovules.

2. The pendulous ovule, with the raphe lateral, is a character of

frequent occurrence; it was particularly noticed and accurately

figured in Cornus and Marlea, in Sir W. Hooker’s ‘ Journal’ for

May 1850. Mr. Clarke has hitherto observed it in only two in-

stances in which the carpel may be considered as anterior, viz. in

288 Linnean Society.

Goniocarpus and Valeriana ; but it is nearly so in Trichocladus, and.

probably also in Morina. He has not yet observed it among Endo-

genous plants. Of its occurrence among Exogenous plants, he enu-—

merates the following instances:—1. Malpighia, and other genera

of Malpighiacee, in which the funiculus (representing the raphe) i

constantly lateral; 2. Suriana, as figured by Prof. Lindley; 3. Tew;

4. Halesia; 5. Viburnum ; 6. Acrotriche; 7. Myoporum; 8.

cera (sp. loculis uniovulatis) ; 9. probably i in the 1-seeded rie wae

Oleine; 10. Thesium. ‘This section concludes with some observa-—

tions on the variation from raphe aversa to raphe lateralis, which —

sometimes occurs in the same family, as in Cornee and Malpighiacee, —|

which Mr. Clarke believes to offer an explanation of the variable re-_

lation of the ovule to the funiculus, which is common to both Iile-—

cebree and Chenopodiacee. if

3. The raphe next the placenta is well known as the most ordinary

position in pendulous anatropal ovules, and Mr. Clarke only suggests

the inquiry whether solitary ovules having this character ever occur —

among Endogenous plants. 0.18 |

4. Of the erect ovule, with the raphe turned away from the placenta,

Mr. Clarke has met with only three instances, two cf them occur- 7)

ring in cases where there are two ovules. These are Penea fruti-

culosa and Calytrix virgata, in the latter case less completely averse :

than in the former. The principal instance, however, is that of |

Composite, where the raphe in four or five genera examined was ~

always found to correspond with the anterior angle of the ovary, |)

That the anterior is the fertile carpel in Composite Mr. Clarke thinks ~

is shown (in addition to the arguments previously adduced by him) |

by the fact that in Aster Sibiricum, he has always found the ovule ~

to arise more or less distinctly from the posterior side of the ovary, |

and that the same circumstance occurs, although less distinetly, in

Centaurea nigra. In such Cichoracee as he has examined, he has |

found the raphe for the most part or always lateral; but as he Te-n @

gards the carpella of this division of Composite as being right and —

left of the axis, he concludes that the position of the ovule might be

expected to be different. The position of the raphe in Berberis vul-

garis is occasionally next the placenta, but more frequently tends

be averse from it. a

5. The character of ovule erect, with the raphe lateral (first ob- | 4

served by Mr. Bennett in Rhamnee, and by him attributed to a torsion —

of the funiculus), obtains to a considerable extent among Exogenous _

families. It occurs regularly in Stilbe pinastra, and generally in —

one-seeded fruits of Berberis vulgaris; but in two-seeded fruits of

the latter the raphe is removed from the placenta and placed nearer —

to the dorsal rib of the ovary. In Vitis, on the contrary, wheth Kf

with one- or two-seeded cells, the raphe is always next the placenta. ~

Ina species of Justicia, with two ovules, placed one above the other _

and quite erect, the raphe is lateral ; but in Mendozia, with a similar —

placentation, it is apparently next the axis. As other instances of _

lateral raphe with erect ovules Mr. Clarke cites Eleagnus orientalis Fe

Calamus viminalis, and Trianthema decandra, the direction of the cur-

Linnean Society. 289

_yature in the embryo of the latter béing regarded as analogous to

the position of the raphe in the two former.

'6. The position of the raphe next the placenta is well known teh

_ be the ordinary condition in erect anatropal ovules, and on this head

e author enters into no details.

‘Mr. Clarke then proceeds to consider the causes by which these

differences in the position of the raphe may be produced.

_ 1. He adopts the opinion (first demonstrated by Mr. Brown) that

asingle ovule pendulous with raphe aversa is the result of an erect

ovule pressed or growing downwards from the elongation of the

avity of the ovarium in that direction, while its upper part remains

“stationary; but suggests that it is only when an erect ovule has the

raphe properly next the placenta that it has raphe aversa, when it

thus becomes pendulous. And looking to their affinities, he thinks

it not improbable that all pendulous orthctropal ovules should be

referred to the same cause.

2. He believes that a single pendulous ovule with the raphe lateral

is an ovule originally extending horizontally from the placenta with

the raphe lateral, as in Ranunculacee and Cucurbitacee, and sub-

sequently pressed downwards as in the former case.

_ 8. He maintains that a single pendulous ovule with the raphe next

he placenta is the only true pendulous ovule, with the exception of

pendulous campylotropal and amphitropal ovules with the foramen

{and subsequently the radicle of the embryo) turned away from the

placenta.

4. He conceives that one or two erect ovules with the raphe turned

away or obliquely away from the placenta result from pendulous

vules pressed upwards by the elongation upwards of the cavity of

the ovarium; and adduces in support of this opinion the pendulous

ovules of Geissoloma contrasted with the erect ovules of Pena, the

erect ovules of Calytriz compared with the pendulous ovules of the

eighbouring families, and the pendulous ovules of Calyceree@ com-

ared with the erect ovules of Composite, provided further observa-

on should substantiate his belief that in the last-named family the

aphe is really turned away from the placenta. Such ovules he

ould term spurié erecta, in contradistinction to the opposite case

which Sprengel has applied the term spurié pendula.

5. He considers that a single ovule erect with the raphe lateral is

_ # horizontal ovule spontaneously growing or pressed upwards by the

orresponding development of the ovary ; in proof of which he cites

he fact that Trianthema micrantha has two seeds in a horizontal

‘position, with the radicle lateral, while T. decandra has two erect

eds one above the other, with the radicle also in both cases

6. He considers one or two erect ovules with the raphe next the

lacenta (which seems general in Endogenous plants, and is frequent

‘all the divisions of Exogenous) as for the most part truly erect ;

although this position may sometimes be derived from horizontal

‘ovules pressed upwards or spontaneously growing erect, the funi-

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x.

290 Linnean Society.

culus becoming at the same time twisted so as to bring, peg

into relation with the placenta. ott too

. Mr. Clarke then proceeds to illustrate the importance of these]

characters in a systematic point of view, as regards different families

usually regarded as nearly related. He states that Thymelee differ

from Laurinee in having the raphe next the placenta, and —

same difference of relation occurs in Sanguisorbee and Amyge

In all the Urtical Orders with pendulous ovules the raphe is next

placenta, or if campylotropal the direction of the curvature is equiy

lent, and the radicle of the embryo is turned away from the placentas

while in the Chenopodal Orders with pendulous ovules the radicle is

either turned towards the placenta or placed on one side of it. Th }

characters thus indicated may also, he thinks, tend toa more natural

distribution of the Orders related to Rhamnee, Rutacee and Sapin-

dacee. He refers also to the differences in this respect existing be.

tween Berberis and Ranunculacee, Hedera and Cornus, Cinchonacee

and Composite. He states that Hrythrorylon differs from Matpigiad

acee in having the raphe next the placenta; and Selago in a similai

manner from Myoporum and Stenochilus, in which the raphe is lateral.

Scleranthus also differs both from Il/ecebree and Tetragonia in sash ving

the radicle turned directly away from the placenta. ved

In conclusion, Mr. Clarke observes that while raphe aversa 2

raphe lateral occur in several instances in the same family and pose.

sibly in the same genus (as the vertical and horizontal positions o of

the seed in Chenopodium appear to be equivalent characters), yet

raphe aversa, or even raphe lateral, and raphe next the placenta

not known to occur in the same family—pendulous ovules only be

understood. And also, that as far as his i inquiries go, raphe next |

the placenta in pendulous ovules is unknown in Endogeanm pla |

roy

November 4.—R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair. 7

Read a communication from J. Couch, Esq., F.L.S., reeordi

the discovery on the Coast of Cornwall of a species of Onchid

allied to O. Celticum, Cuv.

' These mollusca were found by Mr. Couch in great abundance on

a confined space of rocks at West Coombe, in Lantivet Bay, between |

Polperro and Fowey, congregated in small groups about a foot or

two from the surface of the sea, where the waves break over ther =

ascending and descending with the tide so as constantly to mainta

nearly the same relative position. When wholly immersed (in a

attempt to preserve them alive) in a bottle of sea-water, om

not survive the day.

Read an Extract from a Letter addressed to the Preside

by W. K. Loftus, Esq., the Naturalist attached to the Turco-Pers

Boundary Commission, dated at Kerrind, Persia, August 6th,’ hee ‘

In this locality, the neighbourhood of which abounds in plants p

ducing foetid gums, Mr. Loftus, acting on Mr. Brown’s recommien ;

dation, had procured several different kinds, of which, and of th 2

Linnean Society. 291

plants producing them, he gives some particulars in his letter.

‘T'wo of these belong to the genus Dorema, Dou; and a third, de-

rived from a plant, which Mr. Loftus regards as belonging to the

_ tribe Sileride, is called in Kurdish “beeje.” The three gums have

the same general properties, and grow on a limestone soil, at the

elevation of from 5000 to 7000 feet. Large quantities of gum are

_ also produced by the wild Almond, a species of Astragalus, and the

_ Pistacia vera, which grow abundantly in the same neighbourhood ;

and there is, moreover, a kind of thistle, which exudes honey, espe-

cially from the bud, on being pierced by a species of Rhynchophora.

‘Mr. Loftus proposes to resume his observations, as his party pro-

e Breeds northward, in the course of the ensuing summer.

November 18.—R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Adam White, F.L.S., exhibited, on the part of J. H. Gilbert,

_ Esq., Ph.D., of Harpenden, near St. Albans, a portion of a wooden

cistern lined with lead and perforated with numerous holes by the

_ Anobium striatum, in relation to which he entered into a detailed ac-

Y count of the circumstances in wiich it had occurred. In this case

_ the cistern, which belonged to Mr. Curtis, a brewer of Harpenden,

was made from an old fermenting tub, which had become much

worm-eaten on the outside. In 1838 it was lined with thin lead

(of 5 Ibs. to the square foot); but in little more than three years it

began to leak, when some small holes were discovered in the lead

_ and were soldered over. In 1842, however, the leakage had increased

_ to such an extent that the leaden lining was removed, and a thicker

_ one (of 18 Ibs. to the square foot) was substituted. Five or six

_ years afterwards, however, the leakage again commenced ; and in

_ 1850 it had proceeded to such an extent that the cistern was entirely

removed to make room for one of iron. On taking out the lining

_ it was clearly ascertained that the perforations from which the

_ leakage arose were the work of an insect, which, after boring through

_ the wood, had made its way also through the leaden lining. A spe-

_ cimen sent by Dr. Gilbert to the British Museum was determined

_ by Mr. White to be the Anobium striatum ; and similar instances of

injury to wooden cisterns lined with lead were referred to as detailed

in Mr. Westwood’s ‘Introduction to the Modern Classification of

_ Insects,’ in the ‘ Zoologist,’ and in the ‘ Proceedings of the Ento-

_ mological Society.’

z Read the commencement of a memoir ‘‘ On two Genera of Plants

_ from the Cordillera of Chili.” By John Miers, Esq., F.R.S.,

_ FLAS. &e.

_ December 2.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.

Read the conclusion of Mr. Miers’s memoir ‘‘ On two Genera of

_ Plants from the Cordillera of Chili.”

Both these plants were collected by Mr. Miers in his rapid journey

_ over the Cordillera in 1825. The first belongs to the tribe of Hrio-

_ gonee, from all the known genera of which it is distinguished by its

19%

292 Linnean Society.

very slender ramifications, which are in every axil dichotomou

divided, the solitary involucre on a lengthened capillary. pedice

springing from the middle of each bifurcation, and by the propo on

of its floral parts. The author gives his reasons for regarding the

floral envelopes in Polygonee as constituting a calyx and corolla :

which, in all described Hriogonee, have a ternary arrangement with

9 stamina and 8 styles; but the present genus differs in the quater-

nary disposition of the envelopes, accompanied by 8 stamina ang

4 styles. He had at first regarded it as entirely undescribed,

characters of Oxytheca, as given by Mr. Nuttall in the ‘ Journal o

the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia,’ 2nd series, vol. ic

p- 169, deviating widely from those observed by himself on the Chi-

lean plant; but the examination of a specimen of Oxytheca from Mr. ©

Nuttall himself, in Sir W. J. Hooker’s Herbarium, has convinced

him that, notwithstanding these apparent discrepancies, his plant is”

referable to the same genus, the characters of which he is compelled. F

to modify as follows :— ata a

Oxyrueca, Nutt. a

Cuir. Gen. Involucrum 3-5-florum, tubulosum, subtetragonum, “i me-

dium 4-5-partitum ; laciniis subzequalibus, acutis, longissimé aristatis,

Flores hermaphroditi cum masculis interdum intermixti, pedicellati,

bracteati, subexserti, demim cernui. Sepala 3-4, petaloidea, equalia,

oblonga, unguiculata, valdé imbricata. Petala 3-4, sepalis alterna et”

subsimilia, tenuiora, glabra, imbricata, et cum illis persistentia. Sfa-

mina 6-8, e summo gynophoro orta, inclusa, 3-4 alterna brevio

sepalis opposita ; filamenta filiformia, apice inflexa; anthere rotun

date, cordate, dorsifixe. Ovarium ovatum, 3—4-gonum, ‘stipitatum

petalis tertio -brevius, 1]-loculare; ovulo basilari, erecio. Styli 3-4,

breves, erecti, demiim divaricati ; stigmata capitata. Achenium I-sper-

mum, ovale, 3—4-costatum, sepalis petalisque emarcidis areté tectum.

Semen loculum implens; testa membranacea. Embryo spiralis, anti-

tropus, intra albumen farinaceum inclusus; cotyledonibus cochleato-

rotundis, foliaceis, accumbentibus ; radiculd illis tripld longiore, : tereti-

subulata, hemicyclicd, apice recto verticem spectante.—Herba sujfru-

ticulose Californice et Chilenses, Andicole, sesquipalmares, valdé ra-—

mose; ramis gracilibus, in qudque axilld 2-3-chotome divisis; fo

radicalibus congestis, lineari-subulatis, caulinis bracteiformibus, awitla

ribus, ternis, basi connatis, hinc breviter vaginantibus ; involucro.

pedunculato e qudque dichotomié orto; floribus minutis, sigillatim pi

cocioribus ; pedicellis basi bractea lineari, aristatd, breviore donatis.

OxyTHECA sPICULATA, dichotomé ramosa, ramulis gracilibus divarice

glanduloso-pilosis, foliis radicalibus congestis spathulato-linearibas _

utrinque pilis eglandulosis asperis, pedunculo axillari capillaceo, i invo-

lucri dentibus 4 aristd acuformi longissima armatis, floribus 4 man A

staminibus 8, petalis rubentibus apice patentibus.

HTab. in Andium Chilensium descensu Orientali, inter Mendoza et fas.

cagua, circa rivulum S® Marie, altitudine 8000 ped.

The other genus described by Mr. Miers is a nearly apbyllous

shrub, with straight, erect, virgate branches, terminating in spines,

and belongs to the family of Bignoniacee, from some of the usual

characters of which family it offers, however, a striking deviation,

the ovarium being simply bilocular, with a few ovules suspended am

Linnean Society. 298

two faces of the dissepiment, and the fruit forming a small oval

rupe, containing a single osseous indehiscent nut, which is l-celled

; y abortion, and contains only a single pendulous seed entirely filling

_ its cavity, and consequently quite apterous, oval, with a smal] thick

_ superior radicle and two plano-convex fleshy cotyledons. This was

iscovered by Mr. Miers on the skirts of the eastern declivity of the

_ Andes, near Mendoza, on the margin of the desert tract called

“La Travesia,” where it was also found by Dr. Gillies. Its cha-

acters are as follows :—

Oxyciapus, Miers.

~Cuar. Gen. Calyx gamophyllus, 5-dentatus, persistens. Corolla gamo-

_ petala; tubo cylindrico, calyce 2-3-plové longiore, vix gibbo; limbo

brevi, 5-lobo, subbilabiato, lobis rotundatis; labio inferiore 3-lobo, lobis

paululéd majoribus, superiore bilobo, in zstivatione imbricativA semper

exteriori. Stamina 5, corolle lobis alterna, quorum 4 didynama,

quinta superior brevissima ananthera; 2 inferioribus longioribus faucem

attingentibus, 2 lateralibus illis tertio brevioribus; filamenta paulld

supra basin tubi inserta, filiformia, glabra; anthere rotundate, reni-

formes, cordatz, 2-lobz, connectivo dorsali cordiformi adnate et buic

in medio loborum anticifixe, lobis ovalibus divaricatis auticé lon-

gitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium oblongum, pilosum, glandula

annulari brevi 5-loba glabra cinctum, 2 loculare; ovudis in quoque

loculo circiter 6, superné per patia collateralia, e aepUnane nervo

longitudinali seriatim appensa. Fructus subbaccatus, calyce immutato

clausus. Nux ovata, acuta, 4-sulcata, apice 4-denticulata, 1-locu-

_ davis, l-sperma. Semen loculo conforine, latere superiori funiculo

_brevi appensum ; testa chartacea, favoso-reticulata ; endopleura mem-

branacea. Embryo exalbuminosus ; radiculd superiori, crassf, apice

mamiileeformi ; cotyledonibus illa triplo longioribus, ovatis, plano-con-

_ vexis, valdé crassis.—Arbuscula Mendozensis, vix non aphylla, spinosa,

ramosissima, glaberrima ; ramis nitidis, erectis ; floribus paucis, aggre-

gatis, parviusculis; corollA cerulescente.

OxycLabus ApayLtus (Vv. v.).

_. Hab. prope Mendoza, ad pedem Orientalem Andium Chilensium.

Vernac. Ala.

"For the reception of this curious genus, Mr. Miers has found it

necessary to constitute a new tribe of the Order to which it belongs,

which he subdivides as follows :—

BIGNONIACE.

Prib.1, Bicnontee. Capsula dehiscens, 2-locularis, 2-valvis ; seminibus

_ humerosis alatis compressis, dissepimento utrinque affixis. Embryo

‘cotyledonibus complanatis foliaceis.

‘Trib, 2. Cruscentizx., Fructus drupaceus, lignosus, 2- vel plurilocu-

_ lavis; seminibus numerosis alatis v. compressis. Lmbryo cotyledoni-

bus compressis carnosis.

_ Trib. 3. Oxycuavem. Fructus drupaceus, nucem unicam 1-locularem

_indehiscentem includens; semine solitario suspenso rotundato. Z£m-

- | bryo vadicula superiore ; cotyledonibus magnis feré hemispheericis car-

{ ; ;

/ 22 onosis,

bs 3

- Figures of both genera with detailed dissections accompanied the

294 Linnean Society.

December 16.—R. Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a Letter from Mr. Hogg, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c., to the Secre- q

tary, recording the capture of two species of Pipe-fish (Syngnathus) q

during the last summer, the one near the mouth of the river Tees,

the other in that river near Middlesborough, by the same person, a ~

fisherman of Stockton. ‘The first of these, Syngnathus Typhle, L., —

measured 153 inches in length, and the formula of its fins, which —

differs in the descriptions of Donovan and Jenyns, was as follows :— ~

D.39; C. 10; A. (rubbed off); P. 13? The second, S. equoreus, L.,

was 174 aches long; its dorsal fin had thirty-nine rays; and the

caudal fe was obsolete, or rather rudimentary, the rays to the

number of three (or perhaps four) being inclosed within the ae of |

the body; the tail was flattened at the extremity.

Read also, a ‘‘ Note on the Natural History of Shetland, shy “By

Adam White, Esq., F.L.S. &c. |

In this note, after referring to Dr. Hibbert’s researches into the “|

mineral riches of Shetland, to Dr. Fleming’s contributions to its 7)

zoology, to Mr. Dunn’s interesting work on its birds, and Mr. Hewit- ~

son’s investigation of their eggs, and to the fruitful results of the —

dredgings of Mr. Barlee, Mr. M°Andrew and Professor Forbes, by |

which so much has been done to increase our knowledge of the |

living inhabitants of its surrounding seas, Mr. White expresses an 7

opinion that the zoological riches of the coasts of Shetland will be ~

found to equal, if not to surpass, those of the Firths of Forth or of ©

Clyde, and even of the coasts of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall them-_

selves. He refers to the two principal rarities in the flora of these

islands (the Arenaria Norvegica, Gunner, and Ajuga pyramidalis, L. 54

and concludes by announcing the discovery by himself of a Lapland —

species of Humble-bee, new to the British fauna, which occurs not “|

uncommonly in his brother’s garden at Lerwick, is still more fre-

quent in that of Mr. Bruce of Sandlodge opposite Mousa, and seems

even more abundant in Unst. This was immediately recognized by —

Mr. Frederick Smith as Bombus arcticus of Dahlbom ; but asa species -

of Bombus had been described by Kirby under the same specific name ©

in the Appendix to Capt. Parry’s First Arctic Voyage in 1822, and

consequently ten years before the publication of Dahlbom’s species, —

Mr. White proposes to name the latter Bombus Smithianus. He

adds that, in accordance with Kirby’s rule in his ‘Monographia Apum —

Angliz,’ he would have preferred the specific name of Smithiellus, —

as indicating that it was named after a describer and not merely a

collector, but he has felt himself compelled to adopt the name of

Smithianus to prevent the possibility of confusion with another

species of the family of Apide to which the name Smithella has be 4

applied.

Read further a memoir “‘ On the Forest-Trees of British Gurineind

and their Uses in Naval and Civil Architecture.” By Sir Robert |

H. Schomburgk, Ph.D. &c. 4

This memoir had been read at the meeting of the British Associa 4

Linnean Society. 295

_ tion at York, in October 1844; but as only a simple notice of this

q reading had appeared in the Reports of the Association, the Secre-

_ tary (in whose hands Sir Robert Schomburgk had placed it) thought

. it desirable to read it again before the Linnean veteran in order that

many of them Sir R. Scheniborck has been enabled to add their

_ scientific designation.

Souari, Sewarri or Sewarra (Pekea tuberculosa, Aubi.). Of large

r ‘size and very abundant; excellent for ship-building, mill-timber and

_ planks, and may be ébtnined from 20 to 40 feet long, and from 16

I to 20 inches square.

Siruaballi, Sirwaballi, Siverballi. There are four varieties or per-

_ haps species of this tree, which belongs to the family of Laurinee.

_ They are distinguished as black, brown, yellow and white Siruaballi.

_ Its spicy smell and bitter taste preserve it from the attacks of worms,

_ either in or out of water, on which account it is in great request for

_ planking colonial crafts.

Dakumballi. Grows on the side of rivers, and is not much used.

_ Marsiballi or Accuribroed. A tall straight tree, but not of large

' size. Wood hard and strong, but not very durable when exposed

_ to alternations of wet and dry weather, for which reason it is only

j Bed in house-framing and inside work. When dried it is frequently

used for torches.

Turanira or Bastard Bully-tree. ‘Tall, straight, of large size, and

abundant on the banks of the Demerara River. Makes good planks

and framing-timbers for inside work, but is not durable when ex-

posed to the weather.

_. Suradani or Suridani. Plentiful and of large size; principally in

ie request for planks and timbers of colony crafts, It is of a light red

colour.

— Kautaballi or Kutaballi. Grows chiefly on the sand-hills which

form the first elevations on receding from the sea-coast. Very hard,

‘and much used for beams and inside work, but not durable when

exposed to the weather.

_ Cakaralli or Kukaralli. Mostly found on rising ground along the

banks of rivers, and belongs to the tribe of Lecythidee. Its straight-

‘ness and large size (from 30 to 40 feet long and from 6.to 14 inches

square) would qualify it for masts or spars for colony crafts ; but its

heaviness militates against this use. It is very durable and chiefly

used in house-framing ; but as it is said that barnacles do not attack

‘it, it is also employed in wharfs, &c. The bark is easily stripped off,

and consists of numerous layers, which the Indians separate by beat-

ing with a stick, and the author has counted as many as seventy of

‘these layers in a strip of bark. When separated they have the ap-

pearance of thin satin paper; they are dried in the sun, and used as

wrappers for cigars.

_ Simaruba, or Sumaruppa (Simarouba amara, Audl.). Grows on

hill-sides to the height of 50 feet, branching and somewhat crooked,

296: Linnean Society.

The wood resembles white pine, both in colour and quality, and.

makes good boards for inside work. A decoction of the bark, which |

is intensely bitter, is considered an excellent remedy in dysentery :

and other complaints of the bowels, and is much used — aa

Indians, y)

Yahou. Grows in valleys in rich soil, and is much used for the.

staves of casks, &c. cere

Wallaba (Eperua falcata, Aubl.). In great abundance alos he

banks of rivers, reaching 40 feet in height, and being often 2 feet i in

diameter. Bark reddish brown, with a thin white sap, enclosing a—

wood of a deep red colour frequently variegated with whitish streaks. |

It is hard, heavy and shining, and impregnated with an oily resin, 7)

which makes it very durable both in and out of water. It splits very —

easily, and is consequently generally used for palings, shingles and

vat-staves, and also for posts and uprights in framing. The bark, ~

which is somewhat bitter, is a good emetic, which is tauch used ang .

the Arawak Indians in a decoction. S|

Curahuri or Kuruhuru. ‘Tall and straight. Wood used rs framing, f

boards and planks. 5 |

Curana, Samaria, Acuyari, Mara, or Cedar- Wood (Icica eltiinitinsl

Aubl.) ; two varieties, as they are considered by Aublet, one haying

red wood and the other white. The Red Cedar is found only in the ~

interior, growing to 60 or 70 feet and even higher, and from 4 to

5 feet in diameter. It has a strong aromatic smell, and is much in ~

request for inside furnishing, bookcases and shelves, as it is found

to preserve books and papers from injury by insects, and is also

light, easily worked and not liable to split. its great height would —

qualify it for masts, and the Indians prefer its trunk to that of any

other tree for preparing their canoes. One of those employed by

the author during an expedition into the interior, which was 42 feet

long and 5} feet wide, was hollowed out of a single trunk of this’

tree, and was found at the end of four years’ service, having pre

viously been much used, to be as sound as when bought for the ex- —

pedition, although it had been in both fresh and salt water, and —

hauled over land and cataracts in the interval. ‘ot

Itaballi or Copai-yé of the Macusi Indians (Vochy Guicnehain

Aubi.). From 50 to 60 feet high, and from 2 to 2} feet in diameter, —

Wood hard, but not very durable when exposed to the weather

chiefly used for inside work, staves for sugar hogsheads, boat-oars, —

&c. Flowers of a beautiful yellow, highly odoriferous and. bag, j

ornamental. rere

White Siruaballi. A tail tree ; wood much lighter than the rose q

Siruaballi previously mentioned, but not so much esteemed. :

Curata-yé of the Macusis (Curatella Americana, L.). A crooked 4

tree, seldom more than 12 feet high, with crooked and tortuous —

branches, and a thick rough bark which frequently peels off in large

flakes. The crooked branches are much used by the Indians for

their canoes, and might serve for military saddles. It grows only —

in the Savannahs of the interior. The leaves, which are scabrous, —

Linnean Society. 207°

e used by the Indians like sand-paper to polish their blow-pipes,

yws, war-clubs, &c.; and the blow-pipe being called Cura, the tree

has thence received the name of Curatakié.

im: Burracurra, Paira, Letter-wood, or Snakewood (Piritanera Guia-

“nensis, Aubl.). This tree, which is very scarce within several

‘hundred miles of the sea-coast, is often from 60 to 70 feet high, and

from 2 to 3 in diameter. The bark is of a dark grey, and when

wounded exudes a white milk. The outer part of the wood is white

and very hard; the heart (which i in the largest tree scarcely exceeds

6 or 7 inches in diameter) is of great weight, hardness and solidity,

of a beautiful deep red, variegated with black spots of different size

and figure, which give rise to its name. It is susceptible of a bril-

liant polish; but the small size of the mottled part, and its great

value even in the colony, limits its use almost entirely to veneering

“to picture-frames, to some smaller pieces of furniture, and to walk

“ing-sticks. The Indians form it into bows more for ornament than

se. At the foot of the Canuku Mountains near the river Rupu-

uni, at the Upper Essequibo, and Corentyn, it is still plentiful ; but

Il these places being several hundred miles from the sea-coast, it is

both difficult and expensive to convey it to the colony. There ap-

_ pears to be a variety, the heart of which is not mottled, and this the

Bindians are said to prefer to the other for their bows.

_ Wamara. A scarce tree, attaining a great height, but the only

part used is the heart, which is dark brown and often streaked. Its

hardness and weight cause it to be preferred by the Indians for their

‘war-clubs ; it may be had from 6 to 12 inches square, and from 20

40 feet long.

"used for inside work.

' Curahara or Kurara, Plentiful and of large size; and its dura-

_ vility, and not being liable to split, recommend it chiefly for timbers,

knees, &c. for schooners. It is alsomuch in request for mill-rollers,

‘mill-timbers and planks of every description.

_ Yarura, Porreka-yé, or Paddle-wood (Aspidosperma excelsum,

_ Benth.). ‘The lower part of the trunk juts out in tabular projections,

forming cavities or compartments like the Mora, which serve the In-

dians as ready-made planks, principally for the construction of their

_ paddles. ‘The trunk itself has the appearance of being fluted, or as if

it consisted of numerous slender trees grown together along their

whole length. The author states that he knows only of one other

similar instance among the forest-trees of British Guiana; in this

latter case the tree produces berries, while the fruit of the Yarura is

a follicle containing several suborbiculate winged seeds, attached by

along funiculus. ‘The wood of the Yarura is light, elastic, and not

apt to splinter ; it might prove useful for gun-carriages, bulwarks of

vessels of war, &c.; and might also, on account of its lightness, be

employed in floats or paddle- wheels of steam-vessels. It is much

in request for rollers in the cotton ginning machines, for which pur-

pose it is superior to any other wood in the colony.

Purple. heart, or Mariwayana (Copaifera pubiflora, Benth,, and

nO an OS ee

c Pane

298 Linnean Society.

Cop. bracteata, Benth.). Rather scarce in the Coast Region, bein:

found in the mountainous tracts above the Cataracts. Theres

several varieties or species, but all much alike, possessing —

strength and elasticity, and used for furniture, on account poshia

their colour and durability. Used also for mortar-beds, being sup .

rior to any other wood in sustaining the shocks produced by th

discharge of artillery. The author was assured by Col. Moody, R.E.,

that the Black Green-heart and the Purple-heart were the only

woods that stood the test as mortar-beds at the Siege of Fort)

Bourbon, in the Island of Martinique. One variety (Cop. bre ay |

is very common in the Savannahs near the rivers Rupununi, Takutu

and Branco ; but this is of small size compared with the others. The

natives use the bark taken off entire with the ends sewn nee ‘

and strengthened by a slight frame-work for river canoes.

Mapurakuni or Maipayé. The bark is used by the Indians fe

colouring their arrow-points and pottery, as it produces a fine re

colour when steeped in water and mixed with Currawéru. It Pe

large forest-tree. - a

Burueh, Bully, or Bullet-tree (Mimusops sp.). <A tree of the ©

largest size, often 6 feet in diameter, and having the trunk destitute 7

of branches nearly to the top. Leaves, branches and trunk prc

ducing a whitish milk; fruits the size of a coffee-berry, and. when

ripe very delicious. Wood extremely solid, heavy, cldeaigeandl

and durable; dark brown, variegated with small white apes

chiefly used in house-framing, for posts, floors, &c., as the v

has but little influence on it, but also esteemed the most valuabl » |

timber for the arms, shafts, &c. of windmills. It squares from 20 to ©

30 inches, and may be obtained from 30 to 60 feet long. In salt or

brackish water it is sure to be attacked by the worms. A tree cut

down by the author at Cuyuni, measured 67 feet to the first merged

and thence to the top 49 feet—in all 116 feet. “eg ae

Payou-yeh (Etaballia Guianensis, Benth.). A tree growing only |

near the Upper Essequibo and very abundantly along the Rupunum: ne |

and Takutu, the heart of which is highly ornamental, but not = )

than 6 inches in diameter, and very subject to holes. . i. |

Maipurému (Vantanea Guianensis, Aubl.). Wood very nition: tor

worms, and not likely to become of much use; but the tree presents

a beautiful appearance with its large clusters of pink flowers, and is

even more remarkable for its drupaceous fruit, which is furrowed like”

our peaches and almonds, and is cut in half by the Indians to. fun

ornaments, chiefly for the children.

Camara, Camacusack, Makoripong, or Ackawai-Nutmeg (Acrodicli- ’

dium Camara, Schomb. ). Timber most like the Siruaballis, aromatic

and bitter, and consequently resisting worms and insects. Trunk

40 or 50 feet high, with a circumference of 8 to 10 feet, and apt

(like the Yarura and Mora) to form tabular projections at the lower

part. Chiefly prized for its aromatic fruit, which is considered one

of the most efficacious remedies in colic, diarrhoea and dysentery.

Greenheart, Sipirt (Nectandra Rodixi, Schomb.). The brown

Greenheart is one of the most useful timber-trees of the colony, and

Linnean Society. 299

is found in great abundance within 100 miles of the Coast Region. It

grows to the height of about 60 feet, and is generally used for house-

frames, wharfs, bridges, piles and planks. Within the last twenty

years a large quantity has been imported into Liverpool and Green-

ock; and it has been even asserted that in strength and durability

it is superior to English oak, than which it commands a higher

rice. In times of scarcity the Indians obtain from its fruit, grated

and macerated in water, a fecula which is mixed with the rotten

wood of the Wallaba-tree, pounded, sifted and baked into bread, in

like manner with the Cassava. In the bark and also in the fruit,

Dr. Rodie of Demerara has discovered a substance which forms an

excellent substitute for quinine, and to which he has given the name

of bebeerine. The black greenheart appears to be a mere variety.

_ Cartan-yeh of the Macusi Indians, Pao da Rainha of the Brazilians.

Apparently restricted to the Savannahs in the neighbourhood of the

rivers Rupununi, Takutu, Branco, &c. ‘The Brazilian name is de-

rived from the red colour of the wood, which resembles that of the

Brazil-wood of Pernambuco, to which the same name (Queen’s-

wood) is applied. It reaches a height of 80 to 100 feet; and being

easily worked and of a handsome colour, promises to become of great

interest to cabinet-makers. It was used by the author during his

sojourn in Pirara for temporary tables, and the large size of its

planks induced the military commandant to construct of it a tem-

porary bridge across the river. ‘The leaves are impari-pinnate, the

flowers papilionaceous, and the fruit a samara with a prickly capsule,

the wing being from 4 to 5 inches in length*.

_- Sarabadani. Much used for furniture. It grows to a large

size, and is chiefly found in swampy soil and along the banks of

_‘Yivers.

Ducaballi, or Guiana-Mahogany, is very scarce, and is almost re-

_ garded as superior to mahogany, whence it is chiefly employed for

2 furniture and commands a high price.

_. Waranana, or Wild Orange. A large timber-tree, which grows

_ chiefly along the banks of the rivers Pomeroon, Supinama, &c.

_ Much used for boat-oars and staves for sugar hogsheads. Its fruit

_ resembles an orange, but is not eatable.

Ducaliballi. Grows to a pretty large size, but is not plentiful ;

_ the trunk is about 40 feet high, but seldom exceeds 20 inches in

_ diameter. Wood deep red, finer, more equal and more compact than

_ mahogany, and like the Ducaballi much used for furniture. Takes

_ a fine high polish, and resembles or perhaps is identical with the

Brazilian Beef-wood.

Haiawaballi, or Zebra-wood (Omphalobium Lamberti, Dec.).

Grows to a large size, but is very scarce. Wood of a light brown

_ with darker stripes, and considered the handsomest furniture-wood

_ of the colony: it is easily worked and makes beautiful bed-posts.

_ Hubaballi. A light brownish wood, beautifully variegated with

_ black and brown streaks; easily worked, takes a fine high polish,

ef * From this description of the leaves, flowers and fruit, the tree is probably

_ Centrolobium robustum, Mart.—Sercr. ;

800 Linnean Society.

and makes beautiful furniture, and cabinet-work of every description.

May be had from 6 to 15 inches square and from 20 to 35 feet long.

It is by no means scarce, but is much subject to holes, which fre=

quently render it useless. H rome

Simeri, or Locust-tree (Hymenea Courbaril, L.). A tree of larg

size and plentiful throughout Guiana, often attaining from 60 to

80 feet in height and 8 to 9 feet in diameter. ‘Trunk destitute of

branches nearly to the top. Wood close-grained, of a fine brown, ~

streaked with veins, and well adapted for mill-timbers, as it does no

split or warp. A good deal of it is sent to England to be used as”

trenails in planking vessels, and in beams and planks for fitting up ©

steam-engines : it has also been found to answer well for the frames, —

wheels, &c. of spinning machines. The Indians and Negroes are ©

fond of the farinaceous saccharine pulp enveloping the seeds. ‘The ©

gum, which resembles Copal, and produces an excellent spirit-

varnish, is found about the roots of the old trees a few inches unde

the surface of the ground, and occasionally also exuding from the

trunk. edigiige |

by the coach-makers, in consequence of its elasticity and tou

ness, the best material for chaise or gig shafts. : fabs:

Black Greenheart is only distinguished from the common Green-~

heart by the colour of the wood, but is so scarce in proportion to |

the brown, that not more than one in twenty of the trees cut down’ 7

are found to belong to this variety. The wood is in great request in

the island, being preferred to all others, on account of its well-known

durability, for windmill-shafts, spindles and mill- work in general. ~~

Tiaka cr Itekitibouraballi (Macherium Schomburgkii, Benth.).”

Wood much used for furniture: it has streaks of black and brown —

throughout, the outer part being pale yellow. It is not scarce, but”

rarely squares to more than 14 inches, and is very subject to heart-

shakes. Its purple flowers have the odour of violets. =

Ebony, or Banya. A large tree of fluted surface and uneven —

growth, the heart of which (seldom more than 8 to 10 inches square) —

is alone used: it is black, heavy, hard and strong, and generall q

used by the Indians for their war-clubs. HS et

Mora (Mora excelsa, Benth.). ‘Che most majestic tree of the’

forests of Guiana, towering over all the rest and often route the

oast

height of 120 feet. It is abundant along the rivers of the

Region, and extends as far south as lat. 3° N. ‘The wood is close, ©

cross-grained, and difficult to split: it is considered by the most

competent judges to be superior to oak (as it is not subject to dry- —

rot) and the very best wood that can be procured for ships’ times q

It may be obtained from 10 to 20 inches square, and from 30 to 40 —

feet long; and its branches having a tendency to grow crooked it

affords natural knees, while the trunk may be used for heel "Baas .

and planking. A full account of this useful tree was published by —

Mr. Bentham in the Society’s ‘ Transactions,’ vol. xviii. p. 207.0)

Linnean Society, . 301

‘January 20, 1852,—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair,

Mr. Yarrell, V.P.L.S., communicated the following particulars of

the growth of a Cedar in the garden of E. B. Johns, Esq., at Bishop’s

Stortford, Herts, and planted by him in the year 1832, when it was

turned out of a 32-sized garden-pot. It is growing in a mild brick

hh, and its present measurements (December 1851) are as fol-

Ws :—

< ft. ins

POOL. cj ccadeycin seus sucht Fae dred dahias ttle aban 51 0

BUIBEM BL CDG PASC us 6 sv cisnn thy caen doNeSecvEduchs shires bicens GO

five feet from the ground.........csecseseeseeees 6 6

ten feet from the ground ..........cscecsserscess 6 0

fifteen feet from the ground.......... epoeeeasens 5 0

- Length of branches from the trunk to the points ...... 22 0

Read a ‘‘ Note on the occurrence of an Eatable Nostoe in the

' Arctic Regions and in the Mountains of Central Asia.’ By J. D.

Booker, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. pemembanies by a communica-

tion from the Des, M. 7 Berkeley, F.L.S., on the same subject.

_ Dr. Hooker states that on the return of Captain Penny’s Expe-

dition from the Arctic Regions, Sir W. Hooker received from Mr.

Sutherland a small collection of Cryptogamic plants, among which

as one, apparently referable to Nostoc commune, which he de-

ribed as being found in great abundance upon the floating and fixed

e in Wellington Channel, occurring in detached masses drifted

about by the wind, forming the only vegetable production of any im-

portance over many square leagues, and affording shelter to Podure,

ith other Crustacea and some insects. In the neighbourhood of

heir winter quarters on Cornwallis Island, lat. 75° N., long. 95° W.,

was so plentiful that it might be taken advantage of as food, and

prove a material addition to the resources of the country in cases of

extreme want. Mr. Sutherland added that he had eaten handfuls

of it on several occasions, without any inconvenience; and although

it was generaily infested with swarms of the larvee of flies and gnats,

as well as with myriads of very active Podure, he considered it much

more nutritious and agreeable than the ‘tripe de roche,” and per-

haps not inferior to ‘‘ Iceland Moss.” On showing the plant to

Dr. Thomson, he drew the attention of Dr. Hooker to a very similar

lant which occurs in great abundance in Western Thibet, floating

large masses on the surface of pools and lakes in soils impregnated

with carbonate of soda, and of which heaps are drifted by the winds

pon their banks. It occurs as high up as 17,000 feet, and is of a

green or pale purple colour; and this too appeared to Dr. Hooker

belong to Nostec commune. Samples of both were forwarded to

Mr. Berkeley, whose notes to the following effect were also laid

before the Society.

'_Mr. Berkeley states that he has been unable to find any account

of the chemical constituents of Nostoc. ‘The chemical condition of

such species as he has been enabled to examine, under the influence

of iodine and sulphuric acid, seems to vary not only in the different

species, but in individual specimens, and even in parts of the same

302 Linnean Society.

specimen. In some the gelatinous matter and the chains oO!

spores assume a more or less deep tint of violet, indicating that the

greater portion consists of cellulose, perhaps in some cases partially

changed to dextrine by the action of the sulphuric acid; while ir

other cases the prevailing tint is yellow-brown, indicating rather

bassorin. No purple tint occurs where merely iodine is used, an¢

the change therefore is not due to the presence of amylum. In fre: h

specimens of Nostoc commune, the spores assume a beautiful green

tint, which is probably due to the combined tint of the yellow pro-

tein contents of the cells and the blue cellulose of which their wal

is formed. In the Arctic specimens and in English Nostoc commune

the bassorin tint prevails, while in specimens from Thibet (probably

Nostoc salsum, Kiitz.), gathered by Dr. Thomson, in pools of water

where the soil is covered with an efflorescence of carbonate of soda,

cellulose is indicated, but with every intermediate shade. Mr. Berke-

ley has, however, found that in woody fibres which in bleachin

have been exposed to salt water, a deeper purple tint is assumed that

when they have been bleached by rain water, so that something may

possibly be due to the peculiar place of growth of the Thibetan

species. In Nostoc edule the yellow-brown tint is stronger than in

any other specimen examined; but it is scarcely probable that any

very constant chemical characters will be found to prevail in the |

different species. In either case there would be a very — us .

food, and one from its gelatinous condition probably easily a |

lated. The habit of the Arctic species is exactly that of Nost

commune, and Mr. Berkeley would not hesitate to regard it as iden-

tical, if there were no other difference than a little increase in the |

relative size of the threads of spores ; but in parts of the fronds the

chains are surrounded by a distinct gelatinous envelope, presenting

an appearance somewhat similar to that of toad-spawn, which is bev

visible in a transverse section. Ata later period, when the chains ©

are ready to break up at the connecting joints, no trace of this en ‘ |

velope is to be detected, and the plant then exhibits the true cha-—

racters of Nostoc. It appears indeed, from the remarks of Thuret,

that when the threads of Nostoc are ‘first generated from the large

connecting bodies, there is really such an envelope ; but this exists |

in Nostoc, as far as is at present known, merely in the infant state ;

and consequently if the genus Hormosiphon is to be retained, the

Arctic species must be regarded as belonging to it, for no such

pearance has been detected by Mr. Berkeley either in dried or freshly-

gathered specimens of Nostoc commune. It is possible that more

extended observation may show that this character is not of the

consequence attributed to it by Kiitzing; but in the mean time Mr.

Berkeley characterizes these specimens as— e

ee EE

Hormostrvon arcricus, foliaceo-plicatus viridis vel fuscescens, filis d

miun (gelatina diffusa) liberis. Re:

Fronds foliaceous, variously plicate, sometimes contracted into a

little ball. Gelatinous envelope at length effused ; connecting cells

at first solitary, then three together; threads (which are nearly twice

Linnean Society. 303

us thick as in Nostoc commune) breaking up at the connecting cells,

so as to form two new threads, each terminated with a single large

cell, the central cell becoming free. Of these threads and of their

gelatinous envelope Mr. Berkeley gives figures.

With regard to the Thibetan Nostoc, Mr. Berkeley adds that a

ecies of this genus, as is well known, is a native of ‘Tartary and is

eaten abundantly in China. ‘There is a box of it, sent by Mr. Tra-

descant Lay, in the Museum of the Linnean Society; and mention

is made of it by M. Montagne in the ‘ Revue Botanique,’ ii. p. 247,

as having, in the form of a soup, made part of a dinner given by the

Mandarin Huang at Macao, to several members of the French Em-

assy. ‘The Mandarin described it as a freshwater plant, growing

Tartary in streams and running water, and sold at Canton in

small boxes: it is highly esteemed by,the Chinese, and not very ex-

“pensive. At this time M. Montagne regarded the species as Nostoc

ceruleum, but specimens sent him by Mr. Berkeley proved it to be

‘distinct, and it was afterwards published in the ‘ Revue Botanique ’

“under the name of Nostoc edule, Berk. and Mont., and figured by

‘Kiitzing in his ‘ Tabule Phytologice.’ In the last-named author’s

Species Algarum,’ it is said to have been gathered by Gaudichaud,

who, although a great traveller, was certainly never in Tartary,

The Thibetan Nostoc, like the Arctic, is probably quite as good as

the Tartarian. After some further notes on the chemical changes

oduced in this plant and in Nostoc commune when treated with

iodine and sulphuric acid, and a reference to a passage in Kiutzing’s

* Grundziige der Philosophische Botanik,’ where he speaks of these

; plants as consisting in great measure of gelacin (a substance belong-

ing to the same category as bassorin, and perhaps a modification of

it), Mr. Berkeley concludes by stating that a thin slice of gum tra-

_ gacanth, treated with iodine and sulphuric acid, assumes after a time

the same tint as the Nostoc. He believes, however, that starch is

_ often present in gum tragacanth, which is not likely to be the case

with the Nostoc; and thinks we may safely assume the jelly of

Nostoc to be a state of bassorin, passing into cellulose or dextrine.

February 3.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

| Read a Paper entitled ‘‘ Further Observations on the genus An-

thophorabia, Newp.” By George Newport, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c.

The author stated that having had the good fortune, in September

e last, to rediscover, at Gravesend, the parasite Anthophorabia, which,

_ twenty years ago, he found in the nests of Anthophora, at Rich-

_ borough in Kent, and an account of which is given in a former paper

P Proceedings,’ March 20, 1849, vol. ii. p. 24), he felt it necessary

: fs offer a few additional observations on this genus; since one of the

most remarkable peculiarities of the male sex, the possession of three

" stemmata on the vertex, and of a single stemmatous eye on each

4 B hide of the head, instead of the usual compound one of perfect insects,

_ had been repeatedly denied to be a fact; the denial being printed

_ in the ‘ Proceedings’ of the Society for May 1, 1849, vol. ii. p. 37.

304 Linnean Society.

At the time the author described this genus it was well known that

he possessed only delineations of the insect, which he had made i

the year 1831 ; at which time the insect occurred in great abt ind es

and as he then expected to have been able to obtain it at pleasure, at

neglected to preserve specimens of it. He now showed in the in-

sect itself the stemmatous eyes which he originally stated it to pos:

sess, and consequently that the denial which had been given to thi

fact had been uncalled for. He felt it but right, however, to ment ion

that there were points of minor importance in the description orig a

nally given of the genus which admitted of some revision. ‘Thes

referred to the number of joints in the antenne, the club of which

is formed of a plurality of closely united rings, instead of being but ta

a single joint. The tarsi, too, of both sexes, may be regarded either 2

in the way usual with entomologists, as being formed only of Sour

joints, or, if anatomically considered, as he had originally described

them, as of five joints, the terminal joint being short, soft and pad

like, and usually discarded by entomologists as a distinct joint,

which, nevertheless, it is.

With respect to the asserted identity of Anthophorabia with anoth

parasite, Melittobia, described in the ‘ Proceedings” for May 1, 184

vol. ii. p. 37, the author showed that this could not be the case,

the latter insect has been described correctly, as the account ther

given of Melittobia differs greatly from the facts exhibited by Aatho-

phorabia. The characters of this genus he now proposed to revise

as follows :—

Fam. CuaciDIpz.

Gen. AntuorHorasBiaA, Newp.

Fem. Caput \atitudine thoracis.- Antenne 9-articulate, pilose ; otha

3tio ad 6tum subzequalibus ; reliquis clavam solidam ovalem efforman-

tibus. Thorax abdomenque equales. Tursi (4-2) 5-artieulati in utro=

que sexu; articulo 5to minimo, molli, pulvillo simili, feré obsoleto.

Mas. Caput magnum. Oculi stemmatosi. Antenne 10-articulate ;

articulo Imo globoso, minutissimo; 2do arcuato, magnoperé dilatato, —

dimidio anteriore subtis excavato; 3tio magno; 4to adhue majore,

globoso v. subangulato; 5to 6to 7moque minimis, eyathiformibus ;_

8vo 9no 10moque auctis, clavam solidam ovalem efformantibus. dle

abbreviate. RY

As the specimens found at Gravesend present some specific cha-_

racters which were not observed in the insects formerly obtained

Richborough, the author proposed to name those which he n

possesses, provisionally, in the event of their proving to be a ne

species :— oe

A. rasciata, Mas. Fulva, fasciis 5 transversis abdominalibus satu

tioribus, antennarum articulis anterioribus oculis prothoracis i

posteriore maculdque subalari utrinque in mesothorace nigrescenti

pedibus subarcuatis robustis ambulatoriis, trochantere femorumque p

secundi parte terminali subtis spinulis minutis densé barbatis, t

tarsisque omnibus fortiter spinosis.—Long. lin. 1. sisege ars

Fem, Nigro-enea nitida, lineis 2 longitudinalibus in mesothorace seutello=

que albidis, abdomine ovali elongato acuto fasciis transversis satorae

Zoological Society. 305

tioribus pilis albidis marginatis, oculis rufescentibus, pedibus flavescen-

_tibus, femoribus saturatioribus, tibiis rectis elongatis pilosis, tarsis pi-

‘losis fortiter spinosis.

. in nidis Anthophore retuse apud Gravesend in Comitatu Cantiano,

Phe author then gave some account of the habits of the males and

nales, which he had seen emerge from the nymph state, and re-

arked that out of about one hundred and fifty specimens of perfect

ts and nymphs obtained from one bee’s nest, he had only found

ven males. Having placed about one hundred females in a small

ss tube closed, as he thought, securely with a cork, he was sur-

ed at the end of a fortnight to find that nearly the whole had

aped, by insinuating themselves into slight fissures in the sides of

cork, between this and the glass. From this circumstance he

iow disposed to think that the habit of the female is to penetrate

nto the bee’s nest, after this has been closed, and deposit her eggs

the nearly full-grown larva within; as a few weeks after the

ipe of these females he discovered three individuals in an open

of Anthophora which contained a nearly full-grown larva, and

vhich had remained nearly close to the glass tube from which the

Anithophorabia had escaped. Two of these individuals now appeared

to be in the act of oviposition. He noticed also on the same bee-

inva some larve of the parasites in different stages of growth; so

wat he regards the species as an external feeder, like the larva of

Monodontomerus. ‘

Specimens of the male and female insects were exhibited at the

eting.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Dee. 10, 1850.—Prof. Owen, V.P., F.R.S., in the Chair.

THE Marine MOoLivuscaA DISCOVERED DURING THE

Voyaces or tHE Heratp anv Panpora, sy Capt.

Ketrert, R.N., ann Lizut. Woop, R.N. By Proressor

~ Epywarp Forses, F.R.S. erc.

Out of 307 species of shells collected by the voyagers, 217 are ma-

i Gasteropoda, 1 is a Cephalopod, and 58 marine bivalves. The

senera of which species are most numerous are—Murex, Purpura,

Trochus, Terebra, Strombus, Conus, Columbella, Littorina, Oliva,

“prea, Natica, Patella, Chiton, Venus, and Area. Among the

e local genera represented in this collection are, Monoceros,

udoliva, Cyrtulus, Saxidomus, and Crassatella. The specimens

usually in very fine preservation. Many of the species are rare or

The localities at which they were chiefly collected were the coast of

athern California, from San Diego to Magdalena, and the shores of

zatlan. Unfortunately the precise locality of many of the individual

mens had not been noted at the time, and a quantity of Poly-

esian shells, mingled with them, have tended to render the value of

collection as illustrative of distribution less exact than it might

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 20

306 Zoological Society.

have been. A few specimens of considerable interest were taken by

the ‘Herald’ at Cape Krusenstern. The new species are all from the _

American shores. There are no products of deep-sea q

As many of the following new forms are from the coast of Maz.

zatlan, Mr. Cuming, whose experience and advice have been: taken,

and magnificent collection consulted in drawing up this report, has_

considered it desirable that some undescribed shells contained in hit

collection, from that region, should be described at the same time.

TROCHITA SPIRATA, Sp. NOY. silt Hee a

T. testd conicd, fusco-purpured, longitudinaliter radiato-sulcatd,

sulcis numerosis, prominentibus, subrugosis ; anfractibus 6, angus-

tis ; lamind internd spirali, depressd, magnd, margine undulato. e |

Diam. 2,85, alt. 1445 une. ;

A very handsome | species of this group, allied to Calyptrea sor.

dida of Broderip, and differing from the well-known T. trochiform

in having very much narrower and more numerous whorls, as hap

in its internal colouring. It was procured at Massaniello, in

_ Gulf of California.

Trocuus CASTANEUsS. Nuttall, MSS. oe

T. testd late-conicd, crassd, lete castaned, spiraliter flavo- ‘ineate

anfractibus 6, convexiusculis, omnibus spiraliter sulcatis, sulci:

numerosis, ultimo lato, basi subangulato, convexo, imperforato

aperturd subquadratd, margaritaced, suturis impressis. Oper.

calor ? :

Alt. 585, lat. 385, long. apert. 45 une. q

The number of sulcations in the second whorl is about six 5 he

cavities are always rich chestnut, the elevations yellowish. The ge-

neral form is intermediate between that of ciziphinus and alabastrites

The shell has long been known under Nuttall’s manuscript name

but never, so far as I am aware, described. It is from hel 23

fornia. f

Trocuvus (MoNoponrTA) GALLINA, sp. nov. 4

T. testd obtuse pyramidali, crassd (adultus ponderosus), spird magni

anfractibus 5, glabris, obsolete oblique striatis, converiusculis

albidis, fasciis angustis numerosis purpureis ornatis, anfractt

ultimo prope suturam subcanaliculato, basi lateribus rotundatis, |

umbilico albo, imperforato, impresso, aperturd subquadratd, labi ro

externo subpatulo, margine acuto, levi, nigrescente, labro colu-

mellari bidentato, albo, Saucibus margaritaceo-albis, operculo |

culari, corneo, fusco, spiris numerosissimis, confertis. Test

junior spird depresamcaelt.

Alt. 1,5, lat. max. 1,2,, alt. apert. 055;

Probably from the Mazatlan coast.

Trocuus (MonoponTA) AUREO-TINCTUS, sp. nov.

T. testd obtus? pyramidali, crassa, spird mediocri, anfractibus 4 Ye

5, convexiusculis, obtuse angulatis, subcanaliculatis, Rathore: |

Zoological Society. 307

2 late sulcatis, strits spiralibus minutis, longitudinalibus minutis-

» -simis sculptis, colore nigro obscure minutissiméque griseo-lineato,

ultimo anfractu basi subplanato 4-5 sulcis profundis spiralibus

_.\ sculpto, margine obtuse subangulato, umbilico profund? perforato,

_» dete aurantio, apertura subrotundd, labro externo tenui, nigro

+ marginato, labro columellari albo 1—-2-dentato, dentibus inequali-

ie bus munitis, dente inferiore minimo, fauce albo-margaritaceo.

. Alt. 05%, lat. max. 1, alt. apert. 054; unc.

_ Variat costis obliquis transversis.

_ With the last

- Trocuvs (MarGariTA) PURPURATUS, sp. nov.

| T. testd turbinatd, spird depressd, prominuld, anfractibus 5, con-

_ _vexiusculis, nitidis, levigatis, striis incrementi minutissimis, ro-

seolis fasciis spiralibus lete purpureis cinctis, suturis impressis,

basi margine subrotundato, umbilico imperforato, albo, aperturd

subrotundd, labro externo tenui, labro interno levi, obsoleté un-

dulato, aloo-margaritaceo, faucibus purpureo-margaritaceis.

Alt. 0,4, lat. max. 055, alt. apert. 0,4, une.

_ A beautiful little species. W. coast of N. America?

_ Trocuus (MareGarira) Hiiin, sp. nov.

anfractibus 5 convexiusculis, levigatis, politis, ad suturas appres-

sis, flaveo-albidis, ultimo anfractu maximo, basi convexro, margini-

bus rotundatis, centraliter excavato, imperforato, apertura oblique-

subrotundd, labro externo tenui, columellari leviter arcuato, albo ;

faucibus albo-margaritaceis.

» Alt. 0,4;, lat. max. 0,5, alt. apert. 0,3, unc.

From the northern shores of the W. coast of N. America ?

~ I have dedicated this species to — Hill, Esq., Master of the

“Herald.”

Narica PritcHarpt, sp. nov.

N. testé subglobosd, spird brevi, anfractibus 5, nitidis, sub lente

striatis, flaveolis, fasciis transversis fusco-purpureis, angulato-

undulatis flammulatis, in adulto obsoletis seu fascias obscuras spi-

rales simulantibus ; aperturd ovatd, superné obsolete angulatd, co-

lumelld costd callosd albd spirali in umbilicum oblique intrante,

umbilico superne perforato ; faucibus fasciato-fuscatis. Operculo

- ealcareo, albo, levi, polito, sulco angustissimo prope margine ex-

___terno, margine interno recto, crenulato.

Alt. 1 unc. ; long. anfr. ult. ;%, lat. ,% unc. ; long. apert. ;8, unc.

Mazatlan. I have dedicated this pretty shell, which reminds us

of the Atlantic intricata, to my friend Dr. Pritchard, Assistant-

Surgeon of H.M.S. Calypso, who assiduously collected on the coast

‘of Mazatlan, where he, as well as the officers of the ‘ Herald’ and

* Pandora,’ met with this species in abundance.

Pranaxis NIGRITELLA, sp. DOv.

