^ / trvr/3/

'/

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING

ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, and GEOLOGY.

(being a continuation of the 'magazine of botany and zoology,' and of

LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTh's 'MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.')

CONDUCTED BY

Sir W. JAKDINE, Bart., F.L.S.— P. J. SELBY, Esq., F.L.S.,

GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D.,

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

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

AND

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

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY R. AND J. E. TAYLOR.

SOLD BY S. HIGHLEY; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL; SHERWOOD AND CO.; W. WOOD,

TAVISTOCK STREET ; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS :

LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH :

CURRY, DUBLIN : AND ASHER, BERLIN.

1845.

" Omnes res creatse sunt divinae sapientiae et potentise testes, divitiae felicitatis
humanae : — ex harum usu honitas Creatoris ; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini ;
ex ceconomia in conservafiione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet.
Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper aestimata; el vere eruditis
et sapientibus semper exculta ; male doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit." —

LiNNiEUS.

h!c obitus rerum contemplor et ortus,

Et quibus 6 causis ordine cuncta fluant.
Et disco, quidquid medicos mare gignit ad usus,

Quidquid et omnifero terra benigna sinu.
Ssepe juvat solem gelida vitare sub umbra,

Multaque de plantis arboribusque loqui.

Quid varios pisces, et nata corallia ponto

Eloquar, et conchis ostrea tecta suis ?
Ille sed aequoreae numerum subducat arense

Qui volet undivagos enumerare greges.

P. LoTiCHii Elegiarum lib. iii. eleg. 4, — lib. ii. eleg. 6.

k

'-,,"

CONTENTS OF VOL. XVI.

NUMBER CII.

Page

I. On some species of Cuscuta. By Charles C. Babington, M.A.,
F.L.S., F.G.S. &c. (With a Plate.) I

II. Miscellanea Zoologica. By George Johnston, M.D., Fellow of

the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. (With a Plate.) 4

III. On the British Desmicliece. By John Ralfs, Esq., M.R.C.S.,
I'enzance. (With a Plate.) c. 10

IV. On the Colours of Leaves and Petals. By William E. C.
NouRSE, M.R.C.S 16

V. Descriptions of Coleopterous Insects collected by Charles Darwin,
Esq., in the Galapagos Islands. By George R. Waterhouse, Esq.... 19

VI. On the Organization of the Lucince and of Corbis. By M. A.
Valenciennes 41

New Books : — The Genera of Birds, by G. R. Gray, F.L.S., illustrated
by D.W. Mitchell, B.A., F.L.S. — Descriptiones Animalium quae in
itinere ad Maris Australis terras per annos 1772-74 suscepto col-
legit J. R. Forster, nunc demum editse curante H. Lichtenstein 45 — 47

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Microscopical Society ; Entomo-
logical Society ;..... 48—00

Observations on the grdup Schizopetalets of the family of Cruciferce, by
J. Marius Barneoud ; On the Microscopic Constituents of the Ash
of Fossil Coal, by Professor Ehrenberg and Dr. F. Schulz ; On the
Tendrils of the Cucurbitacece, by M. J. Payer; Meteorological Ob-
servations and Table QQ — 72

NUMBER cm.

VII. Notes of a Microscopical Examination of the Chalk and Flint
of the South-east of England ; with remarks on the Animalculites of
certain Tertiary and Modern Deposits. By Gideon Algernon Man-
tell, LL.D., F.R.S. 73

IV CONTENTS.

Page

VIII. On the Occurrence of an Intestinal Worm in an Acaleph. By

M. Sars. (With a Plate.) 88

IX. A List of the scarcer amongst the Lichens wliich are found in
the neighbourhood of Oswestry and, Ludlow, with occasional observa-
tions upon some of them. By the Rev. T. Salwey 90

X. Reply to some Observations of Prof. A. Wagner on the genus
Mylodon. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S. &c 100

XI. List of Birds found in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta, from
observations made during a month's visit from April 21st to May 21st
1845. By H. M. Drummond, 42nd R.H 102

XII. On the British Diatomacea;. By John Ralfs, Esq., M.R.C.S.,
Penzance. (With a Plate.) 109

XIII. Botanical Notices from Spain. By Moritz Willkomm 113

Proceedings of the British Association for the Advancement of Sci-
ence — Meeting held at Cambridge ; Royal Society ; Geological
Society ; Asiatic Society j Botanical Society of Edinburgh... 123 — 140

Ranunculus Lenormandi, F. W. Schultz; Carex montana, Linn. ; Mi-
grations of Salmon ; On the Spores of some Algae, by M. Gustave
Thuret ; On the Extinct Mammals of Australia, with Additional
Observations on the genus Dinornis of New Zealand, by Prof.
Owen; Meteorological Observations and Table 141 — 144

NUMBER CIV.

XIV. On the Anatomy of Actcsony with remarks on the Order
Phlehenterata of M. de Quatrefages. By Geo. J. Allman, M.B.,
F.R.C.S., M.R.I. A., Professor of Botany in Trinity College, Dublin,
late Demonstrator of Anatomy T. CD. (With three Plates.) 146

XV. Description of a new genus of Night Lizards from Belize. By

J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c 162

XVI. The Arctic Expedition under the command (^ Sir John
Franklin 163

XVII. Observations on some Plants obtained from the shores of
Davis' Straits. By William Seller, M.D., Fellow of the Royal Col-
lege of Physicians, Edinburgh 166

XVIII. Horee Zoologicae. By Sir W. Jardine, Bart., F.R.S.E. &
F.L.S. (With two Plates.) 174

XIX. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Diurnal Lepi-
doptera. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., Assistant in the Zoological
Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c 176

XX. On the Development of the Annelides. By M. Sars. (With

a Plate.) 183

XXI. Botanical Notices from Spain. By Moritz Willkomm 189

CONTENTS. V

Page
Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Entomological Society... 193—212

Description of a new species of African Monkey ; Mexican Fossils ;
County of Down Fossil Infusoria ; Capture of Acipenser Huso ;
On the CijstidecB, by Von Buch ; On the Origin of Infusoria and
Mucor; Meteorological Observations and Table 212 — 216

NUMBER CV.

XXII. On the Howling Monkeys (Mycetes, Illiger). By J. E. Gray,
Esq., F.ll.S. &c 217

XXI II. Notes, &c. on the genera of Insects Oxy stoma and Magdalis.

By John Walton, Esq., F.L.S 221

XXIV. Descriptions of some apparently new species of Birds from
Malacca. By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S 227

XXV. On the Glyceriafluitans and G.pUcata. By Thomas Moore,
Esq 230

XXVI. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Diurnal Lepi-
doptera. By Edward Doubled ay, Esq., Assistant in the Zoological
Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c 232

XXVII. On the Surface of the Stem and Contents of the Medullary
Cells of Nuphar lutea (Smith). By Julius Munter 236

XXVIII. Note on some Marine Animals, brought up by Deep-sea
Dredging, during the Antarctic Voyage of Captain Sir James C. Ross,
R.N. By Joseph Dalton Hooker, M.D 238

XXIX. Report on a memoir by M. P. Duchartre, entitled ' Obser-
vations on the Organogeny of the Flower of the Malvacea.' By MM.
Brongniart, Richard and De Jussieu 240

XXX. Botanical Notices from Spain. By Moritz Willkomm ... 248

New Books : — A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca,
with Figures of all the Species, by Joshua Alder and Albany
Hancock 252

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Entomological Society... 253 — 279

On the genus Saccopteryx of Illiger ; On the Officinal Species of Pepper,
by M. Miquel ; Obituary : — Professor Graham of Edinburgh ;
Dr. J. W. Meigen ; Showers of Dust at Orkney ; Rain during the
present year; Meteorological Observations and Table 279—288

NUMBER CVI.

XXXI. Anatomical and Physiological Observations on Sagitta hi-
punctata. By M. A. Krohn. (With a Plate.) 289

XXXII. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Diurnal
Lepidoptera. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., Assistant in the Zoolo-
gical Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c 304

VI CONTENTS.

Page

XXXIII. On the genera Spirulina and Coleocheete. By John
Ralfs, Esq., M.R.C.S., Penzance. (With a Plate.) 308

XXXIV. Notice of a new genus and several new species of Nudi-
branchiate Mollusca. By Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock, Esqrs. 311

XXXV. Descriptions of some new genera and species of Hetero-
merous Coleoptera. By G. R. Waterhouse, Esq 317

XXXVI. On several new species of Crustaceans allied to Saphirina.
By Harry D. S. Goodsir, M.W.S., late Conservator of the Museum
of the Roy. Coll. Surg. Edinburgh, Assist. Surg, in H.M. Arctic Ex-
ploring Ship Erebus (With a Plate.) 325

XXXVII. On the Fructification of the genera Clathrus and Phallus.

By M. Maurice Lespiault 327

XXXVIII. Journey through Java, descriptive of its Topography
and Natural History. By Dr. Fr. Junghuhn 329

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Microscopical Society ... 332 — 347

On a Fish allied to Lepidosiren annectens ; On the African Musk,
Moschus aquaticus, Ogilby ; Occurrence of Aquila ncBvia in Ire-
land ; On Mounting Minute Algae for the Microscope; On the
Discovery of a Fossil Frog and Butterfly in the Gypsum Deposits
of Aix, by M. Coquand ; On a curious appearance presented by
the contents of the Capsules of a Moss from Chili, extracted from a
Letter to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, by Dr. Montague ; M. Agassiz
on the Geological Development of Animal Life ; Explorations of

, Dr. Schrenk ; Descriptions of three new species of Bivalve Shells
of the genera Cytherea and Venus, by Sylvanus Hanley, Esq. ; On
the Disease of Potatoes, by Prof. Kiitzing ; On the Larus capistra-
tus, Temm. ; Meteorological Observations and Table 348 — 360

NUMBER CVII.

XXXIX. Remarks on some forms oi Ruhus. By T. Bell Salter,
M.D., F.L.S. &c 361

XL. Notice of the Foetus of Zygcena laticeps, Cantor. By Dr. Can-
tor, Civil Surgeon, Prince of Wales Island 372

XLI. On the Dissolution and Re-calcification of the Shell in Cyprcea,
a genus of Pectinibranchiate Mollusca. By Lovell Reeve, A.L.S. &c. 374

XLII. Researches on the Primary Modifications of Organic Matter,
and on the Formation of Cells. By M. Coste 377

XLI 1 1. Anatomical and Physiological Observations on some Zo-
ophytes. By John Reid, M.D., F.R.C.P.E., and Chandos Professor
of Anatomy and Medicine in the University of St. Andrews. (With a
Plate.) 385

XLIV. Observations on the Spongiadce, with descriptions of some
new genera. By J. S. Bowerbank, F.R.S., L.S. &c. (With two
Plates.) 400

CONTENTS. VU

Page

New Books : — A History of the British Freshwater AlgaB, including
descriptions of the Desmidecs and Diatomacece, with upwards of
100 Plates, by A. H. Hassall, F.L.S.— British Libellulince or Dra-
gon-flies, by W. F. Evans, M.E.S.— A Flora of Tunbridge Wells,
by Edw. Jenner, A.L.S 410—413

Proceedings of the Linnsean Society; Zoological Society 414 — 428

On the Existence of Tetraspores in a genus of Algae belonging to the
Zygnemata, by M. Montagne ; Hassall's * Freshwater Algae ' ;
Natural History in Ireland ; Occurrence of the Belted King-
fisher, Alcedo Alcyon, Linn., in Ireland ; Mr. Goadhy ; Meteoro-
logical Observations and Table 428—432

NUMBER CVIII. SUPPLEMENT.

XLV. An Index to the British Annelides. By George Johnston,
M.D., LL.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
(With a Plate.) 433

XL VI. Journey through Java, descriptive of its Topography and
Natural History. By Dr. Fr. Junghuhn 462

Index , 466

PLATES IN VOL. XVL

Plate I. British Cuscutae.
II. British Annelides.

III. British Diato'macese.

IV. Scolex Acalepharum. — Development of Annelides. — Anatomy of

Sagitta.

VI. y Anatomy of Actaeon.

VII. J
VIII. Artamus mentalis.

IX. Gnathodon strigirostris.
X. Spirulina and Coleochaete.

XI. New Crustacea.
XII. Anatomy of some Zoophytes.

•^jy* JNew Spongiadse.

XV. British Annelides.

ERRATA,
p. 351, line 26 from top, for Robert Dairs read Robert Davis.
— 357, last line, foot note, /or hood read head.
In the Meteorological Table for March (May Number), the average temperature observed at
Sandwick Manse, Orkney, is stated to be 48-40 instead of 3972.

JnTiJr Mag.Jctt.Eut . Voi . 16. III.

J3.C.Soi»vrfoy. del et .scu/p:

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

«« perlitora spargite museum,

Naiades, et circiim vitreos considite fontes :
PoUice virgineo teneros h\c carpite flores :
Floribus et pictum, divje, replete canistrum.
At vos, o Nymphae Craterides, ite sub undas ;
Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas
Ferte, Deaa pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo."

Parthenii Eel. 1.

No. 102. JULY 1845.

I. — On some species of Cuscuta. By Charles C. Babington,
M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. &c *

[With a Plate.]

biNCE the paper upon Ctiscuta (Ann. xiii. 246) was published,
I have had an opportunity of examining recent specimens of C
approximata, and been favoured with a drawing of it (PI. I. fig. 1.),
and also of the flowers of C. Epithymum and C. Trifolii from the
accurate hand of my friend Mr. J. W. Salter. I learn from these
beautiful drawings and an examination of numerous specimens,
that some slight alteration is necessary in the specific characters
and descriptions of the plants, all however tending to show their
distinctness in a clearer manner ; and I trust that the difficulty
inseparable from the examination of such inconspicuous objects,
after the specimens have been dried, will be considered as a suffi-
cient excuse for the inaccuracies which I am now endeavouring
to correct.

In this paper I shall give revised specific characters for the
three species above-mentioned, and append to each of them such
observations as are requisite.

1. C. Epithymum (Murr.) ; florum glomerulis bracteatis sessilibus,
calyce campanulato quam tubum corollse breviori : segmentis ovatis,
corona adpressa : lobis (squamis) tuho corolla cylindrico subsequan-

* Read befgre the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, May 8, 1845. /
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. ^B

3 Mr, Ch. C. Babington on some species of Cuscuta.

tibus apice rotundatis fimbriatis convergentihus basi approximatis,
stigmsitihus JUiformibus. (PL I. fig. 2.)

Calyx bell-sbaped, tbin, sborter tban the tube of tbe corolla,
usually tinged with red ; segments broad, ovate- apiculate, longer
than their tube. Tube of the corolla cylindrical, rather shorter
than the ovate-acute spreading segments of the limb. Anthers
roundish-oblong, without an apiculus, and even notched at the
end. Corona closely adpressed to the tube of the corolla below ;
its processes (usually called ^^ scales ^^) nearly as long as the tube
of the corolla, broad, rounded, fimbriated and converging at the
end, scarcely narrowed below, separated from each other by deep
narrow interspaces, which are not rounded at the bottom, and the
membrane at that point is closely adpressed to the corolla. Occa-
sionally, as in some specimens from Norfolk, the divisions between
the processes disappear, and the corona becomes a deeply-lobed
membrane, the lobes of which exactly resemble the upper parts
of the usual processes, and are fringed almost to their base, the
line of connexion between the corona and corolla remaining un-
altered. In one instance this change had extended still further,
and a rounded emarginate projection occupied the place of the
usual division, having down its centre an appearance of being
thickened : unfortunately this curious specimen has been lost
during its transmission for the inspection of a friend. '' Germen
spherical.^' Stigmas simple.

The figures and descriptions of C. Epithymum difier so much
from each other that I have considered it advisable to omit all
synonyms, and give the authority for the name (Murray in Linn.
Syst. Veg. ed. 13. 140) with considerable hesitation. The plant
described above is probably that of Smith (Eng. Fl. ii. 35), al-
though the figure in ' Eng. Bot.' (t. 55.) will admit of doubt.
It seems also to agree sufficiently with the description given by
Bertoloni (Fl. Ital. iii. 69); and is, I believe, identical with a spe-
cimen from the neighbourhood of Hamburg, kindly sent to me
by Mr. W. Sonder of that city. It is worthy of remark, that in
that specimen the anthers have an apiculus, and that I have never
detected such a structure in British specimens.

The error committed in my former paper in describing the co-
ronal processes as " spathulatis basi distantibus " may perhaps
admit of some excuse when it is remarked that, if a specimen is
softened in water, spread out and then allowed to become dry in
that position, the processes shrink in such a manner as quite to
agree with that description. It is hoped that the figure of the
interior of the flower now given will enable botanists to ascertain
the similarity or difierence of their plants from that described by
me, as it is the opinion of some botanists that there is still, not-
withstanding the separation of C. Trifolii and C. approximata,

Mr. Ch. C. Babington on some species of Cuscuta. 3

more than one species included under the name of C. Epithymum,
My plant inhabits heathy places, growing upon Erica j blex, Sa-
rothamnus, &c.

2. C. Trifolii (Bab.) ; fiorum glomerulis bracteatis sessilibus, calyce
infundibuliformi tubum corollae subsequante : segmentis lanceolatis,
interstitiis coroncc saccatis : lobis dimidium tuhi infundibuliformis
corollce suhaquantibus apice rotundatis fimbriatis convergentibus
hasi distantibus, stigniatibus filiformibus, (Plate I. fig, 3.)

C. Trifolii, Bab. in Phytol. (Feb. 1843), i. 467 ; Ann. Nat. Hist. xiii.
252; Eng. Bot. Suppl. ined. t. 2898.

C. Epithymum, /3. trifolii, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. 302.

C. minor, /3. Trifolii, Choisy in DcCand. Prod. ix. 453.

Calyx funnel-shaped, rather thick, about as long as the tube of
the corolla, cream-coloured, but occasionally tinged with red ;
segments lanceolate, about as long as their tube. Tube of the
corolla rather irregularly funnel-shaped, about equal in length
to the lanceolate-attenuate spreading segments of the limb. An-
thers cordate-ovate with a minute apiculus. Corona with saccate
interstices below ; its processes about half as long as the tube of
the coi'olla, narrow, rounded, fimbriated and converging at the
end, narrowed below, separated from each other by broad inter-
spaces rounded at the bottom. Between each process the mem-
brane projects towards the centre of the flower so as to form a
cup-like space between it and the corolla. Germen truncate, nar-
rowed below, elevated upon a longish stalk. Styles iilifoi'm,
seated upon small sunken tubercles. Stigmas simple.

A comparison of the above description and character with those
which precede them will, I think, prove conclusively that C. Tri-
folii is a really distinct species from C. Epithymum. It can
scarcely be necessary to call attention to the saccate corona and
the difference in the proportions and shape of the other parts of
the flower.

The natural place for this plant is upon clover [Trifolium pra-
tense) J but it can live upon many other herbaceous plants.

3. C. approwimata (Bab.) ; florum glomerulis bracteatis sessilibus,
calyce campanulato carnoso quam tubum corollse paulo breviori :
segmentis latis truncatis apiculatisque vel rhomboidalibus, corona
adpressa : lobis latis adpressis tubo corollce cylindrico paululum bre-
vioribus bifidis segmentis diver gentibus apice fimbria tis basi approxi-
matis, stigmatibus filiformibus. (Plate I. fig. 1.)
C. approximata, Bab. in Ann. Nat, Hist. (April 1844), xiii. 253.

Calyx bell-shaped, fleshy, rather shorter than the tube of the
corolla, green, tinged with purple at the edge ; segments broad,
transverse, truncate and apiculate or rhomboidal, usually shorter
than their tube. Tube of the corolla cylindrical, longer than the

B2

4= Dr. Johnston on British Annelides,

triangular-ovate bluntly-pointed spreading segments of the limb.
Anthers cordate-ovate, apiculate. Corona closely adpressed to
the corolla ; its processes rather shorter than the tube of the co-
rolla, broad, adpressed, deeply notched : the lobes diverging, trun-
cate and fimbriated ; separated by narrow linear interspaces, which
occasionally extend almost to the base of the corolla, but usually
the corona is continuous throughout half its length. The form of
the summit of the coronal processes will be seen to vary consider-
ably, but always retains a general outline very different from that
of any other species with which I am acquainted. Germen round-
ish. Styles seated upon elevated prominent tubercles. Stigmas
simple.

Introduced from the East Indies with the seed of Meliiotus
officinalis, upon which plant it preys.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

Fig. 1 . Cuscuta approximata, Bab.

a. The growing plant.

b. Clusters of flowers.

c. The calyx with an unopened corolla. Magnified.

d. An expanded flower. Magnified.

e. The corolla greatly magnified and laid open in order to show the

structure and proportions of the corona.
e'. Slightly different forms of the corona observed in other speci-
mens.
/. The germen.
Fig. 2. Cuscuta Epithymum, Murr.

c, d, 8f e. The calyx, expanded flower, and the corolla laid open,
showing the corona.
Fig. 3. Cuscuta TrifoUi, Bab.

c, d, e Sf f. The same parts as before.

II. — Miscellanea Zoologica. By George Johnston, M.D.,
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

[Continued from vol. xv. p. 148.]

[With a Plate.]

Class Annelides. Order Errantes. Family Nereides.

Section Nereides non-tentaculat^.

No tentacular cirri : the antenna rudimentary.

Genus Pollicita*, Johnston.
Char. Body serpentiform : head rather indistinct^ with three
small frontal antennae : eyes four : proboscis large, without jaws,

* This worm has been already published under the name of Behryce
Peripatns (Thompson's Rep. on the Fauna of Ireland, p. 273), but, having
discovered that the generic name has been used by Philippi, I am under
the necessity of changing it.

.••^'

AniLi'Maq. Xat. Eisr. Vol. IG. R.U

j ftlMH u fg ^S^V^-

Brilish AtineliAes .

^f.D.C.Soyrrhy. set-

Dr. Johnston on British Annelides. 5

the orifice naked : segments numerous : branchia in the form of a
globular tubercle over each foot^ which is uniramous ; the bristles
simple : tail truncate, without styles.

Obs. The relations of this genus are rather obscure. To
Nephtys and Glycera it may be considered to approximate in the
rudimentary state of the antennae^ but in all other respects there
is too great a dissimilarity to allow us to consider them as very
nearly affined. The branchial tubercles over the feet might sug-
gest a comparison with Phyllodoce, but there is no structural re-
semblance ; the lamellae in Phyllodoce being merely modifications
of the superior cirrus, moveable and jointed at the base, and
acting as a kind of oar in the animaFs locomotion, while in Pol-
licita they are branchial only, being immoveable, and of no use
or applicability as locomotive organs. The difference in internal
structure is equally great, for in the one genus the organ is
veined with the ramifications of the blood-vessels, while in this
it is very distinctly areolar. I have seen one species only, which
may be named —
1. P. Peripatus. Plate II. fig. 1—6.

Hah. In deep water amid corallines, &c. Berwick bay.

I have seen several Irish specimens in the collections of Mr.
W. Thompson of Belfast.

Desc. Worm about 2 inches long, very slender, narrowed to-
wards both extremities, almost cylindrical, of the usual yellowish-
brown colour, roughish : head small, indistinctly separated from
the following segment, longer than broad, rounded in front,
where there are three unjointed antennce, the medial nearly as
long as the lateral ; on the sides of the head there are besides a
few minute fleshy papillae, and the feet advance on each side
rather before the eyes, which are placed unusually backwards :
eyes small, four, the anterior pair most approximate : mouth in-
ferior : proboscis exsertile, large, smooth, emandibulate, the ori-
fice plain : segments numerous, about the length of their own
diameter, each of them furnished with a globose lamella or
branchial tubercle on each side placed over and above the foot,
immoveable, unjointed, smooth, with a small papillary tip : feet
about sixty pairs, one pair to every segment, conoid, uniramous,
papillary, not projecting beyond the branchiae when at rest, but
capable of being protruded beyond them, armed with four or five
bristles and a spine ; the bristles simple, sharp, curved like a
hedge-knife, altogether retractile : the skin is covered with minute
papillae or granules, only visible under a high magnifier : anal seg-
ment truncate, without styles, but on each side there is a mam-
millary foot, which is larger than the penultimate, and, like it,
appears to be destitute of bristles.

6 Dr. Johnston on British AnneUdes,

The specific name attached to this worm was suggested by the
resemblance it has to the Peripaius julifoiinis of the Rev. L.
Guilding (Zool. Jom-n. vol. ii. pi. 14). It is slow in its motions.
In some positions what appeared to be a minute antenna was
visible on the top of the head, and such as our figure represents
it, but of its real nature I could not satisfy myself, and the ap-
pearance may have been produced by a mere fold, or possibly by
some refraction of the hght. The areolated structure of the
branchise seems to be peculiar ; and a foot bristled with papillae
is a very rare formation among the Annelides Errantes.

Plate II. fig. 1. PoUicita Peripatm oii\\ensLi\xxs\s\ze. Fig. 2. The same
liighly magnified. Fig. 3. The anterior portion of the body from below, to
show the situation of the mouth and proboscis. Fig. 4. A few segments from
nearly the middle of tlie body. Fig. 5. A single foot and branchiae to show
their structure. Fig. 6. Three of the branchial globes separate from the feet.

The figures were taken from a specimen that was only eight
lines in length. The larger specimens were from the Irish coast,

Family Eunice.
OnuI'his tubicola.

Nereis tubicola, Miill. Zool. Dan. Prod. 2625. Zool. Dan. i. 18.
tah. l^.fig. 1—6. Turt. Gmel. iv. 87. And. and M. Edw. Litt.
de la France, ii. 154.

I am indebted to Mr. C. W. Peach for my specimen of this
worm It has lost the posterior half of the body, but what re-
mains is in excellent preservation, and will enable us to supply
some deficiencies in the figures and description of Midler, which
are very good so far as they go.

The shape of the body is similar to the Nereis, and composed
of numerous homologous segments ; it is somewhat compressed,
but convex or rounded on both dorsal and ventral surfaces, which
are smooth and polished. The colour appears to have been a
uniform yellowish-brown.

The cephalic segment (for it can scarcely be recognised as a
head) is very narrow, even behind, but tri-sinuated in front, and
in each sinus there originates a long awl-shaped tentaculum (wood-
cut, fig. 1 a), the three being of nearly equal length. They are
smooth but annulated, the three basal joints very distinct and
short, the others less distinct, elongate, and rather irregular. At
the base of the tentacula are the eyes, which appear to be four in
number, but they are so obscurely marked that the two outer
ones may possibly be only dark spots. Underneath the tentacula
and partly concealed by them are the antennce (fig. 2 a a), which
are minute organs reminding us of the antennae of some beetles,
having a short moveable pedicle with a clavate head. They arise
from the rounded front margin.

Dr. Johnston on British Annelides. Jt

The mouth is inferior, and so concealed that it can be seen only
from the ventral aspect. The wide undefined orifice is surrounded
by a thick lip, the upper lip being formed of two comparatively
large egg-shaped tubercles (fig. 2 c) ; and within the under lip
there are two processes like palpi. From the external side of the

ff

anterior tubercles there arises, on each side, a tentacular cirrus
(figs. 1, 2 b), similar to the tentacula in all respects, and projected
in the same direction, but only one-third of their length.

The proboscis is armed with several small dark corneous jaws,
denticulated on the inner side, and arranged in two rows, in the
same way as in the genus Eunice. See Aud. and Edw. Litt. de
la France, pi. 3. fig. 11.

The occipital segment has no appendages. The segment behind
is nearly of the same size, but those which follow are narrower,
the length being about one-third of the transverse diameter.
Above and below the foot there is a cirrus (fig. 3). On the an-
terior segments the superior cirrus does not project beyond the
foot, but it becomes considerably longer on the posterior, and is
simple on all of them, with a joint at the base. The foot is
formed of a tubercle and sheath, armed with bristles collected
into two fascicles. Each fascicle is furnished with a spine (fig. 4),
with two forceps (fig. 5), and with many lanceolate bristles curved
at the points (fig. 6) and very sharp, with a double edge at the
point of curvatare. I have not before met with a worm furnished
with forceps-like bristles ; and none of the kind are figured by
Audouin and Edwards.

The worm lives in a tube which has a singularly exact resem-

8 Dr. Johnston on British Annelides,

blance to the barrel of a dressed quill. It is about three inches
in length ; and the superior portion is thinner than the lower,
which is very tough and not easily cut with a knife. I made a
vain attempt to form it into a pen.

Let us see if, in its curious structure, we can find a key to the
habits of the animal. We learn from Miiller that it lives in soft
mud, and one unceasing object of its life is the capture of prey.
Por this end it must protrude the anterior portion of the body
beyond its tube, and raise it above the surface of the mud, and
in this position remain on watch. To enable the worm to do this
with ease, is, I conjecture, the office of the forceps-like bristles of
the feet : with their ends it may hook itself to the rim of the
tube, and thus support itself extended without the waste of mus-
cular power. A long watch is thus rendered less irksome, while
at the same time its capacity to seize upon a passing prey is in-
creased.

The prey caught, analogy leads us to believe that the worm
will instantly retreat and sink within its tube, where it can feed
without disturbance or fear. But as the entry and passage are
narrow and unyielding, it seems to follow that the prey should be
held by the mouth alone when in the act of being dragged within
the tube, and hence surely the reason that the mouth has been
furnished with the hard tubercles to the lips ; for, when con-
tracted, they must give a firmer gripe and hold than could other-
wise be taken.

The use of the tube is to protect the body from the pressure
of the soft mud in which it stands immersed. When the tube is
overset or cast out by the waves or accident, the worm leaves it,
and becomes, in its turn, exposed to enemies. To protect itself
from these while a new tube is being secreted, nature has amply
furnished the Onuphis with a series of bristling lances on each
side. These arms are of exquisite make, very fine and very sharp ;
and those of the upper bundle have their points bent and in-
clined towards those of the lower bundle, which are likewise bent
to meet them. Do examine a foot under the. microscope, and I
defy you not to admire them : and your wonder will increase
when you consider that a complex mechanism is also provided by
which these polished instruments can be drawn within their
sheaths, and pushed forwards and beyond at will. I can easily
suppose that the wounds they inflict upon the tiny assailants of
the Onuphis are severe and painful ; but worms are too retentive
of life to permit us to believe that the repulsed foe ever dies of
them.

Family ApHRODiTACEiE.
Genus Spinther, Johnston,

Char. Body oval, exannulate, scaleless^ acephalous ; antennse

Dr. Johnston on British Annelides. 9

? . eyes none ; proboscis emaxillary : feet very numerous,

all alike, uniramous, and all furnished with an inferior cirrus.

1. Spinther oniscoides. Plate II. fig. 7.

" Dredged off Castle Chichester (Belfast Bay) Aug. 26, 1844, in
6 — 10 fathoms, Mr. Hyndman," W. Thompson.

Desc. Body ovate, convex dorsally, flat on the ventral surface,
of a uniform cream-yellow colour, rounded and obtuse at both
extremities, which are so much alike, that, without a close exami-
nation, the anterior is not to be distinguished from the posterior.
There is no head, tentacula nor tentacular cirri. With a com-
mon magnifier we perceive that the back is crossed by numerous
(about thirty) narrow roughish edges (fig. 8), the roughness
being produced by a series of minute bristles which scarcely pro-
trude beyond the skin : the ridges are regular and equidistant,
and are continuous with the feet on each side. The feet form a
close-set range round the body, interrupted only in front by a very
narrow fissure in which the mouth is situated. They are all alike,
short and equal, formed of a single thick stump armed with a
bundle of bristles (fig. 10) that project very little beyond the
margin, and are all glued together by a sort of albuminous mem-
brane. There did not seem to be any cirrus above the foot, but
at the roQt of each of them underneath there is a cirrus shorter
than the foot itself, and with a large bulb at the base (fig. 11),
The bristles are of three kinds : viz. (1.), the spinous (fig. 12),
sharp and fashioned like a needle ; (2.), the forked (fig. 13), which
are filiform with a bulbous root, and cut into two scarcely equal
prongs at the apex; and (3.), the clawed (fig. 14), a bristle which
has a stem slightly incrassated upwards, where a strong curved
and sharp claw is articulated by an oblique joint. The forked
bristles are the most numerous ; and I did not observe more than
one clawed bristle in each foot, but there were two or three from
which the claw appeared to have been broken away. There are
no anal styles.

For the only specimen of this singular worm that I have seen, I
am indebted to Wm. Thompson, Esq. of Belfast. It is half an
inch in length, with a breadth fully one half of the long diameter.
It has at first glance more resemblance to a Doris than to any
Annelide ; and when it was placed under a common magnifier, it
was compared, aptly enough, to the Cyprcea europcea, the compa-
rison being suggested by the similarity in the ridges that cross
the back.

The description, I am aware, is in several respects imperfect,
but from the distinctness of the worm as a species, it is assuredly
sufficient for its future recognition. Observations on living in-
dividuals seem necessary to ascertain the number and nature of

40 Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desmidiese.

the oral appendages. That it is a member of the Aphroditacea
no one can doubt, although it possesses few of the technical cha-
racters by which that family has been hitherto defined. It has
no near ally in the family. In common with the Palmyre, the
back is naked or destitute of scales ; but there is nothing else in
which the two genera agree.

Plate II. fig. 7. Spinther oniscoides of the natural size. Fig. 8. The
dorsal aspect viewed through a common magnifier. Fig. 9. A view of the
ventral surface. Fig. 10. Two feet detached and viewed from the back.
Fig. 11. A foot as seen from below. Figs. 12, 13, 14. The bristles.

[To be continued.]

III. — On the British Desmidiese. By John Ralfs, Esq.,
M.R.C.S., Penzance*.

[With a Plate.]

BiDYMOPRIUM, KiltZ,

Filaments elongated, gelatinous, fragile, cylindrical or subcylin-
drical, with a bidentate process or angle on each side of the
joints.

The filaments are elongated, simple, jointed, gelatinous and very
fragile, and finally separate into single joints ; each joint has two
opposite, bidentate angles or processes. Hence the margins of
the filaments are crenate, and as it is regularly twisted it not only
appears of unequal breadth, but the form of its joints also varies
as more or less of the angles is seen at the margin ; in short, as
they are at one time fully visible and at length entirely disappear.

For synonyms, habitats, and description of the species, I must
refer to my former article on Desmidium.

1. D. cylindricum, Ktz. Filaments subcompressed, inclosed in a di-
stinct mucous sheath ; joints broad as long. Kiitz. Phy. Gen.
p. 165. Desmidium cylindricum. Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. xi.
p. 373. pi. 8. fig. 1 ; Menegh. /. c. p. 204.

Plate III. fig. 4. Didymoprium cylindricum, joint dividing into two.

2. jD. Borreri. Filaments cylindrical, not inclosed in a sheath ; joints
inflated, twice as long as broad. Desmidium Borreri, Annals of
Nat. Hist. vol. xi. p. 375. pi. 8. fig. 4.

Additional habitats. Ashdown Forest and near Battle, Sussex,
Mr. Jenner ; Ireland, Mr. Andrews.

Plate III. fig. 5. Didymoprium J5orrm, joints dividing.

GLiEOPRiUM, Berh. {in lit.)

Filaments elongated, simple, cylindrical, very gelatinous ; joints

• Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, July 11, 1844.

Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desmidiese. 11

with either a slight constriction which produces a crenate ap-
pearance, or a grooved rim at one end which forms a bifid pro-
jection on each side.

The filaments are cylindrical, simple, jointed, invested with a
broad gelatinous sheath, and very fragile in one species, but not
so in the other. Either a groove passes round each joint, giving
a crenate appearance to the margins of the filament, and dividing
the endochrome into two portions, or else a grooved rim at one
extremity of the joint appears on each side like a bifid process.

A transverse view shows a radiate endochrome in one species,
but in the other I was unable to obtain this view on account of
its want of fragility.

The cylindrical filaments distinguish this genus from Desmi-
dium and Spharozosma. From Didymoprium it diff*ers in the
absence of angular projections, in not being twisted, and in al-
ways having the same apparent breadth.

1 . G. dissiliens. Filaments fragile, crenate ; a shallow groove round
each joint divides the endochrome into two portions. Desmidium
viucosutn, Breb. Alg. Fal. p. 65. pi. 11 ; Menegh. Synop. Desmid.
in Linnsea 1840, p. 204; Ralfs in Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. xi.
p. 374. pi. 8. fig. 2.

This plant is apparently common, as, in addition to the habitats
already given, Mr. Jenner has gathered it in numerous stations
both in Sussex and in Kent. It has also been gathered in Ire-
land, near Bandon, by Dr. Allman, and in Kerry by Mr. Andrews.

In an advanced state it becomes of a pale opake green.

The mucous sheath is easily perceived, and is on each side of
the filament as broad as the central coloured portion. The en-
dochrome is divided into two portions by the central constriction,
which can always be detected on a careful examination with the
higher powers of the microscope.

This plant has been involved in much confusion ; it was by
mistake figured in ^Eng. Bot.' for the Conferva dissiliens of
Dillwyn, and afterwards altogether omitted in Hooker^s ^Br.
Flora ^ and in Harvey^s ^ Manual of the British Algse.^ From
the synonyms in Meneghini^s ' Synopsis Desmidiearum,^ it seems
that De Brebisson considered it the Conferva mucosa of Mertens
and Dillwyn.

2. G. mucosum. Filaments scarcely fragile ; joints not constricted,
but having at one of the ends a minute bidentate projection on
each margin, the adjoining end of the next joint bearing similar
projections. Conf. mucosa, Mert. ; Dillw. Brit.Conf. tab. B. ; Hook.
Br. Fl. vol. xi. p. 351 ; Harv. Br. Alg. p. 127. Gloeotila monili-
formis, Kutz. Phyc. Generalis, p. 245 ?

In shallow pools and gently-flowing streams, probably not uncom-

ifc Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desmidiese.

mon. Most plentiful in the autumn. Ban try. Miss Hutchins ; Appin,
Capt. Carmichael. Trentishoe, Devonshire ; Penzance and Dolgelley,
J. R.; Cheshunt, Mr. Hassall; Chiltington Common near Pulbo-
rough, Sussex ; and in the peat bog at Fisher's Castle near Tun-
bridge Wells, Mr. Jenner.

Filaments elongated, very gelatinous, of a pale translucent
green, not fragile. Under the microscope the joints are generally
about equal in length and breadth, and the endochrome forms a
single irregular patch. The joints are not constricted, but at one
end they have on each margin a minute bidentate projection : as
the similar ones of the next joint are at its adjoining extremity,
these projections occur only near the alternate dissepiments.
When, however, the joint is elongated, preparatory to the forma-
tion of two joints, the endochrome is divided into two portions,
and then these processes are present at both ends, the next joint
undergoing a similar change. These projections are extremely
minute, and can only be detected by employing the highest power
of the microscope, and even then are liable to be overlooked if
not carefully sought for.

I examined many specimens of this plant in 1841, but did not
perceive these curious projections until the following year. I
believe they are really formed by a grooved rim round the end of
the joint, because however the filament may be moved they are
equally apparent ; whereas if they were processes, as in Didymo-
prium, they would be sometimes either entirely concealed or ren-
dered less apparent.

The filaments have a very broad mucous sheath, which from
its great breadth and absence of colour is not easily discerned j
it is more evident when a specimen is dried on talc or glass, as
the margins are then generally perceptible. When gathered the
filaments are very distinct, frequently parallel and subdistant
even to the naked eye : this depends on the great breadth of their
mucous sheaths, which prevent the coloured filaments coming into
contact. By this character G. mucosum may in general be known
even without the aid of a microscope. The same circumstance
occurs in young plants of G. dissiliens, but is less remarkable, as
its mucous sheath is not more than half as broad.

Under a low power of the microscope G. mucosum has consi-
derable resemblance to G. dissiliens^ with which it is probably not
unfrequently confounded. But they may always be distinguished
even without the aid of the microscope. The G. dissiliens is ex-
tremely fragile, and will break into pieces if a small portion be
placed on the hand and the finger gently passed over it; this plant,
on the contrary, will not break if it be taken out of the water and
allowed to hang down in long strings. It always has a clear
translucent appearance ; the G. dissiliens, except when very young,

Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desmidiese. 13

is of an opake green. The latter if kept in water for a few days
spontaneously separates into fragments ; G. mucosum, although
treated in the same manner for weeks, has not separated into
fragments sufficiently small to enable me to obtain a transverse
view. I am therefore unable to say whether the endochrome in
that aspect appears stellate, as in G. dissiliens.

Under the microscope G. mucosum may be known by the joints
not appearing crenate and by the endochrome being in a single
patch, or if divided, the joints are longer than in G. dissiliens. Its
mucous sheath is with difficulty detected, and when seen will be
found to extend on each side twice the breadth of the coloured
filament ; whereas in G. dissiliens the mucous sheath is, except in
old specimens, detected without difficulty.

This is a remarkable plant, and differs in many respects from
the other Desmidiece ; indeed so much so, that I had some doubts
whether it would be correctly placed in this family; but as the
Rev. M. J. Berkeley, as well as every other algological friend
whose opinion I solicited, considers that its place must be in the
same genus with the preceding species, I have described it here.

The joints seem to be in pairs, and a single one is consequently
unsymmetrical.

G. mucosum agrees with the other Desmidiece in its capability
of being kept a long time without undergoing decomposition.

I was indebted to Mr. H assail for the information that the
plant under consideration was the Conferva mucosa, Dillw., as
also for an opportunity of examining a foreign specimen under
that name from the herbarium of Dr. Greville.

I have since been able to compare our plant with a portion of
an Irish specimen of Conferva mucosa presented to me by Mr.
Borrer, who received it from SirW. J. Hooker. From the latter
I learn that this was an original specimen from Miss Hutchins.
Sir W. J. Hooker has also presented me with an Appin specimen
collected by Capt. Carmichael. All these are identical with the
present plant.

Plate HI. fig. 6. GlcBopriiim mucosum : a, portion of a filament much
magnified to show the bifid projections ; b, less magnified to show the
breadth of the sheath.

SpHiEROZosMA, Cordtt.

Filaments gelatinous, plane, fragile ; joints closely united by
means of glandular processes, and deeply divided on each side,
thus forming two segments and giving a pinnatifid appearance
to the filament.

The filaments are pale green, gelatinous, simple, plane, have a
pinnatifid appearance from the division of the joints into two
segments, are fragile, and finally separate into single joints. I

14 Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desniidiese.

have not observed that the filaments are twisted, as in Desmidium
and Didi/moprium. At the junction of the joints there are on
each margin one or two minute glands or processes which are
scarcely discernible in the front view, and do not interfere with
the close junction of the joints. The transverse view is linear or
oblong, and the processes, one or two at each side, are much more
evident than in the front view.

^ This genus differs from Desmidium^ Didymoprium and Glao-
prium in its flat filaments (which are not twisted), in the deep di-
vision of the joints into segments, and especially in the presence
of the minute gland-like processes at the junction of the joints.
From the Odontella of Ehrenberg it may be known by the joints
being united along their entire breadth, whereas in Odontella they
are connected only by the elongated angles which inclose a small
vacant space between them.

On account of its deeply constricted joints, this genus forms a
connecting link between the three preceding genera and Stau-
rasti'um.

In Sphcerozosma, as in the other genera with deeply constricted
cells, the segments are frequently unequal during the growth of
the plant, and they become in like manner equal when it ap-
proaches maturity and its joints no longer divide.

1 . >S^. unidentata. Joints as broad as long, divided into two segments
by a linear notch on each side ; junction-glands stalked, oblique,
solitary at the centre of each margin. Odontella unidentata, Ehr.
Infus. p. 159 ; Pritch. Infus. p. 191. Desmidium compressum, An-
nals of Nat. Hist. vol. ix. p. 253. Isthmia vertebrata, Menegh. /. c.
p. 205 ?