___N. testd ovato-lanceolatd, crassiusculd, fusco-nigridd, spird brevi,

a acutd, anfractibus 6, spiraliter sulcatis, interstitiis latis, planis,

20*

308 Zoological Society.

sulcis in medio anfractis ultimi obsoletis, aperturd ovatd, pe

superne unidentatd, labro externo tenui, margine interno

crenulato, labro columellari, supern2 striato, inferne abbrevi

wae canali pvond, juniiee atropurpureis,

Long. 55, lat. =3,, long. apert. 3;unc.° yeah q 4

Straits of Juan “del Fuaco. The operculum is preserved in som

of the numerous specimens, and has a subspiral nucleus.

PLANAXIS PIGRA, Sp. NOv. ash /

N. testd ovato-lanceolatd, crassa, flaveold, spird medi ocri,

anfractibus 6, planatis, levigatis, aperturd breve-ovatd,

supern? obsolete unidentatd, labris incrassatis, marginibus 1

canali brenierng, faucibus ares.

Long. +45, lat. 4, long. apert. 3; unc.

Its surface is invested with a soft yellow epidermis. The operculum

is corneous, of subconcentric elements, with a lateral subspirg ;

nucleus.

Pitcairn’s Island. 4

Nassa CooreRt, sp. nov. ya

N. testd lanceolatd, turritd, crassd, anfractibus 6, vohsenidecutil

spiraliter sulcato-strialis, longitudinaliter 8-costatd ; costis di-

siantibus, fortibus, distinctis ; anfractu ultimo $ longitudi inis teste

equante, aperturd ovatd, basal brevi; labro externo crasso, sim

plici; labro columellari reflexo, albo; caudd albd; anpractibu

Juss, obscure albo Cf cglaie

Long. 8; une., lat. anfr. ult. 4, long. apert. 3)

Marked from the Sandwich Isles. Bodtesceate to Lieut. Coo}

R.N., of the ‘ Herald.’

Nassa WoopWARDIt, Sp. nov.

N. testd lanceolatd, turritd, crassd, albd, rufo-fasciata, aioe

bus sex convexiusculis, spiraliter sulcatis, longitudinaliter ‘de

costatis, spird viv longitudinem ultimi anfractds equanie; a

turd ovatd, caudd brevissimd; labro columellari reflexd, al

— alba; fauce striato. le

Long. =5; unc. ; lat. 2, unc.; long. apert. 3 une. .

With the last. Dedicated to — eae wii R. Heit Pa

to the ‘ Herald.’

PURPURA ANALOGA, Sp. Nov. 5. .

P. testa turritd, albidd, spiraliter late rufo-fasciatd ; spirde exsertd; |

anfractibus 5 rotundatis, costis spiralibus (6 ad 8 in anfracta

penultimo), quadratis, numerosis cinctis, interstitiis crenulatis, 6 a

suturam se ibe labro subdenticulato. » i

Long. 1445, lat. 38, long. apert. 38; une. 4

This: species oe the Californian coast ?) bears a strikin a

blance to the Atlantic Purpura lapillus, and is rr on |

it and the Purpura decemcostata of Middendorff, from the Iey Se:

Behring’s Straits, the place of which it probably takes on the we

shores of North America.

Purpura, nov. sp.? A single specimen, to which I abstain giv

a name, since its characters are intermediate between those of d

% og

<4}

Biiicethveony: 309

‘ostata and Freycinetii (a Kamtschatka shell) ; it is probably a

riety of the former.

PURPURA FUSCATA, Sp. NOV.

_ P. testd oblongd, subturritd, fuscd ; spird brevi; anfractibus con-

_vexis, costis spiralibus (2 in anfractu penultimo) paucis distan-

tibus subsquamosis cinctis, interstitiis costis obsoletis; aperturd

dilatatd, columella albidd.

Long. 1,5, lat. ,4,, long. apert. 8; unc.

A species of the Lapillus group. Said to have been taken at the

ndwich Islands.

Among the Purpure in the collection are P. planospira, P. colu-

llaris, and P. Carolensis, all Galapagos species, and probably col-

ected during the visit to those islands.

usus KELLETII, sp. nov.

F. testd crassd, fusiformi, pyramidatd, anfractibus 9, spiraliter stri-

atis, angulatis, noduloso-costatis, costis in anfractibus omnibus 8,

prope suturam obsoletis excavatis appressisque ; anfractu ultimo

2 teste occupante ; aperturd elongato-pyriformi, superné angulato ;

inferne canali obliquo plus 4 aperture equante ; labro columellari,

. reflexo, incrassato, labro externo attenuato, subdenticulato ; caudd

incrassatd, contortd, reflerd ; colore sordide albido, ore albo.

Long. 34 unc. ; lat. max. anfr. ult. 1,2, unc. ; long. apert. 22 unc. ;

ng. caud. =%.

This remarkable shell was taken on the Californian coast, and is

Yery distinct from any known Fusus. In general aspect it closely

sembles a Fasciolaria, reminding us strongly of the European Fas-

tiolaria tarentina, but is greatly larger and has no plaits on the

pillar lip. The strise which wind round the whorls are grouped in

os and threes. They become very strongly marked and assume

‘character of sulcations on the caudal portion of the body whorl.

e€ ribs are mainly developed a little above the centre on the angu-

ed portion of the body whorl and on the lower halves of the upper

horls, so prominently as to appear like large tubercles.

I have dedicated this unique shell to the eminent conductor of this

portant expedition.

fusus Oregonensis was taken on the Californian coast, and F’. sale-

osus on the coast of Mazatlan.

MISCELLANEOUS.

a Parasite which is developed under exceptional circumstances

on the surface of certain alimentary substances and causes them

to appear covered with blood. By M. Montaene.

¥ extraordinary phenomenon has just passed under my eyes, to

hich I beg to call the attention of the Academy for a moment. J]

had already some knowledge of it from two memoirs which have

treated of it specially, but had never witnessed it previously. More-

er this phenomenon is so rare, that I am not aware of its having

er been mentioned in this country. I am speaking of the develop-

310 Miscellaneous.

ment of a parasite, either animal or vegetable, which under certain cir-

cumstances attacks alimentary substances, especially pastry, comm 1-

nicating to them a bright red colour resembling that of arterial blood,

According to the interpretation of several historical facts given by

M. Ehrenberg, who has published a very interesting and erudi : .

work upon this production, its appearance in the dark ages a

have given rise to fatal errors, by causing the condemnation of un-~

happy victims to capital punishments, for crimes of which they wert ¢

totally innocent. It is in fact to this pheenomenon that we: ‘must |

all those instances of blood found in bread, on consecrated ¥

&c. which the credulity of our fathers attributed to witcher

regarded as prodigies of fatal presage. it

On the 14th of July last, I was at the Chateau du Parquet, ne:

Rouen, with M. Aug. Le Prévost : every one knows, that for abou

ten days at that time the temperature had been ae

The servants, much astonished at what they saw, brought us

fowl, roasted the previous evening, which was literally covered he

gelatinous layer of a very intense carmine red, and only of a brig

rose colour where the layer was thinner. A cut melon also presente ed @

some traces of it. Some cooked cauliflower which had been thrown ©

away, and which I did not see, also, according to the peo s of t

house, presented the same appearance. Lastly, three it

wards, the leg of a fowl was also attacked by the same rebels

Examining it with a microscope of middling power lent me |

M. Le Prévost, I readily convinced myself that it was the same ie

which had been observed by M. Ehrenberg; for a specimen of

developed upon cooked rice, which had. been sent by M. Ehr Ehrenberg

to Dr. Rayer some years since, had been submitted to my inspection ~

by that gentleman.

Whether it be an animalcule (Monas prodigiosa) as M.

thinks, or a fungus (Zoogalactina imetropha) as M. Sette pee

it, the individuals composing it are so extremely small that their dia- —

meter is not more than 45 of a millimetre, and it requires a magni- |

fying power of at least 800 diameters to observe them satisfactorily. |

This parasite is propagated with great facility when sown un der

favourable conditions,—in cooked rice for example placed betwe en |

two plates or in closed vessels. M. P. Col, a chemist of Padua, ha ¢ )

employed it in tinging silk various shades of rose colour.— Comptes

Rendus, xxxv. p. 145.

IRISH MOLLUSCA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Windsor Lodge, Monkstown, co. Dublin, '

September 16, 1852. 4

GentTLEMEN,— Upon my friend Dr. Battersb ay the spe

mens of Cylichna we took in Birterbuy Bay to Clark of

he pronounced that they were the Cylichna slrigella and not

C. conulus, as stated in the September Number of the ‘ ta *

I am, Gentlemen, yours most truly obli 20

Wiiiiam W. Wraurousd

Miscellaneous. 311

Directions for Making and Preserving Microscopical Preparations.

- By M. Harrrne of Utrecht.

__ [The followmg directions are translated, in a slightly abridged

form, from different parts of Harting’s work on the Microscope*.

y have been selected as likely to prove useful to that now numerous

‘¢lass of students who prosecute original researches with the aid of the

‘microscope. Personal experience enables us to attest the value of

‘Some of these hints; and the fact that Prof. Harting’s unrivalled

cabinet of microscopic preparations, comprising more than 6000 spe-

‘e@imens put up with his own hands, is indebted for its completeness

and preservation to the methods of manipulation here described, is

‘Sufficient evidence of their excellence.—TRans. |

, Very few objects can be preserved unaltered when dry, and even

when this is possible, as in the case of hairs, fish-scales, and the like,

the method is not to be in general recommended. Such objects,

when surrounded by air, possess too little transparency to permit a

‘Satisfactory definition of their component parts. It is only for pre-

‘serving the scales of insects and certain fest objects that the dry

method is useful, and even preferable, from the superior distinctness

with which it enables the observer to make out the different sorts of

lines upon these bodies. The simplest mode of mounting these scales

for microscopical examination, is to lay a few of them upon an ordi-

“nary glass object-slide, which may be moistened with the breath, if

this is found necessary to make the objects adhere to it. A glass

covering-plate, of suitable thickness, is then laid upon the object ;

and finally there is pasted round both slide and cover a piece of paper,

erg in its centre an opening corresponding to the position of the

ect.

_ Different specimens from the organic kingdom would, if simply

och in the dry way, speedily become the prey of vegetable and

imal parasites. This is the case, for instance, with sections of

organs like the lungs, preserved by inflation and subsequent drying.

‘To prevent this disadvantage, I am in the habit of moistening such

sreparations with oil of turpentine, which, on evaporating, leaves

pon the surface a very delicate varnish-like coating, which suffices

for its protection.

| Most microscopical objects, however, require to be mounted in

Some fluid, the nature of which must be varied according to the pro-

_ perties of the substance which it is wished to preserve. The fluids

which I employ are the following :—

4 I. Saturated Solution of Chloride of Calcium.

_. Ist, This solution, which must be perfectly free from traces of

_ iron, is of very general utility, and may be employed in all cases in

_ which the substance to be preserved is of moderate firmness or hard-

Bess. In this solution all preparations of bones and teeth, sections

i Het Mikroscoop, deszelfs gebruik, geschiedenis en tegenwoordige

toestand. Utrecht. 3 vols. 1848-50.

812 Miscellaneous.

of hairs, feathers, fish-scales, whalebone, &c., are best preserved. » I

may be also used with advantage for mounting specimens of 1 ny

minute animalcules provided with a hard integument, such —

cheese-mites, the itch-insect, small freshwater crustacea, and th e

like. It is likewise the best preservative for vegetable preparations,

whose cell-walls or vessels have undergone a partial incrustation, and

is also very useful for displaying the shells or lorice of the silice ous

Bacillarize and Diatomacez. 4

In using it, one only requires to lay the object on a slide, ands

moisten it with a drop of the solution, taking care, at the same tim .

to remove the air-bubbles which may be formed here and there. Ty

pieces of paper, corresponding to the thickness of the object, are next tb

pasted to the extremities of the slide, and the whole is then covered —

with a second glass plate of the same size. If it should now be foune

that too little fluid has been applied to the object, or that part of it t

has run off, a drop of the solution may be applied to the oa of th

slide, and will find its way between the glasses by capillary attraction.

A piece of thin paper may be inserted between the glasses, to promote

the flow of the fluid towards the preparation, or to rectify the positic

of the object when it has become displaced. j

For attaching the strips of paper to the glass slides in this a od

other cases, the best material that can be used is starch paste, ¥

which a little arsenious acid is mixed, in order to prevent the ae ma-

tion of a species of mould which is otherwise apt to gather round the

preparations.—Vol. il. p. 347-350. ¢

f late I have discovered a fault in this mode of mounting prepa-

rations. In many which have been preserved in drops of the chloride |

of calcium solution, there have formed numerous branches of a Anecte

of Hygrocrocis, which spread from preparation to preparation, ai

from box to box, threatening totally to destroy all specimens which”

have been put up in this way. I have consequentl icone a the

practice of mounting specimens in chloride of calcium solution, to

which the air still has access; and when I now employ this or any |

other fluid, am careful to exclude the influence of the atmosphere by

touching the edges of the covering-plate with a cement which I have |

elsewhere described (see p. 314). This procedure has the addition al

advantage of not requiring the use of a saturated solution: it may be

diluted, in proportion to the delicacy of the specimen, with from two.

to ten parts of water.—Vol. iii. p. 470. 4

II. Canada Balsam.

The method of mounting objects in Canada Balsam is too well

known to require description. %

Ill. Dacies: Solution.

This fluid may be prepared either by distillation with itis or a 3

filtering a saturated solution of creosote in one part of alcohol’ of

s. g, 867, after mixing it with twenty parts of water. It is us .

for all preparations of muscle, cellular tissue, tendon, ligament, eat-

Miscellaneous. - 313

age, sections of bones and teeth which have been treated with acid,

he fibres of the crystalline lens, &c. For the preservation of adipose

tissue, of the ultimate nerve-tubes, and of the blovd-corpuscles, it is

not well adapted. Objects put up in it, after a certain time, usually

acquire a brownish-yellow tint. ,

Dit

IV. Solution of drsenious Acid.

To prepare this solution an excess of arsenious acid is boiled with

water, which is then filtered and diluted with twice as much water.

_ This fluid is one of the most suitable preservatives for preparations

from the animal kingdom; all the tissues mentioned under the last

head, and also the adipose tissue, may be kept unaltered in it; and

as they acquire no yellow colour, or a far slighter tinge, during their

immersion, J have of late years accorded a general preference to

the arsenical over the creosote solution.

V. Solution of Corrosive Sublimate.

This is prepared by dissolving one part of corrosive muriate of

“mercury in from 200 to 500 parts of water. The strength of the

solution must be varied according to the nature of the object to be

es preserved ; hence it is well, when the required degree of concentra-

| tion is not ascertained, to put up several preparations with solutions

of different strengths. This procedure is especially applicable to

blood-corpuscles, which can be preserved unaltered in no other fluid

_ with which I have experimented. Thus the blood-corpuscles of the

- frog require a fluid containing 735th of corrosive muriate; those of

- birds a solution of z},,th; those of mammalia and man 94;th.

"These solutions are likewise useful for keeping the elementary parts

_ ‘of the brain, spinal cord, and retina, although all these structures, in

whatever fluid they are put up, undergo some alteration. Cartilage,

| ‘and the fibres of the crystalline lens, keep well in these fluids; but

‘other fibrous tissues lose too much of their transparency when in

‘eontact with them. They may be used, however, for preserving

| muscular fibre, whose cross markings they render more distinct.

_ For preparations of delicate vegetable tissues, and, in general, of all

| tender organs in which it is desired to retain the starch globules and

-'chlorophy!l unaltered, for freshwater Algee, Diatomaceee, Confervee,

Infusoria belonging to the division Rotifera, &c., a solution containing

4 syoth or 34th of corrosive sublimate is the best preservative with

_ which I am acquainted.

VI. Solution of Carbonate of Potash.

This may be made of various strengths, with one part of the salt

_ dissolved in from 200 to 500 parts of water, and is the best material

_ for preserving the primitive nerve-tubes. Other fibrous tissues may

be kept tolerably well in it, but become more transparent than in the

fresh condition. This is sometimes advantageous, as, for example,

_ when we wish to display the respiratory apparatus of insects with the

ramifications of the air-tubes.

314 Miscellaneous.

VIL. Solution of Arsenite of Potass. sedi

I have, in a few instances, made use of a solution of arsenite of

ee in 160 parts of water, to preserve the primitive nerve-tubes. Tt

as been found as effectual as the carbonate of potash solution. 7

In employing the chloride of calcium solution* and Canada Balsam, —

it is unnecessary to take measures to prevent the evaporation of the —

fluid. The first remains always fluid,—chloride of calcium being a —

deliquescent salt ; and as the outer surface of the balsam hardens, the —

escape of the liquid portion is prevented. iat

But it is otherwise with the last-mentioned. preservative fluids —

(Nos. III. to VII.). To prevent their evaporation, it is necessary to —

employ a cement or luting to prevent air from having access to the —

fluid, Different compositions have been recommended for this pur- —

pose ; but I have found none more serviceable than that employed by —

gilders to make gold-leaf adhere to mirror and picture frames. The ©

following is the receipt for the preparation of this so-called gold- —

ground or gold-size :— botelomnt A

Let twenty-five parts of linseed oil be boiled for three hours with —

one part of red lead (mente) and one-third of a part of umber, and ©

then poured off. Next take white lead and yellow ochre, well pounded —

and divided, and mix them together in equal proportions. Successive —

portions of this mixture must be added to the oil, and well rubbed up

and mixed with it, till a tolerably thick fluid is formed, which must —

be once more thoroughly boiled.

If now a preparation has been made, which it is wished to preserve —

in the chloride of calcium, or any of the five last-mentioned fluids, —

and if it can, without injury, bear a little pressure, the following

manipulation is recommende a

If the specimen is moistened with water, which during the preli- —

minary examination is frequently the case, all superfluous fluid is in

the first place removed with a little roll of bibulous paper, or with a —

camel-hair pencil, such as I have elsewhere recommended. The —

fluid at a little distance from the object may be wiped off with a cotton —

or linen rag, and the surface of the glass there made perfectly dry. —

A certain quantity of the preservative fluid is then placed upon the —

specimen, and this is most conveniently effected by using a dropping-

flask. The amount of fluid should be such that it should stiaomaal |

perfectly fill the space beneath the covering plate; the proper ~

quantity is soon learned by a few trials. Next a (square?) covering=

plate, about two millimetres (,4th of an inch) narrower than the —

object-slide, should be laid under the centre of the latter,—/. e. im-

mediately beneath the part which it is destined to cover. A pencil —

is next dipped in the cement, and a square drawn with it upon the —

glass around the fluid containing the specimen, so that the cement —

shall extend from one to two millimetres (,;th to ;th of an inch) ©

* The author has renounced the practice of putting up preparations in

this fluid, and permitting the access of air, for reasons given at p. 312.

—TRANS.

Miscellaneous. 315

within the margins of the covering-plate. The latter is now to be

placed upon the specimen, and its margins finally covered with the

cement. If there is too much fluid beneath, the superfiuity finds a

_ channel for escape ; an opening then takes place in the cement, below

| the cover, but is again closed, if care be taken to renew the application

| of the cement to the edges of the cover, when the superfluous fluid

_ has been removed, or has dried up. In about two days, the outer

layer of the pm J will have become dry, but the inner layer remains

| soft for many weeks and even months. This is just what constitutes the

_ excellence of the cement, for it never bursts and permits evaporation ;

and a great number of preparations which I have put up in this

‘manner are at the present time, after the lapse of several years, quite

unaltered. It is, however, of importance that the cement shall occupy

a portion of the space between the object-plate and its cover; a mere

anointing of the edges of the latter is never sufficient.

__. If the specimen be one which will not bear pressure without injury,

it must be put up in some kind of cell, the depth of which must be

_ regulated by the thickness of the object. The covering-plate must

in this case be always smaller in diameter than the space between the

outer margins of the cell. First, some preservative solution is placed

‘in the cell, and then the object is laid in it; the upper edges of the

cell are then touched with a little of the gutta-percha luting*. The

cell is then completely filled till the fluid even forms a convexity above

its margins; if now the cover is applied, the superfluous moisture

escapes, and no air remains in the cell. Finally, when the edges are

_ dry, they must be covered with a thick layer of the luting, and with

- asecond a few days afterwards.

| . The method last described is especially applicable to the preserva-

_ tion of injected specimens in a solution of arsenious acid.—Vol. ii.

ps 350-395.

kes

er ahi

Preparation of Caoutchouc Cells.

__ In commerce we now obtain caoutchouc plates of different thick-

nesses. The thinnest measure about one millimetre (,,th of an

_ inch), and out of these plates of any required thickness may be

_ formed, as their surfaces adhere perfectly together, especially if pre-

_ viously slightly heated. In a square piece of suitable thickness an

_ opening may be made by means of scissors, or the centre may be

_ cut out of a dise-shaped piece by means of a hammer and ring-shaped

! new To fasten the caoutchoue ring to the object-slide we use the

lowing luting :—

__ One part of finely cut gutta-percha is mixed with fifteen parts of

_ oil of turpentine, and dissolved in it by gently heating, and constantly

stirring, the mixture. The solution is then poured through a cloth,

to separate some impurities which are always to be met with in raw

_ gutta-percha. To the purified solution there is added one part of

Fe shell-lac, which, by the aid of gentle heat and constant stirring, must

be dissolved in it. The heat is then kept up until a drop of the solu-

* The reader will find the receipt for this composition, and directions for

c making cells of gutta-percha and caoutchouc, at the end of the present

article. —TRANs. :

316 Miscellaneous. :

tion let fall upon a cold surface becomes nearly hard. The cement

is then ready for use. If it is afterwards found requisite to melt it

egain, a little oil of turpentine should be added before applying the

eat. a

To attach the caoutchouc ring to the glass, proceed as follows:— _

Lay the ring upon the table, and above it place the glass object-slide,

so that the ring occupies the centre of the slide, and a free margin of —

glass is left around it. A pencil is now to be dipped in the warm ~

luting, and carried over the portion of the glass through which the —

ring is seen, care being taken to spread the luting in a thin layer, as _

the superfluous fluid would otherwise flow out from the edges. The —

ring is now removed from beneath the slide, and laid upon the spot

marked out for it with the cement. The plate is next warmed by —

holding it over fire, and then laid, ring downwards, on a cold piece of —

mirror glass till the cement has become cool and hard.

Gutta-Percha Cells.

Gutta-percha, which, like caoutchouc, resists the action of almost

all chemical agents, has, besides, the property of becoming soft and —

plastic in Warm water, and can thus be fashioned into any required —

shape, which it retains on cooling and resuming its former consistence. _

Gutta-percha sheeting may be procured in commerce, like caoutchouc

sheeting, of any thickness, and will be found very useful for micro- —

scopical purposes. Plates of this substance may be provided of various —

thicknesses, according to the required depth of the cells,—for example,

from ;},th of a millimetre to three millimetres (¢45th to 4th of an ©

inch) in thickness. These plates must then be cut into square pieces, —

a little narrower than the glass slides on which they are to be fastened.

The openings may be cut out with scissors, or struck out with a

punch and hammer, the plate being laid upon a piece of cork. To

fasten gutta-percha rings to the glass plates the cement recommended _

for caoutchouc is employed, and the process conducted in the same ~

way, with this difference, that, after the last heating, which makes

the gutta-percha soft again, pressure should be made upon it fora —

few seconds with a cold piece of mirror glass. The upper surface of —

the cell is thus rendered quite flat and smooth, so that the glass —

cover, when applied, is everywhere in contact with it. In this respect

the gutta-percha cells are preferable to those of caoutchouc, the upper

surface of which, especially about the edges, has always some degree

of convexity.—Vol. ii. pp. 125-127.—Monthly Journal of Medica

Science, April 1852.

ARENARIA SERPYLLIFOLIA. ag

Messrs. Hooker and Arnott observe (Br. Fl. p.67): “Mr.W. Wilson ~

finds a var. at Bangor with five stamens and the petals only a quarter

as long as the calyx, which has prominent ribs.” Mr. Babington

copies the observation, ‘ Manual,’ 3rd edit. p. 49. ees

Specimens agreeing with this description are not uncommon at this

season on the sandy commons of Surrey ; they appear to be only the

autumnal state of the common plant.—‘Samvet Ocravus Gray.

Miscellaneous. 317

Note of the Observation of Cilia in Grantia. By Wit11am Mur-

__. ray Dosre, M.D., Annual President of the Royal Medical Society

_ of Edinburgh.

_ The present somewhat dubious position of the Sponges in the

_ systems of naturalists, leads me to hope that the following isolated

observation may not be without its value, as an additional proof of

_ the distinctly animal nature of these organisms.

_ At the end of last February, while residing for a short time at

| Marshalmeadows, near Berwick-on-Tweed, I had an opportunity of

| examining perfectly fresh specimens of a species of Grantia, in which

_ very distinct and vigorous currents were in constant operation.

_ Having scraped a portion of the gelatinous covering from the interior

_ wall, and laid this on a piece of glass, and covered it with a thinner

_ piece, I viewed the specimen through an achromatic microscope, am-

| plifying about 150 diameters. The field of view was crowded with

_ the minute granular cellules of the sponge, which, although they do

_ not always show a distinct nucleus, are, I have no doubt, of the same

_ nature as nucleated particles in general. These cellules were in a

_ state of active and independent motion, and, when aggregated into

_ masses, very much resembled some of the Compound Monads. When

_ a single particle was seen isolated, the motion was of a jerking cha-

racter, suggesting at once the existence of cilia, if they could have

been seen. I now proceeded to a more accurate scrutiny. Another

_ specimen was selected; a portion of the gelatine was diluted with

_ water pressed from the interior of the sponge, and the whole covered

with a film of glass of 1-120th of an inch in thickness. This I viewed

_ with a very excellent 1-8th ofan inch lens, by Smith and Beck, mag-

_ nifying 450 diameters. The size and apparent motion of the cellules

_ being thus greatly increased, I now could, without much difficulty,

detect extremely attenuated cilia attached to every particle in the

field of view, and lashing with considerable vigour. When the light

and focus were adjusted with great care, I was able to sketch a con-

siderable number of the individual particles. The average length of

each cilium was equal to three times the diameter of the cellule to

which it was attached. No perceptible difference in thickness could

be observed throughout its entire length. Each cellule very strongly

resembled some species of Monads. The motion ceased in all the

particles very soon after separation from the general mass. I was

able to repeat this observation several times in the Grantia. In the

Halichondria, which I found at the same time, no currents could be

seen. Only in one example could 1 find anything resembling ciliated

particles, and that very imperfectly. No further opportunity pre-

sented itself for continuing these observations.

From this it seems evident, that in the Grantia the whole inner

‘surface is lined with a ciliated epithelium, and that the currents are

produced by the motion of these filaments.

I have little doubt that cilia will eventually be found to exist in all

marine sponges, where currents are in operation, provided sufficient

818 Miscellaneous.

care be taken to examine the cellules, in perfectly fresh’ apitntons

with first-rate instruments.

The evidence for the animality of the Porifera is, I chink, mond! .

conclusive than some naturalists of the present day are inclined to

admit. I feel assured that few botanists would be disposed to claim —

for these organisms a truly vegetable nature. The following pecu- —

liarities taken together seem sufficient to establish their true animal —

nature :—The existence of distinct currents in definite directions ;

vibratile cilia ; ciliated locomotive gemmules ; peculiar animal smell of

burnt gelatinous matter. I may also mention the observations of —

Milne-Edwards and Audouin on the Irritability of Tethea*. Dr.

Johnston informs me, that some very recent observations on a |

foreign species tend remarkably to confirm the statements of Audouin —

and M.-Edwards. Dujardin’s interesting observations on Spongilla —

also tend to prove the sponge an animalt. He noticed the remark-

able property which detached portions of the granular matter of

Spongilla possess, of spreading into “ Expansions variables en lobes —

arrondis, comme certaines amibes.”” Both Dujardin and Professor —

Allen Thomson have observed cilia in the freshwater sponge; but the —

existence of cilia in marine sponges has, so far as I am aware, been —

always denied. In conclusion, I will only allude to Mr. J. A. Carter’s —

interesting observation of species of Spongilla in the water-tanks in —

Bombayt. Mr. Carter confirmed and considerably extended Dare é

din’s observations, but did not detect cilia. All these circumstances _

being considered, the animality of the Porifera will not, I think, — 4

80 equivocal as the following concluding sentence of Professor Ri a

Jones’s late article on the Porifera seems to intimate: “ The fern 4

sibility of sponges into the animal series is indeed extremely problem- —

atical, and we doubt not, that among naturalists of the present day,

the balance of opinion would be unfavourable towards retaining them

in the rank, which they at present oceupy in zoological classifica-

tion §.”"—Proceedings of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh,

Experimental Researches upon the Process of Fecundation in Mosses.

By M. H. Pur.ipert,

The author in concluding his memoir gives the following résumé of 4

his conclusions :— j

1. The archegonium of Mosses is a true ovule.

2. The external envelope, which has been called epigonium, and

which afterwards becomes the calyptra, is analogous to the nucleus of

the ovule of the Phanerogamia.

* Hist. Nat. du Litt. de la France, vol. i. p. 78.

+ Dujardin, Hist. Nat. des Infusoires, p. 305.

{ Notes on Sponges. Trans. Med. and Phys. Soc. Bombay, No. 8.

Reprinted in the ‘ Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.’ New Series, April 1848. -

A second paper on the same subject appeared in the third volume of the

* Annals,’ 1849.

§ Cyclopedia of Anat. and Phys. vol. iv. p. 70.

Meteorological Observations. 319

_ 3. The membranous envelope which is concealed by the epigonium

and which had not hitherto been observed, represents an embryo-

«Bac.

_. 4. The internal body, which afterwards becomes the seta and urn,

_ ig a true embryo.

__. 5. In the Mosses, the embryo, instead of detaching itself from the

parent plant to originate a new plant, is developed in its place and

_ gives rise to a capsule filled with spores.

__. 6. The organs called antheridia are true male organs, inclosing a

fecundating matter.

__. 7. This fecundating matter is introduced by the tubular neck of

_ the epigonium.—Comptes Rendus, xxxy. 137.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUG. 1852.

_ Chiswick.—August 1. Very fine: uniformly overcast. 2. Very fine: densely

_ clouded. 3. Partially overcast: slight shower. 4. Fine: clear. 5. Fine: slightly

overcast. 6. Showers: heavy rain. 7. Cloudy: clear. 8. Fine: clear. 9, 10.

_ Very fine. 11. Constant heavy rain. 12. Heavy rain: cloudy. 13. Very fine:

clear. 14. Very fine: heavy rain at night. 15. Foggy: clear at night. 16.

_ Heavy dew: fine: overcast. 17. Densely overcast: frequent vivid lightning and

_ distant thunder: chiefly sheet lightning till 11 p.m., then forked lightning, with

heavy thunder and rain in torrents. 18. Very fine: cloudy, with lightning at

night. 19. Very fine: clear at night. 20. Overcast. 21. Light clouds: uni-

_ formly overcast. 22. Overcast: clear. 23. Cloudy and fine. 24. Overcast and

_ mild: rain at night. 25. Cloudy and fine. 26. Slight haze: very fine: clear.

_ 27. Very fine. 28. Foggy: remarkably dusky and dark about 9 a.m.: very fine.

_ 29. Very fine: densely overcast: light clouds. 30. Cloudy: very fine: clear.

$l. Clear : very fine.

Mean temperature of the month ........sccccssseesresssseereenss OS 767

Mean temperature of Aug. 1851 __........ bonis nus ed Ruecbay ake ve 02°79

Mean temperature of Aug. for the last twenty-six years ... 62°12

Average amount of rain in Aug. —...eee.sseee soevecececevesecs 2°44 inches,

Boston.—Aug. 1. Cloudy. 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy: rain p.m. 4. Fine. 5. Fine:

rain r.m.: thunder and lightning. 6. Fine: rainp.m. 7, 8. Cloudy: rain p.m.:

thunder and lightning. 9. Cloudy: raine.m. 10. Fine: rain p.m.: thunder and

' lightning. 11. Rain: rain a.m. and p.m. 12. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m.:

thunder and lightning. 13. Fine. 14, Fine: rain and hail p.m.: thunder and

lightning. 15. Cloudy: rain a.m. 16. Fine. 17. Fine: rain p.m.: thunder and

lightning. 18. Cloudy: rainearly a.m. 19. Cloudy. 20. Cloudy: rain early a.m.

21—23. Cloudy. 24. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 25, Cloudy: raina.m. 26,

27. Fine. 28. Cloudy: rain p.m. 29,30. Fine. 31. Fine: rain and hail p.m. :

thunder and lightning.

5 Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Aug. 1, 2. Cloudy. 3. Cloudy: rain. 4. Bright:

clear: fine. 5. Clear: fine: aurora. 6. Clear: fine. 7. Drops: clear: fine.

8. Bright: clear: fine. 9. Clear: fine. 10. Bright: fine: clear: fine: aurora.

11. Bright: fine: clear: fine. 12, 13. Bright: fine: cloudy: fine. 14. Bright:

fine: clear: fine. 15. Clear: fine. 16. Cloudy: drops. 17. Fog: cloudy. 18.

Drizzle : showers: clear. 19. Drizzle: bright: fine. 20. Showers : bright : fine.

21. Clear: fine: fog. 22. Fog: fine: fog. 23. Bright: fine: cloudy: fine:

aurora. 24. Cloudy: fine: clear: fine. 25. Clear: fine: aurora. 26. Clear:

fine: cloudy: fine. 27. Cloudy: fine. 28. Bright: fine: cloudy: fine. 29.

Damp : clear: fine. 30,31. Bright: fine: clear: fine.—This month has been

yery fine, warm and dry.

Mean temperature of Aug. for twenty-five years .........06000+ 54°75

Mean temperature of this month ......... mabierebers seeanensey eee 60°64

Average quantity of rain in Aug. for six years .......... seseeees 9°05 inches.

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: THE ANNALS

AND

[SECOND SERIES.]

No. 59. NOVEMBER 1852.

XXX.—On a new Genus of the Family of Volvocinee.

By Dr. Ferpinanp Coun of Breslau*.

(With a Plate.]

Tux number of imperfectly known organisms in the animal and

vegetable kingdoms is already so considerable, that to increase

might, under ordinary circumstances, be regarded rather as

burdening than enriching science ; this, however, is not the case

in respect to forms which not only come to fill up a vacancy in

“systematic arrangement, but contribute, in the phenomena of

their morphology and development, new material for the solution

of more important and general questions. On these grounds I

helieve that the form which is now, so far as I know for the first

ti me, fully described and figured, deserves the attention as well

_ of botanists as of zoologists, both of whom will claim it as their

own especial property.

_ Lowe my first acquaintance with the elegant organism con-

tituting the subject of this essay to my friend Dr. von Frantzius.

During a journey through Tyrol in the year 1850, he observed

at Salzburg a green mucilaginous colouring of rain-water which

had collected in the hollow of a grave-stone in the churchyard of

3t. Peter ; the colour was caused by the presence of innume-

rable colourless vesicles, moving about like Infusoria, containing

zht small green globules arranged at regular distances at their

seriphery. ‘They were accompanied by Chlamydococcus pluvialis,

yhich is common in such hollows in stones. The first discoverer

we s M. Zambra, an optician of Salzburg, who was, as I am im-

‘ormed by Dr. Frantzius, the delineator of the figures in Werneck’s

-'® Translated from Siebold and Kiélliker’s Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaft-

liche Zoologie, vol. iv. p. 77, 1852, by A. Henfrey, F.R.S., F.L.S.

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 21

———

322 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocnee. ,

celebrated illustrations of the Infusoria ; this gentleman had re-

garded the moving globules as a new Infusorium, wWich he calle

the wreath-animalcule ; Dr. Frantzius, on the other hand, looke¢

upon it as a microscopic Alga which must form the foundation

of a new genus (see Frantzius’s Naturhistorische Reiseskizzen

aus dem Salzkammergut und Tyrol, Siebold and Kolliker’s

Zeitschrift f. wiss. Zoologie, iii. part 3). im

So much the pleasanter was my surprise in finding a large

quantity of the elegant wreath-animalcules in a living condition, a

few days after I received the above information. I had taker

advantage of the Whitsuntide holidays of the past year (1851)

to explore our Silesian highlands, and used that opportunity ot

seeking out the granite block, almost classic in the history of mi-

croscopic organisms, on which our first German lichenologist,

Major von Flotow of Hirschberg, discovered his Hematococcus

pluvialis, ten years ago. Through the friendly instructions of

this distinguished naturalist I soon succeeded in finding the

stone, which forms a bridge across a ditch in the neighbourhood

of Hirschberg: lying in the path between the village of Grunau

and its church, this stone has in the course of time been so worn

away by the number of church-goers, that it now presents a

large irregular hollow; in this the rain-water collects, which,

like the stone itself, is inhabited by millions of Chlamydococcus-

globules. When, however, I collected water from this place my-

self on the 17th of June, to my amazement I found, seattered

individuals of the Chlamydococcus pluvialis deed, but a far

greater quantity of the inseparable companion of the Chlamydo-

coccus, the beautiful rose-red Rotifer Philodina roseola, which

always occurs with the red Chlamydacoccus-globules in Silesia, it

Liége and Giessen, in the lake of Neufchatel, and even im the

eternal snow; and moreover I at the same time detected in the

water numerous specimens of that elegant wreath-animaleule

with which I had already made acquaintance from the sketches

of Dr. von Frantzius. Major von Flotow informed me, at the same

time, that he had seen this remarkable form as long ago as the

end of June in the year 1846, and had applied to Ehrenberg

respecting it, but had not received any answer from him. Tf

brought home to Breslau a bottle of rain-water from this granite

block, for the purpose of further investigation, and this furnishe¢

me abundant material for the following researches. nShg

I. Organization. toe

The organisms I am now about to describe exhibit an extra.

ordinary variety of size and shape, but they are all essentially of

similar structure, and consist, as already mentioned, of eight green

spherical corpuscles having their central points situated at the etr-

Dr. F. Colin on a new genus of the family of Volvociner. 323.

eumference of a circle (P1. VI. fig. 3b, 6), and of a large common

envelope, enclosing the former as a colourless vesicle, at the equator

of which are ranged the said eight green globes (fig. 3 a).

_ The common envelope is bounded by a membrane wholly de-

yoid of structure and transparent, so that it may be overlooked

if the illumination be not properly modified, under which cir-

cumstances the eight green globes appear destitute of any

common bond of union. But the membrane of the envelope

always exists, and although very delicate and thin while young,

it becomes thickened with age, and then possesses an evident

breadth, albeit no compound structure can be detected. The

“membrane of the envelope is absolutely rigid and never changes its

shape, excepting through the ordinary expansion of growth;

therefore it is not only totally devoid of contractility, but is even

elastic only in a slight degree.

~ In whatever direction the total organism may lie during its

“movements, the envelope always appears as a perfect, absolutely

regular circle (figs. 1, 2) ; thence it results most decidedly that

the membrane of the envelope forms a sphere, which may perhaps

deviate but very little from the mathematical ideal. The diameter

of the envelope varies between tolerably wide limits: while

younger forms possess an envelope some ,yth of a line

(0028 mm.) in diameter, most attain one of =,th (0°044 mm.),

and the largest are as much as jyth of a line (0-055) in

diameter.

__ The phenomena in dissolution and during propagation prove

that the membrane of the envelope immediately surrounds a

colourless watery fluid, the refractive power of which does not

differ from that of water. The envelope may therefore be re-

garded as a broad, spherical cell with a delicate structureless

membrane, colourless and transparent like glass, containing a

thin, water-like, colourless fluid ; consequently I shall denominate

it the envelope-cell (Hiill-zelle).

_ While the envelope-cell varies generally speaking only in

size, and no difference whatever of shape and structure can

be detected in the different individuals, the variations in the

development of the eight green globes in its interior are very great

| (fig. 86,6). In fact it is difficult to represent the multiplicity

_ of forms which here display themselves, so as to give a full and

clear idea of them ; and our figures even can afford but a very

_ insufficient picture, since scarcely a single individual exactly re-

sembles another, in this respect. The eight green bodies in

the interior of each envelope-cell, which, for reasons to be given

hereafter, I shall call primordial-cells, are in their simplest con-

dition globular, and stand at equal distances in a circle at the

largest circumference of the envelope-cell, so that the whole

21*

324 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines.

structure looks like a hollow glass globe with a ring formed of

eight green globules in its interior (figs. 1, 3). If the circular

line in which the centres of the eight primordialscells stand, is

regarded as the equator of the envelope-cell, we ordinarily find

their position such that the equatorial zone lies parallel with the

plane of the object-glass, and the observer consequently looks

down upon the pole of the envelope-cell (figs. 1, 8, 14). In this,

the polar view, the eight primordial-cells stand in a perfect circle

and are placed very close to the circumference of the envelope-

cell. The distances between the primordial-cells are more or

less considerable according as they are proportionately larger or

smaller ; sometimes they constitute an elezant wreath composed

of eight large green rosettes, almost without any intervals

between them, or resemble an interrupted eight-angled star

(figs. 1, 14) ; sometimes the green globules are so far apart as to

look like the eight spokes of a wheel (fig. 3). The diameter of

a primordial-celi :n the polar view amounts, in the former case

to ;4th of a line (0012 mm.), in the latter to s45th ese:

—on an average to 735th of a line (0:0087 mm.).

When, however, the whole revolves, so that the axis passi

through the two poles of the envelope-cell lies parallel with the

stage of the microscope, and the equatorial zone marked by the

eight green primordial-cells stands perpendicular to the latter,

consequently in the optic axis of the microscope, the envelope-

cell still looks like a circle, because it is a sphere; but the eight

_-primordial-cells, lying in one plane, are then projected in a line

which corresponds to the diameter of this circle, so that the

whole resembles, under the microscope, a colourless disk cut in

half by a green zone (figs. 2, 4, 5). And in this, the equatorial

view, according to the position, the four primordial-cells in the

anterior hemisphere sometimes completely cover the four behind,

so that only four are seen altogether ; sometimes the latter ap-

pear through the interspaces between the former, and all eight

are seen in one line. This view also of course gives very dif-

ferent pictures according to the size of the primordial-cells and

the distance between them (PI. VI. figs. 2 & 4). .

Between the polar and equatorial views lie countless inter-

mediate positions in which the ring of primordial-cells, more or

less contracted, appears as an ellipse, with its longest axis con-

stantly in the diameter of the envelope-cell, while the shorter

axis appears longer or shorter, and the separate primordial-cells

are approached more or less towards each other according to ste

laws of projection (figs. 9 & 10).

Besides this difference of the aspect which one and the same

individual affords merely in consequence of the different positions

resulting from its movements, a still greater variation is displayed.

‘

. Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 325:

in the shape of the green primordial-cells themselves. I have

led them globes above; properly they are always acuminated

_to some extent, in the form of a pear, toward the periphery of

_ the envelope-cell, and they are imperceptibly attenuated to a

point here, from which two cilia pass out (fig. 1). These cilia

| therefore arise fram the primordial-cells inside the envelope-cell,

and they emerge freely into the water through minute orifices in

_ the latter: from the analogy with Chlamydococcus, I conjecture

that there is a separate passage for each cilium, so that the orifices

corresponding in each case to the primordial-cells are placed in

pairs, and all sixteen orifices occur in the equator of the envelope-

ell. Hence in the polar view the eight pairs of cilia go out

from the circumference of the envelope-cell like elongated rays

(Pl. VI. figs. 1, 3, 14).

_ The primordial-cells moreover expand principally in the di-

rection of the axis perpendicular to the equatorial plane, so that

in the equatorial view they appear, not spherical, but rather

liptical, or even sometimes stretched so considerably in this

direction, that they become cylindrical or almost spindle-shaped,

without undergoing any remarkable enlargement on the other

axes (fig. 4 corresponding to fig. 3). If in this case the primor-

tlial-cells are large and near together, they form in the equatorial

iéw a broad green zone inside the colourless envelope-cell,

fillmg up a more or less considerable portion of this (fig. 2),

while in the polar view they form only a circular wreath. In

“some instances the proper green body of the primordial-cells is’

only shortly cylindrical ; but it becomes elongated at both ends

anto long beaks which reach almost to the poles, and give each

‘primordial-cell something of the shape of the Closterium setaceum

figured by Ehrenberg (Infusionsth. vi. 9). In this case the

whole resembles a sphere surrounded by eight green bands

aced in meridians and swollen only in the equatorial region.

But even in this very frequently occurring, preponderating de-

velopment of the one dimension, the cilia of each primordial-cell

‘are sent out from the middle of its shorter axis, and when the

primordial-cells appear projected in a zone, in the equatorial

__ view, the motile cilia are visible only at four points of the diameter

| (Pl. VI. fig. 4).

_» The primordial-cells are very frequently developed unequally

in the two hemispheres of the envelope-cell; they are not then

divided into two equal halves by the equator of the envelope-cell,

_ but show themselves crowded principally into one hemisphere,

_ which they almost fill, and they reach almost to the pole there,

| while they occupy but a far smaller portion of the other, which

consequently appears in greater part colourless (fig. 5). In such

a case the primordial-celfs almost touch with one end, while

ei eal

326 Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvociner.

they diverge widely at the other, and thus they look like a kind of

basket composed of eight pieces, like the gaping dental apparatus

of a Chilodon. ise

Besides the two cilia which pass out from each primordial-cell,

through the orifices of the envelope-cell into the water, the

former very frequently send out other prolongations, which how-

ever do not perforate the envelope-cell. These are colourless

mucilaginous filaments, going out from each primordial-cell, espe-

cially from the ends of their longer axes, and which hence present

themselves especially clearly in the equatorial view. The ends

of the primordial-cells are mostly not green but colourless, and

elongated into numerous, likewise colourless, broader or thinner

bristle-like processes, which run out like rays in all directions,

are often ramified, and are attached to the inside of the envelope-

cell, without however perforating it (figs. 2,4, 5). If these fila-

ments are much developed, they form a proper network, which

maintains each primordial-cell floating in the common envelope.

The extremities of the primordial-cells are also frequently divided

dichotomously into colourless mucilaginous bands, which again —

branch into radiating filaments and thus produce the most won-

derful forms. These colourless, filiform prolongations of the

primordial-cells may also be seen in the polar view, stretching

in all directions, and giving the total structure a most strange

aspect, almost similar to that of a Xanthidium (PI. VI. figs. 6, 7).

In. the internal organization of the primordial-cells, all that

can be made out is a green-coloured, softish substance of which

they are composed, and in which numerous delicate granules or

points are imbedded. When the primordial-cells are actively

vegetating, they are of a transparent vivid green ; but the colour

exhibits various tints; in the youngest conditions it is purer,

more yellowish green, less obscured by dark points ; in the largest —

forms, on the contrary, the contents appear brownish green and

opake, with the dark granules multiplied to such an extent, that

the whole almost loses its transparency.- In the middle of the

primordial-cells are found two larger, nucleus-like vesicles, mostly

symmetrically placed, and these examined separately appear

annular, so that they possess an internal cavity; iodine colours

them remarkably dark, with a violet tinge (figs. 2,3, 4,5). The

centre of each primordial-cell is frequently occupied by a lighter

circular space, which however does not vanish periodically, and

therefore cannot be regarded as a contractile vesicle. i

The primordial-cells are not surrounded by any special rigid

membrane; and this is not only made evident by the multifold

changes of form which they undergo in the course of vegetation, —

and by the filiform prolongations and ramifications which are—

produced directly from their substande, but is clearly shown by

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 827

_ the transformations which the primordial-cells pass through in

_ consequence of external influences. Under certain circumstances,

namely, the filiform processes may be retracted, being torn away

_ from the enyelope-cell and taken up into the substance of the

wimordial-cells ; the produced ends of the primordial-cells also

disappear, the latter becoming rounded off into their original

pherical or short cylindrical form. ‘Such a change would be

impossible if the primordial-cells were surrounded by a rigid

_ membrane, such as that of the envelope-cell for example. Still

_ more rapid and decided are the metamorphoses which the pri-

_ mordial-cells undergo in the interior of the envelope-cell, through

_ influences destructive to the life of the organism. These phe-

| cells, depriving them of their form and dissolving them into a

_ single structureless green mass, which lies upon the inside of

_ the enyelope-cell, frequently destroying all evidence of the origin

_ from eight spheres, while not a trace of special enveloping mem-

_ branes comes to light. These phenomena of dissolution more-

_ over indicate that the envelope-cell, as I have already mentioned,

_is composed of a delicate membrane enclosing a clear watery fluid,

_ which cannot be dense, gelatinous or mucilaginous, since it is

| readily displaced by the radiating filaments and the dissolved

| substance, and which therefore is very similar to pure water, if

not exactly the same.

Il. Motion.

_ The cilia which are protruded from the equator of the en-

velope-cell are but short inside this, but the portion projecting

into the water is much longer and vibrates actively, thereby causing

all the movements. During their vibration the cilia are difficult

to detect ; but when dried on glass, and still better by wetting

them with iodine, they may readily be traced in their whole

length, especially if sulphuric acid is added, this rendering them

more distinct and giving them a darker colour, The motion of

the entire organism, depending on the eight pairs of cilia, exactly

resembles that well known in the Alge and many Infusoria. First

there is a rapid revolution round that axis of the envelope-cell

which passes through its poles and stands perpendicular to the

ring of primordial-cells, so that the envelope-cell rotates like a

wheel upon its axle. In the polar view (figs. 1, 3) our form

gives exactly the impression of a revolving wheel, while in the

equatorial view (figs. 2, 4), where the primordial-cells are mostly

elongated, it has more the aspect of a globe turning upon its

axis. Besides this revolution on its axis, which endures through-

out the whole life, there is an advancing movement, which pro-

3828 Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvociness 4

duces a*very irregular course; in this way these orgamisnis”

screw themselves, as it were, onwards in the water. Sometimes

they swim straight out with uniform rapidity, the pole going”

first, the rotating ring of primordial-cells standing at right

angles to the course and appearing only in one line; sometimes”

they turn round, so that the equatorial plane presents itself as a

circle again (in ‘the polar view): they rotate thus round their

centre without moving from the spot; then they set one

forward and swim on in another direction, bend to the right or

to the left, or turn quite round, mostly without any perceptible

obstruction, move in curves of the most varied kinds, run round

any point in spiral lines, come into different planes, sometimes

ascending, sometimes descending ; in short, they exhibit all those

most complex and wonderful phenomena of locomotion, which

we are acquainted with in the moving propagative cells of the]

Algee, and, as I have demonstrated elsewhere *, m exactly the

same way in the Astomous and Anenterous Infusoria (Monadina,

Astasiea, Cryptomonadina, &c.), and which certainly do not bear

at all the character of purposing, conscious volition, but appear

as an activity determined not indeed by purely external causes,

but by internal causes in the organization and vital process. The

collective idea of such motions is best represented by the course

described by a top which runs through the most x Bar curves |

while at the same time constantly revolving on its axis. 3

I have endeavoured in vain to determine whether the 10-

tation round the axis, in the organism here described, is con-

stant in one given direction. To render such a determination

possible, it would first of all be requisite that the rotating globes’

should allow the recognition of a right or left, or what is the

same, a top and bottom, and the marking of these by morpho-

logical differences. Such a determination, however, is ‘altogether

impossible in very many cases, in our organisms, since the en-

velope-cell, as we have seen, is a perfect globe, while the pri-

mordial-cells are mostly symmetrically developed toward each

end in the longer axis. Under such circumstances there exist

no characters for the distinction of the two poles of the envelope~

cell, to regard one as the upper, the other as the lower; and in

the same cases to demonstrate a revolution in one fixed direction

is altogether out of the question. 3

We might certainly distinguish the two poles by calling that

the upper which goes first in the motion. In many cases such a

difference is already given in the organization, where, namely,

the primordial-cells are unsymmetrically developed, projecting

* Nachtrage zur Naturgeschichte des Protococcus ( Chlamydococeus)

pluvialis (Nova Acta Ac. C.C. L. n. ¢. xxii. pars 2. p. 735). .

4 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 329

chiefly into one hemisphere of the envelope-cell. In this way-we

possess at least the possibility of making out whether the revo-

Ration takes place to the right or to the left. But in both cases

it is found that the rotation of the envelope-cell is not at all

constant in one direction; for not only do different spheres re-

_yolve some to the right and others to the left, but even one and

the same individual rotates for a time with striking rapidity

_ towards the right, the rapidity gradually slackens, the globe

rests for a moment, and the moment after it revolves towards

the left, with gradually increasing rapidity, and after some time

the rotation returns again in a similar manner to its revolution

toward the right. Although, therefore, Alex. Braun describes a

constant revolution to the left in the in many respects analogous

-swarming-cells of Chlamydococcus and the swarming-spores of

_ Gdogonium, and to the right in the moving gonidia of Vaucheria

and the families of Pandorina*, I must assert, that no such con-

_ stant law of revolution exists in the structure here describedt.

III. Systematic Position.

__. In the foregoing pages I have confined myself to the simple

_ description of the observed forms, without raising the question

_ of the place which the organism here characterized occupies in

__ the series of known beings,—in what genus, what natural family

_ it is to be arranged ; nay, above all, in which kingdom of nature tt

_ ts to be enrolled as a citizen. The settlement of these questions

is requisite before anything else, in order to arrive at an actual

_ comprehension of the parts just described.

m4 It is soon seen that it is easier to establish the nearest rela-

tionship, particularly the natural family, than to decide the

question whether we have to do with an animal ora plant. It

‘is evident at once, namely, that the organism we have described

belongs to the family of the Volvocinee. For not only do we find

in it the two principal characters which are characteristic of this

interesting family; the presence of a number of green globes,

_ which, enclosed in a common colourless envelope, represent a

_ family of cells (polypidom), together with the constant rolling

_ motion which the Volwocinee possess through almost the whole of

_ their life,—but our form also displays, as we shall see hereafter,

_ the third character of the Volvocinea, that the separate globes

__ propagate within the envelope. In fact, there exist the greatest

analogies between the known genera of Volvocinee, especially

* Ueber die Verjungung in der Natur, p. 227.

+ According to my observations, an alternation of the direction of ro-

tation occurs in Chlamydococcus pluvialis similar to that which I have

described above (vide Nachtrage, &e. J. c. p. 736).

330 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines. —

Gonium and Pandorina, and the organism here described; an

these genera are only essentially distinguished by the e~

ment of the green globes or primordial-cells, which in Par

are placed on a spherical surface, in Gonium on a flat plane, while

in our form they stand at the circumference of a circle. Since,

however, this very law of arrangement is, in the family of t

Volvocinea, the most important criterion, on which the establish-

ment of the genera depends, it follows, that we here have a pe-

culiar genus, which I do not find described either in Ehrenberg’s

great work or in any later publication.

I owe to the friendly information of Major von Flotow the

only notice which can perhaps refer to our form.

In the Berlin ‘ Haude-Spener’s Zeitung’ of the 28th of April

1846, namely, occurs the abstract of a paper read by Ehrenberg

on April 24th before the Society of “Naturforsch. Freunde.”

This states that “‘in this spring he had observed a new generic

form of the naked animaleules of the Berlin district, which was

closely allied to the green plate-animalcule composed of sixteen

corpuscles, called Gonium pectorale. Herr Werneck had already

discovered an allied new form near Salzburg, which was not

tabular but spherical, and formed of eight animalcules, and this

he called Stephanoma. The new form consisted of 6-21 annu-

larly connected animalcules, was tabular, and each of the cor-

puscles appeared to bear two proboscides or locomotive organs,

with which it moved actively like a rolling wheel. It was de-

nominated Trochogonium Rotula.”

So far as can be made out from this, unfortunately very im-

perfect and obscure statement, regarding which I could nowhere

find any more minute details, the two genera, Trochogonium, Ehr.,

and Stephanoma, Werneck, are the only ones which admit of

being placed in a parallel with our form. At the same time,

Ehrenberg’s Trochogoniwm cannot possibly be identical with the |

latter, since this is said to be composed of 6-21 globes, while the |

structure described here is never formed of more than eight

green primordial-cells : moreover Ehrenberg says nothing of a

spherical envelope; from the statement that its form is tabular

and nearest allied to the genus Gonium, it seems rather to fol-

low, that a flat envelope exists in Trochogoniwm.

On the other hand, a greater agreement is exhibited by Wer-

neck’s. genus Stephanoma, which Ehrenberg himself mentions as

a form generically different from his ; and I should not hesitate

to call my organism identical with Werneck’s, if reasonable doubt

were not excited by the expression of Ehrenberg, that the latter

is composed of eight, not tabularly, but spherically combined

animalcules. For in the above description no distinetion is

made between the shape of the envelope and the figure formed

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocnee. 331

_by the grouping of the primordial-cells. If, as the meaning of

the words indicates, the eight separate cells of Werneck’s Ste-

phanoma composed a sphere, Stephanoma would agree with Bo-

tryocystis Volvoz, inasmuch as the latter genus, furnished with an

untenable diagnosis by Kiitzing, has been applied by Al. Braun

‘to an actually existing being composed of eight (rarely four or

sixteen) segments of a sphere surrounded by an envelope pretty

closely investing them (Ueber Verjungung, &c., 170*).

_ Considering the impossibility of clearing up the relation of

_ Trochogonium and Stephanoma to our form, from the materials

to which I have access, it seemed to me requisite for the interests

of science to regard the latter, for the time at least, as a pecu-

r new genus, and to apply a special name toit. I propose for

his Stephanosphera (wreath-globe), to combine in one word the

characteristics of the genus, the wreath of primordial-cells and

the spherical form of the envelope. Since, moreover, our form

has been found in the two stations at present known, in the

‘Same way, in rain-water accumulated in hollows of stones, with

Chlamydococcus pluvialis, and, concluding from the rarity of its

occurrence, localities of this kind seem to be characteristic gene-

rally for the species, I shall assign to it the specific name of

Stephanosphera pluvialis.

“IV. On the Systematic Position of the Volvocinez in general.

The decision of the question whether Stephanosphera pluvialis

_ is to be placed in the animal or the vegetable kmgdom is more

difficult than the determination of the natural family to which

it belongs. It coincides with the general discussion whether the

_ Volvocinee as a whole are to be regarded as plants or animals.

The solution of this question is not only of great importance in

a general point of view, but on it is essentially dependent the

manner in which we have to interpret the conditions of organi-

zation observed in Stephanosphera.

_ The earliest observer of the genera belonging to the Volvo-

cinee did not hesitate to regard the persistence and variety of

_ their movements, which never seemed interrupted by an act of

_ germination, as a proof of their animal nature. O. F. Miiller

already detected in Goniwm pectorale almost all the details which

investigation has reached since (Kleine Schriften, 1782, 15),

_ especially that the entire organism is composed of a great num-

ber of separate animalcules held together by a common shield.

_ _ * In most works Botryocystis Morum is spoken of as a young form of

_ Pandorina, and it was figured as such by Ehrenberg; but I have not been

_ able to demonstrate any genetic connexion in the developmental history of

_ the two genera.

3382 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocthes: 1

Finally, after Ehrenberg had, by his researches on Volvow aI -

bator, solved the problem in the remarkable structure of th

beautiful form, and declared it also, in correspondence with the

structure of Gonium, a colony of numerous distinct monad-like

animalcules combined into a polypidom, he furnished, by @

series of important observations on the other genera of Volu

cine, a revision of this family which marked an epoch in-

knowledge of it, and even now, in spite of the varying opinio

as to their anatomy and systematic character, must be esteeme¢

as the profoundest and most perfect description of this grouy j

(Infusionsthierchen, 49-53). His researches went to place be-

ond doubt the animal nature of the Volvocinee, which, mdeed,

had scarcely been questioned by any one up to that time. Tn

agreement with his general view of the Infusorial structure, the

Volvocinee were regarded as Infusorial Animaleules,—with rigid

bodies, with a mouth and many stomachs, but without intestinal

canal, with a nervous system and eyes, with testes, ens

vesicle and green ovules, and lastly, with one or two proboscides,

which in many were enclosed in a common envelope or’ mantle.

This mantle was supposed always, except in Chlamydomonas, Syn-

erypta and Gyges, to be open in front, so that the animaleules—

could protrude themselves some distance out and subsequently

remove entirely, somewhat in the same way as the Rotifers Mel.

certa or Tubicolaria, from their sheaths. The single animaleules

were said to propagate independently and develope into new ie

lypidoms inside this mantle (/. c. p. 50).

This idea of the structure of the Volvocinee has been almost

universally accepted since the appearance of Ehrenberg’s great

work; and even those naturalists who, like Dujardin, offered

opposition to Ehrenberg’s doctrine, confined themselves to de-

nying the existence of stomachs and sexual organs to the Volvo-

cinee, without in other respects doubting their animal nature

(Hist. des Zoophytes, 307).

In the year 1844 Von Siebold was first led, by a somnpariti

of the moving spores of Alge with the true Infusoria, to ba

important declaration, that besides Closterium and the Bacilla’

very many of the Volvocinese must be removed from the dina

kingdom and placed among plants, since they are destitute of the

principal character of animals, contractility. “ Familie infusorio-—

rum Volwocina .... plene sunt plantis inferiorum ordinum” (De -

finibus inter regnum vegetabile et animalia constituendis, p. 12).

This view was established * more in detail by Von Siebold in|

1848 in his ‘ Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie” (p. 7); and

* A form related to the Volvocinee, the genus Gonium, had already been

described by Turpin as an Alga, under the name of Pector alina hebraica j

(Mém. de Musée d’Hist. nat. xvi, 1828). E

;

- Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocmer. 333

in 1849 in his essay ‘ Ueber einzellige Pflanzen und Thiere”

(Siebold and K6lliker’s Journal, vol. i. p.270; Ann. des Se. Nat.

‘Ser. 8. vol. xii. p. 138 ; Botanique, 1849).

_. At the same time scarcely a single botanist has hitherto ven-

tured to claim as lawful property the family referred to the ve-

tetable kingdom through Von Siebold’s researches, which zoo-

Ee are just as little meclined to give up; and thus even in

the last complete enumeration of the Algz, Kiitzing’s ‘ Species

-Algarum’ has included only one single genus belonging to the

Volvocinee, Botryocystis, and this only i in consequence of imper-

fect observation. Only a short time ago a most careful and

successful observer, to whom the study of the moving spores of

the Algze owes its first establishment and recently its very com-

plete elaboration, G. Thuret, has seen cause to conclude that the

| Volvocinee, as well as the Euglene and even Tetraspora, are to

be regarded as animals, since they are destitute of the principal

“character of all vegetable spores, germination (Ann. des Sc. Nat.

1850, Ser. 3. xiv. 214, 61; Recherches sur les Zoospores. des

. “Algues et les Anthéridies des Cryptogames).

__ Only in the last few years has a revulsion appeared to be pre-

pe in this particular, since the study of the Unicellular Plants

as acquired a greater extension and profundity; and it is in

_ particular the merit of Nigeli to have investigated this hitherto

neglected group with a criticism and a completeness of which

_ yery few other families can boast (vide his ‘Neuere Algensysteme,’

1847, and ‘ Gattungen einzelligen Algen,’ 1849). In consequence

of his researches, Nageli has ventured to include at least two of

the forms belonging to the Volvocinee, the genera Gonium and

apes among the Algz.

_ Lastly, in the past year, the remarkable work of Alex. Braun,

< ‘Ueber die Verjungung im Pflanzenreiche,’ which contains a

fund of the most beautiful observations explanatory of the forms

_ standing on the limits between animals and plants, has also fully

_ tecognized the notions first set up by Von Siebold on this point,

_ and included the whole family of the Volvocinee in the vegetable

_ kingdom.

_. Lalso have been led, by a series of comparative researches, to

the conviction, that the assignment of the character of an animal,

_ even only of the lowest Infusorium, depends merely on a one-sided

_ criticism of the conditions of organization ; that, on the contrary, all

: analogy. of structure and development, as well as the natural rela-

_ tionship, directly indicate to us, that the Volvocinee are to be

_ placed among plants, and indeed in the class of Alga, in these

_ again in the order of the Palmellacee, among which they form a

special family.

From the contradiction which this assertion has hitherto

334 Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines “ag

almost everywhere met, and since no special establishment of i

has ever been given, it appears to me useful to examine the new

genus Stephanosphera more minutely from the point of view, bj

which the relationship of this as well as of the other Volvocinee

to plants will be made clear. I have also been led to consider

it advisable to give the description of this new Alga in a Journal

of Scientific Zoology, because zoologists alone haye hitherto

taken an interest in the forms of the Volvocinee, and at present

appear unwilling to give up to the botanist this interesting

family, to which, however, as will be explained in the sequel, they

have no valid claim. I may remark, however, that I shall con-

fine myself here solely to Stephanosphera, and reserve for another

occasion the examination of the other genera, on which I have

collected some new material. 2 Taser ge

V. Relation of the Volvocinee to Chlamydococeus.

The most incontestable proof of the vegetable nature of all the

Volvocinee is furnished by their relationship to the genera Chla-

mydomonas and Chlamydococcus, the developmental history of

which has been followed out in its most minute details duri

the last few years in the researches of Von Flotow, Alex. Bra

and myself. The latter genus particularly, which, mingled

with Stephanosphera, imparts a red colour to cayities in stones

filled with rain-water, has, as the most minutely investigated,

furnished the most information not only regarding the genere

position of the Volvocinee, but also as to the import of the indi-

vidual portions of their organization. erode

Dujardin indeed thought that the genus Chlamydomonas and”

the closely allied Chlamydococcus ought to be separated from the

remainder of the Volvocinee, and that they should be embodied

in his Thecamonadie, nearly the same as Ehrenberg’s Cryptomo-

nadina; but a more profound investigation, not only of th e

structure but also of the history of development, teaches us that

Chlamydomonas (Diselmis, Duj.) possesses only external analogies

with Trachelomonas, while this form, as Ehrenberg already di

covered, exhibits the closest alliance to Gonium and Pondeicun

The relation of the colourless envelope to the enclosed green

globes, the position of the two cilia, which arise from the Tatts

and pass out through the former*, and lastly the laws of divisi

of the green cells inside the envelope, in powers of two, dis-

play themselves in exactly the same way in Chlamydococeus as

in the rest of the Volvocinea ; and the only distinction between

* I have already mentioned this condition of the cilia in Stephano

sphera; it was detected by Focke in Pandorina, and was observed pre-—

viously by Ehrenberg both in this and Volvoz. ie :

Dr. F, Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines: 335

them consists in the circumstance that in Chlamydomonas (and

Chlamydococcus) the individuals produced by the division of the

green globes separate after the absorption of the parent-envelope,

‘and live on as individuals, while in the other Volvocinee the

daughter-cells produced by the division of one green primordial-

¢ell remain connected by the persistent parent-cell as by a com-

‘mon enyelope, and move about as a well-defined body composed

of many cells.

_ While Chlamydococcus is a unicellular Alga in the strictest

sense of the word, never composed of more than one cell at any

period of its growth, and each division forms the commencement

of a new individual, the remainder of the Volvocinee present

‘themselves as families of cells, in which a definite number of

equivalent cells are combined in some measure into an individual

of a higher order. Consequently, Chlamydococcus bears the same

relation to the rest of the Volvocinee as Pleurococcus to Palmella,

Cyclotella to Meloseira, or as Vorticella to Epistylis, and Hydra

to Campanularia or Tubularia. On the other hand, Trachelomonas

id the analogous forms do not belong to the vegetable kingdom

t all, but are nearest allied to the Astasiea, and appear as loricated

uglene (not as loricated Monads, as Ehrenberg assumed).

' The researches of Alex. Braun, like my own, have proved

most distinctly that Chlamydococcus can only be placed with

propriety among the Alge. _ It is distinguished, indeed, from the

rahe germ-cells by which far the greater part of the species

of Alge are propagated, both by a somewhat more complex

structure and by the circumstance that the motion lasts for a

yery long time, and finally, by the power of the moving cells to

"propagate as such, without entering into the state of rest (ger-

mination), otherwise than as quite a temporary condition. But

these objections touch only to some extent the specific character

of Chlamydococcus and the Volvocinee generally as unicellular

plants; and they do not stand there among the Algz altogether

without intermediate conditions, as Alex. Braun has proved in

his ‘ Verjungung’ (/. c. 227)*, especially from the long move-.

ment of the Volvocinee.

_ On the other hand, the external form, like the chemical and

morphological organization of the contents, the laws of motion

and the general physiological phenomena, especially however

the behaviour in the transition into the condition of rest, in

_ Chlamydococcus, agree so perfectly with the moving spores, the

_ transformation of which into undoubted plants has been demon-

_ strated with scientific clearness, that no unprejudiced observer

_ * Thuret found the swarming-cells of Ulothrix mucosa im motion after

three days (Ann. des Se. Nat. 1850, 248).

336 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinex.

can discover an essential distinction. I have mentioned in m

essay, that Ehrenberg himself, although he claims the movi

condition of the forms allied to Chlamydococcus as Infusoria, has

declared the resting-stage of this or a most closely allied genus

to be an undoubted Alga; and yet the moving Infusoria are only

a propagative form of the motionless Alga. Finally, I have

succeeded in demonstrating the membrane of the cells of Chlamy-

dococcus both in the resting, and particularly in the moving stage,

to consist of cellulose, and thus of establishing the most important

criterion of a vegetable cell we are at present acquainted with,

the ternary composition of the cell-membrane, in the Infusorioid|

condition of Chlamydococcus. In fact, all the more recent close

observers of Chlamydococcus, the number of whom is not incon-

siderable, have almost without exception agreed in recognizing,

in all conditions of the development of this form, only a plant ant

nothing but a plant.

Although I refer to the essay above cited in regard to a

special physiological and developmental characters of Chlamydo~_

coccus pluvialis, I cannot omit to include here a sketch of its”

general course of development, because the key to the compre-

hension of the Volvocinee generally, and the Stephanosphera here —

described in particular, lies in that remarkable organism, and in |

it is revealed most clearly the complete conception of their vege-

table nature.

The moving cell of Chlamydococcus is composed of two

principal parts, a hyaline spherical envelope, which is formed of a

delicate structureless membrane consisting of cellulose, and im-

mediately surrounds colourless contents, perhaps consisting of

pure water. In the centre of the envelope occurs a coloured

globule, composed of the universal nitrogenous protoplasm or

mucus of vegetable cells, coloured red or green by chlorophyll or

a carmine-red oil, and containing imbedded in it numerous.

granules of protoplasm, as well as one or more large chlorophyll

vesicles. This coloured globule is attenuated at the upper end

into a colourless point ; from this go out two cilia, which pro-

trude into the water through two orifices in the membrane of

the envelope and produce the movements of the whole. The

inner coloured globule is not bounded by any rigid membrane,

but merely by a thickened layer of protoplasm ; hence its contour

is very changeable and passes through manifold transformations

in the course of its development. In particular it frequently

becomes elongated in all directions into colourless radiating fila-

ments, which keep the internal coloured globule suspended freely

in the envelope, and are afterwards retracted in the course of

the development (vide my Nachtrage, &c. t. 67. A. figs. 27, 28).

The motionless cells of Chlamydococcus are of much simpler -

— DP? Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvociner. 337

ucture, and, like all forms of Protococcus, consist simply of a

ugh spherical cellulose membrane and green or red contents

ganized as primordial utricle. The history of development

ows that under certain conditions the contents of the motion-

ss cells become divided into a number of portions, which always

rrespond to two, or a power of two in their number ; that these

portions become organized into special primordial utricles, and

as such break through the parent-cell, each developing two cilia,

and by the aid of these rotating actively in the water. During

eir motion they excrete a delicate cellular membrane over their

tire surface, which is gradually removed farther and farther

om the primordial utricle by endosmose of water, until at length

‘becomes the wide envelope of the moving form described above

(Nachtrage, tab. 67. A. figs..23, 35, 29). From this it follows

at the latter forms do indeed possess on the wholethe character

simple cells, but display some peculiarities in their structure

and development, since the internal coloured globule corresponds

originally to the primordial utricle of other vegetable cells, yet

is not surrounded by a membrane, as usual, but suspended free

"in it like a cell-nucleus, while watery, unazotized contents appear

between the membrane and the primordial utricle. For this

reason I have called the enclosed coloured globule, which is formed

first, and originally moves about without a special membrane in

e manner of a cell, and corresponds to the primordial utricle

of vegetable cells in general, the primordial-cell, and the enclosing

imembrane with its watery contents the envelope-cell. The moving

Chlamydococeus- condition is capable of propagating ds such, by

_ the’enclosed primordial-cell dividing anew, the individual por-

_ tions slipping out of their envelope-cell and running through the

eycle of development of their parent-cells. In passing into the

state of rest, the enclosed primordial-cell secretes over its surface,

ide its envelope, like every primordial utricle, a new tough

lulose membrane, and through this metamorphosis assumes the

form of an ordinary Protococcus-cell, while the envelope-cell is

dissolved (Nachtriige, tab. 67. B. figs. 91, 92, 98). But only

stich primordial-cells behave in this way as are produced by the

division of a Chlamydococcus-globule in a lower power of two ; the

primordial-cells originating from a 16—64-fold division move far

more actively and do not secrete an envelope-cell; they are in-

capable of any propagation and pass immediately into the con-

dition’ of ‘rest (/. c. tab. 67. A. figs. 56-62, tab. 67. B. figs. 79,

80). Alex. Braun has called these forms of Chlamydococcus,

which develope an envelope-cell, macrogonidia, and distinguished

the smaller ones originating from multifold division, as micro-

gonidia.

“Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 22

338 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinese. 4

VI. Comparison of Stephanosphera with Chlamydococcus. 4

If we now compare the conditions of organization of Stepha-

nosphera with those of Chlamydococcus which we have just in-

dicated, we find the most essential agreement. In the first place

the envelope-cell of Stephanosphera corresponds exactly to that

of the moving macrogonidia of Chlamydococcus ; it is composed

of a delicate colourless membrane and contents resembling water.

Chemical actions to which I subjected the envelope-cell of St a

phanosphera, bear witness of this agreement in the most minute

particulars. The envelope-cell is indifferent to acids and alkalies

and is not dissolved in them ; but it suffers a peculiar thickening

by sulphuric acid which causes it to apply itself more closely t

the primordial-cell, and present itself very distinctly and clearly

defined. In general the application of dilute sulphuric acid is

often the best means of making clear delicate vegetable mem-

branes which would otherwise be readily overlooked, especially

when iodine is added, which then ordinarily colours the mem-

brane yellow. The cilia also are rendered more distinct by sul-

phuric acid. The envelope-cells of Pandorina, Chlamydococcus

and Volvox behave in exactly the same way. oe

With regard to the chemical composition of the envelope-cell

of Stephanosphera, I have succeeded in demonstrating in it also

the most decisive criterion of a vegetable membrane. Sincé

Nigeli, in his comparison of the Unicellular Alge with the simple

animal cells, arrived at the result, that all distinctions hitherto

proposed between the lowest forms of the two kingdoms are

fallacious, and that the only decisive criterion must lie in the

nature of the membrane, which belonged in animals to the

proteine series, and in plants to the group of hydrates of carbon

—since that epoch attention has necessarily been directed, in all

amphibolic structures, to the investigation of the chemical com-

position of their membrane. I have succeeded in demonstrating

the characteristic reaction of vegetable cellulose, the blue colouring

by iodine and sulphuric acid, in the envelope-cell of Stephano-

sphera. For this purpose it is requisite to allow a drop of pretty

concentrated sulphuric acid to act upon the swarming Stephano-

sphera-globes until the green primordial-cells in the interior are

decomposed, by which time the proper transformation of the

envelope-membrane has taken place, and a drop of solution o

- iodine (iodine in iodide of potassium), sufficiently diluted to pre

vent the sulphuric acid precipitating it in crystals, then produce

a coloration of the envelope, which appears at first violet, gradual

becoming more intense, and at last beautiful indigo blue, 'Thuk

the chemical behaviour of the envelope-cell in Stephanosphara, a

, Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 339

in Chlamydococcus, is the most evident proof that the organisms

to which they belong cannot be regarded as Infusoria, but are

‘sbmply Alge. Moreover this behaviour of the envelope-cell of

Stephanosphera shows that the latter is bounded by a true

cellulose membrane, and not, as is assumed almost universally

of the Volvocinee, and by Niageli even of all Algz, of secreted

mucus or jelly*. The direct observation of the envelope-cell of

_Stephanosphera likewise shows that this is completely closed in

‘its normal condition, and only perforated by orifices in the spots

where the cilia of each primordial-cell pass out. Not until a

later stage, when the primordial-cells singly leave the envelope

or have begun to progagate, does the membrane of the envelope

tear, gradually collapse and become dissolved, so that the included

globes can make their exit freely.

_ It is obvious that the eight green globes of Stephanosphera

correspond exactly to the primordial-cell of Chlamydococeus. The

primordial-cells of Stephanosphera consist in like manner of

‘nitrogenous protoplasm, in itself colourless, which is coloured

brown by iodine and almost wholly dissolved by caustic potash

‘and ammonia. The protoplasm is coloured by the universal

colouring matter of vegetables, chlorophyll ; for alcohol and ether

bleach the green globules, and concentrated sulphuric acid

changes the green colour into a verdigris-green or blue—a re-

‘action which, from my observations, is characteristic of chloro-

phyll (vide my essay on Loxodes Bursaria, Siebold and Kolhker’s

Journal, iii. 264).

_ The chemical nature of the fine granules in the primordial-

eells which with age multiply, so that the primordial-cells at

‘length lose their transparent green colour and appear dull,

opake and olive-brown, is difficult to determine on account of

their small size ; they are either protoplasm-granules, or, as a bluish

colour given by iodine might lead one to conclude, perhaps

_starch-granules. On the other hand, the two darker nuclei in

each primordial-cell are undoubtedly the same structures which

-oceur in Chlamydococcus, and in like manner not only in all the

Volvocinee, but also in most of the Alge of the orders of Pal-

_mellee, Desmidiew, Confervee, &c. Nigeli has called these ch/lo-

rophyll-utricles, and demonstrated their universal occurrence in

the vegetable kingdom by comparative descriptions (Gattungen

einzelliger Algen, ii.). Ordinarily there exist only two in Ste-

phanosphera, which may be distinguished in the earliest stages,

while among other Volvocinee, for instance, Gonium contains only

one chlorophyll-utricle. It is difficult to settle anything definite

_ * The common envelope of Gonium is certainly composed of a gelatinous

_ substance without a bounding cellulose membrane.

> 22%

840 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocineze. —

concerning their structure and function ; they must not be re-_

garded as cell-nuclei, although they resemble them very much,

especially when only one is present. Caustic potash, which de-

stroys the rest of the contents of the primordial-cells, makes the

chlorophyll-utricles of Stephanosphera show themselves more

distinctly as hollow rings, surrounded by a membrane which is”

rather granular; iodine colours them deep violet, which leads to”

the conclusion of the presence of starch*. Ehrenberg thought

the chlorophyll-utricles were to be recognized as the testes of -

the Volvocinee ; it is certain, however, that these structures may

be seen in greater or less number, in exactly the same way, in

undeniable plants, such as Hydrodictyon, Gfdogonium, Mougeotia

and others (vide, among others, H. vou Mohl’s Treatise on the

Vegetable Cell, in R. Wagner’s Handworterbuch der Physiol. pl. 1.

figs. 20-24, and in the English Translation ditto). — q

I have already shown that the primordial-cells of Stephano-

sphera as well as those of Chlamydococcus are destitute of a spe-

cial rigid membrane ; consequently they do not correspond to”

perfect cells, but on the whole only to primordial-utricles. In

like manner the curious colourless mucous filaments which ex- |

tend out from the extremities of the primordial-cell of Stepha-

nosphera, are evidently analogous to the rays which make one

condition of the Chlamydococcus-cells look hairy (var. setiger,

V. Flotow). They are merely prolongations of the colourless

protoplasm forming the substance of the primordial-cells, and

correspond pretty well morphologically to the reticulated branch-

ing filaments of protoplasm, the sap-currents as they are termed, —

which maintain the nucleus suspended freely in the interior of |

the cells of the articulations of Spirogyra, or of the hairs of the -

anthers of Tradescantia. Alcohol and acids cause these pro-

longations to be retracted into the substance of the primordial-_

cells ; the same thing takes place during the course of the deve-

lopment. Ehrenberg has called these peculiar mucous rays, which -

also occur in some other Volvocinee, in some cases a tail (Syn-

ura, Uroglena), in others connecting canals or indications of a

vascular system (in Volvox and Gonium). These protoplasm-

filaments naturally present a different aspect according to the

shape and arrangement of the primordial-cells: while they ap-

pear as a wreath of cilia in the globular Chlamydococcus-cell, mm

the more spindle-shaped Stephanosphera they rather resemble

bai

* It is well known that the chlorophyll-utricles of most of the Algze, as”

well as the analogous chlorophyll-globules occurring in the cells of almost

all Phanerogamia, secrete starch. Alex. Braun indeed has called the corre-

sponding structures in Chlamydococcus pluvialis simply “ Amylon-glo-—

222). “a

_ Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinese. 341

bundles of rays passing out from each end; in Volvoz, if seen

‘only from above, they give the individual primordial-cells a

olygonal, radiating aspect, and form threads of communication

tween them: Focke has wrongly considered them as intercel-

lular passages between the individual animaleules. The con-

necting threads in Gonium, on the other hand, are something

quite different, and do not belong at all to the domain of the

-protoplasm-filaments, as I shall explain more fully at another

opportunity. .

_ Thus the microscopic analysis, like the chemical investigation

of Stephanosphera, in exact analogy with Chlamydococcus and the

‘swarming-cells of the other Algz, has enabled us to distinguish

all the characters of a plant, but not one mark of a true animal

organization, in particular not a trace of a mouth, stomach, and

sexual organs. But the genus Stephanosphera is thereby pre-

eminently important for the decision of the question of the limit

between the animal and vegetable kmgdom, because the history

_of its development affords the most convincing proof of the vegetable

nature of this genus, and thus of all the other Volvocinee.

VII. Development of Stephanosphera.

Both the very delicate envelope-cell and the widely distant,

transparent green globular primordial-cells of the young Ste-

_ phanosphera ave of a relatively small size. Both grow so much

as to double their dimensions during their vegetation ; the former

acquires a tough membrane ; the latter fill up the greater part

_ of the envelope-cell, advance towards each other so as to touch,

_levelope thicker, denser contents, and assume most curious

forms through the ramification of the protoplasm-filaments.

_ Hinally the process of propagation shows itself in the primordial-

cells. The radiating ends retract all their prolongations, and

become rounded into a perfect sphere ; the primordial-cells are

tow merely attached to the envelope-cell by their cilia, and thus

_ are readily moved from their normal corresponding positions, and

then appear devoid of any definite arrangement in the envelope-

cell (fig. 8).

_ These changes take place in the course of the afternoon ;

_ towards evening more influential metamorphoses make their ap-

pearance. The primordial-cell, namely, extends itself predomi-

nantly in one direction in the axis perpendicular to the equatorial

plane, consequently in the position which fig. 2 represents from

above downwards. The two chlorophyll-utricles respectively re-

_ pair to the two ends ; the green contents likewise flow chiefly to

the two sides, and leave a broad colourless zone visible in the

middle, such as we observe somewhat in the same position in

Ee mere NE ND

342 Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinese.

Closterium (fig. 8). Finally the primordial-cell becomes con-

stricted, gradually from the periphery to the centre, in the

middle line, and is thus divided into two secondary cells, the

septum of which, in the position above assumed, runs from right

to left (in the diagrammatic figure 21 from a through m to 6 and

n). Each of the halves cut off by the division then expands

somewhat in the direction from left to right ; a new constriction

soon presents itself in the direction from above downwards (in

the diagram fig. 21 from ¢ through m to d and n) ; when this is

complete, the originally globular primordial-cell is divided into

four quarters (figs. 8, 9). j

This process of constriction and cutting off is repeated once

more, each secondary cell becoming divided by a new septum

into two equal halves (fig. 10). The division takes place through

two of the largest cireumferences, passing from before back-

wards, and cutting the points m and n through which the two

preceding septa passed: on the diagram fig. 21 these are repre-

sented by the circles e, f, m, n, and g,h, m,n. Since the origi-

nally globular primordial-cell has meanwhile only expanded in the

direction of the two axes going from above downwards and from

right to left, and is not enlarged in the third direction, from

before backwards, the whole presents the form of a flattened

spheroid, somewhat of the shape of one of our loaves (the shape

of a turban, or of the bowls used on the bowling-green), which

is divided into eight equal segments, meeting in the middle, by

four ellipses distant 45° from each other, and intersecting in the’

axis of rotation (vide figs. 10, 138 & 21). .

This process of division, by which each primordial-cell pro-

duces in the first generation two, in the second four, and in the

third eight secondary-cells, is completed in the course of the

night, so that early in the morning, in the long summer days

even by 8 o’clock, we perceive each of the eight primordial-cells

divided into eight in the manner described (figs. 10, 11). The

generations produced in each case by this triple subdivison vary

in the duration of their lives and in their capacity of develop-

ment ; the first two rapidly divide again, and therefore are, ac-

cording to Nageli’s expression, mere ‘ transitional generations’ ;

the third alone arrive at complete development and persist a long

time as such ; these form the ‘ permanent generation?

The process of division does not always take place simulta-

neously in all the eight primordial-cells of Stephanosphera; we

not unfrequently find inside the same envelope-cell some pri-

mordial-cells still wholly unaltered, while others are already pre-

paring to divide into two, a third perhaps already into four, and

a fourth has already resolved itself into its eight secondary-cells

(vide fig. 8). Very often most of the primordial-cells are found

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines. 343

eady completely separated into eight, while one or other of

em is still wholly unaltered.

When the act of division has gone on favourably up to the

int to which we have followed it above, some hours elapse be-

fore the young families of cells escape completely from the enve-

lope. The process which precedes their birth consists principally

in the more complete isolation, in a centrifugal direction around.

their common centre, of the secondary-cells produced by each

primordial-cell. Since the parting off of the secondary-cells ad-

vances gradually from the periphery towards the centre, they are

already completely individualized and separated by intercellular

paces at the periphery, while all eight remain still connected in

the centre into a common colourless mucous mass filled with

protoplasm-granules (fig. 11). But the flow of the contents

from the centre to the bender, which conbennes up to this time,

: deep yellowish green an lg passing internally into colourless

sreen towards finely granular beaks which are all connected in

_ the centre, but become gradually attenuated, torn away and re-

tracted (figs. 10, 11,13, 14). Then the young primordial-cells

come rounded into short cylinders and stand in a circle, with-

out organic connexion, but placed closely beside one another :

en from above (in the polar view), under the microscope, they

resemble a wheel with eight notches; from the side, examined

the equatorial view, we see four or eight short cylinders lying

side by side, so that the whole is not unlike a small Scenedesmus

obtusus (fig. 11a).

_ The primordial-cell undergoing division behaves as a whole

towards external things, until the parting off into eight is quite

completed ; that is to say, its two cilia move uninterruptedly,

und consequently the entire Stephanosphera-globe still rolls

through the water according to the known laws, even when most

of its primordial-cells have already become more or less com-

pletely divided into four or eight secondary-cells. Only shortly

before the completion of the division do the cilia of the parent-

cell lose their motion and disappear, it may be by being retracted

or by being thrown off; but the orifices through which the cilia

previously passed out into the water, may now be observed in the

- common envelope-cell, as minute points surrounded by a thick-

ened border.

q Immediately after that, it is seen that the newly-formed

_ Secondary-cells have developed their own cilia; for the young

: generations formed in the interior of the parent- -envelope now

begin to move and to roll over like a wheel, so far as the con-

g Rned space allows of this (figs. 11,12). In consequence of this

344. Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinese. —

movement of the eight small wheels rotatmg im the interior of

the common enyelope-cell, which constitutes a very pretty object,

the parent-cell soon becomes enlarged and attenuated at certain”

points; the cellulose of which it is composed appears to be trans-—

formed into soluble jelly, and soon afterwards one after the other.

breaks through out of the common envelope and revolves freely

and independently in the water, according to the same laws as

the old spheres, but more actively and energetically. The young.

Stephanosphera exactly resembles a green wreath composed of

eight small cylinders, upon which by itself no envelope and cilia

can be detected (fig. 13); but if killed with iodine, the eight

primordial-cells are seen to be surrounded by a common envelope-_

cell in the form of an exceeding delicate membrane ; only this:

lies in all parts almost immediately upon the green globes, so

that it follows the waved outline they produce, and in its total -

form resembles a flat spheroid with eight notches on its border ; -

it is perforated by the cilia, which go off in pairs from each of

the primordial-cells ; and two chlorophyll-utricles are already

distinguishable in the latter (fig. 14). By degrees the envelope-_

cell is lifted up by the endosmotic absorption of water ; its sur-

face becomes smoothed out, and it appears circular in the polar

view ; on the other hand, it retains for a longer time the form of an

almost. tabular spheroid, and hence presents an ellipse in the equa-

torial view (fig. 15); finally it expands uniformly in all direc-_

tions and thus acquires its normal spherical form, while at the

same time it becomes considerably thickened. This whole pro-

cess of propagation is completed during the night, and on bright

days Stephanosphere are rarely seen in course of division at sun-

rise; on dull days they may be observed in this condition in the

first part of the morning.

The primordial-cells, however, not unfrequently come to a

standstill in the stage of division of the second generation, so

that they only separate into four secondary-cells; these at once

develope cilia and an envelope-cell, without dividing a third time, —

and make their exit from the parent-envelope in this condition.

Here therefore only the first generation of each primordial-cell

is a transitional generation, the second already a permanent gene-_

ration. Hence arises the circumstance that we often find among — 4

other eightfold Stephanosphera-globes, some in which the en-

velope-cell encloses only four primordial-cells standing at equal

distances, which in other respects behave in the ordinary man-—

ner (fig. 7).

It is still more frequently observed, when the priced aa

have already become constricted into four secondary cells and

are beginning to divide again into eight, that this process of

division is not perfectly completed in all four portions, but that —

“Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinese. 345

the young Stephanosphera already becomes free and developes

the envelope-cell, although one or other of the four quadratic

segments of the sphere has become constricted but not parted off.

Hence originate monstrous forms, since the general envelope-cell

then encloses only seven primordial-cells; but in these cases it

is always observed that one of them is distinguished by most

‘curious prolongations or mucous filaments, that it appears twice

as large as the rest, that it contains four chlorophyll-utricles in-

stead of two as is usual, and that it is also more or less con-

‘stricted in the middle. All this furnishes proof, that here one_

“secondary-cell of the second generation has not been divided the

third time like the rest, but occupies by itself the space which

is ordinarily filled by two. Very often only six (fig. 6), or even

no more than five primordial-cells are found in one envelope-

cell; but then two or three of these are twice as large as else-

‘where*. In like manner Alex. Braun figures a Pediastrum com-

posed of fifteen instead of sixteen cells, wherein one however is

twice as large as the rest (Verjungung, t. u. 20).

On the whole, it is obvious that the mode of propagation of

Stephanosphera already examined corresponds completely to that

we are already acquainted with as formation of macrogonidia in

Chlamydococcus. In both cases it depends upon the envelope-

eell remaining unaltered, while the primordial-cells become

divided, first into two secondary cells, and then so on in a lower

"power of two, each of the secondary-cells immediately developing

two cilia, and secreting over its whole surface, as do all primor-

dial-utricles of vegetable cells, a delicate cellulose membrane,

which however becomes gradually removed further from the

secreting primordial-cell through absorption of water. The only

distinction between Chlamydococcus and Stephanosphera arises

from the formation of a special envelope-cell to each individual

secondary-cell in Chlamydococcus, while in Stephanosphera all

the generations produced by division form one primordial-cell,

become enclosed by a common envelope, and move away as

_ families of cells. On the contrary, the developmental history of

_ * Only such imperfect division of a transitional generation gives the

i ey of the green cells occurring otherwise than in a power of two, in

_ Stephanosphera, as in all the other Volvocinee, in which the same law

holds good; at most the normal number might be rendered imperfect by

the emission of one or other of the cells which occurs sometimes. On the

_ other hand, definitions like that of Kiitzing’s Botryocystis Morum, which is

5 | Sagem to be composed of six secondary- (primordial-) cells, evidently

have their origin merely in imperfect observation and misapprehension of

- the law of division. In like manner, Ehrenberg’s statement that the number

of individuals in his Trochogonium varies from six to twenty-one, may de-

end upon a neglect of the proper character. In general, the earlier ob-

‘servers have frequently overlooked the constant numerical relations in the

‘structure of the Volvocinee.

346 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocineas.

Gonium, Pandorina and Volvox agrees in all essential particulars

with the laws of propagation, which I have just described in

Stephanosphera, as will be shown elsewhere. We may call the

mode of multiplication of the Volvocinee by the general name

of propagation by macrogonidia. 4

Another process is met with in Stephanosphera, besides the

above, and which I have observed more rarely, viz. propagation

by microgonidia. In this mode of multiplication the introductory

processes are exactly like those of the formation of macrogonidia ;_

in particular each primordial-cell is at first divided into two, then

into four, and lastly into eight secondary-cells. But instead of

this third generation being permanent and becoming free, as is

usual, it not unfrequently happens that the process of division is

not arrested with the separation into eight; that the original

primordial-cell becomes parted off a fourth, fifth, and even a sixth

time, in the same manner, and at length is broken up into a large

number of cells (16, 32, 64), which naturally are so much the

smaller the greater number of times the subdivision imto two

has taken place (fig. 16). While, moreover, in the formation a

macrogonidia, the secondary cells become surrounded by a com-

mon envelope, and are not free as an entire, connected family of

cells, arranged according to a definite law, in the mode of pro-

pagation now described the little secondary cells finally become

totally separated from one another, without secreting an envelope-

cell, and in this way each of the eight original primordial-cells is

broken up into 32-64 independent, green, elliptical or spindle-

shaped corpuscles, which then separate from one another, com-

mence an independent and active motion, and fill up, in great

numbers (as many as 256-512), the common parent-envelope-

cell. These little cellules—I shall follow the example of Alex.

Braun and call them microgonidia—exhibit a very active and

energetic motion inside the envelope-cell, hurrying very rapidly

up and down in all directions in its cavity; producing by their

great number that curious swarming which Alex. Braun has very

aptly compared with the intermingling of a crowd of people in a

confined area, where every one is constantly changing his place,

while the whole together constantly occupy the same space.

This crowding in among each other of the microgonidia of Stepha-

nosphera presents a picture fixing the attention in the highest

degree ; sometimes the cellules are scattered in a few large

masses; then they unite again into a knot in the middle; every

moment the general aspect varies (figs. 17 & 18). At jangall

the common envelope is ruptured here also; then the microgo-

nidia emerge one after another or in large masses, but free and

singly, into the water (fig. 19a). Their true form may be then

readily detected by killing them with iodine ; they are spindle-

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines, 847

; shaped and acuminated at both ends, bright green in the middle,

‘and run out into a colourless beak at each end, on the whole not

unlike young Euglene, without trace of an envelope-cell; the

tremity which goes first in their swimming bears delicate cilia ;

e number of the cilia is four (fig. 19). When the microgonidia

reach the water they move most actively in all directions, and in

a short time all the corpuscles emitted from an envelope-cell are

‘scattered and disappear in the wide surface of the.drop of water.

I have not been able to make out what becomes of the micro-

nidia subsequently, since they are ordinarily decomposed on

e object-holder after a brief swarming ; but it may be con-

ectured that they also serve for propagation, and probably pass

into a condition of rest. At least the latter has been observed in

the microgonidia of Chlamydococcus pluvialis by Alex. Braun and.

myself: the history of the development of the latter agrees wholly

‘with those of the Stephanosphera; they originate also by the

division of the primordial-cell in a higher power, are distin-

ished by their minute size and more active, peculiarly Infu-

rioid movement, and never develope an envelope-cell during

eir movement. The microgonidia of both therefore are true

rimordial-cells ; that is, primordial-utricles resembling cells, or-

anized exclusively of coloured protoplasm, without any cellular

embrane*. ‘The only distinction between them is, that the

microgonidia of Chlamydococcus, like their macrogonidia, possess

two cilia, while in those of Stephanosphera I observed four.

at the microgonidia of Stephanosphera correspond perfectly

morphological respects to the macrogonidia, and only depend

upon a higher power of division, is proved by a case in which

seven out of the eight primordial-cells in one envelope-cell were

broken up into microgonidia, while one divided merely into eight

secondary-cells; the latter were developed as macrogonidia and

formed a connected wreath surrounded by an envelope-cell,

which rolled slowly about in the parent-envelope, surrounded

by the swarm of free, rapidly moving microgonidia (fig. 18 a).

ex. Braun has also observed a formation of microgonidia in

Jhlamydomonas obtusa ; probably all the rest of the Volvocinee

ave a formation of small isolated microgonidia which become

free, as well as the ordinary propagation by large macrogonidia

arranged in families of cells.

* Tn these, and generally speaking in most swarming-cells of Algz, we

have structures which in their development and independent individualiza-

tion, their vital processes and their mode of movement, behave exactly as

cells, but are composed solely of cell-contents, without cell-membrane; a

proof that in the vegetable kingdom even the definition of the cell must be

im many cases conceived in a more extended sense than might be assumed

‘from the schemata of our manuals.

[To be continued. |

348 Mr. W. H. Benson on an Australian Diplommatina,

XXXI.— Notice of an Australian Diplommatina; and Charact

of new East Indian Helicidee from Darjiling and Sincapore,

By W. H. Benson, Esq.

el alee

1. Helix Cycloplaz, nobis, n. s

Testa late umbilicata, orbiculato-depressa, supra confertim et un-

datim radiato-striata, striis spiralibus decussata, granulata, rufes-

centi-cornea, subtus leviori pallida, fascia mediana castanea cir-

cumdata; spira convexiuscula, apice planato, sutura obsoleta,

demum impressa. Anfractibus 5 planatis, ultimo subecarinato

(zetate juvenili acute carinato) antice dilatato, prope suturam antice

tumidiusculo, subtus tumido. Apertura subquadrato-lunari, ob-

liqua, intus interdum albido sublabiata, peristomate simplici, acuto,

margine columellari non reflexo, cum basali angulum obtusatum

formante. Umbilico profundo, perspectivo.

Diam. major 42, minor 34, axis 17 mill.

Hab. ad Darjiling, Himalaye Sikkimensis montem. Teste R. Trotter. :

I am indebted for this fine and interesting shell to Mr. Robert

Trotter of the Bengal Civil Service, who collected it, with some

other new shells, during a short visit to the Sanatarium of Dar-

jiling, together with a single specimen of the scarce Helix Orobia,

nobis, and some Cyclostomata previously described. Darjiling

is situated at an altitude of more than 7000 feet above the sea

level.

The shell is nearly related to H. Oxytes, nobis, an inhabitant,

of the mountain group south-east of the Burhampooter river,

but it is at once distinguished from it by its sculpture, less acute |

periphery in the adult, the formation of the last whorl anteriorly, ;

the more tumid base, &c. H. Owytes will be found figured in

Reeve’s ‘ Conchologia Tconica’ at plate 23 of Helix, species 734,

In the same and two following plates, many of the Helices de- ;

scribed in former Numbers of the ‘Annals’ are represented,

besides some other Indian species. It should be remarked,

however, that the figure of H. crinigera being magnified, and a

greater vertical depth being assigned to the mouth than it

actually exhibits in proportion, the shell is made to resemble

too closely H. Guerini, another species from the same quarter,

with which I compared it, but from which it is quite distinct. |

The other figures are very characteristic, particularly those of

H. Ampulla, Cysis, Thyreus, solata, Cestus, and radicicola.

2. Helix Tugurium, nobis, n. s. 7

Testa perforata, depressa, tenui, supra exilissime radiatim costulato- -

striata, striis spiralibus decussatis, subtus laevigata, luteo-cornea, -

spira depresso-conoidea, apice acutiusculo. Anfractibus 6 planius-—

aie nat aie coin e

and on some new East Indian Helicide. 349

- culis, ultimo ad peripheriam subcarinato, subtus convexiusculo ;

apertura obliqua, late lunari, intus remote albido-sublabiata, peri-

stomate simplici, acuto, margine columellari breviter subreflexo.

Diam. major 19, minor 16, axis 10 mill.

Hab. ad Darjiling. Teste R. Trotter.

The sculpture of this species is peculiarly delicate and beau-

tiful. The labiation near the aperture forms exteriorly a yellow

band similar to those observable in several other Himalayan

Helices, and in the species H. verticillus and Smyrnensis of

Southern Europe and Asia Minor.

rs 3. Helix Castra, nobis, n. s.

Testa mediocriter umbilicata, depressissimo-conica, tenui, exiliter ob-

lique acuto-striatula, cornea ; spira ad apicem obtusa, suturis mar-

ginatis. Anfractibus 5} planulatis, ultimo ad peripheeriam acu-

_ tissime carinato, subtus planiusculo ; apertura oblique subquadrata,

- margine acuto.

iam. major 12, minor 103, axis 4 mill.

ab. ad Darjiling. Teste R. Trotter.

This shell, approaching in form to H. Cyathus, Pfr., figured

in the ‘Conchologia Iconica’ at no. 139, bears much resem-

Dlance to the Javanese species H. Zollingeri of the same author,

represented in ‘Conchologia Iconica’ at no. 605, but differs in

sculpture, marginate suture, less obtuse spire, and colour.

4. Helix Lychnia, nobis, n. s.

esta imperforata, valde depresso-conica, tenui, translucente, polita,

_ fusea; spira conica, obtusiuscula, suturis marginatis. Anfrac-

- tibus 61 angustis, planiusculis, ultimo vix latiori, ad_peripheeriam

acute compresso-carinato, subtus convexiusculo, medio excavato ;

apertura vix obliqua, angusta, securiformi, peristomate simplici

acuto, margine inferiori arcuato, versus periomphalum leviter in-

_ crassato.

- Diam. major vix 12, minor 11, axis 5} mill.

_ Hab. in Insula Sincapore. Teste Dr. J. F. Bacon.

_ This pretty species, remarkable among the depressed conic

forms for its imperforate base and closely wound spire, was found

by Dr. J. F. Bacon at Sincapore, where it does not appear to be

‘searce. A small specimen of H. Janus, Chemnitz, accompanied

H. Lychnia from the same locality, to which it had not pre-

viously been assigned, the recorded habitat being Mount Ophir,

near Malacca.

me 5. Helix lubrica, nobis, nu. s.

- Testa perforata, depressa, obsolete radiato-striata, politissima, luteo-

| fulvescente vel olivacea ; spira planiuscula, apice vix prominulo,

350 Mr. W.H. Benson on an Australian Diplommatina,

obtuso, sutura leviter subcanaliculata. Anfractibus 5, ultimo ro-

tundato, basi convexo; apertura late lunari, vix obliqua, peristo-

mate acuto, intus interdum subremote albido-labiato, margine

columellari oblique descendente, subsinuato, leviter incrassato, su

perne reflexiusculo,

Diam, major 24, minor 20, axis 11 mill.

Hab, ad Darjiling. :

Distinguished by the proportion of the whorls and other cha-

racters from H. resplendens, Philippi, and from H. vitrinoides also.

by the greater depth of the last whorl, and the characters of the

mouth. I have long possessed the pale- coloured variety from

Darjiling ; the acquisition of a second dark-coloured specimen

from Mr. Trotter has confirmed the distinctness of the species. —

Pfeiffer has ascribed his handsome reversed species, Helix Ba-

jadera, to Bengal, on the authority of Cuming’s collection. I

have always held this habitat as more than doubtful; no speci-

men having ever been detected in any quarter of the Bengal

Presidency by myself or my fellow-labourers in this field. I am

now enabled to announce the true habitat as Bombay, a small,

but characteristic specimen having just been transmitted to me

by Mr. T. Jerdon from that locality. The habitat of Helix vitel-

lina, Pfr., is recorded as unknown; a shell received from the

same indefatigable naturalist, from the base of the Nilgherries,

belongs, without doubt, to that form. 7

6. Clausilia Ids, nobis, n. s.

Testa vix rimata, fusiformi, oblique costulato-striata, pallide —

spira gradatim attenuata, apice obtusiusculo ; anfractibus 8-9, vix

convexiusculis, ultimo ad basin rotundato, antice fortius remo-

tiusque costulato; apertura pyriformi, lamellis subeequalibus, in-

feriori fureata ; plicis palatalibus duabus, 1™ longissima, a sutura

remotiori, gnda obliqua, brevi, a lunella, satis distincta, interdum

vix divisa, subcolumellari immersa ; peristomate continuo, superne |

soluto, undique breviter reflexo.

Long. 13, diam. 3 mill. Apert. long. 3, lat. 2 mill.

Hab. ad Darjiling. Teste R. Trotter.

This is the third species which has been discovered in the

Northern Dependencies of the Bengal Presidency, and the second

only from the Cis-Gangetic Territory. The others are C7. loxo~

stoma, nobis, described in 1836 from specimens obtained from

the Khasya Hills to the south-east of the river Burhampooter, |

and Cl. eylindrica, Gray, discovered by Capt. Hutton at Simla,

near the Sutlej in the Wcdtea Himalaya, and found subsequently

by myself ranging through the mountain chains of Sirmore and

Kemaon towards the river Gagra.

None of the species of this genus are to be met with in the

Gangetic plain, nor haye any yet been obtained to the south and

;

Wot

Blasi a

and on some new East Indian Helicide. 351

vest of the Ganges, although the conditions under which several

ine species thrive on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, and

ven across the equator in Java, are equally present in Southern

Tndia. Under these circumstances, it seems that the vast alluvial

‘country which stretches from the mouth of the Indus, in an im-

mense arc, to the Delta of the Ganges, has proved an impassable

barrier to this genus, which delights in a moist mountain cli-

‘mate, whether in cold or warm latitudes.

_ It may not be irrelevant to notice in this place an interesting

t in the geographical distribution of the terrestrial Mollusca.

In 1844 I established in this Journal the genus Diplommatina

‘or two small shells with a peculiar animal from the Western

malaya. Captain Hutton has a third sinistrorse species, with

ubercle in the aperture, from the same quarter. I know not

it be identical or not with Diplommatina Huttoni of Pfeiffer,

so from India, described in the unpublished Proceedings of

e Zoological Society for 1851. In July last I had the satis-

action of detecting a fourth species among the East Australian

collections of Mr. Strange, by whom it had been considered to

be a Pupa. It is also sinistrorse, and has all the characteristics

of the genus, including the double peristome. I referred the

enus to the Carychiade, with reference to the absence of an

operculum, which neither Capt. Hutton, Dr. Bacon, nor myself

d been able to detect in the living animal. Dr. J. E. Gray,

his Cyclophoride of the British Museum, has placed Diplom-

matina among the operculated land-snails, and describes the oper-

ulum, in specimens of D. folliculus from Capt. Boys’ collection,

as being thin and shelly, with few whorls and prominent lamelle

on their outer edges. Mr. Strange failed to observe any oper-

ulum in the species which he found on the promontory of Point

anger, where it occurred, like its Himalayan congeners, under

clamp decayed leaves. This is not to be wondered at when that

accessory piece evaded the examinations which both Capt. Hut-

ton and myself instituted on living specimens with the view of

«liscovering its existence, assisted, in my own case, by glasses of

inoderate power.

nN Dr. Pfeiffer, in his amended conspectus, follows Gray in con-

sidering Cyclostoma minus of Sowerby, a Philippine shell, to be

a Diplommatina ; and in referring the genus to the Cyclostomacea,

Neither Sowerby nor Pfeiffer appears to have seen the operculum

of D. minor. Its larger size, although not so great as in Sowerby’s

agnified figure, would show the operculum plainly if present,

Pfeiffer, in the ‘ Conchylien Cabinet,’ noticed the anomalous cha-

racter of this species. It wants, however, the double peristome

the typical species.

Malvern, September 16, 1852,

352 Mr.G. Busk on the Priority of the Term Polyzoa

XXXII.—On the Priority of the Term Polyzoa for the Ascidian

Polypes. By Grorce Busk, F.R.S. &e.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, b

From the published Reports of the discussions, in the Zoological

Section of the British Association at Belfast, it would appeai

that there is still some difference of opinion among naturalists

as to the proper appellation of the Ascidioid Zoophytes. As,

however, questions of this kind cannot be too soon definitively

settled, and as, in a Catalogue of the Marine Species in th

British Museum Collection, [ have, not without consideration,

adopted the term ‘ Potyzoa,’ you will perhaps allow me to say

a few words in justification of the use of that term instead of

‘Bryozoa.’ ;

The question, at least as I understand it, appears to be of a

very simple nature and to admit of a very easy solution.

Mr. J. V. Thompson’s memoir, constituting the 5th Part or

Number of his ‘Zoological Researches,” in which the term

‘ Polyzoa’ is for the first time employed, and its explanation

given, was published in December, probably on the 1st of De-

cember 1830—of this there can of course be no doubt. ;

Ehrenberg’s paper on the Corals of the Red Sea, in which

the term ‘ Bryozoa’ is first proposed, was read, or rather was in

part read, before the Berlin Academy on the 3rd of March 1831.

It was not, however, completed till December 1833, nor published

till February 1834. The former date, however, only is of con-

sequence here, because in June 1831, that Part of ‘ Symbol

Physic’ containing the “ Animalia evertebrata”” may be said

to have been published ;—though it was probably not really

published till long afterwards. .

The evidence upon which these dates rest is short and satis-

factory. .

1. With respect to the Paper on the Red Sea Corals. This

paper is given in the volume of Berlin Reports, professing to

contain those papers which were read before the Academy in the

year 1832, and which volume was published in 1834. It appears

somewhat remarkable that Ehrenberg’s paper is the only one

in the whole volume which was not read in 1832. It has for

its title, “ Beitrage zur physiologischen Kenntniss der Corallen-

thiere im Allgemeinen, und besonders des Rothen Meeres, nebst

einem Versuche zur physiologischen Systematik derselben,” and

bears the prefix, ‘ (Gelesen in der Academie der Wissenschaften,

am Marz 3, 1831—mit Zusitzen, gedruckt am 1 Dec. 1833).”

Allowing, therefore, the earliest date for the guasi publication of

for the Ascidian Polypes. 353

$8 paper, it is at least three months later than that of Mr. J.V.

‘Thompson. This, however, appears to me a mode of stating the

joint far too favourable to Ehrenberg. From the prefix above

juoted, and still more from intrinsic evidence, it is clear that

art at least, and probably a very great part of the paper as it

low appears, was not written till 1833, as it was certainly not

jublished in a complete state till after February 1834. From

paper itself it is impossible to say what part was read in

1, and what added or altered afterwards ; and I cannot avoid

he remark, that it appears not a little discreditable to the pub-

ishing management of the Berlin Academy, that such a con-

fusion of dates should be allowed to exist in memoirs published

under their direction. The fact is, that with respect not only to

this paper, but also to a second by Ehrenberg in the same

olume of Reports*, which was read on the 22nd of March 1832,

mt not “revidirt und gedruckt” till February 1834, as no

ans exist by which it can be determined what part was really

ead at the times specified, and what subsequently added or

tered, the only just and safe way of applying them in questions

of date would be to take that of their final and real publication,

iz. 1834.

2. With respect to ‘Symbole Physicz,’ no difficulty whatever

‘exists in our assigning the date of 1831 to the Part with which

we are here concerned, viz. that containing the “ Animalia ever-

brata, exclusis Insectis.” For in the first place, that is the

e given to it upon the cover in which it is stitched ; and in the

econd place, Ehrenberg himself in the former paper above referred

, p- 254, gives the date of that Part of ‘Symbole Physic’ as

une 1831. Moreover, though the further citation of evidence

supererogatory, in the commencement of the same paper read

arch 3, 1831, he styles it a precursor “ Vorlaufer,” to the

orther details which he intended to give in ‘Symbole Phy-

ice ’ ; and again in the latter work itself, he adverts to the above

wiper as having been read before the Academy “some months

viously,” “ abhine aliquot menses.”

With reference to the other portions of ‘Symbol Physice,’

eaving out of the question that or those containing the Insects, -

Klug) as they are not concerned in the present inquiry, I would

nerely remark, that in them, as in the papers read before the

erlin Academy, such a confusion of dates appears to exist, that

otwithstanding the title-page and preface, both of which are

dated 1828, it would seem from intrinsic evidence that a consi-

__ * “Ueber die Natur und Bildung der Corallenbanke des Rothen Meeres,”

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 23

354 Mr.N.T. Wetherell on a new species of Clionites.

derable part, if not the greatest part, cannot have been publishe

before 1833 or 1834. ig

Having thus endeavoured to show that the term ‘ Poxyzoa’ hi

a priority over ‘Bryozoa’ of at least three, or more correctl

perhaps of six months, I cannot conclude without an nice

observation upon the former term, which after all does not 2

pear to be used at present with strict propriety. It seems t

have escaped notice that the word ‘ Polyzoa’ is employed b

J. V. Thompson in the singular number, with the ricegl e

zox,’ which latter term ought in strict right therefore to be em

ployed as the appellation of the Ascidioid Polypes. As, dike

the word has come to be generally employed, and, as far as reg

rules of construction, much more correctly employed, in

plural sense, it may probably now be allowed to remain in pea

and to claim universal adoption.

I am, your obedient servant, 4

Grorex Busk. ©

XXXII.— Note on a new species of Clionites.

By N. T. Wernere.t, Esq., F.G.S., M.R.C.S. &e. ©

[With a Plate. ]

Durine a recent visit to the Isle of Wight, I obtained among

other interesting fossils a specimen of flint which had evidentl

formed a cast of a large species of Inoceramus, probably hh

ramus Cuviert. The specimen is about 10 inches in length, t

fibrous part of the shell having decayed away, with the exeeptic )

of some small portions.

The cast itself exhibits a numerous but very irregularly dis:

posed series of small siliceous oviform bodies with a granulat

surface, and most of which were joined together by small thread:

of flint. These bodies were unquestionably the casts of som

parasitic animal which perforated the test of the Inoceramus, ant

which may possibly be due to a species of Clionites (C. Con /

bearei), as they appear to resemble those generally referred t

that genus, described and figured in the ‘ Annals,’ vol. viii. pl. 4

for August 1851, but from which they differ in form, as will

seen by comparing the figures. %

Mr. Morris informed me that he had previously seen sor

small specimens of the species in the collection of Dr. Mante

but he rather doubted their specific value. The large specim

now discovered, of which only a fragment is figured, and th

uniformity of the character would lead us to infer a specific dif

ference, which I have much pleasure in dedicating to my frien¢

Dr. Mantell, who long ago noticed these singular bodies. J

Mr. J. Morris on a new species of Belemnite. 355

Morris has also directed my attention to the fact, that Colonel

ortlock, with his usual acumen, had described similar bodies as

Occurring in the flints of the Irish chalk, and that the species

described by him under the name of Entobia cretacea (and ar-

anged among the Annelides) is probably the same as the C/io-

ites Conybearei before adverted to.

Clionites Mantelli. PI. V. C. figs. 1 & 2.

Cells small, oviform, numerous, more or less closely aggre-

ted, connected together by minute slender canals. External

openings rather large.

Locality. In the substance of the shell of an Jnoceramus from

e Upper Chalk of the Isle of Wight.

‘Highgate, Sept. 29, 1852.

XIV.—Description of a species of Belemnite, with Observa-

tions on Aptychus. By J. Morris, F.G.S.

[With a Plate. ]

te following species of Belemnite, obtained by M. Bouchard

‘Boulogne from the lias of France, appears to be sufficiently

stinct from any species figured by M. D’Orbigny in the ‘Paléon-

logie Frangaise,’ and to differ somewhat from the Belemnites

sually found in the lias, and may be described as follows :—

Belemnites Bouchard. Pl. V. E. figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.

sta brevi, conica, subcompressa, unisulcata ; apice obtuso, ru-

goso, alveolo magno, apertura subquadrata.

A Belemnite with a very short, conical and slightly compressed

rostrum, the apex obtuse and marked by numerous granulose

riclges (fig. 4a); the fibrous substance of the shell is extremely

thin ; the alveolar cavity is large, and occupies nearly the whole

ngth of the rostrum ; the ventral furrow is very distinct, and is

olonged from the apex to the aperture, which is subquadrate.

he posterior side is slightly compressed by two rather obscure

rrows, which become obsolete towards the opening.

_ This species in the general form and large alveolar cavity re-

embles Bel. brevirostris, D’Orb. ; it is however less conical, and

e broad continuous furrow and rugose apex will readily distin-

ish it from that species.

Locality. From the Upper Lias of Vieux Pont, Calvados,

Length 1} inch, aperture 6 lines. 4

2B%

356 Mr. C. Spence Bate on some Crustacea dredged

Note on Aptychus.

Through the kindness of the Rev. A, Griesbach of Wollas on

I have lately received an interesting specimen of Ammonit

(A. Walcotti) obtained by him from the has of Northampton

shire, containing the remains of the anomalous body Aptycha

or Trigonellites. By a fortunate fracture, the Aptychus, of

corneo-calcareous nature, was found imbedded in the matrii

filling the last chamber, about 6 inches from the aperture ; th

two lobes are semi-elliptical in form, about 14 inch in lengt

by 1 inch in breadth, and exhibit the concentrical striated sul

face or lines of growth. Pl. V. D. fig. 1.

The comparative rarity in England of head bodies in ei "eC

connection with the Ammonite, ‘of which they are presumed t

be the opercula, has induced me to record the above fact. Mi

Strickland has described the occurrence of similar bodies in th

Ammonites from the has of Defford (Geol. Proc. iv. p. 451), a

Mr. Moore in those from Ilminster. a

Bronn enumerates about forty species of Aptychus from th

Jurassic and Cretaceous strata, « small proportion to the num«e

rous Ammonites found in these formations.

XXXV.—On some Crustacea dredged by Mr. Barlee in the Shei

lands. By C. Spence Bare, Esq. ,

[With a Plate.]

Tarovau the kindness of Mr. Barlee (whose indefatigable in

dustry has been of such benefit to conchology), I received th

following Crustacea dredged by him off the Haaf, Shetland

during the fall of 1851.