This plant has been gathered at Rotherfield and near Tun-
bridge Wells by Mr. Jenner since the publication of my former
notice of it. I then considered it an un described species of Des-
midium, I have since been favoured by Mr. Berkeley with the
following extract from Ehrenberg^ s observations on the Odon-
tella unidentata : — " This species is surprising by reason of its
evolution. There are always two great and two small joints
alternately turned to one another, and the processes are found
alternately between the small and large joints. This reminds one
of Scenedesmus convergens and the FMastra" This extract leaves
no doubt that Ehrenberg^s Odontella unidentata is identical with
the plant I described under the name of Desmidium compressum.
He correctly points out the affinity between the joints in this
plant and the frond in Euastrum. As in both genera he consi-
ders the segments of the cell to be distinct joints, he has de-
scribed the process or junction-gland in the present plant as oc-
curring at every alternate dissepiment. But his description of the

Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Desmidiese. 15

alternate occurrence of two small and two large segments is in-
correct, for although the smaller segments are necessarily in pairs,
being formed during the elongation and bisection of the cells, I
have never seen all the joints thus dividing at the same time,
which must always happen if his statement be correct ; on the
contrary, many joints with equal segments will often succeed each
other, here and there followed by the unequal segments, as I have
described above. When the reproductive granules are perfected
and the filament of the mature plant ceases to elongate, all the
joints will be found similar and their segments equal.

In my former notice of this plant I described it as destitute of
a mucous sheath ; I have not gathered it since ; but on further
consideration 1 believe that the sheath exists, although I failed to
detect it. The reason for coming to this conclusion is, that the
filaments when gathered were remarkably distinct and parallel,
exactly as those in Glaoprium mucosum ; I have no doubt that in
both this appearance is an effect of the same cause, and that
broad colourless sheaths separate the colom'cd filaments. I sup-
pose therefore its tenuity, want of colour and great breadth pre-
vented its observation.

Plate III. fig. 7. Spharozosma unidentata : a, portions of filaments ;
h, front view of an empty joint ; c, joint with one of its segments newly
formed ; d, transverse view.

2. S. excavata. Joints longer than broad, with a deep excavation
on each side, and two sessile glands on each margin at their junc-
tion.

Pools, Dolgelley and Penzance, J. R.; Cross-in- Hand, and Ash-
down Forest, Sussex, and bogs at Fisher's Castle, Kent, Mr. Jenner.

Very minute, seldom more than twenty joints in the filament,
which is fragile, and finally separates into single joints ; at their
junction, in the front view, are two minute processes or glands
invisible before the escape of the endochrome, and situated one
near each angle. The joints are from one and a half time to
twice as long as broad, much constricted in the middle ; the con-
striction is like an excavation or broad sinus on each side, so that
the margins of the filament appear sinuated. The transverse view
is oblong with four sessile minute glands, two on each side and
situated near their ends.

The endochrome is pale bluish green with minute scattered
granules.

Plate III. fig. 8. Sphcsrozosma excavata: a, portion of a filament; b,
front view of an empty joint; c, transverse view.

16 Mr. E. C. Nourse on the Colours of Leaves and Petals.

IV. — On the Colours of Leaves and Petals. By William
E. C. Nourse, M.E.C.S.

The colours of leaves and petals depend on several conditions ;
some mechanical or structural, and some chemical. The latter
have been made the subject of many iiivestigations. The former,
though requiring little more than common observation, have
been passed ovtjr, or but slightly noticed. It is to a clearer
knowledge of these that the present paper, so far as it goes, is
intended to contribute.

The structural or mechanical circumstances which influence
the colours are, 1st, the situation of the coloured cells ; 2nd, their
size, form and number ; 3rd, their mixture with each other ; and
4th, their degree of visibility.

1. The situation of the coloured cells is diiOferent in leaves and
petals, though their general structure is anatomically similar. If
a leaf be torn, the green colour appears to be in the central sub-
stance ; while in a petal the centre is nearly white, and the co-
lour peels off with the cuticle. This difference merits a degree
of attention which has not hitherto been paid to it.

The structural parts of a leaf or petal are, the substance, con-
sisting of cellular tissue and venous ramifications ; the cuticle, or
epidermis ; and a layer of cells immediately beneath the cuticle,
to which we may give the provisional name of Rete.

This latter structure is seldom mechanically distinct, but is
either continuous with the substance, as in leaves, or adherent
to the cuticle, as in petals ; though it can sometimes be shown in
a separate form in petals of a large size. Its characters, however,
effectually distinguish it from the other structures. It is the
densest parenchyma of the organ, consisting of an immense
number of nearly circular cells without any interstices. But the
circumstance which makes it most conspicuous is, that it is the
seat of colouring matters which are scarcely found in the other
structures. The rete thus appears entitled to be considered as a
distinct tissue, and may be found to perform important func-
tions, especially in the petals, in which its development is most
distinct.

The colours of the rete possess an almost endless variety, and,
in fact, it is in this structure that the most highly coloured cells
are always found. Of petals, it contains the entire colouring ; the
yellow, red, blue, brown, black, and all the intermediate tints are
wholly produced in its cells, and can be completely removed by
simply stripping it off with the cuticle. This can be easily done
with any common flower. In leaves the rete is the seat of all the
modifications of the green colour which those organs present,
excepting variegation, cuticular changes, and what may be called

Mr. E. C. Noiu'se on the Colours of Leaves and Petals. 17

venous colours, like red cabbage, &c. All dark shades of green are
the effect of an immense crowding together of green cells in the
rete, as may be readily seen in the yew, the bay, the holly, &c. ;
and all those lesser variations and shades, such as brownish and
reddish, and a number of others, which add so much to the
beauty of each leaf and to the picturesque effect of the whole, are
due (with the above exceptions) to the different colours of the
cells in the rete. Of this kind are the shadings in the leaf of the
common wild ivy ; the reddish tips and edges of rose- and peony-
leaves, the purple of the cornel and cineraria, and many similar
appearances.

The colours of the substance, on the contrary, are marked by
their want of intensity and by their extreme simplicity. Few
coloured cells are found in this structure. In petals it is either
white or lightish, or some faint shade of the general colour of the
flower. It requires some care to show this in small specimens ;
but in large ones, such as garden poppies or peonies, the cuticle
and rete can be easily peeled off on both sides, and the colourless
substance shown in a distinct form, having the exact shape of
the petal.

The substance in leaves is always green, except in the light
parts of variegated leaves, or in leaves of unusual thickness, like
the aloe. With these exceptions, there is but little difference in
the shade of green between the substance of one leaf and that of
another, taking them, of course, in a state of health and matu-
rity. Thus, in the holly and ivy, the substance is very little
darker than it is in the beech or laurel. In a great number of
leaves the difference of shade is not perceptible ; and even in the
holm-oak, remarkable for its gloomy foliage, the green of the
substance is not by any means so dark as might be imagined.

It will thus be seen that the coloured cells both in leaves and
petals are chiefly placed in the rete. A few are occasionally
found in the substance of petals, and a certain number in that of
leaves ; but not in general sufficient to determine the outward
colour.

2. The size, form and number of the coloured cells always vary
with the intensity of the general colour of the structure. When
the colour is very deep the cells are small, roundish, and densely
packed together in immense numbers. This is their appearance
in the rete. If the colour is lighter the cells are larger, more
elongated, and less closely packed together, as they are seen in
the substance of leaves, and of those petals which are somewhat
coloured throughout ; and where there is little or no colour, as
in the substance of the greater number of petals, the cells are
generally large and oblong, often muriform, and with distinct
intercellular passages.

Ann. ^ May. N. Hist. VoLxwi. C

18 Mr. E. C. Nourse on the Colours of Leaves and Petals.

In white flowers, tlie cells which contain opake white matter
are always rounder and more thickly packed together than the
empty cells.

3. Tints may be produced by the mere mechanical mixture of
the coloured cells. In these cases no union of the colours takes
place, but they remain distinct in their separate cells, side by side.
When the cells are mixed with regularity, a uniform tint results ;
but when the colours are more or less massed together, variega-
tion or marking is the consequence. Coloured cells sometimes
lie over one another, causing a new tint by one layer being seen
through the other.

The leaf of the Pelargonium zonule is well-known for its pecu-
liar dark stain. This is entirely in the rete, for the substance of
the leaf is pure green. The rete however, viewed carefully in
various sections beneath the microscope, appears to consist, not
of dark cells, but of distinct red and green ones, very minute,
densely packed together and intermingled ; and it is by this juxta-
position of the red and green, and by the green cells of the sub-
stance being partially visible through it, that the effect of a dark
tint seems to be caused. The leaf of the variegated elder pre-
sents an appearance of similar origin. Some parts of the leaf are
of a decided green, and some almost white ; but there are also
patches of a sort of imperfect green, paler, and somewhat glau-
cous. The substance in these parts is not less green than in the
darkest parts of the leaf, as may be seen by looking at the under
surface ; but the rete, instead of containing dark green cells, con-
sists of a thin layer of white ones ; and these, with the cuticle,
to which they are adherent, by lying over the green substance,
produce the glaucous appearance.

4. The cuticle in this instance contributes to the effect. This
structure has not yet been mentioned, because coloured cells are
never found in it ; and it merely modifies the appearances of co-
lours by regulating the visibility of the coloured cells. This is
so obvious, that it only needs to be referred to, as well as the
effects of the cuticular appendages.

In most petals the cuticle is extremely delicate ; often consist-
ing of the finest web, impossible to be detached, and only to be
seen occasionally at the carefully torn edges of a fiower. It is
somewhat thicker in large petals, and can then be raised and torn
off in shreds. Of course, in these instances, it is perfectly trans-
parent, and permits the colours to be seen through it in the most
distinct manner.

Such are the structural circumstances relating to the colours
of leaves and petals. Simple as they are, and easily observed,
they required to be stated, to receive their proper share of atten-
tion. The chief points about them are, the anatomical differences

Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on some Coleopterous Insects. 19

between leaves and petals in the situation of the colours; and
the location of the colours of the petals in the rete, a fact hitherto
unnoticed, and one which may hereafter throw light on some
interesting points of vegetable physiology.

Reference was made to another kind of colours, also found in
the leaves and petals. These, with their peculiarities, which may
prove not devoid of practical interest, together with some other
matters connected with the subject or suggested by it, remain to
be brought forward at some future time.

London, June 9, 1845.

V. — Descriptions of Coleopterous Insects collected by Charles
Darwin, Esq., in the Galapagos Islands. By George R.
Waterhouse, Esq.

The insects here described are nearly all of small size, and none
of them display any brilliant colouring. Some of the species are
referable to a little group found in Chile and Peru, — the genus
AmmophoruSy a genus hitherto only found in those parts ; others
appertain to a genus [Anchonus) which is almost confined to the
West Indian islands and the northern parts of South America.
Again, in the collection under consideration are species of ge-
nera which are found all over the world or nearly so, such as
Feronia, Notaphus and Oryctes^ ; and, lastly, there are species

* It is from genera like these, which have a very wide geographical range,
that the minor, local groups appear as it were to radiate. Those genera
which are confined to comparatively limited districts, often containing but
few species, and also often presenting very remarkable abnormal modifica-
tions of structure, are in most cases referable to some family which has re-
presentatives in most parts of the world. Groups of high value, such as
classes, are never confined to any particular quarter of the globe; and
even when we descend to families, restricted as they now are by natu-
ralists, it is comparatively rare to find them so defined as not to embrace
species from widely separated localities. Genera may be arranged under
three principal categories as regards their geographical distribution. First
may be noticed those of universal range, such as Cicindela; secondly, those
which occur in both hemispheres but affect particular zones, such as Mega-
cephala, which is confined to tlie tropical zone ; and thirdly, those which are
restricted to a comparatively small district, such rs Manticora, which is con-
fined to South Africa. These genera all belong to the same family of beetles,
and of this family Manticora presents certainly one of the most aberrant
forms. The genus Cicindela would by most entomologists be regarded as
the typical genus of the family Cicindelidce, and here we find, as in many
other cases, the presumed typical genus has a universal range ; it may be
inquired, therefore, whether such is noi generally the case.

I must here observe that Mr. Swainson has expressed the opinion that
typical genera have a great geographical range ; I was not aware, however,
of this fact until after the idea had been suggested to me by a tabular ar-
rangement which I had formed of the Mammalian order llodentia, in which

C2

20 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

which cannot be located in any known genus, but which apper-
tain to families having representatives in most parts of the world,
such as the Pedinidce, Tentyriidce, Anthribidce and Haliicidce.

But four species amongst the Galapagos Coleoptera occur, so
far as I have been able to ascertain, in any other quarter, and of
these, two {Dermestes vulpinus and Corynetes rufipes) are insects
which, feeding upon dried meat and such substances, have been
carried to all parts frequented by ships ; the third is a wood-
feeding insect (genus Apate), and might be transported for a con-
siderable distance by floating timber ; and the fourth is a water-
beetle which appears to me to be clearly identical with the Hy-
drophilus lateralis (genus Tropisternus of Solier), an insect found
in the United States, Mexico, and some of the West Indian
islands. I should observe, moreover, there is in the collection a
second, minute, species of Hydrophilus closely resembling the
Philhydrus affinis of our English collections, but which is rather
smaller, less distinctly punctured, and of a darker hue. I have
in my collection a species from North America from which the
Galapagos Philhydrus differs only in being of a darker colour ;
perhaps this little Hydrophilus should therefore be incorporated
amongst the species which are not peculiar to the Galapagos
Islands. Some of the insects of the collection have labels at-
tached, from which may be ascertained the particular island of the
Galapagos group from which they were procured, and where this
was the case I have not found any species which is common to
two or more of the islands.

both the classification of the minor divisions and their geographical distribu-
tion were displayed at the same time. After working out the affinities of the
groups of the Carnivorous quadrupeds, the idea again occurred to me ; five
out of the six great divisions 1 had formed from the consideration of characters
furnished by the skull and dentition combined, had a typical form of very
great geographic range. In the order Rodentia I had made three great di-
visions, and had pointed out the distinguishing characters of a fourth, though
I hesitated to raise that fourth to the rank of the other three. Were the
geographical range to be taken into consideration, there would he four great
families of Rodents. In the order Fac/ii/dermata, the various species appear
all to approach more or less to four principal forms, typified by the genera
Equus, I'dpir, Sus and Mastodon, and these genera, or very nearly related
genera, are found either living or in a fossil state in all the principal quarters
of the globe, Australia excepted, where only the last has been found. What
is characteristic of part of a small group might also be characteristic of part
of a larger group. I have noticed that in a certain family, Cicindelidce, one
genus is confined to a tropical zone ; so might we find in an order of ani-
mals, a family which is confined to the tropical zone — i\\e Psittacidce among
Birds is nearly a tropical family ; and in the class Mammalia we have an in-
stance (certainly a rare one) of an order (the Quadrumana) which is almost
confined to the tropical zone. The sections of water insects have generally
a wider range than most others, and the above generalizations, as regards
the distribution of groups, will not apply to parasitic insects.

from the Galapagos Islands. 21

Section GEODEPHAGA.
Family FERONiiDiE.

Feronia Calathoides. Fer. nigra oblongo-ovata, nitida ; antennis pi-
ceo-rubris ; pedibus piceis ; thorace subquadrato, subplano, foveis
duabus oblongis postice impressis, elytris sulcato-striatis. — Long.
Corp. 4 j lin. ; lat. 1| lin.

This insect very much resembles the Calathus cistelloides ; its
head however is rather longer, and both thorax and elytra are
rather shorter ; the latter, moreover, are much more deeply stri-
ated, and the interstices between the striae are convex. With the
exception of being a trifle shorter, the thorax resembles that of
Calathus cistelloides in being nearly quadrate and but little con-
vex : the sides are nearly straight and parallel behind, but slightly
contracted in front ; the posterior angles are right angles ; the
dorsal channel is distinct, and midway between the dorsal channel
and either side of the thorax is a narrow, impunctate, longitudinal
groove, in length occupying fully the basal third of the thorax.
The elytra are of an oblong-ovate form, and rather broader than
the thorax ; the somewhat deep strise with which they are marked
are smooth, but a few punctures are observable on the outer
margin of each elytron. The legs are sometimes pitchy and
sometimes pitchy-red.

Feronia galapagoensis. Fer. angusta, nigro-senea, nitidiuscula ; an-
tennis rufescentibus, pedibus piceis ; thorace subquadrato, sub-
plano, postice angustiore ; foveis duabus postice impressis ; elytris
elongatis, lateribus subparallelis, leviter striatis. — Long. corp. 5^
lin.; lat. l|lin.

This species is equal in size to the Calathus cistelloides, but is
of a narrower and much more elongated form. The broadest part
of the thorax is rather in front of the middle, and from this point
they are gradually contracted before and behind ; in front in such
a manner as to give to the sides a slightly rounded outline, but
behind, the margins are nearly straight, and converge in no very
marked degree. The elytra are elongated, but little broader than
the thorax ; the shoulders are obtusely rounded, and the sides
form a very gentle curve, so that they might be compared to a
very long oval ; they have delicate simple striae : on the second stria
are two punctures rather remote from each other and situated on
the hinder half of the elytron ; and on the third stria is another
puncture situated on the anterior half : besides these, there are a
few punctures on the outer margin. The legs vary in colour from
pitchy-black to pitchy-red. The aeneous tinge on the body is
nowhere very distinct.

These two insects will not associate well with any of the sub-

^ Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

divisions of tlie great Feronian group ; possessing the essential
characters of Feronia, they have the general form and aspect of
the species of Calathus : so like indeed is one of the species to
Calathus cistelloides, that I could scarcely doubt its belonging to
the same genus, and was somewhat surprised to find the claws of
the tarsi destitute of the usual denticulations. The dilated tarsi
of the males have the joints triangular, as in Feronia.

Family Harpalid^.
Selenophorus (?) galapagoensis. Sel. piceus, marginibus thoracis ely-
trorumque rufescentibus ; antennis, palpis, pedibusqiie ferrugineis ;
thorace transverso-quadrato, postice paululum angustiore, angulis
posticis obtusis, foveis duabus postice obsolete impresso ; elytris
striatis, striis 2^ 5^ et 7" punctis remotis, indistinctis, impressis ;
interstitiis Isevibus. — Long. corp. 4|- lin. ; lat. 1| lin.
But one specimen of this species was brought home by Mr.
Darwin, and that being a female, I cannot feel certain that it be-
longs to the genus Selenophorus ; it agrees in general aspect with
the species of that genus, and in having no tooth in the emargi-
nation of the mentum.

Amblygnathus (?) ohscuricornis. Ambl. niger subobscurus ; antennis
fuscis, articulis basalibus nigris apicibus piceis, palpis rufescentibus,
tarsis piceo-rufis ; thorace transverse, subquadrato, postice paulo
angustiore, supra convex o, angulis posticis rotundatis ; elytris
subparallelis, convexis, striatis, striis 2^, 5^ et 7^ punctis remotis
obsolete impressis, interstitiis convexis. — Long. corp. 4f lin.

This insect like the last is a female, there being but one spe-
cimen in Mr. Darwin's collection ; it is almost destitute of any
gloss, and has a slight silky appearance. In general aspect it
greatly resembles a Cratognathus, having the same convex form
of body; the mandibles however are obtuse at the apex, the
labrum much less narrow in the antero-posterior direction, the
head smaller, and the anterior tibiae less dilated. Both in this
and the preceding insect there are three or four short spines on
the outer side of the anterior tibiae.

The thorax has the ordinary two impressions behind, but they
are extremely indistinct : the elytra are distinctly striated ; and
the strise are impunctate, if we except the second, fifth and seventh
from the suture, in each of which are a few punctures which are
widely separated and by no means distinct : at the apex of the
elytron, near the outer margin, is a series of five or six tolerably
distinct and large punctures ; the interspaces between the strise
are rather strongly convex on the hinder part of the elytra, and
but slightly convex on the anterior part.

I am not acquainted with Dejean's genus Amblygnathus, ex-
cept through his description, and with that the present insect

from the Galapagos Islands, 33

will not agree in all respects ; like Amblygnathus, it has no tooth
to the mentum, and the antennae short, but the eyes must be more
prominent. The tarsi are short.

Family BembidiidtE.

Notaphus galapagoensis. Not. seneus, nitidus, antennis nigrescen-
tibus, ad basin, pedibusque testaceis ; thorace transverso, postice
utrinque fovea oblonga impressa, lineaque longitudinali elevata
notato ; elytris punctate- striatis, fasciis duabus arcuatis, rufescen-
tibus, ornatis. — Long. corp. 1^ lin.

Body rather short and broad. Thorax broad and transverse, mo-
derately convex, the sides boldly rounded and but slightly sinuated
near the posterior angles, which are nearly right angles ; dorsal
channel distinct, and continued from the base to the apex of the
thorax ; a narrow oblong fovea is situated on each side behind,
rather nearer the lateral margin, or angle, than the mesial line, and
extending from the angle is a ritlge which is about one-third of the
length of the thorax and parallel with the mesial line, and hence,
although the ridge springs from the angle, it is somewhat remote
from the lateral margin at its apex, — the margin being bowed out-
wards ; the disc of the thorax is smooth, but the lateral and poste-
rior margins are coriaceous. The elytra are rather broad, of a
brownish seneous hue, distinctly punctate-striated ; rather in front
of the middle is an irregular, transverse, yellowish band, which is
subinterrupted in parts, and does not extend to the suture ; it de-
scends obliquely downwards as it runs in from the outer margin,
where it is met by a humeral pale mark : there is a faint trace of
two pale spots above this band : about the hinder third of each
elytron is a curved mark which commences on the second inter-
stice from the suture, runs outwards to the margin, and forming
a segment of a circle, extends to the apex of the elytra. A largeish
depression is observed on the third interstice from the suture on
the anterior third of each elytron. The whole of the basal joint,
and the base of the second, third and fourth joints of the antennae
are yellow; the rest of the joints are blackish.

This species is from James^ Island.

Section HYDRADEPHAGA.
Family Dytiscid^.

Copelatus (?) galapagoensis. Cop. ovatus, parum convexus, piceus ;
capite, marginibus lateralibus thoracis et elytrorum, antennis pe-
dibusque rufo-testaceis ; thorace disco nigro, punctis minutissirais
subieraotis impressis ; elytris distincte sed anguste striatis. — Long,
corp. 2 1 lin.

This is a small insect, and might be mistaken for a species of

i^ Mr. G. 11. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

Hydroporus before examined ; it however belongs to the Dytiscidce
as defined by Aube, and agrees with Erichson's genus Copelatus,
excepting that its posterior tarsi are not cihated. The hinder
tarsi are provided with a few spines only : the three basal joints
have each two large spines at the apex, and there are besides some
few very minute spines on other parts. I have seen several spe-
cies presenting this structure ; among others I may notice the
Colymbetes elegans of Babington, an insect which I have had sent
to me with the name Copelatus posticatus attached. Another
species was brought by Mr. Darwin from the Mauritius ; they all
possess the sharp distinct striae to the elytra which are mentioned
as characteristic of the genus Copelatus, and neither of the four
specimens here alluded to have the slightest trace of dilatation of
the anterior tarsi.

The Galapagos species differs from the Colymbetes elegans of
Babington (which is found both in Rio de Janeiro and in Colom-
bia) in being smaller and proportionately rather narrower; in
having the legs of a paler hue (these being pitchy-black in C. ele-
gans and pale testaceous in C. galapagoensis)^ and the striae of the
elytra more perfect. In C. elegans the second stria from the suture
is obliterated on the hinder half of the elytron ; the fourth, sixth,
eighth and tenth are also obliterated, but continued for the most
part to the hinder third (or rather beyond that point) of the elytra.
In C. galapagoensis the same striae are abbreviated, but the second
and others mentioned, all terminate on the same line or nearly so,
that line being about the posterior fourth of the elytron. The tho-
rax presents extremely delicate punctures, and numerous minute
longitudinal scratches, requiring a tolerably powerful lens to per-
ceive them ; they are most distinct towards the sides and hinder
part of the thorax. Should this little section of water-beetles be
not already characterized, I think it deserves the rank of a sub-
genus, which might be called ChcetosphyruSy from xaiTrj, a bristle,
and a^vpa, the ankle ; the spines at the base of the foot being
much developed. I may further add, that all the species have
the anterior tibiae somewhat dilated at the apex, and obliquely
truncated on the outer side at the same part ; the truncated por-
tion is provided with three or four spines.

Section BRACHELYTRA.

Creophilus, nov. spec. ? — Three specimens found under a dead
bird in Chatham Island. These specimens approach very nearly
in size and form to the Cr. maxillosus of Europe, and the C. vil-
losus of North America. They have scarcely any hairs either on
the head, thorax or elytra, and are but sparingly clothed on the
meso- and metasternum ; the hairs on these last parts are how-

from the Galapagos Islands. 25

ever entirely black, a character in which it approaches nearer to
the European species, for the same part is white at the sides in
C. villosus, and grayish black in the C, maxillosus. The few hairs
which I can perceive of the elytra are perfectly black ; they occur
however almost entirely on the hinder margin of the elytron. It
is possible that the insect may have had pale markings (which
have been rubbed off) on these parts, but I cannot trace any pale
hairs in either of the three specimens.

The abdomen is clothed throughout with hairs, but they are
rather less dense than in C. villosus and C. maxillosus ; on the
upper surface of the abdomen the hairs are black, excepting on
the second and third visible segments, where they are yellowish
white, but interrupted with black on the middle of each segment :'
on the under surface the hairs are black on the first segment,
and yellow- white on the second and third segments throughout ;
the remaining segments are rusty white in the middle only, and
the pale hairs are almost confined to the posterior margin, the
sides being black in all the specimens. In C. maxillosus I find the
fourth segment white throughout beneath, with the exception of
a small black dot on each side. C. villosus agrees with the Gala-
pagos insect in having the side of the fourth segment black.

Section STERNOXJ.

Family Elaterid^e.

Physorhinus (?) galapagoensis. Phys. oblongus sublinearis ; piceo-
fuscus, pube pallida tectus ; capita rugoso-punctato, antice flavo ;
thorace rugoso-punctato, linea longitudinali leviter impresso ; ely-
tris punctato-striatis, interstitiis punctatis ; antennis pedibusque
flavescentibus ; abdomine fusco. — Long. corp. 4^ lin. ; lat. \\ lin.

I have placed this Galapagos Elater in a genus founded by
Eschscholtz, with which it agrees very closely in many of its cha-
racters ; as Germar's definition of the genus* in question does not,
however, in all respects apply to the insect before me, it will be
necessary to notice the points of disagreement ; but I will first
observe, that the Galapagos insect agrees with Physorhinus in ha-
ving the tarsi apparently but four-jointed, the fourth joint being
very small ; in having the third joint short, and produced on the
under surface into a long, undivided, membranous lobe : the lobe
in the insect before me is equal in leng-th to more than half that
of the terminal joint. The fourth joint is exceedingly small j
forming a mere node, as it were, at the base of the claw-joint :
the basal joint is long. The antennse are rather less than half
the length of the body, and composed of longish, conical, and

* The account I refer to will be found in Dr. Germar's ' Zeitschrift fiir die
Entomologie,' Part 2 for 1840, p. 244.

26 Mr. G. E.. Waterhoase on Coleopterous Insects

slightly compressed joints ; tlie first joint is rather stouter than
the rest, and perhaps a trifle longer; the second and third joints
are short, but the third rather exceeds the second in length ; the
remaining joints are very nearly equal. There is an agreement
also in the form of the thorax, the length of which is about equal
to the breadth behind ; the fore-part contracted, and of the same
width as the head ; the posterior angles produced posteriorly, and
acute ; the antennal groove beneath, short, and confined to the
anterior part of the prsesternum, which has its point bent inwards.
The mesosternum has a small hollow with raised margins in front.
The metasternum is produced posteriorly so as partially to cover
the trochanter. In all these characters the Galapagos insect ap-
pears to me to agree with the type of the genus Physorhinus ; but,
on the other hand, it differs in having the head rather shorter,
presenting when viewed from above very nearly a semicircular
outline, but slightly inclining to a conical form, — whilst Germar
says of the genus Physorhinus, the head is longer than broad ; and
it differs also in having the terminal joint of the tarsus (as it
would appear from the figure) rather longer, so that although
the basal joint is long, it is not quite equal to the other four taken
together, as it is said to be in Physorhinus. The claws are slender
and simple, and the tarsi very hairy.

Section CLAVICORNES.

Dermestes vulpinus, Auct.
Cory net es rufipes, Auct.
From James^ Island.

Section PALPICORNES.

Tropisternus {lateralis, Fab.).
Philhydrus ?

Section LAMELLICORNES.

Oryctes galapagoensis. Oryct. castaneus nitidus ; capite punctate, ca-
rina transversa tri-emarginata obsito ; ante oculos lobis subtrigonis
productis ; clypeo producto, antice recurve, constricto, subemar-
ginato ; thorace punctis distinctis remotis, impresso ; elytris latis,
punctis minutissimis remote adspersis, rugisque indistincte notatis ;
stria punctarum apud suturam. — Long. corp. 10 lin. ; lat. thora-
cis 4^ lin. ; lat. elytrorum 5f lin.

Head with large irregular scattered punctures ; these most nu-
merous, and confluent, on the fore-part; the vertex flat and smooth;
the sides produced into an obtuse angle immediately in front of
the eyes ; the fore-part with a distinctly elevated ridge, which is
most prominent in the middle, and has a deep notch ; it becomes
gradually less prominent towards the sides, but is there produced

from the Galapagos Islands. 27

again into an obtuse angle. Clypeus broader tban long, con-
tracted and slightly recurved at the apex, which is indistinctly
emarginated. Thorax convex, with the sides rather boldly rounded;
the posterior margin also rounded, but forming a segment of a
larger circle ; the fore-part emarginated ; anterior angles slightly
acute, posterior obtusely rounded ; the sui'face above with distinct
punctures, but these remote from each other — most numerous on
the fore-part ; there is moreover a fovea on each side about mid-
way between the anterior and posterior angles, and a little re-
moved from the lateral margins. Scutellum triangular, slightly
rounded at the tip. Elytra convex, much broader than the thorax,
and broadest at the posterior third ; the humeral angles obtusely
rounded, the hinder part very obtusely rounded ; they have a few
exceedingly minute scattered punctures, some indistinct little
rugse, and one or two longitudinal larger impressions. The
sutural stria is composed of a subinterrupted series of distinct
punctures. The body beneath is well-clothed with yellow hairs,
and so are the legs : the terminal segment of the abdomen, like
the elytra, has exceedingly minute scattered punctures; it is
convex, rounded at the extremity, and its transverse diameter is
about three times greater than the antero-posterior ; the penul-
timate segment above is tolerably well-clothed with yellow hairs
(the last has but few hairs), presents a distinct longitudinal fur-
row in the middle, and this furrow is bounded on either side by
a slightly elevated ridge. The legs are short and stout, and the
anterior tibise have three tooth-like processes on the outer side.
The insect is very glossy and of a bright chestnut-brown colour.

Section HETEROMERA.

Family Tentyriid^.

Genus Stomion^ (nov. gen.).

Clypeus truncated in front, its lateral boundaries indicated by

two slightly impressed longitudinal grooves.
Labrum prominent, transverse, and slightly emarginated in front.
Mandibles projecting beyond the clypeus when closed, covered at

the apex by the labrum, but with the sides exposed when the

head is viewed from above ; they are bidentate at the apex.
Mentum broad and transverse and very nearly semicircular, the

rounded part being in front.
Maxillary palpi moderate ; the terminal joint triangular, at least

as long as broad : labial palpi short.

* ^rofitov, a little mouth ; having allusion to a peculiar conformation of
the mouth of this and some allied genera, viz. that of having the mouth closed
beneath by a large mentum, by the sides of which there does not exist the
usual emarginations for the maxillae, which are therefore hidden.

28 Mr. G. H. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

Head small^ in width not equal to more than half that of the
thorax ; inclosed in the thorax as far as the eyes ; the outline
of the part in front of the eyes, including the mandibles and
labrum, is conical, but taking the arch formed by the outline
of the clypeus, it is nearly semicircular ; — slightly indented on
each side of the clypeus.

Antennce of moderate length ; if extended backwards would
scarcely reach the base of the thorax; slender, the joints of a
long obconic form ; the second joint short, the third long, but
not equal in length to the two following joints taken together;
the last three joints dilated ; the antepenultimate and penulti-
mate present a triangular outline ; the last joint is about equal
in size to these, but of an oval form.

Eyes tolerably large and moderately convex, kidney-shaped, being
very slightly encroached upon in front by the lateral ridge of
the head.

Thorax transverse, narrower before than behind, rather deeply
emarginated in front, rounded at the sides and bisinuated be-
hind, where it is closely applied to the thorax : the upper sur-
face is convex, and there is an impressed line (not very distinct)
following the margins, but interrupted in the middle of the
anterior margin : the angles are acute in front and right
angles behind, — or nearly right angles.

Scutellum rather small, but distinct ; rounded behind.

Elytra soldered together, very convex, broader than the thorax
and of an ovate form, but sinuated in front, where the curved
outline corresponds to that of the hinder margin of the thorax ;
the humeral angles somewhat obtuse.

Presternum with its hinder margin obtuse, notched, and not pro-
duced posteriorly beyond the anterior coxae.

Abdomen but little inclosed at the sides by the elytra.

Le^s slender and moderately long ; the tibiae nearly cylindrical,
and terminated by two small spines : tarsi slender ; the hinder
tarsi equal in length to more than two-thirds of that of the
tibia.

In general appearance the species of this genus greatly re-
semble those of the genus Helops, and more particularly those
shorter-bodied species of which our common Helops striatus may
be said to form the type. In size and general form, the Stomion
Icevigatus (hereafter described) greatly resembles the insect just
mentioned, but its thorax and elytra are more convex. The Sto-
mion galapagoensis is half as large again as the H. striatus, and
of a much broader form and more convex above : the third species
of Stomion known to me is considerably less than the H. striatum,
and of a shorter and broader form. The structure of the mouth,

from the Galapagos Islands. 29

however, shows that the present insects are in affinity remote
from the Helops group, and indeed belong to the TentyriicUe.

In having a distinct scutellum, the eyes transverse and not
covered by the lateral ridge of the head, the mentum truncated,
and the tibise simple, the genus Stomion approaches to Anatolica,
and yet the general form of the species of Stomion is very differ-
ent to that of the species of Anatolica ; the more slender antennae
with the terminal joints incrassated, and the absence of emargi-
nation to the mentum, would alone, however, serve to distinguish
Stomion from Anatolica. Perhaps Eschscholtz's genus Eurymeto-
pon is more nearly allied to our present genus ; the species of
Eurymetopon are represented by Eschscholtz, however, as having
the head broad, the thorax nearly as broad as the elytra, the eye
small, and the tibise very short, all of which characters will not well
apply to Stomion. The approach, on the other hand, is evinced,
as it would appear, in the structure of the antennae and the
truncated form of the clypeus.

Stomion galapagoensis. Stom. ater, obscurus, antennis palpisque
piceis, pedibus piceo-nigris ; corpore ovate, convexo ; capita tho-
raceque crebre punctulatis ; elytris seriatim punctatis, interstitiis
convexis, punctis minutissimis adspersis. — Long. corp. 5J lin. ;
lat. 2f lin.

The body is very convex, of a broad ovate form, and dull black
colour ; the head is flat above or slightly concave in the middle
and thickly punctured ; the thorax is broader than long, and nar-
rower before than behind, slightly emarginated in front, where
the angles are somewhat acute ; evenly and gently rounded at the
sides, and indistinctly sinuated behind ; the posterior angles are
right angles ; the upper surface is distinctly convex, and very
thickly and rather finely punctured; an impressed line runs parallel
with, and close to the posterior and lateral margins, and is also
continued on the anterior margin, but is interrupted in the mid-
dle. The scutellum is small and transverse ; the elytra are very
convex ; at the base they are scarcely broader than the thorax,
but in the middle they are considerably wider, and at the apex
they are pointed ; they have series of punctures forming the or-
dinary striae, but these punctures are by no means strong ; the
interstices are convex and covered with very minute scattered
punctures. The mentum is distinctly punctured, and the thoracic
segments are strongly punctured in the middle beneath : the ab-
dominal segments have fine scattered punctures.

Two specimens in Mr. Darwin^s collection agree with this de-
scription ; there are others of a much smaller size, being about
four lines in length, and in which the notch on each side of the
fore-part of the head, marking the outer boundaiy of the clypeus,

80 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

is scarcely perceptible ; these notches are tolerably distinct in the
large specimens ; in other respects they all agree.

Stomion Helopoides. Stom. fusco-piceus, antennis pedibusque fusces-

centibus ; corpore ovato, convexo ; capita sat crebre punctate ;

elytris seriatim punctatig, interstitiis planis punctis minutis ad-

spersis. — Long. corp. 3 — 3^ lin. ; lat. Ij lin.

The punctures forming the striae on the elytra of this species
are less distinct^ and those on the interstices are more distinct
than in the St. galapagoensis ; the interstices moreover are flat,
or sometimes^ the one or two nearest the suture are very slightly
convex. The thorax is transverse, evenly rounded at the sides,
and of equal width before and behind, or very nearly so j the an-
gles are slightly obtuse ; the upper surface is pretty thickly co-
vered with smallish punctures ; the under surface is smooth at the
sides, but presents small rugae and a few punctures near the base
of the legs. The punctures which are arranged in rows on the
elytra are by no means strong, and are distinctly separated ; and
the smaller punctures on the interstices are moderately numerous.
The abdomen is finely punctured.

Two specimens in Mr. Darwin's collection agree with this de-
scription; there is a third individual which agrees in other respects,
but is rather larger and almost of a black colour, and has the legs
of a pitchy hue.

Stomion Icevigatus. Stom. ater nitidus, antennis, palpis, pedibusque

piceis ; corpore valde convexo, oblongo-ovato ; capita punctulato ;

thorace punctis minutissimis impressis ; elytris Isevibus. — Long.

Corp. 4 lin. ; lat. Ijlin.

Both the antennae and legs are rather shorter and a trifle thicker
in proportion in this species than in others of the genus here
described ; the form of the body is more oblong, and the thorax
is not sensibly broader behind than in front ; the head moreover
is larger. The insect is very glossy, and to the naked eye its
thorax and elytra appear to be perfectly smooth. The head is
distinctly and thickly punctured : the thorax is but little broader
than long, has the sides nearly parallel and very indistinctly
rounded; its upper surface is very convex and rather thickly
punctured, but the punctures are extremely minute : the elytra
are very convex and but little broader than the thorax ; sometimes
they exhibit excessively minute punctures arranged in strise, and
there are a few punctures in the interstices ; it requires however a
tolerably powerful lens to perceive these punctures : the thoracic
segments are punctured beneath, and so is the mentum ; the ab-
domen is smooth, or most indistinctly punctured.

Family Tageniid^e (Tagenites, Solier).
Ammophorus galapagoensis. Amm. ater, nitidus, antennis pedibus-

from the Galapagos Islands. 31

que rufo-plceis, vel piceis ; capite thoraceque crebre punctatis,
punctis oblongis, prope latera plerumque confluentibus, interstitiis
angustissimis longitudinaliter parum elevatis ; thorace angulis an-
ticis acutis, posticis subacutis ; elytris sulcatis, sulcis catenato-
punctatis, interstitiis costatis ; corpore subtus profunde punctato.
— Long. Corp. 2 J — 2-J lin.

This species is smaller and proportionately rather shorter than
the Amm. peruvianus. The head is thickly covered with nan-ow
oblong punctures which run into each other, so as to leave very
narrow, irregularly longitudinal ridges. The thorax is moderately
convex above, rather broader than long, moderately rounded at the
sides, and but slightly sinuated near the posterior angles, which
are nearly right angles, but slightly acute ; the anterior angles
are prominent, project forwards, and are somewhat acute. The
elytra are rather broader than the thorax and of an oblong form,
rounded at the apex, and moderately convex ; the humeral angles
are produced laterally into an acute angle (more prominent and
distinct than in Amm. peruvianus) ; each elytron presents eight
sulci, in each of which are a series of impressions or largeish
shallow punctures ; the interstices form narrow ridges, on which
a few very minute punctures are scattered. The mentum is ru-
gose and has two oblong depressions ; the thoracic segments pre-
sent a few large, irregular punctures beneath; the abdominal
segments are very coarsely punctured, if we except the last two ;
the penultimate has a transverse groove, and like the terminal
segment is rather finely punctured. The palpi are red ; the legs
and antennse pitchy -red, and sometimes pitchy.

Found by Mr. Darwin under stones upon a hill in Chatham
Island.

Ammophorus bifoveatus. Amm. ater, nitidus ; antennis pedibusque
piceo-nigiis ; capite punctato ; thorace angulis anticis acuminatis,
posticis acutis, extrorsum productis, supra punctulatojoveis duabus
et rugis tenuibus impressis ; elytris crenato-striatis, interstitiis an-
gustis elevatis. — Long. corp. 3 lin.

The Amm. bifoveatus is so named from its having two largeish
but shallow depressions, situated, one on each side, about the
middle of each lateral half of the thorax : the thorax is moderately
convex, broader than long, broadest in the middle, and about
equally contracted before and behind ; the sides are contracted
rather suddenly near the angles, which are prominent; the
hinder angles, which are most prominent, are acute : the surface
of the thorax is rather finely punctured, and presents numerous
little longitudinal rugse, which are most distinct on the sides,
hinder part, and in the fovese described ; two grooves, more distinct
and longer than the rest, are observed on the middle of the thorax,
where they are separated by a narrow ridge. The elytra are
broader than the thorax, oblong, and have the humeral angles

32 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

produced laterally into small acute processes j the ordinary inter-
stices of the striae of the elytra are very narrow and elevated ; the
punctures of the striae are large, transverse, and separated from
each other by narrow spaces. A few large punctures are seen on
the under surface of each of the thoracic segments ; the abdominal
segments are more thickly punctured ; the penultimate however
is nearly smooth, and the last is very delicately punctured. The
abdomen is depressed in the middle.

Two specimens from James^ Island present the above charac-
ters ; some other specimens in the collection which cannot other-
wise be separated, display the thoracic fovea rather less distinctly,
and the double ridge on the disc is sometimes wanting.

Ammophorus ohscurus. Amm. ater, obscurus ; antennis pedibusque
piceis ; capite thoraceque rugoso-punctatis ; angulis thoracis acutis
extrorsum productis ; elytris crenato-striatis, interstitiis angustis
elevatis. — Long. corp. 2|^lin.

This species has the thorax narrower than in either of the pre-
ceding, from which it may moreover be distinguished by its dull
colour, the thorax being rugosely punctured : the sculpture of the
elytra is rather more decided, and the suture is not raised as in
the other species. In Amm. galapagoensis the suture is fully as
much raised as the ridged interspaces of the striae ; in Amm. bi-
foveatus the suture is also distinctly raised, but not quite so much
as the ridges between the striae ; in the present species the suture
is flat. Like Amm. bifoveatus, the angles of the thorax are pro-
duced, and as in both the preceding species ; the humeral angle of
the elytra is produced and acute. The ordinary interstices of the
elytra form very narrow and considerably elevated ridges, in the
grooves between which are large transverse impressions, and si-
milar impressions are observed on each side of the suture ; not
extending quite to the suture, they give that part the appearance
of being slightly raised, and indeed it is so on the hinder part
of the elytra.

The three species of Ammophorus here described have the third
joint of the antennae shorter in proportion than in Amm. peru-
vianus, but they agree in this respect with Amm. costatus and
Amm. rubripes of Sober, with which they also agree in size ; they
all have the interstices of all the striae of the elytra elevated,
whilst in one only of the Chilian species [A. costatus) are any of
these interstices distinctly ridged, and here it is only the alter-
nate spaces between the striae which present that condition.

Family PEDiNiDiE.
Pedonoeces^, no v. gen.
Clypeus distinctly emarginated.
Labrum small, transverse.

* From -TTihou, the ground, and uiKia, to inhabit.

from the Galapagos Islands. 33

Mandibles short and obtuse, bidentate at the extremity, and
hidden by the clypeus, when the head is viewed from above.