Hyas coarctatus.

Inachus Dorsettensis.

Portunus pusillus.

Ebalia Pennanti.

Lithodes Maia.

Crangon spinosus.

Hippolyte Sowerbet.

—— Barleci (new species).

Nymphon gigantea.

The distant locality from which these come make them wort. ny

of being recorded, at a period when research is endeavouring t

illustrate the fauna of particular districts.

by Mr. Barlee in the Shetland Islands. 357

_ It is rather curious to remark, that in the two standard works

m British Crustacea, Dr. Leach’s ‘ Malacostraca Podophthalmata

Britannic,’ and Prof. Bell’s ‘ Hist. of the British Crustacea,’

the artists employed have incorrectly figured the female abdo-

aen in the genus Hbalia by the omission of the seventh and

ultimate ring,—an articulation so peculiar as to have been

tlassed by each author among the generic characters,—while in

he text it is correctly described by the respective authors. This

ircumstance, together with the peculiar manner in which it is

imbedded between the base of the pedipalps, has induced me to

ward a figure of the underside of Héalia Pennaniii as well as

‘the unattached abdomen (Pl. V. B. figs. 2 & 3).

_ Scarcely knowing which to trust, the more so since it is omitted

in the description of the genus in Prof. Milne-Edwards’s ‘ Hi-

stoire des Crustacés,’ I communicated, for the purpose of being

certain, with Mr. Gray of the British Museum, where I believe

the original specimens of Dr. Leach are preserved, who with

ourtesy immediately replied, and thus strengthened me upon

he point.

The only other of the above list to which it is at all necessary

0 allude, is that which I have taken upon myself to name Hip-

olyte Barleci, after him to whose labours we are indebted for

he discovery. (See Pl. V. B. fig. 1).

It has the rostrum one-third the length of the carapace, the

front slightly turned up; the lower margin smooth, the upper

armed with four teeth, the two centre of which are partially

confluent.

Unfortunately the specimen is not too well-preserved as a

vhole, the sixth pair of legs being lost when I received it, and

‘also one of the anterior pair, together with the antenne, all of

which are broken off to the peduncle ; it may therefore be con-

idered rash to describe the specimen as belonging to this genus ;

+ as far as research has yet carried us, the rule, that when the

fi'st two pair of legs are cheliform, with the first pair short,

‘strong, and apparently useful (not slender as in Palemon), the

ternal antenne are furnished with two sete, is so constant,

hat until a more perfect specimen be dredged, an opportunity

r which may not again readily occur, since the Haaf (or deep-

a fishing) is, I believe, forty miles distant from thé nearest

point of land, or a distinct species be found showing the above

le to be inconstant, I think we are justified in supposing it to

: a Hippolyte.

The specimen is small and rather greenish, but colour among

= can scarcely be depended upon, it being dead.

Mulgrave Place, Plymouth.

358 On a new Arrangement of British Risso.

XXXVI.—On a new Arrangement of British Risso. a

By H. and A. Apams.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN, Haslar Hospital, Gosport, Oct. 6, 1852.

In revising the Rissoe for the “ Genera of Recent Mollusca?

about to be published, we found the group composed of mos

dissimilar forms. The recent observations of the learned ant

accurate William Clark have enabled us to offer a new distribu-

tion, an outline of which, perhaps, you may think wie, of 5

place i in your ‘ Annals.’ ‘_

We are, Gentlemen, your most obedient decvexita;

H. and A. Apa 8

Genus Rissoa, Fremeny. (Acme, Hartm.)

Opercular lobe with a single distinct cirrhus. Shell with r¢

outer lip dilated ; spire elevated. My

R. labiosa. R. costata. R. parva. 4,

Genus Alvania, Risads (Cyclostrema, Flem. Turbona, Leach.)

Opercular lobe winged ; three caudal cirrhi. Shell turbinate,

cancellated ; outer lip varied. .

A. cimex, A. reticulata.

A. calathiscus. A. abyssicola. +

A. striatula. A. zetlandica.

A. lactea.

Genus Cingula, Fleming. (Sabinea, Leach.)

Opercular lobe and caudal cirrhus indistinct and rudimentary

Shell banded ; spire elevated ; outer lip simple.

_ C. cingillus.

Genus Onoba, nobis. (Turbonilla, Leach, non Risso.)

Opercular lobe winged, no caudal cirrhus. Shell spire :

striated ; outer lip simple.

O. striata.

Genus Paludinella, Pfeiffer.

Tentacles short, obtuse; eyes sessile on their upper s fa pe

near the middle. Opercular lobe and caudal filaments none

Shell orbicular, thin, umbilicated, covered with an epidermis.

P, littorea, Chiaje.

C anew Hemipterous Insect forming the type of a new genus. 859

. We have lately observed the animal ourselves and find it as

above described. (Fam. Truncatellide.)

Genus Hyala, nobis.

Head long, emarginate at the end, forming two lobes. Ten-

tacles flat, not clavate at tip, with fine sete at the extremities,

| Hyes sessile on the centre of their bases. Foot simple behind.

Opercular lobe without any caudal cirrhus. Shell hyaline.

(Fam. Jeffresiide.)

') H. vitrea.

Genus Hydrobia, Hartmann.

_ Opercular lobe small, no caudal cirrhus. Shell covered with

an epidermis. Outer lip thin, simple. Animal amphibious.

Spins a glutinous byssus during hybernation.

H. ulve. H, anatina. H. ventricosa.

Genus Ceratia, nobis.

Tentacles flat, rather short, claviform at tip, clothed with long

iculate sete. Foot in front auriculated, behind divided into

two long distinct tails. Opercular lobe without a caudal cirrhus.

C. proxima.

Genus Setia, nobis.

Tentacles pilose. Opercular lobe small, no caudal cirrhus.

Foot simple behind.

C S. soluta. S. fulgida.

____§. pulcherrima. S. inconspicua.

Ey \re

; XXXVII.—Description of a new Hemipterous Insect forming the

type of a new genus. By W.S. Dauuas, Esq., F.LS. &e.

Le ae

[With a Plate.]

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

__ I beg leave to enclose, for insertion in your Magazine, the

- description of a remarkable new Hemipterous insect from Sylhet,

a a eae

which forms part of a collection made in that country by

Messrs. Cotton and Turner. The collection was exhibited at

one of the meetings of the Zoological Society, and was very re-

_markable from the curious manner in which it was arranged,

_ the numerous insects composing it being attached to the bodies

SV ee

360 Mr. W.S, Dallas on a new Hemipterous Insect

and limbs of some large Stick-insects as though walking upon

them. he

I am, &e., -

W.S. Dattas. —

describing this insect. It belongs to the funy Phyllocephalidee,

in which it will necessitate the formation of a new generic group.

It is remarkable from its presenting so close a resemblance to

the larva: of the larger species of the group to which it belongs,

that at the first glance it may readily be mistaken for one of

them ; but the presence of ocelli, of three joints in the tarsi, and

of-a distinct scutellum, ronnie that it has arrived at its)

complete development. A small insect belonging to the family

Sciocoride, described by me (Brit. Mus. Cat. Hemip. p. 145) }

under the name of Aéptus singularis, presents a very similar

~ conformation ; in this case, however, the ocelli are also wanting.

The specimen is unfortunately mutilated in its antennee, the

first and second joints only remaining ; from the form of these

it is probable that the antenne are four-jointed, although this of

course can be only a matter of conjecture. 4

Genus ATELIDES, n. g. Pl. V. A.

Corpus subovatum, postice latius. Caput foliaceum, spina

utrinque ante oculos armatum ; lobis lateralibus intermedium

longe superantibus, contiguis, apice hiantibus. Oculi promi-

nentes. Antenne crasse, articulo primo brevi, secundo elongato, —

compresso, sulcato; reliquis carentibus. Rostrum ad basin pe-

dum intermediorum attingens, articulo secundo longissimo. Seu-

tellum et elytra abbreviata. Sternum canaliculatum. .

Body somewhat ovate, broadest behind the middle. Head (2)

foliaceous ; lateral lobes reflexed at the sides, much longer than —

nearly their whole length, gaping slightly at the apex; central

lobe very small; lateral margins with a strong spine in front of |

base of the head, and about equally distant from one another

and from the eyes. Antenne very stout ; basal joint short, not

passing the apex of the head; second joint very long, compressed,

and with a deep longitudinal furrow on each side. Rostrum (3)

rather slender, reaching the intermediate coxee, inserted about the

middle of the under surface of the head, between two somewhat

triangular lamelle ; basal jomt rather stout, passing the anterior

margin of the prostemum ; ; second joint longest, thinner than

the first ; third joint shorter than the first, about equal to it in

thickness ; fourth joint shortest and thinnest. Pronotum sub-—

forming the type of a new genus. 361

adrate, rather narrower in front than behind, lateral angles

slightly spinous. Scutellum short and broad, with the apex

broad and rounded. Hlytra very short, covering only the two

first segments of the abdomen, with their apical margin trun-

cated, somewhat membranous. Sfernum with a narrow longi-

tudinal canal. Abdomen (4 & 5) nearly circular, slightly convex

' above, very convex beneath, with the apex somewhat truncated ;

the two lateral vulvar plates bearing stigmata. Legs stout ;

thighs unarmed; tibie prismatic, the posterior pair slightly

- dilated internally and channelled beneath.

Atelides centrolineatus,n.s. Pl. V. A. fig. 1.

_ A, castaneus, supra nigricans; linea media lata e capitis

apice ad apicem abdominis currente, lateribusque pronoti fulvo-

luteis ; corpore subtus utrinque fascia submarginali nigra; an-

tennis nigris. 2. Long. lin. 10.

_ Hab. in Sylhet.

_ Head above brassy black, somewhat obscure, rather finely

rugose, with the lateral margins tinged with chestnut, and with

a longitudinal orange-yellow band down the centre; beneath

brownish fulyous, with the orbits brassy. Hyes brown ; ocelli

yellow. Antenne with the first two joints black, thickly clothed

' with short stiff hairs, but with the furrows of the second joint

naked; basal joint fulvous at the base, the rest of the joints

wanting. Rostrum pale chestnut, with the basal joint fulvous.

- Pronotum blackish, somewhat brassy, with the annular spots

near the anterior margin and an indistinct patch within each

lateral angle chestnut, the surface minutely punctured and

wrinkled transversely ; the disc with a smooth orange-yellow

hand, continuous with that on the head ; the sides broadly mar-

_ gined with dull orange, with the extreme edges black. Scu-

_ tellum black, very thickly and minutely punctured and trans-

_ versely wrinkled, with a smooth orange-yellow band continuous

with that on the thorax. Breast brownish fulvous, sparingly

_ punctured, with a broad, brassy black, rugose longitudinal band

on each side within the lateral margins. Legs pale chestnut-

brown. Elytra blackish, somewhat brassy, finely granulose ;

_ outer margin broadly fulvous, edged with black ; the submar-

_ ginal nervure, a streak on the disc, and the base of the inner

_ margin fulvous ; rudimentary membrane brown. Abdomen above

blackish, somewhat brassy, finely granulose, with the sides dull

_ chestnut irrorated with black points ; the centre with a longitu-

| dinal orange band continuous with that on the scutellum ; mar-

_ gins pale chestnut-brown, with the edges and a band on each

of the sutures black; abdomen beneath pale chestnut-brown,

See

362 Bibliographical Notices.

minutely granulated, with a blackish brassy band down ez

side within the line of stigmata; stigmata black; apical «

lateral vulvar plates edged with black. :

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V. A.

Fig. 1. Atelides centrolineatus, enlarged: a, natural size.

Fig. 2. Head seen from above, with the antenne.

Fig. 3. Head seen from beneath, with the rostrum.

Fig. 4. Lateral view of the insect. Bs

Fig. 5. The apex of the abdomen, showing the structure of the vulvs

plates.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

The Natural History of Animals. By T. Rymer Jongs, F.R.S 4

Vols. 1 and 2, 1845-52. London: Van Voorst. |

We are glad to be able to announce to our readers the ap

of a second volume of Prof. Rymer Jones’s excellent popular Natural

History. Among the many writers upon natural science, we know of

none who clothes his subject in so attractive a dress, or adds so much

to the beauty of his subject by the graces of a clear and elegant

English style. es a

The present work may be considered as a light and popular intro-

duction to the ‘Animal Kingdom’ of the same author, a work which,

when it appeared, was decidedly the clearest and most elegant expo-

sition of the facts of zoology in the English mp sy Ten years”

however have elapsed since its publication—ten of the busiest years”

that zoological science has ever known, especially as regards the In-

vertebrata—and students are looking forward to a new edition, with

such additions as may be necessary for the full a Re of the im

provement which has taken place in our knowledge. In the mean

while, let those who are desirous of preparing for a more extensive and

careful study acquaint themselves with the present volumes; and if

there be any dense utilitarian who can resist the fascinations of the

varied scene to which he is here introduced, because he cannot see

what good it does him to know all about flies and spiders, let him lay

to heart the following passage :— ost

' Nothing is more calculated to excite the astonishment of the stu-

dent of animated nature, than the strict balance which is preserved

between the destruction and the reproduction of insects. Countless

millions are continually making their appearance upon the stage of

existence, millions equally innumerable are as constantly perined

and yet, steady to their appointed duties, the insect races return with

the seasons to which they belong, neither dangerous by their multi-

tudes on the one hand, nor on the other inadequate to perform the

gigantic tasks that devolve upon them. Dreadful indeed would be

the consequences, if the strict and vigilant superintendence under

which insects live were but for a very little time intermitted ; for not

a species could be pointed out, however diminutive and apparently”

Bibliographical Notices. 363

‘contemptible, that might not, unless jealously restricted in its fertility,

become a scourge to the rest of the living creation...... A locust is

‘not in itself a very redoubtable foe, and, were it not for the dire expe--

_ rience of its ravages, would be as little feared as the grasshopper that

_ chirps in our meadows ; nevertheless, as we are told, there is an Eastern

fable, which says that upon the wing of the locust is an inscription

' to this effect :—‘ We are the army of the Most High God: we lay

_ ninety and nine eggs ; did we lay the hundredth, we should eat up the

_ whole world and all that it contains:’ and the language of this

B prone orientalis, forcible as it is, is by no means too strong for

e occasion.”

_ Parks and Pleasure-Grownds, or Practical Notes on Country Resi-

: dences, Villas, Public Parks and Gardens. By Cuaruxs H. J.

Smiru, Landscape Gardener and Garden Architect, &c. &c. Lon-

don: Reeve, 1852, post 8vo, pp. 290.

_ The author tells us in his preface, “The design of the following work

_ is altogether a practical one. While engaged in his profession during

_ the last eighteen years, the author has often been requested to re-

' commend a book which might enable persons consulting him to ac-

| quire some general knowledge of the principles of Landscape Garden-

_ ing, and which might aid them in carrying his suggestions into effect.”

_ As he states, most of the existing works on this subject are general

_ treatises calculated for forming and cultivating the taste, rather than

_ practical treatises on the operations of carrymg out the principles ;

‘ Ratios he has been induced to give the results of his experience in a

form accessible and available to all of ordinary education. The work

- eonsists of a series of chapters treating separately of the different de-

artments and classes of operations, commencing with instructions

_ for choosing the site and arrangement of the plan and style of the

house; and in the eight following chapters, the gardens, pleasure-

_ grounds, park, plantations, water, &c. are treated in detail. Then

we have a chapter on public parks and gardens, useful at the present

time, since it contains many sensible suggestions. The villa and its

_ appurtenances, as a more frequent if not so ambitious subject of the

art, has its special chapter; and after another of ‘general observa-

_ tions,’ the volume closes with two chapters on ‘the Arboretum’ and

- ‘the Pinetum.’

The views inculcated appear to us judicious, and the practical in-

structions are conveyed in simple and perspicuous language, so that

Mr. Smith’s book seems to us exceedingly well-calculated to fulfill the

object with which it was prepared ; and it may be remarked that the

diffusion of a treatise like this, which gives at once a clear and com-

_ pendious view of the points to be kept in view in planning work of

_ this nature, must be of great advantage not only to those who have

_ the conduct of such operations, but to persons whose taste induces

_ them to enter upon improvements on their own property, and who in

_ the absence of experience but too frequently raise monuments to their

own incapacity.

364, Bibliographical Notices.

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie. Par M.F. E. Guérin-Ménevitie. 4

2° sér. vol. iv. no. 1. Janvier 1852. ‘

This periodical, which is devoted to the various branches of pure —

and applied zoology, including palzeontology and comparative anatomy, —

is published monthly in Paris. It is divided into three sections: the —

first contains original articles, the second reports of the proceedings —

of the Parisian learned societies, and the third consists of analyses of —

new works. 4

Of these three sections the first is the most important, from its —

containing many descriptions of new species of animals; and as the —

work ‘possesses only a limited circulation in this country, and many —

of these descriptions are consequently liable to be quite unknown to ~

the English naturalist, we propose to furnish our readers from time —

to time with an analysis of the contents of this portion of the work, —

giving, as far as possible within moderate limits, the diagnostic cha- —

racters of any new animals described, with analyses of any original ~

anatomical or physiological papers which may appear in the maga-

zine. a

The number for January 1852 contains— 4

I. Descriptions of some new species of Birds, by Dr. G. Hartlaub —

(pp. 1-7). These birds are ten in number, namely, 1. Stria tho- —

mensis, an inhabitant of the tropical African island of St. Thomas; —

2. Zonotrichia mysticalis, from Mexico; 3. Formicivora erythrono- —

tos, from Brazil, a species in form and size resembling /’. awillaris, —

Vieill. ; 4. Thryothorus murinus, from Mexico; 5. Setophaga inter- —

media, a species inhabiting Guatemala, intermediate between S. vul- —

nerata and S. verticalis; 6. Dromolea incompta (Saxicola incompta, —

Licht. MS. in Mus. Brem.), from Caffraria; 7. Tyrannula rufula, ~

from Brazil; 8. Picus Kaupii, from Chili; 9. Cypselus Abyssinicus, —

Streubel; and 10. Anser Gambelli, a species from Texas, nearly allied —

to A. albifrons, Hartl. eee

II. Descriptions of six new Birds belonging to the Collection of the —

Museum of Natural History at Paris, by P. L. Sclater (pp. 8, 9). —

Five of these species are from New Grenada; the sixth is without —

indication of locality. The following are the characters of these birds ~

given by Mr. Sclater :— _

1. Arremon mysticalis. A. supra olivaceus, pennis caudaque ni- —

gris olivaceo limbatis; pileo rufo: fronte et capitis collique lateribus —

cum gula, nisi media, atris; mento, gula media et linea a basi rostri —

ad collum utrinque descendente albidis; abdomine crissoque flavis, late- —

ribus olivascentibus ; rostro nigro, pedibus corneis. Total length —

6% inches ; wings 34 in. 7

2. Pipilopsis flavigularis. PP. supra olivacea, pennis caudaque —

nigris olivaceo limbatis: infra abdomine toto cum mento cinereis, —

gutture flavo, crisso flavescente ; rostro plumbeo, basi albo notato; —

pedibus plumbeis ; ventre medio albescentiore. Total length 5}in.; —

wings 34 in. :

3. Pipreidea albiventris. P. supra ceerulea, pennis nigris, an-

guste ceeruleo marginatis ; cauda nigra ; ventre crissoque albis ; rostro —

pedibusque nigris. Total length 35 in.; wings 24 in. 4

Bibliographical Notices. 365

_ 4. Pipra Isidorei. P. atra; capite albo; uropygio cyaneo. Tota

length 3 in.; wings 1% in.

5. Pipra flavicapilla. P. flavo-olivacea, remigibus rectricibusque

_ nigricantibus olivaceo limbatis; capite toto cum cervice supra auran-

_ tio-flavo; subtus aureo-flava gutture et cervicis lateribus olivaceo-

_ tinctis ; pedibus nigricantibus ; rostro plumbeo. Total length 4% in. ;

_ wings 3 in.; tail 13 in.

6. Pipra pyrocephala. P. roseo-brunnea; subtus dilutior, leviter

saturatiore striata; alis et lateribus cervicis olivaceis; remigibus et

rectricibus nigricantibus ; capite supra flavo, vertice medio ruberrimo ;

_ rostro nigricante, pedibus albescentibus. Total length 33 in; wings

> 22 in.

5 Bil Description of anew species of the genus drgonauta, by M. E.

| L. Lorois (p. 9).

__ This species of Argonauta is dedicated by its describer to the gen-

_ tleman who brought it from the Pacific, M. Noury, the captain of a

French frigate. It is characterized as follows :—

_ Argonduta Nouryi. Testa parvula, involuta, elongata, tenui, trans-

_ lueida, albido-grisea, rugis lateribus undulatis, spira tantum carinata,

_ tuberculis carinarum nigris, minimis, linea alba separatis, ultimo an-

_ fractu subrotundato, ad spire carinarum prolongationem paulisper

depresso. Long. 58 mill.; larg. 35 mill.

It is figured in the plate accompanying the number.

IV. Catalogue of the Molluscous animals inhabiting the coast of

the “ Charente-Inférieure,” by M. Henri Aucapitaine (pp. 10-21).

This catalogue includes 164 species, belonging to 75 genera; it is

accompanied by a few notes relative to some of the species.

V. Descriptions of four new and remarkable Coleopterous insects,

by M. Reiche (pp. 21-25).

This paper consists of descriptions of four Lamellicorn beetles, three

of them of rather large size. They are nicely figured in outline in the

plate accompanying the part. The first,

1. Democrates Burmeisteri, differs from the type of the genus,

D. Cresus, Newm., in its smaller size, the blackish tint of its head

and thorax, and in the punctuation of the elytra. It is from Quito.

2. Megalosoma Mars. This insect is very nearly allied to M. Ac-

teon. It is from tropical America, about the Rio Negro.

3. Anoplocnemus Dejeanii; probably an inhabitant of the East

Indies.

4. Anoploenemus Lafertei, a fine species from Australia, which .

M. Reiche thinks may probably form the type of a new generic group

characterized by its exposed eyes, the straightness of its mandibles,

and the form of its thorax.

The remainder of the number is occupied by reports of the sittings

of the ‘ Académie des Sciences’ of the 5th and 12th of January 1852,

and notices of two or three new works.

366 Zoological Society.

In the Press.

Prodromus Faune Zeylanice, being Contributions to the Zoology of ’

SH dpe By Ep. Frep. Kexaart, M.D., F.L.S., Staff-Surgeon, —

c. a

We have much pleasure in drawing attention to this work: the —

fauna of Ceylon has always been classed among the richest in the —

world, but till within the last few years very little of it was known to

the systematic naturalist. Dr. Kelaart’s work will contain a familiar

and a technical description of all the known Ceylon quadrupeds an

other animals of the class Mammalia (upwards of eighty in number

The work will also contain a systematically arranged catalogue (with

English names) of more than 200 Ceylon birds, and a descriptive

account of all the known Chelonian, Saurian, and Batrachian reptiles; —

to which will be added an Appendix replete with information on other

branches of the zoology of the island. On the whole, this work (Pro- —

dromus Faunze Zeylanicee) will contain the fullest and most recent —

information on the extensive and beautiful fauna of Ceylon.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. ‘a

Jan. 14, 1851.—Prof. Owen, F.R.S., Vice President, in the Chair. —

The following papers were read :—

1. ON A NEW AND MOST REMARKABLE FORM IN ORNITHOLOGY. q

By Joun Gouxp, F.R.S. etc. 4

I have the pleasure of introducing to the notice of the Society on —

the present occasion the most extraordinary bird I have seen for many —

years, and which forms part of a collection made on the banks of the —

upper part of the White Nile, by Mansfield Parkyns, Esq., of Not- —

tingham. For this bird I propose the generic name of BaLani- —

crps, with the following characters :— ;

Bill enormously robust, equal in breadth and depth; sides of the —

upper mandible much swollen; culmen slightly elevated, depressed —

in the middle of its length, and terminating at the point in a very —

powerful hook; tomiee sharp, turning inwards and very convex; —

lower mandible very powerful, with a sharp concave cutting edge and —

a truncated tip; nostrils scarcely perceptible, and placed in a narrow —

slit at the base of the bill, close to the culmen; orbits denuded; —

head very large; occiput slightly crested; wings very powerful, the —

third, fourth and fifth feathers the longest; tail.of moderate length —

and square in form; plumage soft and yielding; skin of the throat —

loose, and capable of dilatation into an extensive pouch ; tibiee and —

tarsi lengthened, the latter a fourth shorter than the former; the —

lower third of the tibiee denuded ; toes four in number, all extremely —

long, and without the slightest vestige of interdigital membrane ; ~

hind-toe on the same plane as the anterior ones and directed inwards ; —

tibize and tarsi reticulated, the reticulations becoming much smaller ~

Zoological Society. 367

on the joints; upper surface of the toes scutellated; nails powerful,

and not much curved; the nail of the centre toe impectinated.

Bava@niceps Rex.

Bill pale yellow, becoming horn-colour on the culmen and tip, and

blotched with dark brown; orbits pale yellow; head and neck slaty

grey, darkest on the crown ; chest ornamented with lanceolate feathers

of a similar colour, with a dark stripe down the centre; abdomen,

' flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts very pale grey ; upper surface

‘ generally very dark grey, most of the feathers margined with light

' grey ; primaries, secondaries and tail blackish grey ; rump and upper

tail-coverts light grey; legs greyish black.

_ Total length, from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail,

i 52 inches; from the tip of the bill to the end of the centre toe, 67 ;

bill, from the gape to the tip, 9; depth of the bill, 4$; breadth, 4; .

a wing, 27; tail, 12; tibie, 13; tarsi, 10; middle toe aa nail, 7; ex-

_ ternal toe and nail, 63; internal toe and nail, 543 hind toe and nail, 4.

Hab. The upper part of the White Nile, in Eastern Africa.

Remark.—This is evidently the Grallatorial type of the Pelecani-

_ de; at least such is the conclusion to which I am directed after a care-

cf ful examination and comparison of it with Pelecanus, Grus, Ardea,

| and Cancroma, to none of which genera is it so nearly allied, except in

_ general contour, as to Pelecanus. Perhaps the most singular feature

' connected with this form is the entire absence of interdigital mem-

brane, a character so conspicuous in the Storks, Herons, and the Boat-

bill, which latter bird is as nearly allied to Nycticorawx as the present

bird is to Pelecanus. Both Cancroma and Nycticorawx have the uail

of the centre toe strongly pectinated, which sieanitess is not found in

_ Pelecanus nor in Baleniceps.

_ 2. DescrRIPTIONS OF TWENTY SPECIES OF COLUMBELLA, AND

ONE SPECIES OF Crprma. By J. 8. Gasxoin.

1. CotumBpeLLaA TENUIS. Testa pyramidalis, subventricosa,

levis, tenuis, albicans, maculis irregularibus fuscis magnis

longitudinaliter dispositis; anfractibus octo, duobus anticis

gibbosis ; spird subelongatd, acuminatd ; aperturd latd, anticé

divergente, postice acuminatd, labio externo tenui, internoque

edentulo, varice externo subelevato ; striis tenuibus ab varice

anticée continuis ; canali brevi.

Length, 5% of an inch ; width, 2,4; of an inch.

Hab. ze Cab. Gaskoin, specimen unicum.

2. COLUMBELLA ALBINODULOSA. Testa aceite palli-

dissimé luteo-fulva, fasciis angustis interruptis tribus brunneis;

spird acuminatd, anfractibus septem ; nodulis latis prominenti-

bus subdistantibus albi-coronatis ; aperturd oblonga subqua-

dratd albd; labio externo crasso, recto, submarginato, intus den-

ticulato; dentibus posticis majoribus, labio interno dentibus

irregularibus subvaricosis ; canali recto latiuseulo subelongato,

Length, ,45, of an inch; width, 2°, of an inch.

Hab. Cab. Gaskoin.

3. CoLUMBELLA INTERRUPTA. Testa oblongo-ovata, albicans,

368 Zoological Society.

Jfasciis duabus interruptis latis rufescenti-brunneis ; fascid an=

ticd pallidiore ; spird acuminatd, anfractibus fee tie

aperturd latiusculd precipue ad partem posticam ;— labio ex-

terno crasso margine acuto, intus denticulato, denticulis q a-

tuor vel quinque; labio interno cum margine externo ae

lato, aurantiaco; testd extus cancellatd striis spiralibus li-

dis, longitudinalibus tenuibus ; peritremate pallide aurantiaco,

Heseies annantuee angulart ; canals breviusculo latiuseulo.

Length 4°, of an inch; width, 2), of an inch. LARONQ

Hab. Cab. Gaskoin, 515}

4, CoLUMBELLA LEUCOSTOMA. Testa ovata, ater ‘nitens,

postice fascid latd brunned spirali ornata ; apice albicante di-

midio antico anfractés ultimi albido ; spird acuminata, anfr nfrac-

tibus septem; aperturd guldque albis latiusculis, wld fs 4

subquadratd, labio externo intus subdenticulato, dentibus a

postions: majorsins:s canali ater Saeerenee, UL FOW

Hab. ? Cab. Gaskoin. », Sevens

5. CotumBELxLA Pacirica. Testa oblongo-ovata, 1ab2h 3 aca,

maculis trregularibus distantibus rufescenti-brunneis ornata ; ‘

intus alba; spird acuminatd, anfractibus convexis s tem vel 4

octo postice obtusissime coronatis ; aperturd latd fectiabeuld q

labit externi margine tenui intus edentulo ; labio inter. evi ]

externe margine tenui; anfractu ultimo antice valde striato, j

striis tenuioribus longitudinaliter decussantibus ; ‘canali brevi,, 4

lato, subrecurvo. 4

This shell differs from Columbella Miser, Sowerby, in the absence

of denticulation, in the last volution being much more gibbous, the |

aperture much wider, the channel decided, the spire more AE aes q

and much less coloration and meri inges a

Length, 45, of an inch; width, ;2, of an inch. ots

Hab. Sandwich Islands. Cab. Gaskoin. scaaealinaraceie hi

6, CoLUMBELLA vARIcosA. Testa oblongo-ovata, nitens, crassa,

albicans, colore nigricanti-brunneo irregulariter induta; mar-—

ginibus posticis anfractuum albicantibus ; spird acuminatd, an-—

Sractibus septem vel octo subventricosis varicosis validis promi-—

nentibus subobliquis instructis ; parte anticd ultimi anfractils —

levigatd, antice supra canalem ‘transverse striatd; aperturd ob-

longd subquadratd rectd intus cerulescente, labio externo recto, —

marginato postice incisurd magnd instructo, intus denticulato ;

denticulis posticis validiusculis, labio interno levi margine ele-

vato Lon 3 canali brevi set a ;

Length, 8°, of an inch; width, 535, of an inch.

Hab. Peyta, Peru. Cab. Cuming, Gaskoin.

7. CoLUMBELLA AvusTRALIS. Testa silonpocmaial wathicane: q

maculis parvis irregularibus brunneis inequalibus ornata, ma-—

joribus saturatioribusque apud marginem posticum anfractuum —

positis ; spird acuminatd, anfractibus octo subgibbosis, apice al- 4

bicante; aperturd latiusculd intus cerulescente, labio externo

Loological Society. 369

recurvo ad canalem convergente, intus denticulis septem ad octo

subprominentibus subdistantibus, labio interno levi anticé angu-

lifero; canali latiusculo brevi recurvo, anfractu ultimo anticé

transversim striato ; peryzemate posticée angulari.

Length, 8,9; of an inch ; width, ,2%, of an inch.

Hab. Sydney. Cab. Gaskoin, Cuming.

8. CoLUMBELLA CANCELLATA. Testa ovata, pallide aurantiaco-

brunnea ; apice roseo, superficie omnino cancellatd, serie posticd

granulorum majore; spird acuminatd anfractibus septem; aper-

turd latiusculd brevique, lubio externo subrecurvo convergente,

intus denticulis quatuor vel quinque subprominentibus, labio in-

terno levi; canali latiusculo, brevi, peritremate posticé obtuse

pnguars.

Length, 35, of an inch; width, 518, of an inch.

Hab. West Indies. Cab. Gaskoin.

9. CoLtuMBELLA PULLA. Testa oblongo-ovata, saturate brun-

nea; parte anticd ultimi anfractiis, columelldque albicantibus ;

spird acuminatd, anfractibus octo vel novem, convexiusculis,

suturd levi; aperturd latiusculd postice acuminatd, labio ex-

terno tenui levi, intus subdenticulato, saturate brunneo, labio

interno levigaté subdenticulato, antice subalbido, margine in-

terno varicem rectum efformante, parte anticd teste trans-

versim wie 3 canali goer ba

Length, 552, of an inch; width, 2 00, oe an inch; length of spire,

3° of an inch; length of last whorl of an inch.

_ Hab. ? Cab. Gaskoin.

10. CoLuMBELLA INTEXTA. Testa oblonga, angusta, levis, al-

bicans, strigis punctulisque irregularibus saturate brunneis

ornata; spird acuminatd, anfractibus novem vel decem ; margi-

nibus posticis anfractuum brunneo maculatis, ultimo anfractu

anticé similariter colorato; suturd elevatd; aperturd brevius-

culd angustdque, labio externo arcuato, ad marginem acutius-

culo, extus crassiusculo, ad canalem convergente, labio interno

ad marginem subvaricoso, levi, edentulo; canali breviusculo,

angustato, extus transversim aoe:

Length, 55, of an inch; width, =2% of an inch.

Hab. Australia. Cab. Cuming, Bokoin,

11. CotuMBELLA ContTAaMINATA. Testa oblonga, levis, saturate

brunnea, intus subalbida, lined suturali albicante subinterruptd ;

spird acuminata dimidium teste superante, anfractibus octo vel

novem convexiusculis ; aperturd postice latd, antice angustiore,

margine externo lato, crasso, intus denticulis linearibus sex vel

septem; margine interno tenui, albicante, intus denticulis pro-

minentibus confertis albicantibus sex supra columellam conti-

nuis, columella interstitiisque rufescenti-brunneis ; canali pro-

minente angusto subrecurvo, margine interno violaceo, parte ex-

terna pramieboreian striata.

Length, ,°9, of an inch ; width, 9, of an inch.

| Hab. 4 Cab. Gaskoin.

aes Mey: N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 24

? Too

370 Zoological Society.

I have seen but one of this characteristic species: the aperture is

allied in form to that of Columbella Puella, Sowerby. It + be

convenient to readers to state, that the species Col. Puella is byacci- —

dent, in the index of the ‘Thesaurus Conchyl.’ of Sowerby, jun., —

entered as Col. Nympha, aud q

12. Corumperta Maravuesa, Testa oblongo-ovata, albicans ;

anfractibus sew vel septem; 4 vel 5 posticis rosets, longitudi-—

naliter striatis, anfractibus tribus anticis levibus spiraliter

rufescenti-brunneo lineatis; spird acuminatd, dimidium testa

equante ; aperturd mediocri rectiusculd ; labii externi margine

tenui postice marginato, extus incrassato, edentulo, labio colu-

mellart levi nitido, margine crassiusculo elevato ; canali extus

transversim striato, brevi. é ‘ a

Varietas hujus teste major differt pro colore.

Length, 3, of an inch; width, 515, of an inch.

Hab. Marquesas. Cab. Gaskoin, Gubba.

13. CorumBetta Austrina. Testa oblongo-ovata, levis, nitens,

albicans, punctulis distantibus pallidissime brunneis, fascidque

anticd latd brunned ornata ; spird acuminatd, anfractibus sep-

tem vel octo, convexiusculis ; suturd distinctd; aperturd latius-

culd, labio externo postice intus emarginato ; margine acutius-

culo versus canalem incurvo, intus denticulis prominentibus octo

vel novem ; labio columellari recto, nitido, denticulis septem an-

tice positis, margine externo subelevato ; peritremate albicante,

aperturd intus violaceo-brunned ; canali subprominente, latius-

culo, dorso canalis transversim striato.

TTS.

eee

Length, 5°, of an inch ; width, 22, of an inch. SFY,

Hab. Australia. Cab. Cuming, Gaskoin. sates

ciis tribus interruptis saturate rufescenti-brunneis, punctulis

opacis albicantibus rotundis per lineas obliquas vel longitudi-

nales positis ; spird acuminatd, anfractibus septem, quorum tri-

«bus anticis levibus, posticis obtuse longitudinaliter striatis

apice albicante; aperturd latiusculd intus albicante fasciis

brunneis tribus conspicuis ; labio externo crassiusculo denticulis

paucis intus prope centrum positis ; labio interno recto, ad

marginem externum varice prominente instructo ; eanali lato,

obtuso. ; yA

Length, 25, of an inch; width, {2; of an inch.

Hab. ? Cab. Gaskoin.

15. ConumBeLua saciTra. Testa oblonga, subcylindracea, an-

. gustata, levis, nitens, semipellucidula, pallidissime brunnea ;

fasciis duabus angustis interruptis albidi-opacis, ab, postico

margine anfractuum ad apicem continuis; spird acuminatd,

3-5 longitudinis teste ; anfractibus octo ; aperturd brevi, latd ;

labio externo crassiusculo extus margine albini-opaco, versus

canalem incurvato, labio“interno levi nitido; dorso antice

transversim striato; canali longiusculo, latiusculo; peritremate

subquadrangulo,

Zoological Society. 371

_ Length, 33; of an inch ; width, ;' of an inch.

-. Hab. Africa; West Indies. Cab. Metcalfe, Cuming, Gaskoin, &c.

‘ mA

°16; ConrumBeLLA conspersA. Testa oblongo-ovata, pyrami-

0 dalis, pallide brunnea, maculis anticis, albi-opacis, irregulart-

bus; fasciis tribus albi-opacis, brunneo interruptis, duabus

___posticis ab aperturd ad apicem continuis ; spird acuminata an-

_ fractibus novem vel decem convewiusculis; aperturd rectd, latius-

culd; labio externo ad marginem acuto, margine externo lato

prominente, intus denticulis quatuor quinque vel sex parvis ;

labio interno levi, nitido, intus varice parvo denticulato, extus

varice subprominente ad latus canalis extenso; strits tenut-

bus per anticam partem dorsi continuis ; canali longiusculo, an-

gusto, leviter recurvo ; peritremate subquadrangulo, lilacino.

Length, °°, of an inch; width, ,%3; of an inch.

Hab. ? Cab. Gaskoin.

17. CotumBELLA ForRMOSA. Testa oblongo-ovata, levis, nitida,

colore flori-lacteo induta; fasciis duabus maculis albicantibus

brunneisque interruptis; spird acuminatd, ad dimidium longi-

tudinis teste equali ; anfractibus septem vel octo convexiuscu-

lis, suturd subprominente; aperturd latiusculd et breviusculd ;

labio externo levi tenui, interno levi; canali lato.

- Length, ;49°, of an inch; width, 2°; of an inch.

Hab. ? Cab. Gaskoin.

18. CotumBELLA HIRUNDO. Testa ovato-pyramidalis, lavis,

nitens, pallida, strigis punctisque brunneis leviter maculata ;

spird mucronatd, dimidium longitudinis teste equante; an-

Ffractibus novem vel decem planis; aperturd latiusculd ; labio

externo crasso albo semicirculari, dentibus duobus vel tribus

latis posticis internis, margine externo crasso albo; labio in-

terno levi, subspirali, dente solitario majusculo ad posticam

partem ; canali longo, latiusculo, recurvo, rostris prominenti-

“bus, externo divergente quasi furcato ut in formd caude hirun-

~ dinis.

Length, 69, of an inch ; width, 3%, of an inch. :

. Hab. Per the ‘Samarang.’ Cab. Gaskoin.

This species is of the stamp of Col. bicanalifera of Sowerby, Proc.

‘Zool. Soc. part ii. page 113 ; Sowerby’s Thesaurus, fig. 144.

19. CotumBeLia CairorniANA. Testa oblongo-ovata, sub-

pyramidalis, levis, nitens, brunnea, vel brunneo variabilis, ali-

pone lineis tenuibus, fortioribus, aut latiusculis irregulari-

us; spird acuminatd dimidium teste subaquante; anfracti-

bus septem convexis; aperturd latd subquadrangulari; labio

externo tenuiusculo intus denticulato, labio interno leviter den-

ticulato ; dorso anticé transversim striato; peritremate pur-

| >. pureo-nigricante ; canali brevi. Me

“<> Length, 4°, of an inch; width, 2°, of an inch.

Hab. Sandeago, California. Cab. Cuming, Gaskoin.

Besa i

..,20, Cotumpetta Iopostoma. Testa oblongo-ovata, wregula-

pa riter brunnea; spird acuminatd, apice ceruleo-brunneo; an-

° 24%

372

Length, 55°, of an inch; width, 322, of an inch. /

Hab. Port Essington. Cab. (specimen unicum) Gaskoin. —

Cyprea Ciara. Testa subcylindraceo-ovalis, rufescenti-cinerea, i

Zoological Society. .

Jractibus septem vel octo raptim longitudinaliter decrescen-

tibus; costellis prope aperturam minus prominentibus, costis —

ad posticum marginem in tuberculis postice terminantibus;—

apertura posticé latiusculd, antice subaeutd ; labio externa

tenui, intus denticulato ; labio interno intus denticulato, varice —

prominente marginato ; dorso antice extus striato; canali lon-

giusculo ; margine peritrematis purpureo-brunnescente.

1 3m

anticé et postice supra extremitate maculd brunned ornata ; fas-

cits latis saturatioribus tribus ; basi marginibusque albescenti-

bus ; aperturd latiusculd subspirali ; labio externo crassiusculo,

dentibus circa viginti-sex, regularibus, prominentibus ; interno

subspirali, dentibus circa viginti; sulco columellari profundo —

latoque, intus denticulato ; marginibus rotundatis, incrassatis ;

extremitatibus obtusis, punctis minutissimis nigris notatis.

Length, 1,25, inch; width, ;75, of an inch.

Had.

? Cab. Cuming.

his species is of the stamp of Cyp. Isabella, Linn.

3. On THE PrerRoDACTYLES OF THE CHALK FORMATION.

By J. 8S. Bowrersank, Esa., F.R.S. erc. | saace al

On the 14th May 1845 I exhibited at the Meeting of the Geological —

Society the snout and under jaws, extending from the point to about —

the

Pterodactylus, with some other bones, a portion of which belonged —

to the same individual, and others which have every appearance of —

having belonged to another animal of the same species *, and I then —

stated my belief that the bone figured by Prof. Owen, in the ‘Trans- —

actions of the Geological Society,’ vol. v. pl. 39, 2nd Series, would ~

probably ultimately prove to be that of a Pterodactyl. From the —

great size of the snout, and the gigantic proportions also indicated by —

the bones accompanying it, I was induced to give it the specific name —

of giganteus. Ona subsequent occasion, June 9, 1847, I continued —

my remarks on these Reptile remains, in a paper entitled ‘ Microsco= —

pical Observations on the Structure of the Bones of Pterodactylus —

giganteus and other fossil animals,” in which I endeavoured to prove, —

by the strongly-marked peculiarities of the bone-cells in Mammals, —

Birds and Reptiles, that the whole of the bones described in my former —

paper, and those figured by Prof. Owen in the Trans. Geol. Soc.,

2nd

lian

Series, vol. vi. pl. 39. figs. 1 & 2, were in truth of purely Repti- —

character; and I also figured a radius and ulna from the Cabinet

of Mrs. Smith of Tunbridge Wells, of nearly the same gigantic pro-—

portions as the one formerly in the possession of the Earl of Ennis-—

killen, but now in my collection (fig. 1. pl. 39, Geol. Trans.), and a —

bone from the Cabinet of Mr. Toulmin Smith, equivalent to that ~

represented by Prof. Owen in the same plate, fig. 2, which honed

presented the same structural evidence of their Reptilian nature, :

* Quart. Geol. Journ. vol. ii. p. 7. pl. 1. figs. 1-6.

Zoological Society. 373

which description of evidence has, I am happy to say, been more

fully developed and firmly established by the talented coadjutor of

Prof. Owen, Mr. Quekett of the Royal College of Surgeons, who has

publicly taught it in the Theatre of that Institution without question

_ or contradiction of its truth. This great radius and ulna in Mrs.

— Smith’s Collection I referred to my previously established species, P.

_ giganteus, believing at that time that they were probably the bones

| of a fully developed animal, while those previously described were

q wid remains of animals not developed to the full extent of their capa-

i bility: x

| Since the publication of these specimens it has been my good for-

_ tune to obtain the snout of another and still larger species of Pte-

_ rodactyl, from the same pit at Burham in Kent, and which it is

probable will ultimately prove to belong to the species to which the

_ enormous pair of bones in the Cabinet of Mr. Charles of Maidstone

_ belongs. Should this hereafter prove to be the case, it will then re-

_ main to be shown whether the beautiful specimen of radius and ulna

in the Collection of Mrs. Smith of Tunbridge Wells, and the bone

nearly corresponding in size with them, and which was in the possession

of the Earl of Enniskillen, belong to the newly discovered species,

which I purpose designating Pterodactylus Cuvieri, or to the pre-

viously named species, P. giganteus ; or whether there be yet a third

_ Species existing in the chalk, to which these bones of an intermediate

_ size may hereafter be referred *.

_. The snout of the new species, P. Cuvieri, differs materially in its

- form from the same part of P. giganteus: while the latter agrees as

_ nearly as possible in that respect with P. crassirostris and P. brevi-

-rostris, the former appears to approach very closely the proportions

of P. longirostris. Thus, if we take the length of the snout from the

| distal end of the cavitas narium, as compared with its height, at the

same point of P. crassirostris, P. brevirostris and P. giganteus, we

find the relative proportions to be,—of the first-named, 29 of height

to 56 of length; of the second, 28 of height to 50 of length; and of

the third, 28 of height to 58 of length; we may therefore reasonably

conclude that, when perfect, the head of P. giganteus very closely re-

_sembled) in its proportions that of crassirostris. The length of the

_ fragment of the snout of P. Cuvieri at the upper portion of the head

is 7°20 inches; at the palatal bones, 6°38 inches; and in this space

there are sockets for twelve teeth on each side. The distance between

_ each tooth is about 14 of the long diameter of the sockets, which are

_ somewhat irregularly placed, but are nearly equidistant from each

_ other. The pair of teeth at the distal end of the snout appear, both

_ from the position of the sockets and the tooth remaining in situ, to

_ have been projected more or less forward, in a line with the palatal

_ bones. The head appears to have been exceedingly narrow through-

_ out the whole of its length. At the third pair of tecth from the distal

he i

* A third species, C. compressirostris, has since been described by Prof. Owen,

ge 95, Part IIT. of ‘The Fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous Formations,’ pub-

_ lished by the Palewontographical Society, and to which species the bones in ques+

_ tion have been referred. re

874 Zoological Society.

end ofthe snout it measures ‘66 inch, and at the eleventh pair of

teeth, °78 inch wide. Opposite the seventh pair of Lettie 7

curves upward suddenly and considerably, which is not the case at —

any part of the corresponding portion of the skull of P. longirostris ;_

it is therefore probable, that although in the number and daspoaitibit 7

of the teeth in the upper jaw, as far as our evidence goes, it strongly —

resembles longirostris in its structure, yet in the length of its skull it

is probably shorter in proportion than that species, apparently in that —

respect being intermediate between longirostris and crassirostris; thus

uniting the long-nosed with the short-nosed species of Pterodactyls.

There are no remains of the cavitas narium in the new species, but

it is not to be expected that it should make its appearance so near to —

the termination of the snout, as in /ongirostris the distal portion of |

that cavity is situated as far backward from the last of the dental —

series of the upper jaw as that tooth is from the end of the snout. —

The number of teeth on each side of the upper jaw in P. longirostris

is twelve, and the like number of sockets are apparent in our speci- —

men; it is therefore probable that we have the whole of that portion —

of the head, a

If we estimate the size of the head on the scale of P. longirostris, —

it would appear to be 25°52 inches in length ; but as we have observed —

that the skull curves upward considerably at the seventh pair of teeth, —

it is probable that its length may not be so much. ’

The length of the wing of P. crassirostris in proportion to the —

length of its head is 3°91 times. The length of the wing of P. longi-

rostris compared with the length of its head is 2°51; if therefore —

we assume, from the peculiar form of the snout of P. Cuvieri, that

the head as regards length is intermediate in its proportions between

P. crassirostris and P. longirostris, it should be 3°21 parts of the

length of the wing. af

The snout contracts in width gradually upwards from the sockets —

of the teeth, so that its upper portion forms a narrow ridge, and this”

is its form as far backward as it can be traced. ‘The palatal bones —

are depressed, the suture forming a prominent ridge as far as it is

visible, but not in so great a degree as in P. giganteus. -

One of the first pair of teeth remains in its socket ; the whole of |

the other large teeth are displaced, but there are two of them imbed- —

ded in the chalk, one within an inch and the other an inch and a half —

of the sockets, and in the fifth right and eighth left socket there is a —

rudimentary tooth in situ. The largest of the displaced teeth ex-_

ceeds 1°32 inch in length, and has been buried in the socket for nearly —

an inch; the second large tooth, which is imbedded near the third

pair of sockets, does not exceed an inch in length; both teeth are

slightly curved, smooth, and are hollow at the base. hae

The great diversity in the size of these remarkable Reptiles will ren-—

der a short review of some of the known species interesting ; and if we

arrange them in order, as they increase in size, the following will be

the series :—1. P. brevirostris, 2. P. longirostris, 3. P. crassirostris,

4. P. Bucklandi, 5. P. grandis, 6. P. giganteus, 7. P. Cuvierts and

to these may be added the bones in the possession of Mrs. Smith, the —

Zoological Society, 375 |

_ Earl of Enniskillen, and Mr. Charles. Of these, brevirastris, crassi-

rostris and giganteus are short-nosed species, longirostris and Cuviert

_ long-nosed. With regard to relative length and proportions of the

_ other parts of the skeleton we have ample means to arrive at tolerably

correct conclusions, in consequence of the nearly perfect condition of

_ brevirostris, crassirostris and longirostris. In the former two we

_ find the cervical vertebrae short and thick, the length being about

_ equal to the height in the latter of the two, while in longirostris they

Me ay in length from three to five times their own diameter at the

_ middle, Very uncertain results therefore would arise from finding

_ single bones of this portion of the skeleton, excepting that a long and

_ attenuated cervical vertebra would seem to indicate a corresponding

Tength of snout; but from the other bones of the animal, more espe-

cially those of the wing, much more satisfactory results may arise.

_ Upon a careful measurement of the casts in the British Museum from

the original specimens, I find the following to be the length of the

_ bones of the wing of P. longirostris :—

inch.

Humerus... .)........ 1:25 = 8°55 of length of wing.

Radius and ulna... .. 0 se Bth7 A

Rema 6 a i ry Ode ae Ne pe

Metararpus::.; o 232 2.0134: se 9:97

Ist Phalange ....... 1°90.5:5'57 rs

oS ES SO aa eee Pate 1:45: sa: GAD i

3rd ee aie sega eae £25 == B55 a

MN GA Ss Ley ee Oe 5S

10°69

inches.

‘ane length of the head 5.5 i. ee)

From the tip of the nose to the commencement

Ge toe CnVitas BARIUM .. 2, 6 ce 2°10

Height of the skull at the commencement of

tie PONECAS Orin ee ee oe 0°38

Memeth- ofthe femurs; . 6.0 os 2 ep ce 1°34

mbes plithe tis, oe 5 ye es Phe OD

Smallest diameter of the radius near the distal

RGR 05 hid - bday bh ooh RE te Ee Q-14

_ By these measurements it is apparent that the tibia, radius and

ulna and Ist phalange are equal in length. The humerus and 3rd

_ phalange are also equal to each other, and so likewise are the meta-

_ carpus and femur equal to each other. If we also compare the small-

_ est diameter of the radius, 0-14 inch, with its length, 1:90 inch, we

find that the bone is 13,8; diameters long, and in P. Macronyx (Buck-

tandi) it is 132;. We may therefore be enabled, by keeping these

_ comparative measurements in view, to predict with a tolerable degree

_ \of certainty the spread of wing of any Pterodactyl of which we may

_ ‘find one or more of the principal bones of the wing, and especially if

376- Loological Society. .

we take into consideration the comparative length of each rere wi

regard to its total extension, as exhibited in the table of the d

sions of P. longirostris. In the case of the great specimens of ‘nails

we may arrive at their length in many cases, although the bone ma;

be imperfect at even both terminations. Thus the diameter of the

smallest portion of the bone formerly in the possession of the Earl

Enniskillen and figured by Prof. Owen, is ‘81 inch at the smal

portion of the shaft: this bone therefore, on the scale of 133 diame

ters to its length, should be 10°93 inches in length. The measure

ment of the smallest portion of the bone belonging to Mrs. Smith

(Geol. Journ. vol. iv. pl. 2. fig. 1a) is*77 inch: we may therefore, by

the same rule, conclude that its length was 10°39 inches when per-_

fect. The length of the imperfect ulna beside it is 9°25 inches in thi

specimen. The diameter of the smallest portion of the bone (Geo

Journ, vol. ii. pl. 1. fig. 6) is *45 inch, which, in the proportion oft Oe

diameters to its length, will give 6°07 inches for its length. —

width of the corresponding bone in the possession of Mr. Charles 0

Maidstone is 1°25 inch at the smallest diameter: by the same rule,

therefore, the approximate length should be 16°87. The remains of

the bone alongside of it is, although imperfect at both — —

12°25 inches in length.

Upon these grounds therefore, in every case derived as gvacks

possible from direct measurements from the skeletons of the respectiv

species, I have given the following table of the dimensions of a series

of species of Pterodactyls, the most interesting either from the state”

of perfection in which ‘their remains have been found, or from the

gigantic proportions which they present ; and thus have endeavoured _

to realize to the mind an idea, as nearly as possible correct, of -_ aie

mensions of the animals when alive. .

Table of the relative proportions of known species of Biecodeti vita

with the length of each of the wing-bones and half of, the wadihy re)

the body.

. ¢ . : ee ss + 2.0

; |% a1 P| a] Py pda. ees

els?ia]i/2] 21212 [betes

E Se te ee eres tes p

ela lei 18.) ee bee z cH

in. in. in. in in in. in in l a Ie oa

P. brevirostris ...| 0°48 | 0°75 0:06 | 0°52) 0°82] 0°76! 0°48} 0:35 0°19; 0 9]

P, longirostris...) 1:25] 1:90 0°13, 1:34] 1:90] 1:75} 1:25} 1:17 0°47) 1 10

P. crassirostris...| 2°08 | 4:42 0°34) 1°32; 2°83] 2:53] 2°08| 2°32 )1°10) 3

P. Bucklandi.....] 3°25 | 4°25 0°40! 3:75! 3°91} 4°83] 3°25] 3-00|1°06] 4

P. grandis ........ 3°75 | 5°70 0°39 | 4:02} 5°70) 5°50} 2°75 | 3°51 11-4215

P. giganteus...... 4:43} 6°74 0°46 | 4:75! 6°74| 6°21) 443| 4:14 |1-68| 6

P.(Mrs.Smith’s)} 6:76 10°39 0°70 | 7:26 10°39 | 9:49} 6°76) 6:33 }2°59 10.

P.-Cuvieri.........}10°99 |16°87 1:14 ll 79 16: 87 {15°56 10°99 |10°29 |4:22 16

In the above table I have presumed that the largest bones should

be associated with the snout described as the type of P. Cuviert, but

the truth of this assignment of the bones belonging to Mr. Charles’

Zoological Society. 377°

can alone be determined by the acquisition of more complete speci-:

ens of the animal than those at present known.

_ In the construction of this table I have taken the proportions of

_ P.longirostris as the foundation, as it is the only species from which

I eould get the measurements of all the bones of the wing from the

same animal; but it must not be supposed that the restorations

effected in the table will be absolutely correct at all times in its appli-

cation, for we see that in P. longirostris the radius and first pha-

lange are equal, but in erassirostris and Bucklandi this is not the

ease: the greatest discrepancy rests with crassirostris, while Buck-

_landi and brevirostris accord much more nearly with the proportions

of longirostris ; and if we may judge by the comparative difference

between those bones in longirostris on the one part, and Bucklandi

and erassirostris on the other, it may perhaps be fairly surmised that

the greater length of wing would. be found to exist in the long-nosed

species, and consequently that Bucklandi will prove to belong to the

-short-nosed ones; and this also would seem to be indicated by what

remains of the cervical vertebree in the original specimen in the Bri-

tish Museum.

_ Prof. Owen, in treating of these animals in my late friend Mr.

_Dixon’s work ‘On the Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cre-

taceous Formations of Sussex,’ has thought proper to re-name P. gi-

ganteus, and designate it P. conirostris, Owen. I certainly did not

Sind my specimens to my late friend Mr. Dixon for the illustration

of his work, with a view of having the name which I had assigned to

this new and gigantic species subverted, and without in the slightest

_ degree being consulted on the subject. Nor can I concur with the

reasons given by Prof. Owen for thus re-naming it, as the name gi-

_ ganteus was not given, as stated by the learned Professor, “« because

_ certain bones of another and larger animal, of a different species, have

been: erroneously referred to it ;’’ but, in truth, from its being the

largest distinct species at that time known, exceeding P. Bucklandi

(or Macronyx) by two feet in the spread of its wings, and P. grandis

_of Cuvier by above a foot. The beautiful specimen of radius and

_ tna in the possession of Mrs. Smith, and subsequently figured in my

- second paper, was at that time onkuowi to me, and the bone then in

_ the possession of the Earl of Enniskillen was claimed by the Professor

as that ofabird. I had therefore no other material than that in my

- own possession on which to base my name of giganteus.