Mentum small, ovate, concave externally.

Maxillary palpi moderate ; the terminal joint securiform : labial
palpi short ; the terminal joint swollen.

Head considerably narrower than the thorax ; the visible portion
broader than long ; the fore-part in front of the eyes forms
nearly a semicircle, but is emarginated in front ; no indentation
marks the posterior or lateral boundaries of the clypeus : the
lateral ridge of the head, which protects the basal portion of
the antennae, is well-developed, and runs backwards so as to
divide the eye into two parts ; the upper portion of the eye is
rather large and round, or very nearly so ; the lower portion is
nearly of equal size with the upper, and also nearly round.

AntenntE moderate ; if extended backwards would reach the base
of the thorax ; the joints of a shortish obconic form ; the se-
cond joint short ; the third nearly as long as the two following
taken together ; the last three joints incrassated, and fully as
broad as long ; the terminal joint is rounds and as large as the
penultimate.

Thorax subquadrate, but little broader than long, emarginated in
front, and with the anterior angles rather prominent and some-
what acute ; the sides are indistinctly rounded, and the hinder
part is but little broader than the front ; the posterior margin
is distinctly bisinuated, and the posterior angles are right
angles, or somewhat acute : the surface is moderately convex,
and there is a distinct impressed line running parallel with, and
close to, both the lateral and posterior margins.

Scutellum distinct, triangular.

Elytra soldered together, oblong, convex, rounded at the extre-
mity : the humeral angles nearly right angles, but somewhat
obtuse, and presenting a slightly concave triangular surface in
front, against which the thoracic angles are applied.

Prasternum rather contracted, pointed behind, and but httle pro-
duced beyond the coxae of the anterior legs.

Abdomen with the penultimate segment very narrow in the antero-
posterior direction ; the last segment semicircular and depressed,
or concave, in the middle.

Leffs moderate ; the tibiae straight, very little compressed, and but
slightly dilated at the apex : the four anterior tarsi dilated in
the male sex, the anterior pair distinctly so, the width of the
second or third joint being nearly equal to the length of the
four basal joints taken together ; the first and fourth joints are
small, the second and third equal or very nearly so ; the three
basal joints only appear to be covered with the velvet-Hke sub-
stance beneath : the middle pair of tarsi are less distinctly di-

Ann. §• Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi, D

34 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

lated ; the claw-joint of each tarsus is nearly equal in length

to the four basal joints taken together.

In general appearance, in the structure of the head and of the
tarsi, the species of this genus approach very nearly to the mem-
bers of Dejean's genus Blapstinus ; they have the legs however
rather longer, the thorax less distinctly transverse, and the elytra
more convex ; these are moreover soldered together, and there
are no wings as in Blapstinus. Judging from the definitions of
the various genera of Pedinida, the present genus presents a
combination of characters not hitherto noticed. Those genera of
the family of which I possess examples in my own collection I
find are capable of being distinguished from each other by the
following characters, which it will be observed are not peculiar to
either sex, and are therefore preferable, as it appears to me, to
those which have hitherto been pointed out, and which are chiefly
derived from the variations in the structure of the tarsi of the
male.

I. Apterous ; elytra soldered together at the suture.

A. Eye divided by the lateral ridge of the head.

a. Anterior tibiae distinctly dilated at the apex.

a *. Antennae short, submoniliform Heliophilus.

a **. Antennae with the joints, most of them,
obconic.
0*1. Middle tibiae dilated at the apex . Pedinus.
0*2. Middletibiaenotdilatedattheapex Isocerus.
h. Anterior tibiae not dilated at the apex Pedonceces.

B. Eye uncovered (not divided by the lateral ridge of the

head),
a. Clypeus truncated or slightly rounded in front ... Platyscelis.
a*. Clypeus emarginated in front.

a*\. Antennae distinctly incrassated at

the apex Eurynotusf.

a* 2. Antennae with the terminal joints

oblong, not broader than the rest. Dendarus.
il. Winged ; elytra free.

A. Eye divided by the lateral ridge of the head Blapstinus.

B. Eye uncovered at the sides Opatrinus.

f The mentum in Eurynotus is distinctly trilobed, having a central prin-
cipal portion and two lateral wings ; these wings or lateral lobes diverge as
they part from the base of the mentum and are acutely pointed at the ex-
tremity ; they are separated from the mesial lobe by a deep hollow on each
side. In the great Indian species, which Dejean arranges under the head
PlatynotuSy the same structure of mentum is observable as well as in Opa-
trinus ; but the lateral lobes do not exist in Heliophilus, or at least they are
here exceedingly minute and curved inwards, as I have observed to be the
case in the mentum of Blaps ; Dendarus appears to agree with Heliophilus
in this respect. Platynotus of Dejean must undoubtedly be placed near to

from the Galapagos Islands. 35

Pedonoeces galapagoensis. Ped. ater, nitidus ; antennis pedibusque
nigro-piceis ; capite thoraceque confertim punctulatis ; elytris
subsulcato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis punctis minutissimis
adspersis. — Long. corp. 3 lln.; lat. 1^ lin.

Var. (d. Elytris sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis convexioribus, quarto
et sexto elevatis, subcostatis.

This species has the general form of the P. costatus, but the
thorax is rather longer in proportion ; here the interstices of the
striae of the elytra are simply convex, and do not form narrow
ridges as in P. costatus. The legs have minute yellow spiny hairs
as in that species, and on the under surface of all the femora is a
small brush of yellow hairs.

Pedonoeces costatus. Ped. niger, parum nitidus ; antennis pedibusque
rufo-piceis ; corpore oblongo, convexo ; capite crebre punctate ;
thorace confertim punctato, punctis longitudinaliter confluentibus ;
elytris sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis subcarinatis, alternis elevati-
oribus, costatis. — Long. corp. 2f lin. ; lat. 1 lin.

This species, which is from James' Island, is easily distin-
guished from the Ped. galapagoensis by the sharp keel-like ridges
formed by the alternate interstices of the striae of the elytra, and
by the narrowness of the other interstices : the thorax, moreover,
is more strongly and more thickly punctured, and the punctures
are oblong, and the greater portion of them are confluent, join-
ing each other in such a way as to leave little, narrow, irregularly
longitudinal ridges for the interspaces. The thorax is rather
broader than long, subquadrate, the sides but slightly rounded,
and indistinctly sinuated near the posterior angle, which is nearly
a right angle ; the posterior margin is sinuated, presenting a con-
vex outline in the middle, and a slightly concave emargination on
either side near the angles. The elytra are scarcely broader than
the thorax, of an oblong form, but little broader in the middle
than at the base, and at the apex they are rounded. The legs,
which, like the antennae, are of a pitchy colour, have very small
spiny yellowish hairs, and these become more dense and rather
longer on the under side of the middle part of the hinder femora.
The three terminal joints of the antennae are pitchy-red. The
body is distinctly punctured beneath throughout.

Eurynotus. In two species of Platynofus before me (one of which appears
to be the P. gigas) I find the scutellum is scarcely to be seen, whilst in Eu-
rynotus it is distinct ; this, combined with the sinuated sides to the thorax of
the former, and the thorax being broadest behind in the Eurynoius, will help
to distinguish the two genera. I may add, the mesial lobe of the mentum
is distinctly emarginated in Platynotus and truncated in Eurynotus : the
structure of the tarsi and antennae also differ in these genera.

D2

36 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

Pedonceces puhescens. Ped. oblongo-ovatus, supra inodice convexus ;
piceo-niger, pilis brevissimis, adpressis, fuscis, obsitus ; antennis
pedibusque piceis ; capite thoraceque creberrime punctulatis ;
elytris punctato-gtriatis, striis non pilosis, interstitiis convexis. —
Long. Corp. 3J^ lin.

The thorax is rather broader than long, has the sides slightly-
rounded, the anterior margin rather narrower than the posterior,
the hinder angles right angles : the elytra are of an oblong form,
scarcely broader in the middle than elsewhere, and very little
broader than the thorax j the pale brownish minute hairs have a
tendency to a linear arrangement, and are confined to the in-
terstices of the striae, which under a strong lens have a coriaceous
appearance ; the punctures of the strise are by no means deep,
and distinctly separated from each other.

Mr. Darwin found this species under stones on a hill in Chat-
ham Island in the month of September.

Section XYLOPHAGI, LatreUIe.
Genus Apate, Fabricius.

In Mr. Darwin^s collection are three specimens of a species of
this genus which are about equal in size to the Apate capucinus
of authors, but differ in being of a black or pitchy-black colour,
in having the elytra more convex in the transverse direction, with
the punctures rather less deep and more distinctly separated;
the hinder portion is obliquely truncated, but descends more sud-
denly than in A. capucinus , and each elytron is somewhat humped
towards the apex : the upper surface of the thorax is covered
with small flattened, polished tubercles which are extremely close
together ; the fore-part is covered with angular or acutely pointed
tubercles of large size, and is produced into two largeish conical
protuberances, the points of which are bent downwards and over-
hang the head ; these protuberances are not only covered with
tubercles, but have numerous pale hairs * : the mesial portion of
the head, between the eyes, is smooth and polished ; the anterior
part is rough ; the under parts are clothed with whitish hairs. I
have an insect in my own collection from a part of the world which
is much better known (Colombia), and which is undoubtedly the
same species as the Galapagos insect. From the wide range
which it has, it is no doubt known and described.

The specimens above referred to were found by Mr. Darwin
in the branches of a dead Mimosa tree in Chatham Island, and
that gentleman states in his notes that the whole length of the
bough was perforated by them.

• These protuberances are less developed than in the Jpate cornuta.

from the Galapagos Islands. 37

Section RHYNCQPHORA.
Family Anthribid^e.
Ormiscus*, nov. gen.

Rostrum very shorty transverse, truncated in front ; the mandi-
bles rather prominent and sharply pointed.

Head shorter than broad, its vertex on the same plane with the
rostrum.

Eyes large, prominent, converging in front, and contracting the
forehead to about half the width of the head ; emarginated
below.

Antenna springing from a little round cavity immediately beneath
the eye ; if extended backwards they would reach the posterior
margin of the thorax, or extend perhaps slightly beyond that
part ; the joints most of them slender ; the first joint nearly
hidden ; the second thicker than the following six joints, and
nearly globose ; the third joint slender and the longest, but
shorter than the two following joints taken together ; the fomlih
to the eighth inclusive obconic, becoming successively shorter ;
the three terminal joints dilated, closely joined, and together
forming an ovate club.

Thorax rather broader than long ; contracted, and subtruncated
in front, broadest near the posterior margin, and convex in the
transverse direction ; with an obtuse ridge at the side, but con-
fined to the hinder part, and a curved transverse ridge behind ;
this ridge is very distinct ; in the mesial line of the thorax it
nearly touches the hinder margin, but from that part it ascends
as it runs outwards, so that it is somewhat distant from the
posterior angle ; the hinder margin straight, and the posterior
angles right angles.

Scutellum very small.

Elytra rather broader than the thorax; short, subcylindrical,
rounded at the apex, and with the humeral angles obtuse.

Legs moderate ; tarsi as long as the tibiae ; the first and fourth
joints long and nearly equal ; the second and third rather short,
the latter distinctly bilobed at the extremity ; the lobes equal.

Ormiscus variegatus. Orm. ater flavescenti-tomehtosus ; capite tho-
raceque rugosis ; elytris seneo-micantibus, indistincte punctato-
striatis, pube alba, flava et fusca variegatis ; postice macula fusca
communi cordiformi ; singulo prope medium fascia obliqua ornate ;
antennis articulis basalibus ad basin, tibiisque flavescentibus ; femo-
ribus piceis, ad basin pallidioribus. — Long. corp. 1 lin.

Var. (3, Elytris rufescentibus, marginibus maculaque transversa prope
medium nigrescentibus.

* 'Og^/ffxo.c, a small necklace, a collar. The little insect here described
has a curved ridge crossing the back part of the thorax, a character not
peculiar to it, but which is more distinct here than in most others of the
jinthribida.

38 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on Coleopterous Insects

Amongst the numerous genera of Anthribidm defined by Schon-
herr, I have found none presenting the combination of characters
which are above pointed out. Ormiscus approaches most nearly
perhaps to Arceocerus, but may be distinguished by the diiferent
form of the eyes, which have the long diameter considerably
greater than the transverse, and are much narrower in front than
behind ; the position of the antennse is also different, and the
form of the joints, which are shorter, and especially the form of
the club, which is considerably shorter, and has not the joints
distinctly separated.

The seneous tint of the elytra is only seen in parts where the
pubescence has apparently been rubbed ofi" : at the base of each
elytron near the scutellum is a slight hump, which, wanting the
pubescence, always presents a dark hue ; on the outer side of this
is an oblong patch of a pale yellowish colour, and this is not due
to the colour of the pubescence only, for the elytron itself ap-
pears to be pale at this part : in the middle is a broad brownish
band, which as it parts from the suture to the outer margin
slightly descends : on the outer margin is a broad dusky patch,
and there is a brownish heart-shaped spot on the suture, about
midway between the central fascia and the apex of the elytra ;
the tibiae are somewhat dusky at the apex.

Mr. Darwin found this insect amongst others when sweeping
the herbage in the high central parts of Charles' Island, in the
month of October,

Family OTIOKHYNCHIDiE.

Otiorhynchus cuneiformis . Ot. ater, fusco-cinereo-squamosus, setis
brevibus adspersis ; antennis pedibusque piceis.

Caput breve subconvexum, fronte longitudinaliter rugosa ; oculi fere
globosi : rostrum capite vix longius sed angustius, apice modice
dilatatum, supra fere planum longitudinaliter rugosum. Antennae
mediocres, funiculo articulls prime et secundo subsequaHbus ;
clava breviter ovata, apice acuminata. Thorax seque longus ac
latus, subcylindricus, apice truncatus, angustior, lateribus pone
medium parum ampliatis ; basi leviter bisinuatus ; supra rugosus.
Scutellum apice rotundatum. Elytra oblongo-subovata, antice tho-
racis basi haud latiora, supra convexa, lateribus pone medium am-
pliata, apicem versus subacuminata, ad apieem rotundata ; rude
punctate- striata, interstitiis parum elevatis impunctatis, seriatim
setesis. Pedes mediocres. — Long. corp. 2 J lin. ; lat. 1 J lin.

This insect is so thickly clothed with mud-coloured scales that
it is difficult to see the sculpturing. It is considerably smaller
than the Otiorhynchus raucus, and the elytra being broadest
rather behind the middle, the thorax but little rounded at the
gides, and narrower in front than behind, where it is equal in
width to the base of the elytra, gives to the general outhne ^

from the Galapagos Islands. 39

wedge-form, or at least an approach. It departs from other spe-
cies of the genus in having the lateral processes of the rostrum,
forming the lower boundary of the groove for the antennae, rather
less prominent, the eyes more convex, and the antennse shorter.
It is not without considerable hesitation that I place this insect
in the genus Otiorhynchus.

From Charles' Island. Found in sweeping the herbage in the
high central parts of the island.

Family ERiRHiNiDiE.

Genus Anchonus, Schonhi

Anchonus galapagoensis. Anch. subovatus, niger, opacus; rostro
basi constricto, rugoso-punctato ; thorace fere cylindrico sed intra
apicem distincte constricto, antice truncato, postice sub-bisinuato,
rugoso-punctato, setis fuscis adsperso ; elytris seriatim punctatis
interstitiis tuberculis magnis, oblongis, dense fusco-setosis, obsitis ;
corpora subtus punctis magnis adspersis ; antennis tarsisque pi-
ceis. — Long. corp. prseter rostrum 2^ — 2^ lin. ; lat. I lin.

From James' Island.

The thorax is narrower than usual in this species, being less
dilated in the middle ; its sides are nearly parallel, but in front
it is rather suddenly constricted, and immediately behind the
constricted portion the thorax is sometimes a trifle broader than
elsewhere : the punctures in the thorax are very large and coarse,
and close together, the interspaces being mere ridges. The elytra
are nearly ovate, but the sides in the middle evince an approach
to paraUelism ; they are strongly punctured, and the punctures
are arranged in rows, and for the most part distinctly separated
from each other ; the interspaces between the rows of punctures
are impunctate, but present very narrow tubercles, and these are
rather widely separated on the fore-part of each elytron, but on
the apical portion they are longer and nearer together, and here
the interstices are somewhat convex; on the third, fifth and
seventh interspace the tubercles are rather more developed than
on the intermediate interspaces ; these tubercles are provided with
largeish semi-erect setiform scales, and these are of a brownish
yellow colour ; similar scales are scattered in other parts, and
sometimes the whole surface of the thorax and elytra is covered
with a brownish substance, of the nature of which I cannot
satisfy myself.

Section CYCLICA.

Family HALTiciDiE.

Haltica galapagoensis. Hal. senea, antennis pedibusque testaceis;
corpore oblon go- ovate, valde convexo ; thorace postice trans versim

40 Mr. G. K. Waterhouse on some Coleopterous Insects.

impresso ; elytris punctatis, punctis subseriatim depositis. — Long.

Corp. f lin.

From Charles' Island. Procured by sweeping the herbage on
the high central parts of the island in the month of October.

This little insect somewhat resembles the Haltica [Podagrica)
€Brata, but has the body rather more convex in the transverse di-
rection, the thorax broader, and the antennae shorter and stouter ;
when extended backwards they scarcely reach the middle of the
elytra. The thorax is transversely grooved behind, as in the ge-
nera Graptoderaj Crepidodera, &c. ; but it has not the small pos-
terior longitudinal indentations which we observe at the extre-
mities of the transverse groove in the latter genus, and in the
structure of the antennae and tarsi it differs from both. The tarsi
are formed as in Haltica rustica, auct. {Mantura of Stephens),
but the joints of the antennae are shorter ; the basal joint is lang
and stout ; the second and eight following joints scarcely differ in
length, but they very indistinctly increase in width towards the
apex of the antennae ; the second joint is nearly ovate ; the third,
fourth, fifth and sixth are of a very short obconic form, and the
rest nearly globose, with the exception of the last, which is longer
than the preceding, and acuminated at the apex : the tarsi are
short ; the first joint very large and broad ; the second rather less
than the third, and nearly triangular ; the third cordiform, and the
fourth scarcely equal in length to the preceding two joints taken
together. The eyes are lateral, moderately prominent. The thorax
is narrower than the elytra, broader than long, and very convex
in the transverse direction ; it is truncated behind, and slightly
rounded and produced over the head in front : the posterior
angles are very obtuse ; the surface impunctate : on the hinder
part is a very distinct transverse impression which does not ex-
tend quite to the sides. The elytra are of an oblong-ovate form,
and distinctly punctured above ; the punctures show a tendency
to arrange themselves in lines : each elytron is obtusely rounded
at the apex. The upper sm-face of the insect is glossy and of a
greenish brass colour : the legs and antennae are testaceous, but
the three or four terminal joints of the latter are somewhat
dusky.

Of the various genera and subgenera of Halticidce which have
been characterized, I know none in which it can be placed ; its
nearest affinities appear to me to be with Mantura ; but the an-
tennae are less incrassated at the apex, and on the other hand, as
I have before stated, the basal joints are shorter and stouter :
it moreover has a transverse groove to the thorax not found in
that genus, and wants the longitudinal impressions on the hinder
part, which all the species of Mantura which have come under
my notice present.

M. Valenciennes on the Organization of Lucina and Corbis. 41

Section TRIMERA.

Family Coccinellid^.

Scymnus Galapagoensis, Seym, ater, pubescens ; capita piceo ; tho-
race utrinque flavo ; elytris pallide testaceis, indistinctissime punc-
tulatis ; sutura, margine anteriore, fascia valde flexuosa, maculisque
duabus subapicalibus, nigris ; antennis pedibusque flavis. — Long.
Corp. f lin.

From James' Island.

This species is about equal in size to tbe Sc. minimus ; its form
is rather more elongated and less convex than in that insect. The
suture of the elytra is black ; the black forms a broad mark at
the base, but becomes very narrow towards the tip of the elytra ;
the outer margin of each elytron is narrowly edged with black, but
on the anterior third the dark colour is suddenly expanded, and
forms a broadish mark which extends to the humeral angle, and
there meets a broad transverse black mark which crosses the base
of the elytra : about the middle of the elytron is a nari'ow black
fascia, which as it parts from the suture descends, about the
middle is suddenly bent upwards so as to become longitudinal,
and then again descends obliquely outwards and nearly reaches
the outer margin : behind this central band is an oblique black
spot.

VI. — On the Organization of the l^ucinse and 0/ Corbis.
By M. A. Valenciennes*.

Those anatomists who have been engaged in the study of the
Acephalous MoUusca, that numerous class of animals related to
the oysters, mussels, &c., regard as one of the constant characters
of these creatures, that the respiratory organ fixed on each side
of the body under the folds of the mantle is composed of two
pairs of branchial leaflets, i. e. that under the common covering
of the body there are four branchiae arranged symmetrically on
each side of the visceral mass.

These branchiae are in some pectinated, or composed of small,
straight and triangular laminae arranged close together; the
oysters, scallops, and the Spondyli present examples of this general
sti:ucture, which calls to mind that of the branchiae of almost all
the osseous fish. In other Acephalous MoUusca the pectinated
lamellae are connected by numerous transversal ridges which im-
part more consistence to the branchial leaflet and render it more
dense ; the Anodonta, so common in all our fresh waters, ofier,
with a large number of other Acephala, examples of this struc-
tui-e ; a confirmation which is seldom met with in fish, for Xiphias
is the only one in which I have observed this arrangement.

♦ From the Comptes Rendus, June 9th, 1845.

42 M. Valenciennes on the Oi-ganization of Lucina and Corbis.

However, whatever be the organization of the branchiae of Mol-
lusca, it is admitted and established by malacologists, that all
the Acephala have four branchial leaflets. This general rule has
hitherto been based on the study of several hundred animals of
this class.

Between the leaflets and near one of the extremities, called the
anterior one, is the mouth, a round aperture terminating imme-
diately in the oesophagus, without any hard organ for the masti-
cation, and without any external lingual tubercle; it is sur-
rounded by small folds which bear the name of lips, and which
are frequently ornamented with appendages or plaited filaments,
varying somewhat according to the genera. Beyond the lips and
on each side of the body there are two small triangular processes
traversed by numerous ridges, which give to these organs an ap-
pearance of branchial lamellae ; they are called the labial palpi.

I have called attention to these external appearances of the
Acephalous MoUusca to render more intelligible what I am about
to describe. I have now to communicate to the Academy an ob-
servation opposed to the general rule of the four branchial laminae.
The family of the Lacing is composed of moUusca which have
only a single branchial leaflet on each side of the visceral mass
and of the foot. This single branchia resembles that of the Ano-
donta ; it is large, thick, and formed of pectinated and anastomo-
sing lamellae. I first noticed this singular fact on Lucina jamai-
censis. Surprised at this peculiarity, which I found to be con-
stant in all the individuals in the collection of the Museum
d^Histoire Naturelle, I was immediately induced to ascertain
whether this difference occurred in other species of Lucina or in
animals allied to them. I observed the same conformation in a
moUusk which had for a long time been placed among the Ve-
nuses, which Lamarck and his followers arranged in the genus
Cytherea, but which I have been led to place near to Lucina from
the insertion and nature of the ligament of the two valves ; I
mean the Venus tigerina of Linnaeus. My previsions have there-
fore been verified in this respect, for the far more important cha-
racter of the unity of the branchial leaflet leaves not the least
doubt respecting the afiinity of the two moUusca, which moreover
resemble each other in several other details of their organization,
although the shells difi'er widely with the exception of the liga-
ment.

A third species well-known to conchologists, Lucina colum-
hellttf Lam., from the seas of Senegal, has likewise but one single
branchial leaflet on each side of the foot. And lastly, a small
species very abundant on all the sandy coasts of the Mediterra-
nean, Lucina lactea^. Lam., which Poli formed into a new genus
under the name of Loripes, has also only one branchial lamina.

But this is not alL In the Polynesian Archipelagos an ace-

M. Valenciennes on the Organization of Lucina and Corbis. 43

phalous moUusk occurs, whose elegant shell, for a long time rare
and consequently sought for in collections, is well-known. Lin-
naeus called it Venus Corbis; Lamarck arranged it among the
Lucina. Cuvier founded a genus with this species which pre-
sents indeed very striking characters ; he left it near Lucina, as
Lamarck had previously done. I have been so fortunate as to
meet with an animal of this species in a state of excellent pre-
servation among the collections made at the Friendly Islands by
M. Quoy, and which that zoologist has not had time to study;
at least he has not spoken of it in the account of the voyage of
the Astrolabe. This moUusk has likewise only a single branchia
on each side of the visceral mass, and I have confirmed this same
conformation on a second individual brought from the Feejee
Islands. However, the structure of its non-perforated foot di-
stinguishes it from the animals of Lucina.

From a sole comparison of the shells, it was thought that the
Ungulince offered some relations with the Lucince. We are ac-
quainted with the moUusk of this genus from the excellent
anatomical descriptions made and published by M. Duvernoy.
As this anatomist found four branchial laminse, it is impossible
any longer to admit of an approximation between the Ungulince
and the Lucina. My investigations confirm the relations pointed
out between the Ungulince and Mytilacea.

It results, therefore, from the observation made by me, that
the Lucina and Corbis differ from all the Acephalous Mollusca by
a very prominent character, viz. that they possess only a single
branchia on each side of the foot and viscera.

Since I have confirmed this fact on animals inhabiting the
Mediterranean, the coasts of Africa, the Antilles, as well as the
seas of Brazil and of the Indies, we are led to admit it as a ge-
neral fact in the animals of this family ; it cannot be regarded as
a simple exception, which might have been the case had it been
observed only on a single individual or on a single species of
Lucina.

This great exception is not the only one which the Lucina
present : the aperture of the mouth is very small, surroimded by
two weak and thin folds of the skin, which require the greatest
attention to be seen ; they are the rudiments of lips.

But what is most remarkable is, that the labial palpi are all
four wanting. There may possibly be traces of them in the
animal of Corbis.

Poli has given a very excellent figure of his Loripes, or of
Lucina lactea. It will be seen from it that he was entirely pre-
occupied in his investigation with the singularity of the foot of
the animal, for he has represented the branchiae situated to the
right and left of the viscera, without noticing the very remark-
able exception in the number of the laminge. As M. Cuvier has

44 M. Valenciennes on the Organization of Jiucina and Corbis.

only mentioned Loripes in order to verify the observations of the
Neapolitan anatomist respecting the foot of this moUusk, it may
be conceived why he has not pointed out the absence of one pair
of branchise. I must however add, that the Lucina lactea, ex-
amined by these expert zoologists, is a very minute mollusk of
one to two centimetres in diameter, while I have been able to
examine hucina from five to six centimetres in diameter ; the
observation was therefore easy to make ; and when once 1 had as-
certained the possibility of the existence of one single branchial
lamina in Lmcina jamaicensis and L. tigerinay I could readily de-
tect the same organization in the smallest individuals of Lucina
lactea from the Mediterranean.

The conformation of the foot of these mollusks, which had at-
tracted the attention of Poli, is very remarkable ; but this anato-
mist has not given a very complete description of it, which it
nevertheless deserves. This foot is a fleshy cylinder folded back
on itself so as to be hidden between the plates of the mantle of
the mollusk, for it is frequently twice as long as the diameter of
the animal. When not contracted it is much longer. It is re-
markable that it is hollow throughout its entire length, and that
this tube opens directly and widely into the spaces of the visceral
cavity. I have verified this fact by following the canal in its en-
tire length either by cutting it open or by injection, when the
spaces of the visceral mass became filled, and I also thought I
could perceive traces of injected vessels. This result will not
appear surprising if we call to mind the observations which
M. Milne Edwards and I have communicated to the Academy on
the circulation in Mollusca, and on the large communications ex-
isting between the visceral cavity and the sanguiniferous vessels
of the Acephala. But there is a new fact here deserving of
especial attention, from its importance for the physiology of Mol-
lusca; it is, that the inner cavities containing the blood are
placed by means of the canal of the foot in Lucina in free com-
munication with the surrounding element. The heart and the
other viscera which I was able to observe of these animals, pre-
served in spirit, did not appear to offer anything remarkable.

[It is to be regretted that M. Valenciennes has not accompanied
his notice of the single gill on each side of the Lucina with some
account of its structure : from the statement that it is large, thick,
and formed of pectinated and anastomosing lamella, it may agree essen-
tially with the apparently single gill in the genera Pholadomya and
Anatina, described by Prof. Owen in his ' Lectures on the Inver-
tebrata,' 1843, p. 283, where the exception to the ordinary struc-
ture and number of the gills in the Lamellibranchiate Acephala is
distinctly pointed out as follows : —

'* The two branchial lamellae of one side are usually connected with
those of the opposite side by their posterior extremities only ; but

Bibliographical Notices. 45

sometimes the union is more extensive. In a few genera, as Anatina
and Pholadomya, the tivo lamellte of the same side are so united as to
appear like a single gill. In the Pholadomya it forms a thick oblong
mass, finely plicated transversely, attenuated at both extremities,
slightly bifid at the posterior one. A line traverses longitudinally the
middle of the external surface, which has no other trace of division.
The branchiae on each side adhere to the mantle by the whole of their
dorsal margin, and are united together where they extend beyond the
visceral mass, being separated, by the interposition of that mass,
along their anterior two-thirds. A narrow groove extends along the
free anterior margins of each gill. When the inner side of this appa-
rently simple gill is examined, it is seen to be divided into three longi-
tudinal channels, by two ridges, containing the vascular trunks and
nerves of the gills. A style passed from the excretory siphon, behind
the conjoined extremities of the branchiae, enters the dorsal channel,
from which the excretory respiratory currents are discharged : the
middle channel is characterized by an orifice which conducts into the
cavity of the gill, where the ova are hatched : the third channel forms
the inner or mesial surface of the gill, which is not other u^ise divided."
— Ed. Ann. Nat. Hist.']

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

The Genera of Birds. By G. R. Gray, F.L.S., illustrated by D. W.

Mitchell, B.A., F.L.S. Imperial 4to. Parts 1—14.
It is now nearly twenty years since any naturalist has attempted to
give a complete synopsis of the species of birds. The accessions to
our knowledge during the interval have been very great, and the
progress which has been made in elucidating the characters and im-
proving the classification of the species previously known, is no less
remarkable. The facts thus elicited were however scattered through
rare and costly publications, many of which, especially the volumi-
nous Transactions of foreign Societies, are almost inaccessible to the
working naturalist, who will therefore hail with gratitude the work
before us, which supplies him with a ready index to the whole sub-
ject of ornithology. Mr. Gray's position in the British Museum has
given him peculiar facilities for perfecting his laborious undertaking,
which requires a constant and ready access to books and specimens.
The classification which he has adopted is for the most part con-
sistent with natural aflSnities, though some of the groups, Pachyce-
phalince for instance, consist of rather incongruous materials. Really
natural groups are generally confined within certain geographical
limits, and when we see an assemblage either of species or of genera
from remote parts of the world brought together to form a superior
group, there is often reason to suspect that their supposed aflanities
are apparent rather than real.

The definition of families and genera is one of the most difficult
duties of the naturalist, and he is often unable so to generalize the
characters of groups as to satisfy the logician. We frequently see a
species connected by the closest affinity to others, yet diflfering from
them in the very points in which the latter mutually agree, so that

4i# Bibliographical Notices.

it is impossible to draw up a definition which shall embrace the whole,
without qualifying it with such terms as " generally," " more or less,"
'* except," &c. Mr. Gray has overcome these difficulties by care and
judgement, and has given us very full generalizations of generic cha-
racters, though these would have been more useful if the diagnostic
portion of them were printed in a different type, or otherwise sepa-
rated from the general mass. Another important feature in the work
is the condensation of superfluous genera, which are daily manu-
factured by scores on trivial or imaginary characters, and which Mr.
Gray has used a sound discretion in reducing within reasonable limits.

In regard to species, the author has only been able to give a full
list of them under each genus, accompanied by their chief synonyms
and references to the principal works where they are figured or de-
scribed. To have annexed their specific characters would have ex-
tended the work fourfold and consumed years of valuable time. The
localities might however have been mentioned with advantage, and
the specific characters of the new species which are occasionally in-
troduced ought to have been added. In other respects the student
is guided at once to the best sources of information, while the rigid
impartiality with which the rule of priority is enforced supplies him
with a nomenclature which seems likely to be permanent.

In the illustrative plates the essential characters of every genus are
admirably displayed, and in each subfamily a coloured plate of some
new or unfigured species is introduced. This portion of the work is
beautifully executed by Mr. Mitchell, who has entered fully into the
spirit of that improved style of delineation first introduced into or-
nithology by Mr. and Mrs. Gould's unrivalled pencils. Mr. Mitchell
has been the first to apply the art of Uthotint to the illustration of
zoological subjects, and in representing that wonderfully organized
structure, the plumage of birds, we are inclined to prefer it to any
other method, as attaining the happy medium between the hardness
of line-engraving and the indistinctness of common lithography.
Indeed in respect both of drawing and colouring, it would be scarcely
possible to produce more perfect copies of nature than some of these
plates exhibit. The only defect which we have noticed is the occa-
sionally too abrupt transition of the leg into the body in some of the
figures, that of Esacus and Syrrhaptes for instance.

It will be evident to the practical zoologist that this beautiful and
elaborate work will tend greatly to advance our knowledge of orni-
thology, and that no public or private museum can be scientifically
arranged without its aid.

JDescriptiones Animalium qua in itinere ad Maris Australis terras per
annos 1772-74 suscepto collegit J. R. Forster, nunc demum editce
curante H. Lichtenstein. 8vo. Berlin, 1844. Pp. 424.
Professor Lichtenstein has conferred a boon on literature and sci-
ence by rescuing from oblivion these original observations of a pro-
found and learned naturalist. John Reinhold Forster is well-known
as the companion of Cook in his second voyage round the world,
but by various mischances these memoranda of the valuable additions
which he made to natural history have remained in MS. for seventy

Bibliographical Notices. 4Sf

years, and only obscure and imperfect notices of his zoological dis-
coveries have hitherto seen the light. The drawings of animals
made by his son George have met with nearly the same neglect as
the text to which they refer ; having remained unpublished to the
present time in the archives of the British Museum. Schneider in-
deed, in his edition of Bloch's Fishes, introduced some of the mate-
rials of Forster's MSS., and Latham founded many of his species of
birds on the specimens and drawings brought home by the two
Forsters. The descriptions of Latham were however generally vague
and insufficient, so that it is often difficult to determine the precise
species or even genus to which they refer, and the exact descriptions
and measurements now furnished us by this work of Forster's will
therefore be of the utmost use in identifying many obscure species,
especially those of the little-known islands of the Pacific. It is in-
deed much to be regretted that the work before us was not published
at the time that it was written, as it would then have supplied the com-
pilations of Gmelin and Latham with materials of the highest value,
while Forster would have had the credit due to his labours, and the
scientific names which he proposed would have been generally
adopted. But by publishing the work at the present time, nearly all
Forster's specific names have lost their right of priority and must
take their rank as synonyms. Yet in spite of this inconvenience, the
work comes " better late than never ;" it will remain a monument of
Forster's accuracy of observation and high attainments as a natu-
ralist ; and though the majority of the animals described were pre-
viously known from other works, yet some, especially of the Inver-
tebrata, appear to be now first described, while the most important
additional light is throvni upon others.

This volume is in fact the Zoological Appendix to * Cook's Second
Voyage,' and is also a valuable accompaniment to the ' Observations
made during a Voyage round the World,' which Forster published
in 1778, and to the 'Journal of the Voyage' which his son edited.
Some portions of it are in the form of a diary, narrating the events
of the expedition, but the greater part is occupied vnth minute de-
scriptions of the animals collected or observed. Professor Lichten-
stein deserves great praise for the strictness with which he has ad-
hered to Forster's text, and for his valuable notes on the synonymy of
the species described. In the latter department he has been aided by
Erichson, who has identified many of the insects described by Forster.

We may hope that this publication may draw attention to the
drawings of the younger Forster, now in the British Museum. It is
much to be wished that a selection of such of these drawings as are
of the greatest interest to science were engraved and published.
Their importance is shovvm by the fact that foreign zoologists have
on several occasions made pilgrimages to London to inspect these
designs, and have quoted them as the authorities on which specific
distinctions have been founded. The first step towards this object
would be to publish an exact catalogue of Forster's drawings, distin-
guishing under each design the name which has been given to the
species by Schneider, Latham, Forster, and the modern zoologists
respectively.

48 Zoological Society.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL. SOCIETY.

January 14, 1845. — William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. Gould exhibited to the Meeting a number of Birds from China,
being the first collection forwarded from Amoy to this country.
He described the following new species : —

CoRvus PASTiNATOR. Cov. plumis ptHose saturate purpurascente-
nigris ; caudd virescenti ; scapulariis tectricibusque caudce maculd
semilunari nigrd ad apices ornatis ; rostra tarsisque nigris.

The entire plumage deep shining purplish black or plum- colour,
glossed with a greenish hue on the tail-feathers ; the scapularies and
upper tail-coverts with an obscure crescent-shaped mark of black at
the tip ; bill and feet shining black.

Total length 18 inches ; bill, 2| ; wing, 12 ; tail, 7 ; tarsi, 2^ ; mid-
dle toe and claw, 2^.

Hah. Chusan.

Remark. — ^This species is closely allied to the Rook of Europe, but
differs from it in the hue of the plumage, which is of a beautiful pur-
ple or plum- colour where the European bird is green ; the bill is also
straighter and the face much less denuded, the fleshy base of the
nostrils being the only part destitute of feathers ; the feet and claws
are also larger.

Mergus orientalis. Mer. (Foem.) capite cristd colloque rubi-
ginoso-rubris ; mento alba ; corpore superiore, caudd, alis, lateri-
busque griseis ; primariis ferrugineo-nigris ; secundariis albis ;
corpore inferiore pallide cervino ; tectricibus caudce albidis.

Female. — Head, neck and crest dark rust-red ; chin white ; all the
upper surface, wings, tail and flanks grey ; primaries brownish
black ; secondaries pure white ; under surface cream-colour, fading
into white on the under tail-coverts.

Total length 23 inches ; bill, 2| ; wing, 9| ; tail, 5 ; tarsi, 2.

Hab. Amoy.

Remark. — Nearly allied to the Goosander of Europe, but smaller
in size and more delicate in colour than that bird. I believe a male
of this bird is in the British Museum ; the female is in my own col-
lection, and is the only one I have seen. The specimen in the Mu-
seum assimilates as closely to the male of the European bird as the
one here described does to the female.

Pica serica. P. capite, collo, pectore et tectricibus caudce saturate
nigris; tectricibus alarum cinereo-cceruleis, ventre et scapulariis
albis ; caudd metallice nigro-viridi ; rostro et pedibus nigris.

Head, throat, chest, upper part of the back, upper and under tail-
coverts deep black ; secondaries and greater wing- coverts shining
steel-blue ; spurious wing and edges of the base of the outer webs of
the primaries shining deep green ; inner webs of the primaries white ;
the tips of the primaries and the margins of the inner webs for a
short distance from the tip black ; scapularies and belly pure white ;
tail greenish black, with bronze reflexions ; bill and feet black.

Zoological Society, 49

Total length about 19 inches; bill, 2; wing, S; tail about 12;
tarsi, ^.

Hah. Amoy.

Closely allied to the common Magpie, but differs in the wings being
blue instead of green, in the rather less extent of the white, and in
having a longer bill and much longer tarsi.

Mr. Gould also exhibited to the Meeting a small species of Mam-
mal, which he characterized as

Dromicia concinna. Drom. macula nigra ante ociilos ; corpore
superne et parte exteriore crurum pallid^ brunneis ; crurum parte
interiore et corpore subtus distincte albis.

Before the eye a mark of black ; all the upper surface, the outer
side of the limbs and the tail, pale sandy brown ; all the under sur-
face and the inner side of the limbs white ; the two colours distinctly
separated, or not blending into each other.

Length of the head and body, 3| inches ; of the tail, 3^ ; of the
ear, i.

Hab. Western Australia.

Very nearly allied to the Dromicia of Van Diemen's Land, but
distinguished from that animal by its much smaller size, by the di-
stinct separation of the colours of the upper and under surface, and
by the absence of any enlargement at the base of the tail.

Also a new Grallatorial bird, which he named
FuLiCA AUSTRALis. Ful. capitc colloque nigris ; supern^ griseO"
nigro, subtus fuliginoso ; iridibus rubris ; rostra cinereo-cceruleo ;
vertice viridi-albo ; tarsis pedibusque griseis.
Head and neck black ; all the upper surface greyish black ; under
surface sooty black ; irides bright red ; bill light bluish grey ; crown
of the head greenish white ; legs and feet French grey.

Total length 14 inches ; bill, 1^; wing, 8 ; tail, 2^ ; tarsi, 2;^.
Hab. Western Australia.

"Descriptions of species of Bats collected in the Philippine Islands,
and presented to the Society by H. Cuming, Esq." By G. R. Water-
house, Esq.

The following descriptions and notices, added to those given in
the * Annals,' vol. xiii. p. 302, include all the species of the order
Cheiroptera collected by Mr. Cuming in the Philippine Islands ; and
it is necessary to state, with regard to the descriptions alluded to,
that they are all drawn up from specimens preserved in spirit ; and
although every care has been taken to ascertain the true colouring
of the fur as nearly as possible by repeated examinations of the spe-
cimens, mounted as they were in clear spirits of wine, the colours
may not prove to be exactly as I have supposed.

The following table displays some of the more prominent charac-
ters of the species of Vespertilio (generally so difficult to determine)
about to be described : —

Ann, ^ Mag, N, Hist, Vol, xvi. E

^ Zoological Society.

A. Wing-membrane extending to the distal end of tibia.

a. Ears moderate, or rather small, rounded ; tragus rather short,

rounded at the apex ; heel-cartilage short.
a. 1 . Nostrils separated by a moderately-
wide space, and opening sublate-
rally , 1 . Vesp. tristis.

a. 2. Nostrils with a narrow space be-

tween them (a distinct notch, how-
ever, in that space), and opening
almost in front 2. Vesp.Eschscholtzii.

b. Ears large and pointed ; tragus long, narrow and pointed ;

heel- cartilage long.

b. 1. Hind-foot very large 3. Vesp. macrotarsus.

b. 2. Hind-foot small 4. Vesp.pellucidus.

B. Wing- membrane extending to base of toes.

a. Ears short, rounded at apex ; tragus

short, subpointed 5. Vesp. Meyeni.

b. Ears large, pointed ; tragus long, at-

tenuated and pointed ........ 6. Vesp. rufo-pictus.

Vespertilio tristis. Vesp. vellere molli, nigricanii-fuliginoso ;
auribus mediocribus, rotundatis ; tragis mediocribus arcuatis, apice
rotundatis ; rostra brevi obtuso ; alls angustis.

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudse basin. ... 2 5

— caud(B ,,.... 2 5

antibrachii 2 I

au9'is 8§

Alarum amplitude 13

The fur is dense in this species, but not long ; dense fur extends
on to the head, and leaves but a small portion of the muzzle, which
is covered with shorter hair : the general colour is sooty black, and
the hairs appear to be uniform to the root ; those on the belly are
slightly tinted with greyish at the point. The incisor teeth are

-g-, The forehead is much arched ; the muzzle short and obtusely
rounded, very broad and hairy ; the lower lip has a narrow transr
verse naked area at the tip ; the nostrils are sublateral, moderately
separated, and there is a slight depression between them. The
ears are moderate, rounded, but with the upper, or anterior, margin
nearly straight; the tragus is curved, and rather obtusely rounded
at the point, about 2| lines in length, and 1| line in width. The
wings are rather narrow, and have the membranes black ; they ex-
tend to the heel of the hindrfoot, which has the metatarsus narrow
and lopg, the distance from the heel to the base of the toes exceeding
the toes in length ; the toes are ghortish and equal, the naiU are also
short and but little curved ; the heel -cartilage is short, bent back,
and not easily brought in a. right angle with the tibia, as in many of
the species of the present genus. The hind-legs ar^ reither long ;

Zoological Society, 51

the interfemoral membrane ample, naked above and below, excepting
quite at the base ; the tail is enclosed to the point in this membrane ;
the thumb is moderate.