_ If the learned Professor’s reason for the proposed change of name

_ is to hold good, that of exclusive fitness in specific nomenclature, then

_ the one he proposes is also inappropriate, as it might be with equal

_ propriety given to either crassirostris or brevirostris ; or if specific

_ names, based on comparisons of size, are to be extinguished, and new

_ names given on the discovery of new species, there would be no end

_ of the confusion generated ; thus, as P. brevirostris is thicker in its

pp portions than crassirostris, they would require to exchange names,

_ or the latter at least to be re-named; medius would no longer be me-

| dius, with the addition of our new species, and grandis would no longer

_ be grand in comparison. Into what an unenviable state of confusion

should we not plunge nomenclature if we were to adopt the practice

378 Zoological Society.

of the learned Professor, instead of the precepts so judiciously laid

down by himself and others of the Committee of Nomenclature of he

British Association, and which I quote as a justification on my part

for my refusal to adopt the learned Professor’s exchange of my name

for the one he has proposed ! ' i RetaOH

In page 4 of the Report, under the head of ‘“ Law of Priority the

only effectual and just one,” we find the following passages :—* It

being admitted on all hands that words are only the conventional

signs of ideas, it is evident that language can only attain its end

effectually by being permanently established and generally recog

nized: This consideration ought, it would seem, to have checked

those who are continually attempting to subvert the established lan-

guage by substituting terms of their own coimage.”.... .. “* Now in

zoology no one person can subsequently claim an authority equal to

that possessed by the person who is the first to define a new genus

or describe a new species; and hence it is that the name originally

given, even though it be inferior in point of elegance or expressiye-

ness to those subsequently proposed, ought, as a general principle, to

be permanently retained. To this consideration we ought to add the

injustice of erasing the name originally selected by the person to whose

labours we owe our first knowledge of the object.” To these exeel-

lent principles the learned Professor has given the sanction of his

signature. Prof. Owen, in the article on Pterodactylus in Mr, Dixon’,

work, has not quoted my observations on those Reptiles so fully ont

could have wished; inasmuch as he has adverted to the strongly-

marked peculiarities of the bone-cells, which are the principal cha-

racters in the question at issue, in so slight a manner, as almost to”

induce me to imagine that he must have forgotten them entirely... I

shall simply content myself in challenging Prof. Owen to produce

any such general structure and proportions of the bone-cells from the

skeleton of any recent or extinct bird as those existing in the long bone

described as Cimoliornis, or to produce any such radius and ulna of a

bird containing similar bone-cells as those in the possession of Mrs,

Smith, and figured by me in my paper in the ‘ Quarterly Journal of

the Geological Society for February 1848,’ vol. iv. pl. 2.0 00 |

On the subject of the strictures with which Prof. Owen has fa-

voured me at the conclusion of his observations in Mr. Dixon’s work,

and how far I have been ‘‘ wanting in a due comprehension of the

subject, and have been a hindrance instead of a furtherance of true

knowledge,” I am content to leave to the judgement of those who

may feel a sufficient degree of interest to induce them to peruse what

I have written in my former papers on the Pterodactyles of the Chalk.

January 28.—R. H. Solly, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair, ~~~

Vil 2m

The following paper was read :— ot bo

ON A NEW SPECIES OF PrERODACTYLE (PTERODACTYLUS COM-—

PRESSIROSTRIS, OWEN) FROM THE CHALK; WiTH SOME RE--

MARKS ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE PREVIOUSLY DE-

SCRIBED specIES. By Pror. Owen, I’.R.S. f sud10%

The honour of having first made known the existence of remains

of the Pterodactyle in the Chalk deposits belongs to James Scott

;

Zoological Society. 379

Bowerbank, Esq., F.R.S. This indefatigable collector had the good

fortune to receive in 1845, from the Kentish Chalk, the characteristic

vs and teeth, with part of the scapular arch and a few other bones,

of a well-marked species of Pterodactyle, and the discovery was briefly

recorded in the ‘ Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of Lon-

‘don,’ and in the ‘ Proceedings’ of the Society for May 14, 1845, with

an illustrative plate (pl. 1).

nf Mr. Bowerbank concludes his notice by referring to a large fossil

win wing-bone from the chalk, previously described en) figured by me in

¥ ® Geological Transactions,’ and remarks that, “if it should prove

to belong to a Pterodactyle, the probable expansion of the wings

would reach to at least eight or nine feet. Under these circum-

stances,” he says, “‘I propose that the species described above shall

2 designated Pterodactylus giganteus.” (loc. cit. p.8.) Subsequent

scoveries and observations have inclined the balance of probability im

favour of the Pterodactylian nature of the fossils to which Mr. Bower-

bank refers, but have shown them to belong to distinct species.

- These fossils are not, indeed, amongst the characteristic parts of

the flying reptile: one of them is the shaft ofa long bone exhibiting

those’ peculiarities of structure which are common to birds and ptero-

etyles; the other shows an articular extremity, which, in our pre-

nt ignorance of those of the different bones of the Pterodactyle, has

nearest analogue in the distal trochlea of the bird’s tibia. These

two specimens, which are figured in the sixth volume of the Second

Series of the ‘Transactions of the Geological Society,’ 1840, pl. 39.

figs. 1 & 2, were transmitted to me by the Earl of Enniskillen and

r. Buckland, as being ‘the bones of a bird”’ (p. 411), and my com-

arisons of them were limited to that class.

_ The idea of their possibly belonging to a Pterodactyle did occur to

mie, but it was dispelled by the following considerations. The act of

fiight—the most energetic mode of locomotion—demands a special

modification of the Vertebrate organization, in that subkingdom, for

itsexertion. But in the class dves, in which every system is more or

less adapted and co-adjusted for this end, the laws of gravitation seem

to forbid the successful exercise of the volant powers in species beyond

a certain bulk ; and when this exceeds that of the Condor or Albatros,

as, for example, i in the Cassowary, the Emeu, or the Ostrich, although

the organization is essentially that of the Vertebrate animal modified

for flight, flight is impossible ; and its immediate instruments, to the

exercise of which all the rest of the system is more or less subordi-

nated, are checked in their development; and, being unfitted for

flight, they are not modified for any other use. There is not, per-

haps, a more anomalous or suggestive phenomenon in nature than

| a bird which cannot fly! A small section of the Mammalia is modi-

fied for flight ; but the plan of the organization of that warm-blooded

class being less directly adapted for flight than that of birds, the

weight and bulk of the body which may be raised and transported

G through the air are restricted to a lower range, and the largest. frugi-

_ vorous Bat (Pteropus) does not exceed the Raven in size, The Rep-

tilian modification of the Vertebrate type would seem to be still less

380 Zoological Society.

fitted for any special adjustment to aérial locomotion ; and in the pre

sent day we know of no species of the class that can sustain itself.

the air which equals a Sparrow in size. And the species in question-

the little Draco volans—sails rather than flies, upborne by its ou

stretched costal parachute in its oblique leaps from bough to bov

Of the remarkable reptiles now extinct, which, like the Bats, hac

their anterior members modified for plying a broad membranous wing,

no species had been discovered prior to 1840 which surpassed the

largest of the Pteropi, or Flying-Foxes, in the spread of those wings,

and there was, @ priori, a kewolpitest improbability that the cold-

blooded organization of a Reptile should by any secondary modifica-

tion be made to effect more in the way of flight, or be able to raise.

larger mass into the air, than could be done by the warm-blooded

Mammal under an analogous special adaptation. When, therefor

the supposed bird’s bone (Geol. Trans. 1840, pl. 39. fig. 1) was first

submitted to me by Dr. Buckland, which on the Pterodactyle hypo-

thesis could not be the humerus, but must have been one of the

smaller bones of the wing, its size seemed decisive against its reference

to an animal of flight having a cold-blooded organization. The sub-

sequent discovery of the portion of the skull of the Pterodactyle, de-

scribed by Mr. Bowerbank at the last meeting of the Society (Jan.

14), shows that the resources of Creative power in past time surpass

the calculations that are founded upon actual nature. a

It is only the practised Comparative Anatomist that can fully realize

the difficulty of the attempt to resolve a paleeontological problem from_

such data as the two fragments of long bones first submitted to me in

1840. He alone can adequately appreciate the amount of research

involved in such a generalization as that “there is no bird now known,

north of the equator, with which the fossils can be compared ;”” and

when, after a wearying progress through an extensive class, the spe-

cies is at length found to which the nearest resemblance is made by

the fragmentary fossil, and the differences are conscientiously pointed _

out—as when, in reference to the humerus of the Albatros, I stated

that ‘it differs therefrom in the more marked angles which bound

the three sides”’— the genuine worker and searcher after truth may

conceive the feelings with which I find myself misrepresented as

having regarded the specimens “as belonging to an extinct species _

of Albatros.” My reference of the bones even to the longipennate

tribe of natatorial birds is stated hypothetically and with due caution :

‘On the supposition that this fragment of bone is the shaft of the

humerus, its length and comparative straightness would prove it to

have belonged to one of the longipennate natatorial birds equalling in-

size the Albatros.” (Joc. cit. p. 411.) “a

Since the discovery has been made of the manifestly characteristic

parts of the genus Pterodactylus in the Burham chalk-pit, it has been_

objected that the bones first discovered there, and described by me

as resembling birds of flight, “are so extremely ¢hin, as to render it

most improbable that they could ever have sustained such an instru-

ment of flight as the powerful wing of the Albatros, or of any other

bird: their tenuity is in fact such,” says the ew post facto Objector, —

Zovlogical Society. 381

Ee as to point out their adaptation to support an expanded membrane,

but not pinions *.”

he reply to this assertion need only be a simple reference to na-

re: sections of the wing-bones of birds may be seen in the Museum

he Royal College of Surgeons, and have been exposed to view,

the discovery of their structure by the Founder of that Collec-

eg every Museum of Comparative Anatomy worthy to be so

To expose the gratuitous character of the objection above cited, I

haye placed on the table a section of the very bone that directly sus-

tains the large quill-feathers in the Pelican ; its parietes are only half

-as thin as those of the antibrachial bone of the great Pterodactyle

which is figured in my ‘ History of British Fossil Reptiles,’ pl. 4, and

is not thicker than those of the bone figured in the Geological Trans-

actions, 1840, above cited.

Hunter, who had obtained some of the long bones with thin

alls and a wide cavity from the Stonesfield slate, has entered them

his MS. Catalogue of Fossils as the “ Bones of Birds,” and per-

laps no practical anatomist had had greater experience in the degree

“of tenuity presented by the compact walls of the large air-cavities of

the bones in that class. Of all the modifications of the dermal system

combining extent of surface with lightness of material, the ex-

nded feather has been generally deemed the consummation. Well

ight the eloquent Paley exclaim, ‘‘ Every feather is a mechanical

wonder: their disposition all inclined backwards, the down about the

“stem, the overlapping of their tips, their different configuration in dif-

erent parts, not to mention the variety of their colours, constitute a

stment for the body so beautiful and so appropriate to the life

which the animal is to lead, as that, I think, we should have had

0 conception of anything equally perfect, if we had never seen it, or

an imagine anything more so.” It was reserved for the author of

he ‘ Wonders of Geology’ to prefer the leathern wing of the Bat and

Pterodactyle as the lighter form, and to discover that such a structure

as is displayed in the bone described and figured in the ‘ Geol. Trans.’

vol. vi. pl. 39, was a most improbable one to have sustained a power-

ful wing of any bird!+ Let me not be supposed, however, to be

Oncerned in excusing my own mistake; [ am only reducing the

unamiable exaggeration of it. Above all things, in our attempt to

fain a prospect of an unknown world by the difficult ascent of the

fragmentary ruins of a former temple of life, we ought to note the

‘successful efforts, as well as the occasional deviations from the right

_ track, with an equal glance, and record them with a strict regard to

trath. The existence of a species of Albatros, or of any other actual

genus of bird during the period of the Middle Chalk, would be truly

wonder of Geology ; not so the existence of a bird of the longipen-

nate family.

_ 'Istill think it for the interest of science, in the present limited

_ extent of induction from microscopic observation, to offer a warning

382 Zoological Society.

against a too hasty and implicit confidence in the forms and. avon por’

tions of the Purkingean or radiated corpuscles of bone, as d om

strative of such minor groups of a class as that of the genus P

dactylus. Such a statement as that “these cells in Birds. er

breadth in proportion to their length of from one to four. or ye

while in Reptiles the length exceeds the breadth ten or twelve time: t

only betrays the limited experience of the assertor. In the derma

plates of the Tortoise, e. g., the average breadth of the bone-ce 1 te

its length is as one to six, and single ones might be selected of great

breadth. pa

With the exception of one restricted family of Ruminants, e er}

Mammal, the blood-dises of which have been submitted to examina

tion, has been found to possess those particles of a circular form: in

the Camelide they are elliptical, as in birds and reptiles, The bone

cells have already shown a greater range of variety in the Vertebrate

series than the blood-discs. Is it then a too scrupulous reticence t

require the evidence of microscopic structure of a bone to be corrob

rated by other testimony of a plainer kind, before hastening to_

absolute determination of its nature, as has been done with regard to

the Wealden bone, figured in the Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. '

pl. 13. fig. 6*? As a matter of fact, the existence of Pterodac

remains in the chalk was not surmised through any observation h

microscopic structure of bones that are liable to be mistaken sate Ose

of birds, but was first plainly proved by the characteristic port

the Pterodactyle defined by Mr. Bowerbank, as follows, in his original

communication of this discovery to the Geological Society of London,

May 14, 1845 :—

“1 have recently obtained from the Upper Chalk + of Ken )

remains of a large species of Pterodactylus. The bones consist of—

“‘1, The fore part of the head as far as about the middle of the

cavitas narium, with a corresponding portion of the under jay

many of the teeth remaining in their sockets. tet

«<2, A fragment of the bone of the same animal, apparently

of the coracoid.

**3, A portion of what appears to be one of the bones of the a

cular digit, from a chalk-pit at Halling. all

«4, A portion of a similar bone, from the same locality as No..

«5, The head of a long bone, probably the tibia, belonging te

same animal as the head, No. 1. : J

«<6. A more perfect bone of the same description, not. from.

same animal, but found at Halling.” (94

* Compare, for example, two of the longest of the cells figured by Mr. Bower.

a bird, with two of the widest of the cells figured in fig. 1 of the same plate as thes 3

of the Pterodactyle; and contrast the want of parallelism in the bone-cells o:

Wealden bone, fig. 9, with the parallelism of the Jong axes of the cells. in thats

the Albatros, fig. 3.

+ Mr. Toulmin Smith, in an able paper “‘ On the Formation of the Flint

Upper Chalk,” in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ vol. xx. p. 295, affirms

upper chalk exists in the localities whence the above-defined i

They are from the “ Middle Chalk.” ;

Zoological Society. 383

Tn a'subsequent communication, dated December 1845, Mr. Bower-

uik states with regard to the specimens Nos. 5 and 6, which he

‘Supposed to be parts of a tibia, that “on a more careful comparison

with the figures of Pterodactylus by Goldfuss, I am inclined to be-

ieve they are more likely to be portions of the ulna.”

_ With respect to the long bone, No. 6 in the above list, comparing

it with that figured in the Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. vi. pl. 39.

oP 1, and referred by me to Cimoliornis diomedeus, Mr. Bowerbank

writes :—

_ ‘Although the two specimens differ greatly in size, there is so

trong a resemblance between them in the form and regularity of the

‘shaft, and in the comparative substance of the bony structure, as to

Tender it exceedingly probable that they belong to the same class of

animals ;”’ and he concludes by remarking, that “If the part of the

head in my possession (see fig. 1) be supposed similar in its propor-

‘tions to that of Pterodactylus crassirostris,—and there appears but

little difference in that respect,—it would indicate an animal of com-

ratively enormous size. The length of the head, from the tip of

the nose to the basal extremity of the skull, of Pt. crassirostris is

ut 42 inches, while my specimen would be, as nearly as can be

stimated, 94 inches. According to the restoration of the animal by

Goldfuss, Pé. crassirostris would measure as nearly as possible three

eet from tip to tip of the wings, and it is probable that the species

ow described would measure at least six feet from one extremity of

the expanded wings to the other; but if it should hereafter prove

“that the bone described and figured by Prof. Owen belongs to a Pte-

_rodactyle, the probable expansion of the wings would reach to at least

ight or nine feet. Under these circumstances I propose that the spe-

ies described above shall be designated Pterodactylus giganteus.”

Quarterly Geol. Journ. vol. ii. p. 8.)

~ “In a'subsequent memoir, read June 9, 1847, and published in the

_* Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,’ vol. iv. February 1848,

Mr. Bowerbank gives figures of the ‘bone-cells’ from the jaw of a

Pterodactyle (pl. 1. fig. 1), from the shaft of the bone in question

(ib. fig. 2), and from the femur of a recent Albatros (cb. fig. 3), in

corroboration of the required proof: and he adds, “ Fortunately the

two fine specimens from the rich collection of Mrs. Smith of Ton-

“bridge Wells, represented by fig. 1. pl. 2, in a great measure justify

_ this conclusion ; and in the bone a, which is apparently the corre-

ponding bone to the one represented by fig. 1 in Prof. Owen’s paper,

the head is very nearly in a perfect state of preservation.” (op. cit.

. 5.) Mr. Bowerbank, in his explanation of plate 2, describes the

wo fine specimens above mentioned as “‘ Fig. 1. Radius and ulna of

terodactylus giganteus, in the cabinet of Mrs. Smith of Tonbridge

Wells.” (tom. cit. p. 10.) He proceeds to state, ‘There are two

other'similar bones, imbedded side by side, in the collection of Mr.

Charles of Maidstone, of still greater dimensions than those from the

_ cabinet of Mrs. Smith ;” and he assigns his grounds for the conclu-

sion, that “the animal to which such bones belonged could, therefore,

_ have scarcely measured less than fifteen or sixteen feet from tip to tip

_ of its expanded wings.’’

384 Zoological Society.

The Committee of the British Association for the Reform and, Re-

gulation of Zoological Nomenclature, amongst other excellent rule

have decided that, ‘‘A name which is glaringly false shall be changed,”

(Report, p. 113). I submit that this is the case when the name ge

ganteus is proposed for a species less than half the size of others pre

viously discovered. Now, although those remains of the truly gigantic [

Pterodactyles had not been demonstrated to be such, yet they were

suspected so to be by Mr. Bowerbank when he proposed the name

giganteus ; and the name is in fact proposed, subject to the condition

of that demonstration, and under the evident belief that they be-

longed to the same species as the obvious Pterodactyle remains he

was describing. He says, ‘‘ Under these circumstances I propose that.

the species shall be designated ‘giganteus’,” and the circumstances:

referred to are the probable case that the bones, which from their large’

size I had supposed to belong to a bird, should prove to belong to a

Pterodactyle. i athena

The Committee for the Reform of Zoological Nomenclature next

proceed to determine that, “Names not clearly defined may be

changed. Unless a species or group is intelligibly defined when the

name is given, it cannot be recognised by others, and the signification

of the name is consequently lost. Two things are necessary before a

zoological term can acquire any authority, viz. definition and p .

cation. Definition properly implies a distinct exposition of essential

characters, and in all cases we conceive this to be indispensable.’”

(Report, pp.113,114.) Now with regard to the Pterodactylus gigar

teus, Mr. Bowerbank had unreservedly applied the term to the species

to which the long wing-bone first described by me might appertain,

under the circumstances of its being proved to belong to a Prer aC

tyle ; inasmuch as he had figured two similar and equal-sized bones

in the ‘ Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,’ vol. iv. pl. 2. fig. 1

(Proceedings of the Society for June 9, 1847), as the “radius and ulna

of Pterodactylus giganteus.”’ So far as a species can be intelligibly

defined by figures, that to which the term giganteus was in 1845 pro-

visionally, and in 1847 absolutely applied, seemed to be clearly enough

eam ae out by the plate 2 in the work above cited. But, with the

arge bones appropriately designated by the term giganteus, some

parts of a smaller Pterodactyle, including the portions of jaws first

announcing the genus in the Chalk, had been associated under the

same name. Supposing those bones to have belonged to a young

individual of the Pterodactylus giganteus, no difficulty or confusion

would arise. After instituting, however, a rigid comparison of these

specimens, when drawing up my Descriptions for Mr. Dixon’s work,

I was compelled to arrive at the conclusion that the parts figured: by

Mr. Bowerbank in plate 2, figs. 1 & 2, of vol. ii. of the ‘Quarterly Getty

logical Journal,’ and the parts figured in plate 2, figs. 1 a & 6, of vol.iv.

of the same Journal, both assigned by Mr. Bowerbank to the Ptero-

dactylus giganteus, belonged to two distinct species. The portions

of the scapula and coracoid of the Pterodactyle Obl 1. fig. 2, tom. cit.)

indicated by their complete anchylosis that they had not been part

of a young individual of the species to which the i

bones (pl. 2. fig. 1 a & 6, tom, cit.) belonged ; although they might

Zoological Society. 385

of Pterodactyle were plainly indicated, as I have shown in the

ve-cited work, by my lamented friend Mr. Dixon, ‘On the Ter-

ry and Cretaceous Deposits of Sussex,’ 4to, p. 402. The same

Hiame could not be retained for both, and it was in obedience to this

recessity, and not with any.idea of detracting an iota from the merit

of Mr. Boincrvank’s original announcement of the existence of a Pte-

lactyle in the chalk, that I proposed the name of conirostris for

e smaller species, then for the first time distinctly defined and di-

_ stinguished from the larger remains to which the name giganteus had

also been given by Mr. Bowerbank. I proposed the name, more-

_ over, provisionally and with submission to the ‘Committee for the

eform of Zoological Nomenclature,’ according to whose rules I be-

lieved myself to be guided.

“My conclusions as to the specific distinction of the remains of the

smaller Pterodactyle (pl. 1, tom. cit. 1845) from those figured in

late 2. tom. cit. 1848, have received full confirmation by the va-

able discovery of the portion of the cranium of the truly gigantic

terodactyle, about to be described, to which they belonged ; and it

certainly to be wished that, in determining to assign to Mrs. Smith’s

ecimens the name of ‘ giganteus,’ Mr. Bowerbank should have con-

rmed to the following equitable rule of the ‘Committee of Nomen-

ure’ :—‘‘The author who first describes and names a species,

hich forms the groundwork of later generalizations, possesses a

igher claim to have his name recorded than he who afterwards de-

es a genus which is found to embrace that species. ...... By

ving the authority for the specific name in preference to all others,

e inquirer is referred directly to the original description, habitat,

&c. of the species, and is at the same time reminded of the date of

s discovery.” (Reports of the British Association, 1842, p. 120.)

‘Now the species which I originally described under the name of

_ Vimoliornis diomedeus comes precisely under this category: it has

_ formed the groundwork of later generalizations, which have led to its

being embraced by another genus. In this case the Committee of

omenclature, whilst determining that the specific name should be

Tetained, recommend that the describer should “append to the ori-

‘inal authority for the species, when not applying to the genus also,

me distinctive mark, such as (sp.), implying an exclusive reference

‘the specific name.”’ In conformity with the above recommenda-

ion, the gigantic species of Pterodactyle, of which parts have been

scribed by Mr. Bowerbank, and yore previously by myself, would.

_ be entered into the Zoological Catalogues as follows :—

_. Pterodactylus diomedeus, Owen (sp.), Proceedings of the Zoolo-

cal Society, January 1851.

Cimoliornis diomedeus, Ibid., British Fossil Mammals and Birds,

Pp. 545, euts 230, 231 (1843-1846).

‘3 » Osteornis diomedeus, Gervais, Thése sur les Oiseaux Fossiles, 8vo,

p. 38 (1844).

| Pterodactylus giganteus, Bowerbank, Quarterly Journal of the

Geological Society, vol. iv. p. 10. pl. 2. figs, 1 & 4 (1848).

"Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 25

386 Zoological Society.

Leaving, however, the question of names, regarding which L,

no personal feeling except that they should indicate their obj

without ambiguity or obvious impropriety, I proceed to lay before

the same Society to which Mr. Bowerbank has comninlailapellilad last

interesting and important discovery, similar evidence of a thirds

cies of Pterodactyle from the chalk, interrnediate in size between the

species of which the jaws were figured as the Pterodactylus gigant cus

in 1845, and the truly gigaygic species which he has named Ptero=

dactylus Cuviert. shor sit. 2G

The specimens, which consist of two portions of the upper jaw,

form part of that gentleman’s collection, and were in fact exhibited

on the table, but unnoticed, at our last meeting, their true nature not

haying been recognised. The chief portion might well indeed be mi a

taken, at first sight, for a crushed portion of an ordinary ee

and it was not until after a close comparison of several specimens of

these rare and interesting remains of Pterodactyles, kindly confi

to me by Mrs. Smith of Tonbridge Wells, Mr. Toulmin Smith- f

Highgate, Mr. Charles of Maidstone, and by Mr. Bowerbank him-

self, for description in my forthcoming ‘ Monograph on the Fo

Reptiles of the Chalk,’ that I discovered them to be an of a sk

of an undescribed species of Pterodactyle. ova SOD od? ail

In order to make this understood, it will be necessary: to premiceiag ;

few words on the Pterodactyles in general, and on some of the: ch:

racters of the jaw of the Pterodactylus Cuviert in — d} ae di

aeons 915)

The Order Pterosauria includes species of fiying reptiles, 90. modi ‘

fied in regard to the structure and proportions of the skull, the d

position of the teeth, and the development of the tail, as to be refe

able eyen according to the partial knowledge we now possess: of

once extensive group, to different genera. vere Ber

M. Von Meyer e. g. primarily divides the Order into—

A. DIARTHRI, with a two-jointed wing-finger,: -

Ex. Pterodactylus (Ornithopterus) Lavatert.. j 32a

B. TETRARTHRI, with a four-jointed wing- “finger.

Ex. All the other known species of the order.

— again are subdivided into— iG i '

. Dentirostres. Jaws armed with teeth to their esi: a” ‘hat

wisi ring; scapula and coracoid not confiaent with one

other * ; a short moveable tail. W592

Ex. Pterodactylus proper. May Bo

2. Subulirostres. Jaws with their ends produced into an e

lous point, probably sheathed with bone; no bony scle

scapula and coracoid confluent ; a long and stiff tail. od3eftl

Ex. Pterodactylus (Ramphorhynchus) Gemmingit. raids :

* The condition of the scapular arch in the Pt. giganteus, Bow:, Pt. — s

mihi, demonstrates the fallacy of this character. ol

+ Paleontographia, Heft 1, 4to. 1846, p. 19.

Zoological Society. 387

‘The extremity of the upper jaw of the Pterodactylus Cuvieri is

sufficiently perfect to demonstrate that it had a pair of approximated

_ alveoli close to its termination, and we may therefore refer it to the

_ Dentirostral division.

‘In this division, however, there are species which present such dif-

ferent proportions of the beak, accompanied by differences in the rela-

tive extent of the dental series, as would without doubt lead to their

allocation in distinct genera, were they the living or recent subjects

_ of the modern Erpetologist. In the Pterodactylus longirostris, the

_ first species discovered and made known by Collini in 1784 *, the

yall are of extreme length and tenuity, and the alveoli of the upper

| jaw do not extend so far back as the nostril. In the Pterodactylus

_ crassirostris, Goldfuss +, on the other hand, the jaws are short, thick,

and obtusely terminated, and the alveoli of the upper jaw reach as

' far back as the middle of the vacuity which intervenes between the

nostril and the orbit, and which Goldfuss terms the ‘cavitas inter-

media.’

In the solid or imperforate part of the upper jaw anterior to the

nostril, the Pterodactylus longirostris has twelve long, subcompressed

teeth, followed by a few of smaller size: the same part of the jaw

in the Pt. crassirostris has but six teeth, of which the first four are

_ close together at the end of the jaw, and the first three shorter than

the rest. The cavitas intermedia in Pt. longirostris is much smaller

than the nostril; in the Pt. crassirostris it is larger than the nostril.

Were these two species of dentirostral Pterosauria to be taken, as

by the modern Erpetologist they assuredly would, to be types of two

_ distinct genera, the name Péerodactylus should be retained for the

_ longirostral species, as including the first-discovered specimen and

_ type of the genus; and the crassirostral species should be grouped

_ together under some other generic name.

__ The specimen of gigantic Pterodactyle described by Mr. Bower-

- hank at the last meeting of the Society consists of the solid anterior

| end, 7. e. of the imperforate continuous bony walls, of a jaw, com-

_ pressed and decreasing in depth, at first rapidly, then more gradually,

_ to an obtusely-pointed extremity. As the symphysis of the lower

? jaw is long and the original joint obliterated, and its depth somewhat

rapidly increases by the development of its lower and back part into

a kind of ridge in some smaller Pterodactyles, the present specimen,

so far as these characters go, might be ee rred to the lower jaw, and

Bis relatively inferior depth to the upper jaw in the Pt. conirostris

_ would seem to lead to that conclusion. But the present is plainly a

: species which has a longer and more slender snout in proportion to its

_ size, and the convex curve formed by the alveolar border, slight as it

_ is, decides it to be part of the upper jaw. The lower jaw, moreover,

_ might be expected, by the analogy of the smaller Pterodactyles, to be

_ flatter or less acute below the end of the symphysis.

_. The specimen of P¢. Cuvieri consists of the anterior extremity of

_. * Acta Academie Theodoro-Palatine, V. p. 58, tab. 5.

_ ‘+ Beitrige zur Kenntniss verschiedener Reptilien der Vorwelt, 4to. 1831, sec. 1.

tab. 7, 8,9

388 Zoological Society.

the upper jaw, of seven inches in extent, without any trace ofthe

nasal or any other natural perforation of its upper or lateral parietes,

From the number of teeth contained in this part, the Pt. Ouvieri pre-

sents a much closer resemblance to the Pt. longirostris than to the

Pt. crassirostris ; and if the entire skull were restored according to

the proportions of the Pt. longirostris, it would be twenty-eight

inches in length. Bis

But nature seems never to retain the same proportions in speciés

that differ materially in bulk. The great Diprotodon, with the den-

tal and cranial characters of a Kangaroo, does not retain the same

length of hinder limbs as its living homologue; the laws of gravity

forbid the saltatory mode of locomotion to a Herbivore of the bulk of

a Rhinoceros ; and accordingly, whilst the hind-legs are shortened

the fore-limbs are lengthened, and both are made more robust in the

Diprotodon than in the Kangaroo. The change of proportions of

the limbs of the Sloths is equally striking in those extinct species

We may therefore infer, with a high degree of probability, whet a

longirostral Pterodactyle much surpassed in bulk the species so called

“par excellence,’ that the same proportions were not maintained in

the length of the jaws; and that the species to which the fine frag-

ment belonged, far as it has exceeded our previous ideas of the bulk

of a flying reptile, did not sustain and carry through the air a head of

two feet four inches in length, or nearly double the size of that of the —

Pelican.

Although the fractured hinder part of the jaw of the Pé. Cuviert —

shows no trace of the commencement of the wide nasal aperture, there |

is a plain indication that the jaws were less prolonged than in the Pt. —

jaw. Opposite the ninth tooth, e. g., the depth of the jaw equals two- —

fifths of the length in advance of that tooth, whilst in the Pé. longi-

rostris it is only two-sevenths. The contour of the upper border of —

the jaw in the Pt. Cuviert differs from that in both the Pt. longi-

rostris, Pt. crassirostris, and Pt. Gemmingi, in sinking more sud- —

denly opposite the ninth, eighth and seventh teeth, than it does along —

the more advanced part of the jaw; a character which, while it affords —

a good specific distinction from any of those species, indicates the —

hinder parts of the head that are wanting in the present specimen to —

have been shorter and deeper than in the Pt. longirostris. =

The first pair of alveoli almost meet at the anterior extremity of —

the jaw, and their outlet is directed obliquely forwards and down-

wards ; the obtuse end of the premaxillary above these alveoli is about

two lines across. The palate quickly expands to a width of three —

lines between the second alveoli, then to a width of four lines between

the fourth alveoli, and more gradually, after the ninth alveoli, to a

width of six lines between the eleventh alveoli: here the palate ap-_

pears to have been slightly crushed; but in the rest of its extent it

presents its natural form, being traversed longitudinally by a mode-

rate median ridge, on each side of which it is slightly concave trans: —

Zoological Society. 389

yersely... It is perforated by a few small irregular vascular foramina.

Z There are no orifices on the inner side of the alveoli; the successional

teeth emerge, as in the Crocodiles, from the old sockets, and not,.as

ie, a certain. Mammalia and Fishes, by foramina distinct from them,

_ The second. and third alveoli are the largest; the fourth, fifth and

sixth the smallest, yet they are more than half the size of the fore-

_ going, with which the rest are nearly equal. ‘The outlets of the alveoli

_ are elliptical, and they form prominences at the side of the jaw, or

_ rather the jaw sinks gently in between the alveoli, and is continued

_ into the bony palate without any ridge, the vertical wall bending round

' to form the horizontal plate. The greatest breadth of the under sur-

face of the jaw, taken from the outside of the alveoli, varies only from

_ seven lines across the third pair to nine lines across the eleventh pair

_ of alveoli; and from the narrow base the sides of the jaw converge

_ with a slight convexity outwards at the anterior half of the fragment,

_ but are almost plane at the deeper posterior half, where they seem to

_ have met at one acute superior ridge; indeed such a ridge is con-

_ tinued to within an inch of the fore part of the jaw, where the upper

border becomes more obtuse.

__. The whole portion of the jaw appears to consist of one uninter-

_ rupted bone—the premaxillary ; the delicate crust of osseous sub-

_ stance, as thin as paper, is traversed by many irregular cracks and

_ fissures, but there is no recognizable suture marking off the limits of

_ a maxillary or nasal bone. The bone offers to the naked eye a fine

| fibrous structure, so fine as to produce almost a silken aspect, the

_ fibres or strize being longitudinal, and impressed at intervals of from

two to six lines by small vascular foramina.

_.. Having premised so much with reference to the characters of the

_ Pt. Cuviert, I proceed to the description of the distinct species, for

_ which I propose the name of Pterodactylus compressirostris.

PTERODACTYLUS COMPRESSIROSTRIS, Owen.

This species is represented by two portions of the upper jaw,

_ obtained from the Middle Chalk of Kent, the hinder and larger

_ of which include the beginning of the external nostril. The depth

of the jaw at this part is fourteen lines, whence it gradually de-

_ creases to a depth of ten lines at a distance of three inches in advance

_ of this, indicating a jaw as long and slender as in the Pt. longirostris,

_ supposing the same degree of convergence of the straight outlines of

_ the upper and alveolar borders of the jaw to have been preserved to

its anterior end: that this was actually the case is rendered most

_ probable by the proportions of the smaller anterior part of the jaw

obtained from the same pit, if not from the same block of chalk,

and which, with a vertical depth of seven lines at its hinder part,

_ decreases to one of six lines in an extent of one inch and a half in

vance of that part. The sides of the jaw as they rise from the

alveolar border incline a little outwards before they converge to meet

at the upper border. This gives a very narrow ovoid section at

the fore part of the larger fragment, the greatest diameter at its

lower halt being four lines, and the sides meeting above at a slightly

obtuse ridge. This very gradually widens as the jaw recedes back-

390 Zoological Society.

wards, where the entireness of the walls of the smoothly convex upper —

part of the jaw proves that the narrowness of that part is not due to

accidental crushing. Had that been the case, the thin parietes arch-

ing above from one side to the other would have been cracked. The —

only evidence of the compression to which the deep sides of the jaw —

have been subject is seen in the bending in of the wall above the —

alveoli, close to the upper ridge at the fore part of the fragment. —

In an extent of alveolar border of three and a half inches there are

eleven sockets, the anterior one on the right side retaining the frac-

tured base of a tooth: the alveoli are separated by intervals of about

one and a half times their own diameter ; their outlets are elliptical,

and indicate the compressed form of the teeth: they are about two

lines in long diameter at the fore part of this fragment, but diminish

as they are placed more backwards, the last two being developed be-

neath the external nostril. The bony palate is extremely narrow, —

and presents in the larger portion a median smooth convex rising

between two longitudinal channels, which are bounded externally by

the inner wall of the alveolar border. There is no trace of a median

suture in the longitudinal convexity. The breadth of the palate at the —

back part of the fragment is eight lines; at the fore part it has gra-

dually contracted to less than three lines, but it is somewhat crushed

here. The naso-palatine aperture commences about half a line in

SS ae a ee

ee ETS, Pete e Oyen e hye

advance of the éxternal nostril, three inches behind the fore part —

of the larger portion of the upper jaw; which exemplifies the cha- —

racteristic extent of the imperforate bony palate formed by the long —

aati

single premaxillary bone in the genus Pterodactylus. ‘The frag-—

ment from the more advanced part of the jaw contains five pairs

of alveoli in an extent of two inches, these alveoli being rather larger

and closer together than in the hinder part of the jaw. Owing to

the-compression which the present portion has undergone, the ori-

fices of the alveoli are turned outwards, the bony palate being pressed

down between the two rows, and showing, as the probable result of

this pressure, a median groove between two longitudinal convex ridges ;_

but the bone is entire and imperforate.

The form of the upper jaw in the present remarkable species differs —

widely from that of the two previously known species from the chalk,

in its much greater elongation and its greater narrowness; and from —

the Pt. Cuvieri, in the straight course of the upper border of the jaw, —

as it gradually converges towards the straight lower border in advan- —

cing to the anterior end of the jaw. The alveoli, and consequently the —

teeth, are relatively smaller in proportion to the depth of the jaw than —

in the Pt. Cuviert, and are more numerous than in the Pé. gigan- —

teus ; they are probably also more numerous than in the Pt. Cuvier ;

although, as the whole extent of the jaw anterior to the nostril is not —

yet known in that species, it would be premature to express a decided —

opinion on that point. As we may reasonably calculate from the frag-

ments preserved, that the jaw of the Pt. compressirostris extended —

seven inches in front of the nostril, it could not have contained less —

than twenty pairs of alveoli, according to the number and arrangement —

of those in the two portions preserved.

The osseous walls in both portions present the characteristic com- —

Zoological Society. 391

_ -pactness and extreme thinness of the bones of the skull of the genus:

the fine longitudinal strive of the outer surface are more continuous

_ than inthe P¢. Cuvieri, in which they seem to be produced. by.asuc-

seession of fine vascular orifices produced into grooves, ‘The conspi-

‘cuous vascular orifices are almost all confined to the vicinity of the

‘alveoli in the Pé. compressirostris. This species belongs, more de-

cidedly than the P¢. Cuvieri, to the ‘longirostral’ section of the Pte-

-rosauria: whether it had an edentulous prolongation of the fore part

_ of the upper and lower jaw remains to be proved.

_ + -In attempting to form a conception of the total length of the head

| of the very remarkable species of Pterodactyle represented by the

_ portions of jaw above described, we should be more justified by their

_ form in adopting the proportions of that of the Pé. longirostris than

in the case of the Pt. Cuviert: but allowing that the external nostril

_ may have been of somewhat less extent than in the Pt. longirostris,

_ owe may still assign a length of from fourteen to sixteen inches to the

_ skull of the Pterodactyle in question.

Pterodactylian skull—almost the only portions that have yet been

discovered in the cretaceous formations—should have presented such

J well-marked distinctive characters, one from the other, as are de-

_ ‘seribed and illustrated in Mr. Bowerbank’s Memoirs and in the present

- ‘communication. Such, nevertheless, are the facts: and, however im-

_ probable it may appear, on the doctrine of chances, to those not con-

_ -versant with the fixed relations of osteological and dental characters,

that the three corresponding parts of three Pterodactyles for the first

time discovered, should be appropriated to three distinet species, I

‘have no other alternative, in obedience to the indications of nature,

than to adopt such determination *.

_-* The same criticism or objection may be offered to the conclusions in the text,

as the following one, which was called forth by my determinations of the species

. of Balenodon found in the red crag. ‘ The specimens exhibited by Prof. Hens-

‘ low were only eleven in number; so that, without allowing anytiing for the cir-

__ enmstance of each whale having ¢wo tympanic bones, and the probability of some

“ of the above being in pairs, we have the first twelve determinable cetaceous bones

_ discovered in the red crag appropriated to no less than five species. I have no pre-

tensions to call in question the decision of Prof. Owen upon osteological grounds,

but I must own that I am disposed, upon the doctrine of chances, to consider it

hardly probable that these determinations are accurate.”—Searles V. Wood, Feb.

~ 16, 1844, London Geol. Journal, p. 35. The fifth species is a gratuitous addition

to the four described by me, the determinate characters of which have been cor:

firmed by numerous additional discoveries. .Mr. Wood should have remembered,

before he attempted to discredit the determinations from anatomy, and to substi-

tute the numerical test, that the second mammalian fossil from the oolite, although

; E a lower jaw, like the first, was of a different species, and that of five subsequently

- tliscovered unequivocal mammalian remains from Stonesfield, a// are parts of the

) lower jaw, whilst two of them demonstrate a ¢hird species. Very improbable this

sto him, on the doctrine of chances; but only showing, as Sir Charles Lyell has

) remarked, “ the fragmentary manner in which the memorials of an ancient terres-

rs trial fauna are handed, down to us.”

392 Miscellaneous.

MISCELLANEOUS. 0 swabaag

Somenopy has said that the English people are a great people, not

so much in consequence of what they say and do, as in consequence —

of what they leave unsaid and undone. British reserve (next to the -

British lion) is supposed to be the main-stay of the British constitu- {

tion. Unfortunately, as in our social habits so in our public proceed

ings, we are given to carry this virtue to an excess ; so that our ie :

instead of shining as it should do before other nations, too often

eye of even —

ern

published by order of the House of Commons. Se

Every naturalist is acquainted with the magnificent zoological col-

lection contained in those galleries of the British Museum which are

above the level of the bases of the columns of the facade, but few are

aware of the existence of a no less admirable collection in the vaults

below, consisting of osteological and spirit specimens, not merely —

supplementary to the dried skins above, but for the zoological student —

the necessary completement and explanation of the latter. The

spectator wandering through the galleries, as he looks at the stuffed —

skins glancing at him from all sides with their speculationless eyes,

little thinks that, could each speak, it would address him very much —

in the words of the resurrectionized damsel immortalized by Hood: —

“As for my bones, they’re all pack ’d up i

To go by Pickford’s van.” anf

And yet so it is: thanks to the zeal and energy of the indefatigable —

keeper of the department, Dr. Gray, the bones belonging to every —

skin are in the catacombs below, labeled and marked and ready to be —

exhibited, like the works of a clock beside its case, whenever room —

can be made for them. fod

But let the reports of Dr. Gray and Mr. Waterhouse speak for

themselves :—

“British Museum, December 12th, 1851.

‘‘Mr. Gray begs to state to the Trustees, in case any additions should —

be made to the present buildings, that it is very desirable that some —

more rooms should be assigned to the Zoological department for the —

exhibition of the collection of animals in spirits, and of the osteolo-

gical collection, which are now arranged in the basement, and con-—

sequently are in some measure hidden from the public, who are con-—

stantly inquiring after them. a

“The osteological collection is of the greatest importance, as it is by

far the largest and most complete ever formed in this country ; in-—

deed, Mr. Gray believes that it is as large as all the collections in the —

country put together, and its exhibition is of the greatest importance —

to the progress of zoological science, as the classes, orders, families,

and genera into which the vertebrated animals are divided, are greatly _

Miscellaneous. 393,

dependent on the characters furnished by the variations in the bones,

teeth, &c.; and it is also of great importance to artists, as affording

them the best means of studying the forms, attitudes, and charac-

_ teristic marks of the different animals.

To give some idea of the importance of the osteological collection,

M. Gervais, before he would undertake to continue the late M. de

Blainville’s ‘Ostéographie,’ came to England this autumn for the

purpose of examining the collection, and assuring himself that there

would be no difficulty in his examining and figuring the specimens

contained in it ; for, he observed, if this was not the case, it would be

impossible for him to undertake the work with justice to his sub-

_ scribers, as the skeletons were better determined, and it contains many

_ species which were not to be found in any other collection.

- dents the means of studying the distribution and arrangement of the

animal kingdom, and of determining the species of them.

** Indeed, until these two collections are exhibited to the public, and

arranged in the same order as the stuffed animals now shown, the

students visiting the Museum may be considered as being deprived

_ of half the assistance in their studies which the collections might, and

indeed ought to afford them.”

* British Museum, February 11th, 1852.

_~ Mr. Gray and Mr. Waterhouse beg to report to the Trustees, that

_ they hope, if any new building should be undertaken, that space would

_ be found for the exhibition of the collection of skeletons of verte-

_ brated animals.

«The exhibition of this collection is of the greatest importance to

the progress of zoological and paleeontological science ; first for the

_ scientific arrangement and determination of the genera and species of

recent vertebrated animals ; and, secondly, for the determination and

_ identification of the fossil species.

* Mr. Gray and Mr. Waterhouse further beg to observe, that they

_ believe that such a collection is very interesting to the general visit-

ors, and most instructive, as enabling them to understand the fossil

_temains; and it is also of great importance to artists, as it would

assist them to draw the different animals on true principles. These

facts are proved to Mr. Gray and Mr. Waterhouse by the number

_ of inquiries that are made after the few skulls which were formerly

_ exhibited in the first room of the northern Zoological Gallery, and

_ the number of persons who now daily come to consult the collection

_ in the basement for scientific purposes, and are also assured of the

_ popular desire of seeing such a collection by the number of persons

_ who visit the celebrated Osteological Museums of Paris and Leyden,

_ where it is of as great interest as the stuffed collections.”

: * June 26th, 1851.

“Mr, Gray, in conformity with the minute of the Trustees of the

2ist of June, 1851, begs to report that he regrets he has no means

of giving a very accurate reply to the first part of the minute, as he

394 Miscellaneous.

has no estimate of the number of specimens of the various classes

of animals existing in the collection of 1836. =

“Mr. Gray believes that he will not be very far wrong whic he

states, first, that the zoological collection is now at least ten times ¢ 8

numerous in kinds and specimens as it was in the year 1836; and

secondly, that nearly three times as much space is now devoted to its

display and arrangement. He begs to add, that nearly one-half o

the additional specimens are kept in rooms on the basement, whi

are only accessible to the public on special permission.”

« July 5th, 1851 4

“ In 1836 the zoological collections occupied 13,745 square feet ; in

1851 they occupy 36,600 square feet. To arrange the presen

lections to be accessible to the visitors, they would require a,

20,000 more.

“N.B. This is independent of the space that would be requis

the recent osteological specimens and the fossil ones were arran;

together, so as to make them useful to the zoologist and ete

logist.”” NGREMST

Some of our contemporaries, while they press the necessity

greater space to the Natural-History collection in the British }

seum, at the same time advocate the principle of centralization, 2

‘would merge the various public collections into this one. We cannot

think this advisable. In the first place, the resources of the B toe

Museum alone always have been, and are always likely to be, more

than a match for its accommodation ; and in the second place, how-

ever useful it may be’ to have Societies centralized under one Too

should be remembered that it is a very different thing, and may not

be so useful, to have various collections merged into one collection.

Keepers hed conservators are but men, and have their whims and

oddities, likings and dislikings, personal or otherwise, yery much like

other people. Suppose, fifty years hence, that all the public z :

logical specimens in England are gathered together into the British

Museum, and are placed under the curatorship of Director A. Sup-

pose that you and Director A are working at the same ‘point,

or have had a controversy in print, accompanied with personalities:

(such things have been known to occur in the scientific world), se

you expect that peculiar facilities will be afforded you for examining”

that collection, if you want to do so? Not if you know human na-

ture. And therefore we maintain that it is a very good thing not to

centralize too much ; to be able to go to Director B, curator of the other

zoological collection—who is not working at the same point, or who

is on very good terms with you, or who will at any rate help. you,

because he is not too fond of A. ee

Centralize books, statues, pictures, then, as much as you ple

for centralization facilitates access, but beware how you central

Natural-History collections, or indeed any others whose nature i

such, that a wide discretion must be left to the curator in permitting:

or denying examination. tig aan

Miscellaneous. 395

ON THE NIDIFICATION OF THE STICKLEBACK.

4 To Richard Taylor, Esq.

a , Neweastle-on-Tyne, Oct. 16th, 1852.

_» Dear Sr1r,—I find that I have committed an error, in my paper

which appeared in the last number of the ‘ Annals,’ in assuming that

Mr. J. Couch is the author of the memoir, “ On the Nidification of the

| Fifteen-spined Stickleback,” which was published in the Transactions

_ of the Royal Institution of Cornwall : this memoir is, I am informed,

- from the pen of Mr. R. Q. Couch. Not being able to refer to these

_ ‘Transactions,’ I quoted from the ‘ Illustrations of Instinct,’—the

work of the former gentleman ; and in it the author’s name of the

communication in question is not given. Mr. R. Q. Couch has

' assured me that he still entertains the opinion he originally expressed,

that the nest described by him really belongs to the Fifteen-spined

_ Stickleback.

__. Since the publication of my paper I have also ascertained that, so

- far back as 1839, Dr. Johnston described the nest of this fish in the

_ £ Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club.’ In the Doctor’s

_ communication it is stated that “in an early volume of the ‘ Edinburgh

Philosophical Journal,’ there is a slight notice of fishes’ nests found

on the coast of Berwickshire by Admiral Milne, but the species of

fish by whom they are constructed is not mentioned.” And it is

further stated that “Mr. Duncan of Eyemouth has ascertained that

‘they belong to the Fifteen-spined Stickleback,—a fact confirmed by

the Rey. Mr. Turnbull, to whom the Club is indebted for specimens.”

The nest and habits of the fish are then accurately described ; and in

- a concluding note it is announced that “‘ Mr. Maclaren of Coldingham

had seen and watched the stickleback in the act of making the nests.”

Tt would therefore appear that the credit, not only of publishing

_ the first observations on this interesting subject, but also that of deter-

tnining the fact that these nests belong to the Fifteen-spined Stickle-

back, is due to these gentlemen.

In conclusion, I have to ask that you will be so obliging as to allow

_ this letter to be inserted in the forthcoming number of the ‘ Annals.’

I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,

ALBANY Hancock.

FOSSIL PACHYDERMATA IN CANADA.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Woodstock, Upper Canada, April 1852.

> Gentiemen,—I think it may be worth while to record the first

_ discovery of the remains of one of the large extinct Pachydermata in

’ Canada; for the Mastodon’s remains mentioned by Lyell are found

‘on the right bank of the Niagara, which is not in the province,

although so close as to be only divided from it by that river.

| “At the latter end of January, in cutting through, for the transit of

“a railway, a narrow spit of land at the head of Lake Ontario known

as Burlington Heights, two bones of an Elephant were discovered (E.

‘

896 Miscellaneous.

primigenius!), yiz. the whole of the right ramus of the lower jaw to

beyond. the symphysis, and a tusk. ‘The tusk was much curved, as

will appear from the following dimensions :—length along the greatest:

curve, 6 ft. 8 in. ; from the base straight to the point, 4ft. 23.in.; two

feet. from the base, to which length I suppose was imbedded in bone,

straight to the point, 3 ft, 3$in. The dimensions of the jaw are—from

the angle to the symphysis 19 in., from the condyloid process to the

symphysis 2 ft. 2in., from the angle to the top of the condyloid

process 18 in., from base of angle to top of the coracoid process 12 in,

The jaw contained only one molar; this tooth was very perfect ; the

width of the upper surface 3} in., the length 13, of which 43 had

been used. ‘9¥0 ae

The remains were found 40 feet below the surface and 60 above

the level of the lake, in a layer of sand, superimposed on which were)

successive layers of cemented gravel and sand, the layers of gravel

varying both in width and in the size of the pebbles: this narrow spit

of land seems to have been a bar formed at the mouth of a large

estuary which must have flowed into Lake Ontario, To the east of

this bar is Burlington Bay, the head of Lake Ontario, from which it is

separated by a similar bar through which a canal is cut into the lake,

and which bank I am informed is still rising. To the west are the

Dundas marshes, which find their exit into Burlington Bay round the

point of Burlington Heights, and through which the Desjardin Canal is —

carried. Behind Dundas, running east and west, is along, deep and

wide valley bounded on the north and south by ridges of Niagara —

limestone, and down which valley doubtless once flowed a large body

of water. LM

In sinking a coffer-dam near this spot for the foundation of a

bridge where the railroad will cross the Desjardin Canal, were found, —

deep in the silt, the scapular and some fragments of the bones of the

extremities of an herbivorous animal about the size of a fallow-deer._

Your obedient servant;

Tuomas Corrie:

Remarks on the Mode of Vegetation of European and North American 1

Trees transported to Madeira. By Prof. Oswatp Heer.

M. Heer, of Zurich, so well known by his observations on the

botanical geography of the Swiss mountains, having been compelled —

by the state of his health to make some stay at Madeira, has em-

ployed his time whilst there in studying, in various points of view, the —

vegetation of that island, the'climate of which is remarkably equable

periodical phenomena of vegetation. After remarking that all the

woody plants of Madeira are evergreen trees or shrubs, blossoming —

very often during the cool season, he observes how much the species’

introduced from more northern countries comtrast with these indi« -

genous species in their mode of vegetation. ‘ier baa

The oak and the beech, for instance, continue to lose their leaves —

, ao 24

Miscellaneous. 897

‘during the winter, although the weather is then milder than it’ is

n several parts of Europe during the summer. ‘Thus, at Funchal,

the leaves of oaks (Quercus pedunculata) planted in some public

gardens and promenades began to grow yellow at the end of October,

and gradually became dried up to the Ist of January. Some isolated

trees began to shoot by the 10th of January, and were green again

on the 6th of February ; but all the others remained in a state of re-

ee and were not generally covered with new leaves until the 20th of

ebruary.. In Mr. Gordon’s garden, at an elevation of 1800 feet,

they were a month later.

__ “The leaves of the beech became yellow at Funchal by the 8th of

November, at Mr. Gordon’s garden by the 28th of October. The

leaves, or at least the greater part of them, remained in a dry state

upon the trees, until they began to shoot in the spring, which was

about the Ist of April. At Funchal, the terminal buds were open

_by the 8th of April, and the lateral a little later.

At Glaris, the period of repose of the beech on an average is 194

days; in Madeira, where the cold season is like the summer at Glaris,

it is 149 days. ‘he difference is only 45 days. The oak in Switzer-

land has a period of repose nearly equal to that of the beech, whilst

at Madeira it is only 110 days, or 49 days less than the beech. M.

| Heer supposes that this difference may arise from the beeches of

Madeira having been introduced from England and the oaks from

Portugal, so that the latter would have previously acquired the habit

_ of losing their leaves later and vegetating sooner than in the centre of

Europe.

__ M. Heer ought perhaps to have added, what he no doubt knows,

that sudden variations of temperature in the twenty-four hours,

especially the instantaneous diminution to 32° Fahr. or lower, are one

of the great causes of the fall of the leaves in Switzerland. The

absence of these variations retards the pheenomenon in the west of

-Hurope, and still more in Madeira.

In the facts stated by M. Heer,—facts of which we previously

bad examples in the hothouse culture of tropical plants,—there is a

proof of that important physiological law, too often forgotten by

nieteorologists, that the same temperature or the same sum of tem-

peratures, combined with the season, does not always produce the

same effect upon organized beings.

__ Every species is as it were a machine which performs its functions

under the influences of external causes, modified by particular internal

conditions. These vary not only between one species and another,

_ between one race of a species and another, and even up to a certain

point between one individual and another, but also between one period

_ and another,—the same heat after the repose of vegetation for instance,

not producing the same effect as in other circumstances.

In Madeira, the Platanus occidentalis, a native of the United States,

_ loses its leaves very slowly from the middle of October, or rather they

_ gradually become yellow and fall afterwards from the action of wind

“and rain. The repose is complete in January, February, and up to

April, during a period of 87 days. The Liriodendron tulipifera, also

a native of North America, has a complete repose of 151 days..

398 Miscellaneous.

The apple and pear trees generally begin to lose their lea

December. They come into flower, at Funchal, by the 7th of '

and their fruit is collected in August. There are, however, rai

apple and pear trees which flower and produce fruit twice in ao

and one variety of apple is perpetually in flower and fruit..

peach-trees about the 4th of November already exhibit some flowe

amongst their leaves; they then, to the great astonishment of

Heer, continued blossoming in abundance during the months of De

cember and January, and the fruit came to maturity from the 23rd-o

February to the end of the summer. In February there were flow

on the upper parts of the trees and fruit below, and it was also then

the leaves were renewed, the interval between the falling and shooting a

of the leaves being scarcely sensible. The vines around Funchal began

to lose their leaves about the 24th of October. The soil of the vime-

yards in winter offered the singular appearance of being covered with

the flowers of Owalis speciosa (a Cape plant) and of Calendula

arvensis. New leaves appeared by the end of March, and by the is) of

April the vines were completely in leaf, with young floral grapes.

The flowers open at the end of April and the beginning of May, and

the vintage takes place in September. The repose lasts 157 days:

A. DeCanpo.te in Bibl. Univ. de Geneve, Aott 1852, ee rene

COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS. 7 sn

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

The Willows, Swansea, Oct. 2, 1852.

GentLeMEN,—On the 30th of September, Colymbus septentrio-

nalis, the Red-breasted Diver, was taken in one of the weirs in Swan: ter j

Bay. Only two of these birds have been noted here previously, 1

as far as I can ascertain, both of them were killed in the winter, The

very early advent of this native of the north is my reason for eerakes ng

that you may wish to insert the above notice. )

Your obedient servant, A

MarrHew Moccrice. ;

On the Structure of the Stem of Victoria Regia. oy

By Artruur Henrrey, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. 2. 7

The investigation of the anatomy of Victoria regia acquires - its :

interest from the fact of the relations which have been pointed out

to exist between the Nymphzacee and some of the findotittal

Monocotyledonous families, especially also from the résearches of -

M. Trécul on the anatomy of Nuphar lutea, which plant that author

describes as having a stem of the Monocotyledonous type of struc.

ture. Through the unfortunate death of the plant of Victoria regia,

which had flowered for some time in the gardens of the~ Royal.

Botanic Society of London, the author had an opportunity of ex-

amining the anatomy of its stem. It is an upright rhizome, with

undeveloped internodes, growing by a single terminal bud, appa-—

rently perennially, and attaining considerable thickness; on the out-—

side it bears the remains of the petioles and flower-stalks, which

Meteorological Observations. 399

parate by disarticulation, and their remains are found arranged in

spiral lines upon the outside, so as to give the short, thick rhizome

Mthe- aspect*of a piece of a palm stem. As in Nuphar, the roots are

produced in bundles at the bases of the petioles, and fall off suc-

_ cessively upwards as the new ones are developed, leaving very con-

“spicuous scars. The internal structure of the stem is quite Mono-

-cotyledonous in its character, presenting no trace of the arrange-

ment of the vascular bundles into rings of wood, no true woody

fibres, and no cambium layer. The vascular bundles, which are

-eomposed exclusively of spiral, annular and reticulated ducts sur-

rounded by elongated parenchymatous cellular tissue, are isolated

and arranged just as in Monocotyledons, such as the Palms; and the

outer part of the stem exhibits a cortical parenchyma, much more

like that of the herbaceous rhizomes of the rush-like plants, than

_any other known structure; it bears not the least resemblance to

the bark of Dicotyledons. ‘The results of the investigation show

that Victoria, like Nuphar, has a stem of essentially Monocotyle-

donous structure. ‘Ihe paper was accompanied by drawings illus-

trating the general and microscopic anatomy of the stem.—Proc.

Royal Society.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR SEPT. 1852.

_ Chiswick.—September 1. Slight rain. 2. Foggy: cloudless and hot. 3, 4. Very

| fine. 5. Overcast: clear. 6. Very fine: rain at night. 7. Hazy: rain. 8. Heavy

rain: thunder and lightning: cloudy: clear at night. 9. Cloudy : showery. 10.

Cloudy. 11,12. Fine. 13. Very fine. 14. Clear: dry air: densely overcast at

night. 15. Overcast. 16. Fine: clear and cold at night. 17. Slight fog, with

very heavy dew: very fine: clear and cold. 18. Foggy: heavy rain. 19. Cloudy :

uniformly overcast. 20. Slight rain: showery: clear. 21. Boisterous, with rain.

| 22, Clear: very fine. 23, Overcast: very fine. 24. Foggy: very fine : dense fog

t night. 25, Dense fog: very fine. 26. Heavy dew: foggy: hazy throughout.

27. Dense fog : overcast : heavy rain at night. 28. Constant rain: barometer very

low: foggy. 29. Cloudy : slight showers: cloudy. 30. Overcast : fine but windy :

overcast.