Vespertilio EscnscHOLTZii. Vesp. vellere longo fusco-nigricante,
corpore suhtils pilis apicibus cinerascentibus ; ar tubus /us cis ; au-
ribus brevibus ; tragis angustis, ad apicem rotundatis, antice emar-
ginatis.

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudje basin. ... 2

caudde 2

antibrachii 1 9

auris Sj

Alarum amplitudo 12

Incisor teeth -^; the outermost incisor of the upper jaw is smaller
than the inner one. The forehead is much arched, and separated,
as it were, from the muzzle by a deep transverse depression; on each
side of the head is a naked groove, which runs over the eye. The
muzzle is short and rounded, naked at the tip only, the other parts
moderately well clothed with hairs ; the nostrils open almost in front,
and are more than usually approximated; their upper boundary
is prominent, and there is a deep groove between them. On the
inner side of the upper lip are two small fleshy folds, and some com-
pressed tubercles situated toward the angle of the mouth ; the lower
lip has a narrow triangular naked area at the tip. The ears are
short, broad and rounded, but have the upper margin subtruncated;
on the inner side are two transverse ridges ; the lower part of the
ear is extended forwards to the angle of the mouth. The tragus is
narrow, curved, rounded at the point, indistinctly emarginated on
the outer side, and about 2f lines in length. The wings are rather
narrow, and extend along the hind-leg to the distal end of the tibia
only. The hind-legs are moderate ; the metatarsus narrow and lon^,
the distance from the heel to the base of the toes exceeding the toes
in length ; the toes are rather short and nearly equal. The inter-
femoral membrane is ample, naked, excepting at the base ; the heel-
cartilage is short ; the tail enclosed in the interfemoral membrane to
the point ; the thumb is very small.

Of the species deiicribed in this paper, Vespertilio Eschscholtzii
approaches most nearly to the V. trisiis ; it is much smaller, how-
ever, than that animal, has the thumb smaller in proportion, and its
colouring is less dark. Among the species of M. Temminck's Mo-
nograph our V. trisiis most nearly resembles, in the form of its head
and ears, the V. blepotis (pi. 53. fig. 2.); the V. Eschscholtzii (of
which Mr. Cuming brought home several specimens) is at least one-
third smaller.

' Vespertilio macrotausus. Vesp^ supra cinereus, subtils albicans ;
auribus longis, angustis, ad apicem acutis, postice fere rectis ;
trago elongato, attenuato, acuto; alis ampUsfuscis^ ad basin pal'
lidioribus.

E3

52^ Zoological Society,

unc. lin.
Longitude ab apice rostri ad caudse basin. ... 2 3
ad basin auris .... 5

caudce 1 10

antibrachii 1 9^

poUicis 3|

auris 6|

pedis postici a calce ad apicera digiti 6^

Alarum amplitudo 11

The fur on the back is apparently dusky grey next the skin, and
pale ashy grey externally, and on the under parts the hairs are grey

2 2

at the base and whitish at the point. The incisors are — ^ ; the

pair of incisors on either side of upper jaw nearly equal. The fore-
head is convex, and separated from the muzzle by a transverse de-
pression : the muzzle somewhat produced and pointed, the mesial
portion above and in front naked, the naked portion above extending
about two lines from the tip, and separated from the somewhat
swollen cheeks by a longitudinal groove on each side : between the
nostrils, which are widely separated and pierced almost laterally, is
a shallow groove. The lips have small scattered hairs, excepting at
the tip, where they are naked ; on the chin is a naked wart some-
what removed from the apex. The ears are largeish and rather nar-
row, pointed, and have the hinder margin nearly straight. The
tragus is narrowish, attenuated, and pointed at the apex. The wings
are ample, and the membranes encroach on the back so as to reduce
the portion covered with fur to a narrow strip of about half an inch
in width ; they extend along the hind-leg to the heel only ; the thumb
is comparatively long; the hind-foot very large, and having the toes
equal, excepting the outer one (according to the natural position of
the foot, but the toe corresponding to the inner toe in most other
animals), which is rather shorter. The interfemoral membrane is
moderately ample, and does not extend quite to the tip of the tail,
a portion of about one line in length being free. The heel- cartilage
is very long.

In the large size of the hind-foot the present species approaches
the V. Hasseletii of Temminck's Monograph, but it does not appear
that that species has the wings encroaching on the back as in V. ma-
crotarsus; the ears are much larger, the thumb also larger, tail
longer, &c. The proportions, as compared with those of M. Tem-
minck's F. macrodactylus and V. hrachypterus, differ considerably,
though both these species have the hind-foot large ; the larger ears,
longer thumb, and more ample wing will serve to distinguish it.

Vespertilio PELtiUciDus. Vcsp. vellere longo, pallide rvfo, cor-
pore suhtils cinerascenti-albo ; alls fuscis, pellucidis ; auribus mag-
nis, apice acutis, postici emarginatis ; trago elongato, attenuato ;
rostro producto, depresso, subacute .

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudse basin. ... 1 8

caudce 1 9^

Zoological Society. 53

unc. lin.

Longitude antibrachii 1 3

auris 7

Alarum amplitude 9 6

The fur in this animal is long, of a delicate pale rufous on .the upper
parts of the body, but slightly tinted with grey next the skin ; the

2 2

under parts are ashy white. The incisor teeth are as usual —x— ; the

two innermost of the upper jaw are widely separated, long-pointed,
and resemble'canine teeth ; the outer pair are very small. The forehead
is considerably arched ; the muzzle produced, pointed and depressed,
and has a slight concavity above; the nostrils are widely separated,
pierced laterally, and have a slight depression between them ; the tip
of the muzzle is naked. The lower lip has a small, smooth, naked
space at the tip. The ears are of a very pale brown colour, large, trans-
parent, pointed, and strongly emarginated behind ; the tragus is very
long and slender (its length being about 4f lines, and width at the
base less than 1 line), and decreases gradually in width from the
base to the point ; close to its root, externally, is a slightly i)romi-
nent angle. The wings are large and supported by very delicate
and slender bones, very transparent, and extend slightly on to the
toe of the llind-foot. The hind-legs are long and slender ; the foot
small ; the metatarsus shorter than the toes, which are slender and
very nearly equal, if we except the one to which the wing is slightly
attached, which is distinctly shorter than the rest. The interfemo-
ral membrane is ample, and presents a few scattered hairs : the heel-
cartilage long. The tail is long, and enclosed in th^ membrane to
the point ; the fourth vertebra from the base has much flesh about
it, which forms a small lump,— perhaps this is accidental. The
thumb is slender, but rather long.

This species is remarkable for having long and extremely slender
limbs, and for the transparency of its flying-membranes. I could
read this writing through the wing-membranes, moistened as they
were with the spirit, at a distance of more than a quarter of an inch.

Vespertilio Meyeni. Vesp. intense rufescenti-fuscus, pilis ad
basin albescentibus ; corpore subtus cinereo lavato ; brachiis rU'
fescentibus ; rostro brevi, obtuso ; auribus subtriangulis , ad apicem
rotundatis,postice emarginatis; tragis arcuatis, angustis, ad apicem
subacutis. .

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudae basin .... 1 7

Cauda 11

antibrachii 1 1

auris 2J

Alarum amplitude 6 6

(2 2 \
-J— J ; the inner-
most pair of the upper jaw are larger than the external pair, and bifid
at the apex. The forehead is moderately arched; the muzzle is
broad and but sparingly clothed with hairs, swollen at the sides ;

54 Zoological Society.

two longitudinal grooves mark the usual external boundaries of the
nasal bones ; and these grooves, at first shallow, become deeper be-
hind, where they are curved outwards towards the eyes, over which
is a small fleshy tubercle ; the upper part of the nose (between the
two grooves mentioned) is almost naked, but a few minute scattered
hairs are observed at the tip, and even in front, and along the edge
of the upper lip. The lower lip presents a very small triangular
naked patch at the tip. The nostrils are rather widely separated,
and open obliquely outwards. The ears are short, sub triangular,
have the extreme point rounded, and the posterior border slightly
emarginated ; on the inner side are three or four transverse rugse.
The tragus is narrow, subpointed, and has a notch in the middle of
the external margin. The wings are somewhat narrow, and have
the membranes of a very dark brown colour, the limbs being of a
dusky purpHsh red tint ; the membrane of the wing extends to the
base of the toes. The thumb is small ; the hind-legs shortish ; the
metatarsus short, being about equal in length to the toes, which are
very nearly equal, the outer one being but a trifle shorter than the
others. The interfemoral membrane is by no means ample, brown
above and very pale beneath, where pale scattered hairs are observa-
ble, especially near the tail ; above, this membrane appears to be
naked, excepting at the base. The heel- cartilage is moderate, and
on the lower or outer side of this cartilage is an obtusely- angular
piece of membrane, about 2 lines in length and 1 line in breadth. The
tail has the extreme point free.

I have attached to this and one of the foregoing species the names
of two able naturalists who have contributed to our knowledge of the
zoological productions of the Philippine Islands.

The V. Meyeni apparently approaches most nearly to the V. trala-
titius of Temminck's Monograph, but has the muzzle broader and
more rounded, the ears less pointed, the tail, antibrachium and tibiae
shorter, the latter considerably so ; the foot is also shorter and broader
than represented in M. Temminck's figure of that species. The co-
louring (so far as one may judge from specimens preserved in spirit)
also differs.

Vespertilio rufo-pictus. Vesp. suprd, ochraceis, pilis ad basin
cinereis ; corpore suhths flavescenti-albo ; alis nigrescentihus, ared
magnd ad basin, brachiis, membrandque interfemorali rufis ; auribus
longis, angustis, acutis, postice distincte emarginatis ; tragis at-
tenuatis, acutis.

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudse basin .... 2 3

caudce 1 11

antibrachii 1 11

- — ' auris 5 j

Alarum amplitudo 13 6

Fur moderate ; on the upper parts of the body pale grey at the root,
and of a delicate yellow colour externally ; on the under parts of the
body yellowish white, scarcely tinted with grey at the root. The
wing-membranes are black, excepting in the region of the bones of

Zoological Society, 6K

the fingers and a large area at the base, at which parts they are of
a bright red colour ; a straight line drawn obliquely across the wing
from the thumb to the heel would mark the boundary of the red basal
portion. The small strip of membrane above the arm is red, clouded
with black. The limbs and interfemoral membrane are also red, and
the naked tip to the muzzle, as well as the ears, are very pale flesh*
colour. The hinder toes are dusky at the tip.

The forehead is but little arched ; the muzzle is produced, but
somewhat rounded at the tip, which is the only part which is naked,
and even here a few minute scattered hairs are observable in the
middle. Above the nose are two longitudinal grooves. The lower
lip has a semicircular naked space at the tip, and a tubercle is ob-
served between this point and the throat. The nostrils are lateral,
and the space between them is slightly depressed. The ears are long,
rather narrow and pointed, and distinctly emarginated behind. The
tragus is about 4|^ lines long, narrow, attenuated and pointed. The
wings are very ample and extend to the base of the toes. The thumb
is long ; the hind-legs moderately long ; the metatarsus shorter than
the toes (claws not included), and these are very nearly equal. The
interfemoral membrane is moderately ample, well- clothed with hair at
the base, and a few longish scattered hairs are observable on other
parts, especially on the upper surface. The heel-cartilage is long,
extending to within about four and a half lines of the tail.

This species very much resembles the Vespertilio pictus of Pallas,
but is much larger, and differs in the form and proportions of its ears.

Taphozous philippinensis. Taphi vellere brevi fuscescente vel
castaneo, corpore suhtus pallidiore ; pilis ad basin albescentibus f
auribus mediocribus.

unc. lin.
Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caudse basin .... 3 H

caudce 8

ab apice rostri ad basin auris .... 05

auris 6

antibrachii 2 7

tibifB 11

Alaram amplitudo 13 6

This species ajiproaches most nearly to the Taphozous saccolaimus,
but differs in being considerably smaller, in having the muzzle
shorter and more pointed, the ears larger, and the feet considerably
smaller ; the colouring moreover is different. It agrees with T. ton-
gimanus in having no throat-pouch or nakedness at that part, but
differs in its proportions, &c.

The fur is short and by no means dense, nearly white next the
skin both on the upper and under parts of the body ; on the upper
parts the hairs have the visible portion tipped with reddish brown or
chestnut colour, sometimes brown. The under parts are always of
a paler hue than the upper, and sometimes almost white, merely
suffused with pale chestnut-brown : on the throat this colour is usually
more intense. The wing-membranes are brown, sometimes dusky ;
the interfemoral membrane assumes a paler hue beneath.

S6 Zoological Society,

The head, viewed from above, presents a triangular figure, of which
the tip of the muzzle forms the apex, and is somewhat acute ; the
nose is slightly prominent ; the nostrils terminal, and but slightly
separated ; the upper lip terminates in a point ; the under lip is some-
what swollen at the extremity, and a largeish transverse swelling or
tubercle is observed below the chin. The ears have the anterior
part running on to the forehead, but separated by a space of about
two lines, which space is occupied by the deep frontal pit ; they arc
of moderate size, perhaps might be called rather large ; the lateral
and anterior margins meet so as to form nearly a right angle ; on the
anterior margin, which is thickened, is a series of pointed tubercles ;
the lateral or outer margin is very slightly emarginated, and on the
inner side numerous transverse small folds or ridges are perceptible ;
the point of the ear is narrow, but rounded. The tragus is scarcely
2 lines in length, and about 2y lines in width, rounded at the apex
and contracted at the base. The tail is enclosed in the interfemoral
membrane rather less than one-third of its length. The interfemoral
membrane is about eleven lines in antero-posterior extent, naked
beneath, slightly hairy above to the base of the free portion of the
tail, which has a few long scattered hairs. The feet are almost naked,
having only a few scattered hairs. The limbs are of a pale dirty flesh -
colour.

The teeth most nearly resemble those of skull fig. 11. pi. 60. of
Temminck's Monograph, but the incisors are more expanded at the
apex than represented in that figure, and very deeply notched. The

formulae are the same, viz. incisors, — -; canines, j^-r ; molars, -^^ ,

the first false molar of the upper jaw is small and almost hidden by
the gum ; the second distinct ; both first and second false molars of
lower jaw are distinct ; the latter is most elevated, but the foremost
is the largest. The palate has numerous well-developed transverse
ridges, seven in number, if we commence from between the canines,
in front of which are two others less distinct ; the third, which is
between the false molars, is most developed. The tongue is thick,
but pointed at the apex, and presents a triangular transverse section,
extending in its ordinary position to the incisor teeth, which on the
inner side are covered by the gum up to their points.

Besides these, and the Philippine Island Bats noticed or described
in the 'Annals,' vol. xiii. p. 302, I have to add, as also forming part
of Mr. Cuming's collection, a species of Nycticejus which agrees
most closely with the N. borbonicus ; this and the Taphozons phi-
lippinensis appear to be extremely abundant in the Philippine Islands ;
and lastly, a species of Dysopes, which I feel very little doubt is the
Z). tenuis of Horsfield ; it agrees most closely with the detailed de-
scription and figure given by Temminck.

', J January 28. — William Horton Lloyd, Esq., in the Chair.

" Description of three new species of Shells belonging to the
genus Artemis," by Sylvanus Hanley, Esq.

Artemis simplex. Art. testd oi'bicular i- sub trig ond, solidd, sub-

Zoological Society, 57

inmquilaterali, nitidd, ehurned, ventricosd, concentrice et suhimhri-
catim sulcatd ; sulcis hand confertis ; margine venti'di arcuato ;
dorsali utrinque declivi, antice retuso, postice arcuato; utrdque
extremitate rotundatd ; lunuld hand magnd, impressd ; ared dorsali
jwsticd nulld. Long. r63 ; lat. 1-55 poll.
Index Testaceologicus, sup. t. 15. f. 41.
Hab. Panama, St. Elena. Mus. Cuming, Hanley.
The general outline, owing to the abruptness of its slopes, closely
resembles that of excisa ; but in that species the sulci (or rather cos-
tellsc) are elevated, the hinder dorsal area is excavated, and the lunula
is large and ill-defined. The colour is ivory-white, with usually a
zone or two of very pale blue ; and, contrary to the other two spe-
cies, the greatest length is from the beaks to the lower or ventral
margin.

Artemis subquadrata. Art. testd suborbiculari, subquadratd,
compressd, subpellucidd, valde incequilaterali, intus extusque albidd,
concentrice substriatd; margine ventrali postice arcuato, antice
convexo et sursilm acclivi ; dorsali antice convexo haudque declivi,
jjostice subrecto et declivi ; extremitate posticd latissimd, anticd
angustd; lunuld magnd, subobsoletd. Long. 1*62 ; lat. r75 poll,
Ind. Test., sup. t. 15. f. 39.

Hab. St. Elena, West Columbia. Mus. Cuming, Hanley.
The peculiar breadth of the posterior side, whose upper or dorsal
angle is horizontal, or even ascending, the freedom from incurvation
and abrupt slope of the front dorsal line, and the scarcely defined
lunule, concur to render this rare shell strikingly diflferent from any
known species in this genus.

Artemis sculpta. Art. testd orbicularis subquadratd, magis mi-
nusve ventricosd, solidiusculd, incequilaterali, subnitidd, sordide
albidd aut albido- lutes cent e (nonnunquam pallide livido-fuscescente
alboque marmoratd), concentrice sulcatd ; striis radiantibus, sulcos
con/ertissimos antice (plerumque etiam postice) decussantibus ;
sulcis medio subimbricatis, ad utramque extremitatem lamellosis ;
margine ventrali subarcuato ; dorsali postice convexiusculo vixque
declivi, antice retuso et paulb declivi; lunula impressd, ovato-
cordatd; ared dorsali posticd nulld; natibus haud prominentibus ,
Long. 1-80; lat. 2 poll.

Ind, Test., sup. t. 15. f. 42.

Hab. Australia ? Mus. Hanley, &c.

The radiating lines are not always perceptible on the posterior
side of the adult, and the concentric sulci in that case appear fim-
briated. It is allied to subrosea of Gray.

February 11. — William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair.

A specimen of Cancer norvegicus, taken by a fishing-boat at the
" Silver Pits," eighty miles eastward of Scarborough, was presented
by Mr. Ingarfield.

A communication was read from James Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E.,
in which he advocates the hypothesis that the Tetrao medius is neither

5§ Zoological Society,

a hybtid nor a distinct species, but merely an immature male of the
Tetrao Urogallus or Capercailzie, founding his opinion on the ap-
pearance of the Tetrao medius immediately after the re-introduction
of the Capercailzie into Scotland by the Earl of Breadalbane, and on
the fact, that no two species of a genus, however similar they may
be in appearance, pair voluntarily while in a state of nature.

February 25.— R. C. Griffith, Esq., in the Chair.

" Descriptions of six new species of Donax, in the collection of
Hugh Cuming, Esq. (Corf. Memb.)," by SylvanUS Hanley, Esq.

DoNAX TiCAONicus. Dou. testd cuneiformi, convexd, nitidissimd,
solidd, obliqud, Icevigatd, mdxime incequilaterali, albidd, aut livido-
purpurascente , concolore, epidermide jiavescente indutd ; margine
ventrali integro, magis minusve convexo ; dorsali, antice declivi et
subrecto dut subretuso, postice subrecto et subitb declivi; eXtre-
mitate lateris antici producti, attenuatd, rotundatd ; latere postico
brevissimOf truncato et inferne obtuse angulato ; pube concentrice
et profunde rugosd ; natibus acutis, prominentibus ; superficie in-
ternd aut violaced aut albidd violdced postice fucatd ; dente late^
rali antico remoto, postico approximato. Long. 1*; lat. 1*50 poll.

Hab. Ticao, Philippines (Cuming).

Remarkable for its obliquity and the abrupt truncation of the pos-
terior side.

Donax culter. Don. testd elongatd, angustd, convexd, satis incequi-
laterali, nitidd, striulis exilibus confertim radiatd, variis coloribus
pictd {plerumque purpurea, sed etiam Jlavd lineis purpureo-brun-
neis radiatd, albidd radiis violaceis aut lividis, aurantid et rosed,
scepe radiis albidis ornatd) ; margine ventrali crenulato, antice sub-
recto, postic'h convexo ; dorsali ajitice recto et vix paululum de-
clivi, postice convexo sUtisque declivi ; latere antico producto, ad
extretnitatefyi obtuse rotundato ; postico rotundato -cuneiformi ; lu-
nula ligamentoqUe angustis ; pube striis simplicibus radiatd ; costd
umbonali obtusissimd ; dentibus later alibus haud remotis.

Var. a. Testd subinwquilaterali ; margine ventrali medio subpostice
retuso; dente laterali antico, plerumque magis approximato.

Var. b. Testd minus elongatd et magis incequilaterali ; margine ven-
trali raro retuso ; dente laterali antico plerumque magis remoto.

Long. 0-50; lat. 1^50.

Hab. Var. a. Matzellan, Gulf of California (Cuming).
Var. b, Acapulco (Cuming).

Rather a common shell, and closely allied to pulchella.

Donax asper. Don. testd trigond, ventricosd, solidd, subinceqmlate-
rali, albidd aut earned, antice nitidiusculd et radiatim striatd, pos-
tice impolitd et radiatim costellatd ; striis exilibus et simplicibus;
costellisparvis, decussatis, aut subsquamosis aut subgranosis, supra
costam umbonalem angulatam confertis ; margine ventrali crenato,
arcuato ; dorsali antico, valde declivi, subrecto ; postico retuso,
irtermi, subithque declivi : extftmitate lateris antici longioris, ro-
tundatd, posticd angulatd; natibus vatde prominentibus et maxime

Zoological Society, fi9

incurvatis ; pube pland ; dentibus lateralibus approximatis . Long.
1-30; lat. 1-60 pol.
Hab. Tumbez, Peru (Cuming).

Closely resembling dentiferus, but not provided with the charac-
teristic tooth, much stronger and more triangular, and with its ven-
tral edge more arcuated, and its front extremity more attenuated.
The front dorsal edge appears retuse (which it is not in reality), from
the lateral projection of the swollen beaks. The lower margin is
stained with violet anteriorly.

DonaxNavicula. Don. testd elongato-trigond, crassd, subventri-
cosd, nitidd, subineBquilaferali, sublcevigatd (striis radiantibus
tantum in medio perspicuis), albd, epidermide flavd indutd, prope
marginem dorsalem utrinque brunneo-purpurascente strigatd; mar'
gine ventrali in medio ventricoso, intus crenato ; dorsali antich
subrecto et subdeclivi, postice incurvato et declivi; ared posticd
Icevi, subconcavd ; latere antico longiore, angustato^ ad extremitatem
rotundato ; postico cuneiformi, ad extremitatem obtuso ; ligamento
minimo ; costd umbonali obtusd ; sUperficie internd albidd, utrinque
superne purpured ; dentibus lateralibus maxime approximatis.
Long. 0-40; lat. 0-90 poll.
Hab. Gulf of Nicoya, Central America (Cuming).
Allied to calif orniensis, but more triangular.

DoNAx GRACILIS. Don. testd elongatd, angustd, nitidd, valdh in-
(Bquilaterali, compressd, sublavigatd, albidd aut pallide violaceO'
rufescente, epidermide lutescente indutd ; margine ventrali convcxo
aut subarcuato, haudflexuoso, intus crenulato ; dorsali magis mi-
nusve livido, utrinque subrecto, antice vix paululUm declivi, postice
valde declivi; latere antico producio, attenuato, ad extremitatem
rotundato, postico acuminate -cuneiformi ; ligamento minimo ; ared
posticd Icevi, obtusissimd ; costd umbonali obtusd ; superficie internd
purpurascente ; dentibus lateralibus perspicuis, approximatis.

Var. b. Testd aVbidd^ radiis paucis livido^rufescentibus ornatd.

Var. c. Testd rufescente aut lividd.

Long. 0-40 ; lat. 1 poll.

Hab. Bay of Guayaquil. Var. b. Chiriqui. Var. c. Bay of Garac-
cas (Cuming).

Allied to Owenii, but with the margin crenulated.

DoNAX soRDiDus. Don. testd abbreviato-cuneiformi, convexd, niti-
diusculd, solidd, valde incequilaterali, striis exilibus simplicibus
confertim radiatd, sordide albidd ; lineis elevatis obtiquis subcon-
centricis, partem superiorem et Icevigatam testa postice asperanti-
bus; margine ventrali crenulato, medio arcuato ; dorsali antico,
declivi et subrecto ; postico subrecto et valde declivi ; latere antico
attenuato ; postico brevi et inferne (in adultis etiam superne) obtitsh
angulato ; pube fortiter et confertim rugis subdecussatis concentrice
exaratd; costd umbonali subangulatd; superficie internd albidd,
purpureo infectd; dentibus lateralibus approximatis, antico per-
magno. Long. 070; lat. 1 poll.

Hab. Cape of Good Hope. Mus. Brit., Cuming.

pO Zoological Society,

Intermediate between striata and semisulcata. The raised oblique
lines which roughen the posterior side near the beaks where the
striiB have become entirely obsolete, are a striking character in this
rare species.

Mr. Fraser exhibited to the Meeting and characterized three new
species of Birds from the Society's collection, viz : —

Pal^ornis modestus. Pal. ptilose viridis ; genis pallide cervinis ;
vittd a narihus ad oculos viridescenti-nigrd ; mandihulis nigris.

Hah. }

This bird is nearly allied to the P. pondicerianus, but diiFers in
the colour of the cheeks, breast aad mandibles ; it differs also from
F. malaccensis in the paler colour of the cheeks, and that colour not
extending further back than the ears, in the colour of the beak, &c. ;
it may also be readily distinguished from Mr. Hodgson's Nepaul spe-
cies by the colouring of the cheeks.

LoRius SUPERB us. Lor. capite et tectricibus majoribus inferioribus
alarum nigris ; genis, laterihus, pectore et uropygio rubris ;
nucha, ventre, fcmore, et tectricibus caudeB inferioribus cceruleis ;
scapulis, tectricibus alarum inferioribus minoribus, ct dimidio ter-
minali caudec cceruleis ; alis externis viridibus.

Hab. }

This bird is about the size and is closely allied to the Lorius Phi-
lippensis, Briss., but differs in having the shoulders and smaller
under wing-coverts blue, the larger ones black (in this respect it
somewhat resembles the Lorius domicellus, Auct.) ; in the absence of
the red band immediately below the black crown ; and in having an
entire red band from shoulder to shoulder, whereas in L. Philip-
pensis it is only partial.

LarusBridgesii. Lar. ptilose griseus ; capite et mento pallide ci-
nereis ; primariis et secundariis nigris, apicibus secundariarum
albis , fasciam albam trans alas formantibus ; quibusdam primariis
apicibus albidis ; vittd nigra lat. 1 poll, prope apices remigum ;
rostro jjedibusque nigris.

poU.

Tot. long. 18

Ala 11

Cauda 5|

Rictus 2^

Tarsi 2

Digitus medius 1 j

From Valparaiso, Chile. Collected by Mr. Thomas Bridges, Corr.
Memb.

This apparently new species of Gull is closely allied to the Larus
fuliginosus, Gould, but differs in the beak being much more slender,
in the general colour being lighter, in the head and chin being nearly
white, in having a white band across the wings, and the black band
across the tail being more decided.

Zoological Society. 61

March 11.— Rev. John Barlow, M.A., F.R.S., Sec. R.I., in the Chair.

A paper by Sylvanus Hanley, Esq., was read, containing descrip-
tions of two new species of Donax : —

DoNAX ASsiMiLis. Dou. tcstd cuneiformi, magis minusve crassd,
antice compressd, postice ventricosd, valde incequilaterali, lividd,
albo-violascente, aurantid aut flavidd, zonis saturatioribus aut vio-
laceis plerumque pictd, radiatim striatd ; striis hand confertis,
antic^ simplicibus, postice elevatis et dccussatis ; margins ventrali
crenulato, hand arcuato, antice sursum acclinato ; dorsali, antice
subdeclivi subrecto aut convexiusculo, postic'h subrecto et valde de-
clivi ; latere antico producto, ad extremitatem rotundato et atte-
nuate ; postico perbrevi et inferne angulato ; costd umbonali sub-
angulatd; pube decussatd, et costelld ad extremitatem dentiferd,
scepe radiatd; ligamento prominente et satis magna ; superficie in-
terna in adultis, prope marginem violaced ; dente laterali antico
haud remote, postico sicbappreximato. Long. 1 ; lat. 1*55 poll.
Hab. Panama. Mus. Cuming, Hanley, &c.

Very variable in colouring, often with a short purple perpendicular
ray upon the umbones ; sometimes with three or four pale rays on a
darker ground, but usually uniform and only marked when aged, with
the rib-like stria projecting at the margin like a tooth. This latter
character and the identity of its sculpture render the species liable
to be confused with dentiferus, but the greater tenuity and less elon-
gated shape of that shell is preserved even in the younger specimens.

Donax lubricus. Don. testa cuneiformi, compressd, solidiusculd,
valde inaequilaterali, nitidissimd, lividd aut albo-violascente, antice
IcEvigatd, postice striis radiantibus ornatd ; margine ventrali ex-
iliter crenulato, convexo aut convexiuscule ; dorsali, utrinque sub-
recto, antice declivi, postice valde declivi ; latere antico attenuate,
ad extremitatem rotundato; postice perbrevi et inferne obtuse
angulato ; vulvd rugis confertis concentricis , striisque exilibus ra-
diantibus, eleganter decussatd ; costd umbonali subobtusd ; natibus
acutis ; dentibus lateralibus obsoletis. Long. 0*6 ; lat. 0*8 poll.

Hab. .'' Mus. Cuming.

Peculiar for uniting a smooth surface to a crenulated margin.

March 25.— William Horton Lloyd, Esq., in the Chair.
Mr. Gould exhibited to the Meeting a new species of Trogen, from
South America, and seven new Birds from Australia, which he cha-
racterized as follows : —

Trogon puella. Trog. loris, plumis auricularibus et guld fusco-
?iigris ; capite, corpore superiore, et pectore aureo-viridibus ; alis
nigris ; tectricibus alarum maculis minimis albis ornatis ; corpore
inferiore vivide coccineo, separate a viridi pectore fascia semilunari
albd; tribus remigibus exterieribus nigris vittis albis angustis
frequentibus ornatis ; femoribus nigris.
Lores, ear-coverts and throat dull black ; head, all the upper sur-
face and chest golden green ; wings black ; the coverts very minutely
freckled with white, and the primaries with a very narrow line of

6^ Zoological Society.

white along the basal portion of their outer webs ; all the under sur-
face scarlet, separated from the green of the chest by a semilunar
mark of white ; two middle tail-feathers golden green ; the two next
on each side golden green on their outer webs and black on their
inner, the whole six tipped with black ; the three outer feathers on
each side black, crossed by numerous narrow bars of, and narrowly
tipped with, white ; thighs black ; bill orange ; irides red ; feet dark
grey.

Total length, 10 inches; bill, 1 ; wing, 5^^; tail, 5f ; tarsi, ^.

Hah. Escuintla, South America.

Remark. — Nearly allied to Trogon collaris, Vieill.

CucuLUS OPTATUS. Cuc. coi'pove superiore cceruleo-griseo ; pogo-
niis internis primariarum fasciis latis albis ornatis ; remigihus sa-
turate violaceo-brunneis i apicibus subalbidis, serie macularum ob-
long arum albarum alternatim ordinatd ; corpore subtiis albo, fasciis
nigris.
The whole of the upper surface slaty grey ; inner webs of the pri-
maries broadly barred with white ; tail-feathers dark violet-brown,
"with a row of oblong spots of white placed alternately on either side
of the stem, and slightly tipped with white ; the lateral feathers have
also a row of white spots on the niargin of their inner webs ; chin
and breast light grey ; all the under surface bufFy white, crossed by
bands of black ; irides, bill and feet orange.

Total length, 13 inches ; bill, 1;^ ; wing, 7| ; tail, 6^; tarsi, |.

Hab. Port Essington, Australia.

Remark. — Closely allied to the Common Cuckoo of Europe.

CucuLus INSPERATUS. Cuc. capite, guld, et corpore superiore cce-

ruleo-griseis ; alts, dorsoque nitide viridescentibus ; caudd brunneo-

viridi singuld plumd apice albo, et marginibus pogoniorum inte-

riorum ordine macularum albarum triangularium ornatis ; parte

subscapulari tectricibus caudce inferioribus, crissoque rujis ; corpore

subtus rufo-tincto-griseo.

Heftd, throat and all the upper surface dark slate-grey ; back and

wings glossed with green ; tail glossy brownish green, each feather

tipped with white, and with a row of triaugular- shaped white marks

on the margins of the inner webs ; primaries and secondaries with a

patch of white on their inner webs near the base ; edge of the shoulder

•white ; under surface of the shoulder, vent and under tail-coverts

rufous ; the remainder of the under surface grey, washed with rufous ;

bill black ; feet olive.

Total length, 9^ inches ; bill, I ; wing, 6j ; tail, 5 ; tarsi, f .

Hab. New South Wales.

JRemark. — Nearly allied to C. cineraeeus of Vigors and Horsfield.

CucuLUS DUMETOBUM. Cuc. cttpite, uropygio, colloque saturate
cctruleo-griseis ; alls, caudd dorsoque metallice brunneis ; apicibus
remigum leviter albis ; pogoniis interioribus serie macularum tri-
angularium parvarum ornatis; pectore griseo, rufo-tincto.
Head, neck and rump dark slate-grey ; back, wings and tail bronzy
brown ; tail-feathers slightly tipped with white and with a row of

Zoological Society, 68

small triangular- shaped spots on the margins of their inner webs ;
breast grey, washed with rufous ; under surface of the shoulder, flanks,
vent and under tail-coverts deep rufous ; irides brown.

Total length, 8^ inches ; bill, J ; wing, 5 ; tail, 4^ ; tarsi, |.

Hab. Port Essiugton, Australia.

Remark. — Nearly allied to Cuculus insperatus.

Sphenceacus gramineus. Sphen. vittd supra oculos albd; corpore
superne hrunneo; medid plumarum saturate brunned ; subtus griseo ;
lateribus crissoque cervinis ; medid parte singulce plumce pectoris
lined minimd saturate brunned ornatd.
Stripe over the eye white ; all the upper surface brown, the cen-
tres of the feathers being dark brown ; secondaries brownish black,
margined with buff ; tail pale reddish brown, with dark brown shafts ;
under surface grey, passing into buff^ on the flanks and vent ; each
feather of the breast with a very minute line of dark brown down the
centre ; bill and tarsi fleshy brown.

Total length, 5 J inches ; bill, J ; wing, 2| ; tail, 2| ; tarsi, j.
Hab. Van Diemen's Land and the southern coast of Australia.

Pachycephala glaucura. Pack, capite, loris, spatio infra oculos,

et lata macula semilunari trans pectus saturate nigris ; guld, intra

maculam nigram, albd; nucha posterior e , lined angustd apud latera

pectoris pone seynilunam nigram, et corpore inferiore fiavis ; caudd

grised ; tectricibus caudce in/erioribus albis vel subjlavis.

Head, lores, space beneath the eye and a broad crescent-shaped

mark from the latter across the breast deep black ; throat within the

black, white ; back of the neck, a narrow line down each side of the

chest, behind the black crescent, and the under surface yellow ; back

and wing-coverts yellowish olive ; wings dark slate-colour, margined

with grey ; tail entirely grey ; under tail-coverts white, or very

slightly washed with yellow ; irides reddish brown ; bill black ; feet

dark brown.

Total length, 7 inches ; bill, ^ ; wing, 4 ; tail, 3 J ; tarsi, 1 .
Hab. Van Diemen's Land.

Nearly allied to Pachycephala gutturalis, but distinguished by a
shorter bill and by the colouring of the tail, which is entirely grey.

Cysticola campestris. Cyst, capite ferrugineo-rubro, dorso tecw
tricibusque alarum brunneo-griseis ; singulis plumis corporis supe^
rioris fascid longitudinali saturate brunned ornatis ; ca^dd rufo-^
brunned, plumis duabus mediis latd macula nigrd juxta apices ;
corpore subtus pallide cervino.
Head rusty red ; back and wing- coverts brownish grey, all the
feathers of the upper surface with a broad stripe of dark brown down
the centre ; wings blackish brown, the primaries margined externally
with rusty red, and the secondaries edged all round with brownish
grey ; tail reddish brown, all but the two centre feathers with a large
spot of black near the tip ; all the under surface pale buff'.
Total length, 5| inches ; bill, ^ ; wing, 2| ; tail, 2| ; tarsi, |,
Hab. Australia.

Remark. — For the loan of this new species I am indebted to th^
kindness of H. E, St^-ickl^nd, Esq.

64 Microscopical Society,

Calamoherpe longirostris. Col. vittd pallidd, supra gculos cer-
vind; corpore superne rufo, sultils saturate cervino; meritp alhido.

Faint line over the eye fawn-colour ; all the upper surface reddish
brown, becoming more rufous on the upper tail-coverts ; primaries
and tail dark brown, fringed with rufous ; chin whitish ; all the under
surface deep fawn-colour ; irides yellowish brown.

Total length, 6 J inches ; bill, \^ ; wing, 3 ; tail, 3 ; tarsi, 1 .

Hab. Western Australia.

MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.

June 18, 1845.— Thomas Bell, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

A paper by George Shadbolt, jun., Esq., " On a British species of
Ixodes found upon Cattle," was read.

The insects forming the subject of the present paper were found
on some cows belonging to a farmer residing at Chingford, Essex,
on the borders of EjDping Forest. They are known to the country
people by the name of the " Tick," but they are aware that they
differ from the insects of that name which infest sheep and goats.
They are found upon cattle, attacking all parts indiscriminately, and
causing much irritation and annoyance to them. They have been
found in the number of several hundreds on a single cow, and have
also been known to attack even human subjects, but this is not com-
mon, and although it is probable that they infest other animals, the
author has seen them only on cows. They do not appear to breed
on the animals infested, but are produced in the forest into which
the cattle are sent to graze, and which appear to become infested
with them by their crawling up their legs while feeding. After
having attached themselves by means of a very curious apparatus
with which they are furnished, they gorge themselves with blood, and
the abdomen increases in size from about the ^^jth of an inch until
they become as large as a small bean ; when fully gorged they fall
off, and the author was not able to ascertain their further progress.
The form of this insect is oval : it has eight legs, in which particular
it differs from the Brazilian species described by Mr. Busk in a former
paper read to the Society, these last having but six. These legs are
attached to the anterior half of the trunk, and consist of seven joints,
the tarsi being terminated by a species of webbed foot, capable of
being folded together and furnished with two recurved claws. The
oral apparatus by which it attaches itself is exceedingly interesting ;
it consists of two palpi serving as a kind of sheath to the other parts
when inactive, two jointed mandibles, and a barbed or hooked labium.
Specimens of this and other species were afterwards exhibited.

Also a paper by H. Deane, Esq., ** On the Existence of Fossil
Xanthidia in the Chalk," was read.

After mentioning that the occurrence of Xanthidia in a fossil state
had not hitherto been observed in any other situation than in the
flint-nodules of the chalk, and consequently that great doubt existed
whether these fossils were really independent animal existences or
only parts of some other creature, Mr. Deane stated that there is a
grayish kind of chalk having no flints, but containing quantities of

Entomological Society. 65

tiodules of iron pyrites, which juts into the sea between Dover and
Folkstone, forming the beach for some distance. Upon exposing a
portion of this to the action of hydrochloric acid, and examining
microscopically the insoluble sediment, bodies similar to, if not iden-
tical with, the Xanthidia in flints were exposed to view ; several spe-
cies were clearly to be recognised, together with casts of Polythalamia
and other bodies frequently found in flints.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

July 3rd, 1843. — George Newport, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Samuel Stevens brought for exhibition a box of insects from
Dorking, in which were specimens of Claviger foveolatus taken from
the nest of Formica flava ; also Molorchus minor, Micronyw Junger-
mannicd, Tychius lineatulus, &c. ; also a box from Charlton and Plum-
stead, in which were Acalles Ptinoides, A. rohoris, Poecilus lepidus,
&c. ; also the following moths from the Hammersmith marshes :
Leucania straminea, reared from the larvae exhibited at the last
meeting, Leucania obsoleta, Sensia sericea, Nudaria senex, Chilo phrag-
mitellus and gigantellus, the latter being most probably the female
of the preceding insect.

Mr. Walton exhibited specimens oiErirhinus Chamomilla, and Mr.
Rich, a female Goliathus, apparently identical with G. regius, Klug.

A paper was read by Mr. Westwood on the Indian genera Trigo-
nophorus and Rhomborhina, published in vol. iv. part 1. of the Trans-
actions.

August 7th. — George Newport, Esq., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Westwood exhibited a male specimen of Tengyra Sanvitaliy
taken during the last month by sweeping in hedge-rows near Ascot
heath.

Mr. Saunders exhibited a specimen of the Australian genus Cilibe,
which had been captured alive in a garden near London. Also some
pupae of a small Homopterous insect which had proved very injurious
in the oak plantations throughout extensive districts in Scotland,
by raising blisters upon the leaves. Also specimens of a small Di-
pterous insect (JPhytomyza lateralis), which attacks the petals of the
pansy by puncturing them, as was stated, with the ovipositor, and
then sucking out the colouring matter with the haustellum.

Mr. Marshall exhibited a remarkable specimen of Hipparchia Ga-
lathea of a white colour with the ordinary markings obliterated, and
Mr. Evans a specimen of Lamia Textor, taken near Canterbury in
July.

The following memoirs were read : —

On the Insects residing in Bramble-sticks. By Mr. F. Smith.
(Pubhshed in the first part of the fourth volume of the Transactions
of the Society.)

Description of a new species of Ceria. By Mr. W. W. Saunders.
(Published in the first part of the fourth volume of the Transactions
of the Society.)

On some new exotic species of Jphodiida. By Mr. Westwood.
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xyi. F

66 Miscellaneous.

September 4th. — Edward Doubleday, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.
Dr. Becker of Wiesbaden exhibited a new species of Papilio from
South America, and also a specimen of the very rare P. Protodamas.

Mr. S. Stevens exhibited specimens oiSihinia m-enaria, Mononychus
Pseudacori, Cicindela germanica, Micronyx pygmtea, &c., recently
captured in the Isle of Wight ; also of Apion Schonherri, Choragus
Sheppardi, Mecinus circulatus, and various Lepidoptera, the latter
captured by daubing sugar upon the trunks of trees in the neigh-
bourhood of Arundel.

Mr. F. Smith exhibited specimens of Platypeza suhfasciata ? (a
Dipterous insect varying greatly in the two sexes,) reared from fungi
from Birch wood ; also Pissodes Pini from Weybridge.

Mr. Evans exhibited specimens illustrating the natural history of
Mamestra Brassicce and Euthalia impluviata ; also a specimen oiMar-
garitia diversalis, taken by himself either in Yorkshire or at Darenth
wood in June last.

The following papers were read : —

Notice of a Gynandromorphous specimen of Smerinthus Populi.
By George A. Thrupp, Esq.

Description of an ancient Irish Amulet made in the form of and
used as a charm against the Murrian Caterpillar. Communicated
by W. F. Evans, Esq.

Descriptions of some new species of Exotic Spiders, and two species
of Poeciloptera. By A. White, Esq., by whom some additional ob-
servations were made on the study of arachnology, and upon the struc-
ture of the nests of two British species of spiders. He likewise read
an extract from Abbott's MSS. in the British Museum, on the habits
of one of the fossorial Hymenoptera which collects spiders for the
provisioning of its nest.

MISCELLANEOUS.
Observations on the group Schizopetalese of the family of Cruciferse.

By J. Marius Barneoud*.
In 1822 Mr. Francis Place, on his return from a voyage to Chili, intro-
duced into England a charming plant having four elegantly pinnate
petals, and funiished with an embryo with four yellowish cotyledons
rolled in a spiral. These extraordinary characters did not prevent
Sir William Hooker from placing this plant in the family of the
Cruciferce ; he formed of it the genus Schizopetalon, of which he pub-
lished an excellent description and a very detailed figure in the ' Exotic
Flora,* vol. i. p. 74, by the name of Schizopetalon Walcheri. A new
coloured figure, but without analysis, appeared somewhat later in the
' Botanical Magazine,* tab. 2379.

Mr. Robert Brown, on his part, had adopted in the ' Botanical
Register,' no. 752, precisely the determination and classification
of Sir W. Hooker. Nevertheless these two botanists, struck with
the remarkable forms which the embryo of this genus presented, had
not neglected to state, that it ought to serve as type of a new tribe
-of Cruciferce ; they diflfered solely on one point : Mr. R. Brown con-

« From the iVnnales des Sciences Naturelies for March 1845.

Miscellaneous. &f

sidered the embryo as consisting of four entirely distinct cotyledons ;
Sir W. Hooker, on the contrary, stated that there were only two
semicylindrical cotyledons, each one divided into two very deep
lobes. But this interesting question, from the simply descriptive na-
ture of this note, will be examined subsequently in a more general
manner ; at all events, up to the present day the Schizopetalon Wal-
cheri continued the sole representative of a very curious group of
plants well deserving the attention of botanists.

Aug. Pyrame DeCandoUe, after having established in his beautiful
memoir on the Cruci/era the bases of an embryonal classification,
subsequently applied them in his ' Prodromus,' and adopted them
more or less successfully to the new species ; but he had the prudent
reserve to place the Schizopetalon Walcheri at the extremity of the
series and among the genera Incertce sedis. Moreover the species,
then somewhat rare, was not well known to him, and he did well to
follow in this case the wise principles laid down by Jussieu. The
rich collections of plants brought from Chili by our indefatigable
traveller Claude Gay have furnished us with numerous materials on
the subject ; and since the true position of Schizopetalon can no longer
be called in question, we shall be able to show, that although science
owes its most beautiful and most profound investigations on the
Cruci/erce to the genius of DeCandoUe, there may nevertheless be
objected to his embryonal classification, its frequently artificial side,,
owing to the starting from one single organ. Nature appears to
have created the group of the Schizopetalete to prove how little stable
are frequently the majority of those sections or subdivisions of family
which are not founded upon a totality of characters of affinity, as the
•true natural method requires.

In the herbarium from Chili we find six species of Schizopetalon^
of which five are new. If we study these plants with care before
dissecting the seed, we are led to arrange them all in the same genus ;
all have a perfect similitude in the various organs of the flower, the
same aspect, and nearly the same habit ; in a word, we find an al-
most uniform plan of generic structure. The anatomy of the seed
then demonstrates a considerable difference between several of the
species. We find, on the one hand, very minute globular seeds pre-
senting an embryo with four linear and spiral cotyledons, with curved
radicle, evidently belonging to the Spirolohece of DeCandoUe ; and on
the other, oval seeds larger than the preceding, their embryo with two
incumbent spathulate cotyledons, and with an almost straight dorsal
radicle, evidently belonging to the section Notorhizeoe. This is the
most striking character of the new genus Perreymondia *.

Now it is quite plain that it is impossible to separate, without
violating the laws of natural affinity, in a methodical distribution of
the Cruciferous plants, these two genera {Schizopetalon and Perrey-
mondia), so nearly related, and solely distinct as respects the embryo,
as it would be necessary to do according to the classification of De-
CandoUe.

The anatomical structure of the seed of the Schizopetalece is com-

* h\ honour of Perreymond, a distinguished botanist of Provence.

F2

63, Miscellaneous.

posed — 1. of an extremely thin, transparent, cellular external enve-
lope, coated with papillae ; 2. of a brown, somewhat thick, central
coating; and 3. of an internal membrane surrounding the embryo, and
performing the functions of a kind of perisperm. Iodide of potassium
shows the presence of numerous grains of starch in it.

The following is a brief monographic sketch of this tribe of the
Cruciferce hitherto so little known : —

ScHizoPETALEiE, R. Br., Botan. Reg. No. 752.
Petala pinnatifida, longe unguiculata sestivatione involuta. Sta-
mina 6 tetradynama subsequalia. Glandulse 4 hypogynae. Siliqua
longa, polysperma. Semina globosa vel ovata subalbuminosa. Em-
bryonis cotyledones 4 spirales, vel 2 crasso-spathulatse. Folia ele-
ganter pinnatifida vel dentata. Pili omnes ramosi, Flores albi. — Herbae
andicolae vel maritimae in regno Chilensi.

ScHizoPETALON, Hookcr, Exot. Flor. i. p. 74.
Calyx 4-phyllus, apice clausus, erectus. Petala 4 pinnatifida longe
unguiculata. Stamina 6 subaequalia. Siliqua pilosa. Stigma basi
hastatum subsessile. Semina globosa, minima, papilloso-rugulosa.
Embryonis cotyledones 4, lineares, aequales, spiraliter convolutse.
Radicula curvata.

1. Schizopetalon Walcheri, Hook, in Bot. Mag. tab. 2379.

2. Schizopetalon maritimum (nobis). Caule subsimphci, foliis an-
gustis pinnatifidis pilosis, spica laxissima, siUqua nervosa glabrius-
cula, embryone albo. O

Perreymondia, nov. gen.
Calycis foliola 4, aequalia, erecta, obtusa, clausa. Corolla petala 4,
hypogyna, longe unguiculata, lamina ovata, eleganter pinnatifida,
laciniis linearibus obtusis sestivatione involutis. Stamina 6, hypo-
gyna, tetradynama Filamenta libera, edentula. Antherce sagittato-
lineares. Glandules hypogynae 4, lineares, erectae, obtusae, petalis
suboppositae. Ovarium 2-loculare, pubescens. Stylus brevis vel
nullus. Stigma hastatum, apice subacuminatum. Siliqua bivalvis,
dehiscens, et saepe ad maturitatem pendula, polysperma, anguste
linearis, et pilis ramosis vestita. Septum membranaceum stomatibus
destitutum. Semina ovata, fulva, subrugulosa, subalbuminosa. Em^
bryofiis albi cotyledones 2, incumbentes, spathulatae, apice crassae.
Radicula dorsalis recta. — In regno Chilensi. Flores albi.

1. P err eymondia dentata (nohis). Pubescens; caule macilento, foliis
oblongis inaequaliter dentatis ; spica pauciflora, laxissima ; florum
pedicellis pilosis. O

2. P err eymondia rupestris (nobis). Canescens ; caule folioso, ramoso,
foliis cano-pinnatifidis, carnosulis ; spica laxa ; floribus pilosis ;
siliqua vermiculata, tomentosa. O

3. P err eymondia multifida (nobis). Caule ramoso hispidulo, foliis
angustis inciso-subbipinnatifidis albicantibus ; floribus pilosis ; si-
liqua gracili ; stigmata subsessili. O

4. Perreymondia Brongtiiiirtii (nobis) . Caule erecto, ramosissimo, pa-
tulo, foliis dentato-piriiiatifidis, canescentibus, crassiusculis ; spica
longa multiflora ; siliqua vermiculata ; stigmate sessili. O

Miscellaneous. 69

On the Microscopic Constituents of the Ash of Fossil Coal.
13y Professor Ehrenberg.

At the meeting of the Berlin'Academy of the 25th of October, Prof.
Ehrenberg communicated an observation of Dr. Franz Schulz of
Eldena, which the latter had addressed to M. v. Humboldt in a letter,
in which he describes his method of separating the silica contained
in coal so chemically pure as to enable us to recognise the microsco-
pical siliceous organisms. " The usual method of burning the
coal," Dr. Schulz states, " is attended with an unavoidable vitrifi-
cation of the mineral constituents, even when conducted in the
slowest and most cautious manner, owing to which their cellular
structure is lost. After many fruitless experiments I succeeded in
hitting upon a method of incineration, which leaves the silica con-
tained in the coal perfectly unaltered. Very instructive preparations
are readily obtained (from the already known structural relations of
siliceous earth in plants) on moistening grass-halms, ears of grain,
Equisetum, Spanish cane, &c., with nitric acid, and afterwards burn-
ing them on platinum foil. The nitric acid not only facilitates the
combustion of the organic substance, but also prevents the potash
combined with the vegetable acid from being converted into carbo-
nate of potash before the silica has been heated to such a degree as to
be less liable to be acted upon. The greater degree of heat required
for the perfect combustion of the coal no longer destroys the cellular
form of the silica after nitric acid has prevented the production of
carbonate of potash on the first application of heat. An excess of
nitric acid has the effect of destroying the connexion of the siliceous
cells and acts too powerfully upon them, and should therefore be
avoided.

•• Encouraged by the success of these experiments, I turned my at-
tention to coal, it being exceedingly desirable to be enabled to detect
remains of organic structure in it. The large quantity of siliceous
earth contained in all varieties of coal led me to infer that a judi-
cious method of incineration would be attended with good results ;
your excellency will be enabled to judge from the preparation at-
tached in how far I have succeeded. A piece of coal of about two
square inches was broken into twelve pieces of nearly the same size,
and then treated with nitric acid in a platinum vessel. The nitric
acid being evaporated at a moderate heat, I ignited the residue until
no further empyreumatic vapours were given off, treated the resi-
due again with nitric acid and repeated the ignition. Thus prepared,
the coal was placed in a platinum crucible with a lid perforated in
the centre, and air was blown from a gasometer through the aper-
ture in the lid, whilst the crucible was kept at a red heat over a
spirit-lamp, so that the coal was necessarily slowly consumed. The
ash thus obtained had not coked, but formed a brownish powder.
Some white splinters occur among this, which appear, on microsco-
pical examination to be aggregated siliceous cells arranged in regular
succession, of the structure of the prosenchymatous cells of wood."

Prof. Ehrenberg added, that the importance of a method for ob-
taining the organized siliceous parts from the lower strata of the
earth with their forms preserved for microscopical observation is ma-

76 Miscellaneous.

nifest, and requires no recommendation, to judge from the results
which have already ensued. His own efforts with respect to coal had
never been attended with success, and he therefore considers this
method as a most useful and important discovery. He further stated
that the clearness of the specimens (which were, it was to be re-
gretted, not numerous) communicated by M. Schulz had astonished
him, and, as might have been expected, had immediately been at-
tended with a result. Prof. Ehrenberg had during many years
brought before the Academy descriptions of the parts of plants (con-
taining silica) which are found in marshy soils of all zones and in the
infusorial deposits, and had likewise alluded to their origin from re-
cent plants. This group, called Phytolitharia, had been as it were
classified by him into eleven genera. Of these eleven genera only
one is found in several forms in the purified siliceous ash of the coal
forwarded by M. Schulz, namely the genus Lithostylidium, which
contains regular siliceous nuclei of cells of plants. Lithodontia, or
marginal teeth of grasses, Lithodermatia, or epidermis of plants
(Equisetacea, Arundinacea), could not be distinctly recognised, al-
though the presence of the latter may be presumed. Other nega-
tive results were also particularly remarkable, namely the absence
of all Lithasterisci, Lithospheera, Spongolites, &c. &c., otherwise so
frequent. Finally, no trace of infusoria possessing a siUceous shell
was found, notwithstanding the most careful investigation.

He concluded by expressing a conviction that a rapid development
of our knowledge on this subject would, now that a method had been
discovered, undoubtedly take place, and a wish that this may be the
commencement of its study.

On the Tendrils of the Cucurbitaceae. By M. J. Payer.

In organographical researches it is sometimes necessary to examine
comparatively the same organ, not merely in plants of the same fa-
mily, but likewise in the same plant at various periods of its exist-
ence, and, if necessary, to have recourse to anatomy. It is from
having neglected these two modes of investigation that all botanists
who have studied the nature of the tendrils of the Cucurbitacece have
either been completely mistaken, or have perceived the truth but in
a very indistinct manner, and without being able to demonstrate it.

There are many plants in which fibro-vascular bundles are de-
tached at three different points of the circumference of the cylinder
constituting the medullary sheath, generally at one and the same
height and at a little distance from the origin of a leaf : these bun-
dles traverse the herbaceous envelope and pass into the pulvinus
(^coussinet) of that leaf. There, sometimes all three enter the pe-
tiole, sometimes only one of them, — the central one, the two lateral
ones continuing the nervation of the two lateral stipules. Now, if
the lower leaves of the cultivated melon be examined, no tendril will
be found to exist at their side*; it will be seen that the three fibro-

* This fact may be generalized, for it results from a large number of ob-
servations which I have made, that plants with tendrils, of whatever kind,
jjxever present tendrils at their lower extremity.

Meteorological Observations. 71

vascular bundles which separate from the medullary sheath ascend
all three into the petiole, and that the bud formed at their axil, and
always placed between the intermediary bundle and the stem, is de-
cidedly at the middle of the base of the leaf. If, on the contrary, the
stem-leaves which have a lateral tendril are considered, we observe
that of the three fibro-vascular bundles, only two, the central and
one of the lateral ones, enter the petiole, and that the other pene-
trates into the tendril. In this case, the bud, from its constant
position between the intermediary bundle and the stem, is no longer,
like this intermediary bundle, at the centre of the base of the petiole,
but on the side, and appears to be almost between the leaf and the
tendril. Lastly, we frequently meet in botanical gardens with the
upper leaves each accompanied by two lateral tendrils. The anatomy
then indicates that a single bundle, the central one, traverses the
petiole, and that the two lateral ones pass each one into a tendril.
With respect to the bud, it necessarily is situated between the middle
of the base of the petiole and the stem. — Ann, des Sci. Nat., March.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR MAY 1845.

Chiswick. — May 1, 2. Very fine. 3. Fine, with clouds. 4. Cloudy and cool.
5. Fine : dense clouds : clear. 6. Cloudy : rain. 7. Cloudy : showers. 8. Rain.
9. Cloudy: clear. 10. Foggy : cloudy : clear at night. 11. Cloudy. 12. Rain:
showery. 13. Cloudy and fine. 14. Fine. 15. Overcast: fine. 16. Cloudy.

17. Overcast: slight frost at night. 18. Cloudy: showery. 19. Cloudy and
cold. 20. Cloudy : rain. 21. Heavy rain. 22. Cloudy : very clear. 23. Over-
cast : fine : heavy rain. 24. Hazy clouds : heavy rain at night. 25. Rain.
26. Overcast : heavy rain. 27. Very fine. 28. Hazy and damp. 29. Thick
haze: rain. 30. Fine. 31. Very fine : cloudless: overcast at night. — Mean
temperature of the month 5°*3 below the average.

Boston. — May I. Fine. 2. Fine: thunder and lightning p.m., with rain. 3.
Cloudy: thunder and lightning p.m., with rain. 4. Fine: rain early a.m. 5. Fine:
rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 6. Rain. 7. Cloudy : rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 8.
Fine : rain A.M. 9. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 10. Rain, 11. Cloudy. 12. Fine:
rain a.m. and p.m. 13. Fine: rain p.m. 14,15. Fine. 16. Cloudy. 17. Cloudy:
rain A.M. 18. Windy. 19. Fine: rain early a.m. 20. Fine : rain p.m. 21.
Cloudy, 22. Fine. 23. Cloudy : rain p.m. 24, 25. Cloudy : rain early a.m.
26. Cloudy : rain early A.M. : rain p.m. 27. Fine. 28. Fine: rain early a.m. :
rain P.M. 29. Cloudy : rain p.m. 30,31. Fine.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — May 1. Drops : showers. 2. Showers. 3. Showers :
sleet. 4. Bright : showers. 5—7. Clear. 8. Rain : showers. 9, 10. Shou ers.
11. Bright: cloudy. 12,13. Clear. 14. Drops: clear. 15. Fog: drizzle.
16. Showers: drizzle. 17. Bright: clear. 18. Cloudy: clear. 19. Clear.
20. Cloudy. 21. Bright : cloudy. 22,23. Cloudy : damp. 24,25. Cloudy.
26. Bright: cloudy. 27. Cloudy. 28,29. Bright : clear. 30. Cloudy: fine.
31. Bright: fine.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire. — May 1. Heavy showers. 2, 3. Heavy
showers, with hail. 4. Sunshine and showers. 5. Fine. 6. Moist : light drops.
7—9. Slight showers. 10. Fine. 11. Rain p.m. : hoar-frost a.m. 12. Showers.
13. Fair and fine. 14. Rain nearly all day. 15 — 17. Fair: fine: bracing air.

18. Fair, but threatening. 19. Fair, but threatening : fine. 20,21. Fair, but
threatening : droughty. 22 — 24. Fair, but threatening. 25. Fair, but threaten-
ing : few drops of rain. 26. Fair, but threatening: very droughty. 27—30.
Fair, but threatening. 31. Fine : warm.

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THE ANNALS

AN'D

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

No. 103. AUGUST 1845.

VII. — Notes of a Microscopical Examination of the Chalk and
Flint of the South-east of England ; with remarks on the Ani-
malculites of certain Tertiary and Modern Deposits. By Gideon
Algernon Mantell, Esq., LL.D.^ F.li.S.*

The founders of this Society could scarcely have imagined that
the structure and economy of those minute forms of animal ex-
istence which are invisible to the unassisted eye, would become a
legitimate subject of geological investigation ; and that the du-
rable coverings or cases of these miniatures of life would be found
preserved in a fossil state, and in such inconceivable numbers, as
to constitute not only a large proportion of many rocks, but the
entire mass of certain deposits of great thickness and extent :
still less could they have surmised that the soft perishable bodies
of animalcules of this kind would be preserved by mineralization,
and be found entombed, like flies in amber, in the flint nodules
of which our roads are so largely constructed.

When the attention of geologists was first directed, a few years
since, to this most interesting department of palaeontology, by
the surprising discoveries and startling deductions of that emi-
nent philosopher, M. Ehrenberg, several observers in this coun-
try entered upon the investigation with much alacrity, to satisfy
themselves of the correctness of the marvellous statements of the
Prussian naturalist ; but this inexhaustible and most inviting field
of inquiry has not been followed up with the zeal and assiduity
which might have been anticipated, from the facility of the ex-
amination, and the important results which could not fail to be
obtained by any competent and patient observer.

With the exception of the able "Memoir on the Siliceous
Bodies of the Chalk, Greensands and Oolites,^^ by Mr. Bowerbank,
and which is published in the sixth vol. of the Geological Trans-,
actions, — a memoir to which I shall hereafter have occasion to
refer, — no express communication on this subject has, I believe,

* Read before the Geological Society of London, May 14th, 1845,

Ann, ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol.xyi. G

74 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

been laid before this Society. My friend the Rev. J. B. Reade
(of Stone^ Bucks), a gentleman well-known as an eminent observer,
was the first to investigate the flints of the English chalk in
search of those curious bodies termed Xanthidia ; several species
of which were discovered by him, and are figured and described in
the ninth number of the ' Annals of Natural History.' Mr. H.
Hopley White subsequently pursued the inquiry, and contributed
a notice on flint Xanthidia to the first vol. of the ' Microscopical
Journal,' illustrated with figures of several new forms.

Many interesting remarks on the microscopical examination of
flint and chalk by Mr. Reade are inserted in the fourth edition
of my ' Wonders of Geology,' as well as in my recent work, ' The
Medals of Creation' ; which also contains an account of some dis-
coveries by my assistant Mr. Hamlin Lee, and by my son*.

I propose on the present occasion, to lay before the Society the
general results of a microscopical examination of numerous spe-
cimens of chalk and flint, from the south-east of England, with
the hope of exciting those who have more leisure and greater
ability than myself, to pursue the inquiry, and not from an undue
estimate of the importance of the facts embodied in this commu-
nication.

With a view to conciseness, it will be convenient to arrange
my observations under three heads, viz. —

I. On the organic composition of the white chalk.

II. On the organic structure and minute fossil bodies of chalk
flints.

III. On the animalcuHtes of the tertiary strata of England;
and on the occurrence in the British seas of living genera and
species of infusoria, identical with many that occur fossil in the
miocene deposits of Virginia.

I. On the White Chalk. — Mr. Lonsdale long since demon-
strated that the white chalk of England was largely constituted
of minute shells, corals, and foraminifera, which bodies might be
readily detected by brushing the chalk in water and collecting
the sediment ; but it was not at that time suspected that almost
the whole of the residue of the detritus was composed of distinct
organisms, so minute as to require the highest magnifying powers,
and a peculiar mode of manipulation, to develope and define.
Ehrenberg, who has determined several hundi'ed species of ani-
malculites from the chalk, states that some layers of that lime-
stone are so rich in fossil remains, that a cubic inch is made up
of at least one million of recognizable forms. In his memoir
" On numerous Animals in the Chalk Formation which are
still to be found in a living state," are particularized all the

* See * Medals of Creation,' vol. i. chap. vii.

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 75

species and genera detected in the chalk from various parts
of Europe, Asia, and America*. It will suffice for my present
purpose to enumerate a few of these fossil organisms, premising
that the term Pohjthalamia, or polythalamian animalcules, de-
signates the calcareous-shelled foraminifera, as for example, Ro-
t alia J Textilaria, Nodosaria, &c., and that of Infusoria, the sili-
ceous-shelled animalcules, as Xanthidia, Coscinodisci, &c. ; while
the name Animalculites, is a convenient general designation for
the fossil remains of both divisions of these microscopic forms of
animal organization.

Infusoria of the Chalk. — M. Ehrenberg describes one species
of Eunotia and two of Fragillaria from Gravesend ; and from the
ehalk marls of Sicily several species of Actinocyclus, Coscino discus,
and Gaillonella, which are also found alive in the sea at Cuxhaven.
The most remarkable forms are certain species of Dictyocha, a
genus formerly supposed to be extinct, which abound in the
white marls of the chalk of Cattanisetta, and have lately been
found living in the Baltic f.

Another interesting animalculite is the Peridinium pyrophorum,
which occurs in the flint of Delitzsch, and has recently been de-
tected living and luminous in the Baltic.

Numerous species of all the above genera abound also in the
tertiary strata, and were formerly supposed to be absent in the
secondary formations ; and with the exception of a few kinds to
be noticed hereafter, my own researches and those of several
competent observers have not revealed any traces of these orga-
nisms in the English chalk ; we have never found Eunotia or
Fragillaria in that of Gravesend. Of the microscopic calcareous-
shelled animalcules, the chalk contains species, said by Ehrenberg
to be identical with living, of the genera Glohigetnna, Rosalina,
Cristatella, Textilaria, Rotalia and Nodosaria ; and so far as my
observations extend, species of these genera form the greater part
of the cretaceous animalculites of England. But although it is
easy to demonstrate the abundant occurrence of these forms in
some masses of chalk, yet in many of the strata it is scarcely pos-
sible to detect any well-defined specimens ; and I confess, that
frequent disappointment in my search for these bodies, had made
me somewhat sceptical of receiving at their full value, the glow-

* See a translation of this memoir, with plates, in Taylor's ' Scientific
Memoirs,' vol. iii. Art. 13. Alsq a masterly abstract of Ehrenberg's ob-
servations " On the Composition of Chalk Rocks and Marls by invisible or-
ganic bodies," by Mr. Weaver in the * Annals of Nat. Hist.' for June and
July 1841.

t The DictyochcB are polygastric animalcules of the family Bacillaria,
which are invariably coloured by green granules, and have a slow creeping
motion.

G2

76 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

ing descriptions of the Prussian philosopher. A short time since,
however, I discovered some layers of chalk vrhich are wholly com-
posed of polythalamia, principally of the genera Rotalia and Tex-
tilaria ; and it may perhaps be interesting to other observers if I
mention the circumstances which led me to institute a microsco-
pical examination of these deposits.

Every one knows that in our white chalk corals are but spa-
ringly distributed, and that the species hitherto determined are
comparatively few. Those enumerated in Mr. Morrises 'Catalogue
of British Fossils^ amount to between twenty and thirty spe-
cies, and belong to sixteen or seventeen genera. The cretaceous
deposits of Maestricht and Faxoe present in this respect a striking
contrast with those of England. There are however a few loca-
lities in which certain layers of the chalk abound in small, deli-
cate, calcareous polypidoms; and of late years many beautiful
specimens of the genera Idmonea, Ceriopora, Pustulopora, Rete-
pora, &c. have been obtained from the neighbourhood of Dover.
For the most part the specimens are small, but occasionally
some occur of considerable size, as in the fine example on the
table (presented to me by Mrs. Smith of Tunbridge Wells), which
consists of hundreds of branches of Pustulopora and Idmonea,
intertwined into a mass more than two inches in thickness.
When clearing this beautiful fossil, the extremely friable nature
of the chalk, and the sensation of a peculiar asperity to the touch,
which experience had taught me was commonly characteristic of
the presence of minute fossil bodies, induced me to submit a few
grains to a microscopical survey ; and the entire block of chalk
in which the coral is imbedded, proved to be almost wholly con-
stituted of Rotalia and Tecctilarice, associated with spines of
sponges and of other Amorphozoa, and a few discs apparently of
Pyxidicula : the residue consists of the detritus of similar orga-
nisms and of polyparia. I have distributed samples of this coral-
line chalk among my friends, and the result of their exploration
is in accordance with my own.

The incoherent character of the Dover coralline chalk, results
therefore from its organic composition, and the absence of any
cementing material. For in other cretaceous strata where an
infiltration of calc-spar has consolidated the rock, the chalk pos-
sesses great compactness and durability, and the organisms may
be seen in polished slices, and sometimes in relief on the surface.
That the white chalk was originally everywhere of the same or-
ganic constitution there can be no reasonable doubt ; and it is
remarkable how universal was the distribution of certain species
throughout the cretaceous ocean. The Rotalia globulosay Rot.
perforata^ and Textilaria glohulosa, have been found in every chalk
district in Europe; and I have the same species, through the

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England, 77

kindness of Dr. Bailiey of West Point, New York, from various
parts of Asia and America.

I will now venture to digress for a brief space to inquire whe-
ther the original organic incoherent condition of the chalk, as
shown by the above investigations, may not offer a satisfactory
explanation of the formation of the grooves and furi'ows on the
surface of chalk rocks, and of the vertical funnels or sand-pipes
with which in certain districts the cretaceous strata are traversed ;
and of the origin of the beds of loose, but not water-worn, flint
nodules, which are so constantly met with lying on the surface of
the rock, and immediately beneath the turf of the downs, and
with scarcely any intermixture of transported materials ; phseno-
mena, that have very recently been brought under the notice of
this Society. From what has been advanced, it is manifest that
the chalk when first deposited at the bottom of the ocean must
have been in the state of a fine white detritus or mud, resembling
in appearance and in chemical and organic composition, the chalk
now in progress of formation along the coasts of the Bermuda
Islands ; some layers of which are as rich in animalculites as any
of the American tertiary formations. The veins and beds of flint,
probably originated from the periodical introduction of thermal
waters highly charged with silica, into the calcareous sediment :
and the subsequent conversion of the incoherent detritus into
compact white chalk, must have resulted in part from pressure,
and from the infiltration of crystallized carbonate of lime ; a pro-
cess which at the present moment is in constant action on the
shores of the Bermudas, and whose effects are seen in the spe-
cimens on the table, in which the sediment thrown down by the
sea is shown in various states, from that of a white pulverulent
earth, to the compact limestone with which the forts and bridges
of those islands are constructed.

It may, therefore, with great probability be assumed, that at
the period when the cretaceous strata of the south-east of En-
gland were exposed to those elevatory movements which ulti-
mately raised them, together with the Wealden deposits on which
they repose, above the level of the sea, the lowermost beds of
chalk were already consolidated ; but the uppermost and latest
deposits were in the state of the soft Bermuda earth. Upon the
emergence of the chalk above the sea, those last formed and con-
sequently least coherent beds, would be the first exposed to the
destructive effects of the waves ; and if the elevation were gra-
dual, successive strata would be subjected to the same agency,
until the chalk-hills were lifted up above the operation of these
denuding causes. The drainage of the elevated portions of the
soft calcareous rock would then commence, and give rise to nu-
merous streams and rills, by which the surface would be worn

78 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

into furrows and channels ; and funnels (sand-pipes) would be
formed by the gyratory action of eddies, or whirlpools, induced
by opposing currents ; effects in every respect analogous to those
observable on the mud-banks of a delta, during the recession of
the tide. The beds of loose, unrolled, and but slightly abraded
flints, the smooth rounded contour of the gently swelling hills
and undulated coombs and valleys of chalk districts, appear to me
to be the natui'al consequences of the phsenomena here contem-
plated.

II. Chalk Flints. — I now proceed to the consideration of the
organic structures, and microscopical fossil bodies, observable in
chalk flints. It was a current opinion with Parkinson, Towns-
end, M. Guettard, and other early observers, that the external
forms of a large proportion of the flint nodules had been derived
from various kinds of sponges and alcyonia, which, while growing
in their native sea, or floating in its waters, had become enve-
loped and saturated by the fluid silex ; and it was also inferred
that these organisms had served as points of attraction for the
siliceous matter, and were in a great measure the cause of the
irregular nodular character, and mode of distribution, of the flints
of the cretaceous formation. The occurrence of minute shells,
corals, and other organic remains in the flints, was adduced as ad-
ditional confirmation of this opinion ; since a similar entangle-
ment of foreign bodies in the hollows and meshes of recent
sponges is constantly observable. My much-valued friend the late
Mr. Parkinson, investigated this subject with his wonted ability
and caution, and many interesting observations on fossil sponges,
illustrated by excellent figures, will be found in the second volume
of the ^ Organic Kemains of a Former World.^ That various
kinds of Porifera or Amorphozoa have formed the nuclei of im-
mense numbers of the flint nodules, will be readily admitted by
all who have paid but a moderate share of attention to the sub-
ject ; and the prevalence of spicula of sponges in chalk and flint,
proves the abundance of these organisms in the cretaceous seas.
The microscopical examination of flint corroborates this inference,
for the brown reticulated tissue, so general in siliceous nodules, is
unquestionably referable to certain kinds of sponges. This fact
Mr. Bowerbank has satisfactorily established in the valuable me-
moir previously cited ; a memoir which presents so admirable an
illustration of the nature of the spongeous structure observable in
chalk flints, and in the agates of Oberstein, and in the green jasper
of India, and such clear and ample directions for the successful
investigation of these organic remains, as to render but few re-
marks on the subject necessary. I will only state that my own
observations confirm those recorded by Mr. Bowerbank in every
essential particular ; namely, in the frequency of the reticulated

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 79

spongeous tissue, and of spicula, in our flints ; in the presence of
polythalamia and infusoria, particularly o{ Xanthidia, in the canals
of sponges, and their frequent suspension throughout the mass
of a siliceous nodule ; as if the spongeous tissue had retained its
form sufficiently long to allow of the silicification of the animal-
cules, and had subsequently perished. At the same time I must
express my conviction, that the facts he so faithfully portrays do
not warrant the hypothesis that all the nodules, veins, dikes, and
sheets of flint, are to be ascribed to the silicification of sponges ;
neither can I admit that the cavities of the shells of echinoderms
and moUusks, now found filled with flint, were previously occu-
pied by sponges. The theory of M. Ehrenberg, that the compact
nodules of flint are the consolidated pulverulent siliceous parti-
cles of infusoria, I conceive to be equally untenable. Nor do the
facts hitherto brought before us seem to warrant the inference,
that the abundance of siliceous spicula in any of the porifera
rendered those bodies more favourable for silicification ; on the
contrary, the soft gelatinous animal matter, as Mr. Bowerbank
has suggested, does appear to have exerted such an influence by
some species of elective affinity or attraction : hence the frequent
silicification of the bodies of mollusks, while the shell retains its
calcareous character, as in the specimen of an oyster figured in
the ' Medals of Creation,' p. 363.

In many of the silicified fossils of the chalk, the minerahzation
is simply that of incrustation and infiltration ; such is the state of
numerous sponges, which are, as it were, invested by the flint, and
have their pores and tubes filled with the same substance ; but the
spongeous tissue is in the condition of a brown friable earthy sub-
stance. In other examples the sponge has been incrusted by a mass
of liquid silex, and its tissue has subsequently perished ; in this
manner have been formed those hollow nodules, which, on being
broken, present a large cavity containing only a little white pow-
der, or some loose fragments of silicified sponge ; while in other
specimens the cavity is hned with quartz and chalcedony, probably
introduced by subsequent infiltration through the nodule. It fre-
quently happens that the zoophyte is only partially invested with
silex, while the other portion is imbedded in the chalk, and is a
friable calcareous substance. The Choanites and Ventriculites are
often found in this condition, and hence the protean forms assumed
by the flints that have been moulded in the cavities of these orga-
nisms. These specimens appear to demonstrate that the organic
bodies became permeated with flint, only when they happened to
be exposed to the current or stream of liquid silex, which pene-
trated such portions of structures, or entered the cavities of such
shells, and echinoderms, as were lying at the bottom of the ocean
over which it flowed, or were immersed in the calcareous detritus

80 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the AnimalcuUtes of the

into which the stream was injected. And there are innumerable
nodules of flint which exhibit no trace of spongeous structure ;
as well as veins, dikes, and sheets of tabular flint, that may be
regarded as pure, and free from organic remains, excepting such
as must necessarily have become entangled and imbedded in a
stream of mineral matter flowing over a sea-bottom.

The shells of moUusks, and the crustaceous cases of echino-
derms, do not occur silicified in the white chalk, but their cavities
are very commonly filled with flint, and these casts are well
known as among the most common fossils of the ploughed lands
of chalk districts. The phosphate of lime, like the carbonate,
seems to have been unfavourable for the phsenomenon of silicifica-
tion. I have seen but two examples of bone imbedded in flint,
and in one of these the silex has merely incrusted the bone ; in the
other, a caudal vertebra of the Mososaurus from Brighton, the
mineral has partially invested the bone and permeated the cells,
but the calcareous tissue remains unchanged. A coprolite of
Macropoma, partially surrounded by flint, retains its calcareous
character ; and the teeth of fishes, although sometimes enveloped
in flint, are not silicified. I had teeth of the Hypsodon, and
Mr. Charlesworth has a portion of a jaw with teeth of the Moso-
saurus from the chalk, in which the pulp-cavities are filled with
flint, which must have permeated the parietes of the teeth, and
yet the calcigerous tubes remain unchanged, and are not filled
with silex; here probably the contents of the pulp-cavity in-
fluenced the pseudomorphism, as in the case of the oyster.

But in other fossils the mineralization pervades the entire or-
ganism, and has been eff*ected by replacement. The original sub-
stance has been removed, and the silex substituted in its place ;
such is the common petrifaction of wood, and of most examples
of the softer zoophytes. The Choanites, which, from their per-
fect silicification, are in such request at Brighton for brooches and
other ornamental purposes, afibrd a good illustration of this
process.

This complete transmutation of organic structures into flint,
quartz, or chalcedony, is very common in other divisions of the
chalk formation. In the well-known fossils of the Devonshire
whetstone, the shells are almost invariably converted into flint
or jasper.

An able American mineralogist, Mr. Dana, suggests* that the
reason why silica is so common a material in the constitution of
fossilized wood and shells, as well as in pseudomorphic crystals,
consists in the ready solution of silex in water at high tempera-
tures under pressure whenever an alkali is present, (as is seen at

* See American Journal of Science for January 1845.

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 81

the present time in many volcanic regions,) and its ready depo-
sition again when the waters cool. A solution of silica, whether
resulting from the deposition of felspar at the ordinary tempe-
rature, or whether proceeding from submarine volcanic action,
will in either case contain other substances. The alkali of the
felspar, potash, or soda, passes off with the liberated sihca ; and
in the latter case, the heated waters, if marine, will include both
soda and magnesian salts. Mr. Dana goes on to show that a
mere heated solution of silica in water, under great pressure, is
sufficient to explain the phsenomenon of silicification of organic
structures. Thus in the strata of white chalk, in which the shells
of mollusca are not silicified, but remain calcareous, the streams
of water holding silex in solution, were probably of a lower tem-
perature than in the case of the Devonshire silicified shells, the
pseudomorphism of which may have been effected by a very hot
solution of silica. " For a crystal of calc-spar in such a fluid,
being exposed to solution from the action of the heated water
alone, the silica deposits itself gradually on a reduction of tempe-
rature, and takes the place of the lime, atom by atom, as soon as
set free. Every silicified fossil is an example of this pseudomor-
phous process ; but there seems to be no union of the silica with
the Uberated lime, since silicate of hme occurs extremely seldom,
if at all, either in the fossils themselves or in the surrounding
rock. There appears to be something in the chemical or electro-
chemical forces excited among the molecules by the process of
solution, which leads the molecules of any body that may be
passing at the time from a liquid state to take the place succes-
sively of each molecule that is removed ; and thus it is that the
form of the original structure, to the minutest character, is so ex-
actly assumed by the substituting mineral. Fluor spar, and even
heavy spar or barytes, although stated to be insoluble, have evi-
dently undergone solution in heated waters, and thus been depo-
sited in cavities and veins of sedimentary limestones that show no
trace of the effects of a higher temperature ; for they are not fused,
nor even rendered crystalline. The agency of hot waters and
vapours in producing changes in rocks and in organic remains
has perhaps scarcely received sufficient attention. When we con-
sider the number of hot springs on the surface of the earth in
regions of modern volcanic action, as well as in others not of this
nature; when we remember the many eruptions of hot water
even from subaerial volcanoes ; and when further we have before
our eyes the wide- spread effects of volcanic action beneath the
sea, — can we refuse to the agency of heat thus conveyed by vapours
- and flowing mineral waters, a large share of the various meta-
morphic changes in the mineral kingdom ; especially if we take
into view the condition of a vast submarine volcanic region in

82 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

full action, with its floods of melted rocks, its opened fissures,
and its fountains of boiling waters and jets of heated vapours ?"
For a full explanation of these views I refer to the original paper
of Mr. Dana in the ' American Journal of Science ^ for January
1845. The elaborate work of Dr. Blum on the Pseudomorphous
Minerals may also be studied with advantage*.

I return from this digression to the consideration of the minute
fossils which are of most frequent occurrence in our flints. The
polythalamian forms are chiefly referable to the genersiRotalia, Ro-
talina and Textilaria ; there are also some kinds of the compound
foraminifera, but these are comparatively rare, and I have not yet
examined them with sufficient attention. In some slices of flint
prepared by Mr. Darker from the Paramoudra of Ireland, polytha-
lamia are very numerous. The shells or cases invariably appear to
be silicified, and the cells of the dead shells to be filled with flint.
By dead shells I mean those in which the animal was dead, and its
soft parts removed and the shell empty, before its immersion in the
silex ; for I can now bring unequivocal evidence to prove, that in
many examples the animal itself must have occupied its shell, and
all its soft parts been entire, at the moment when it became en-
veloped by the siliceous fluid. A specimen figured in the ^ Me-
dals of Creation ' first directed my attention to this interesting
fact ; and several specimens both of Rotalice and Textilarice have
since been discovered, which confirm the opinion I then ventured
to suggest.

In illustration of this highly interesting fact, I select on the
present occasion an atom of flint (scarcely larger than a pin^s
head) discovered by Mr. Lee, in which are imbedded two Rotative,
having the cells filled with a rich amber-coloured substance, that
under a high power presents a granular structure analogous to
that of the body of the recent Rotalia. In these fossils the soft
parts appear to be in the state of molluskite, or they may have
undergone silicification ; the mineral being coloured by the ani-
mal matter. To persons unaccustomed to the microscopical ex-
ploration of objects of this nature, these specimens may seem to
be merely casts of the interior of the shell ; but to the eye well-
instructed in the character of such remains, they will at once be
seen to be entirely dissimilar. I would content myself with re-
ferring to the ' Medals of Creation,^ in proof of the above infer-
ences, did I not know that many of the Fellows of this learned

* The experiments of Mr. JefFrys, published in the Report of the British
Association for 1840, confirm these opinions, and prove that simply by the
agency of heated water and vapour, silex will be dissolved, and be precipi-
tated upon the cooling of the liquid or vapour. In one of these experiments
several pounds of silica were deposited on substances placed within reach of
the current of vapour.

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 83

Society do not read works of so unpretending a character, and
may consider this statement as starthng and unsatisfactory ; I
therefore claim the indulgence of entering upon a few details to
render the above remarks more intelligible.

It must be borne in mind that the case or shell of the Rotalia,
although presenting the general form, and the internal chambered
structure, of the shell of the Nautilus, is essentially different ; for
the whole of the external case is perforated with numerous holes
or foramina (hence the name Foraminifera), designed for the pass-
age of delicate processes called pseudopodia, which are organs of
motion ; and the cells or chambers are dissimilar in form, and still
more so in their office, from those of the Cephalopoda. For while
in the Nautilus the animal occupies only the outer chamber, and
all the posterior compartments are successively-quitted empty
dwellings, in the Rotalia the body distinctly fills up all the single
cells. According to Ehrenberg, the first four cells in the living
animal are occupied by colourless matter ; the hinder ones are
filled with less transparent parts, consisting of two differently co-
loured organs. One of these is the very thick alimentary canal,
which forms, like the whole body, a jointed chain expanded in
each chamber of the shell, and connected by a narrow isthmus
(the sipho ?) with the adjoining anterior and posterior ones.

M. Ehrenberg dissolved the shell of a living polythalamian,
nearly allied to the Rotalia (the Nonionina germanica), by im-
mersion in weak hydi'ochloric acid, and thus exposed the ali-
mentary canal, which was then seen to be a simple organ dis-
tended in the compartments of the body, consequently itself ar-
ticulated with a single anterior aperture ; and various siliceous
infusoria were distinctly perceived in the digestive tube, having
been swallowed by the animal. Beside the alimentary canal,
a yellowish brown or amber-coloured granular mass was percep-
tible in each of the cells, up to the last of the spirals, the first
excepted.

It was the striking resemblance between the specimen first
submitted to my notice, and the figure of the Nonionina deprived
of its shell, as given by Ehrenberg, that led me to suspect the
true nature of the fossils under review j and the exquisite example
which will be placed under the microscope for the inspection of
those present, appears to me to leave no doubt of the coiTcctness
of that opinion. In the same chip of flint there is another and
larger Rotalia, in which the body of the animal also is pre-
served. And now that we are accustomed to the microscopical
appearance of these organisms, we find that the pale yellowish
brown, or amber colour, of many semidiaphanous flints is derived
from the soft parts of Rotalice, Textilarice, and other polythala-
mian animalcules ; in like manner, as I showed in a paper read

B4 Br. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

before this Society (but not published), the dark veins and mark-
ings in the pillars of Purbeck marble in the Temple Church,
are attributable to the remains of the soft bodies of the fresh-
water shells of which that limestone is composed, in the state of
molluskite.

I have stated my conviction that the experienced microscopical
observer will not hesitate to agree with me in the opinion, that
in- the fossils before us we have the mineralized soft bodies of
polythalamia j and I have obtained, through the kindness of
Mr. Williamson of Manchester, a recent object for comparison,
which is perfectly analogous, not to say identical, with the best-
preserved flint specimen. It is the body of a Rotalia from which
the shell is removed, and is associated with other polythalamia,
&c.; it was obtained with numerous other interesting recent or-
ganisms in sediment from the Levant.