Mean temperature of the month ......... sesesecessseceeuee wis 0 20

Mean temperature of Sept. 1851 ...............666 fcainvesascese 55°15

Mean temperature of Sept. for the last twenty-six years ... 57 °15

Average amount of rain in Sept. ...... sainacoyshenwets Scvesseacss 2 DaINChESs

Boston.—Sept. 1. Cloudy. 2. Fine. 3,4. Cloudy. 5. Cloudy: rain a.m.

6. Cloudy: raine.m. 7. Cloudy: rain : thunder and lightning early a.m. : rain P.M.

8. Fine. 9. Fine: rain p.m. 10. Fine. 11—13. Cloudy. 14. Fine. 15. Cloudy:

rain A.M. and p.m. 16. Fine: rain early a.m. 17. Fine. 18. Fine: rain a.m.

andp.m. 19, 20. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 21. Rain: rain a.m. 22. Fine. 23.

Cloudy. 24. Fine. 25—27. Foggy. 28. Rain: rain a.m. and p.m. 29, frlondg :

rain a.M. 30. Fine,

_. Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Sept. 1. Showers. 2. Clear: fine: cloudy: fine.

3, Clear: fine. 4. Bright: clear: fine: aurora. 5. Fog. 6. Hazy: cloudy. 7—

9. Fine: clear: fine. 10. Cloudy: showers. 11. Showers: drops: aurora.

12: Showers: aurora. 13, 14. Sleet-showers. 15, 16. Showers. 17. Bright:

showers : elie 18. Drizzle: rain. 19. Bright: clear: rain. 20, 21. Bright’:

— cloudy: rain. - Showers: clondy, 23. Cloudy: rain. 24. Showers: clear.

_ 25, Bright: eae 26. Clear. 27. Showers: rain. 28, Showers: lunar rain-

_ bow. 29. Bright: cloudy; rain. 30. Rain: cloudy.

‘ Mean temperature of Sept. for twenty-five years ...... “eerie 52°22

Average quantity of rain in Sept. for six years ..........5+0, 2°49 inches,

Ga) Lhe ti ‘262.62 |

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THE ANNALS

AND

{SECOND SERIES.]

No. 60. DECEMBER 1852.

said

a SPRL O's new Genus of the Family of Volvocinee.

d By Dr. Ferpinanp Coun of Breslau.

a ; [Concluded from p. 347.]

VII. Comparison of the Development of Stephanosphera with

a the Formation of Swarming-cells in the other Alge.

- Wuoever has observed the active spores (gonidia) of certain

_ Algee which are formed by the division of a primordial utricle in

_ the interior of a parent-cell, and after the rupture of the latter

emerge into the water by the help of moving cilia, will at once

perceive the perfect agreement of this phenomenon with the

facts observed in the development of Stephanosphera. The for-

ination and evacuation of the swarming-spores, as I have ob-

served it myself many times in Achlya prolifera, Chytridium, and

Conferva glomerata, and others in Ascidium, Bryopsis, Codium,

_ Ectocarpus, and the Fucoidee, presents the exhibition of swarm-

ing and streaming out exactly as we have just described it in the

_tnicrogonidia of Stephanosphera. The swarming-spores of Bry-

_ opsis, Chetophora, Stigeoclonium, Ulothriz and Draparnaldia have

such a complete agreement of form with those of Stephanosphera,

_ that it would not be possible to distinguish them if they were

_ seen only singly and not at the moment of emerging from the

_ parent-cell. All these spores of Alge bear four cilia at the an-

_ terior extremity, like the microgonidia of Stephanosphera ; a con-

_ dition which has not hitherto been observed in any true or

_ pseudo-Infusorium. Other swarming-cells have exactly similar

form, development and motion, but bear only two cilia, as in

those of Cladophora, Characium, Apiocystis, Phycoseris, Cheto-

| morpha and others. The treatise of G. Thuret on the moving

' spores of the Algee (Ann. des Sc. Nat. 3 série, tom. xiv. 1850)

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 26

402 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines.

has very recently given us most excellent representations of this

phenomenon, to which I refer every one who may wish to ac- —

quire a clear idea of this remarkable mode of propagation of the —

Algze and aquatic Fungi*. Yet to be warranted in deciding this —

question, it is indispensable to make a direct and unprejudiced —

observation at least of the most important phenomena, which is so —

much the easier to effect, that, with the exception. of the Oscilla~

toriee, Nostochinee and Conjugate, almost all the Alge propa-—

gate by swarming-spores throughout the whole year. An inde-

pendent examination is here the more indispensable to every one ~

who wishes to acquire an unprejudiced opinion as to the orga-

nisms standing on the limits between the animal and vegetable —

kingdoms, since the phenomena here in question are totally —

different from anything elsewhere known in the vegetable king- —

dom, and must be regarded as sui generis. The macrogonidia of —

Stephanosphera themselves also agree perfectly in structure and ~

movement with the swarming-cells bearing two cilia which Na-—

Characium (I. c. t. il. A. k), or of Apiocystis (t. ii. D. 6); only —

the common enveloping cell and the combination into families —

of cells, which elsewhere occur merely in immoveable forms of —

Algze, have not previously been observed in swarming-cells, and

must be regarded as specific characters of the Volvocinee, without

this organization standing in any contradiction to their vegetable

character. F

The developmental history of Stephanosphera is especially de-

cisive for the position of the Volvocinee, because of the essential —

agreement it exhibits with another organism as to the real nature —

of which no doubt has ever been raised. a

One of our most widely diffused freshwater Algze, Hydrodicetyon

utriculatum, is composed, as is well known, of large utricul

cells, which are arranged reticularly in such a manner that three

or four always meet in a point, and five or six bound each poly- —

gonal space. The green contents lining the walls of the indi

dual cells, in which a great quantity of chlorophyll-utricles

imbedded, are transformed in the propagation into a very large

number of swarming-cells, the structure of which was misunder- —

stood until very recently, and was first revealed by the masterly —

history of its development by Alex. Braun in his often-cited

* Compare especially my drawing of the microgonidia of Stephanosphera

(fig. 19) with the die which Fresenius has given of the swarming-spores —

of Chetophora (zur Controverse iiber die Verwandl. von Algen in Infusorien),

or Thuret at pl. 16. fig. 5, pl. 18. figs. 6, 10 & 11, pl. 19. fig. 3, pl. 21.

fig. 3, of his treatise above cited. See also “ Sur les organes reproducteurs

des Algues,”’ par MM. Derbés et Solier, ‘Ann. des Sc. Nat.’ 3 ser. x

pl. 33, on Draparnaldia.

)

Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinere. 403

_ work (Verjungung, &c., 279), with which my own observations

_ agree perfectly. The essential point in this is, that the contents

| of the large cells of Hydrodictyon are transformed in two ways :

_ first, into a number of large moving spores, which are of globular

_ form, send out two cilia from a colourless point, only tremble

_ and jerk hither and thither within the parent-cell, and never

leave this ; after a brief swarming these attach themselves into a

network in the interior of the envelope and secrete a rigid mem-

_ brane which surrounds the whole; in this manner they, the ma-

_erogonidia, become combined into a family of cells and grow into

a new net exactly like the original. Secondly, in other cells of

_ Hydrodictyon the contents are converted into a far greater num-

_ber of smaller microgonidia, 30,000 to 100,000 of which are de-

veloped in one utricle; these are spindle-shaped, possess four

_ cilia, move very actively and quickly, emerge singly from the

_ parent-cell into the water, and after a long movement pass into

a condition of rest, without ever becoming united into a net-

shaped family of cells.

Abstracting the differences which may be shown always be-

_ tween two genera, we detect the same law of development, that in

_ Hydrodictyon as in Stephanosphera, the bi-ciliated, less nume-

-rous macrogonidia arrange themselves into a family of cells

already within the parent-cell, according to the character of the

given conditions of the two genera, the cell-family being active

in the Volvocinee and immoveable in the Protococcacee ; while

the more numerous, more actively moving microgonidia with

four cilia leave the parent-cell and enter upon a metamorphosis,

the retrogradation from which to the normal type of the genus

_ has not been observed yet here, or indeed in the microgonidia of

any of the Algze. Such an undeniable agreement of the law of

development of Stephanosphera with an undoubted plant like

_ Hydrodictyon, which testifies to a near relationship, would be in-

_eonceivable if the former were to be regarded as of essentially

different organization,—as belonging to quite another kingdom of

-nature*. Thus the developmental history of Stephanosphera

also furnishes the most convincing proof of the vegetable nature

_of this genus, and consequently of the Volvocinee generally.

* Thuret has also observed in one of the Dictyotee, Cutleria multifida,

besides large swarming-cells which are developed to the number of eight

in a parent-cell and readily germinate, the formation of smaller, likewise

moving cellules, which originate exactly in the same way, only by often-

_ repeated division (to thirty-two?), and never germinate. Thuret regarded

the latter as analogous to the spermatozoids; we should rather consider

_them as a proof that a simultaneous formation of macrogonidia and micro-

2 pane occurs also in the higher forms of the marine Algz (see Thuret,

e. vol. xiv. pl. 31, and vol. xvi: pl. 1).

26%

404 Dr. F.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinet. — |

IX. On the Physiology of Stephanospheera. ‘ee ce |

That the formation of macro- and microgonidia does not ex

haust the whole series of forms which Stephanosphera may pass

through is proved by the following observation, which unf

tunately I have not yet been able to complete. Having culti-—

vated some Stephanosphera for a long time in a little glass cup, —

in the way described in my essay on Lowxodes Bursaria (J. c.), all

the primordial-cells at length exhibited dark, thick, greenish —

brown contents, so densely filled with numerous granules that _

the two chlorophyll-vesicles could no longer be detected ; their —

form was more or less globular, and the mucous radiating”

processes were entirely absent; their outlines were remarkably q

sharply defined, as if they had become surrounded by a rigid

membrane. At the same time I remarked that the primordial-

cells were no longer fixed immoveably at the periphery of the

envelope-cell, never changing their relative positions ; but jerked —

backwards and forwards, finally tore themselves away from the en-—

velope-cell, and then began to rotate slowly and lazily in the inte-

rior. Soon after I saw the envelope-cell also burst at some spot

one after another, as independent globes ; they were now seen to—

be enclosed in a pretty closely applied envelope, through which

penetrated two cilia, and hence they present the utmost resem-_

blance to Chlamydomonas Pulvisculus (fig. 20). They moved”

about for some time in the water and at length came to rest,

losing their cilia and accumulating like little green Protococcus-

globules at the bottom of the glass. We therefore have here a

motionless, perfectly plant-like stage of Stephanosphera, such as |

we are acquainted with in Chlamydococcus and Chlamydomonas 5

the remainder of the Volvocinee undoubtedly pass into a similar

condition of rest, which is the means of their preservation when —

the water of ditches is dried up in summer. The emergence of

single globes from the commen envelope, in a form resembling

Chlamydomonas, may also be readily observed in Goniwm (E

Infusor. pl. 3. fig. 1). va

I conjecture that the motionless, Protococcoid cells of Stepha-

nosphera are the means for the preservation of the species when»

the water, as is always the case in the shallow hollows im stones, -

their natural station, is dried up for a long time and all the

living inhabitants are precipitated on the stone. The observa-

tions of Major von Flotow have already demonstrated that the

dried-up muddy sediment always reproduces Stephanosphere

when water is again poured on toit. This capability, of reviving

from the dried condition, is shared by Stephanosphera with Chla-

mydococcus pluvialis, in which likewise the motionless cells remain”

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 405

_ living after being dried up for years and are capable of giving

_ birth to moving forms, while the swarming-cells themselves are

_ destroyed for ever by rapid desiccation. Herr von Flotow has

sent earth with dried Stephanosphere to Dr. Rabenhorst in

Dresden, who, in like manner, succeeded in reviving them by

_ moistening ; in this way the latter obtained abundant material

_ for distributing Stephanosphera wider No. 102 of the 11th De-

cade of his ‘ Algen Sachsens resp. Mitteleuropas,’ and thus to

effect the more general diffusion of this remarkable organism *.

Since the moving Stephanosphere, as numerous experiments

_ have taught me, are destroyed, just like the swarming-cells of

Chlamydococcus, by rapid desiccation, I believe that the motion-

less, Protococcoid globes, the development of which I have just

described, are the forms which do not lose their vitality by dry-

ing, but are capable, when wetted again with water, of going

through a cycle of development, by which they return to the

normal moving form of Stephanosphera. Yet I must remark

_ that I have not hitherto obtained sufficient material to observe

the resting Stephanosphera, and to trace the processes which

_ occur in the revivification, and that in reference to this most im-

_ portant phenomenon I must leave a gap, which I hope to fill up

next summer.

In conclusion I add a note on the mode by which I have

sueceeded in obtaining sufficient material for my observations,

since this also is of physiological interest. At their stations the

| Stephanosphera-spheres occur mingled with Chlamydococcus, but

by no means in the abundance requisite for the investigation ;

and although green clouds do collect at certain points in the

water wholly composed of our Volvocinea, it is difficult to ex-

tract sufficient of them for examination, since they immediately

start apart when touched. I succeeded in overcoming this in-

convenience by a simple means, so as to bring thousands of

these elegant organisms on to the object-holder at any moment.

I took, namely, a flat bottle with a short narrow neck, and nearly

filled it with the water containing Stephanosphere, stopped it

with a cork, and then laid it horizontally so that the cork partly

dipped in the water. In a few hours almost all the Stephano-

sphere in the water collected on the cork, which was covered

with a green coat composed exclusively of the revolving spheres,

_ while the rest of the water in the bottle contained only Chlamy-

dococcus and scarcely any Stephanosphera; so that when I wished

* I must observe, however, that some of the specimens ‘compared by

‘nyself contained no Stephanosphera. A few printed details are given wit

the specimens, gathered from information furnished in my letters, not in-

tended for publication in this form and not revised by myself; they con-

tain many and essential inaccuracies.

406 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocmee.

the water adhering to it furnished me with all the stages of de- —

velopment of our organism simultaneously in very large numbers.

After a short time the Stephanosphere had again assembled on —

the cork. I may remark in passing, that there is scarcely any

sight more beautiful under the microscope, than a large number

their bright green and often curiously branched wreaths of pri-—

mordial-cells, sometimes exhibiting themselves as rings, and —

sometimes as zones, sometimes rotating round a centre, and at —

others rolling away in the strangest curves. :

I made some experiments to investigate more closely the cause —

of accumulation of the Stephanosphera alone on the cork, and ~

this furnished me with a sufficient explanation of the behaviour ~

of the spheres towards light. When I placed water filled with —

| Stephanosphera and Chlamydococcus pluvialis, in a shallow porce-—

lain saucer in a window, a green band was soon found at the

margin of the fluid turned towards the window, and this was —

almost exclusively composed of Stephanosphera, while at the op-

towards the window was kept in shadow by the projecting mar-—

gin of the saucer, and thus constituted the darkest part, while —

the brightest point was on the opposite side, it followed that the —

Stephanosphera avoids the light, and accumulates at the darkest —

part of the vessel, as is also shown by the collection under the

shadow of cork. When I next covered the side of the saucer

turned towards the window with a strip of wood, so that this ~

part was kept quite dark, while the opposite side of the saucer —

was not overshadowed by it, within two hours all the Stepha-—

nosphere removed from the darker margin at which they had —

previously collected, yet did not repair to the opposite illumi- —

nated margin, but arranged themselves in a green line going

transversely across the water, which corresponded accurately to —

the limit between the deep- and half-shadow of the slip of robaj-id a

' a position the more striking, since green microscopic plants when ~

uninterfered with collect always at the margins alone and never ~

in the middle of the water. When I placed the slip of wood so —

that it reached across from the front to the back, from the dark- —

est to the lightest place, the green band was seen neither on the —

margin next the window nor on the opposite; but the green —

cloud of Stephanosphere soon appeared on each side of the strip —

of wood outside its central shadow. Repeated experiments gave —

the same result with the greatest certainty. From these facts it —

follows, that the moving spheres of Stephanosphera seek the darker —

Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinee. 407

_ part of the vessel, avoiding however a total absence of light and as-

_ sembling in preference in a moderated light or half-shadow. Since

other Algz and Infusoria exhibit a different behaviour towards

_ the light, we thus possess a means of sorting, to a certain extent,

_the microscopic inhabitants of a specimen of water, as I did the

_ shade-loving Stephanosphere from Chlamydococcus, which ordi-

narily seek the brightest light. »

X. Summary of the Results.

I conclude my essay with the diagnosis of the new genus

; which has formed its subject :—

ALG.

Order Patmettacex. (Chamephycee, Kiitz.)

Family Voivocine2.

Stephanosphera, nov. gen. (Wreath-globe.)

Stephanoma? Werneck, according to Ehrenberg’s paper in

_‘Gesellsch. naturforsch. Freunde’ (Spenersche Zeitung, vol. xxviii.

_ April 1846).

Trichogonium ? Ehrenb. J. eod.

Stephanosphera in Rabenhorst’s ‘Algen Sachsens,’ Dec. xi.

"No. 102.

Gen. Char.—A family of cells, rotating and moving throughout

life ; composed of eight green primordial-cells, bearing two active

cilia, arranged at equal distances in a circle passing round, en-

closed in a common, hyaline, globose vesicle; propagated both

by macrogonidia originating from eightfold division of each of the

green cells, and bearing two cilia, congregated into eight octo-

nary families, and very numerous smaller microgonidia, produced

by multifold division, turning round first within the common

vesicle by the action of four cilia, and then escaping singly.

Spee. Char.—Stephanasphera pluvialis, n. s. Green cells glo-

hose, elliptical or fusiform, often running out into mucous rays

at both ends. Diameter of the cells= 345th to ~45th of a line

_(0:0065 to 0-012 mm.) ; diameter of common vesicle = ggth to

oth of a line (0:028 to 0:055 mm.).

Obs. Revives after desiccation.

Inhabits hollow stones filled with rain-water, in company with

_ Chlamydococcus pluvialis: Salzburg, Werneck?. Zambra, A. von

Frantzius ; Hirschberg, Von Flotow.

The principal results of my investigations may be pretty ac-

_ curately comprised in the following statements :—

1. Stephanosphera is a new genus of the group of Volvocinee,

and only essentially differs from Pandorina, Goniwm and Volvox

through the law of arrangement of the internal green globes.

408 Dr. ¥.Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volyocines.

2. It is formed of eight equivalent green primordial-cells, which —

are arranged at the circumference of a circle ; these are enclosed in —

a common envelope-cell, in which they stand at the peace, weet |

the circumference. iv @

3. The envelope-cell is of perfectly spherical form, andi is com-—

posed of a structureless, completely closed cellulose eC,

filled with lhmpid contents (water ?).

4. The eight primordial-cells are globular, cylindrical or

spindle-shaped, and are composed of the universal nitrogenous —

protoplasm of vegetable cells, which is coloured green by chlo-—

rophyll, and rendered opake by numerous fine granules (starch —

or protoplasm ?) ; they ordinarily enclose two chlorophyll-utricles —

containing starch. They are not bounded by any rigid mem- —

brane.

5. The substance of the primordial-cells becomes prolonged, :

especially at the two ends, into radiating and often ramified mu-

cous filaments, which are retracted im the course of vegetation ;

the protoplasm-filaments occur also in other Volvocinee, and have ~

been differently interpreted in them (as hairs, tails, a vascular

system, intercellular passages, &c.). )

6. Each primordial-cell bears two cilia at the point turned _

outwards, and these penetrate, through orifices in the envelope-—

cell, into the water, and cause the movement of the entire —

nism. :

7. The laws of the movement agree with those of the swarming- |

cells of Algze, and Astomous or Anenterous Infusoria; it con-

sists of a rapid rotation round the axis of the envelope-eell, which

does not take place in any given direction, and of a simultaneous —

screwing forward, by which the Stephanosphera runs ee :

manifold curves in different planes. :

8. The propagation takes place by division of the primordial-

cells inside the envelope-cell. Each primordial-cell separates, by

successive septa, first into two, then into four, and lastly into

eight secondary cells; from this last division proceeds a perma-

nent generation, while the two preceding were only transitional

generations ; the eight secondary-cells originating from one pri-

mordial-cell arrange themselves at the circumference of a circle,

each developing two cilia, and remain united, secreting a com-

mon envelope over their surface, which, at first appressed and

tabular, becomes removed away and acquires a spherical form

through absorbing water. In this propagation by macrogonidia

eight exactly similar young Stephanosphere originate in each

envelope-cell of the parent organism. More rarely, the second

division forms a permanent generation, and then the i a

cell contains only four primordial-cells.

9. In the propagation by microgonidia, which commences in

a similar manner, when however it is only the sixth or seventh

Be) Desk, Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocines. 409

_ generation which becomes permanent, the secondary-cells pro-

_ duced by the multifold subdivision separate from each other ;

_ they are smaller, spindle-shaped, and bear four cilia, by means of

_ which they move very actively, even inside the parent envelope,

_ and after breaking out of this, move freely and singly through

_ the water, without ever secreting an envelope-cell, and giving

rise to the production of a family of cells.

_. 10. At certain times the individual primordial-cells develope

' a special membrane inside their envelope-cell, closely enclosing

| them ; they then break away, move at first in the interior of the

_ envelope, and finally emerge free into the water as Chlamydo-

_ monas-like globes ; after.a short swarming. these pass into a Pro-

_ tococcoid condition of rest.

_ 11. It is probably this resting condition which alone of all

_ the forms of development of Stephanosphera possesses the power,

_ after being dried up from water, of being revived by a new ad-

_ dition of water, and causing the origin of new moving genera-

_ tions; but the process here in question has not yet been com-

_ pletely observed.

12. The Stephanosphere avoid both bright light and complete

_ darkness ; they seek moderately lighted spots and half-shadow.

18. The organization and development of Stephanosphera

_ agree essentially with those of Chlamydococcus pluvialis, the ve-

_ getable nature of which has been placed beyond doubt by recent

_ researches. The only distinction consists in the type of the

latter genus being represented by a simple cell, while that of

__ Stephanosphera and the rest of the Volvocinee is represented by

_ a family of cells.

_ 14, The mode of propagation by micro- and macrogonidia in

Stephanosphera exhibits the most unquestionable analogies with

_ an evident plant, Hydrodictyon utriculatum, and testifies to the

_ near relationship of the two genera.

15. All the other Volvocinee, as well as Stephanosphera, are

_ to be regarded as plants, and their organization can be under-

_ stood and judged of naturally only according to analogy with

vegetable cells.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI.

Fig. 1. Polar view of a Stephanosphera with large globular primordial-

cells.

Fig. 2. The same in the equatorial view, the points of the primordial-cells

run out into mucous filaments.

Fig. 3. Polar view of a Stephanosphera with eight smaller, distantly placed

rimordial-cells : a, envelope-cell; 5, 6, primordial-cells. |

Fig. 4. The same in the equatorial view; the primordial-cells running out

into variously ramified mucous filaments ; the two front (interior

in the ree ones exhibit the poits from which the cilia arise.

410 Dr. F. Cohn on a new genus of the family of Volvocinez.

Fig. 5. Equatorial view as in fig. 4; the primordial-cells are more crowded

into one hemisphere of the envelope-cell.

Fig. 6. Polar view; only six primordial-cells exist, but the upper two are

twice as large as the others.

Fig. 7. Polar view ; the envelope-cell contains only four primordial-cells, |

the product of the second division having become a “ permanent —

generation.”

Fig. 8. Commencement of the formation of macrogonidia ; the primordial- _

Fig.

. 10.

«12.

13.

. 14.

. 16.

<7,

18.

A a

15.

20.

21.

cell * is still unaltered ; the cell ** exhibits a flow of the contents —

vided into two, the rest already into four secondary cells.

ig. 9. All the eight primordial-cells have divided, in the four secondary

cells of the second “transitional generation.”

The division already advanced to the third “ permanent genera- —

tion,” so that each primordial-cell has separated in eight wedge- —

shaped pieces.

The young Stephanosphere produced by the division have become ~

more organized, the colourless connected mass of protoplasm in —

the middle having been gradually constricted and eut off; they —

already begin to move inside their envelope : at a, two are seen in —

the side view.

The division completed and the eight young Stephanosphere ro- —

tating in the common envelope.

A young Stephanosphera just emerged; its cilia are only visible

by the eddy they produce in the water.

A similar one killed by iodine, in the polar view; it exhibits the

cilia and the common envelope-cell which is closely applied to |

the periphery of the primordial-cells.

A somewhat older Stephanosphera ; the envelope-cell still has the §

form of a flat, tabular spheroid, and therefore appears as an ellipse

in the equatorial view.

Commencement of the formation of microgonidia; the eight pri-

mordial-cells dividing in a higher power of two. ;

The eight original primordial-cells have been broken up into their

microgonidia, which swarm about in the common envelope.

The same stage as in fig. 17 ; one primordial-cell, a, has taken on

the formation of macrogonidia and become developed into a

young Stephanosphera, which rolls along among the crowd of

microgonidia.

A few microgonidia after their exit from the envelope-cell : a, mo-

ving actively in water ; the rest killed with iodine and exhibiting

four cilia.

A primordial-cell, which after secreting a special coat in a Chila-

mydomonas-like condition, has emerged from the common en-

velope-cell to pass subsequently into a state of rest.

Diagram to illustrate the laws of division in the macrogonidia of

Stephanosphera; first the septum a, m, 6, n, is formed, then the

second through c, m, d, n,—these two generations are “ transi-

tional ;” the eight cells produced by the septa h, m, g, n and e, m,

fn, become a “‘ permanent” generation.

The figures are represented magnified 300 times, except fig. 19, which

is 500 times.

lt Th th AN aD a iT i ir aT a EO a gs a

Spe ae a ee

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca. 411

XXXIX.—On the Tongues of Mollusca. By J.B. Gnax, Ph.D.,

a ER.S., V.P.ZS. &e.

_ Laster, Leeuwenhoek, Swammerdam, Poli, Cuvier, Fleming,

_ Berkeley (Zool. Trans. iv. 278), Osler (Phil. Trans. 1832), Quoy

' and Gaimard*, Delle Chiaje, Alder and Hancock, and some other

naturalists, have at varied and distant periods described and

_ figured the tongues of different isolated species of Mollusca.

- 1n1886 Dr. Troschel (Wiegmann’s Arch. 1836, 257. t. 9 & 10)

_ published an essay, describing in systematic order and figuring

_ the jaws and tongue of various species of the land and freshwater

Mollusca of Germany; unfortunately the figures are very small

and indistinct.

In the volume of the same work for 1839 (v. 177. t. 5. f. 8)

he described and figured the teeth on the tongue of Amphipeplea

of Nilsson, and proposed to form the family Lymneade into two

_ groups, according to their teeth, thus: A. Physa and Amphi-

peplea, B. Planorbis and Lymnea; and in the volume for 1845

' (xi. 197. t. 8. f. 6) he gives a description of the anatomy of the

_ animal, and especially of the teeth on the tongue of Ampullaria

_ urceus.

_ It is to be observed that all these observations are confined to,

_ and give a very good connected view of, the teeth in the terres-

trial and fluviatile Mollusca.

In 1847 Dr. Lovén (Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. For-

_ handl. 1847, 175) describes and figures the teeth on the tongue

_of the several orders, families,‘ and genera of Mollusca. The

_ figures are all drawn on the same plan, and with great distinct-

ness and accuracy. He divides the tongues he has seen into

- fourteen groups, and separates the genera into families and sec-

_ tions characterized by the position and form of the teeth.

__ The groups he has formed are exceedingly natural, and this

paper, like his work on the Scandinavian Mollusca, opened a new

field of observation to the naturalist.

In the following year Dr. Troschel, in the third edition of

Wiegmann and Ruthe’s ‘ Handbuch der Zoologie,’ Berlin, 1848

_ (a work, only the first edition of which has come into my hands ;

there is however an abstract of the arrangement in Wiegmann’s

_ Archiv, 1849, 84), proposed a new arrangement of the Gaste-

_ ropodous Mollusca, characterized by their sexual peculiarity, the

__ * The figures of the teeth by these authors are, like many details in

French scientific works, not given with sufficient care to be of much use.

_ They figure the teeth of the male and female Strombus Lambis, t. 49.

mm f. 20 2, t. 50. £.88, quite unlike each other; and their figures of the

teeth of Ampullaria, Mitra, and other genera are so indistinct as to be of

little use for scientific purposes.

412 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca.

respiratory organs, and the structure of the tongue; the Yatton

characters of the marine kinds being evidently taken from Dr.

Lovén’s paper. He proposes to form the group of genera which —

Rhiphidoglossa, and divides the Pectinibranchous Mollusca, after

the above group has been abstracted, into three suborders, ac-—

cording to the disposition of the teeth on the tongue, thus:— |

1. Tenioglossa. Tongue band-like, with seven rows of teeth,

without a retractile proboscis.

This suborder contains the first eight families of Gasteropods

in Lovén’s paper.

2. Toxoglossa. Tongue with two rows of teeth often barbed

at the end. Equal to the Plewrotomacea and Conina, the eleventh |

family of Lovén. ‘

3. Proboscidea, with a retractile proboscis and tongue with |

only three rows of teeth. This group is equal to the ninth

(Buccinea and Muricine) and the tenth family (Volutacea) of |

Lovén.

This division of the tongues into three kinds is very useful, to

abbreviate the technical descriptions of the families, but I fear

that it fails as a natural division of the families into groups. |

First, for I cannot consider that a natural system which sepa-—

rates the Strombide, Cypreade and Coriocellide from the other —

Zoophagous Mollusca, and places them in a different suborder

from the other zoophagous families. {J

Secondly, the characters are not sufficiently distinct ; foe]

example the zoophagous genera, Aporrhais, Struthiolaria, Do- -

lutinide, which have seven rows of teeth, of the Tanioglossa. sub-—

order, have a very long retractile proboscis, the character of the —

Proboscidea.

Thirdly, these suborders do not provide for the genera of

operculated ptenobranchous Mollusca, Scalaria and Tornatella, —

and the peculiar floating genus Janthina, which have numerous

series of teeth on the tongue like the Pulmonobranchia and many —

Nudibranchia and Potamobranchia (this kind of tongue may be -

designated Ptenoglossa); or for the genera like Hulima which —

have no teeth on the tongue.

Since this paper appeared Dr. Troschel has continued his ob-—

servations, and published descriptions and figures of the tongues

of several exotic genera of terrestrial Mollusca (as Bulima and —

Nanina), (Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1849, 225, t. 4), and of sundry

genera of marine Mollusca found on the coast of Peru (Wieg-

mann’s Archiv, 1852, 152). ;

M. Oersted has figured and described the teeth of Sycotypus

Dr. J.E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca, 413

or Pyrula reticulata, and MM. Eydoux and Souleyet (Voy. de

| Bonite) have figured the tongue of Pyrula tuba and other marine

' Mollusea; and more lately Mr. Thomson (in the Annals and

| Mag. Nat. Hist. 1851, vol. vii. p. 86. t. 3) has published a most

interesting account of the dentition of British Pu/monifera.

__» Dr. Troschel in his system, for some reason which I cannot

— understand, places the family Ampullariade with Cyclostoma and

_ Helicina, among the operculated Pulmonifera ; the families Ancy-

_ loidea and Siphonariacea, which have distinct lungs and no gills,

with the plumose-gilled Pleurobranchidea, characterizing the

_ order Monopleurobranchiata, in which he arranges them, as having

a plumose gill. In his former paper (Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1836,

| 277) he referred the genus Ancylus to the order Hypobranchia,

_ which is quite as remarkable, since that order is generally con-

| fined to the genus Phyllidia.

After studying these papers and examining the tongue of

_ many specimens of some species of Mollusca, I am satisfied that

_ the tongue offers a very permanent character of the species, and

is very rarely liable to variation. Characters of such permanence

in the species afford one of the best means to divide the species

_ into natural genera ; and when we consider the important func-

_ tion the teeth have to perform in the ceconomy of the animal,

_ one may be convinced that any important alteration in the form

or position of the teeth must be accompanied by some corre-

_ sponding peculiarity in the habit and manners of the animal ;

_ hence they must afford good characters to bring together the

_ genera into natural groups or families. To carry out these views

_ will require a very much more extended series of observations

on these organs than we at present possess, though we know

_ enough at present to show that an examination of the kind will

_ produce most extensive changes in our existing system, and ex-

plain many points which are now involved in much obscurity.

One result of the study of these papers and the personal exa-

- mination of the tongue of various molluscs has been, to esta-

_ blish more firmly the theory which I have long entertained, that

- no species of gasteropodous molluscous animal can be properly

_ placed in the system unless we are enabled to examine the animal,

the shell, the operculum, and the structure of its tongue; and as

_ none of these parts but the shell can be examined in the fossil

_ species, their position in the various genera must be always at-

_ tended with more or less uncertainty.

_. I have repeatedly observed, that there are many genera of

_ Mollusca which cannot be distinguished by the examination of

_ the shell unless it is accompanied by the animal. There are

_ several genera of marine univalves so alike in form and character

_ of the mouth of the shell, that they cannot be distinguished from

;

414, Dr. J. E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca. i

each other with certainty without the examination of the oper-

culum ; and Dr. Lovén has shown that there are some genera,—

Buceinum and Trichotropis for example, which have the animal, —

shell, and operculum so like each other, that the latter genus is

only to be known by a certain prolongation of the periostraca

on the keel of the last whorl,—which have the tongue so unlike, —

that I believe they ought to be considered as the types of different

families ; and Dr. Troschel in his system would place them in’

two distinct suborders, the genus Buccinum being referred to

Proboscidea, and Trichotropis to Tenioglossa.

Dr. Troschel gives a striking instance. Triton succinctum

has been considered as a typical species, having the usual ani- —

mal and operculum of the genus, yet Dr. Troschel describes and —

figures the tongue as having the seven series of teeth of his

Tenioglossa.

The similarity of appearance of the animal and shell of Ancil-

laria and Oliva are great, yet Dr. Lovén has figured the teeth

of the former as very like those of Nassa and Buccinum, the ty-

pical genera of the Buccinide ; but Dr. Troschel has very lately —

figured the teeth of Oliva peruviana, and they are so different,

that he thinks I have inaccurately referred these two genera to’

that family, and proposes to form for them a separate family

(see Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1852, 166). ff ete

The same similarity of the animal and shell exists between the

genera Cyprea and Ovula, yet Dr. Lovén and Troschel have de- —

scribed and figured the teeth of different species of Cyprea, show- —

ing them to be nearly typical Tenioglossata ; and the latter has —

very lately figured the teeth of Ovula tuberculosa (Wiegmann’s —

Archiv, 1852, 163. t. 7. f. 6), which are so unlike those of any

molluse before known, that they must belong to a peculiar

family ; however, the specimen he examined was in such an im-

perfect condition, that he was not able to describe their position

on the tongue. Several other instances of the kind might be —

cited. rileiacs

In the outline of the system of Gasteropodous Mollusca, ap-

pended to the explanation of the plates of Mrs. Gray’s ‘ Figures of

Mollusca,’ I have attempted to combine the labours of Dr. Loyén

with my own observations on the animal and operculum, but

every day adds to our knowledge of these animals, and renders —

constant revision necessary.

Dr. Troschel in a late paper (Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1852, 166).

observes on this essay: “ Mr.Gray, in his systematic arrangement

of the Gasteropoda, has proceeded exactly upon my principles,

and being assisted by rich materials and a perfect knowledge of |

bibliography has done niuch that is excellent, although in parti-

cular instances many errors have slipped into his work. He has,

;

‘

;

‘Y

Peer Oy ee

Dr. J. E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca. 415

example, frequently described the parts of the mouth of a

single species as giving family characters, when, by the exami-

nation of several species, he would have been placed in a position

either to form several families, or to have circumscribed the cha-

racters of his families differently.” 1 have only to observe, that

r. Troschel and I have gone on the same principles, because we

ave worked from the same source, viz. Dr. Lovén’s memoir ; for

have not been able to see a copy of Dr. Troschel’s work, and

ad overlooked the abstract in the ‘Archiv, until my atten-

on was called io the divisions in Dr. Troschel’s paper above

uoted, and I was desirous of finding out when they were first

aracterized.

In the outline of the system I took care to consult my own ob-

rvations, and to combine in it all the accounts of the teeth of

e different species of Gasteropodous Mollusca which had then

1850) been published, and regret, as much as Dr. Troschel can,

_ that there were not more materials derived from different species of

the same genus and family to be used. I do not find the neces-

sity of making any alterations in that system from the genera

_ and species since described, except that of separating Ovu/a from

_ Cypreade,—unfortunately, however, Dr. Troschel’s paper does

‘not afford me the means of characterizing the family Ovulide— ;

and removing the genus Sycotypus from Muricide, and placing

provisionally as the type of a new family differing from Lamel-

riade in the want of a trunk or proboscis.

_ While on the subject I may further observe, that if there is

iy this difficulty of distinguishing the genera unless we have the

_ shell and the animal, with its operculum, tongue, and other

_ organs complete, we can well understand that there must exist a

similar difficulty in distinguishing species except under similar

d circumstances.

__ This is especially the case with the shells which, like the Pa-

telle, Emarginule, Fissurelle, Calyptree and Orepidule, have large

apertures, the animals of which rest for a long time in a parti-

cular station.

In such instances, I'am induced by experience to believe that

_ geographic situation is a character of much importance. The

_ very great variations which Patella vulgata and P. pellucida ex-

hibit on our coast, Patella saccharina on the coast of the Cape,

: and Patella zebrina on the coast of South America, would scarcely

_ be believed, if we did not know that they all came from the same

~ localities, and did not sometimes find specimens which exhibit

_two or more varieties or nominal species on the same individual,

the animal having changed its place twice or more during its life.

_ LT believe that it will be utterly impossible to make a proper

description of the species of these genera of Mollusca, until we

416 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Tongues of Mollusca.

have a collection of them formed with great care, with all their —

habitations most accurately marked and arranged strictly geogra- —

phically, or rather in natural geographic stations ; and when this —

has been done, we shall be surprised to find how we have been

manufacturing species which nature never intended ; and on the —

other hand, equally surprised how we have associated specimens

together as one species which are most distinct from each other.

As an instance of the latter kind, I may cite Crepidula ungui-

formis of authors. This shell is said to be found in the Medi-_

terranean, on the north-east coast of America, the West Indies, —

the southern and the tropical portions of the west coast of Ame- —

shells ; being attached to a concave surface, it is flat or slightly —

concave externally, and is always of a white colour, like most —

shells which live in a situation where they are not exposed to

the light. Believing that this form and colour are caused by —

the situation in which it is found, I feel convinced that the

Crepidula unguiformis of Sicily is an accidental variety of the

usual-shaped Crepidula of the Mediterranean seas ; and that the

same is the case with the specimens which have been called C.

unguiformis from other seas; and if the natural-formed species —

admitted, the flat, uncoloured varieties of them are equally dis-_

tinct; though I am quite willing to own that I know no character —

or mark on the shell by which the monstrosities from the different —

localities can be distinguished from each other when placed side —

by side in the cabinet. a

Many conchologists, especially those who collect the specimens 4

from their native habitat, assert that certain specimens are a —

most distinct species, because they are always found in a peculiar ~

locality, when it is the locality to which they are attached which —

gives them the peculiarity of form or colour: thus, the C. ungui-—

formis must be a species because it is found on the inside of the —

shell, is flat and is white, whereas the colour and form depend on —

the locality. Specimens are, however, rarely found which were —

flat or concave externally, and white when young, and are convex —

and brown-rayed when adult, or vice versd ; the animal having

changed its locality during its ‘life. In the same way, others assert,

that Crepidula incurva is very distinct, because it is very convex —

with a narrow base, and is always found attached on shells, and

is generally crowded together one on another ; the narrow shape

being produced by the shape of the shell, and the convexit of

the back by the convexity of the back of the shell entering into —

and pushing up the cavity of the specimen which is attached —

to it. _

These are treated by many conchologists as theories, but Foss 4

M. Reinhardt on Carterodon sulcidens. 417

: are pived to be Seates by some specimens of these shells com-

: _ bining in one individual what have been regarded as two or more

- one geographic district were arranged together, we should see

that the species of each of those districts exhibit similar varieties,

and that the species which have been made on the form of

the shell are in fact varieties, from similar causes, of different

_ species.

_. Unfortunately the animals of these genera show themselves so

_ little beyond the shell when the animal is alive, and afford so

_ few characters as they come to us preserved in fluid, that we

can expect but little assistance from them in the determina-

_ tion of the species. They have no operculum to help us; yet we

_ may hope that the examination of the tongues of the different

_ kinds may help in determining the distinctness of the geographic

" species ; but as yet no attempt has been made, except by Dr. Lovén

_ and Mr.Thomson, to use the teeth for this purpose. It would be

an admirable subject for a young malacologist who can use the

camera lucida on the microscope to take up, as by so doing he

would be renderimg most important assistance to the study of

- Mollusca.

_XL.—Description of Carterodon sulcidens, Lund. By Joun

Reinuarpr*. Translated from the Danish by Dr. Watticn,

F.R.S., Vice-Pres. L.S.

Lagoa Santa, 19th July 1851.

Amone the heaps of small bones, so frequently met with in

the limestone caves of this part of the Brazils, and which owe

their existence to Strix perlata, Licht., are often found skulls,

more or less broken, of a small animal, belonging to the family

of Pig-rats, but distinct from the cognate forms, in having on

each side of the upper incisors, along the middle, a projecting

ridge, with a lateral, rather deep furrow. Dr. Lund founded on

_ these crania his Echinomys sulcidens, in his first treatise on the

extinct animal creation in Brazil+, which he subsequently

thought could be referred to the genus Nelomys}, on account of

certain peculiarities in the dental system, and at last to Aula-

* From a letter to Prof. L. Steenstrup; communicated to the Associa-

if i of Natural History at Copenhagen, at the meeting on the 14th Nov.

1851.

___ + Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverden, &c. (View of the Animal World of

_ Brazil before the last Revolution of the Globe.) First memoir. Introduc-

- tion, p. 23.

| Loe. cit. Third mem. p. 30.

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 27

418 M: Reimhardt on Carterodon sulcidens.

-codus, under the name of A. Temminckii*, but which Mr. Water

house has recently proposed as the type of a distinct genus, Car-

terodon}. But as Lund never succeeded in obtaining sheranid

mal itself, and as Waterhouse had no other materials at. bie

disposal than the crania fractured by the Cave-owl, all that w:

known of this new genus consisted of an outline of the head a:

the nature of the teeth. I am in a position to supply some ¢

the desiderata, having lately been fortunate enough to procure.#i

nearly full-grown female and a half-grown young, from whieh

I now take the following short description of this remarkable

animal. hy adh

Carterodon sulcidens has somewhat the appearance of a lar

Hypudeus, it being a clumsily-built animal, with a large hee

a short, blunt snout, small eyes, rounded low ears, which hal

ever extend beyond the fur- -covering ; and short limbs and tails

The upper part of the body is clothed with long bristles;

among these are mixed spines, which entirely resemble in struc-.

ture those of most of the other members of the family, but are

scarcely broader than half a millimetre, and end in a hair-like

point, long and flexible, and so far from pricking, that iti 1S.

scarcely perceptible to the touch. They become narrower and

fewer down the sides of the animal, until they quite disappear’

on the under side, where the covering consists of stiff bristles

onl

The dental system having been figured and exhausted by lana

and Waterhouse, I pass it over here.

The ears are almost as broad as they are long, and covered,

both internally and externally, with short soft hairs, more dense

towards the margins, but not enough to conceal the skin en-

tirel ig 2

The naked spot which surrounds the nostrils is of small

spread ; and between it, and the margin of the upper lip, is seen

a rather broad band, thickly covered with very short bite

hair.

The extremities, especially the hinder, are very short ; the ans

terior are proportionally broader. The toes, being (as usual in)

the family) five on each foot, are, with exception of the innermost, -

connected by means of a rather developed skin. Their relative”

length resembles that usual among Echinomyds. The rudi-—

mentary thumb of the fore-foot is furnished with a flat nail ; the»

other toes have gently curved, rather long claws, which in the

fore-legs are inconsiderably shorter than in the hind ones ; at

* Fortsatte Bemerkninger, &c. Jy ego of Remarks on ‘the |

Defunct Animal Creation of Brazil), p

. + Natural History of Mammalia, Pi il. “pp. 351-353. pl. 16. fig. a.

M. Reinhardt on Carterodon sulcidens, 419

their root there is a quantity of stiff hairs which extend over and

partly conceal them.

_ | The tail is shorter than one half of the head and body together,

sealy, and covered with numerous hairs, which spread in all direc-

tions, so as in no manner to conceal the scales. Immediately

before the anal aperture, rather in its anterior, somewhat labiate

margin, there is, in both sexes, a small pore leading to a minute

bag or cavity, secreting an offensive matter. This glandular organ

I do not find recorded in the family, although it occurs in all the

other Pig-rats of these parts.

_ The clitoris is not furnished with a furrow, but forms an en-

tirely closed tube having an opening at its apex*. I have only

found three pair of paps, each surrounded by a little naked

area, the hindermost between the thighs, about equidistant from

_the sexual organs and the navel ; the two other pairs are situ-

ated rather on the sides of the body than below the belly ; one

of the pairs before the navel, the other distant about 40 milli-

metres from it.

- The skin is remarkably brittle and loose in texture.

- The colour of the upper part of the body is yellow-brown,

much shaded with black. All the hairs and spines are here

bluish gray at the base, becoming gradually darker towards the

apex ; or they are marked with a broad, rust-coloured zone below

the black apex; but in such proportion that, while by far the

majority of the spines want this bright zone, the reverse obtains

‘in regard to the hairs. On the sides of the body, downwards,

‘the ferruginous yellow prevails, while the spines diminish in

number, and the black colour tends more and more to the

grayish, until it entirely disappears on the belly. Here the hairs

ace of one uniform colour their whole length ; along the sides of

‘the belly there is a band of yellow-red; the middle is pure

white, and the portion so marked, which widens both before,

towards the chest, and behind, towards the groins, is sharply

‘defined from the above-mentioned enclosing band, and without

the slightest transition of colour. The bands unite between the

fore-legs, excluding entirely all white colour on the breast; the

lower part of the neck and throat is reddish, though this colour

becomes fainter anteriorly. On the outside the limbs have the

‘same colour as the sides of the body, becoming fainter towards

the feet, where there is a greater admixture of white hairs; the

long bristles which extend over the claws are white. The inner

part of the extremities is almost naked, especially of the hind-

| '™ This peculiar structure belongs to all the other forms of the family

‘which I have been able to examine, but has not hitherto been noticed, as

fer as 1 know.

i 27%

420 M. Reinhardt on Carterodon sulcidens.

legs. On the upper side of the tail the hairs are black, belo v

they are whitish yellow. stitch

The half-grown young animal was a male and resembled en-

tirely the old one, with exception of the spines still being con-

siderably narrower and less stiff; and those placed on the lower

parts of the body, which in the full-grown individual were yellow-

red, had here a grayish colour. I am unable to decide whether

this difference was accidental, or connected with the difference 01

age or sex. ca

Several points in its organization, particularly tag broad. for e

legs, the proportionally weak hind-legs, and the long, slightly

curved claws, point at the Carterodon sulcidens having a consi-

derably developed power of burrowing, and its beimg destinec

probably in a great measure to a subterraneous existence. This

in fact, as far as has been related to me, is really the case ; it

inhabits the open Campos, overgrown with shrubs and trees,

where it digs its residence, consisting of a rather long tube 3 to

4 inches in diameter, and leading in a slanting direction into a

chamber, scarcely beyond a foot from the surface of the ground,

which the animal lines with grass and leaves. The stomach o:

the two specimens which I examined was entirely filled with

yellow pasty substance, evidently of vegetable origin; and to

conelude from the strong, broad incisors, it seems probable, that

the animal subsists wholly on vegetable food, rarely, if ever, con-

suming insects, as is the ease in regard to the Echinomyds* with

narrower and ‘sharper incisors. .

I subjoin the dimensions of the specimens. The male had

only two molars cut through, and can scarcely have been muck

more than half-grown; the female wanted still the hindmost

fourth molar ; but as it was pregnant with a foetus 14 inch long,

it may be considered as about full-grown. a

é Pa

Entire length ......+-+4.. sad deleiesions das centsiedasshsbtpaaheia 196 oro millim.

TeODPER OL TAI cress czecnesanwnnnantanseacessscossansise esses euenh 53° B25

End of snout to anterior corner of the eye .......eeeeeeee 144 18 34,

Length of the opening of the eye ..s.....seesesecsseeeceeees Ova oh¥ Te

Distance of end of snout from anterior margin of the eye 29 35s,

Width of ear ...-..... squacenskehs aeghevacsins sp sandnebarenapas O} Se oo

Length of hind-f00t «....2...csckcssccucssscsccastvevsnsscstond 27 BOR 35

Length of claw on the middle toe of the fore-leg ......... 0) 25h

Ditto ditto ditto hind-leg......... 0 Be

* What Dr. Lund says (View of the Animal World of Brazil vefnas t til

last Revolution of the Globe, Third memoir, p. 30) concerning the “ oe it

of the genus Nelomys” has reference to the other species.

Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Brachiopoda. 42]

XLI:—Contributions to British Paleontology :—On some new

_ Brachiopoda from the Carboniferous Limestone. By FrepERIcK

~M‘Coy, Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in Queen’s Col-

lege, Belfast.

i Discina bulla (M‘Coy).

Dese. Hemispheroidal, regularly tumid, inflated ; base circular ;

antero-posterior profile nearly semicircular; greatest depth

not at the apex, but at about the middle of the length. Sur-

_ face glossy, smooth, or with very faint, obsolete, obtuse, con-

- centric and longitudinal striz; a small sulcus extends ante-

_ riorly a short way from the apex, which is obtuse, and nearly

"| vertically over the posterior margin. Length 7} lines, width

_the same, proportional depth ;4,, distance of apex from pos-

_ terior margin 53,55.

~ The remarkably inflated bubble-like form of this species easily

‘separates it from any I know. The beak is very little within the

margin. The traces of concentric markings are rather broad and

‘very obtuse lines, scarcely recognizable in the only specimen

‘which has occurred ;-the traces of very fine longitudinal striz

‘are only to be seen on one decorticated spot with a lens, the

general aspect of the specimen being remarkably smooth.

Reddish sandy bed of limestone at Lowick, Northumberland.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

bs Seminula ficus (M‘Coy).

Desc: Longitudinally broad-ovate, gibbous; greatest width

~ ‘slightly in front of the middle ; lateral margins slightly raised

into a tri-undate, wide, flattened wave, towards the entermg

valve in old specimens (lines of growth indicating a regular

- margin up to 1 inch long) ; no distinct ridge extends from

_ this wave towards the beak of the entering valve, but the sur-

face near the front slopes more rapidly away from it towards

the lateral edges; on the receiving valve obscure indications

of the mesial hollow and bounding ridges extend a short way

towards the beak in specimens an inch and a half long; re-

ceiving valve evenly tumid, regularly arched from the beak to

the front margin ; greatest depth about the middle ; beak mo-

* derate, obtuse, lateral angulation nearly obsolete; perforation

large ; surface closely granulo-punctate under the lens ; dental

lamelle at sides of foramen large, diverging at 45°, Length

1 inch 6 lines, proportional length of entering valve ;%%,

_ width 8%, depth of receiving valve 9%, depth of entering

valve 555:

The broad-ovate, tumid form distinguishes this easily from

f a

422 Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Brachiopoda

the other carboniferous species, as well as the absence of any

distinct mesial hollow or emargination of the front in either

valve. The punctures of the surface are considerably smaller

than those of the S. virgoides (M‘Coy) or S. hastata. ;

Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Spirifera fasciculata (M‘Coy).

Dese. Longitudinally very broad-ovate ; length and width nearly

equal, depressed ; hinge-line only half the width of the shell

cardinal area rather more than one-third higher than wide;

lateral margins horizontal, front margin abruptly raised into

a defined, obtusely angular sinus ; entering valve depressed

slightly, and gently convex on the sides; mesial fold very

strongly defined by a sulcus and depression of the surface on

each side ; convex, very obtusely angular, but not very promi-

nent, having three ridges near the beak, which dichotomize

ito six as they approach the margin; each side has about

seven to nine flat, smooth ridges near the beak, most of which

branch into two or three as they approach the edge; the in-

tervening sulci very narrow; receiving valve more convex,

moderately gibbous along the middle, sloping rapidly towards

the side margins; mesial hollow strongly defined, very deep,

narrow, flattened near the beak, widening, and receiving about

two plaits on each side of the middle one as it reaches the front

sinus. Width of average- seein specimen 9 lines, proportional

length of meperring valve 35, of entering valve 74%, meh of

cardinal area ;53,, width of sinus in soon margin Too depth.

of ditto ;4°,, depth of entering valve ;4%,, of receiving valve

foo 3 Width of very large Irish ppecumt 1 inch 5 lines, pro-

portional length of receiving valve ;8°,, depth of both valve

_50 ;

Distinguished from the B. duplicicosta (Phill.) by the more

longitudinally oval depressed form, very short hinge-line and

cardinal area.

Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Bethy

shire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Spirifera grandicostata (M‘Coy).

Dese. 'Transversely subrhomboidal, sides abruptly attenuated and

flattened, twice as wide as long, moderately convex ; hinge-line

acute- angled, cardinal area broad, with parallel sides ; profile:

of receiving valve abruptly arched to the incurved beak in the

from the Carboniferous Limestone. 423

» posterior third of its length, much more gently arched in the

anterior two-thirds, so that the anterior lobe projects much

from the front margin; mesial hollow deep, corresponding

ridge moderately prominent; radiating ridges very large,

thick, angular, three strongly marked on the mesial hollow,

of which the middle is much the broadest and most depressed

on the shell; the two lateral are imperfectly and obscurely

_ triplicated towards the margin ; corresponding sulci on mesial

___ ridge faintly marked ; on each side are about five great an-

- gular radiating ridges, some of which show a faint tendency

to imperfect division towards the margin ; the narrow flattened

sides, or cardinal angles, when preserved, show five or six very

much smaller obscure radiating ridges. Width about 2 inches

6 lines, proportional length of receiving valve ;%3,, of entering

valve ;43,, width of cardinal area ;8,, depth of sinus in front

margin +6,, depth of both valves ;%%.. :

_ This is allied to the S. trigonalis of Martin, but differs from

__ it by its abruptly narrowed and attenuated sides, and by its few

very large angular ridges occupying the body of the shell, and

the abrupt diminution in size of the five or six outer ridges on

each side. A very young specimen, 9 lines wide, has the three

‘ridges in the mesial hollow distinctly marked, but nearly as large

as the lateral ones, of which there are three or four great ones

on each side, but scarcely a trace of any additional ones on the

_ flattened cardinal angles, which are strongly striated parallel to

the margins.

Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire, but com-

~ mon in the Irish limestone at Ardagh.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Spirifera paucicostata (M‘Coy).

' Dese. Globose, or very broad, ovate; hinge-line slightly shorter

than the width of the shell; cardinal angles slightly obtuse,

sides and front moderately rounded, very obtuse from the

meeting of the valves at a large angle, front abruptly raised

into a wide semielliptical sinus. Entering valve evenly con-

vex, sides tumid, with six or seven strong, rounded, obtuse

simple ribs on each side; mesial ridge broad, prominent, very

strongly defined from the beak, having three ridges about the

size of the lateral ones, each of which dichotomizes close to the

margin. Receiving valve very gibbous, semicircularly arched

from the beak to middle of front margin; mesial sinus deep,

strongly defined from the beak, having at first three, subse-

quently six small obscurely marked ribs ; beak very large, in-

curved ; cardinal area moderately wide. Width 9 lines, pro-

Pe ee

424, Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Brachiopoda

portional length of receiving valve %%, length of entering

valve =4{,, depth of both valves ;4°,, width of mesial fold +47,

height of sinus in front margin 4, width of cardinal area 3%.

This species is most nearly allied to the S. trigonalis, from

which it is distinguished by the more spheroidal form, the obtuse

rounding of the sides, and the very small number of its lateral

ribs ; the distinctly ribbed mesial ridge separates it from S. pin-—

guis, as well as its more depressed form, and the fewer and more ~

prominent radiations.

Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derby-

shire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Hemithyris heteroptycha (M‘Coy).

Desc, Transversely oval, very gibbous; hinge-margin obtusely

arched, front much elevated into a deep, subquadrate oblong

sinus, inclining backwards from the line of the lateral margins

at about 80°, which only affects the even convexity of the en-—

tering valve near the margin; entering valve evenly gibbous,

slightly flattened, or even concave in the mesial line near the

beak ; profile abruptly incurved at the beak, and rather ab-

ruptly curved downwards near the front margin; intervening

portion nearly straight, the greatest depth being at about two-

thirds the length from the beak ; sides very abruptly arched

downwards to the lateral margins, which are yery slightly

sigmoid at the sides, the commissure obtusely angular up to

the beak, having on each side of the rostral portion a ve

slight narrow depression ; three mesial ridges oceupy the widt

of the top of the sinus, very large, obtusely angular, deeply

indenting the margin, and continued simply to the beak;

lateral ribs dichotomizing at from one to two lines from the

beak, unequal in size, fifteen or sixteen on each side near the

margin, scarcely half the size of the mesial ridges, ve

strongly arched at the sides ; receiving valve with the lateral —

third on each side, and the rostral portion slightly convex, ~

the middle portion after about two lmes long very abruptly

curved downwards into a very wide mesial hollow to fill the

oblong sinus in the front margin, the profile of the middle

being nearly semicircular, the lateral ridges all bifureate at

about three lmes from the beak, the two large mesial ridges

simple, having besides a small dichotomous pair on each side in

the sinus. Width 6 lines, proportional length of receiving valve

about 8%, length of entering valve 8°, width of sinus in —

front margin about ;%%,, depth thereof ;°,°,, depth of receiving —

valve at middle of side ;4%,, greatest depth of entering valve —

from the Carboniferous Limestone. 4.25

zoo 3 the three mid-ridges at margin occupy a space of 2 lines,

six of the lateral ones occupy the same space, surface smooth.

The great number of small obtuse dichotomizing plaits on the

__ sides distinguishes this from any of the varieties of A. flexistria,

_A. ventilabrum, &c., as well as their extending quite to the beak,

and the disproportionally large mesial ridges separate it from the

_ A. bifera and A. cuboides. 1 have not seen the dental lamelle.

Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

A Hemithyris longa (M‘Coy).