Infusoria in Flint : — Xanthidia. — Our flints contain abundance
of several kinds of infusoria ; as for example, various species of
the genera Pyxidicula, Peridinium and Xanthidium. 1 shall re-
strict my remarks to the last-named animalculites, which, from
their elegant forms and good state of preservation, are highly in-
teresting to microscopic observers. The Xanthidia are minute,
globular or spherical bodies (from ^^^o^h to j^^th of an inch in
diameter), beset with tubular processes, which terminate either
in fimbriated or acuminated extremities. They are stated by
Ehrenberg to be siliceous, and to be analogous, and some of the
species identical, with living forms which abound in boggy pools
and ponds. Several of the recent kinds occur in the ponds on
Clapham Common, Hampstead Heath, and other places around
London. These organisms are however considered by the most
eminent botanists not to belong to the animal kingdom, but to
be vegetable structures, related to the Desmidiacece ; and are
defined as plants having " fronds simple, constricted in the mid-
dle ; segments slightly compressed, turgid, reniform or orbicular
and entire ; their surfaces more or less furnished with simple or
branched elongated spines, either scattered over the surface or
confined to the margin, where they are placed in two rows, one
on each side the marginal line*.^^ Ehrenberg, on the other hand,
describes the Xanthidia as animals having spontaneous motion
and increasing by self-division. But I must not dwell on this
important and difiicult question ; the arguments on both sides
are concisely stated in ^ Annals of Nat. Hist.^ March 1845, p. 188,
to which I would refer those who are interested in the subject.
I do not presume to think that my opinion on this problem is
of any value ; but waving the question of the animal or vegetable

* See Mr. Ralfs's paper on the Desmidiac^ee, Ann. Nat. Hist. Jan. 1845.

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 85

nature of these bodies, I may be permitted to state, that a careful
examination of both recent and fossil Xanthidia leads me to doubt
whether there is any analogy whatever between the organisms in
our flints and their supposed living types. The fossil forms have
the body more decidedly spherical or globular, their spines more
strictly tubular and differently arranged ; and they never exhibit
that reniform or constricted character so constant in the recent
Xanthidia, nor do they present any indication of spontaneo.us
fissuration. The fossils are supposed by Ehrenberg to have been
originally siliceous like the shields of other infusoria, but I know
not that any proof has been obtained of this inference. On the
contrary, so many examples occur in which the tubular arms are
bent, contorted, and contracted and shrivelled in the middle,
as to convey the idea of a flexible, rather than of a brittle, un-
yielding substance. A crushed or torn specimen very lately found
by my son, exhibits an appearance much at variance with the
supposition that the original was composed of silex or of any
other material that had a conchoidal fracture. If the Xanthidia
were originally siliceous, there is no reason why they should not
be detected in the chalk itself, since bodies equally minute are
readily discoverable*. If to these arguments be added the a-priori
objection as to the probability that inhabitants of fresh water, of
boggy pools and ponds, should be found swarming in the sponges
and other marine structures of the cretaceous ocean, I think in
the present state of our knowledge it will be proper, notwith-
standing the high authority from which we must differ, to con-
sider the so-called Xanthidia of the chalk as distinct from the
recent organisms after which they have been named ; in fact, as
a genus of marine infusoria, should they not hereafter prove to
be the gemmules of polyparia or the spores of marine plants.

I will conclude this imperfect notice of the flint animalculites,
by stating that several kinds of disciform bodies of great beauty
have recently been detected by Mr. Lee; these appear to be
transverse sections of different species of the foraminifera termed
Nodosaria, or of some allied genus.

III. Tertiary Animalculites. — I now arrive at the last division
of the present inquiry, which will comprise a few remarks on the
occurrence of animalculites in the tertiary strata of Great Britain ;
and of living species and genera of infusoria in the British seas,
analogous to those of the miocene deposits of North America.

The organic constitution of the tertiary marls of Virginia, and
the nature of the fossils of which they are composed, are too well

* Since the above remarks were written, numerous Xanthidia have been
detected in chalk from Dover by Mr. Henry Deane of Clapham; but the ap-
pearance of these specimens, when cleared from the chalk and mounted in
Canada balsam, seems to support the opinion that the originals were flexible
and not siliceous.

86 Dr. G. A. Mantell on the Animalculites of the

known to require particular description. They are almost entirely
made up of the aggregated siliceous cases or skeletons of infusorial
animalcules ; the prevailing forms belonging to the genera Cos-
cinodiscus (sieve-like disc), Actinocyclus (wheel-like disc), Die-
tyocha, Gaillonella, Pyxidicula, and numerous kinds of the family
oi Bacillaria. Figures and descriptions of many of these fossils by
Dr. Bailey will be found in several of the late numbers of the
' American Journal of Science.^ The most remarkable of the si-
liceous shields are the orbicular cases of the Coscinodisci, which,
when entire, consist of a pair of discs, connected at the periphery
by a broad band or ring. The delicate and elegant markings with
which the surfaces of these shields are elaborately sculptured,
render them objects of great beauty and interest. An assemblage
of these tertiary animalculites presents so striking a contrast to
any I have seen from the chalk of England, Asia, or America, that
I am very desirous M. Ehrenberg^s statement as to their preva-
lence in cretaceous strata should be verified by further investi-
gations ; and the more so, as Dr. Bailey mentions that Ehrenberg
referred certain unquestionably miocene American deposits to the
chalk, because they yielded animalculites resembling some he had
obtained from European strata supposed to belong to the Chalk
formation.

I have sought in vain among the tertiary strata of England
for infusorial deposits analogous to those of America. Polytha-
lamia frequently occur in the London clay (as was first made
known by Mr. Wetherell in a valuable paper published in our
Transactions) ; and within the last few weeks several kinds of fo-
raminifera have been obtained from clay brought up in sinking a
well at Clapham, at the depth of 120 feet. But no one has dis-
covered in our tertiary formations a bed, or even seam of earth,
composed of fossil infusoria. In fact, so far as my information
extends, our only rich deposits of this kind are of very recent ori-
gin. Near the banks of the river Bann, in the county of Down,
Ireland, there is a layer of infusorial earth a foot thick, under-
Ipng a bed of peat. Specimens of this earth, with which I have
been favoured by the Countess of Caledon, accompanied with
drawings by her ladyship of the prevailing organisms, show that
the bed consists of an aggregation of the siliceous shields or cases
of numerous kinds of Bacillariay but no traces of Coscinodisci or
other usual American tertiary species occur ; this arises probably
from the Irish deposit being of fluviatile origin*.

* It may be added, that the property of polishing metal, which deposits
of this kind are so well known in Germany to possess, has been discovered
by the Irish ; and as this earth occurs on the estate of Lord Roden at Tul-
leymore, it is locally known as Lord Roden's plate-powder.

Some white earth recently sent from New Zealand as magnesia, proves
to be a fluviatile infusorial deposit like that of Ireland.

Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England. 87

But if I have hitherto been unsuccessful in the microscopical
exploration of our tertiary strata, an unexpected assemblage of the
American miocene forms has been found in the digestive organs of
certain living mollusca. Mr. Lee's discovery of recent Coscino-
disci in the barnacle (announced in the ' Medals of Creation ') has
been followed up by his detection of numerous species and genera
of infusoria in the stomach of the common scallop {Pecten maxi-
mus^) . These recent animalcules present almost all the genera and
some of the species that prevail in the tertiary marls of Virginia;
in particular two very striking and abundant fossils of the Rich-
mond earth, the elegant Coscinodiscus radiatus and the Dictyocha
fibula. So close is the analogy, not only of the individual shields,
but even of their collocation, that it w ould be difficult for an ex-
perienced observer to distinguish slides mounted with the re-
spective organisms, although the one group is from deposits of
unfathomable antiquity, and the other from the British seas.

I have already stated that the modern calcareous deposits of
the Bermuda Islands contain layers of infusorial earth ; these are
made up of organisms resembling those of America and the recent
species found in the scallop.

One more fact in connexion with this subject remains to be
mentioned. Along the shore of the Sussex coast to the east of
Brighton, a bed of sand and calcareous mud, the detritus of
the neighbouring cliffs, is in the progress of formation ; and in
this sedimentary deposit my son, Reginald Neville Mantell, has
discovered shells of recent Rotalia, Nodosaria, and other poly-
thalamia, associated with the siliceous shields of Coscinodisci, Dic-
tyochce, and other infusoria, and with fossil Rot alia and Texti-
laricefrom the chalk. Here then at the present moment a deposit
is in progress, whose organic contents consist of an assemblage
of the living species of the animalcules of the present sea with the
fossil forms of the ancient chalk ocean ; in like manner in the bed
of the Nile, the polythalamia of the Nummulite rock are being
imbedded with the existing mollusca of that river : collocations
of this nature may perhaps exercise the ingenuity of the geolo-
gists of future times, and give rise to speculations of as little
value as some of those with which I have ventured to trespass on
the indulgence of the Society.

In conclusion I would remark, that the preceding observations
are the result of the examination of organisms within the reach
of the best microscopes which modern art has produced; yet
there can be no doubt, that if the powers of our instruments
could be increased, fossil structures yet more minute and far

* See Annals of Nat. Hist. April 1845.

88 M. Sars on an Intestinal Worm in an Acaleph.

more abundant would be detected. And if the naturalist be al-
lowed to assume, that in the existing creation, " within and be-
neath all that minuteness which the aided eye of man is able to
explore, there may be a world of invisible beings ; and that could
we draw aside the mysterious curtain which shrouds them from
our senses, we should behold a theatre of as many wonders as
astronomy can unfold, — a universe within the compass of a point
so small as to elude all the powers of the microscope,^^ — surely
the geologist may be permitted to conclude, that a large propor-
tion of the sedimentary strata, which at present appears to con-
sist of amorphous particles of lime, of flint, and of iron, may be
the aggregated skeletons of beings yet more infinitesimal than
those which have formed the subject of the present communica-
tion.

19 Chester Square, Pimlico, May 1845.

VIII. — On the Occurrence of an Intestinal Worm in an Acaleph,
By M. Sars*.

[With a Plate.]

In Wiegmann^s Archiv,' vol. ii. p. 322, 1841 (Annals, vol. iii.
p. 148), it is stated that a parasitical worm resembling a Filaria
had been discovered by Prof. E. Forbes in a species of Cydippe,
and subsequently (vol. ii. p. 370, 1842), that this parasite, which
attaches itself by means of four suckers to the walls of the stomach
or vessels, had been described by Messrs. Forbes and Goodsir
under the name of Tetrastoma Playfairii. The reporter adds, that
further observation would be of interest, as hitherto no intestinal
worms had been met with in the Medusa.

The reporter had forgotten that the discovery of an intestinal
worm in an Acaleph had been published by me already in the
year 1837. (See Ann. des Sci. Nat. 1837, vol. vii. p. 247.)

It is not to claim any priority as to this discovery, which is a
matter of perfect indifference to science, that I return to this
subject, but merely to communicate the following short notices
written down in 1835, which 1 have hitherto kept back on ac-
count of their imperfect state, in the hope, unfortunately hitherto
delusive, of completing them by further observations.

It was on a gigantic individual of my Mnemia norwegica, five
inches in length, which I caught on the 4th of November 1835,
near the island Floroe,that I observed, within the transparent clear
body, from ten to twelve longish opake white bodies of about a
line in length, which proved, on closer examination, to be intes-

• Translated from Wiegmann's Archiv, 1845, part 1.

^

^

1 ^ .3

w

ft

o imk -c r

V,

n

Ann. kMoi) J^j^yf. VoIie.Pl.IV.

c \<

.T.BA,iir6.1it5i.

M. Sars on an Intestinal Worm in an Acaleph. 89

tinal worms. They were affixed to the internal wall of the
stomach of the Acaleph by one of their extremities, and moved
but slightly and very slowly the rest of their bodies. Carefully
detached from their place of adhesion they became more lively,
and crept about a glass plate, alternately lengthening and short-
ening their body (PI. IV. fig. 1'. of the natural size) . The form of the
body is consequently very variable, being sometimes much elon-
gated, sometimes ribbon-shaped (tig. 1 to 3) ; sometimes shorter
and broader anteriorly, or in the centre (fig. 4), but posteriorly
{b) always acute; further somewhat flattened, so that the two sides
(fig. 1) are broader than the other two (fig. 2). Not a trace of
articulation is visible on the smooth, soft body, which even in the
perfectly contracted state, in which it almost acquires the form of
a pitcher, indicates no perceptible transverse folds.

The anterior extremity of the body («) is circular, and surround-
ed by four suckers, {cc) of oval form, and whose longitudinal axis
coincides with the axis of the animal : each of them is divided
interiorly by a septum into two spaces or cavities, the hindermost
of which is largest, the front one being a little smaller and nar-
rower. By means of these organs the worm attaches itself to the
walls of the ventral cavity of the Acaleph. From between these
suckers projects the conical anterior extremity of the body, at the
apex of which is observed a small circular aperture, which is pro-
bably the mouth. When the worm crawls, the anterior extremity
is sometimes projected (figs. 1. and 4), sometimes retracted within
the suckers (figs. 2, 3.) ; this always takes place alternately, the
entire body expanding and contracting, in which manner the ani-
mal each time advances a little distance.

The worm observed by me may probably be identical with that
which the British naturalists have described as a new genus with
the name Tetrastoma. I have for the time placed it in the ge-
nus Scolex, 0. F. Miiller, with the specific name Acalepharum,

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV. FIGS. 1 to 6.

Fig. 1 '. Two individuals, natural size ; all the other figures are more or less
magnified.

Fig. 1. An individual seen from the broad side, with the anterior extremity
projected.

Fig. 2. The same from one of the narrow sides with retracted anterior ex-
tremity.

Fig. 3. The same slightly, and^^. 4. greatly contracted.

Fig. 5. The anterior portion of the body with the suckers highly magnified.

Fig. 6. An individual pressed flat under the compressorium.

In all these figures, a designates the anterior extremity of the body; h, the

posterior ; c c, the suckers.

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. H

90 Rev. T. Salwey : List of the scarce Lichens found

IX. — A List of the scarcer amongst the Lichens which are found
in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ladlow, with occasional
observations upon some of them. By the Rev. T. Salwey*.

As a study of the Lichens is confessedly one of the greatest
difficulties the botanist has to contend with, and as Sowerby's
' English Botany ' and the ' Lichenographia Britannica ' (so far
as this last extends), the principal works in our language which
give any detailed description of them, are in the hands of few, I
have thought that observations upon some of the least common
of such Lichens as are found in this part of England may be
acceptable to those who are entering upon the study of them.

Having already made some remarks upon the Welsh Lichens
in the 'Annals and Magazine of Nat. History,^ vol. xiii. pp. 25,
260, I have enumerated in the present list such only as I have
met with out of the Principality, and these more particularly such
as are found in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow, so
that the following may be regarded almost as a list amongst the
scarcer of the Lichens of Shropshire, the great majority of the
habitats being such as are confined to this county. The de-
scriptions of the several species in the ' English Flora ^ are much
too concise to enable the student, without occasional help from
some experienced botanist, to make them out. Dr. Taylor in the
* Flora Hibernica ' has given much more ample details of such as
he describes, and has added several new species, some of which
are still to be discovered on this side of the Channel, but his work
necessarily embraces such only as are found in Ireland. It is
much to be regretted that we have as yet no monograph of the
Lichens, and till some one competent to undertake so arduous a
task shall have supplied this desideratum, any occasional obser-
vations upon them may perhaps meet with acceptance at the
hands of those who are desirous of studying this branch of botany.

It is only as a help to such, and not under the presumption
that I am capable of throwing much light upon the subject, that
I have ventured to send to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh
the vfoUowing list of Lichens, with such observations upon some
of them as a long acquaintance with, rather than an accurate
knowledge of them, has led me to form. If my observations
should be the means of removing any difficulties in the way of a
single inquirer into this branch of botany, my end will be fully
answered.

Oswestry, March 28, 1845.

BcEomyces anomalus. Craigforda and Pentregaer in the parish of
Oswestry.

* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, June 12, 1845.

in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow. 91

I retain this name in deference to the authority of my friend Dr.
Taylor, though I confess I am more inclined to consider it as a Lecidea.
Whatever generic name it may properly claim, it certainly ought to
retain the specific one of anomalus ; for a plant which has been de-
scribed by Acharius as a Lecanora, by Hooker as a Verrucaria, and
by Taylor as a Baomyces, evidently occupies so doubtful a place, that
its position can scarcely be considered as thoroughly established. It
is not an uncommon lichen on the Cam])rian rocks. The rock at
Craigforda indeed on which it grows is an indurated sandstone ; but
at Pentregaer it grows on the rocks of the Silurian system. It varies
very much in the colour of the thallus from a dull or yellowish white
to a smoky brawn. The apothecia are immersed in the crust, and do
not appear to me to possess a sufficient stipes to enable it to rank
with Baomyces.

Calicium stigonellum (sessile, Persoon, M. and N. 858). Upon old
oaks at Llanforda, scarce, but profusely upon a single oak in Mid-
dleton-lane, just beyond the Llys House.

This plant and the following one, the turbinatum, have been fre-
quently confounded, though no two plants can be more distinct.
The present is a plant of unfrequent occurrence, growing either upon
the crust of the Porina pertusa, or else upon the rugged bark of old
oaks. On the oak-tree in Middleton-lane it is much more developed
than when growing on the Porina pertusa. The apothecia are per-
fectly sessile, and when cut exhibit rather a thick, white layer im-
mediately underneath the disc, connected at the edges with a lower
one of much less thickness, and containing between these two a
black powdery mass. The disc is covered with a gray bloom, and
has a border of a darker colour, giving it the appearance of a
Lecidea.

C. turbinatum {gelatinatus. With. ; Sphceria sphincterica, Sow.
Fung. 286, M. and N. 366). This is a very common plant, grow-
ing on the crust of the Porina pertusa. The apothecia in this are
polished and pear-shaped, with a depression at the top and a little
dot in the centre of the depression, giving it the appearance of a
Verrucaria or a Sphaeria. I had suspected that it ought to be re-
moved again to the genus Sphceria where Sowerby had placed it, but
upon requesting my friend Mr. Berkeley to examine it, he confirms
the authority of Fries in still retaining it as a Calicium.

C . ferrugineum. Old park pales at the Moor Park and Hay Park
near Ludlow ; not of very common occurrence.

C. chrysocephalum. Park pales at Downton Castle in Hereford-
shire, near the bridge above the Hay Mill. This is one of the scarcest
of this genus ; the bright vivid hue of the crust will not fail however
to arrest the practised eye of the lichenist, should he come within its
reach, so that he will not be likely to overlook it.

C pheBocephalum. Pales of Hay Park near Ludlow, This is a
very distinct species, and cannot possibly be confounded with any
other. The " tumid, crowded and leaf -like appearance of the crust,"
so well described in the ' Lichenographia Britannica,' gives it indeed
very much the appearance of a minute Bceomyces, or a diminutivg

H2

92 Rev. T. Salwey : List of the scarce Lichens found

resemblance of Cenomyce caspititia. The pilidia however are truly
those of a Calicium ; and the dull brownish green hue of the capitu-
lum, surrounded, as it frequently is, by the bright yellow ring of the
sporules bursting from the edge of the disc, give the plant a very
distinct and peculiar appearance. It is of very unfrequent occur-
rence.

Calicium sphcerocephalum. Probably common upon the old decaying
timber of barns, &c., but overlooked from its minuteness, the crust
appearing to be scarcely more than a stain upon the wood of a bluish
gray colour, in which the young apothecia before they are fully de-
veloped appear to the naked eye like immersed black dots.

C. furfur aceum. Dry banks about Oswestry; on the bank be-
tween the pool and the common at the Lodge near Ludlow.

This is not a plant of general occurrence. The bright pale lemon
colour of the whole plant readily points it out. It is quite dissimilar
in habit and place of growth from the rest of the Calicia, and has
been removed by Dr. Taylor to Bceomyces.

Opegrapha saxatilis. Sandstone rocks, Craigforda.
0. dendritica. On the smooth bark of trees, but not common.
Verrucaria gemmifera. Craigforda.

This plant arrests the eye by presenting the appearance of a ver-
digris or bluish gray stain upon the rock : the apothecia are very
minute.

V. gemmata. Upon the bark of old ash-trees, Pentregaer, &c.

This is the largest of the Verrucariee, and not uncommon upon the

bark of old ash -trees, where the size of the apothecia contrasting

with the white ground of the bark, give it a conspicuous appearance.

V, rupestris. Common upon the limestone rocks at Oswestry,

upon the Moelydd, and at Pentregaer.

V. immersa. In the same habitats as the former and at Craig-
forda, but less common. The smaller size both of the apothecia and
of the cavities in which they are immersed, its gray crust as opposed
to the white one of rupestris, and a certain peculiar neatness in the
appearance of the whole plant, distinguish it from the former.
V. IdEvata. Upon stones in the Morda Brook under Craigforda.
V. epipolcea. Limestone rocks on the Moelydd and at Pentregaer.
This is a very handsome and conspicuous species ; the crust is
often suffused with a pale rose-colour, which, contrasting with the
bluish colour of the apothecia, gives this plant a very beautiful ap-
pearance.

V. acrotella, Craig-y-Rhu : scarce.

V. epigcea. Hay Coppice, Herefordshire. Perhaps not uncommon
in a barren state, when it may be overlooked as a young state of
some Conferva or Vaucheria.

V. Hookeri. Mynydd-y-Myfyr : very scarce.
Endocarpon miniatum. Limestone rocks, Oswestry; Wickliff rocks,
Ludlow, and Downton Castle.

E. Hedwigii. On the top of the wall opposite the house at the
Moor Park near Ludlow, and other similar situations.

E. late-virens. In fruit on Mynydd-y-Myfyr in the parish of

in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow. 93

Oswestry. Common on the Welsh mountains, but scarce with us.
The apothecia are immersed, but protrude in an oblique direction
from the thallus ; small, and of a dull opake black colour.

Endocarpon rufo -vires cens. Craigforda and Mynydd-y-Myfyr.
Common in Wales, but of more rare occurrence with us.

Lepraria chlor'ina. Craig-y-Rhu.

L. lolithus. Craig-y-Khu.

Variolaria glohulifera. Upon old ash-trees at Craig-y-Rhu.

V. conspurcata. Limestone rocks, Pentregaer.

Lecidea fusco-atra. Craigforda and Pentregaer. This minute
Lecidea, with its finely radiating thallus, presents a beautiful appear-
ance on the surface of quartz or chert.

L.fumosa. Moelydd and Craig-y-Rhu. The crust forms brown
smoky mtches upon the rocks. It is probably not uncommon.

L. p&trma. In great abundance and perfection upon the mud-
stones of the Silurian system about Ludlow, and common also about
Oswestry. My reason for noticing this common lichen is because
there is some resemblance to the naked eye between this and lapi-
cida, and experienced botanists have I believe proposed to unite them ;
but the crust of lapicida is smoother, more polished, harder, and
more cream-coloured. The apothecia too are more sunk in the crust
in lapicida. In petraa they are often surrounded by a whitish border
formed of the crust, giving the plant the appearance of a Lecanora ;
in a more advanced stage they have an urceolate appearance, the
border being raised and inflexed ; and the under side of this being
white, the plant still retains somewhat of the appearance of a Leca^
nora. The concentric arrangement of the apothecia is usually very
strongly marked, so that the name of Davies and Dickson {concen-
trica) ought I think to be restored to it instead of that of petrcea,
to which it has no more title than many others which are equally
confined to rocks, and which, in fact, expresses nothing peculiar to
the plant itself. The petrcea grows upon soft rocks. I only know
lapicida as growing upon the hard slaty rocks of the Cambrian sy-
stem, where it is by no means a common lichen.

L, prominula. A minute and obscure lichen, varying however
much in the size of its apothecia. The var. lygcea of Ach. has been
sent to me by Mr. Leighton from Haughmond Hill.

L. anomala. Acharius characterizes this species as " polymorpha,
nam apothecia, quoad formam et colorem eximie variant ;" we have
what I believe to be one of the varieties of this polymorphous species
growing upon some elm-trees at the Lodge near Ludlow. The crust
is very thin, smooth, polished, and of a pale whitish colour. The
apothecia conspicuous, variable in size, and of a brownish black
colour.

L. elcBochroma and parasema. These lichens have been well di-
stinguished in the v;ork of Mougeot and Nestler, ' Stirpes Crypto-
gamee Vogeso-Rheuanse,' and by Dr. Taylor in the * Fl. Hib.' The
crust oi parasema is frequently almost white ; the apothecia scattered
irregularly about the disc, and larger than in elceochroma. In this
last the crust is always greenish and granulated, the apothecia

94 Rev. T. Salwey : List of the scarce Lichens found

smaller, and usually crowded together in a circular group in the
centre of the thallus. The elceochroma is by far the most common
species; th^ parasema indeed is of rather rare occurrence.

Lecidea dubia. Upon barns at Overton and Maryknowle, and at
Little Leinthall near Ludlovsr. It is not a common lichen with us.

L. Griffithsii. Upon old oaks in the Hay Coppice, Herefordshire.
We have what is perhaps a variety of this growing upon the scales
of some old spruce fir-trees at the Lodge near Ludlow. The apo-
thecia are larger and more convex than in the usual state of Griffithsii,
and more variable in colour, varying from a pale fawn to a deep
claret colour. Mr. Borrer, to whom I sent a specimen, said it much
resembled one he had received from Acharius as his Lecanora hy-
popta,

L. aromatica. Upon the mortar in an old wall in Llanfor;^a-lane :
scarce.

This plant has been considered as a state of caruleo-nigricans or
vesicularis. If it be so, I see no reason why it should not grow to
the same size, and assume the same habit in every respect as vesicu-
laris. The vesicularis grows with us on limestone ; the aromatica
on mortar : what should prevent the latter, if the same plant as the
former, from attaining the same size as the former, seeing they both
have a calcareous base ?

L. sanguinaria. Upon the pales of the Hay Park, Herefordshire,
and upon the pales below the Ambry at Croft Castle> Herefordshire.

L, muscorum. Pentregaer.

L. scabrosa. An obscure lichen, and probably not uncommon.
Upon a wall in Weston-lane, Oswestry, and at Craig-y-Rhu.

L. Lightfootii. Birch-trees, Llanforda : scarce.

L. incompta. Upon an old wych-elm at the Hayes near Oswestry,
and upon an old maple-tree upon the High Vawr. An inconspi-
cuous lichen and of rare occurrence.

L. quernea. Old oaks, Oswestry, and at the Lodge near Ludlow,
and in the Hay Coppice. A very handsome lichen when in per-
fection.

L. aeruginosa. Old gates and posts, Oswestry : not common.

L. quadricolor. Craigforda and Mynydd-y-Myfyr. These and
the Cyrn Moelfre in the adjoining parish of Llansilin are the only
habitats I have for this plant.

L. Pineti. Wood above the house at Llanforda, on the scales of
fir-trees. This is a very rare lichen with us, the habitat here given
being the only one I know. It grows principally on the base of the
stem just above the roots. The pale yellow apothecia present to the
naked eye nothing but minute specks on the thin green crust of the
thallus.

L. cornea. Upon oak-trees in the Hay Coppice, Herefordshire,
and about the Lodge near Ludlow.

L. marmorea. This occurs with us upon the roots of old thorn-
trees growing in the crevices of the rock, as well as upon the rock
itself. It seems to be almost wholly without crust, the shields thus
presenting the appearance of minute Pezizce. Fries, who makes this

in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow. 95

plant hia Gyalecta cupularis, makes the Gyalecta Wahlenbergiana of
Ach. * Syn.' his var. /S. of this plant. Now, if what I regard as the
Gyalecta Wahlenbergiana of Ach. be indeed that plant, I cannot but
confess my surprise at its being united with marmorea. The two
plants appear to me " toto coelo distinctse." I first discovered the
Gyalecta Wahlenbergiana about twenty years ago upon the rocks at
Craig-y-Rhu in this parish, but the habitat there is now lost. I did
not find it again till the year 1840 upon the WickliflF Rocks at Lud-
low, where it still grows, investing decayed mosses. This plant
forms a continuous crust of a pale yellowish colour, and of a sub-
stance somewhat between leprous and waxy. The apothecia, which
are numerous, appear to be of exactly the same substance as the
crust, and are of an urceolate form, having the disc either of a pale
yellow, or in some instances of a diluted greenish colour. The
border, which is inflexed, is granulated. The apothecia are far more
fragile and tender than in marmorea. The plant resembles much,
upon a very minute scale, the beginning of a honeycomb. Wahlen-
berg's description of his plant, " substantia mollis et subgelatinosa,"
and its habitat, " in locis obscuris supra muscos putridos," agree ac-
curately with our plant, which indeed I can have no doubt is the
same as his, and I cannot reconcile myself to its being united with
marmorea.

Lecidea lutea. Upon a single tree at Llanforda, now cut down.

L. polytropa. Mynydd-y-Myfyr. This is the only English ha-
bitat I at present know for this plant.

L. lucida. Upon sandstone walls about Oswestry, in fruit, but
seldom found in this state.

L. desert arum. Dr. Taylor, to whom I sent this plant, seems in-
clined to refer it to cceruleo-nigricans. Mr. Borrer regards it as the
desertorum of Acharius. I cannot but regard it as distinct both
from cceruleo-nigricans and from Lecidea coronata, and also from
quadricolor, with which Ach. unites it. It grows upon the lime-
stone rocks here with cderuleo-nigricans, but is much scarcer. It
diflfers from this in having the crust more continuous, and in the
scales of this being far smaller and flatter, and having to the naked
eye somewhat of a filmy appearance. The shields also have not the
bluish colour of those of cceruleo-nigricans, nor are they smooth like
these, but are of a deep black colour, and appear rough under the
lens. In quadricolor again the shields are always some shade either
of brown, yellow, or red, and the crust not scaly, but granulated.
The quadricolor too grows upon the earth in heathy situations ; the
desertorum upon limestone. In coronata again the crust is a conge-
ries of minute bluish granules which form also the border of the
apothecia, which are of a reddish brown colour. Fries makes quadri-
color and desertorum the varieties a. and /3. of his Lecidea decolorans.

L. canescens. In fruit upon an old oak at Whittington : common
upon old oaks, but usually barren.

L. cceruleo-nigricans. Limestone rocks at Pentregaer, Craig-y-Rhu,
and on the Moelydd.

L. scalaris. Pales of the Hay Park near Ludlow : scarce.

96 Rev. T. Salwey : List of the scarce Lichens found

Lecanora periclea. This is an obscure and by no means a com-
mon lichen. It grows with us occasionally upon old oak- and ash-
trees ; upon an ash-tree in a field south of Treflach-lane, about a
quarter of a mile from Croeswilin.

L, squamulosa. On the Moelydd, and upon the rocks at Pentre-
gaer.

L. glaucocarpa. Craig-y-Rhu, but barren. The crust of this
plant consists of a number of thick, smooth, hard scales, here and
there collected together, but more usually scattered, wavy, and
rounded in the centre ; in colour varying from a glaucous to a dark
brown in an old state, and the younger ones white at the edges. It
grows upon the perpendicular face of a limestone rock.

L. rubra. This is a very beautiful lichen and of rare occurrence.
The only two habitats I know for it are upon the walls of Wigmore
Castle in Herefordshire, and at Craig-y-Rhu in the parish of Oswes-
try. In both habitats the plant grows upon patches of decayed
Hypna hanging loose from the stone.

L. hcematomma. Craigforda, Craig-y-Rhu, &c.

Parmelia glomulifera. Upon a wych-elm at Llanforda. There is
only a single plant of this upon the tree in question, and it is at pre-
sent the only English habitat I know for it. I have watched this
plant for upwards of twenty years, and cannot perceive that it has
either increased or decreased. It has glomeruli, but no apothecia ;
many of the Parmelice certainly seem to propagate themselves by
buds or gonidia without apothecia. The shields of scortea and of /a-
nuginosa are I believe yet a desideratum in English botany, and those
oi proboscidea, perlata, Borreri and others are very rare, even where
the plant itself is not uncommon. I cannot but suspect from the
above instance, that the apothecium is at all events the only mode
by which this particular species is propagated. Dr. Taylor considers
the glomeruli of the present plant as the only distinction between
this and herbacea. I confess I cannot be of this opinion. Even Fries,
so prone as he is to diminish species, though he removes both of
these to the genus Sticta, and in which I think they may well be
placed, still keeps them distinct. Dr. Taylor also considers that they
would rank as well with the Stictce as with the Parmelice. Both of
them grow in great profusion in the wooded parts of Wales, often
upon the same trees ; but whether in a wet or dry state, they equally
strike the eye as being distinct ; but most so in a dry state, the smoky
white colour of the thallus of the glomulifera contrasting with the
brownish green of that of herbacea. It is also thicker and more
leathery, and not so much wrinkled.

P. herbacea. Upon an old vv^ch-elm on Bringewood Hill, oppo-
site Downton Castle, in Herefordshire.

P. caperata. Craigforda and other places about Oswestry, but not
common, and usually barren.

P. conspersa. Craigforda: not common. The var. stenophylla oi
Ach. grows upon the sandstone rocks there.

P. Borreri. Woodhill and Porkington, but with us always barren ;
this plant is scarce with us.

in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow. 97

Parmelia aquila. Upon the north side of a small mass of sandstone
rock on the southern slope of Mynydd-y-Myfyr. This may almost be
called a maritime plant, being so commonly and abundantly found
on maritime rocks, and scarcely met with elsewhere. The late Sir
J. E. Smith told me however that he had met with this plant at
Stonehenge, which is about thirty miles from the sea, in a direct
line ; we are about forty- five. In the great storm however of January
6th, a few years ago, our windows even at this distance from the
sea were copiously incrusted with sea-salt, so that the seeds of a
maritime lichen would be readily carried to us. The plants in
question do not spread upon the adjoining stones, and which is
perhaps singular, they occupy the face of the rock from the sea ;
upon the coast, as far as I have observed, they always face the sea.

P. aleurites. Not uncommon upon old pales : Hay Park near
Ludlow, and Oteley Park near EUesmere.

P. amhigua. In similar situations to the last, but very scarce in
fruit ; upon an old gate at Pentregaer.

P. physodes. Very finely in fruit upon the pales of the Hay Park
and about the Moor Park near Ludlow.

P. plumbea. Upon ash-trees at Craig-y-Rhu, but barren.

P. crassa. Limestone rocks, Oswestry.

P. hypnorum {Lecanora). Hay Coppice, Herefordshire : scarce.

P. erosa. Upon the elm-trees in the walks at Ludlow Castle on
the west side.

P. casia. Not uncommon, but usually barren. I have found it
in fruit on the Moelydd.

Sticta scrobiculata. Hay Coppice, about the roots of old oaks in
fruit.

S. limhata. Hay Coppice, on hazels.

S. pulmonaria. Ditto, and at Oswestry : not uncommon.

S. sylvatica. A single plant only of this has grown for many years
upon a mass of rock in the Hay Coppice.

Collema fragrans . On trees at Llanforda and Pentregaer, but not
common. It clothed nearly the whole inside of an old pollard- ash
(now cut down), one half of which had been torn away, and the
other half exposed to the weather. I could never detect any pecu-
liar scent about it to entitle it to its specific name.

C. ceranoides. Upon a wall near the garden at Llanforda.

C. multipartitum. This is a beautiful plant, radiating from a
centre upon flat masses of the limestone rock, the rounded appear-
ance of the narrow segments of the thallus giving it an appearance
as if made of minute cord ; the centre soon decays, so that what is
usually found of the plant are simply detached broad arcs of a circle.
It grows both on the Moelydd and at Pentregaer.

C. marginale. Pentregaer.

C. tunaforme. Ditto : scarce. Mr. Borrer considers this to be
the same as dermatinum.
C. granulatum. ~\
C. dermatinum. > Pentregaer.
C. sinuatum. J

98 Rev. T. Salwey -.List of the scarce Lichens found

Collema velutinum, Ach. Upon ash-trees at Craig-y-Rhu. Dr. Tay-
lor refers this to nigrum.

Solorina saccata. Wickliif Rocks, Ludlow : scarce. '

Peltidea venosa. Ditto. Ditto.

P. scutata. On trees at Pentregaer, in fruit.

P. horizontalis. Wickliff Rocks, Ludlow, Craigforda, &c.

P. aphthosa. Craigforda, and woods at Downton Castle, Here-
fordshire.

P. spuria. Dry banks at Oswestry, but very scarce. I do not
regard this as the same with venosa. If not a distinct species, I
should consider it with Fries a state of canina. Though about the
same size as venosa, the spuria is distinguished from it by not having
the thick dark-coloured veins underneath which that plant has, and
by the apothecia being smaller and narrower. In venosa they are of
a roundish shape and flat, something like those of horizontalis, but
of a dark colour like those of scutata. There is a Peltidea I have
occasionally met with, which I believe is regarded, if it has been no-
ticed at all, as the young state of canina ; it is however of much less
frequent occurrence than the canina, whilst the great difference in
habit and appearance inclines me to believe it to be a distinct one.
It is of an extremely thin and delicate texture, of a light bluish co-
lour, and grows in an imbricated manner, forming cushion- shaped
plants upon dry bare banks. The segments of the thallus are cir-
cular and inflexed, and the surface is copiously sprinkled by white
soft soredise. It has much the habit and appearance of Sticta lim.'
bata. Though I would not undertake to affirm that it is not the
young state of canina, I am inclined to think it is not. I am satis-
fied that a most patient and long-continued examination of parti-
cular plants in the same locality is required to enable us to clear up
many difficulties whicii make the study of the Lichens so perplexing.

P. polydactyla. This is not so common as either rufescens or ca-
nina. I never saw it growing in such perfection as upon some
heaps of burnt turf upon a common which had been left for two or
three years before they were spread. I mention this because lichens
are generally considered to be, and certainly are usually, of very slow
growth, and yet here, where the turf on which they were growing
had undergone the action of fire, the plants were of a larger size
than usual, grew in the greatest profusion, and were copiously
fringed with apothecia. Now even admitting that the original ve-
getation upon these heaps had not been destroyed by the fire, but
that the plants in question escaped, still their unusual growth and
luxuriance were unquestionably influenced by the alteration the soil
had undergone. It has been suppposed however that lichens de-
rive their nourishment only through the media of air and light :
" Typicus lichenum omnium proventus est in acre et luce," says
Fries. I cannot but think however that in the instance now men-
tioned, the rapid growth and luxuriance of the plants must have
arisen from their deriving some nourishment through their roots, if
the fibres attaching the thallus to the soil may be so considered. I
have seen frequently an analogous case in the Hepatica, the old beds

in the neighbourhood of Oswestry and Ludlow. 99

where charcoal has been burnt in our woods being often carpeted
over for many square feet with a luxuriant growth of Marchantia
polymorpha. In both these instances, the carbonized soil has un-
questionably exerted an influence upon the development of the plants.
Liebig, in his ' Organic Chemistry,' p. 62, remarks upon the effects
of charcoal in promoting the vegetation of plants, and attributes the
effect to the charcoal supplying the roots of plants with an atmo-
sphere of constantly renewed carbonic acid and air. I cannot but
think that the two instances I have now adduced tend to show that
it was through the fibres underneath the thallus that the carbonic
acid reached the plants in question and affected their growth, and
therefore that these fibres do in some degree supply the place of
roots in conveying nourishment from the soil.

Nephroma resupinata. Upon rocks in woody situations ; Craigforda,
Craig-y-Rhu, &c.

N, parilis. In one instance in fruit at Craig-y-Rhu.

Gyrophora polyphylla. Mynydd-y-Myfyr : very scarce with us and
in a dwarfish state.

Umbilicaria pustulata. Nesscliff, growing very finely upon the
red sandstone rocks at that place.

Cetraria sepincola. Upon some old park pales at Oteley Park near
the water.

C. glauca. Craigforda.

Borrerafurfuracea. Mynydd-y-Myfyr, and pales of the Hay Park,
Herefordshire, near Ludlow.

Ramalina pollinaria. Dorrington : not uncommon upon old barn
doors ; grows also upon some elm-trees at the Lodge near Ludlow.

Alectoria jubuta. Not common with us.

Cornicularia aculeata. Craigforda.

Isidium coccodes. Old oaks, Oswestry.

/. microsticticum. Rocks, Pentregaer.

/. corallinum. Craigforda, &c.

Spheerophoron coralloides and compressum. Ditto, and Mynydd-y-
Myfyr.

Stereocaulon denudatum. Clee Hill and Mynydd-y-Myfyr, &c.

S. nanum. Upon walls at Sweeney.

Cenomyce ccespititia. Craigforda : scarce. I have received it also
from Mr. Leighton, I think from Haughmond Hill.

C. sparassa. Hay Coppice, Herefordshire.

C. deformis. Ditto.

C. bellidifiora. A barren state of this grows at Craigforda.

Pycnothelia papillaria. Barren : Craigforda. This is very scarce
with us. I never met with it in such perfection as upon the com-
mon immediately above the house at Llandrindod Wells in Radnor-
shire.

Addendum to the List of Welsh Lichens.

Parmelia stygia. Llandegley Rocks, Radnorshire, upon the end
of the range next to the village, and upon the side facing the east,
Sept. 1844.

100 Prof. Owen on the genus Mylodon.

X. — Reply to some Observations of Prof. Wagner on the genus
Mylodon. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.
Gentlemen,
In the very excellent report on Mammalogy, in 1842, by Prof.
A. Wagner, whicli forms part of the first valuable volume just
published by the Ray Society, there occur two criticisms, to which
satisfactory replies were given soon after they appeared, but which,
being reproduced in an English translation, without comment,
might mislead the zoological student on the points to which those
criticisms refer.

The first (p. 60) relates to the genus Mylodon, and Prof. Wagner
cites the late lamented and talented naturalist Dr. Harlan as
having " proposed, in 1835, the name Aulaxodon or Pleurodon
for Mylodon -/^ adding, " the latter of these two is evidently better
than Mylodon, which signifies nothing else than grinder. ^^ I
have shown in a letter, which the editors of the * American
Journal of Science ^ did me the honour to insert in the 44th vol.
(January — March 1 843) of their most useful periodical, that the
fossil remains to which Dr. Harlan proposed to attach the names
Aulaxodon or Pleurodon belong to an entirely distinct genus from
the Mylodon, and that Dr. Harlan himself recognised the di-
stinction, when remains of a true Mylodon were first presented to
him, and accordingly proposed, in ignorance of my previous de-
termination of the genus, to call the extinct animal to which those
remains belonged ^ Orycterotherium missouriense.'

This species, also noticed as new in Prof. Wagner's Report
(p. 60), is synonymous with my Mylodon Harlani, first described
in the ' Fossil Mammalia of the Voyage of the Beagle,^ 4to, part 3,
1839, and afterwards with further details derived from examina-
tion of the very Missouri specimens on which Harlan had founded
his genus ' Orycterotherium ' in my memoir on the Mylodon ro-
bustus (4to, 1842).

With regard to Harlan's Aulaxodon or Pleurodon, that genus
is much more closely allied to Megalonyx, if it be really distinct
from Cuvier's genus.

And now a word for Mylodon as a name, admitting the genus
to be a reality in nature. It is true that ^vKt], mola, ohov^, dens,
implies merely a beast having molar teeth only, and no canines
or incisors ; and that this character is equally applicable to other
genera of Megatherioids. But the same objection might be urged
against Megalonyx {fiiya^, magnus, ovv^, unguis), the species of
which genus had not longer or larger claws than those of My-
lodon or Megatherium. All the Megatherioids were remarkable
for the enormous bulk and strength of their hind legs, and See-

Prof. Owen on the genus Mylodon. 101

lidotherium {(TK€\h, femur, 67]pLov, hellua,) manifests but a slight
exaggeration of this character in its fossil thigh-bones. Nor can
any of the known Megatherioids be termed other than gi'eat
beasts, although the Megatherium proper best merits that deno-
mination. In selecting, therefore, the term Mylodon for an ad-
ditional genus to this extinct race, I had in view a principle of the
nomenclature of the Megatherioid genera by which all the cha-
racteristic peculiarities of the family are readily fixed in the
memory.