Dese. Longitudinally trigonal, length exceeding the width or

depth, greatest width at one-third from the front margin,

lateral anterior margins obtusely rounded, front very obtusely

angulated in the middle ; posterior lateral margins long, nearly

straight, converging to the beak at an angle of 80°; commis-

sure with a slight wave towards the entering valve in the pos-

terior half of the lateral margins ; anterior half of the lateral

margins nearly straight, with a very faint indication of one

plate on each side ; middle of the front margin elevated at an

angle of 85° with the plane of the lateral margins into a wide

tongue-shaped sinus with sigmoid sides, acutely angular in

the middle; entering valve with the profile very slightly

arched, greatest depth about the middle of the length ; sides

convex, arched abruptly downwards on each side from the

obtuse mesial line; receiving valve flattened or very slightly

convex for about three lines from the beak, after which the

very narrow sides alone are continued nearly straight to the

obtusely rounded anterior lateral angles, the wide mesial por-

tion bemg strongly depressed to fill the sinus in the front

margin ; beak rather large, very slightly incurved ; surface

smooth, with a few obtuse imbrications of growth near the

margin ; tissue very coarsely fibrous, almost visible to the

naked eye; dental lamellz in beak of receiving valve very

short, subparallel, slightly divaricating ; entering valve very

minute. Length nearly 6 lines, proportional width °,, length

of entering valve ,%%,, depth of entering valve ;49,, depth of

receiving valve +4,%,, width of sinus ;9,, depth thereof 4%.

By the great thickening of the margins, it is obvious that this

little shell is adult. It only approximates in the most remote

degree to one other Hemithyris that 1 know of, viz. one of the

varieties of H. acuminata, from which it is distinguished by its

very small size, and the length exceeding both the width and the

depth. ‘

Aas rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

4.26 Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Brachiopoda

Pentamerus carbonarius (M‘Coy).

Desc. Globose, more or less inequilateral ; hinge-line nearly as _

wide as the shell, cardinal angles obtuse; lateral and greater —

portion of front margin in one plane ; middle of front margin —

abruptly raised into a very narrow, short, oblong or rounded —

sinus ; commissure blunt from the meeting of the valves at a —

very obtuse angle. Entering valve varying from semicircular —

to rhombic, very gibbous ; beak large, prominent ; profile re- —

gularly arched from the apex to its front margin, its greatest —

depth about the middle of the length; mesial ridge narrow, —

flattened, prominent, and strongly defined from the front |

margin to the apex of the beak, either simple, divided by one —

margin, each side with about seven very large, rugged, angu- —

lar, irregular, subequal ridges, at six lines from the beak, —

beyond which they either continue simple to the margin, —

or some or al] of them dichotomize: surface rather rugged —

and very coarsely granulo-punctate, or minutely pustular —

under the lens, with strong thickened interruptions of growth —

at the margin after nine or ten lines long. Receiving valve —

extremely gibbous ; beak very large, usually slightly inclined —

to one side, varying greatly in its inrollment, according to the —

form of the cardinal area, which is sometimes nearly half as —

high as wide, triangular, very slightly concave, and nearly at —

right angles with the plane of the lateral margins, in which —

case the beak is prominent, and only slightly incurved, the —

greatest depth of the valve being a little in front of its apex, —

and the profile arching very gradually from thence to the —

front margin; in other specimens the beak is inrolled so as

nearly to touch that of the entering valve, when the cardinal —

plane of the lateral margins, the profile being more than semi- —

circularly curved ; mesial hollow very strongly defined by two —

thick ridges from the apex to the narrow sinus in the front —

margin, either simply hollowed, or bearing four ridges, much

smaller than the lateral ones; lateral ridges about ten to —

_ twelve on each side at seven or eight lines from the beak, be- —

yond which they are either simple, or more frequently di- or —

tri-chotomous, as they approach the margin more rugged and —

irregular in direction than those of the entering valve, varying —

from three to six in three lines at 1 inch from the beak ac- —

cording to the amount of bifurcation. Internal mesial sep- —

tum of receiving valve very long, reaching nearly to the —

front margin, the lies of growth slightly arched towards —

the beak ; rostral divaricating portions scarcely two-thirds the —

from the Carboniferous Limestone. A427

length of the combined mesial portion, but of slightly greater

width: two mesial septa of entering valve narrow, scarcely

one-third the depth of the mesial septum of the receiving

valve; anterior broad ends very obliquely truncated, but

reaching rather less than half the length of the valve.

Average width 1 inch 2 lines, proportional length of enter-

ig valve ;%%, length of hinge-line 58%, length of re-

ceiving valve varying from 5%, to 19°, height of cardinal area

varying from ;'%, in the former to +4, in the latter, width of

mesial ridge and sinus in the front margin ;2%,, depth of en-

tering valve ;49, to ;43,, depth of receiving valve 539, to +5,.

Some of the specimens of this species so nearly resemble

Spirifers, that it was not until I made sections in various direc-

tions of several specimens, demonstrating the invariable presence

of the two narrow longitudinal subparallel septa in the entering

valye, and the wide, extremely long mesial septum in the re-

ceiving one, with its internal divaricating portions flanking the

triangular opening in the cardinal area, perfectly agreeing with

Pentamerus, as well as the absence of spiral appendages, that I

was convinced of its true genus. I have had the pleasure of de-

monstrating those specimens to M. de Verneuil, who, like myself,

was fully satisfied of their being true Pentameri, and saw in them

the first example of the genus in carboniferous rocks (the Pen-

tamerus Sella and P. plicatus of Kutorga being obviously Came-

rophoria).

Not very uncommon in the impure lower carboniferous lime-

stone of Kendal, Westmoreland.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Leptena (Chonetes) polita (M‘Coy).

Desc. Transversely fusiform ; hinge-line exceeding the width of

the shell, forming narrow semicylindrical convoluted ears, each

bearing four or five small spines; receiving valve nearly hemi-

spherical, very gibbous in the middle and towards the beak,

which is large, inflated, and seems considerably to overhang

the hinge-line from the abrupt contraction of the ears, which

are separated by an abrupt curve from the steeply sloped

sides ; front margin slightly elevated into a broad wave ex-

tending its whole width, no mesial furrow; entering valve

almost as concave as the receiving one is convex; cardinal

area about ten times wider than high; substance of the shell

thick ; external surface of both valves perfectly smooth, or

under a strong lens, with minute concentric striz of growth

near the margin ; internal cast of receiying valve marked with

428 Prof. F. M‘Coy on some new Brachiopoda.

very large quincuncially arranged punctures, usually about

twice their diameter apart; rostral portion divided by a nar-

row slit left by the mesial septum, extending less than one

_ half the length of the shell. Width of large specimen 43 lines,

proportional length of receiving valve ;%%,, depth =%%-

This species has much the form of Leptena (Chonetes) volva

(M‘Coy), but is not so wide and is more gibbous: it is the only

carboniferous species I know at this date that has a smooth

surface. The measurements given above are from a large Irish

specimen in the collection from the limestone of Mount Rath,

the English ones being only 2 lines wide.

Rare in the dark carboniferous limestone of Lowick, North-

umberland.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Leptaena (Chonetes) subminima (M‘Coy).

. Desc. Rotundato-quadrate, length three-fourths or four-fifths

the width ; receiving valve very gibbous in the middle, greatest

depth a little behind the middle; hinge-line as long as the

shell is wide, forming flattened ears, slightly acute from the

sigmoid outline of the sides, having three or four moderately

long slender spines on each side of the beak, extending back-

ward as usual in the plane of the margins; front margin

moderately convex ; surface uniformly covered with close ob-

tuse strize once or twice branched, but nearly uniform in size

on all parts of the shell, and so fine that twelve at the margin

only occupy half a line when decorticated, the impressed. lines

between the striz of the surface very coarsely punctured,

and the beak slit by the deep impression of the mesial sep-

tum extending half the length of the shell; entering valve

nearly as concave as the receiving one is convex; surface

similar in both valves, the striz beimg crossed by fine close

lines of growth. Average width 14 line; the depth seems

about half the width.

_ This little species is so extremely like the Silurian Leptena

minima that it required a comparison of the specimens to distin-

guish them, more especially as the spines on the hinge-line of

the present species are not often seen; the carboniferous fossil

has more uniform and less branched striz, and they are so much

finer than in the Silurian species, that double the number is

uniformly found to occur in the same space of half a line near

the margin. It is possible that this may prove identical with

the Leptena gibberula of my volume on the ‘ Mountain Lime-

stone Fossils of Ireland, t. 20. f. 11 (which certainly has’ no

oan a

Mr. T. Gray on a@ new species of Strombus. 429).

relation to my J. crassistria and sulcata, with which M.. de

Koninck unites it) ; but as I there described the width as rather

greater, and do not give the absolute dimensions of the fine striae,

I hesitate to unite them without a comparison of specimens.

Very abundant in a piece of the black upper carboniferous

limestone of Derbyshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

Lingula latior (M‘Coy).

Desc. Broad ovate anteriorly, gradually acuminated posteriorly ;

moderately convex towards the beak, very gradually flattened

towards the margins; sides meeting at the beak at an angle

of about 75°; front wide, semielliptically rounded ; greatest

width at about the middle of the length, from whence the

posterior end is rapidly narrowed to the beak ; surface with

fine, sharply defined, strong, close, elevated, obtuse, concentric

strie slightly irregular from occasional branchings and inter-

ruptions, crossed in parts by longitudinal microscopic striz.

Length 4 lines, proportional width 8%.

Distinguished from the other described Carboniferous Lingule

by the very wide ovate form of its anterior end, and the great

comparative length and straightness of the posterior lateral edges,

which, by their convergence at so small an angle, give the re-

markable posterior attenuation or pointed beak, characteristic of

the species.

Not very uncommon in the black limestone over the main

limestone of Derbyshire.

(Col. University of Cambridge.)

XLII.—On a species of Strombus in the Hunterian Museum at

Glasgow. By Tuomas Gray, Esq., Glasgow*,

In the collection of shells bequeathed to the University of Glas-

gow by the late celebrated Dr. William Hunter, and preserved

in the museum which bears his name, there is one interesting

species which deserves to be recorded. The specimen in question

is a Strombus, belonging to that section of the genus of which

S. vittatus and S. epidromis form part, and what is very remark-

able, a sufficiently characteristic figure of it is given in the ad-

mirable ‘ Historia.Conchyliorum ’ of our countryman Dr. Martin

Lister, published in London in 1685. The shell is engraved on

* Communicated by the Author, having been read before the Natural

History Society of Glasgow. .

430 Mr. T. Gray on a new species of Strombus: ~~

pl. 855. f. 12 a, to which is added the following brief

tion :—“ Buccinum bilingue Canadense, labro levi, ex imferiore

parte mucronato, clavicula dense admodum striata, longa, tenui.”

_ Mr. Dillwyn, in his Index to the ‘ Historia Conchyliorum” of

Lister, remarks that this figure “has been generally quoted for

Strombus vittatus; but I never saw that species with the lip so

much expanded.” SS. vittatus, Linn., a figure of which is given

by Lister on the same plate (f. 12 b), is perhaps the species to

which this shell bears the nearest resemblance, particularly as

regards the spire ; the expansion of the lip however reminds one

of 8. epidromis, Limn., but its form, as may be seen on consult-

ing Lister’s figure, is very different from either. Linneus, in

the last edition of his ‘Systema Nature,’ does not quote Lister

for his S. vittatus, no doubt for the reason given in the note at

p- 1210; but Martini has appropriated both figures on Lister’s

plate to 8. vittatus, in which he has been followed by Gmelin.

Both of these authors had evidently, like Dillwyn, never seen

the shell, but it is somewhat surprising that they should have

confounded two species so very unlike each other. a

As we are not aware of any recent conchological work in

which this shell is taken notice of, and having every reason to

believe that this is the only specimen known to exist in any col-

lection, at least in this country, we have been induced to publish

it anew, and to point it out to collectors and others who take an

interest in conchological pursuits.

By the kind permission of Dr. Wm. Couper, the Professor of

Natural History, we have been allowed to examine the shell and

take a drawing of it. In describing it anew, we propose to give

it the name of the author, and the only one we believe who has

figured it, whose work is a lasting memorial of unwearied dili-

gence and perseverance.

Strombus Listeri, T. Gray.

S. testa fusiformi, turrita, alba, luteo-fasciata et maculata, ultimo

anfractu subcompresso, obtuse angulato, inferne suleato ; spira

longitudinaliter plicata, transversim striata ; labro plano, valde

expanso, subquadrato, superne producto, intus levi. Long.

43 unc., lat. 1¢ une.

The colour and disposition of the markings very much re- —

semble those of S. vittatus, succinctus, and others belonging to

the same group, and for this reason, as well as from. its general —

form, we are inclined to suppose the species to be oriental.

We would only remark further, that the shells which belonged

to Dr. Hunter were purchased by him from the trustees of

Dr. Fothergill, and it is not at all improbable that this specimen

M. Siebold on the Transformations of Cystoid Worms. 481

| was-the very individual from which the figure in Lister was

| taken, as it agrees perfectly in size as well as general contour,

| and is evidently, from the comparative faintness of its coloration

as well as its general appearance, a very old shell.

a Sibi Experiments on the Transformation of the Cystoid

Worms into Tenias. By C. T. Von Sinpoip*.

__ I was the first to advance, in the second volume of my ‘ Manual

of Physiology,’ published in 1844, the statement that the cystoid

_ worm which lives as a parasite in the livers of rats and mice (the

Cysticercus fasciolaris) was nothing but a stray Tenia which had

_ become vesicular, and which was in fact the tape-worm of the

cat (Tenia crassicollis). 1 also affirmed that the Cysticercus fas-

_ ciolaris, like all other Acephalocysts, never possessed sexual or-

gans, and therefore could only propagate by sexual generation

_ when it found a suitable body, where it would lose its vesicular

_ form and acquire the power of sexual development.

In the experiments made at the Institute of the University of

Breslau, these transformations took place, as soon as the liver of

/ amouse or rat, previously ascertained to contain a Cysticercus

_ fasciolaris, had been devoured by a cat. In the stomach of the

_ cat, the livers of these Rodents were digested, whilst the worms

contained in them remained unhurt ; this parasite lost the caudal

vesicle filled with fluid, and was then to be seen, without a tail,

- in the chyme of the stomach and small intestines of the cat,

_ where, finding itself in a suitable place, it became developed

' in the articulated form of a tape-worm (Tenia crassicollis) with

_ adult sexual organs. The perfect agreement of the head of the

_ Cysticercus fasciolaris with the cephalic extremity of the Tenia

crassicollis, as well as the fact that the different phases of deve-

lopment of the latter are often to be met with side by side in the

intestines of cats, conducted to the preceding conclusion, which

_ has received the approbation of many naturalists, but the cor-

_ rectness of which is still doubted by others.

_ Last year, Dr. Kuchenmeister, of Zittau, made some experi-

_ ments with the Cysticercus pisifurmis, which is frequently met with

_ in the cysts of the coats of the intestines of the hare and rabbit.

_ He caused some dogs and cats to devour these cysts, in the hope

that after some time they would be developed in the intestines

_ of these animals in the form of tape-worms. ‘This experiment

succeeded completely with the dogs, thus confirming that which

* From the Ann. Sci. Nat. 3 ser. xvii. p. 377.

432. M.Siebold on the Transformation of the

I had only been able to establish by the comparison of the Cysti- —

cercus fasciolaris of rats and mice with the Tenia ecrassicollis of —

cats ; but neither M. Kuchenmeister’s experiment nor the con- |

sequences to be deduced from it were satisfactory to physicians —

and naturalists. He was charged with having published his ex- —

periments before they could be considered properly terminated. —

The discussion which arose on every side on this question was by

no means calculated to throw much light on the subject, espe- —

cially as M. Kuchenmeister did not appear to have sufficient —

identity of the species indicated by him. This has determined —

dogs, and causing them to swallow not only the Cysticercus pisi- —

formis, but also the C. cellulosus and tenuicollis, the Ceenurus ce- —

rebralis, and the Echinococcus veterinorum. In this work I have —

been zealously seconded by M. Lewald, my pupil. The following —

results were obtained with Cysticercus pisiformis. 1a

These cystoid worms, the size of which did not exceed that of —

a pea, and which were still contained in the cyst of the intestinal —

membrane, were introduced by means of milk into the stomachs —

viduals to each. These dogs were then killed by means of chlo- —

roform at various intervals of time, and the contents of the —

stomach and intestines carefully examined, when the worms —

which had been swallowed as food were readily observed in —

various states of development. :

Two hours after they were swallowed, all the cystoid worms —

still remained in the stomach, but in most cases the cysts in —

which they had been enveloped had disappeared ; at the same —

time most of the worms which had been deprived of their cyst |

had also lost their terminal vesicle, which had either been di- —

gested or still adhered in fragments to the abdominal extremity.

All the worms found in the stomach, whether with or without —

their vesicle, had the head and neck withdrawn into the body.

Three hours after ingestion there were no longer any worms —

in the stomach ; they had all passed with the chyme from this —

organ into the small intestine. Then, after having lost their —

cyst and terminal vesicle by the digestive action of the stomach, —

they all, without exception, as though feeling themselves at home, —

had again pushed out the head and neck. In all, a distinct —

lesion was perceptible at the abdominal extremity, at the point —

where the terminal vesicle had existed.

In dogs killed several days after the ingestion of the Cysticerci, _

these worms were found greatly increased in size; the largest —

body, at first merely wrinkled transversely, now distinctly ex- —

Cystoid Worms into ae 433

hibited the articulations, and the point tots by the loss of the

vesicle actually presented a cicatrix.

_ After twenty or twenty-five days, the worms were several

_ inches in length ; they were articulated to the extremity of the

_ abdomen, and the last of their joints still bore the cicatrix above

_ mentioned, which was still very perceptible ; traces of sexual

' organs even were already to be discovered in the posterior seg-

_ ments.

_. At the end of eight weeks the worms had attained a great

4 length (the longest were from 36 to 59 inches). The sexual cha-

_ racter of their posterior segments was completely developed, a

_ great number of ova in a state of maturity being contained in

4 _ them. Some individuals had already separated their last joints

In a perfectly mature state.

In the Cysticercus pisiformis thus elongated, I recognized the

_ Tenia serrata of the dog. The extremity of the head, the form

of the segments, the nature of the organs of generation, and

above all of the mature ova of this worm, agreed exactly with

the same parts of the Tenia serrata. There was no longer there-

fore any doubt that the Cysticercus pisiformis of the hare and

rabbit 1s to the Tenia serrata of the dog, what the Cysticercus

_ fasciolaris of the mouse and rat is to the Tenia crassicollis of the

cat.

The Tenia serrata is rarely found in watch-dogs or house-dogs,

but more commonly in coursing dogs, which is easily explained

_hby the fact that the latter frequently devour the intestines of

_ hares and rabbits captured in the chase, and consequently swallow

_ the Cysticercus more frequently than other dogs.

Although the experiments with the other worms above men-

_ tioned are not yet completed, those relative to the Canurus cere-

_ bralis ave sutficiently advanced to convince me that this worm,

: so dreaded by the sheep farmers, becomes transformed into a

_ feenia in the intestines of the dog. As yet, the Teenias thus pro-

duced by the Cenurus cerebralis have not, in my experiments,

arrived at the adult state, the sexual organs not being yet ma-

_ ture; it is therefore impossible to determine the species to which

_ they belong, but I hope shortly to be able to do so. I hope also

_that I shall be able to indicate to those interested in the raising

of sheep, the means of opposing the development of this parasite

in the brain of that animal, for I am convinced that the cystoid

worms are not produced by a local generation, but by the mi-

-croscopic ova of the tape-worms of certain Carnivora, and that

when these ova are accidentally introduced into the bodies of

Rodent or Ruminant animals, they are not developed there into

elongated tape-worms, but into cystoid worms, which, according

to the importance of the organ in which they take up their

_ Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 28

434 Mr. T. C.Eyton’s Account of a Dredging Expedition

abode, exercise a more or less fatal influence upon the life of the |

animal in which they live.

The experiments commenced on the Echinococcus veterinorum

_are sufficiently advanced to enable us to declare that this cystoid :

worm also belongs toa Tenia. A quaniity of these destructive |

worms given to some young dogs, showed at the end of a few

days myriads of exceedingly delicate Teenias, which already ad-—

hered to the mucous membrane of the small intestine by their —

possessed as yet three divisions in the body—one for the heal 4

and neck, a small joint behind this, and lastly a long segment. —

In these two joints the sexual organs had commenced their de-

velopment ; but this was not sufficiently advariced to enable one

the species. I am continuing the experiment and hope soon to-

be able to publish the result. :

XLIV.—Some Account of a Dredging Expedition off the conse :

of the Isle of Man during the months of May, June, July and

August 1852. By T. C. Eyron, Esq., F.LS., F.Z. S. :

[Continued from p. 285.]

Tue following is a list of Echinodermata taken with the deeded j

and on shore :— 4

Ophiura texturata. Dredged off Maughold Head: not very

plentiful.

Ophiocoma neglecta. Under stones and roots of Laminaria

off Derby Castle at low water mark. a

—— granulata. Dredged off Laxey in abundance.

rosula, Very common.

bellis. Dredged off Laxey in 16 fathoms water.

Uraster glacialis. Not very common round the island.

rubens. Common. :

Cribella oculata. Common in from 10 to 20 fathoms water, —

but not so much so as in from 5 to 10 fathoms, or as on the ~

Welsh coast. a

Solaster endeca. Dredged off Maughold Head and es but :

not very common. .

papposa. Common.

Palmipes membranaceus. I took only thie specimens, one off P

Douglas Head and two off Laxey Head. 4

Asturina gibbosa. Only once found in a cavity of the rock”

opposite Derby Castle. q

Asterias aurantiaca. Several specimens were dredged up, but :

it does not appear to-be pags abundant. ;

off the coast of the Isle of Man. 435

Echinus sphera. Common.

miliaris. Common.

- lividus. Common.

Spatangus purpureus. Common off Laxey and Maughold Head.

_ Amphidotus cordatus. Common on the shore at Ramsey, but

_ only one broken specimen was dredged off Maughold Head.

_ The following is a list of the Annelidz, only a few of which I

_ was able to name, for want of a good work on the subject ; I have

_ however preserved in spirits a large number taken both off the

_ Isle of Man and on the Welsh coast, which I shall be happy to

_ place in the hands of any brother-naturalist who is better ac-

_ quainted with them than Iam. Many notes and drawings were

_ mnade of those collected.

_. Nereis bilineatus. On shore near Douglas.

Aphrodite aculeata. Dredged off Laxey.

Cirratulus meduse. On the shore near Derby Castle.

Arenicola piscatorum. Common.

| Many of the common species of Zoophytes abounded. The

| following is a list of those which I have not found in great

- abundance on the Welsh coast, and some not at all :—

Anthea cereus. Douglas Bay, on rocks.

Tuedie. Douglas Bay, on rocks.

Actinea maculata. Dredged off Maughold Head and Douglas

Head : not common.

Coryne squamata. Douglas Bay, on rocks.

Tubularia indivisa. On rocks round the Calf of Man at low

spring-tide-mark, in abundance; it was among this coralline,

having filled several cans with it, that I found three specimens

of Acheus Cranchit, a Dendronotus, and a Tritonia which I have

been unable at present to name. The former was found on

pulling the clusters to pieces, the two latter crawling on the

stems.

Sertularia pinnata. Taken round the Calf on sea-weed at low

spring-tide water-mark.

Laomedia geniculata. On sea-weed round the Calf.

Campanularia syringa. Douglas Bay.

Cydonium Mulleri. Dredged off Douglas Head.

Cellipora pumicosa. On other species of coralline in Douglas

Bay and on the Calf.

Flustra membranacea. Common.

I have also been able to identify the following Sponges :—

% Halichondria Johnstonii. In caves below spring-tide low water-

mark, under Black Head.

; 28*

436 Mr. W.S. Dallas on Atelides centrolineatus.

Halichondria panicea. On sea-weed round the Calf. |

incrustans. Dredged up off Douglas Head in 18 fathoms ~

water: common in every locality. patie Saal

—— fruticosa. Dredged off Laxey in 16 fathoms water.

Since my last paper on this subject was published, I have been

able to identify the following species of Mollusca in addition to

those mentioned in it :— |

Chiton cancellatus.

discrepans.

prunum.

All the Chitons, except marmoreus, a very marked species, 1 —

found in considerable abundance, dredging on dead shells.

C. cinereus was found on rocks on the coast in Douglas Bay.

Ascidia vitrea. Dredged off Laxey Head. :

virginea. Dredged off Laxey Head.

Goniodoris castanea. On sea-weed in Douglas Bay.

Botrylloides albicans. Not uncommon on rocks.

Botryllus violaceus. On rocks in Douglas Bay.

polycyelus. On rocks in Douglas Bay.

Leptoclinum violaceum. Douglas Bay.

The names used for the Molluscous animals are those given

in Forbes and Hanley’s work on the ‘ British Mollusca’ now in

course of publication ; those of the Crustacea are the same as

employed in Bell’s ‘ British Crustacea, and Desmarest’s ‘ Con-

sidérations générales sur les Crustacées.? The nomenclature of

the Zoophytes is taken from Forbes’s ‘Echinodermata’ and John-

ston’s ‘ British Corallines.’? The Annelide and Sponges are named

from Dr. Johnston’s numerous papers in the ‘ Annals of Natural

History’ on the former family, and from his work on the

latter.

XLV.—Further Note on Atelides centrolineatus.

By W.S. Daas, F.L.S.

Havine obtained, since the publication of the last Number of

the ‘ Annals,’ specimens of both sexes of the Hemipterous insect

which I there described under the name of Atelides centrolineatus,

I think it desirable to add one or two particulars to my descrip-

tion, which, having been drawn from a mutilated specimen of the

female, was necessarily imperfect in some respects.

The individuals which I now possess are smaller than that pre-

Dr. J. E. Gray on several new genera of Reptiles. 437

_ viously described, the female being 93 lines instead of 10, and

_ the male only 8 lines in length.

_ The antennz, as I supposed, consist only of four joints; the

_ second is longer than the third and fourth together; it is pris-

_ matic, with three longitudinal furrows, and not compressed as

_ previously stated. The third and fourth joints are nearly equal

- in length, the fourth being perhaps a little longer than the

third; they are much thinner than the second; the third is

_ prismatic, like the second ; the fourth elliptical, elongated; the

_ third joint is black and hirsute, like the second; the fourth

_ orange, somewhat pilose, with the base black.

_ The anal apparatus of the male, when viewed from beneath,

_ appears to consist of a plate of a semicircular form, broadly

_ notched on its posterior margin, and occupying a broad emargi-

_ nation of the last abdominal segment; viewed from above it

} presents a nearly circular horny ring, the upper portion of which

_ is very narrow, whilst the lower is produced and emarginate pos-

_ teriorly ; the opening of the ring is narrowed and rendered irre-

} gular by a large tooth on each side, close to which the margin

_ of the ring is clothed with yellowish hairs.

___ I may add, in order to remove all doubts as to this insect

_ having attained its perfect state, that I have in my collection a

_ specimen of its nympha or larva in the last stage of the meta-

_ morphosis, which presents all the customary marks of its im-

_ perfect condition.

4 XLVI.—Descriptions of several new Genera of Reptiles, principally

__ from the Collection of H.M.S. Herald. By J. E. Gray, Esq.,

Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P.Z.S. &c.

_ To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

| Sir Joun Ricwarpson having kindly allowed me to examine

_ the reptiles brought home by this expedition, I send for in-

_ sertion in your pages characters of the following new genera,

_ which will be figured in the forthcoming work on the Zoology of

that Voyage. ye oP

4 I am, Gentlemen, yours &c.,

British Museum, Nov. 15, 1852, J. E. Gray.

IGUANID.

_ Section Basiliscina. Nostril lateral ; back of head with a crest

_ of compressed skin ; throat with a cross fold behind ; hinder toes

438 Dr.J.E. Gray on several new genera of Reptiles.

fringed on the side ; outer one webbed at the base ; femoral pores —

none. :

This tribe is distinguished from Corythophanes and Chame- —

leopsis by the occiput being rounded, and only furnished with —

a thin, flexible crest of skin, and by the margined toes, instead of —

having the prolongation of the lateral bony processes of the head,

as in those genera. When the Catalogue of the Museum Rep-

tiles was published, I only knew three genera ; we have since re- —

ceived a new one from Mr. Dyson from Honduras, and this col-

lection has produced two others from Quibo, on the west coast of —

America. They may be thus characterized :—

I. Occiput swollen on each side, with a high crest of compressed —

skin from the back edge of the eyes.

1. PrenosauRa.

Back and tail with a series of large, short, compressed scales

forming a slight crest ; occiput and crest covered with large thin —

smooth scales.

Ptenosaura Seemanni.

Head (in spirits) blackish ; body brown, blackish speckled ; tail —

and legs with irregular black cross bands; angle of mouth and

hinder part of chin white ; scales of nose flat, keeled ; of crown

and eyebrows small, edged with a series of larger scales ; scales of

back small, smooth; of tail, and especially the outside of legs,

larger, keeled ; tail with five series of keeled scales beneath.

Hab. Quibo. ete

Named in honour of Berthold Seemann, Esq., the botanist who

accompanied the expedition and brought many zoological speci-

mens home.

II. Occiput swollen, covered with convex scales, the hinder part —

( far behind the eyes) produced into a high crest of compressed —

skin.

2. Basiziscus, Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 192.

Back and tail with a high erect crest, supported by bony rays ; |

occipital crest large, rounded, covered with thin flat polygonal

scales.

B. americanus, Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 192.

Hab. Guiana.

3. LOPHOSAURA.

Back and tail with a high erect crest supported by bony rays ;

occipital crest small, angular, covered with large keeled scales. — _

Lophosaura Goodridgit, n. s.

Brown (in spirits); head dark; back and neck with eight —

Dr. J. E. Gray on several new genera of Reptiles. 439

_ oblique dark cross bands extending up the base of the dorsal fin ;

_ legs and feet dark spotted; scales of the nose, eyebrows, crown

| and occiput small, keeled, with a series of small keeled scales on

_ the outer edge of the eyebrows ; of the back small ; of the tail and

_ outside of limbs larger keeled; dorsal fin high and toothed on

_ the edge, especially behind ; caudal fin high, rather sinuous on

the edge, and covered with large six-sided scales.

Hab. Quibo.

Named in honour of J. O. Goodridge, Esq., Surgeon R.N.,

' who brought the specimen to England.

_ This species is very much larger than the Basiliscus from

— Guiana.

. 4. CRISTASAURA.

_ Back with a high erect crest supported by bony rays; tail

_ rather compressed, slightly ringed, sharp-edged, and furnished

with a series of large compressed scales on its upper edge ;' occi-

| pital crest large, rounded, thin, covered with thin small six-sided

| scales.

. Cristasaura mitrella.

‘ Olive (in spirits), beneath paler; angle of the mouth and chin

_ white, the latter marbled with bluish ; scales of the nose, of the

_ eyebrows and occiput moderate keeled, of the crest rather smaller,

_ very thin and slightly keeled ; of the back very small, of the tail

larger, and of the outside of the limbs much larger, both keeled ;

_ dorsal crest moderate, extending the whole length of the back,

| edged with a series of compressed scales ; scales of the caudal

| crest rather large, especially those near the base.

Hab, Honduras, Dyson.

5. Coryruxzouvs, Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 192.

_ _ Back and tail with a series of large, short, compressed. scales

_ forming a slight crest ; occipital crest rather large, covered with

_ small flat scales, and supported by the slender central straight

_ process of the occipital bone.

_ ._C. vittatus, Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 193. The hinder lower

labial plates with small scales beneath.

Hab. Mexico; Honduras ?

d ILI. Occiput flattish, with a very small compressed crest on the

middle of the hinder edge.

6. Tuysanopactytvs, Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 193.

_. Back and tail with a series of rather large, short, compressed

- scales forming a slight crest.

i T. bilineatus, Gray, 1. ¢. 198.

Hab. Fernando de Noranha.

440 Bibliographical Notices.

Scincip#, § D. (Siaphosine), Gray, Cat. Rep. B. M. 88, add.

after Soridia.

ANNIELLA, 0. g.

_ Limbs none; nasal shield large, bent at the edge so as to form

part of the labial margin of the head; head shield and other —

characters like Soridia.

This is the only genus of the tribe yet found out of Australia.

It has all the form and characters of Soridia, except the absence

of the small rudimentary legs on the side of the vent, and that

the nasal shields are larger and are bent up beneath, so that they —

form part of the outer side of the head (while in Soridia they

end just at the edge), and the upper labial shield under the nasal —

is very small, linear, scarcely observable ; it also has a pair of |

a single large one.

Anmniella pulchra, n. 8.

Silvery (in spirits) ; upper part with very narrow brown zigzag

lines placed on the margin of the series of scales, the line down

the centre of the back and two or three on the upper part of the

sides being thicker and nearly half the width of the scales.

Hab. California, J. O. Goodridge, Esq., Surgeon R.N.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES,

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie. Par M. F. E. Guirin-MENEVILLE.

Nos. 2 & 3, Fevrier et Mars 1852. Paris, yo.

In our last Number we gave an abstract of the contents of the first

number of the present volume of this work. We now propose to do ~

the same by the second and third. The second number contains —

original papers—

I. On the mode of nidification of a small Bird of the Island of |

Mauritius called the “ Astrild’”’ (Lowia astrild, Linn., Senay eiet )

striatus, Briss.), by M. F. de Lafresnaye (pp. 49, 50).

The nest of this bird, represented on the plate accompanying the

number (plate 2 of the vol. ), is of an ovoid form, and consists of two —

united nests. The author considers that the form and construction —

of this nest, which resembles those of the weaver-birds (Plocez), con- —

firms the opinion of M. Cabanis that the birds of the genera Sene- —

galus, Ploceus, and Vidua should be separated from the ee ;

to form a new family under the name of Ploceida.

II. Si dens on the Anodonte of the Aube, by M. Henri Drouet.

First article (pp. 51-65).

This article commences with a short historical notice of the genus —

Anodonta. The author states that the genus, which has long been —

a a i a dil til a

Bibliographical Notices. 441

_ supposed to include only two French species, really contains twenty

_ perfectly distinct forms, of which about twelve inhabit the department

_ of the Aube.

__ He divides the genus into two groups—of one of which 4. cygnea

is the type, of the other 4. anatina. He states that in every piece of

water in which species of this genus exist, members of both these

groups will be found; that is to say, ‘“‘ That the discovery of one

species in any piece of fresh water is the certain sign of the coexistence

ofa second.”

The present notice is devoted to the consideration of the species

allied to 4. eygnea; of these the department of the Aube possesses

four, namely—

1. A. cygnea (Mytilus cygneus, Linn.).

2. A. ventricosa, Pfeiff.

3. A. Cellensis (Mytilus Zellensis, Schrot.).

4. dA. oblonga, Millet.

The species are described at considerable length, with Latin cha-

racters, which however we do not insert here, as the author promises -

to furnish a table of all the species at the close of his work.

The synonymy is given in detail and accompanied by copious

remarks.

III. Catalogue of the Carabide collected by M. Bocandé in Por-

tuguese Guinea, with descriptions of the new species, by M. de La-

ferté-Senectére (pp. 65-75).

This is the concluding paper of a series which has been published

in the ‘ Revue et Magasin de Zoologie’ during the last two years.

It contains descriptions of nine new species, with remarks upon four

others which have already been described ; the new species are as

follows :—Epomis Bocandei, E. Latreillei, Tomochilus Westerimanni,

acus stygius, Hoplolenus insignis, Prionognathus fossor, Oodes tene-

briotdes, sulcatus and ellipticus. The descriptions are too long for

extraction, and the author gives no short characters.

IV. Notice on a new species of Ant, discovered by M. Auguste

Sallé in St. Domingo, making its nest on bushes in the marshy plains,

by M. Guérin-Méneville (pp. 75-79).

This ant was found by M. Sallé inhabiting a marsh called the

Cienega del Timbladero, trom its trembling soil, and forming a por-

tion of an immense valley bordering the river Nisao, in St. Domingo.

This valley is inhabited by wild cattle, and has hitherto remained

almost unknown ; it was formerly a refuge for negroes escaping from

slavery. This Cienega del Timbladero is a large plain, covered with

tall reeds and with bushes here and there. During the rainy season

it forms an immense lake. In crossing it M. Sallé’s attention. was

attracted by some nests which he observed attached to the summits

of the branches of some of the bushes, and which, as his negro guide

informed him, were constructed by ants. Examination confirmed

this statement ; on touching one of them it was immediately covered

442 Bibliographical Notices.

with ants, which appeared furious at being disturbed: they stung

very severely.

The ant belongs to the genus Myrmica of Latreille, and bears a

great resemblance to the common European Myrmica rubra. M.

‘Guérin-Méneville describes it under the name of

Myrmica Sallei. M. fulva, rugosula, thorace postice bispinoso,

nodo primo infra mutico ; femoribus cruribusque apice valde inflatis ;

antennis abdomineque fulvis.

The length of the males and neuters is 5 mill., of the females 7 mill.

The males differ considerably in appearance from the other sexes.

The nest is very remarkable from being composed entirely of a

brown, papyraceous substance similar to that of which the European

wasps make their nests. This paper is formed of the fibres of rushes.

A nearly allied but distinct species of Myrmica was also found in

this nest by M. Sallé, and is indicated by M. Guérin under the name

of M. cariniceps.

Plate 3 of this volume of the ‘ Revue’ contains figures of the dif-

ferent sexes of Myrmica Sallei, and also of its nest. This plate is

contained in the third number. oe

The remainder of the number is occupied by reports of the meet-

ings of the “ Académie des Sciences ” of 26th January, and 2nd, 9th,

16th, and 23rd February, and some notices of new works.

The third number contains—

I. Observations on the propositions submitted by M. Dareste to

the Academy of Sciences, regarding the Convolutions of the Brain,

by M. P. Gratiolet (pp. 97-113).

' In this memoir the author supports the views formerly advanced

by himself in a paper laid before the Academy of Sciences, to which

those of M. Dareste are directly opposed. M. Gratiolet considered,

from the study of the convolutions of the brain in the Apes, that the

number and distinctness of these convolutions are greatest in those

animals of each group which display the greatest amount of intelli-

gence. M. Dareste, on the other hand, considers that those animals

in which the brain has the greatest volume are the most intelligent,

and that the degree to which the convolutions are developed is in re-

lation with the size and not with the intelligence of the animal. He

also states that the brain is proportionately larger in small animals

than in large; consequently, says M. Gratiolet, according to M. Da-

reste, the ‘ intelligence of animals is in an inverse ratio to their size.”

In opposition to these views and in support of his own, M. Gratiolet

institutes a comparison between the cerebral organs of various ani-

mals. He shows that in many cases the brains of small animals have

a greater number of convolutions than those of others of much larger

size. ‘Thus he compares the brain of the ocelot with that of the ja-

guar, and that of the Bornean bear (Ursus euryspilus) with that of the

great white bear. The brains of these animals, that of the Guinea

pig and that of the Echidna, are represented on the four plates which

accompany the memoir (pl. 4—7).

’

;

Ce ee

ee ee

ae een oa

ee ee eee ee

Bibliographical Notices. 443

_ II. Researches into the Utility of Reptiles, either as articles of

_ food, as furnishing products for use in domestic ceconomy, or, lastly,

- as animals of mere curiosity, by M. Al. Guichemot (pp. 113-122).

_ The object of this memoir is sufficiently explained by its title.

_ The author adopts the classification of M. Is. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, in

_ which useful animals are divided into five classes, namely aueiliary,

alimentary, industrial, accessory or ornamental, and medicinal ani-

mals. The three first classes are treated of in the present number,

but the memoir contains nothing of sufficient importance to render it

advisable to present our readers with an abstract of its contents.

II. Abstract of a first series of researches upon the insects inju-

_ rious to the rape crops, by M. Ad, Focillon (pp. 123-128).

__. The principal facts contained in this paper have already been pub-

lished in this Journal (Ann. n. s. ix. p. 356).

IV. Descriptions of new specigs of Lepidoptera belonging to the

Entomological collections of the Museum of Paris, by M. H. Lucas.

First decade (pp. 128-141).

_ This memoir contains descriptions of ten new species of the genus

_ Papilio, and is the first of a series of similar papers intended to form

_ asort of prodromus to the Catalogue of Lepidopterous insects con-

_ tained in the Museum of the “Jardin des Plantes.” The descrip-

_ tiqns being very long and unaccompanied by diagnoses, we are unable

to give more than the names of the species, with the localities from

which they are derived, and abstracts of the remarks appended to each

by M. Lucas.

1. Papilio Godartianus. Allied to P. Polydorus, Linn., but

smaller. Upper wings destitute of longitudinal white streaks ; lower

wings without red marginal lunules, and not presenting a spatulated

tail. Inhabits the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

2. Papilio Celadon. Allied to P. Sinon, Fab., with which it was

- confounded by Cramer. The tail of the posterior wings is shorter

_ than in P. Sinon, and entirely black, and the sixth green band, which

is macular, does not touch the posterior margin of the superior wings.

From North America.

3. Papilio Arcesilaus. Allied to P. Ajax. Inhabits North

America.

4. Papilio Cacicus. Allied to P. Grayi and Cleotas. From Co-

lumbia.

5. Papilio Sadalus. Allied to P. Machaon and Asterias. The

ochreous common band of the wings is much broader than in P. As-

terias; the tail of the posterior wings is black, linear, and shorter

than in P. Machaon. Inhabits the environs of Quito.

6. Papilio Eurydorus. Allied to P. Proneus and Phryneus. The

yellowish white band of the posterior wings is much narrower, and

the tail, which is black and spatulate, less elongated than in those

species. Inhabits Brazil.

7. Papilio Phryneus. Intermediate between P. Proneus and

Agavus. Inhabits Cayenne.

bt Zoological Society.

8. Papilio Zelicaon. Resembles P. Machaon. Distinguished by

having the black margins of the wings much broader and of a deeper —

black ; by the lunules of the posterior wings which are not all pre- —

ceded by spots of blue points; and by the yellow spot in the anal —

‘angle of these, which has in its centre a deep black lunule. It inha- —

bits California. : eit a

9. Papilio Rutulus. Very near P. Turnus. The black margins

and bands of the wings similar to those of that species, but broader

and deeper in tint; the posterior wings with five marginal lunules —

instead of six. From California. a

10. Papilio Eurymedon. Allied to the preceding species. The —

ground colour is white instead of ochreous, as in P. Rutulus, and the —

tail of the hinder wings is broader. It also inhabits California.

The remainder of this number is occupied by reports of the pro- —

ceedings of the Academy of Sciences for the sittings of the Ist, 10th, —

15th and 22nd March; an analysis of the proceedings of the Zoolo- —

gical Society of London ; and a note from M. Z. Gerbe containing de- —

scriptions of two new species of Arvicola (p. 159).

1. Arvicola leucura. A. corpore supra cinereo-flavescente, subtus —

albo; hypochondriis subflavis; pedibus canescentibus; mystacibus —

crassis, capite longiusculis ; auriculis magnis, capite villosis, vellere

longioribus ; cauda subpilosa utrinque albida. ‘‘ Basses-Alpes.”

2. Arvicola Selysii. A. supra fusco-ferruginea, subtus cinerea

pallide fulva; hypochondriis rufescentibus ; pedibus cinereis; auri-

culis vellere prominulis, atris, pilosis; mystacibus exilibus ; capite

brevioribus ; cauda superne fusca, interne flavescente, penicillo setite

albo apice instructo. ‘‘ Basses-Alpes.”’

M. Guérin also announces that M. Poey, director of the Museum —

of Natural History of Cuba, is about to publish a work on the natu- —

ral history of that island, under the title of ‘“‘ Mémoires sur I’ Histoire

naturelle de lile de Cuba.”

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

January 28, 1851.—R. H. Solly, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.

DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW GENERA AND SOME NEW SPECIES —

TION OF THE British Museum. By Joun Epwarp Gray, —

Esa., F.R.S., P.B.S. etc.

The collection of the British Museum is extremely rich in oe

of recent Lchinoids, and fortunate in possessing long series of different

ages of several of the species. .

‘Having been recently occupied in arranging and forming a cata-

logue of these animals, I transmitted to the ‘Annals of Natural Hi- —

story’ for February a description of several genera and species of —

Spatangide.

MM. Agassiz and Desor having recently published, in the Mono-

Zoological Society. 445

_ graph of Echini and other papers on these animals, all the species of

_ these two families then known to them, and as they had every facility

for examining the British Museum specimens, the species now to be

described are but few in number.

Fam. 1. ScureLuip2.

Genus EcHINANTHUS.

Among the species which have the base concave, of which Z. ro-

saceus may be considered the type, are to be added—

1. Ecoinantuus AUSTRALASIZ&.

Vent beneath, at a little distance from the edge; back very convex

in the middle ; upper margin rather flattened, with a slight concavity

_at the end of the ambulacra; under side flat near the margin, deeply

| concave in the middle; spines of the under side near mouth very fine.

_ Hab. Australia; N.S.W., Brisbane Water.

2. ECHINANTHUS TESTUDINARIUS.

_ Vent beneath a little within the edge, depressed; back slightly

| raised, evenly convex ; under surface rather concave from the edge.

_ Hab. Indian Ocean; Borneo.

3. ECHINANTHUS OBLONGUS.

' Ovate-oblong, elongate, rounded at the end; sides thick, rounded;

_ back depressed round the end of the ambulacra ; crown rather convex;

~ ambulacra ovate, lanceolate, broad, and closed at the end; under

side concave nearly to the edge; ambulacral grooves indistinct ; vent

| near the margin.

Hab. Philippines ; Siquijor.

4. ECHINANTHUS PRODUCTUS.

_ Shell ovate, elongate, the hinder end produced and flattened, the

- edge rather thick, thinner behind; the ambulacral petal broad, the

_ bands not quite united at the end; under side concave to the margin ;

_ vent near the margin.

Hab. ?

5. Ecu1nantuus CoLe®.

Shell ovate, subpentagonal, depressed; margin thick, rounded; back

_ depressed as far as the end of the ambulacra, and then rather convex

in the middle, the under side concave nearly to the edge; ambulacral

- petal ovate lanceolate, closed at the end; vent near the margin.

| Hab. Mauritius. Lady Mary Cole.

To those which have a flat base may be added—

| 6. EcHInaNnTHUS EXPLANATUS.

§ ~=sCDepressed, much expanded, centre of the back rather convex ;

® ambulacra occupying rather more than half the space between the

; vertex and margin, the lines of pores of the anterior pair and posterior

® odd one far apart at the end; cavity with thin concentric lines of

_ short compressed columns near the margin ; jaws depressed.

_ Hab. Mauritius ?

446 Zoological Society.

Genus Roruta.

The British Museum series induces me to believe that Rotula digi-

tata of Agassiz is not distinct from R. Rumphii, as M. Agassiz first -

~ considered it to be.

Genus Ecu1Nopiscus.

I cannot find any permanent difference to distinguish Lobophora

bifissa from L. aurita ; they are found together in the same habitat

in the Red Sea.

Genus MELLITA.

The larger spines on the back of this, the former, and succeeding —

genus are short, equal in size, and furnished with a more or less sphe-

rical head.

The Museum series of specimens show a very gradual passage

between the Hchini which have been called Mellita testudinaria and

M. quinquefora by Agassiz.

The species which have six slits on the disc are found on the coast

of Tropical America, and others on the shores of the Red Sea; I be-

lieve they form two species, which appear to have been confounded

under one name.

The American Mellita heeapora has only narrow linear bands of —

larger tubercles (bearing the larger spines) between the branched |

lines radiating from the mouth on the under surface, and these lines

are very much branched. ;

Mellita similis and M. lobata of Agassiz, also from the West

Indies ; the first appears to be only a variety, and the latter a mon-

strosity of this species.

The Red Sea species I have named

MELLITA ERYTHRAA.

Shell depressed, with five ambulacra and one posterior interambu- ~

lacral slit ; inferior oral grooves branched, branches very slightly —

divided ; the larger spines and tubercles in a broad band, occupyin:

nearly the whole interambulacral space between the inferior oral —

rooves.

Hab. Red Sea. Sir J. Gardiner Wilkinson.

There is a new genus which has the edge of the disk perforated

and the vent near the mouth, as in Lchinoglyphus, but differs in the

oral grooves being more simple and only branched near the edge, in

the lanceolate form of the ambulacra, and in the square form of the

tesserze of the ambulacral zones beyond the tip of the ambulacra.

Genus Lreop1iA.

Body depressed, with a posterior slit and five perforations between

the end of the ambulacra and edge ; the marginal ambulacral tesseree

squarish, like the interambulacral ones ; ambulacra lanceolate, acute

at the tip, the anterior one most narrow and longest ; pores united by

a groove ; ovarial plate pentangular ; ovarial pores three ; oral grooves

simple, slightly impressed, converging towards the margin in front —

See

Zoological Society. 47

of the ambulacral perforations ; vent near the mouth, in front of the

anal perforation, with a group of three or four larger spines between

it and the mouth.

1. Leop1a RicHarpsontl.

Body suborbicular, slightly depressed, five-lobed, hinder edge trans-

verse ; ambulacra lanceolate, not reaching to the discal perforations ;

discal perforations ovate, small, the anterior smaller, the hinder largest,

with two pairs of rather large tesseree between the ends of the ambu-

lacra and the foramen, the upper pair subtrigonal ; oral grooves simply

forked near the edge.

Hab. West Indies.

The single specimen I have seen of this species was presented by

Sir John Richardson. It is rather deformed and sinuous on the right

side, the hinder lateral perforation being nearly obliterated on that side.

In Echinoglyphus the tesseree of the ambulacral bands are broad

and band-like between the ambulacra and the ambulacral slits.

Genus Ecuinociypuvs, Van Phelsum. The Encore of Agassiz.

The large Brazilian species of this genus appear to be very va-

a riable. The young specimens have large notches on the edge of the

shell, and as the animal increases in size, the marginal edges of these

notches more or less approximate together, and sometimes even be-

come united, so as to transform the notch into a perforation. M.

Agassiz on these variations has formed several species; but the

Museum series, from the Brazils and other parts of the east coast of

Tropical America, show that they are all mere variations of the spe-

cies which Van Phelsum called Hchinoglyphus frondosus, and La-

marck Scutella emarginata. I am induced to believe that Seutella

quinqueloba of Eschscholtz, Encope Valenciennesii, Encope subclausa,

Encope oblonga, and Encope Michelini, are only varieties of this spe-

cies: they are all remarkable for the large size and longly-rayed star-

like form of the madreporiform plate.

Genus FrspuLARIA.

The following species is peculiar as having an oblong, longitudinal

vent.

1. FrsuLARIA OBLONGA.

Shell ovate, elongate, ventricose; vent oblong, longitudinal, ac-

cording to the axis of the shell.

Hab. N. Australia.

Fam. 2. ECHINOLAMPIDZ.

Genus EcuinoLAMPAS.

_ The species of this genus may be divided into two sections, accord-

ing to the form of the ambulacra.

| Echinolampas oviformis and its allies have the porous bands of the

_ anterior and other pair of ambulacra equal ; the lower side of the

shell flat; the mouth oblong, transverse, with (5) tubercles between

_ the oral ambulacra,

448 Zoological Society.

The other species have the anterior porous band of the anterior

pair of ambulacra shortest ; under side rounded, convex ; mouth ob-

long, transverse, large, marked with no tubercles, and only very rudi-

-mentary oral ambulacra.

1. EcHINOLAMPAS DEPRESSUS.

Ovate, wht subpentangular ; back regularly convex.

Hab. t

Genus Morrontia.

Shell ovate, thin, rather produced in front, rounded behind, co- —

vered with small tubercles; vertex central, convex; internal cayit

quite simple ; ambulacra petaloid, narrow, open at the end; hands

rather diverging ; pores rather crowded, united by an oblong groove ;

beneath concave, especially near the mouth and vent ; mouth rather

large, roundish oblong, transverse, without any ambulacral star ; vent

large, transverse, oblong, in the middle of the space between the

mouth and hinder edge; ovarial pores four; madreporiform plate

small, central.

? Echinocyamus, sp., Desmoulin. :

Mortonia, Gray, Cat. Echinoida in Brit. Mus.

This genus differs from Hehinocyanus in the thinness of the shell,

and especially in the ambulacra being larger, more perfect, and in the

pores of the ambulacra being united in pairs by a cross groove. It

differs from the fossil genus Pygaulus in the vent being inferior, in-

termediate between the mouth and edge, and transverse. __

This genus is named after Dr. Morton, the historian of Northamp-

tonshire, who first attempted to arrange the fossil Hchini into generic

groups.

MortToniA AUSTRALIS.

Elliptical, depressed, rather acute in front, rounded behind, under

side concave near the mouth and vent; vent large, oblong, trans-

verse, in the centre between the mouth and hinder margin.

Fibularia australis, Desm. Tab. Syn. 240.

Echinocyamus australis, Agassiz et Desor, l.c. 140.

Hab. South Sea. Mallet.

February 11.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.

The following papers were read :—

1. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND FAMILY OF CyYCLOSAU-

RIAN Lizarps, FROM Para. By J. E.. Gray, Esa., F.R.S.,

P.B.S.

This interesting Lizard has lately been purchased by the Museum,

from a collection of Saurians recently made by Messrs. Wallace and —

Bates, during their excursion within a circuit of about 300 miles of —

Para.

It is exceedingly interesting as presenting an entirely new form,

different in many particulars from any before observed ; so much so,

that I am induced to form for it a new family, to be placed near dna-

diade and Cherviolide, which may be thus characterized :—

Zoological Society. ~ 449

1. IpHisap@.

Scales of the back, belly, nape and throat smooth, broad, six-sided,

transverse, forming a single series on each side of the tail, narrow,

lanceolate, elongate, regularly keeled, in rings alternating with each

_ other; head shielded; chin shielded; ear open, circular; femoral

pores distinct.

Tpuisa.

Head depressed, shielded; anterior frontal single, broad, four-

sided; posterior frontals two, small, subtrigonal; vertebral single,

rather elongate ; posterior vertebral two, small, five-sided ; occipital-

three, larger, middle one narrow, longitudinal; superciliary shield

3-3, hinder smaller, anterior smallest; temple with small shields ;

labial shields moderate ; rostral and mental broad; chin entirely

shielded ; anterior single, transverse, first pair very large, triangular,

covering nearly the whole of the chin, second pair small, at the outer

_ hinder angle of the former ; nostrils lateral, in the lower edge of the

_ nasal shield, between it and the labial shield ; eyes large, lateral; eye-

_ lids sealy?; ears circular, open; nape, back, throat and belly covered

_ with two series of broad, smooth scales ; sides rounded, covered with

_ three or four series of six-sided, smooth scales, placed in oblique series ;

chest with a collar of five scales, the central one elongate, triangular,

_ the lateral ones four-sided, the outer pair very narrow; preanal

_ shields three, the central one elongate, narrow, subtriangular ; limbs

short, weak, covered with broad smooth shields above, the hinder

shield beneath; femoral pores 10-10, distinct, the series nearly

united in front of the preanal plates; toes 5-5, unequal, the mner

very short, the outer hinder separated from the other by a space like

a thumb ; tail elongate, cylindrical, tapering, covered above and below

| with whorls of narrow, elongate, regular, lanceolate, strongly keeled

pointed scales, those of each series alternating with those that suc-

ceed and follow it.

1. IpHISA ELEGANS.

__ Olive-brown black marbled ; sides darker, white varied; chin and

_ beneath yellowish white.

i Hab. Para.

DescrRIPTIONS OF SOME New Birps IN THE Museum

OF THE Eart or Derspy. By Dr. Kavp.

_ During my visit to London last year I had the honour to receive

- an invitation from the Earl of Derby, to visit his collection at Knows-

_ ley Hall, with permission to use the materials I might find there for

_ the monography of Muscicapide on which I was engaged. Of that

' collection I had already formed very high expectations; but I was

_ agreeably surprised by finding them all surpassed, so great is the rich-

| ness of this noble collection. It contains more than 14,000 speci-

| mens of stuffed birds, besides skins, which are not yet numbered.

_ What adds still greater interest to this collection is, that it contains

_ a large number of the original specimens described by Latham and

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. x. 29

450 Loological Society.

other English authors, of whose writings these specimens are the only

explanation. To the pleasure of working in so rich a collection must

be added the command of a colossal library, to which not one work

_of importance is wanting. All this, with the aviaries of magnificent

‘living birds, from every zone of the world, must have the greatest

charm for the naturalist, and make Knowsley Hall for him a perfect

Eden, which once seen shall never be forgotten. :

The new birds described here include only one portion of my re- —

searches, because I could not finish so many genera. The materials

of the very rich family of Muscicapide are too extensive, for a com- —

plete elucidation during the limited period of my visit from a foreign —

country ; I wish my descriptions therefore to be considered only as —

fragments, os

The object of my visit to England was to collect materials for a —

complete monography of the Muscicapide ; but notwithstanding the —

many favours I received, and the extreme liberality with which my

labours were facilitated in every English collection, I must confess —

with sorrow that I shall never be able to make a complete whole (per- —

fectly free from objection), with materials collected in different mu-

seums. A perfect arrangement can only be achieved by the study of —

the materials present together, so that at every moment a compari- —

son may be made between any two or any number of the species.

Were it my good fortune to assemble the whole materials of one —

family in my rooms at Darmstadt, one winter only would be neces- —

sary to finish each family in such a manner as to satisfy the require- —

ments of modern science. me ;

Were any one museum willing to accord me the whole materials in —

its possession, it is probable that all the supplementary species not

contained in that collection would be readily furnished by other mu- —

little or no importance. q

That we can only climb to the summit of our science by means of —

well-made monographies, there can be no possible doubt ; and I attach

a higher value to a monography constructed on philosophical prin- —

ciples, than to the best fauna of any single part of the world: for —

only by a strict comparison of the birds of the five parts of the globe —

can we know what is a family, a subfamily, genus, species and sub- —

species. Only in this way—a difficult way no doubt—can we learn ~

the true harmony of nature; and thus shall we be filled with admi- —

ration, when we see that every species, genus, family or order repre- —

sents a certain type, and must receive its place in a scheme of classi- —

fication according to fixed laws, which man must discover, but over —

which he has no control. q

This charm can never belong to merely descriptive ornithology, —

because even the best descriptions are only like mosaic stones, which, —

when placed without rules, or arranged according to false principles, —

give us only a scattered mass of heterogeneous materials, or a picture —

destitute of truth. q

These claims I have urged over and over again in my dissertations, —

but hitherto without effect. When shall the time arrive when a —

Zoological Society. 451.

_ eatholic spirit shall guide the destinies of science, and lead onward to

_ that triumph of true knowledge, in which every director of a mu-

_ seum, and every student of the works of nature, may take his part ?

_ At present it is impossible that a naturalist can without help

_ arrange the whole materials of one class in his museum. Our mu-

~ seums are little more than great exhibitions for the people, who look

_ too often only to colour, instead of being stores of nature’s trea-

sures, ready to be communicated to every naturalist who has proved.

himself worthy of the name. Every museum ought to accord freely

_ and liberally the wished-for materials, for this is the cheapest way in —

_ which a family can be properly named and accurately classed. The

_ common excuse that the lent materials might come to harm, is little

_ more than an excuse. Time and destructive insects will do the harm,

_ without the slightest advantage to science.

Nisus (seu ACCIPITER) CHIONOGASTER, Kaup.

Diagnosis.—Above dark blue grey, beneath pure white.