The second remark oq which I beg to advert bears upon an
anatomical point, but one which I believe to be of high import-
ance. Dr. Wagner (p. 38), referring to Prof. Mayer's valuable
remarks on the Anatomy of the MarsupiaUa, specifies those of
the brain, in which, in opposition to Owen, he recognises convo-
lutions and a ' corpus callosum,' p. 38. I need only refer to my
paper in the 'Philos. Transactions,' 1837, where the cerebral
convolutions in the kangaroo and wombat are specially de-
scribed, in order to demonstrate the want of a concomitant deve-
lopment of the ' corpus callosum ' in those animals.

The great transverse band or commissure which unites the two
hemispheres, spanning from one to the other above the lateral
ventricles, — which is plainly visible, as such, in the lowest Rodent
or other Placental Mammal, with the smoothest, and, to outward
appearance, simplest brain, — this great commissure or corpus
callosum, I again affirm, after reiterated dissections, to be absent
in all the known genera of Marsupials. If the narrow transverse
band, which unites together the hippocampi majores, at the front
part of the fornix, be regarded, as I originally stated it might be,
a rudiment of the ^ corpus callosum,' the comparative anatomist
is at liberty to apply that name to it. But, in point of fact, a
great hiatus exists between the condition of the cerebral com-
missures in the Implacental and that condition which we find in
the lowest of the Placental Mammalia. The transitional struc-
tures by which M. de Blainville traces a progressive deterioration
of the commissural apparatus from Bats and Rodents to Marsu-
pials I have not yet met with, and they seem to have equally
escaped the observation of the able editors (Fred. Cuvier and
Laurillard) of the posthumous edition of Cuvier's ^Le5ons d'Anat.
Comparee,' 8vo, tom. iii. 1845, who have subjoined the following
note to the text of the great master : — " Le corps calleux semble-
rait etre en rapport de developpement avec le corps strie, si Pon
constatait dans d'autres animaux ce que montre dejk le cerveau
du dauphin, qui a des hemispheres volumineux, un corps calleux
proportionnellement petit et peu epais, et un corps strie tres me-
diocre. Mais il y a, dans les Marsupiaux, une disposition re-
marquable de Pappareil de commissure forme par la voute (fornix)

103 Mr. H. M. Drummond : List of Birds found

et le corps calleux (corpus callosum). Get appareil y est reduit
k ce point, que Pon a pu dire avec quelque verite que le corps
calleux n^existe pas." The editors then give a detailed account
of a dissection of the brain of a kangaroo, confirmatory in all re-
spects of my own, and they rightly remark : " Cette disparition
presque totale du corps calleux ne se lie pas k un developpement
moindre du cerveau. Les hemispheres sont, avec la masse totale
de Pencephale, dans leurs rapports ordinaires, et rien au premier
aspect ne ferait soup9onner la disposition de la voute." They add,
probably in reference to Prof. Mayer's statement : " L'observa-
tion de M. Owen sur cette disposition du cerveau des Marsupiaux
a ete repoussee k tort comme erronee. II ne nie pas Fexistence
du corps calleux dans les Marsupiaux : il declare formellement
qu'on pent voir, si on le veut, dans ce qui reste de la commissure,
le rudiment d'un corps calleux ; mais il releve avec raison Fab-
sence dans les Marsupiaux d'un corps calleux comparable k celui
des autres Mammiferes." — Loc. cit. pp. 101, 102.

The interest which you have always shown in the maintenance
as well as the discovery of truths in natural history, has induced
me to beg permission to trespass thus far on your valuable space.
I have the honour to be. Gentlemen,

Your obedient servant,
London, July I8th, 1845. RlCHARD OwEN.

XI. — List of Birds found in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta,
from observations made during a month's visit from April 2\st
to May 2lst 1845. By H. M. Drummond, 42nd R. H.

The following list of a few of the birds frequenting the N. coast
of Africa, as well as a former one of the birds of Crete (vide Ann.
Nat. Hist. vol. xii. p. 423), I have been enabled to draw up
through the kindness of Capt. Graves, H.M.S. Beacon, in in-
viting me to accompany him to the above-mentioned places, to
whom also I am greatly indebted for the facilities he afforded me
in accompanying the boats on an expedition up the lakes of
Biserta. This list however is necessarily imperfect, owing to the
shortness of my visit, as well as from the passage of the migra-
tory birds being nearly terminated at the time of my arrival.
The whole of these birds are found in the vicinity of the Biserta
lakes, with the exception of the Pterocles arenarius, P. setarius,
and Otis houbara.

The lakes of Biserta are about 40 miles to the westward of
Tunis j it was said that they are much more extensive than is
really the case, and also that a communication for shipping could
easily be opened, rendering the lower lake one of the finest har-

in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta. 103

bours in the Mediterranean. That however is out of the question,
the channel being so shallow and filled up with sand, that it
would be a Herculean task to clear it out, and when done, pro-
bably the very first north-easter would fill it up again. The lake,
the entrance of which is about a mile from the sea, is a beautiful
sheet of water about 20 miles in circumference, and from 3 to 7
fathoms deep. It swarms with various kinds of fish ; an exten-
sive weir reaches across the mouth, and the fisheries are very
valuable. Benayed, a wealthy Moor, who is the present pro-
prietor, assured us that he pays an annual rent to the Bey of
Tunis of nearly 3300/. sterling. The surrounding country is most
beautiful ; it abounds with game, chiefly boars, partridges, hares
and wildfowl, and is clothed down to the water's edge with olive-
trees and corn-fields. This is I believe the richest district in the
regency ; I could have fancied myself in one of the most beautiful
parts of England, and the climate is delightful. The upper lake
is freshwater, and nearly as large as the salt one, but only 6 or
7 feet deep. On the upper part is a deep and extensive marsh,
out of which Gibel Tschar rises almost perpendicularly to the
height of 2000 feet and upwards. This lake also swarms with fish,
chiefly large barbel of 10 lbs. weight, gray mullet [Mugil Chilo,
Cuv.), basse [Lahrax Lupus^ Cuv.), spotted shad [Alosa Finta)
and eels. The lakes are connected by a river winding through
a rich plain about two miles in extent, more or less cultivated
according to the encroachments made by the floods in winter.
From the great variety of country, consisting of hill, plain, and
undulating ground, olive-groves, thick brushwood, corn-fields,
marsh, and rich pastures, it is a very general resort of the
feathered tribes, as will be seen from the following list.

Vultur fulvus . 1 Seen in great numbers on Gibel Tschar,

Cathartes percnopterus . J at the head of the upper lake of Biserta :
they probably breed there.

Falco tinnunculus. A few seen : breed on the cliffs at Cape
Carthage.

F. tinnunculdides. 1 These birds do not appear to remain, as only a

F. rufipes. J few were seen on my first arrival.

F. Bonelli*.

F. brachydactylus^.

F. haliaetus. Common on the lakes of Tunis and Biserta at the
fisheries.

F. alhicilla. A few seen in the marshes round the lakes of Biserta.

F. ater *.

F. cyaneus. One or two only.

F, rufus. Found in the marshes : not very common.

* These birds I understand are not uncommon, none however were seen,
but having obtained some well-preserved skins of all three species that were
shot near Tunis last winter, it is perhaps as well to mention them.

104 Mr. H. M. Drunimond : List of Birds found

Strix noctua. This is the same species given in a former list of the
birds of Corfu under the denomination of 8. passerina : they are
common in the olive-groves about Biserta, and on the approach of
any one seem easily disturbed, as I constantly savv^ them ifiitting from
tree to tree ; probably this may be only during the passage.

S. brachyotus. A few seen at the ruins of Carthage 21st of May,
none afterwards.

Corvus Cor ax. A pair only of these birds were seen : they breed
on the cliffs at Cape Carthage.

Coracias garrula. 1 Common, though none of the nests of these

Oriolus Galbula. j birds were found ; they probably breed in
this part of the country, as they were always seen in pairs.

Sturnus unicolor. This is the common starling of the country,
and seems (at least at this season of the year) quite to have sup-
planted the iS^. vulgaris, which I understand is also found, but pro-
bably only in the winter ; their habits as also their song, or rather the
chattering and long plaintive whistle of the cock-bird, are precisely
the same ; they are very common, especially in the neighbourhood
of Biserta ; they build on houses as well as in trees, and are also
found in small flocks on the muddy parts of the shores of the lakes,
in company with stints and ring dottrels, feeding on the larvae of
small marine insects.

Lanius excubitor. One was shot near Tunis ; it is I suspect very
rare, as I have only known of one instance of its being shot at Malta,
and have never met with it in the Ionian Islands or Levant.

L. minor. Only one seen, probably owing to the passage being
nearly over.

L. cucullatus. I obtained a beautiful specimen of this rare bird
(at least in Europe) through the kindness of Sir Thomas Reade,
H.B.M. Consul General ; it was shot last December along with se-
veral others ; they are never seen near the coast, but chiefly frequent
the thick brushwood on the sides of the mountains, about twenty
miles in the interior, where they are not uncommon.

L. Collurio *. One individual only : probably rare, as they have
never been found in Malta, and are very rare in Corfu.

L. rutilvs. Most numerous, the olive-groves round Tunis and
Biserta being literally filled with them : breed there.

Muscicapa grisola. Very common : breeds.

M. albicolUs. Common.

M. luctuosa. One or two only.

Turdus Merula. Very common at Biserta, making the woods re-
sound with their melody.

T. cyaneus. Only one seen.

Sylvia turddides. A few seen in the marshes at Biserta.

S. palustris. A few seen in the olive -groves.

* It is singular that these birds, which I have found most numerous in
the spring and summer months in Switzerland, and also in some parts of
England, where they are not uncommon, should be so rare along the shores
of the Mediterranean. Query, as they have not been noticed during the
autumn passage, where do they go in winter ?

> Not uncommon.

in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta. 105

Sylvia Phragmitis. 1 Both these species are very common in the

S. arundinacea. j vicinity of Carthage, frequenting the high
standing corn, where they breed.

S. Luscinia. A few met with in the thickets along the shores of
the upper or freshwater lake.

S. orphea. Common : breed.

S. rubiginosa. Most numerous, especially at Biserta, frequenting
the olive-groves.

S. atricapilla. Only one or two seen ; probably do not remain.

S. melanocephala. Common : breed.

S. cinerea. Common : breed.

S. conspicillata. A pair only of these birds seen 21st April.

S. Phoeniciirus. Ditto.

o* . "^7 -7 * > One or two seen about the end of April.

Saxicola (Enanthe. A few seen at Biserta 1st of May, none after-
wards.

S. stapazina *. "1

S. aurita. >A few seen.

S. ruhetra. J

S. ruhicola. Very numerous : breed.

Motacilla cinereo-capilla. Very common, frequenting the pastures.

Anthus arhoreus. "

A. pratensis.

Alauda arvensis. 1 ^y • n ^i, i 4.4. u 1

A • f. f ) Very common, especially the latter : breed,

A. hrachydactyla. Very common : found in small flocks on the
dry sandy grounds near the Goletta of Tunis.

A. Calandra. Very common about the freshwater lake at Biserta,
also in the immediate vicinity of Tunis : breed.

Parus caruleus f. Common : breed.

Emberiza Miliaria. Ver)'- numerous : breed.

E. Hortulana. Not very common : these birds are kept in cages
at Tunis, being much prized for their song, and one that sings well
will fetch as high a price as sixty piastres ; the Tunis piastre is equal
to eightpence.

Fringilla Chloris. Common : breeds.

F. hispaniolensis. This is the common house-spaiTow of Barbary ;
it is very numerous, and though frequenting the towns and villages,
I also found it in large flocks in the country many miles from any
habitation. I was unable to ascertain whether it also builds in trees,
or whether these large flocks so late in the season might have been
occasioned by their being on their passage to Europe ; they were en-

* From my own observations I have been unable to decide whether the
stapazina and aurita are the same species ; probably they are ; but it is re-
markable that out of numbers examined and shot at the same season of ihe
year, none should be found in an intermediate state.

t It is curious that the Parus major should not liave been found, as they
generally frequent the same localities.

Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. VoLwi. I

106 Mr. H. M. Dmmmond : List of Birds found

tirely composed of old birds. The eggs of these birds vary like those
of the F. domestica, which they closely resemble.

Fringilla C(£lebs.~]

F. cannabina. \ Common about Biserta ; probably breed there,

F. Montium. ^ as they were seen as late as the middle of

F. citrinella. \ May.

F, Carduelis. J

Cuculus canorus. Common about Biserta.

Upupa Epops. Very common ; probably breed : seen as late as
the 21st of May.

Merops Apiaster. Very common during the passage : the first of
these birds made their appearance this season the 27th of April, none
seen after the 15th of May. I could not ascertain if any remain.

Alcedo Ispida. Only one seen at the Goletta 2ist of April. I un-
derstand they are common in winter.

Hirundo rustica.'] t,t ^ - ^^ tt .• t

H urh'ca I Most numerous, especially H. rustica : 1 saw no

H.riparia. J signs of their building.

Cypselus alpinus. Only two seen, on the tops of Gibel Tschar.

C. murarius. Very numerous.

Caprimulgus europceus. A few seen as late as the 10th of May.

Columha Livia. Very common : breed in the old wells about the
ruins of Carthage.

C. Turtur. Very common : breed in the olive-groves.

Pter odes arenarius.\^Y ery common about ten miles from Tunis

P. setaritis, J and throughout the interior : sedentary.

Perdix petrosa. Most numerous, especially at the upper lake of
Biserta and throughout the interior ; rare in the immediate vicinity
of Tunis. A young covey was found as early as the 22nd of May :
sedentary.

P. Coturnix. Most numerous, especially about the ruins of Car-
thage during its passage, which I understand commences about the
beginning or middle of March, and lasts until the end of May : a very
few only remain.

Hemipodius lunatus. Occasionally found near Tunis and Biserta.
Sir Thomas Reade assures me that these birds do not migrate.

Glareola torquata. The first of these birds made their appearance
the 24th of April, and after that were most numerous, especially on
the muddy flats between the lakes of Biserta, where they were so
tame that they would unwillingly take wing though approached
within a few feet, and would almost immediately settle again.

Otis* houhara. These birds are never found near the coast, but as
they are not unfrequently met with in the interior, it is perhaps as
well to mention them. They are very wary and difficult of approach,
frequenting the dry arid j^lains, and are only taken by means of
hawking, of which amusement the Arabs are excessively fond. Sedi
jMohammed, the Bey of the Camp, keeps a number of falcons trained
for the purpose.

* I could obtain no account of the Otis tarda ever having been met with
in this regency, though it is I believe common in otlier parts of Barbary.

in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta. 107

Otis Tetrax. The Polio di Cartagini, or Carthage fowl, the name
it is generally known by at Tunis ; it is held in great estimation for
the table, and is consequently rare in the immediate vicinity. I
however met with a few, chiefly in the high corn-lields, where at
this season they probably have their nests : from the quick vibratory
motion of their wings, the flight is so peculiar that they are not
easy to be mistaken ; they appear when flying almost white.

(Edicnemus crepitans. Common : breed in the fallows.

Himantopus melanopterus . A few seen in the marshes at the head
of the freshwater lake at Biserta : probably breed there, as they were
seen in pairs.

r, • * > Common a],onff the shores of the salt lake.

C. minor. J °

C cantianus. I never found these birds mixing with the other
kinds of dottrels and sandpipers, but they were generally seen scat-
tered about the dry sandy grounds near the Goletta, or in some
neighbouring fallow, where on the approach of any one they run
most swiftly in preference to taking wing ; indeed they are so much
the colour of the ground they frequent, that they are not easily de-
tected : though I did not find their eggs, yet I have no doubt they
breed there.

Vanellus melanogaster. A few seen on the shores of the saltwater
lake.

Strepsilas collaris. Common on the shores of the saltwater lake.

Grus cinerea. These birds were not seen, but Sir Thomas Reade
informs me that they are not uncommon in the winter months round
the lake of Tunis, and are probably found at Biserta.

G. Virgo. Is also occasionally seen in winter at Tunis, during the
breeding-season ; they are very common on some of the islands along
the coast, especially at Lampidosa.

Ciconia* alba. A few seen at Biserta, in the marshes only,

Ardea"^ cinerea. Very common.

A. "^ purpurea. Only one seen.

^.* Garzetta. Very common, especially on the banks of the river
that connects the fresh with the salt lake at Biserta.

^.* Verany. A few of these very rare birds I found at the fisheries
at Biserta ; they seem more addicted to perching than others of the
tribe, as when disturbed they would immediately fly for refuge to
some tree, where, standing with outstretched neck on the highest
part, it is difficult to get near them : though frequenting localities
where fish abounded, and which one would suppose to be their na-
tural food, yet on examination I never in any one instance found a
vestige of fish in the stomach, but invariably found it to contain the
remains of the blind- worm {Anguis fragilis) ; one I found entire and
about 8 inches long, also locusts and small beetles.

A.'^ rallo'ides. Common along the banks of the river between the
lakes.

* It is remarkable, that though most of these birds were common about
Biserta, none of them should have been found on the borders of the Tunis
lake.

13

108 List of Birds found in the vicinity of Tunis and Biserta.

Ardea^ minuta. Very common in the deep marshes.

Nycticorax'^ ardeola. Common at the fisheries at Biserta, and
generally seen sitting on the reed-fences of which the weirs are
composed.

Phoenicopterus antiquorum. Very common on the lake of Tunis,
which they seem to monopolize ; a few also were seen at Biserta ;
they are excessively shy and difficult of approach ; they do not breed
here, but probably go over to Cagliari in Sardinia, as they leave
about the beginning of June, at which season they are occasionally
met with in Malta, and return in September. I was informed by Sir
Thomas Reade that a smaller species inhabits the lake, and though I
certainly saw some of a smaller size, yet being unable to procure one,
I could not ascertain whether these may be the young or a distinct
species.

Recurvirostra Avocetta. One seen on the salt lake at Biserta, which

I fortunately procured : these birds I consider to be very rare, for

though I have been several years in the Mediterranean, this and

another shot at Corfu in April 1841 are the only two of the species

I ever obtained.

Ibisfalcinellus. 1 a r *. td- *.

7.7- -^ . , > A few seen at Biserta.

Numemus arquatus. J

Totanus fuscus. Common at Biserta : these birds were in the

summer plumage, and differed widely from those shot in winter at

Corfu ; the legs of the present ones were black, with a very slight

tinge of orange about the knees.

T. ochropus. 1 » /• 4. tj- ,.

rp J ^j ? A few seen at Biserta.

T. hypoleucos. Common.

T. glottis. A few seen at Biserta.

Scolopax rusticola.'y^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^j^ season, but are numerous

S Galhmgo. S ^^^^^ gj^^^^^ -^ ^j^^^^^

S. Galhnula. J

Rallus aquaticus. Only one seen.

GallinulaPorzana. "]

G. pusilla. > Only one or two seen in the marshes at Biserta.

G. chloropus, J

Fulica atra. Very numerous on the salt lake : breed in the
marshes.

Podiceps cristatus. "|

P. cornutus. > Several seen on the salt lake,

P. avritus. J

Sterna Hirundor\

S. nigra. V'^ery common about Biserta.

iS. minuta. J

S. leucoptera. A few seen on the river between the lakes.

Larus argentatus. Common : breed.

L. melanocephalus. Large flocks of these birds were seen in the
Bay of Tunis 21st of April ; none afterwards.

Puffinus cinereus. Very numerous all along the coast : breed.
* See note, preceding page.

^hm.Ji^ Mag. Nat. Eist . Vol JG /7 IJI.

3

'*'^%y,

GLce^opritiJTV .

fP^ftlUisS- J.Jialfs.det. J.DCS.scu/f.

Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Diatomacese. 109

Puffinus anglorum. A few seen.

Thalassidroma pelagica. Very common : breed.

Cygnus musicus. A few seen in the lakes of Biserta, and one in
the lake of Tunis.

Anas Boschas. Common : breed in the marshes round Biserta.

A. marmorata. I only saw two small flocks of five or six each
flying up the river between the lakes ; one of these very rare birds I
was fortunate enough to procure ; it proved to be a female.

A. Fuligula. Very numerous : seen on the salt lake only in large
flocks of two or three hundred ; it is singular that they should be in
flocks so late in the season.

Pelecanus onocrotalus. A few seen on the salt lake.

Carbo Cormoranus, Very numerous on both lakes.

XII. — On the British Diatomace^. By John Ralps, Esq.,
M.R.C.S., Penzance*.

[With a Plate.]

HOMCEOCLADIA, Aff.

Frond membranaceous, tubular, filiform, transversely wrinkled^
branched in an umbellate manner ; frustules linear.

1. H. anglica, Ag. Fronds umbellate at the base, above elongated
and either simple or dichotomous ; frustules linear, many times
longer than broad, with striated lateral surfaces. Ag. Consp.
Diatom, p. 25 ; Harv. Br. Alg. p. 208 ; Kiitz. Die Kieselschaligen
Bacillaria oder Diatomeen, p. 110. tab. 30. fig. 82. Oscillatoria
chthonoplastes, Harv. in Hook. Br. Fl.vol. ii. p. 373. Microcoleus
marinus, Hoxy. Br. Alg. p. 168.

On marine rocks, Ilfracombe, and Petitor near Torquay, Septem-
ber and October.

Since my former note on this plant (Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xi. p. 77)
I have examined specimens in a fresh state, and find its structure
agrees so closely with Agardh^s description oiH.Martiana,that the
difference appears to be but slight. It is brownish when recent and
becomes of an opake olive-brown when dry, and often acquires a
metallic lustre, particularly in the Torquay specimens. It arises
from a comparatively thick scutate base, but soon divides in an
umbellate manner into many branches, each of which is again
similarly divided. In this second division the branches, which
vary in number from three to five, are elongated, and are either
simple or once dichotomous, or occasionally trichotomous. The
extremities are often clavate, but not unfrequently slightly at-
tenuated. The frond, which is from one to two inches high, is
terete, erect, tubular, with numerous transverse but irregular
wrinkles, which produce a crenated appearance of the margin.

* Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

110 Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Diatomacese.

The frustules are numerous, and either scattered or collected
in bundles, between which the frond is somewhat contracted.
The extremities of the frond finally become ruptured and suffer
the frustules to escape.

The frustules are remarkable for their length, being many times
longer than broad ; they are siliceous, simple or binate, linear,
not unlike those of Frustulia Ulna, but their ends are rounded.
The lateral surfaces in form resemble the front, but are marked
with numerous transverse strise.

The endochrome is interrupted at regular intervals by hyaline
globules producing a variegated appearance.

Plate III. fig, 1. Homoeocladia anglica: a, natural size; h, portion of
a filament magnified ; c, front view of frustule ; d, lateral view of empty
frustule.

Berkeleya, Grev.

Frustules linear, included within tubular submembranaceous fila-
ments which are free at one extremity, but have the other im-
mersed in a gelatinous tubercle.

This genus differs from Homceocladia and Bchizonema in having
the base of the filaments immersed in a tubercle.

1. B.fragilis, Grev. Filaments subsimple, minute; frustules nu-
merous, crowded, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, eight to twelve
times as long as broad. Grev. Crypt. Fl. tab. 294 ; Grev. in Hook.
Br. Fl. vol. ii. p. 416 ; Ag. Consp. Diatom, p. 24 ; Harv. Br. Alg.
p. 209; Kiitz. I.e. p. 109.
Parasitical on Zostera marina and the smaller marine algae, also on

rocks in the sea ; November.

Southampton, Miss Hill ; Mount's Bay, J. R. ; Ireland, Mr.
M'Calla, according to a specimen from Dr. Scouler.

When recent this plant is dark olive-brown with a slight lustre ;
when dried it becomes greener, and is generally glossy.

The filaments are very short, seldom exceeding a quarter of an
inch in length, and pale at their immersed base. They issue
from the tubercle in a penicillate or radiate manner, and though
usually simple are occasionally dichotomous at their origin.

The tubercle is colourless and large in proportion to the size
of the plant. It is more diffuse in those growing upon rocks
than in parasitic ones, sometimes indeed to so great a degree
as to lose the appearance of a tubercle. It is always gelatinous,
is easily broken, and if put into fresh water very soon becomes
partially dissolved, and thus allows the separation of the fila-
ments.

Under the microscope the filaments are hyaline and slightly
crenate at the margin ; the frustules are simple or binate, nume-
rous, crowded, often confined to the middle of the filament, elon-

Mr. J. Ralfs on the British Diatomacese. Ill

gated (eight to twelve times longer than broad), not striated ; the
front view is narrow linear-lanceolate with truncate ends, and
the lateral surfaces, which are about the same breadth, are lan-
ceolate with subacute extremities.

The colouring matter occupies only the central third of the
frustule, and consequently the ends are hyaline.

Platk III. fig. 2. Berkeleya fragilis : a, front view; h, lateral view,

Encyonema, Kiitz.

Frustules cymbiform, siliceous, arranged in longitudinal series
within submembranaceous, tubular filaments.

The filaments are tubular, submembranaceous, and under the
microscope colourless. The lateral surfaces of the frustules being
convex are observed in the front view, in which also the frustules
are quadrilateral with two puncta at each end. These puncta are
less easily discerned in the dorsal view as the dorsum is longi-
tudinalty convex. The lateral view is semi-elliptic with numerous
transverse strise, which are interrupted as in Cocconema by a lon-
gitudinal pellucid line.

This genus difiers from Schizonema and other frondose genera
of DiatomacecB in the form of its frustules, as a single frustule
resembles one of Cymbella or Cocconema ; therefore, notwithstand-
ing the similarity of habit, it belongs to a difi*erent series.

It is far more probable that some bodies of a totally different
kind will be at first sight classed with Encyonema. These, which
are really congeries of the ova of certain insects, were once de-
scribed by Agardh as Algae under the name of Gloionema. A
little attention however will secure the observer from this mistake,
for although cymbiform and arranged in longitudinal series, the
eggs are neither siliceous nor striated.

1. E. prostratum, Berk. Kiitz. Die Kieselschalig en Bacillaria oder
Diatomeen, p, 82. t. 25. f. 7. E.paradoxum, Kiitz. Synop. Diatom,
in Linnaea 1833, p. 589. f. 73; Die Kies. t. 22. f. 1. Monema
prostratum. Berk. Br. Alg. p. 15. t. 4. f. 3. (1832) ! Schizonema
prostratum, Grev. in Hook. Br. Fl. vol. ii. p. 414 ; Harv. Br. Alg.
p. 214. Gloionema paradoxum, Ehr. Inf. p. 237 (not of Agardh
nor Kiitzing) ; Portlock in Microscop. Journ. vol. ii. p. 6. pi. 3.
fig. 1.
In freshwater rivulets, outlets of ponds, &c. near King's Cliffe,

Northamptonshire, Rev. M. J. Berkeley ; Farnham, Surrey, Mr. W.

Reeves; Brambletye, Sussex, and "abundant in the rivulet which

parts Kent and Sussex between Bodiham and Sandhurst," Mr.Jenner;

near Bristol, Mr. Thwaites. Ilfracombe, Devonshire, /. R. ; "Lough

Erne, Ireland, Capt. Portlock."

This plant forms small tufts, which not unfrequently are so

112 Mr. J. llalfs on the British Diatomacese.

crowded as to constitute considerable patches. When recent it
is dark brown, but dried it assumes a dull green colour. It is
soft, but not gelatinous, and adheres only imperfectly to paper
or glass.

The filaments are short, straight or fiexuose, simple or slightly
branched, slender, subequal, quite colourless under the micro-
scope. Generally the frustules form a single series and have
their convex margin alternately in opposite directions; occa-
sionally a frustule is placed transversely, and in the broader fila-
ments there are two, or even as many as three or four longitu-
dinal series of frustules.

The frustules are in the front view about three times as long
as broad, and slightly rounded at the ends ; their convex lateral
surfaces are visible at the sides.

The lateral view is broader than the front and semi-elliptic. The
inferior margin is mostly prominent at the centre. The ends,
which are rounded and separated from the body by a slight con-
striction are usually similar, but in the llfracombe specimens one
of them is often produced into a short beak. A pellucid line
passes from one to the other and divides the strise into two un-
equal series. There is a dilatation at each extremity of this line,
and at the centre a larger one, towards which, as in Gomphonema
and Cocconemaj the strise slightly converge.

In the recent frustule the endochrome is tawny with a paler
transverse band in the centre.

Kiitzing in his last work describes two species of Encyonema^,
Judging from his characters and figures, I doubt whether they are
sufficiently distinct, as I find that the form of the frustules varies
even in the same specimen.

I have examined an original specimen of Mr. Berkeley's Mo-
nema prostratum. The frustules in the lateral view are generally
less constricted at the ends than in my other specimens, but
they vary in this respect as well as in size.

Gloionema paradoxum, Ag., which at first sight bears some re-
semblance to this plant, has been shown by the Rev. M. J. Ber-
keley to be an animal production f.

Plate III. fig. 3. Encyonema prostratum: a, front view of frustule ;
hf lateral view, Sussex specimen ; d, front, and c, lateral view of empty frus-
tules from an llfracombe specimen ; e, lateral view of frustules deprived of
their colouring matter from an original specimen oi Monema prostratum.

* " E. paradoxum, tubulis sparsis, solitariis ; cymbellis a latere secundario
acuminatis cornutis striatis. E. paradoxum, Kiitz. Syn. 1833. Gloionema
paradoxum, Ehr. Inf. Isthmia catenata, Menegh."

" E. prostratum, stratum gelatinosum formans, tubulis maxime intricatis ;
cymbellis minoribus, obtusiusculis non cornutis, striatis. Monema prostra-
tum, Berk. Encyonema paradoxum, Menegh.'*

t Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. vii. p. 449.

Botanical Notices from Spain, 1 1^

XIII. — Botanical Notices from Spain. By Moritz Willkomm*.

[Continued from vol. xv. p. 419.]

No. IV. Granada, August 12, 1844.

Wearied with the view of the endless plains of the Mancha, which
present only an aspect of corn-fields and brown arid heath, here and
there broken by a copse of the Qucrcus Ilex or Pinus Pinea, I was
not a little delighted, when on the morning of the 10th of July I
descried the blue mountain-ranges of the Sierra Morena, the frontier
of the long-desired Andalusia. This long and wide chain of moun-
tains, which rises in gentle gradations to a height scarcely exceeding
6000 feet, is at this point almost wholly covered with copses of oak.
The rivulets, which are particularly numerous on the south side,
permeating the valleys, and emptying their waters into the Guadal-
quivir, give birth to a richer vegetation than I had hitherto observed
in the Spanish mountains, and were chiefly inclosed with flowering
oleanders, ash-trees and elms, interspersed with the vine, which grows
almost wild here, as in the lowest part of the Sierra Nevada, and
hangs in picturesque festoons from the tops of the trees down to the
ground. After traversing the celebrated Pass of Spinasperros, and
crossing many wide mountain-ridges, we arrive at the ancient Swabian
colonies of S^^ Helena and Carolina ; and the environs of these beau-
tiful localities, especially of Carolina, show the traveller, by their fer-
tility, that he has reached the happy land of Andalusia. Hedges of
Agave americana and Opuntia vulgaris, which surround the intermina-
ble fields of wheat, maize, hemp, beans, garbanzos ( Cicer arietinum, L. ),
tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill.), pimento (^Capsicum annuurriy
L.), plantations of mulberry-, olive-, almond- and vine-trees, which
extend to the banks of the Guadalquivir, recall to mind the fruitful
plains of Valencia. The extensive and very barren Sien-a de Jaen
separates the wide valley of the Guadalquivir from the noble Vega of
Granada, — the former so celebrated in history, which extends at the
foot of the Sierra Nevada, rising like an immense wall with snow-
capped summits to more than 11,000 feet in height, and bounded on
the west by the Sierra Tejeda and Sierra de Alhama. Although, in
the country around Granada, neither the date- and dwarf-palm, nor
the orange -hedges of Valencia are found, yet the vegetation bears a
far more southern character. I had nowhere before seen in Spain such
a luxuriant and almost tropical vegetation, not excepting even Aran-
juez, where it is evident that the cultivating hand of man has pro-
duced by artificial irrigation that rich growth of trees and plants of
all kinds which convert this spot into a charming oasis in the deserts
of New Castille.

On one of the peninsular tracts of land formed by the small but
celebrated rivers of the Jenil and Darro lies the ancient royal city
of Granada, at the foot of the proud Alhambra, whose Moorish towers
crown the last off'shoot of the rocky wall which divides the valleys

* Translated from the Botanische Zeitung, Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 1814.

1 14 Botanical Notices from Spain,

of the Jenil and Darro, and forms an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada.
The south side of this rock, which consists of disintegrated lime-
stone, as well as the other hills, is covered with thick bushes of
Opuntia vulgaris, which are now in flower, and whose fruit yield a
favourite food to the lower classes. Interspersed are everywhere seen
the Agave americana, which is here quite wild and very generally now
in bloom. For instance, I have seen in the environs of the Capella
San Miguel, on the southern slope of the valley of the Darro, more
than twenty specimens together in a small space, whose flowering
stems reached a height of 12 to 20 feet. Both plants ascend in the
warm valleys of the Sierra Nevada, for instance in that of the Jenil,
to a height of 3000 feet. Copses of elms, impenetrable hedges of
Rubus fruticosus * , Bupleurum fruticosum, L., Coriaria mi/rtifolia,Ij.,
interspersed with Lonicera etrusca, Santi, Clematis cirrhosa, DeC,
CI. Flammula, L,, and other climbers, clothe the northern slopes of
the valleys ; whilst the arid, sunny hills, destitute of all shrubby ve-
getation, are covered with a number of Lahiatce (several Thymi and
Teucria, especially T. Folium, L., Ballota hirsuta, Bth., Origanum
virens, Lk. and Hoffmsegg.), accompanied by several species of
Ononis, Rubiacece and Compositce, as an Andryala, Delphinium pere-
grinum, L., Ruta montana, Clus., R. angustifolia, L., Antirrhinum
molle, L., &c. On shady walls — frequent for instance on the walls
of the Alhambra as well as on the aqueducts — grows the 7Va-

* This Rubus, the only species which I have hitherto met with in Spain,
but which seems to be everywhere frequent, belongs to the Rubus digitati-
follis, in the Div. II.** R. candicantes of Reichenbach's ' Flora,' and is
very different to the R.fruticosus, L., which belongs to the Div. I., as well
as to the species in Div. II. Boissier enumerates it in his Voyage, under
No. 601, as R fruticosiis, L., v/ithout adding any remark. I regard it as
new, and propose to call it R. kispanicus.

R. hispanicus, turionum fol. omnibus quinato-digitatis, foliolis oblongo-
lanceolatis, caulis florifevi fol. ternatis, foliolis oblongis aut ellipticis, late-
ralibus saepe bilobis, corymbo composito erecto muilifloro, floribus amplis
roseis, calyce frnctifero reflexo, mora mediocri atra nitida ex acinis parvis
nnmerosis compcsita, dulcissima. Frutex 12-pedalis et ultra, turionibus
longissiinis decurvatis .5-angularibus subtomentosis infra purpurascentibus
superne lajte-virescentibus, fol. omnibus supra obscure virentibus subtus
albo-tomentosis, aculeis conformibus recurvis numerosis, calyce peduncu-
lisque divergentibus cano-tomentosis, laciniis calycis ovatis ,petalis calyce
duplo longioribus obovatis roseis. DifTert a R. fruticoso, L., foliolis tomen-
tosis oblongis nee glabris cordato-ovatis, corymbo composito nee simplici,
turionibus tomentosis decurvatis nee glabris erectis, petalis roseis nee albis ;
a R. discolore, Whe., cui maxime affinis, foliolis turionum oblongo-lanceo-
latis nee suborbicularibus, aculeis recurvatis nee rectiusculis, mora aterrima
nee atro-caerulea. — I have frequently observed this beautiful species (Mo. 157
of my Spanish Plants), which forms impenetrable and entangled hedges, and
bears flowers and fruit in uncommon abundance (the bunches of fruit attain
the length of one foot), around Valencia, in the Sierra de Chiva, in Murcia, in
the Mancha near Aranjuez, Madrid and Escurial, and in Andalusia, where
they grow in the valleys of the Sierra Nevada up to a height of 4300 feet, and
are common, especially in the environs of the village of Guejar. In Anda-
lusia this Rubus bears the name of ' Sarza mora.'

Botanical Notices from Spain. 115

chelium caruleum, L., which is also found in the low warm valleys of
the Sierra Nevada : from the rocks hang down the thorny branches
oi Capparis spinosa, L., mingled with Sedum amplexicaule, Boiss. ; and
in the moist grassy valleys, in the shade of willows and elms, is
frequently found Dorycnium rectum, Ser., Mentha rotundifolia, L.,
Ly thrum Salicaria, L., Epilobium hirsutum, L., Retama sphcsrocarpa,
Boiss., and Chamcepeuce hispanica, DeC, which occurs in the Sierra
Nevada up to a height of 4500 feet.

As soon as I had made all arrangements requisite to prolong my
stay in the Sierra Nevada, whose lofty mountains attracted me irre-
sistibly, I quitted Granada; and accompanied by a merry Andalusian,
who acted at once as servant, guide and assistant, as well as a ca-
pital beast of burden, I set out for the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, which
consists of a few scattered dwellings lying about 4500 feet above the
sea, the highest inhabited spot on the northern side of the mountain,
whose inhabitants still retain a clear recollection of Boissier. The
Sierra Nevada is, with the exception of the mountain-ridges which
enclose the valleys, almost wholly bare, and is even deficient for the
greater part in the 'Monte bajo,' which everywhere covers the Spanish
mountains. All the lower portion of the northern slope consists of
limestone, in part interrupted by a beautiful marble, which for in-
stance at S. Geronimo and Guejar forms immense rocks. In some
places are found traces of coal (for example at the north foot of the
Cerro Trevenque) and mines of mica (as on the southern slope of the
Dornajo) ; and on the Cerro Calal, at the village of Guejar, are still
found some lead-mines, which are now abandoned. I have however
not succeeded in finding any trace of fossils in the whole of this
limestone range. These limestone mountains rise to a height of
7000 to 7500 feet, and the highest and most interesting summits
are those of the mountains Dornajo, Cerro Tesoro and Cerro Treven-
que, in the neighbourhood of S. Geronimo. At S. Geronimo the
gneiss formation commences, which in the snow-region passes into
the micaceous slate and constitutes the highest chain of the Sierra,
whose highest peak is the Cerro Mulehacen (said to be 11,600 feet),
Picacho de Veleta (11,200 feet), Cerro Alcasava and Cerro Caballo.
The region which is scarcely to be termed that of eternal snow,
since every summer it melts, with the exception of some scattered
snow-fields (hitherto I have nowhere observed the glaciers of which
Boissier speaks), begins at about the height of 8500 to 9000 feet,
and is clearly distinguished by its geognostical nature as well as by
its highly peculiar vegetation from the lower regions. Traces of
iron are here found frequently. The alpine region commences at a
height of about 6000 feet, and the mountain region at 3500 feet.
The environs of the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, on the southern slope
of the magnificent alpine valley through which the rapid Monachil
takes its course, form those districts of the entire northern declivity
which abound most in water, and consequently in plants. The
northern ridge, enclosing the valley known by the name of the De-
hesa de S. Geronimo, whose highest slaty ridge rises to 8000 feet,
is especially remarkable for its arboraceous luxuriance, being almost

Il6 Botanical Notices from Spain.

wholly covered with copses of various species of oak (especially Qu.
Ilex, L. and Qu. Toza, Bosc), Berheris vulgaris, var. australis, Cra-
tcegus granatensis, Boiss., Cotoneaster granatensis, Boiss., &c. Rye
and barley are cultivated high up in the alpine region, whilst in the
valley and on the southern slope much wheat, ipiaize, Phaseolus com-
munis and Cicer arietinum, are grown.

In the very first excursion which I made into a side valley of the
Dehesa, I found the two celebrated trees discovered by Boissier,
Lonicera arborea and Adenocarpus decorticans, both in fruit. L. ar-
borea has a very shrubby growth ; but 1 have observed single trees,
from twenty to thirty feet high, which were then mostly crowned
by a rounded top of thick foliage. This rare tree, which according to
Webb is also found in Asia Minor, has a fissured grayish-brown and
almost leathery bark, and leaves of a dark green on the upper side
and somewhat shining, and underneath of a sea-green colour. I have
not observed any flowers ; the berries are oval, and when ripe black.
This Lonicera is somewhat frequent, both in the valleys of the De-
hesa and in the ravines of the south side of the valley, and ascends
to 7000 feet, — nearly to the limit of the region of trees. The Adeno-
carpus decorticans is much more frequent, especially in single spots,
but it does not grow at a height exceeding 5500 feet. The lowest
point at which I have seen it is in the valley of the Jenil, below
Guejar, at a height of about 2500 feet. In that valley, where I first
found it, I met with only small trees, all growing on the north side,
on an arid limestone soil ; but it is much more frequent in the copse
of Pinus sylvestris, which bears the name * La Cartejuela,' and covers
the saddle between the Cerro Tesoro and Trevenque, as well as on
the northern slope of the valley, through which the river Maydena
flows, where it forms the arboraceous vegetation together with the
Quercus Toza. This tree, which from its narrow and small leaves
appears at a distance to be a Conifer, and has quite the habitus of
shrubs oi the Juniperus communis, attains a height of twelve to twenty
feet, and a thickness of half a foot. The yellowish- white wood is
very tough, and its yellowish-brown bark separates even from the
youngest branches, and hangs down from the whole stem in long
riband-like bands, whilst the ground all around is covered with pieces
of bark shed from the tree. Beside these two trees, which are pecu-
liar to the Sierra, the following also are found : — Sorbus Aria, L.,
which ascends from the rocks at the Monachil to the limit of the
region of trees, accompanied by the Cotoneaster granatensis, Boissier,
which still decorates the highest northern limestone rocks of the
Dornajo and Trevenque, and is especially frequent in the wide valley
between the Cerro Tesoro and Trevenque; Acer opulifoUum, Y ill,
(A. granatense, Boissier, El. 39.), on the rocks near the Monachil,
frequently in fruit ; Pinus sylvestris, L., which forms the above-men-
tioned Cartejuela ; Salix Caprea, L., only a few specimens in the
upper part of the valley ; S. alba, around the Cortijo, more frequent
in the valley of the Jenil; S. purpurea, ditto; and Taxus baccata, L.,
on the upper Monachil, rare. The southern declivity lying opposite
to the Dehesa, as far as the limestone formation and the mountain

Botanical Notices from Spain. ] 17

region extends, is almost entirely covered with thorny shrubs, of the
Berberis vulgaris, L., var. australis, Cratcegus granatensis, Boiss.,
Prunus Ramburei, Boiss., Rhamnus infectorius, L., and Cerasus pro-
strata, DeC, which forms small and very entangled and stiiF shrubs,
from half a foot to three foot high, and is found as far as the highest
summit of the Dornajo, where, creeping up the loose rocks, it covers
them like a kind of moss. In very isolated spots, under the thorny
shrub, grows the beautiful Lonicera splendida, Boiss., which is di-
stinguished from L. Capri/olium, L., and L. implexa, Ait. (to which it
is nearest allied), partly by the many-flowered racemes, and partly by
the white dust on the under side of the evergreen leaves and of the
young branches. The berries are oval, large and orange-coloured.
L. etrusca, Santi, is found in the neighbourhood of brooks, in shady
bushes, generally in company with the Clematis Flammula, L. On
the banks of the Monachi] I found frequent the Rumex pulcher, L.,
Delphinium pentagynum, Desf., Thalictrum glaucum, Desf., Nepeta
granatensis, 13oiss., Junci, Euphorbi(£, and two Reseda) in the upper
part of the valley, Heracleum granatense, Boiss., with Cochlearia
glastifolia, L., and Aspidium nevadense, Boiss. The shady clefts of
the rocks are decorated with patches of the delicate and fragile
Linaria villosa, DeC, and L. verticillata, Boiss., along with Hiera-
cium amplexicaule, L. ; whilst on the sunny limestone and marble
rocks of the southern declivity are found the pretty Campanula Lceff-
lingii, Brot., in company with Putoria calabrica, T., several Teucria
and others.