_ Description.—The male is less than the Nis. fringillarius. Above

- dark blue grey, the crown, lorum, and a stripe over the eye- and ear-

_ cover feathers more approaching to black ; ear-covering, cheek and

- crop with fine black quill lines; tail with three black bands and a

' broader band at the end, which is white bordered ; the underside of

_ the tail has the bands more silver-grey ; the first tail-feather with five

_ bands before the large end-band; the wings on the imner side with

| four bands before the large end-band. Before the emarginations the

_ bands are grey, and after them whiter.

_.. The larger female with a white eye-stripe, and broader black quill

_ stripe on the crop; the cover feathers of the tibia with a fine rufous tint.

_ According to the ticket of M. de Lattre, the iris of the female is

orange, and that of the male dark brown, like burnt sienna.

__ These two specimens were procured by M. de Lattre in Coban, in

_ the year 1843.

Dimensions in millimetres.— 3 9

2 CS ae are Aa wes 45

Gape. . 1G se 19

MN raf hs Sina va KS EE Oe 206

Tail .. 7 eater 160

ME. Wares eee. aes ri apes 56

Middle toe without nail... 32 ...... 37

_ We possess several species in the genus Nisus, Cuv., seu Accipiter

_ of the English authors. Most of these are very near to the common

_ Sparrow-Hawk ; and I think some of them, like the North American

| fuscus seu velox, the African rufiventris, the madagascariensis, and

_ perhaps the erythrocnemius of G. Gray, are not true species, but that

| they are subspecies of the common European Misus fringillarius,

| forming a group amongst themselves, and exhibiting by no means

| the decided differences apparent between fringillarius and pileatus,

or pileatus and tachiro.

_ Inthe same near relation to the chiquera of — do I

452 Zoological Society).

consider the true chiquera, Vaill. 30, from India; and this opinion I

found on the following characteristics.

The West African chiquera has the body above darker cinereous,

with very distinct narrow black lines, and the stripe beneath the eye,

and the black stripe over the eye and ear-covers, are more distinct ;

the rufous head with darker fine stripes.

The Indian chiquera has the head without stripes; the body above

lighter grey, with very few traces of black bands ; and the black semi-

circle round the eye is shorter and not so complete.

But these slight differences will not justify us in considering the

West African chiquera as a true species distinct from the Indian true

chiquera ; it is only a subspecies of the latter true species. As such

we must make a distinction, and as such it must be accorded a place

in the system. I think the best way is to give a description of the

oldest known subspecies, and arrange all the other subspecies with

different names, distinguished by the letters of the alphabet, a, 6, e,

&c., amongst the true species. In this way it would only be neces-

sary to give a very short description of the subspecies, consisting of

the few marks by which it differs from the old known subspecies.

Until we have discovered all the species contained in one and the

same subgenus, we can never say with certainty whether a given speci-

men represents a true species, or only a subspecies; I must there-

fore confess that in the following descriptions of the family Musei-

capide, it is very probable that I have described as species some spe-

cimens which hereafter will be arranged as subspecies, when the whole

species composing the subgenus are completely known.

One of the most interesting birds in the collection of Lord Derby

is a little Falcon, belonging to the subfamily Falconine, which en- —

abled me to correct the characters of the genus Harpagus.

The characters must be changed as follows :—Bill large, with two

teeth, slender and indistinct, or strong and distinct ; wings short, and

in the proportions of the quills very like Nisus seu Accipiter; toes

short, and the inner and outer toes of the same length.

The genus Harpagus must be divided into two subgenera.

The older subgenus Harpagus must be distinguished by the follow-

ing characters :—Two strong and distinct teeth; the nostrils placed

near the end of a soft membrane covering a large cavity; tibia with —

scales not divided.

Two species, diodon and bidentatus.

The other subgenus, in which this new species must be placed,

must be characterized :—Two slender indistinct teeth; the nostrils —

round, very small, and bored in the nasal bones; the first wing-

feathers with very distinct emarginations, the fourth the longest ;

tibia with whole and divided scales.

I give this subgenus the name of Spiziapteryx, and the species I

have named

HARPAGUS CIRCUMCINCTUS.

Diag. —Size of the Kestril, with white stripe over the eye, which

eR ee) ee eT

Zoological Society. 453

encircles the whole head and is connected with a white collar; the

tail-covers, above and beneath, white.

Deser.—Rufous ash-grey, beneath lighter, with dark brown shaft-

stripes; the white stripe over the eye, and the collar black marginated ;

tibia-covers white; the arm and hand wings white at the roots, and

like the stronger cover-feathers, with white spots and bands on the

inner and outer webs ; the first wing-feather without spots on the ex-

terior web, and with fine white spots on the interior web ; tail black-

brown; beneath with white roots and three small white bands and

an end band; the fifth without spots on the exterior web; the

fourth ‘with only traces; the third exhibits round white spots;

and the two exterior feathers are white-banded. From this very

irregular distribution of spots, the tail, seen from above, exhibits a

very irregular drawing. Cere, naked eye region and feet yellow;

nails dark brown.

I apprehend that this specimen, the only one in England, is not a.

very old bird. Lord Derby received this bird from Chili, by Mr.

Bridges.

Dimen.—Head, 49; bill, from the cere, 16; from the gape, 22;

height, 13; breadth, 20; over wing, 123; tip of the wing, 56; middle

tail-feather, 148 ; outer tail-feather, 115; tarsus, 45 ; middle-toe, 26;

nail,“11; outer-toe, 17}; nail, 10; inner-toe, 16; nail, 12; after-toe,

13; nail, 13.

A new species of the subgenus Sauropuacus, Swains.

In the little subgenus Saurophagus, Swains., we had, till now, only

three species. These are, lictor, sulphuratus, and flavus. I received

by Mr. Wollweber from Zacatecas in Mexico an only specimen of a

fourth species; but I found in the collection of Lord Derby, and in

the British Museum, a great number of the same species.

To this species I have given the name of Derbyanus, as a mark of

my respect for that distinguished patron of ornithological science, the

Earl of Derby, President of the Zoological Society.

All the species of this little subgenus have the same general colour-

ing, and are distinguished only by very few characters taken from the

colouring of the wings and from the dimensions. ‘The young ones

have, like the young birds of Scaphorhynchus, the bill shorter and

bigger, and the head is black, without the beautiful crest of the old

birds. The old birds have a white front, connected with a white

band over the eyes and over the black ear-covers, and surrounding

the black head, which in the middle’ is ornamented with a yellow

crest; the chin and underpart of the neck white; breast, belly,

under-wings and tail-covers yellow; back olive-coloured ; wings and

tail brown, with red margins.

SavropuHaGus tictor, Gray & Mitch. Genera of Birds, t. 62.

Lanius lictor, Licht.—Saurophagus pusillus, Swains.—Swainsonti,

Gould. '

Diag.—Only the margins of the outer webs of the wings rufous ;

454: Zoological Society.

wings 86 mm. long. It shows the finest bill, a more graduated tail,

and the smallest dimensions.

Hab. Brazil, Para.

SAUROPHAGUS SULPHURATUS.

Lanius, Gmel.—Tyrannus, Vieill. Enl. 296.

Diag.—Only the margins of the outer webs of the wings rufous ;

wings 110--114 mm, long.

Hab. Amer. meridional.

SAUROPHAGUS FLAVUS, Gray.

Corvus, Gmel.

Diag.—Only the margins of the outer webs of the wings rufous ;

wings 126-130 mm. long.

Hab. Brazil meridional. Bolivia.

SavropuaGus Dersyanvs, Kaup.

' Diag.—The wing-feathers from the second to the sixteenth have

the whole outer webs on the greatest part of the length rufous ; ;

wings 128 mm. long.

Hab. Zacatecas, in Mexico.

Comparison of the dimensions.—

Saur. Saur. Saur. Saur.Der-

lictor. sulphuratus. SJlavus. byanus.

Head. .. 41 ., 58-58 .. 60-62 .. 60

Bill, from the forehead. . » 22 +...) 29-30 a ee

—— from the gape...... 26 .. 32-36 .. 40-42 .. 38

ul FR aac aI 86». 110-114 |) 160 ae

WON.) Be ee eh ee ee 74°... 82-86 °. > 1G ae

Middle-toe with the nail... — .. 21 #.. 30 .. Q6

In these dimensions Saurophagus Derbyanus is very near to ome,

avus.

a In what relation with the subgenus Scaphorhynchus, Pr. Max., this 4

little subgenus Saurophagus is to be placed, I shall determine in my 4

next monography, Muscicapide. 1

Of the subgenus Scaphorhynchus, Ch. Bonaparte, in his very use-

ful Conspectus, has given five species :—pitangua, flaviceps, atriceps, —

audax, and chrysocephalus. -_

The species Aaviceps and atriceps must go down, because flaviceps,

Sw., is a female, and atriceps a young bird of pitangua; audaw does —

not belong to this subgenus, and is to be placed in the neighbourhood —

of rufinus, Spix, and cireumcinctus, Sw., which have the same bill —

and similar covering. ;

We have only two species, pitangua and chrysocephalus, Tchudi, ~

in the section of Seaphorhynchus. 3

Scaphorhynchus, with its broad bill, shorter and feebler tarsi and —

toes, represents more the Swallow type, and must be placed i in the —

second rank of his genus,

Royal Society. 455

- Before I finish I may allow myself the observation, that, till now,

the whole family of Muscicapide has been in a condition of the great-

est confusion, and that the greatest number of genera must go down,

or must be considered as subgenera of some larger genera.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

May 27.—‘‘ Upon the Morphology of the Cephalous Mollusca, as

_ illustrated by the Anatomy of certain Heteropoda and Pteropoda.”

_ By Thomas Huxley, Esq., F.R.S.

In the present memoir the author endeavours to determine, upon

anatomical and embryological grounds, the true homologies of the

different organs of the Cephalous Mollusca, and thence to arrive at

some idea of the archetypal form, as definite modifications of which

the existing molluscous forms may be considered to have arisen.

The Pelagic Heteropoda and Pteropoda, from their small size and

extreme transparency, are peculiarly favourable subjects for the ana-

tomical part of this investigation, and it is from a detailed examina-

_ tion of those systems of organs which are of importance for the pur-

pose that the author deduces the following conclusions :—

1. In the Heteropoda the intestine is bent towards the dorsal or

hemal side in consequence of the development behind the anus of

_ the visceral « hernia,”’ which is therefore called a post-abdomen.

2. In the Heteropoda, the ‘‘ foot,”’ in its most perfect condition,

consists of three portions, a propodium, mesopodium and metapodium,

3. The Heteropoda are more or less prosobranchiate, the degree

depending upon the amount of development of the post-abdomen.

4. In the Pteropoda the intestine is bent towards the ventral or

neural side, in consequence of the development of the visceral ‘* her-

nia”’ in front of the anus. It is therefore called an abdomen,

5. In the Pteropoda, the foot, besides the parts mentioned above,

_ possesses an additional appendage, the epipodium, which forms the

_ expanded wing characteristic of the group.

_. 6. The Pteropoda are opisthobranchiate, prosobranchiate, or in-

_ termediate in character, according to the degree of development of

the abdomen,

_ The Heteropoda and Pteropoda, then, may be considered to repre-

sent two opposite phases of the modification of the molluscous

archetype.

In the second part of the paper, the author endeavours, by care-

fully collating the known facts of the development of the Mollusca,

to ascertain (a) the primary form of all cephalous Mollusca, and (4)

the mode in which, in the course of development, this embryonic

| form becomes metamorphosed into-the adult form ; in order, if pos-

_ sible, to account, on the safe basis of ascertained morphological laws,

_ for the peculiar modifications of structure which have been found,

anatomically, to obtain among the Heteropoda and Pteropoda.

_ He finds that it is possible not only to deduce the structure of the

_ Heteropoda and Pteropoda from a simple and symmetrical archetype

| by such morphological laws, but that all the cephalous Mollusca

456 Royal Society.

fall under one or other of the great types of which these have been

taken as exemplifications.

_ After a discussion of the various theories of the homology of the

organs of cephalous Mollusca proposed by Lovén, Leuckart, &c., the

following general conclusions are set forth :—

1. The cephalous Mollusca are all organized after the same fun-

damental form or archetype.

2. The arrangement of the systems of organs within this arche-

type is essentially the same as in the Vertebrata and Annulosa; that

is to say, supposing the digestive system to forra the axis of the body,

the nervous centre lies on one side of that axis; the blood-vascular

centre upon the opposite; and furthermore, the archetype is sym-

metrical with regard to a longitudinal vertical plane, passing through

these three.

3. The molluscous archetype differs from the vertebrate in the

circumstance—1, that the mouth opens upon the neural surface ; 2,

that the embryo commences its development upon the hemal side.

It differs from the articulate archetype in the latter circumstance,

and from both in the fact, that the proper appendicular system (re-

presented by the epipodium) is almost rudimentary, and that the

locomotive function is mainly performed by a development of the

neural surface.

4. The process of concentration and fusion of parts by which the

principal modifications are produced among the Vertebrata and Arti-

culata, seems almost absent in the Mollusca; the changes among

them being produced by an asymmetrical development of the prima-

rily symmetrical archetype, a process comparatively rare among the

Articulata and Vertebrata.

5. The part thus asymmetrically developed is invariably a portion

of the hemal surface, and may be called an abdomen or a post-abdo-

men, according as it is placed before or behind the anus.

6. The intestine is found to be bent in two directions among the

Mollusca, hemad or neurad, and these flexures correspond with the

development of a post-abdomen or abdomen, respectively.

7. The process of development demonstrates that the Tectibran-

chiata, Nudibranchiata and Pectinibranchiata (in part at least) belong

to the former division, and that the Cephalopoda and Pulmonata’ —

belong to the latter.

8. Anatomical evidence shows that the Heteropoda have a hemal

flexure of the intestine, the Pteropoda a neural flexure; and it is

almost certain that when their development is traced, the former will

be found to have a post-abdomen, the latter an abdomen; there will

then be two great divisions of the cephalous mollusca.

a. 'Those which develope an abdomen :—Cephalopoda, Pteropoda,

Pulmonata.

b. Those which develope a post-abdomen :—Heteropoda, Pectini-

branchiata, Tectibranchiata, Nudibranchiata.

9. Prosobranchism and Opisthobranchism may occur as secondary

results of either course of development.

10. The principal nervous centres are similar in number and posi-

sic ie 5 ia al

Linnean Society. 457

tion throughout, and differ only in their arrangement and degrees of

concentration. The amount of the latter does not correspond with

the complexity of organization of the mollusk, but rather the re-

verse.

11. The organization of the vascular system is equally uniform ;

its completeness or incompleteness is no mark of complexity or sim-

plicity of the rest of the organization.

12. The cephalous Mollusca are characterized by the possession of

a peculiar organ, the dentigerous ‘‘ tongue,” whose mode of action

resembles that of a chain-saw.

13. The locomotive apparatus, when fully developed, consists of

four parts, the propodium, mesopodium, metapodium and epipodium.

These parts are least modified in such mollusks as Atlanta or Pneu-

modermon; most altered and disguised in such as Cleodora or Oc-

topus.

14, The term ‘‘ mantle” should be confined to the surface of the

abdomen or post-abdomen, and to the prolonged edges of that surface.

15. It is of great importance to recollect that the “shells” are

probably not homologous organs in all the different forms of mollusks.

The shells of Sepia, Spirula (?), Limax, Clausilia and Helix are

developed in the thickness of the mantle.

The shells of Nautilus (?), Pectinibranchiata, &c., are developed

from the surface of the mantle by a quite distinct process.

- Certain curious differences appear to follow the externality or in-

ternality of the shell.

An external shell in a mollusk with a hemal flexure, e.g. Atlanta,

has its columellar axis below the aperture.

An external shell in a mollusk with a neural flexure, e. g. Nautilus,

has its columellar axis above the aperture.

An internal shell in a mollusk with a neural flexure, has its colu-

mellar axis below the aperture, e.g. Spirula, Clausilia, Helix.

In the course of the memoir the author incidentally introduces a

number of new, and, as he believes, important facts, with regard to

the nervous, circulatory and urinary systems; and describes at

length the mechanism of the “ tongue” and an organ similar to the

“crystalline style” of bivalves, found in the Strombide.

LINNAAN SOCIETY.

March 16, 1852.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Read a ‘“‘ Notice of the habits of Myrmica domestica, Shuck., to-

gether with some account of a means of turning the industry of

this minute Ant to account in the preparation of Skeletons of small

animals.’’ By George Daniell, Esq.

Mr. Daniell states that his attention was first attracted to this

species of Ant some years ago by observing several individuals

engaged, in the window of a house in Edwards Street, Portman

Square, in dragging to the edge of the casement a large fly, which

they finally succeeded in conveying through an opening in the wall.

458 Linnean Society.

He found by repeated observations that, like the other species of

Ants, they uniformly followed the same track, passing and repassing,

but never deviating from the beaten route. There appeared to be a

regular chain of correspondence kept up throughout the track; and

one of the ants while travelling at its usual rapid rate was frequently

observed to be stopped by another, a communication passing between

them by means of their antenne, after which each would return in

the opposite direction from that in which they were previously

travelling. ‘The track was found to terminate on the ground floor,

where it disappeared in the party wall, the adjoining house being

occupied by a baker, who stated that in the summer months these

ants were a perfect nuisance to him, spreading themselves over all

his goods, and especially the sweet cakes and sugar, of which they

carried off incredible quantities. He indicated on his premises

numerous tracks, traversed by myriads of these minute insects, each

engaged in carrying off a grain of sugar or some other description

of food to their dwelling-place, which appeared to be in the wall of

the cellar, by the side of the oven, and whence he found it impos-

sible to dislodge them. ‘To diminish their numbers he was in the

habit of hanging against the wall a boiled sheep’s liver, which they

speedily covered, and then plunging it into boiling water; but even

this wholesale destruction had little apparent effect in thinning their

ranks. In the same vault there were also multitudes of crickets’

(Gryllus domesticus) and black-beetles (Blatta orientalis, L.), in every

stage of growth and variety of colour, from the deep black to the

pale albino ; all of which appeared to entertain the greatest dread of

these apparently insignificant creatures, retreating precipitately:

when they found themselves in the vicinity of a track, while several

of the ants would immediately rush out of the line to chastise their

intrusion. srg

It now occurred to Mr. Daniell that he might make the laborious

habits and fondness for animal food evinced by these ants serviceable

to himself in the preparation of skeletons. With this view he

placed some mice and small birds in boxes against the wall, but

although the ants immediately attacked them, so great was the heat

of the oven that the subjects were dried hard, and generally.

abandoned after the brains had been eaten out. Several other

attempts in different parts of the cellar also failed, the skeletons

being frequently destroyed by the crickets and beetles after the ants

had abandoned them, until which time no other insect could approach

without undergoing the punishment of death. Mr. Daniell then

determined to endeavour to establish a colony in a cellar adjoining

the oven and parallel with it, in consequence of which proximity

the wall gave out a certain degree of warmth when the oven

was heated. He first placed the most inviting food in the warmest

corner, to which he had fitted a box with holes in it on the side next |

the wall, large enough to admit the ants, but not the larger inseets ;

and this failing to attract them, he caught a large number from a

piece of liver placed as a trap, and shook them into a box from which

they had no means of escape, in which he closed them with abun-

oe a

ye ee ee

Linnean Society. 459

dance of food, but after seeking in vain for an outlet they congre-

gated in one corner of the box and eventually died. His next ex-

pedient was to catch them in great numbers and turn them loose in

the cellar; and repeating this process for several evenings, he had

at length the satisfaction to see a track established extending from

a small hole in the wall to the box in which their food was deposited.

After some time another track was formed to another corner of the

box at right angles with the first; and these tracks were never

abandoned while he continued to avail himself of their services,

which he did not cease to employ until he had completed by their.

means upwards of a hundred beautiful skeletons of small quadrupeds

and birds, reptiles and fishes, the greater part of which are now in

the collection of the British Museum. In the course of these ex-

periments he made the following further observations on their habits.

_ They will not touch anything tainted, and prefer animals in the

blood to such as have been previously cleaned. The plan which Mr.

Daniell found to answer best was to take the object quite fresh, to

skin it, extract the viscera and cut off as much as possible of the

flesh, and then to place it inthe box. Itisseldom that a skeleton is

so entirely cleaned as to require no further preparation; but the

smaller skeletons when taken quite fresh require only a very little

subsequent maceration to complete the process, the more delicate

and difficult portions, such as the cranium and vertebre, being almost

always cleaned in preference to the ribs and limbs ; and even those

portions of muscle which are not removed by the ants are generally

so much detached by them that a slight brushing or two after well-

soaking the object suffices to remove them, One of the great ad-

vantages of this mode of preparing small skeletons was found to

consist in their perfectly preserving their natural size, the ants seldom

destroying the ligaments and the bones consequently not requiring

wires for their attachment, which in some of the more minute skeletons

it would be difficult if not impossible to apply. The labourers require,

however, careful watching, as after having eaten the muscles, they

occasionally destroy the ligaments, and even commence carrying off

the smaller bones; a smart tap on the box is sufficient to drive them

away from the object, on which they all immediately move off in a

regular line to whichsoever opening they have entered at, leaving

the skeleton free. When the objects are too large, they quit them |

suddenly after devouring what they think proper, so that sometimes

where overnight thousands might have been seen at work, in the

morning not one is to be found in the box; and nothing is gained

by re-moistening tlic object, for they appear never again to touch

anything which they have once abandoned. In the summer their.

vitality is great; from the cavities of a skeleton that bad been three

days immersed in water and afterwards placed in the sun, several

ants were seen to emerge and to become as lively as ever, But in

winter exposure to cold air, or immersion in water, when the ther-

mometer is below the freezing-point, produces instant death, sub-

sequent exposure to warmth failing in these circumstances to revive

them. Their sense of smell appears to be very acute; if the finger

460 Linnean Society.

be drawn across one of their tracks, multitudes rapidly congregate

about the spot, examining it and sending out runners to explore the

vicinity. But if one of them be crushed by the finger and quickly

removed, the next comer is instantly arrested in his progress, encir-

cles the spot, ascertains the death, and communicates the intelligence

with such inconceivable rapidity that the whole line falls into con-

fusion, numbers rush to the place, parties set off in pursuit of the

offender, and woe to the unfortunate cricket that happens to be

found in the vicinity of the track. By degrees the tumult subsides ;

for some time afterwards, however, every ant that passes makes a

halt, but without quitting the line. Light does not appear to have

any effect on their operations; they are not disturbed by the ap-

proach of a candle, although the slightest touch of the box instan-

taneously effects their complete dispersion ; and the alternations of

night and day appear to make no difference in their numbers, per-

ceptions, or labour.

Mr. Daniell was never able positively to ascertain the place of

their retreat; he believes it, however, to have been in the earth

below the oven, and is inclined to think that they form a nest, inas-

much as they frequently carry off portions of vegetable fibre and

even the smaller bones, probably for the purpose of building, as they

were always carried off entire, and he could never observe that any

portion of a bone was eaten. In consequence of this latter propen-

sity he was never able to procure the skeleton of the small species

of Gasterosteus, for example, entire, notwithstanding the closest

watching. A single ant will carry away a rib of these small fishes ;

but in removing a larger bone they act simultaneously, some

dragging it forwards and others pushing it on with their heads from

behind. If, in ascending the side of the box, the bone fell to the

bottom, they returned and recommenced their labour, never abandon-

ing an attempt in which they had once engaged. The largest portion

of bone which Mr. Daniell has seen them remove, consisted of the

ulna and radius of Mus Messorius, with the carpus attached. ‘They

appeared more eager in carrying off portions of bone in the months

of January and February than at any other period of the year; but

they worked most rapidly in the summer months, and it is astonishing

with what celerity and perseverance they continued their labours,

the most rapidly cleaned skeletons being always the best and whitest,

the periosteum being entirely removed. With such pertinacity do

they penetrate every cavity, that, minute as they are, they are

frequently victims to the ardour of their attack, becoming fixed, for

example, between the plates of the cranium, in the cellular texture

-of which they may be seen entangled and dead. Although, as before

observed, very susceptible of cold, they appear also to be affected

by heat; for in the summer months they were seen to bring forth

their pupz, when the oven was heated, from the various apertures

in the wall, and place them in a box by the side, in which a supply

of provision was always provided for them, and to return with them

when the oven was cooled. Myriads of them might in this way be

seen heaped together, but a tap on the side of the box caused a

Linnean Society. 46}

general rush towards the objects of their solicitude, which were

carried off with inconceivable rapidity. The pupz are white, and

the whole duty of transporting them devolves upon the males or

workers, of whom each female always has several attendant upon her.

Young females are first observed towards the end of January, when

the abdomen begins to be enlarged and of a whitish colour; they

continue to increase in size until June, at which time the females

appear to be most numerous. They progress more slowly than the

workers, and deposit their eggs as they move along, which are in-

stantly carried off by the attendants. ‘The greatest number of pupz

are seen between June and September; but the eggs (which are

white and have the appearance of grains of sand) are carried to and

fro during the whole of the summer. Mr. Daniell noticed that

skeletons cleaned by the ants were rapidly dissolved in a solution of

chloride of lime; while others prepared by maceration remained for

some time in a similar solution without injury and were much im-

proved in whiteness.

The species was determined by Mr. F. Smith to be the Myrmica

domestica, Shuck. <A notice of ‘the domestic habits” of this Ant,

by the late Dr. Bostock, in relation especially to the almost incredi-

ble numbers in which it makes its appearance, the annoyance thereby

created, and the means to be employed for its destruction, is printed

in the 2nd volume of the ‘ Transactions of the Entomological Society,’

and observations on the same subject by several members of that

Society are also to be found in its ‘ Journal of Proceedings.’

April 6.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Adam White, F.L.S., made some observations on the subject

of Alpine and Arctic plants flowering immediately on the disappear-

ance of the snow, in reference chiefly to an observation by Dr. Lortet,

recorded in the ‘ Annales de la Société Royale d’Agriculture, &c.

de Lyon,’ vol. vii. p. 385, to which Mr. Curtis, F.L.S., had called the

attention of the Society at the previous Meeting. From Dr. Lortet’s

note it appears that he had observed Soldanella alpina, L., on the

Alps of Switzerland and Dauphiny flowering beneath the last re-

maining crust of snow within a dome-like cavity, or piercing

through that crust, above which its flowers rose while its vegetating

organs remained concealed beneath. Mr. White quoted various re-

corded and unrecorded instances of the flowering of plants following

immediately on the deliquescence of the snow, and in particular

some passages from the manuscript journal of Capt. Beechey, with

which he had been favoured by that gentleman; but in none of

these cases was there any well-authenticated instance of a phzno-

_gamic plant being seen in full flower beneath a covering of snow,

and M. Lortet’s observation was, as far as Mr. White was aware, the

only one proceeding to that extent.

May 4.—Robert Brown, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Hogg, F.L.S., communicated a letter ‘‘ On the Artificial in-

troduction of a breed of Salmon into the river Swale, and a tributary

462 Linnean Society.

stream in Yorkshire,” which appeared in the ‘Durham Advertiser”

for April 16th in the present year, under the signature of Isaac

Fisher, together with an unpublished letter from the same gentleman

in answer to a request from Mr. Hogg for further information ; and

added some observations of his own upon the same subject. From

the letter published in the ‘Durham Advertiser,’ it appeared that

Mr. Richard Harrison of Richmond had procured from the river

Tees a brood of spawn, taken and milted from the living fish, which

he deposited on the 29th of December last in a small tributary of the

river Swale. On the 21st of March two of the ova were brought to.

the house of Mr. Fisher and placed in a vessel of water, the foetal

signs were clearly distinguished, and in two days more they became

living fish; he is consequently satisfied that the salmon is now

restored to the river Swale, from which it has of late years been

banished. In answer to Mr. Hogg’s inquiries, Mr. Fisher states

further that the ova and milt were obtained in the Tees, according

to the directions given by Boccius, Shaw, and ‘‘ Ephemera,” in his

‘Book of the Salmon.’ They were taken from three female and

two male fishes on the night of the 27th of December, and not depo-

sited in the gravel of a small rivulet until the 29th of the same

month. Part of the ova were also placed in a gravel bed in the

river Swale; but of the result of this part of the experiment Mr.

Fisher has no present information. In one part the ova were

placed too deep in the gravel, and on examination were found to be

addled; while there is every reason to believe that those which were

placed about 3 inches in the gravel have all been hatched. A live

fish brought from the spawning- bed leaped out of the vessel in which

it was kept and speedily died, and the two mentioned in the pub-

lished letter also died in the course of about ten days, probably in

consequence of the disturbance to which they were exposed from the

curiosity of those who came to see them, and who were desirous of

observing the extreme velocity with which they moved round the

vessel, even while the vitelline bag was still attached to the abdo-

men, ‘he spawning-bed was formed in a small yun of spring-water

which is never affected by the frost; it was cleared of minnows,

young trout, &c., and at each end of a space of about twenty yards,

whins were placed of a good height, kept down with stones, to pre-

vent the entrance into it of other fish. After some observations re-

specting minnows, Mr. Fisher adds: ‘‘ We have proved the fact that

the river Swale may be again stocked with salmon, provided we can

make arrangements with the proprietor of a mill-wear, twenty-five

miles from this place, to let the fish, on coming up from the sea,

have ‘free-gap’ from time to time.”

On these letters Mr. Hogg observes, that it seems to him there

can be little (if any) doubt that, with the precautions indicated, a

vast increase of salmon might be obtained, and a sure and valuable

source of wealth be secured in many suitable streams in which no

salmon are at present found; and the same artificial process of

breeding might likewise be applied to trout with an equally advan-

tageous result. He suggests that the breeding might also be carried

Miscellaneous. 463

on in large wooden boxes or cases, having a layer of gravel at the

bottom 4 or 5 inches deep, in which the ova and milt, or impreg-

nated ova, might be buried, and the cases filled with pure water,

which might be kept constantly fresh by allowing a small stream to

tun into them. When the fry had grown sufficiently strong, they

might be conveyed to any distance in tubs filled with water, which

might be occasionally renewed, and having tops perforated with

holes. On the subject of the distribution of the species of fresh-

water fishes, Mr. Hogg refers to the presence of trout and other

fishes in mountain streams and alpine lakes, for which it seems dif-

ficult to account ; but he suggests, that as the presence of unusual

plants in similar circumstances is only to be accounted for by the

seeds having been dropped by birds, the problem with regard to

fishes might be naturally solved in an analogous manner, their fry

having been conveyed to these distant localities by means of water-

birds.

MISCELLANEOUS.

On a Venomous Fly of Southern Africa. By MM. W. Osweiu

and ARNAUD.

Tus fly, called by the natives Tsetsé, is the same that was found

to the east of the Limpopo, and which infests the country of Sebi-

toani; it is fortunately confined to certain localities from which it

never removes. The inhabitants lead their cattle within a certain

distance of the places where it is found, and if they are compelled, in

moving about, to cross those portions of the country infested by the

insect, they choose for this purpose a moonlight night in the winter,

because the insect does not bite during the nights of the cold season.

From what I have seen, I think that it only requires three or four

flies to kill a large ox. We examined about a score of ours which

had been bitten and died; they all presented the same appearances.

On removing the skin, the muscles had a slimy aspect and appeared

much altered. The stomach and intestines were healthy ; the heart,

the lungs, the liver, sometimes all at once, and always one or other of

these organs, were affected. The heart especially attracted our at-

tention ; it was no longer a hard muscle, but a contracted and ema-

ciated organ which might be crushed by the least pressure of its

walls; it resembled flesh which had been soaked in water. The

blood was diminished in quantity and altered in quality. The largest

ox did not furnish more than twenty pints ; it was thick and albu-

minous. The hands, when immersed in this blood, were not moles

by it. The poison appeared to spread in the blood and to change

the rest of the organs through its intervention.

I believe that all domestic animals, except the goat, die of the bite

of this insect ; calves and other young animals are secure from it

during the whole time that they are sucking ; man and all wild ani-

mals are also proof against its venom.— Comptes Rendus, October 16,

1852, p. 560.

464 Miscellaneous.

At the meeting of the “Académie des Sciences” on the 26th Oct.,

the following note from a M. Arnaud, who has travelled in Africa,

was brought before the Academy :—

_ From the inspection which I was able to make of the fly brought

by Mr. Oswell, at the ‘Soci¢té de Géographie,’ it appeared to me

that it was identical with that found in the Isle of Sennar, between

15° and 11° N. latitude. Its repeated bites also kill the animals,

which compels the keepers of herds, especially of oxen, to leave the

country during the season in which it is most troublesome, that is to

say, from January to May; they take refuge on the banks of the

Nile, where this fly very rarely occurs.

*«‘T have been bitten by one of these flies, and the wound resulting

from its bite lasted more than four months with msupportable pain,

which sometimes returns even now.’’—Comptes Rendus, Oct. 26,

1852, p. 603.

Experimental Researches upon the Temperature of Reptiles, and on

the modifications which it undergoes under various circumstances.

By M. Ave. Dumérit.

From these experiments it appears that frogs have a Propsr tem-

perature, superior to that of the water they inhabit. When this

water has a temperature of 59° to 64° F., the difference in their favour

was in no case less than 0°54° F. or more than 1°26° F. But when

transported into much cooler water, this difference became much

greater; thus the temperature of the frogs remained at 47°48° F.,

when the water in which they were immersed was only at 45°5° F.

The raniform Batrachia therefore display a certain power of re-

sistance to cold. M. Duméril has observed that this power was

maintained as long as the temperature of the water was kept above

the freezing-point, more especially when the cooling was not sudden ;

but when the temperature of the surrounding medium was reduced

below this point, the frogs became congealed ; this, however, did not

always cause the death of the animals submitted to experiment. Thus

the author has several times been able to revivify frogs which were

in a complete state of rigidity, and the internal temperature of which

was fully 1° below the freezing-point, by placing them in contact,

first with melting ice, and then with water becoming gradually less

and less cold.

Serpents have a proper temperature, which scarcely exceeds that of

the medium which they inhabit. But in order to place this fact be-

yond all chance of error, it is necessary only to observe these reptiles

at a period when neither digestion nor the change of skin is going

on; the latter producing a diminution of temperature varying from

0°45° to 1°8° F., the operation of digestion, on the other hand, aug-

menting the temperature from 3°6° to 7:2° F.

M. Duméril has also proved that serpents offer less resistance to

increased heat than the frogs; this is owing to the scaly covering of

the former, which almost entirely prevents the cutaneous evaporation

which takes place with so much facility through the naked skin of

the Batrachians.—Comptes Rendus, May 31, 1852, p. 837.

Meteorological Observations. 465

LATE APPEARANCE OF THE SWALLOW.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Croydon, 24th Nov. 1852.

GENTLEMEN,—I beg to bring to your notice an unusual visitation of

Swallows, which occurred on the 22nd instant in this neighbourhood.

About a dozen or more of these birds were observed flying in cir-

cuits of about 100 yards, keeping close to one building. It was

about half-past eight o’clock in the morning when they were first

perceived, and the weather was very dark and cloudy.

T have been induced to forward the above communication, as I

find in White’s ‘ Natural History of Selborne’ that the latest notice

of these birds being seen is about the middle of November, except in

one instance, when two were perceived on the 23rd of that month.

Iam, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

G. Bryanr.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR oct. 1852.

Chiswick.—October 1, Fine. 2. Uniformly overcast: very fine: clear. 3. Clear:

very fine: clear: slight rain. 4. Constant and very heavy rain: clear. 5. Clear

and boisterous. 6. Rain: clear at night. 7. Cloudy: fine: uniformly overcast.

8. Overcast: fine. 9. Clear: very fine: rain. 10. Overcast. 11,12. Very fine.

13. Fine: dusky haze. 14. Foggy: uniform haze: at night clear above, hazy

near the horizon. 15, 16. Foggy: cold haze: clear above at night. 17. Dense

fog. 18. Very fine throughout. 19. Foggy: very fine: dense fog at night. ~

20. Foggy: exceedingly fine: hazy. 21. Foggy: hazy: rain. 22. Hazy: rain.

23. Cloudy: rain. 24. Cloudy: very fine: heavy rain at night. 25. Heavy rain:

clear at night. 26. Slight fog: rain. 27. Rain. 28. Densely overcast : cloudy:

clear. 29. Clear: overcast: rain. 30. Overcast: rain. 31. Clear and fine : bright

sun ; overcast at night.

Mean temperature of the month .........660...008 be FRE siete 46°38

Mean temperature of Oct. 1851 —.......eecessssccseovenecns cee 51 +25

Mean temperature of Oct. for the last twenty-six years... 50 °50

Average amount of rain in Oct. ......seesseceeseeeesenecesseeees 2°60 inches.

Boston.—Oct.1, 2. Fine. 3. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 4,5. Cloudy: rain a.m.

and p.m. 6. Cloudy: rain p.m. 7. Fine: rainearly a.m. 8,9. Fine. 10. Cloudy.

11—13. Fine. 14. Foggy. 15—17. Cloudy. 18. Fine. 19. Cloudy. 20. Fine.

21, 22. Rain: rain a.m. 23. Cloudy: rain a.m. 24, 25. Fine. 26. Fine:

rain p.m. 27. Fine: rain A.M.and p.m. 28. Rain:raina.m. 29, 30. Cloudy.

31. Fine: rain early a.m.

Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Oct. 1. Clear : hoar-frost A.M. : fine : hoar-frost p.m.

2. Rain. 3. Bright a.m.: showersp.m. 4, Cloudy. 5. Cloudy a.m.: clear p.m.

6, 7. Sleet-showers. 8. Sleet-showers A.M.: cloudy p.m. 9. Drizzle a.m. :

cloudy p.m. 10. Showers. 11, 12. Bright a.m.: cloudy p.m. 13. Rain a.m. :

cloudy pm. 14. Cloudy a.m.: cloudy: fine p.m. 15. Bright a.m.: clear: fine

‘pm. 16. Fine: hoar-frost a.m.: hazy: fine p.m. 17. Fine: cloudy a.m.: rain

p.M. 18. Rain a.m.: cloudy p.m. 19. Drizzle. 20. Cloudy a.m.: drizzle p.m.

21. Fine a.m.: cloudy: fine p.m. 22. Hazy a.m.: drizzlep.m. 23. Cloudy a.m.:

clear: fine p.m. 24. Clear: fine A.m.: clear: fine: aurorap.M. 25. Clear: fine.

26, 27..Showers. 28. Showers: bright a.m.: clear p.m. 29. Cloudy. 30.

Showers. 31. Rain a.m.: cloudy P.M. .

Mean temperature of Oct. for twenty-five previous years ...... 47°55

Mean temperature of this month ......... seadvavdacaovuedsnbspues 46 *88

Average quantity of rain in Oct. for six years .....+.++ sessonss 4°39 inches,

Ann, & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. x. 30

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| ADAMS, Messrs. H. and A., on a

q new arrangement of the British

__ Rissoe, 358.

| Alexander, Dr. R. C., on the leaf o

_ Guarea grandifolia, 224.

_ Algee, on the formation of swarming-

_ eells in the, 401.

Anderson, T., on the composition of

_ the fluid from the leavesof Gram, 64.

Animals, marine, observations on

keeping, alive in unchanged sea-

| water, 263.

a pels. characters of the new genus,

_ Anser brachyrhynchus, notice con-

cerning, 74.

_ Ant, on a new species of, 441.

| Anthophorabia, observations on the

_ — genus, 303.

_ Aptychus, observations on, 355.

_ Aquilaria Agallocha, on the, 221.

_ Arachnida, on the circulation of the

blood in the, 150.

_ Araneidea, on some newly discovered

; species of, 93; on the British spe-

cies of, 182, 248.

_ Arenaria serpyllifolia, on a monstrosity

of, 316.

Argonauta, new species of, 365.

_ Arnaud, M., on the Tsetséof Southern

Africa, 464

_ Arremon, new species of, 364.

Arvicola, new species of, 444.

_ Atelides, description of the new ge-

- nus, 360, 136.

_ Babington, C. C., on a supposed new

a _—- of Eleocharis, 15, on the

rchis speciosa of Host, 65.

Baird, Dr. W., on several new species

_ of Entomostraca, 56.

a description of the genus,

yor C. S., on some British Crustacea,

Bdellium, notes on, 222.

| Belemnite, on the structure of the,’

14, 158; on a new species of, 355.

467

INDEX to VOL. X.

Belemnoteuthis, observations on the

genus, 18.

Benson, W. H., on the genus Cyclo-

stoma, with descriptions of new

species, 268; on an Australian Di-

ommatina, and on some new East

ndian Helicidz, 348.

Berkeley, Rev. M. J., on the occur-

rence of an eatable Nostoc in the

Aretic regions and in the moun-

tains of Central Asia, 301.

Birds, on the migration of, 285; de-

scriptions of new, 366, 449.

Blackwall, J., on some newly dis-

covered species of Araneidea, 93 ;

catalogue of British spiders, 182,

248.

Blanchard, E., on the circulation of

the blood in the Arachnida, 150.

Books, new :—Pritchard’s History of

Infusorial Animalcules, 134 ; Lea’s

Synopsis of the Family of Naiades,

136 ; Horsfield’s Plantz Javanice

Rariores, 213; Rymer Jones’s Na-

tural History of Animals, 362;

Smith’s Park sand PleasureGrounds,

363; Guérin-Menéville’s Revue et

Magasin de Zoologie, 364, 440.

Botanical Society of Edinburgh, pro-

ceedings of the, 62, 228.

Bowerbank, J. S., on the Pterodactyles

of the chalk formation, 372.

Brachiopoda, on some new, 421.

British Museum, natural-history col-

lections at the, 392.

Bryant, G:, on the late appearance of

the Swallow, 465.

Busk, G., on the priority of the term

Polyzoa for the Ascidian Polypes,

352, :

Callimome, new species of, 47.

Campanulariade, on the reproduction

of the, 81.

Candona, new species of, 56.

Capulus ?, new species of, 190,

Carduelisspinus, notice concerning, 71.

Carter, H. J., on the form and struc-

468 .

ture of the shell of Operculina Ara-

bica, 161.

i «saa sulcidens, description of,

417.

Cedar, on the growth of a, 301.

Cephalopods, on the homologies of

the, 1.

Chalcedectus, new species of, 47.

Chaleidites, new species of, 45.

Chaunax, characters of the new genus,

52.

Chemnitziz, on some of the animals

of the, 195.

Chicory, on the eeconomic uses of, 63.

Chimpanzee, on the skeleton of the,

Choiropotamus, new species of, 281.

Cicer arietinum, analysis of the fluid

from the leaves of, 64.

Clark, W., on some of the rarer

British Gasteropodous Mollusea,

22, 77; on the genus Lepton, 129 ;

on some of the animals of the

Yhemnitziz, 195; on some unde-

scribed animals of the British

Risso, 254.

Clarke, B., on the position of the

raphe in anatropal ovules, 286.

Clausilia, new species of, 350.

Clionites, new species of, 354.

Clouston, C., on the sun column as

seen at Sandwick Manse, Orkney,

78.

Cobbold, Dr., on the embryogeny of

Orchis, Gesneria, and other Phane-

rogamia, 238,

Cohn, Dr. F., on a new genus of the

family of Volvocinez, 321, 401.

apes natrix, on the distribution of,

151.

Columbelle, new species of, 367.

Colymbus_ septentrionalis, observa-

tions on, 398.

Coste, M., on the preservation of the

fecundated eggs of fishes, 76.

Cottle, T., on fossil Pachydermata in

Canada, 395.

Couch, J., on the discovery of a spe-

cies of Onchidium allied to O. cel-

ticum, 290.

Cristasaura, characters of the new

genus, 439,

Crustacea, on some, dredged in the

Shetlands, 356.

Cycadez, on some specimens of recent

and fcssil, 225.

INDEX.

Cyclostoma, new species of, 268.

Cypreea, new species of, 367.

Cypridina, new species of, 58.

Cypris, new species of, 56.

Cysticerci, on the metamorphoses of —

the, 431.

Cythere, new species of, 57.

Cythereis, new species of, 57.

Dallas, W. S., on a new Hemipterous

insect forming the type of a new —

genus, 359, 436.

Daniell, G., on the habits of Myrmica —

domestica, 457.

Diadema, new British species of, 91.

Dick, A. B., analysis of the Sabal um-

braculifera, 63.

Diphyllidia lineata, on the oceurrence

of, 237. ‘ P

Diplommatina, on an Australian spe-

cies of, 348. '

Discina, new species of, 421.

Discophora, characters of the new ge-

nus, 118, : siaet

Dobie, Dr. W. M., on the observation

of cilia in Grantia, 317.

Doliolum, observations on the genus,

119,

Doris, on the anatomy of, 225.

Drassus, on the British species of, 97.

Dredging expedition on the coast of

the Isle of Man, account of a, 282,

434,

Drosera rotundifolia, on the irritability

of the leaves of, 238.

Duméril, A., on the temperature

reptiles, 464.

Dysdera, on the British species of 250,

Eccyliomphalus, new species of, 195.

Echinanthus, new species of, 445.

Echinolampide, new genera and spe~

cies of, 444.

Eleocharis, on a supposed new species

of, 19.

Emberiza miliaria, notice concerning,

71.

Embleton, Dr. D., on the anatomy of —

Doris, 225.

Emmotum, on the affinities of the ge-

nus, 176; new species of, 180.

Entomostraca, on several new species —

of, 56.

Epéira, British species of, 99, 182,

248. m4

Equisetacez, on the presence of fluo-

rine in the stems of, 228. :

Euomphalus, new, species of, 193,

Eupelmus, new species of, 45.

Zyton, T. C., account of a dredging

_ expedition on the coast of the Isle

__ of Man, 282, 434.

Farrella producta, notice respecting,

Fibularia, new species of, 447.

Fisher, J., on the artificial introduc-

tion of a breed of salmon into the

river Swale, 461.

Fishes, on the preservation of the fe-

_ cundated eggs of, 76.

Fluorine, on the presence of, in the

_ stems of Graminez, Equisetacee,

__ and other plants, 228.

Fly, venomous, of Southern Africa,

description of a, 463.

Foraminifera, on the structure of the,

ran

Forbes, Prof. E., on the supposed

analogy between the life of an in-

dividual and the duration of a

species, 59; on the marine Mollusca

discovered during the voyages of the

Herald and Pandora, 305.

orest trees of British Guiana, on the

uses of the, in naval and civil

architecture, 294.

orster, T., on the migration of birds

and other natural phenomena, 285.

*ringilla linaria, notice concerning, 71.

Fryer, R., on a case of poisoning by

| the bulbs of Homeria collina, 236.

fulton, J., on the ceconomic uses of

_ chicory, 63.

sus, new species of, 309.

askoin, J. S., on new species of Co-

_ lumbelle and Cyprea, 367.

zasterosteus aculeatus, on the nidifi-

cation of, 241, 395.

zer'be, M. Z., on two new species of

_ Arvicola, 444.

zesneria, on the embryogeny of, 238.

#lossina, new species of, 141.

josse, P. H., on the sloughing of the

spider-crab, 210; on keeping marine

animals and plants alive in un-

changed sea-water, 263

‘ould, J., on the genus Baleniceps,

3866.

ramineze, on the presence of fluorine

in the stems of, 228.

fvantia, observation of cilia in, 317.

iray, Dr. J. E., on a new species of

| Wart-pig, 280; on a new genus of

Scincide, 281; on the tongues of

INDEX,

469

Mollusea, 411; on several new

genera of reptiles, 437; on some

new jebhs and species of Scutellide

and Echinolampide, 444 ; on a new

genus and family of Cyclosaurian

lizards, 448.

rae O., on Arenaria serpyllifolia,

316.

Gray, T., on a new species of Strom-

bus, 429.

Guarea grandifolia, notes on the leaf

of, 224.

Guérin-Méneville’s, F. E., Revue et

Magasin de Zoologie, 364, 440; on

a new species of ant, 441.

Gurney, J. H., on the distribution of

Coluber natrix, 151.

Hancock, A., on the nervous system

of Ommastrephes todarus, 1; on

the anatomy of Doris, 225; on the

occurrence of Diphyllidia lineata,

237; on the nidification of Gaste-

rosteus aculeatus and Gasterosteus

spinachia, 241, 395.

a S., on some Corfiote shells,

Harpagus, new species of, 452.

Harcug, M., ereetieits for making

and preserving microscopical pre-

parations, 311.

Hartman, C., notice concerning Lin-

nzeus’s Iter Dalecarlicum, 66.

Heer, Prof. O., on the vegetation of

European and North American trees

transported to Madeira, 396.

Helicidze, on some new East Indian,

348.

Helix, new species of, 348.

Hemithyris, new species of, 424.

Henfrey, A., on the structure of the

stem of Victoria Regia, 398.

Himantopus melanopterus,

concerning, 72.

Hincks, Rev. T., on the reproduction

of the Campanulariade, with a de-

scription of a new species of Lao-

medea, 81.

Hippolyte, new British species of, 357.

Hogg, Mr., on the capture of two spe-

cies of pipe-fish, 294.

Homeria collina, on a case of poison-

ing by the bulbs of, 236.

Hooker, Dr. J. D., on the occurrence

of an eatable Nostoe in the Arctic

regions and in the mountains of

Central Asia, 301. ‘

notice

470

Hormosiphon arcticus, account of the,

302.

Horsfield’s, Dr., Plantee Javaniee Ra-

riores, reviewed, 213.

~ Huxley, T. H., on the'genus Doliolum,

127 3° on the morphology of the

cephalous Mollusca, 455.

Icacimacez, on some genera of the,

30, 108, 176.

Infusorial Animaleules, Pritchard’s

History of, living and fossil, re-

viewed, 134.

Insect-wax of China, notice of the, 152.

Iodine, on the presence of, in various

plants, 231.

Iphisa, characters of the new genus,

449.

Jones’s,T. R., Natural History of Ani-

mals, reviewed, 362.

Kaup, Dr., on some new birds, 449.

Kneeland, Dr. S., jun., on the ske-

_ leton of Troglodytes gorilla, 23.

- Krohn, Dr. A., on the genus Doliolum

and its species, 119.

Labrus, new species of, 51.

Laomedea, new species of, 81.

Lea’s, Isaac, Synopsis of the Family of

Naiades, reviewed, 136,

Leodia, characters of the new genus,

446.

Lepidurus, new species of, 56.

Leptena, new species of, 427.

Lepton, observations on the genus,

129

Leptorhynchus, characters of the new

genus, 54.

Lingula, new species of, 429.

Linnzan Society, proceedings of the,

66, 216, 285, 457.

Linmnseus’ 8 Iter Dalecarlicum, notice

concerning, 66.

Linyphia, on the British species of,

98.

Littorina palliata, observations on, 75.

Lizards, on a new genus and family

of, 448.

Loftus, W. K., on some plants yield-

ing foetid gums, 290.

Lophosaura, characters of the new

genus, 438.

Lowe, E. J., on the land and fresh-

water Mollusca found near Not-

tingham, 216.

Lowe, Rev. R. T., on Madeiran fishes,

49.

Lycosa, on the British species of, 93.

eee

INDEX.

Macadam, S., on the presence |

iodine in various plants, 231.

M‘Andrew, R., on the Mollusca ob

served during a short visit to t

Canary and Madeira islands, 100.

M‘Coy, Prof., on some new Lowe

Paleeozoic Mollusca, 189 ; on so

new Brachiopoda, 421,

Macgowan, Dr. J. D., on the uses ‘

the Stillingia sebifera or tallow

tree, with a notice of the Pe-la, a

insect-wax of China, 152.

Maclureia, new species of, 194.

M‘Nab, Mr., on the transmission 0

foreign seeds in soil, 64.

Mantell, G. A., on the structure of th

Belemnite, 14,

Mellita, new species of, 446.

Meteorological observations, 79, 168

239, 319, 399, 465.

Microscopical preparations, directo

for making and preserving, 311. —

Miers, J., on some genera 0: "the Ica

cinaceze, 30, 108, 176; on two ney

genera of plants from the a

leras of Chili, 291.

Milde, Dr., on the sins

leaves of Drosera ait

Moggridge, M., on a new locality

lostoma mammosum, 76; on Co

lymbus septentrionalis, 398. 3

Mollusca, on some rare British gas

teropodous, 22,77; Trish, focaliti

for some, 77, 937, 310; observes

during a short visit to the Canar

and Madeira islands, account of the

100; on some new Lower Palzzoic

189; catalogue of recent land an

freshwater; found at Nottingham

216; onthe marine, discovered du

ring ‘the voyages of the eal A

Pandora, 305; on the tongues of

411; on the morphology o the ce

phalous, 455. 4

Monacanthus, new species of, 55.

Montagne, M., on a parasite which 1

developed on the surface of certain

alimentary substances and cause

— to appear covered with blood

Moore, D., on a variety of the Ore hi

mascula found in the county 0

Wicklow, 65. a

Morris, J., on a species of Belemnite

pe observations on Aptychu

INDEX.

Mortonia, characters of the new ge-

_ nus, 448.

Mosses, on the process of fecundation

_ in, 318.

Murchisonia, new species of, 191.

Myrmica, new species of, 442.

Myrmica domestica, on a means of

_ preparing skeletonsof small animals

y the industry of, 457.

aiades, Lea’s Synopsis of the Family

of, reviewed, 136.

Nassa, new species of, 308.

Natica, new species of, 307.

Natural History Collections at the

British Museum, 392.

Newport, G., on the genus Anthopho-

- rabia, 303.

Nicholson, Dr. B. A. R., on Bdellium,

222.

Nisus, new species of, 451.

Nostoc, on the occurrence of an eat-

able, 301.

Nymphea alba, var. major, 157.

Jidemia perspicillata, notice concern-

_ ing, 72.

Immastrephes todarus, on the nervous

_ system of, 1.

Onchidium, on as ecies of, 290.

ie on the British species of,

Be 25

Operculina Arabica, on the form and

_ structure of the shell of, 161.

Orchis, on the embryogeny of, 238.

Orchis mascula, on a variety of the,

Ornithological notes, 69.

Oswell, W., on a venomous fly of

_ Southern Africa, 463.

Owen, Prof., on a new species of Pte-

_ rodactyle, 378.

Ox + aiceg observations on the genus,

}Oxytheca, observations on the genus,

292

PPechydermata, on fossil, in Canada,

Bm 395.

alecontology of the Isle of Wight,

3 contributions to the, 87.

Papilio, notes on some species of,

‘PPentamerus, new species of, 426.

Perilampus, new species of, 45.

Pheenodon, characters of the new ge-

‘nus, 52.

“WPhilibert, M. H., on the process of

_ fecundation in mosses, 318.

¢ 4

471

Philodromus, on the British species

of, 96.

— capture of two species of,

Pipilopsis, new species of, 364.

Pipra, new species of, 365.

Pipreidea, new species of, 364.

Planaxis, new species of, 307.

Plants, localities for rare British, 19,

65, 76, 157, 316; on the presence

of fluorme and iodine in various,

228, 231; on keeping marine, alive

in unchanged sea-water, 263; on the

flowering of Alpine and Arctic, im-

mediately on the disappearance of

the snow, 461.

Platea, on the affinities of the genus,

108 ; new species of, 110.

Pleurotomaria, new species of, 190.

Polyzoa, on the priority of the term,

for the Ascidian Polypes, 352.

Pritchard’s, A., History of Infusorial

Animalcules, reviewed, 134.

Ptenosaura, characters of the new

genus, 438.

Pterodactyles of the chalk formation,

on the, 372, 378.

Purpura, new species of, 308.

Reinhardt, J., on Carterodon sulci-

dens, 417.

Reptiles, new genera of, 437 ; on the

temperature of, 464.

Rissoz, on some undescribed animals

of the British, 254; new arrange-

ment of British, 358.

Roxburgh, the late Dr. W., on the

Aquilaria Agallocha, or aloe-wood

tree of commerce, 221.

Royal Institution of Great Britain,

proceedings of the; 59.

Royal Society, proceedings of the,

225, 455.

Sabal umbraculifera, analysis of, 63.

Salmon, on the artificial introduction

! . breed of, into the river Swale,

461.

— on the British species of,

Sanguinolites, new species of, 189.

Sarcostigma, on the structure and

affinities of the genus, 112; new

species of, 117.

Sauresia, on the new genus, 281.

Saurophagus, new species of, 453.

Savignia, on the British species of,

253,

472

Schcenobates, on the British species of,

252.

Schomburgk, Sir R. H., on the forest

trees of British Guiana, 294.

Scincidee, on a new genus of, 281.

Scolopax rusticola, notice concerning,

Scutellide, new genera and species of,

444,

Seytodes, on the British species of,

253

Segestria, on the British species of,

¥51.,

Seminula, new species of, 421.

Shells, Corfiote, list of, 74; new, 268,

306, 348, 367.

Siebold, C. 7. von, on the transforma-

tion of the cystoid worms into

Trenias, 431.

Smiera, new species of, 46.

Smith’s, C. H. J., Parks and Pleasure

Grounds, reviewed, 363.

Smith, Dr. J. A., ornithological notes

by, 69.

ai J. De C., on Nymphiea alba

var. major, 157.

Sparasion, new species of, 46.

Species, on the supposed analogy

between the life of an individual

and the duration of a, 59.

Spider-crab, on the sloughing of the,

210.

Spiders, catalogue of British, 182, 248.

Spirifera, new species of, 422,

Stemonurus, observations on the ge-

nus, 30; new species of, 38.

Stephanospheera, description of the

genus, 321, 407.

Stickleback, on the habits of the,

241, 273, 395.

Stillingia sebifera, on the uses of the,

152.

Strombus, new species of, 429.

Stylomia, characters of the new ge-

nus, 148.

Sun column as seen at Sandwick

Manse, Orkney, notes on the, 78.

Swallow, late appearance of the, 465.

END OF THE TENTH VOLUME.

PRINTED BY TAYLOK AND FRANCIS,

RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

INDEX.

Teenias, transformation of eye

worms into, 431.

Tallow-tree, on the uses of the, 152.

Tetragnatha, on the British gern! of

248. 3

ie sane on the British species o

95. a

si tae W., on Littorina palliata.

Trachypterus, new species of, 50.

Trochita, new species of, 306.

Trochus, new species of, 306. 4

Troglodytes gorilla, on the skeleton

of, 23.

Tulostoma mammosum, new locality

for, 76. g

Victoria Regia, on the structure | O}

the stem of, 398.

Volvocinee, on a new genus of th

family, 321, 401 ; on the systemat

position of the family, 331. 4

Walker, F., on some new species 0

Chisleidites, 45. q

Walpale, W. W., on Irish Molluse

Warington, R., = the uateral histor

of the water-snail. aiid stieklebacil

73:

Wart-pig, new s of, 280.

Westwood, J. O., on the destructiy |

species of Dipterous insects know

in Africa under the names of Tsets

Zimb, and Tsaltsalya, 138.

Wetherell, N. T., on a new species 4 |

Clionites, 354. a

White, A., on the flowering of Alpi

and Artie plants immediately on

the disappearance of the snow, 461,

Wilson, Dr. G., on the presence oj

fluorine in the stems of varion

plants, 228. |

Wright, Dr. T., on the palieonta >

of the Isle of Wight, 87 :

Yael, Mr., on the growth of a ced:

Zeus, new species of, 49.

Zoological Society, roceedings ot 4

49, 138, 305, 36R, 444