Among those portions of the limestone alps which are the most
celebrated as producing the rarest plants, the Dornajo and Cerro
Trevenque occupy undoubtedly the first place. The latter, above
7000 feet high, presents a huge j^yramid of rock, and is seldom as-
cended by the inhabitants of the mountain on account of its extra-
ordinary steepness. I ascended it on the 7th of August, accompa-
nied by my servant. We first followed the steep bed of a rivulet
filled with blocks of marble, which contributes the waters of its little
stream to the Monachil, and soon saw ourselves surrounded with
some isolated pines, which announced the Cartejuela. In this copse-
wood, which is scarcely to be called thick, as well as in the ascent,
I found frequent the tender Reutera gracilis, Boiss., of the habitus
of an Asperula, as well as the Pceonia coriacea, Boiss., which is not
rare on the Dehesa, S. Geronimo, and even around the Cortijo.
When we had reached the plateau, about 6000 feet, I first ascended
the Cerro Tesoro, lying on the right, and of a not much greater ele-
vation, whose entire northern declivity is covered with Anthyllis
erinacea (common throughout the whole limestone alps) and a thorny
Astragalus. Besides the Passerina Tartouraira, L., which is here
very small-leaved, Anthyllis tejedensis, Boiss., and Ononis cephalotus,
Boiss., the vegetation consists of the same plants as I had already
found on the Dornajo. The Odontites longiflora, Webb, is found, as
well as on the Dornajo, from the base to the summit ; in the clefts of
the rocks grow on both mountains Potentilla caulescens, L., forming
hard thick beds, in company with Arenaria Armeriastrum, Boiss.,

118 Botanical Notices from Spain.

Cerastium repens, L., Ptilotrichum longicaule, Boiss., &c. From
Cerro Tesoro I descended to the Cartejuela, where there are several
springs, — a rare occurrence in these frightfully arid limestone alps.
With the exception of a few very scattered specimens of Vicia lutea,
L., ^xi^ Hypericum hyssopifoUum, L., there was scarcely anything of
importance to be found ; in May the vegetation may be more inter-
esting. In that part which lies at the foot of the Trevenque, whose
immense cone rises here proudly, the Adenocarpiis decorticans is, as
I have said, very common ; besides this, the Jimiperus Sabina, L., and
Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi grow in great abundance, as well as Bupleu-
rum spinosum, L. fil., which is found very abundant on many spots
of the limestone portion of the Sierra, and grows as low down as
3000 feet and more.

At length we gained the base of the cone of the Cerro Trevenque,
the ascent of which I undertook from the east side. This, as well
as the western declivity, is almost wholly filled with steep rocks and
boulders of limestone, and it was often necessary to dig out steps in
the soft limestone sand to get a firm footing. Notwithstanding these
circumstances, so unfavourable to vegetation, the rarest plants are
found on this very side, as for instance, Scahiosapulsatilloides ; Boiss,,
Helianthemum pannosum, Boiss., Santolina elegans, Boiss. (the only
locality for this plant hitherto known is the Trevenque, and even
here it is rare), Convolvulus nitidus, Boiss., AnthylUs tejedensis, Boiss.,
Ononis cephalotes, Boiss. On the highest summit, from whence there
is an indescribably beautiful view over the whole limestone alps, as
well as the charming Vega of Granada as far as the Sierra Morena,
no plants worthy of mention grow, except the Cotoneaster grana-
tensis, Boiss., and some trees of Pinus sylvestris. The whole north-
ern declivity is covered with Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi.

Excepting these spots, which are distinguished by rare plants,
the vegetation of the limestone range is throughout very uniform.
As far as the warm region extends, the hills and mountains are
covered with the same plants which I have already mentioned in the
environs of Granada. The Berheris vulgaris, var. australis, charac-
terizes the mountain region, and extends into the alpine region, and
is everywhere common, especially on arid sunny spots. Besides this,
the Salvia officinalis, L., together with another species of this genus
clothed with a thick white wool, Santolina rosmarinifolia, Mill.,
Helichryson serotinum, Boiss., Daphne Gnidium, L., Lavandula lanata,
Boiss., an Andryala and a Thymus are the principal constituents of
this mountain flora. The Inula montana ?, the beautiful Echium
albicans. Lag., and others, are limited to some localities. Of
Cryptogamia, beside some few mosses and liverworts, some Algcs
Olid Aspidium nevadense, Boiss., there are only lichens, apparently in
great quantity, especially of the genera Parmelia, Lecidea and Fi?r-
rucaria.

No. V. GuEJAR DE LA SiERRA, September 5.

Since the middle of August I have been staying in this village,
which is situated in the valley of the Jenil, about 3000 feet above

Botanical Notices from Spain. 119

the level of the sea, — the highest on the north side of the Sierra
Nevada. In spite of its lofty position, one might fancy oneself
in the neighbourhood of Granada, this village being surrounded by
the most luxuriant vegetation of the warm region. Fig- and almond-
trees raise their heads in the dells, even in the mountain region,
and are almost to be considered vi'ild here, while the slope of the
valley lying to the north of the village is partly clothed with luxu-
riant chestnut trees, succeeded by an extensive wood of Quercus Ilex.
The whole valley of the Jenil, the chief river of the north, is con-
siderably wider and deeper than that of the Monachil and Dilar, and
therefore much warmer. The banks of the river are bordered, from
Granada to a league above Guejar, with thick woods of Salix alba, L.,
Populus nigra and alba, Ulmus campestris, L., and Celtis australis, L.,
which latter tree occurs in countless numbers in the immediate en-
virons of the village. The underwood consists of the already-men-
tioned Rubus, Coriaria myrtifolia, Daphne Gnidium and Retama sphce-
rocarpa, while the numerous impenetrable hedges are composed ex-
clusively of Rubus hispanicus and Elceagnus angustifolia, with a spe-
cies of Clematis, Tamus communis, L., and Asparagus albus, L., running
over them. Foeniculum vulgare, Geertn., with other Umbellifera,
are plentiful along the river. In some places Hypericum bccticum,
Boiss., Chlora per/oliata,Ij., &c. Mentha rotundifolia, h., is most
abundant in moist shady spots, in company with Euphorbia, species
of Atriplex and Chenopodium, Plumbago europcea, L., Origanum virens,
Lk. et Hotfmsegg., Heliotropium europaum, L., and Althcea cannabina,
L. On the rugged cliiFs of marble I found a Dianthus common,
with Bupleurum gibraltaricum, Lam., and in the shady dells to the
northward Hypericum Capri/olium, Boiss., Pyrethrum Parthenium, L.,
Lithospermum officinale, L., Epilobium hirsutum, L. On dry sandy
places, in sunny fields and on the road-sides grew Senecio linifolius, L.,
ascending as far as the alpine region, Picnomon Acarna, Cass., with
other thistles, and in a single place, Cynara alba, Boiss. For the
rest, the vegetation is exactly the same as in the other parts of the
limestone alps.

Very different from the above-described vegetation of the limestone
districts of the Sierra Nevada is that of the primary rocks, which
begins at a height of about 4000 to 5000 feet. The flora of the
lower mountain region agrees tolerably with that of the moun-
tain limestone, but in the upper region and the alpine portion many
other plants make their appearance. Among trees and shrubs Quer-
cus Ilex and Quercus Toza especially prevail, mingled with Lonicera
arborea and Crataegus granatensis, which rise to the highest alpine
valleys and are the most beautiful trees here. Adenocarpus decorti-
cans also occurs frequently ; more rarely, Cerasus Avium, Pyrus
Aria and Taxus baccata. The whole upper mountain and lower
alpine region is clothed with Genista aspalathoides, DeC, and Astra*
galus aristatus, L'Herit., with a woody stem often as thick as a man's
arm ; both ascend to the snow-region, where I have even found the
latter in flower. The mountain region is also particularly charac-
terized by Artemisia campestris, L., var. glutinosa, Ten., which

120 Botanical Notices from Spain.

spreads over all the mountains, in many places alternating with A.
camphorata, L., while A. Absinthium, is abundant chiefly in the alpine
region. In the bogs and springy places of the mountain region,
especially in the upper part of the valley of the Jenil, Helosciadium
nodijiorum, Koch, occurs frequently, and Anagallis tenella, L., in
company with a Lythrum and Senecio, Juncus glaucus, L., which also
fills all the bogs of the limestone formation, and is the commonest
species in the Sierra ; a few Carices are also met with ; while on very
dry, sunny places, with soil of a stony hardness, particularly in the
neighbourhood of the chalets, Mcrendera Colchicum, Ram., are still in
flower in countless numbers. The upper alpine and lower snow-region
is the richest in rare plants, peculiar to and most plentiful in these
mountains. These consist almost solely of micaceous slate, the stra-
tification of which has an inclination of about 20° from south to north.
Accordingly the north slope of the chief alpine chain is encompassed
by much steeper and sometimes formidable perpendicular cliffs and pre-
cipices than the south side, which is almost everywhere covered with
loose masses of slate rock. On this side, in the passes between the
highest peaks of the mountain- chain, pools or small mountain-lakes
are frequently met with, occasionally of unfathomable depth, as for
instance the famous Laguna de Vacares : these lakes are more rare on
the north side. The main valleys, which extend to the snow-region,
terminate in peculiar scattered meadows, watered by many springs and
brooks, and sometimes perpetually inundated, and in grassy, often
very steep declivities. These peculiar meadows bear the name of
Borreguiles, and are particularly distinguished by their vegetation
from the rest of the snow-region. Excepting these green meadows the
snow -region presents from a distance a forbidding and seemingly
quite sterile appearance, for nothing is seen but gray boulders of
slate ; but between the several masses of this rock grow a number of
small alpine plants, often scarcely an inch high, mostly in thick
patches. The beautiful Ptilotrichum spinosum, Boiss., which ascends
from the valleys of the lower alpine region up to the highest summits
of the snow-region, is generally diffused and very frequent. Besides
this, the following plants occur on almost every part of the summit :
— 1. In the upper alpine region : Senecio Tournefortii, Lap., /3. gra-
natensis, Boiss., very frequent on moist loose masses of rock ascend-
ing into the snow-region ; Thymus angustifolius , Pers. ; Dianthus
brachyanthuSy Boiss. (here and in the snow-region scarcely an inch
high, whilst in the limestone alps it reaches a height of from half a
foot to one foot) ; Plantago serpentina, Vill. ; Jurinea humilis, DeC
Eryngium Bourgati, Gou., also in the snow-region ; Armeria allioides
Boiss., especially on steejD rocky declivities ; Hieracium Pilosella, L.
var. incanum, Boiss. ; Arenaria tetraquetra, L., var. granatensis
Boiss., in the thickest beds up to the highest summit of the snow
region, mingled here and there with a small form of ^. Armeriastriim
Boiss. — 2. In the lower snow-region, at about 8500 to 9500 feet
Arenaria tetraquetra, L., var. A. pungens, Clem.; Ptilotrichum pur
pureum, Boiss. ; Ranunculus demissus, DeC, var. hispanicus, Boiss.
Plantago nivalis, Boiss., on moist and grassy loose masses of rock, on

Botanical Notices from Spain. 121

both sides of the Sierra, exceedingly frequent ; Anthyllis Webbiana,
Hook. ; Pyrethrum radicans. Lag. ; Lepidium sty latum, Lag. ; Eryn-
gium glaciale, Boiss., very frequent up to the highest summits ; Silene
Boryi, Boiss. ; Cerastium ramosissimum, Boiss. ; Carduus carlinoides,
DeC. ; Herniaria alpina, L. ; Jasione amethystina, Lag. ; Armeria au-
stralis, Boiss., a most striking shrubby form, with stiff, almost spines-
cent branches; Agrostis nevadensis, Boiss. — In the upper snow-region,
9500 to 11,000 feet and above ; Viola nevadensis, Boiss. ; Saxifraga
mixta. Lag. ; Linaria origanifolia, DeC, y. glareosa, Boiss. ; L. su-
pina, DeC., var. nevadensis, Boiss., rare; Artemisia granatensis,
Boiss., known and celebrated as a popular medicine under the name
of Manzanilla ; Umbilicus sedoides, DeC. ; besides Eryngium glaciate,
Ptilotrichum purpureum, Pyrethrum radicans, Jasione amethystina^
Sideritis scordioides, var., and Agrostis nevadensis.

Upon the above-mentioned Borreguiles are found in particular the
following plants : Saxifraga stellaris, L., also frequent near the rivu-
lets of the upper alpine region ; Stellaria cerastioides, L. ; Campanula
Herminii, Lk. and Hoffmsegg. ; Pedicularis verticillata, L. ; Euphra-
sia minima, Schleich. ; Reseda complicata, Bory, descending into the
alpine valleys ; Ranunculus angustifolius, var. uniflorus, DeC. ; R, ace-
tosellcefolius, Boiss. ; Veronica alpina, L. ; Gentiana verna, L., also
frequent on the banks of the alpine lakes ; G. Pneumonanthe, var.
depressa, Boiss., especially on the Borreguil de S. Juan; Pinguicula
leptoceras, Rchb. ; Lotus corniculatus, var. glacialis, Boiss. (very dif-
ferent from the typical form !) ; Sempervivum tectorum, L. ? ; Meum
athamanticum, L. ; Epilobium origanifolium. Lam.

The following plants appear to be more limited to certain locali-
ties of the snow-region, but are there frequent : Saxifraga oppositi'
folia, L., which I met with most beautiful on the frightful precipice
on the northern declivity of the Mulehacen, called the Val de Casil-
las; Butinia bunioides, Boiss., in rocky clefts near the Laguna de Dilar ;
Senecio quinqueradiatus, Boiss., on the way to the perpendicular
groups of rocks called the Polio de Vacares, and in the Val de Casillas ;
Nepeta Nepetella, L., ditto; Fij cm j9y rewaica, Pourr., very sparingly
in the Val de Casillas and in the upper part of the Barranco de Guel-
non, &c.

In the highest part of the great valleys stretching into the snow-
region the following are very frequent : Parnassia palustris, L., in
many places very small ; Euphorbia Esula, L. ; Cirsium acaule, var.
gregarium, Boiss. ; Carum verticillatum, Koch ; Aconitum Lycoctonum,
L., and A. Napellus, L. Among the rarest plants of the snow-
region are the Potentilla nevadensis, Boiss., which I have hitherto
found only in small quantities on the Borreguil of S. Juan, and
Linaria glacialis, Boiss., a small grayish-green and very large-flowered
species, of which I have only met with three specimens in the highest
snow-region. From the valleys of the upper mountain region, — for
example, from the banks of the Monachil at S. Geronimo up to the
snow-region, — the Digitalis purpurea, L., is found frequent, which at
a height of from 8000 to 9000 feet takes a somewhat different habi-
tus, but seems to me not sufficiently to differ from the typical form

Ann, ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. K

Botanical Notices f7'om Spain.

to be regarded as a distinct species, especially as we find various
forms of transition at different heights.

Among the most interesting points of the snow-region and the
whole primitive rocks is the Corral de Veleta, a deep and frightful
basin situated on the northern declivity of the Picacho de Veleta,
whose rocky sides are perpetually filled with snow, and on which
are the sources of the principal branch of the Jenil, which flows down
hence through the deep Barranco de Guelnon, and afterwards unites
with the two other small rivulets proceeding from the Barranco del
Real and the Barranco de Vicares. A narrow steep path, partly
over loose masses of rock, partly over snow and ice, leads from the
lofty precipice, above 10,000 feet in height, down into the rocky
basin, whose highest patches of meadow are about 9000 feet high.
Around the margin of the Corral de Veleta I found especially beau-
tiful the Artemisia granatensis, Sempervivum tectorum, Ptilotrichum
purpureum, and Gentiana verna : on the descent, the Brassica Chei-
ranthus, VilL, var. montana, DeC. ; Ranunculus acetosellafolius, Le-
pidium sty latum : on dripping mossy perpendicular sides of rock, be-
tween masses of ice, the Montia fontana, L. ; Stellaria cerastioides ;
Veronica alpina : but on the level meadows, the Gentiana verna, with
G. alpina, L., Plantago nivalis, Pinguicula leptoceras, Lotus cornicu-
latus, var. glacialis, Luzula spicata, Phleum pratense, &c.

The cryptogamous flora of the primitive rocks is, as respects the
ferns and mosses, far richer than that of the limestone alps, but as
regards the lichens, poorer. Of ferns I found Ceterach officinarum,
"W., very sparingly; most frequent, especially on the shores of the
Laguna de Dilar, a species similar to the Aspidium falcatum, in com-
pany with Cystopteris fragilis and Cheilanthes odora ; besides these
are iound Asplenium Trichomanes, A. Filixfosmina, Aspidium Filix mas
and A. nevadense. Of the Ly cop odiacece I have hitherto found no
trace in the entire Sierra ; on the other hand, the Equisetum sylvati-
cum is frequent on the banks of the Jenil in the upper warm region.
The alpine rivulets of the Borreguiles are filled in parts with several
liverworts, especially a species belonging to Nees von Esenbeck's
genus Chiloscyphus ; but I have hitherto not seen any in fructification,
which is the case also with a large number of mosses. Algae are
rare, and of the Fungi I have hitherto observed only a few Coniomy-
cetes on the leaves of the Quercus Ilex and the stems of Reseda com-
plicata, Bory. Of lichens there are scarcely any, except stone lichens,
amongst others especially a reddish -yellow, but little-fructifying
Parmelia, up to tiie highest rocks of the Picacho de Veleta, Mule-
hacen and Cerro Alcasana.

I have now, as far as time permitted, gone through the portion of
the northern side of the Sierra Nevada which lies between the rivers
Agua blanca, Maydena, Jenil, Monachil and Dilar; and I purpose
now to explore the south side of the range, in the district known by
the name of the Alpujarras.

British Association. 198

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. MEETING

HELD AT CAMBRIDGE.

Section of Zoology and Botany.

June 19, 1845. — The Rev. Professor Henslow in the Chair.

The following are abstracts of the principal communications laid
before the Section.

The first paper read was a Report by Dr. Richardson ** On the
Ichthyology of China."

Till within a recent period little was known of Chinese fishes.
Linnaeus was acquainted with about a score of Japanese fish ; and a
few were afterwards added to the list by LangsdorfF, who accompa-
nied the Russian admiral, Knesenstiern, in his voyage to the Isles of
Japan and the South Sea. With these exceptions, the fish of the
eastern coasts of Asia, from the sea of Ochotsic down to Cochin
China, were till very recently known to European naturalists only from
Chinese and Japanese drawings, several collections of which are to
be found in the Paris and British libraries. Yet the fish of the coasts
of China are abundant, and the fisheries extensive and important.
Materials for the description of these fishes were not wanting. Mr.
John Reeves had beautiful coloured drawings, mostly of the size of
life, made of no fewer than 340 species of fish which are brought to
the markets in Canton. Copies of these drawings now exist in the
British Museum. Some fishes have been recently sent from Chusan ;
other Chinese fishes have been described in the account of the voyage
of the Sulphur. A collection of 100 fishes made at Canton exists in
the museum of the Philosophical Society of Cambridge. From these
and other recent sources the present report was drawn up. The
author concluded from his researches, that the existence of chains of
islands or of continuous coast having ah east and west tendency pro-
motes the range of a species or of a group of species. Thus, to take
the intertropical zone of the ocean, we find very many fish common
to the Red Sea, the coasts of Madagascar, the Mauritius, the Indian
Ocean, the southern parts of China, the Philippines, the whole Ma-
lay Archij)elago, the north coasts of Australia, and the entire range
of Polynesia, including the Sandwich Islands. In the generic forms
of its freshwater fish, China agrees closely with the peninsula of
India. If we could suppose the extensive belt above alluded to,
enclosing more than two- thirds of the circumference of the globe, to
be suddenly elevated, we should find the remains of fish scattered
over it to be everywhere very nearly alike ; the species having a local
distribution being comparatively few and unimportant. These spoils
of fish would of course, in accordance with the observation of Prof.
E. Forbes, be associated with very various assemblages of moUusks
and other marine animals, according to the depth at which the de-
posit took place. This, waa an important &ct lor ttiQ s^a;^ftQp i^f

geology. ;|nvuf nr.jf.ro hm «i dl /r-itnp.-n ru\H -Murvui.. v<f

Kg

124 British Association.

" On a new genus of Mollusca Nudibranchiata** By Messrs. Alder
and Hancock.

This new genus is founded on the Tritonia arbor escens of authors
and its allies, which are distinguished from the true TritonicB {T. Horn-
bergii, &c.) by the form of their tentacula, and the free, arborescent
nature of their branchiae. These characters alone induced the authors
to consider them generically distinct before they had an opportunity
of examining their internal structure, in which such important dif-
ferences in the digestive organs were exhibited as to show that this
new genus, for which the name of Dendronotns is proposed, should
be removed from the family Doridce to that of Eolida, to be placed
first in order, as the connecting link between these two families.

" On the Cilia and Ciliary Currents of the Oyster." By the Rev.
J. B. Reade.

The author stated that in a microscopic investigation of infusoria
which had for some years occupied his attention, he had been led
particularly to notice the beautiful contrivance by which many spe-
cies, when not exerting their powers of locomotion, are supplied with
food. When they are examined under the microscope by such an
arrangement of transmitted light as makes the infusoria luminous
points on a perfectly dark field, it is immediately seen that the action
of the cilia attached to their tentacula produces a strong current in
the water, and hereby a countless number of minute living organisms
is brought within the influence of the cilia, and a sufficient supply is
selected for food. Thus with respect to infusoria it is a known fact,
that the absence of the prehensile organs possessed by larger crea-
tures is compensated by this delicate but efficient ciliary apparatus.
It is also a fact equally well known, that the lips of the oyster which
surround the orifice of the alimentary canal are in the same manner
fringed with cilia ; and that these cilia of the oyster, as of infusoria,
equally cause currents in the water. But it has never been suggested
and proved by any naturalist, that the proper office of the cilia of
oysters is to bring to these acephalous moUusks that food which they
have no power to follow or to seize. Such however, without doubt,
is the case ; and accordingly an examination of the contents of the
stomachs of oysters discovers to us their infusorial food ; and after
undergoing the process of digestion in the stomach, the siliceous
shields of these infusoria, deprived of their organic and carbonaceous
integuments, are ejected as effete matter. In a paper communicated
last year to the Microscopical Society of London, on animals of the
chalk still found in a living state in the stomachs of oysters, these
infusoria were described and enumerated. The apparent identity ex-
isting between these recent living infusoria and the fossil makes the
inquiry of considerable interest to the geologist ; for the addition of
this connecting link to the chain of organized beings extends a con-
tinuous line of the same organic structure from the secondary for-
mation to the tertiary, and seems to preclude the supposition of
Prof. Phillips, that below the tertiary formation are no recent species.
Whether or not this conclusion be admitted, it is a fact, ascertained
by pursuing this inquiry, that the oysters and other bivalves, which are

British Association. 125

innumerable in the Kimmeridge clay, lived, like recent oysters, upon
infusoria ; and consequently the conclusion is unavoidable, that the
Kimmeridge clay, like the chalk, contains a considerable per-centage
of these minute and indestructible bodies which the microscope dis-
covers in it, and is not the mere comminuted detritus of more an-
cient and unorganized materials. With these facts established, we
may still further conclude from analogy, that a similar ciliary appa-
ratus and similar infusorial food were common to the still earlier
bivalves in the seas of the transition formation ; and we may then
ask, — what right have we, in the absence of a careful microscopic
examination of still earlier rocks, to deny the possibility of any por-
tion of their mass being due to the agency of siliceous infusoria ?

June 20. — The Rev. L. Jenyns read a paper " On the Turf of the
Cambridgeshire Fens."

This turf was not formed by sphagnum, as most peat, but from
various species of aquatic plants which had been accumulated for a
long period of years above the remains of forest trees which lie
buried at the bottom of the moor. There are two distinct kinds of
turf, the upper and the lower. The former is the more compact and
heavy of the two ; the latter consists entirely of the bark, wood
and branches of the submerged trees. The turf is not now rapidly
formed, on account of the improved system of drainage. Formerly
it was supposed to grow about twenty inches in sixteen years.

Sir R. Schomburgk read a description of the Murichi, or Ita Palm
of Guiana. This tree grows from the Llanos of Cumana to the
western tributaries of the Rio Negro and the mouth of the Amazon,
or over an area of 550,000 square miles. It was called by Father
Gumilla the arbol de la vida, or tree of life, on account of its various
uses. It is of the greatest importance to the inhabitants of the
country in which it grows. The trunk and its leaves are used for
various household purposes. The sap is a saccharine fluid, much
drunk by the natives. The flowers aff'ord a sweet fermentable liquid,
resembling champagne. The pith of its trunk afibrds a kind of sago.
Even in its decay this palm is of use, and affords a delicacy to the
Indians, which likewise many colonists do not refuse, namely, the
larva of a large beetle. The Curculio palmarum is found in large
numbers in the pith when the trunk is near its decay, and which,
when boiled or roasted, resembles in taste the marrow of a beef bone.
Its average height is about fifty feet, and it has been observed grow-
ing at a height of 3000 to 4000 feet above the level of the sea.

Prof. AUman laid before the Section a monstrosity occurring in
Saxifraga Geum. The three external verticels of the flowers were
normal, but between the stamens and pistil there was developed a
series of adventitious carpels crowded upon the margin of a cup-like
production which surrounds the lower half of the pistil. These ad-
ventitious carpels were characterized by their backs being turned
towards the axis of the flower. The carpels bear ovules on their
margins, which acquired a very considerable degree of development,
becoming completely anatropous, like those in the normal ovary.
Dr. Allman explained this monstrosity by supposing the existence of

126 British Association.

a series of secondary axes, which are given off in a whorl between
the stamens and the primary axis of the flower. These axes termi-
nate in imperfect flowers, of which the additional carpels are the
only remains.

Prof. Henslow exhibited a specimen of Papaver orientale, in which
the filaments of the stamens were converted into bodies bearing
ovules.

Prof. E. Forbes read a paper on the Endemic Distribution of Plants.

The hypothesis of the descent of all the individuals of a species
either from a first pair or from a single individual, and the conse-
quent theory of specific centres being assumed, the isolation of as-
semblages of individuals from their centres, and the existence of
endemic or very local plants, remain to be accounted for. Natural
transport, the agency of the sea, rivers and winds, and carriage by
animals, or through the agency of man, are insuflScient means in the
majority of cases. It is usual to say, that the presence of many
plants is determined by soil or climate, as the case may be ; but if
such plants be found in areas disconnected from their centres by
considerable intervals, some other cause than the mere influence of
soil or climate must be sought to account for their presence. This
cause the author proposes to seek in an ancient connexion of the out-
posts or isolated areas with the original centres, and the subsequent
isolation of the former through geological changes and events, espe-
cially those dependent on the elevation and depression of land. Se-
lecting the flora of the British Islands for a first illustration of this
view. Professor Forbes calls attention to the fact, well-known to bo-
tanists, of certain species of flowering plants being found indigenous
in portions of that area at a great distance from the nearest assem-
blages of individuals of the same species in countries beyond it. Thus
many plants peculiar in the British flora to the west of Ireland have
the nearest portion of their specific centres in the north-west of
Spain ; others, confined with us to the south-west promontory of
England, are, beyond our shores, found in the Channel Isles and the
opposite coast of France ; the vegetation of the south-east of En-
gland is that of the oi)posite part of the continent ; and the alpine
vegetation of Wales and the Scotch Highlands is intimately related
to that of the Norwegian Alps. The great mass of the British flora
has its most intimate relations with that of Germany. The vegeta-
tion of the British Islands may be said to be composed of five floras :
1st, a west Pyrenean, confined to the west of Ireland, and mostly to
the mountains of that district ; 2nd, a flora related to that of the
south-west of France, extending from the Channel Isles, across
Devon and Cornwall, to the south-east and part of the south-west
of Ireland ; 3rd, a flora common to the north of France and south-
east of England, and especially developed in the chalk districts ;
4th, an Alpine flora, developed in the mountains of Wales, north of
England and Scotland ; and 5th, a Germanic flora, extending over
the greater part of Great Britain and Ireland, mingling with the
other floras, and diminishing, though sHghtly, as we proceed west-
Wards, indicating its easterly origin and relation to the characteristic

British Association* IM

flora of northern Germany. Interspersed among the members of the
last-named flora, are very few specific centres peculiar to the British
Isles. The author numbers in ascending order these floras, accord-
ing to their magnitude as to species, and also, in his opinion, accord-
ing to their relative age and period of introduction into the area of
the British Islands. His conclusions on this point are the following :

1 . The oldest of the floras now composing the vegetation of the
British Isles is that of the mountains of the west of Ireland. Though
an alpine flora, it is southernmost in character, and is quite distinct
as a system from the floras of the Scottish and Welsh Alps. Its veiy
southern character, its limitation, and its extreme isolation are evi-
dences of its antiquity, pointing to a period when a great mountain
barrier extended across the Atlantic from Ireland to Spain.

2. The distribution of the second flora, next in point of probable
date, depended on the extension of a barrier, the traces of which
still remain, from the west of France to the south-east of Britain,
and thence to Ireland,

3. The distribution of the third flora depended on the connexion
of the coast of France and England towards the eastern part of the
Channel. Of the former existence of this union no geologist doubts,

4. The distribution of the fourth, or alj)ine flora of Scotland and
Wales, was effected during the glacial period, when the mountain
summits of Britain were low islands, or members of chains of islands,
extending to the area of Norway through a glacial sea, and clothed
with an arctic vegetation, which, in the gradual upheaval of those
islands and consequent change of climate, became limited to the
summits of the new-formed and still existing mountains.

5. The distribution of the fifth, or Germanic flora, depended on
the upheaval of the bed of the glacial sea, and the consequent con-
nexion of Ireland with England, and of England with Germany, by
great plains, the fragments of which still exist, and upon which lived
the great elk and other quadrupeds now extinct.

The breaking up or submergence of the first barrier led to the de-
struction of the second ; that of the second to that of the third ; but
the well-marked epoch of migration of the Germanic flora indicates
the subsequent formation of the Straits of Dover and of the Irish Sea,
as now existing.

To determine the probable geological epoch of the first or west-
Irish flora, — a fragment perhaps with that of north-western Spain, of
a vegetation of the true Atlantic, — we must seek among fossil plants
for a furthermost starting-point. This we get in the flora of the
London clay or eocene, which is tropical in character, and far ante-
rior to the oldest of the existing floras. The geographical relations
of the miocene sea, indicated by the fossils of the crag, give an after-
date certainly to the second and third of the above floras, if not to the
first. The epoch of the red or middle crag was probably coeval with
the second flora ; that of the raammaliferous crag with the third. 7^he
date of the fourth is too evident to be questioned ; and the author
regards the glacial region in which it flourished as a local climate,
of which no true traces, as far as animal life is concerned, exist

138 British Association,

southwards of his second and third barriers. This was the newer
pliocene epoch. The period of the fifth flora was that of the post-
tertiary, when the present aspect of things was organized.

Adopting such a view of the relations of these floras in time, the
greatest difficulties in the way of changes of the earth's surface and
destruction of barriers — deep sea being found where land (probably
high land) was — are removed when we find that those greater
changes must have happened during the epoch immediately subse-
quent to the miocene period ; for we have undoubted evidence that
elsewhere, during that epoch, the miocene sea-bed was raised 6000
feet in the chain of Taurus, and the barriers forming the westward
boundary of the Asiatic eocene lakes so completely annihilated, that
a sea several hundred fathoms deep now takes their probable place.
The changes required for the events which the author would connect
with the peculiar distribution of the British flora are not greater than
these.

Prof. Forbes maintains that the peculiar distribution of endemic
animals, especially that of the terrestrial mollusca, bears him out
in these views. He proposes to pursue the subject in detail, with
reference both to animal and vegetable life, in connexion with the
researches of the geological survey.

June 21. — " Report on the Microscopic Structure of Shells." By
W. B. Carpenter, M.D.

This report formed the continuation of last year's on the minute
structure of the skeletons of Bivalves and Echinodermata. Dr. Car-
penter stated that he had lately examined a recent Terehratula pre-
served in spirits, and ascertained that the perforations in the shell,
before described, were filled up in the living animal by membranous
caeca, containing cells, forming, as he considered, a glandular appa-
ratus, though its connexion he had not yet been able to trace. He
then described the structure of those bivalve mollusks in which the
mantle is more or less closed as being generally less characteristic
than that of the families already described, their texture being ap-
parently more homogeneous, and the membranous residuum left by
the action of acid being less distinct. Frequently, however, traces
of a cellular origin were to be seen in shells whose general texture
was most homogeneous ; sometimes it was seen in the shell, and not
in the decalcified membrane, and frequently in the membrane when
no traces of it were visible in sections of the shell. Hence Dr.
Carpenter felt himself justified in regarding all shells as originating
in the secreting action of the cells forming the superficial layer of
the mantle ; these cells remaining persistent and separate in some
cases, whilst in others they coalesced. The peculiar tenacity of the
cellular membrane in Pinna and its allies was attributed to the pre-
sence of an intercellular horny matter, between the true cell-walls ;
the same substance being elsewhere thrown out upon the surface of
the layer as an epidermis or periostracum. Among the shells under
consideration in the present report, those of the family Myadm Were
particularly distinguished by their evident cellular structure ; the
genus Pandora, formerly referred to as one of the most aberrant and

British Association. 129

exceptional in the structure of its shell, was now shown to be con-
nected with the surrounding families by Mya, Thracia, Anatina, and
other genera of Myadcc, whose characters were of an intermediate
nature. In the class Echinodermata, Dr. Carpenter extended and
confirmed the results he had before given respecting the minute
structure of their skeletons/which preserve a remarkable conformity
throughout the group, extending to the small calcareous plates met
with in the Holothuridce. Dr. Carpenter had also ascertained that
the same minute structure existed in the Nummulite with the small
existing foraminifera described by Ehrenberg ; but that the supposed
Nummulites brought by Mr. Pratt from Bayonne presented several
forms of structure entirely distinct from that of the true Nummulite.

'• On the Sounds produced by one of the Notonectidce under
Water." By Mr. Ball.

He stated, that the fact having been mentioned to him some two
years since, he had not had an opportunity of testing the observation
until within the last few days, when a specimen was brought to him
in an ordinary jelly-glass ; it was, he believed, the Corrixa affinis.
When suspended in the water, about four inches below the surface,
it emitted three short chirrups, and then a long cricket-like sound.
It appears the sounds are emitted in the evening and night, and are
so loud that they may be heard in an adjoining room, and are con-
tinued during the night. Mr. Ball stated that time did not permit
him to make any accurate observation ; but he thought the matter
so curious, that he noticed it with the view of attracting the atten-
tion of entomologists, in the hope of obtaining an explanation of the
manner in which this noise is produced under water.

" On the Scientific Principles on which Classification in the higher
Departments of Zoology should be based." By Mr. Ogilby.

The dental system was, no doubt, a valuable means of diagnosis,
and this depended upon the fact that it had a relation to the stomach
and other viscera intended for the digestion of food. Just in the
same way, the extremities of the mammalia, more particularly the
fore-arm, are the exponents of the habits, mental power and oeconomy
of animals. The fore-arm is the seat of the function of locomotion,
of manipulation and touch. According to the real position of an
animal in the scale of organization will be the character of its fore-
arm. This position was illustrated by examples from the various
families of mammalia. He thought, that in our usual systems of
zoology a too exclusive regard had been given to the structure and
form of the teeth.

Mr. W. Thompson read a letter from Mr. Alder, dated Salcombe,
June 17, 1845, in which the writer stated that he had lately obtained
in Torbay at least ten, and perhaps twelve new species of Mollusca
nudibranchiata, to add to the British fauna. They consist of four
species of Doris, five or six of Eolis, and an animal of an entirely
new genus, approaching nearest to Tritonia. A singular species of
moUusk obtained at the same time, resembling in general appearance
the genus Pelta of Quatrefages, was noticed in detail.

tM British Association,

June 23. — " On the Development of Vegetable Cells." By Mr.
A. Henfrey.

The conclusions were as follows : — 1. That there is no such thing
as the interruption of continuity between the liber and alburnum,
called the cambium layer. 2. That the potentiality of the black
granules described by Schleiden is not proved, and that the utricle
first developed from the so-called cytoblast is not the permanent cell,
but the primordial utricle of Mohl, the existence of which in growing
tissues seems to be universal. 3. That this primordial utricle is not
a layer of mucilage, as stated by Nageli, but a true membrane. The
nucleolus, or central spot of Schleiden's cytoblast, is the germinal
point, and is situated on the wall of the primordial utricle. When
a new cell is to be formed the nucleolus divides into two, and a corre-
sponding construction of the primordial utricle takes place until it
separates into two, a layer of permanent cell- wall substance being
meanwhile secreted in this fold from the circumference to the cen-
tre, till a complete septum is formed. The lateral walls grow by
extension, being moulded on the growing primordial utricle within
them. In the nascent cell the primordial utricle is filled with gra-
nular matter, which during the subsequent growth of the cell re-
mains aggregated round the nucleolus, and thus gives rise to the
appearances whence Schleiden derived his theory of development
from a cytoblast.

"On the Phytelephas Macrocarpa (Vegetable Ivory or Tagua
Plant)." By E. Lankester, M.D.

The author brought this plant under the notice of the Section, as
he was enabled to present a drawing of a young plant, which was
now growing in the garden of Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney. A
fruit also of this plant existed in the British Museum, of which a
drawing was exhibited. A remarkable point in the oeconomy of this
plant was, that the horny albumen of the seed appeared to undergo no
change during the process of germination. In the plant at Loddiges*,
which was now five years old, the seed still remained on the surface
of the soil, apparently as hard as ever. In germination the young
embryo was carried down by a rhizoma an inch or more long into
the earth, and commenced growing at that point. Several analyses
of the albumen of the seeds had been made by Payen, Connell, and
Baumhauer, and, at the author's request, by Dr. Percy of Birmingham.

Prof. All man gave a description of the fruit of some of the Hepa*
ticce. In the capsules, he pointed out thfe existence of spiral cells
or vessels which he believed had a hygroscopic power, and that it
was by their expansion that the capsule burst.

" On Ergot." By Dr. R. Latham.

Dr. Latham stated his conviction, that ergot was on the increase
in this country. When he first began to observe it eight years ago,
he found it on only a few plants ; he now found it in great quanti-
ties. He had collected it altogether from eighteen different species
of grasses. It had also increased on the cultivated grain, and he
believed that ergot was, at this moment, increasing absolutely and
indefinitely. A friend of his attributed its increase to the use of

Royal Society. 131

animal manure, and stated that he had always found the ergot most
abundant in the grasses of churchyards.

June 24. — " On the Germination of Plants." By Dr. Lankester.

The author took the following view of the phsenomena : — That
the only essential process in germination is the growth of the young
plant, or embryo. The process of development of the embryo, from
primitive cytoblasts developing its tissues, is precisely the same as
that of every other part of the plant, and from an identity of struc-
ture an identity of function might be inferred. But the ordinary
theory of germination gave a different function to the tissues of the
embryo. The author regarded the absorption of oxygen, the disen-
gagement of carbonic acid gas and ammonia, as the consequence of
the decomposition of the starch and proteine contained in the albu-
men or perisperm of the seed ; and that the growing cells of the
embryo appropriated the carbonic acid, ammonia and water, just in
the same way as all other cells in the vegetable kingdom.

Mr. Westwood made some remarks on the Honey-Bee. — After
shortly noticing the general oeconomy of the hive-bee as to the pro-
duction of queens and the swarming of casts, he contended, from
the analogy between the circumstances connected with the latter
event and those which accompany the swarming of ants, gnats, white
ants, mayflies, &c., — 1st, that the swarming of insects has for its
principal object the union of the sexes ; 2nd, that from analogy with
other insects subject to swarming, it is to be inferred that that species
does not differ in this respect from other swarming species ; and,
3rd, that it is the newly-hatched, and not the old queen which leads
off the swarm.

June 25. — ** Notes on the Irish Species of Robertsonian Saxi-
frages." By Mr. Andrews.

The author having studied the Irish Saxifrages, and compared
them with those of the Pyrenees, had come to a different conclusion
from Mr. Babington, and believed that there were only two true
species in Ireland, the Saxifraga umbrosa and the S. Geurti. The
other species described by Mr. Babington in his * Manual,' he re-
garded as varieties of one or other of these forms.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

Jtlne 19, 184^5. — " The Blood-Corpuscle considered in its different
phases of development in the Animal Series." By Thomas Wharton
Jones, Esq., F.R.S., Lecturer on Anatomy, Physiology and Patho-
logy, at the Charing Cross Hospital.

This paper is divided into three parts : the first relating to the
blood-corpuscles of the Vertebrata ; the second to those of the In-
vertebrata ; and the last to a comparison between the two. He first
describes the microscopic appearances of these corpuscles in differ-
ent classes of vertebrate animals, beginning with the skate and the
frog, and proceeding to birds and mammifera ; first in their early
embryonic state, and next in the subsequent periods of their growth.
He finds in oviparous vertebrata generally, jfbur principal forms of

132 Royal Society.

corpuscles. These he distinguishes as the phases, first of the gra-
nule blood'Celli which he describes as a cell filled with granules, dis-
closing by the solvent action of dilute acetic acid on these granules
a vesicular, or as the author terms it, a " cellceform " nucleus. These
granule cells appear under two stages of development, namely, the
coarsely granulous stage and the finely granulous stage. The se-
cond phase is that of the nucleolated blood'Cell, oval in shape, con-
taining a vesicular (or " cellaeform ") nucleus, and red-coloured mat-
ter. These cells likewise appear under two stages of development ;
colourless in the first and coloured in the second, in which last stage
it constitutes the red corpuscle. In the early mammiferous embryo,
he finds, in addition to the former, a third phase, that of/ree vesicu-
lar nucleus, exhibiting, like the nucleolated cell, the colourless and
the coloured stages.

On examining the corpuscles of the lymph of vertebrate animals,
the author finds them in all the classes to be identical in structure
with their blood-corpuscles, and differing only in the inferior degree
of coloration attending their last stage. In the oviparous classes, he
observes that the nucleolated are more numerous than the granule
cells, while in the mammifera the latter are predominant, which is
the reverse of the proportion in which they exist in the blood of
these animals. He finds that some of the nucleolated cells of the
contents of the thoracic duct exhibit a marked degree of coloration,
and have an oval shape ; thus offering a resemblance with the blood
of the early embryonic state.

The blood- corpuscles of all the invertebrate animals in which the
author examined them, present the same phases of granule and nu-
cleolated cells as in the higher classes, excepting that in the last
stage of the latter phase the coloration is very slight, but the vesi-
cular nucleus is frequently distinctly coloured. As in the higher
classes, corpuscles exist in different states of transition from the gra-
nular to the nucleolated form of cell. In some of the invertebrata,
corpuscles are found which appear to be the nuclei of some of the
nucleolated cells become free ; and these the author considers to be
abortions, rather than examples, of cells having attained their third
phase of free cells. Corpuscles are also met with in these animals,
in greater or less abundance, belonging to the lowest forms of or-
ganic elements, namely, elementary granules.

The comparison which the author institutes between the blood-
corpuscles of the vertebrate and invertebrate divisions of the animal
kingdom, tends to show that they in all cases pass through similar
phases of development, except with respect to the last, or coloured
stage of the nucleolated cell, which they do not attain in the lower
classes of animals. He finds that the blood-corpuscles of the crab,
according to an analysis made by Professor Graham, contain a sen-
sible quantity of iron, perhaps as much as red corpuscles. He con-
siders the corpuscles of the blood of the invertebrata, inasfar as re-
lates to the absence of nucleolated cells, as resembling those of the
lymph of vertebrate animals.

" Observations on the Growth and Development of the Epider-

Royal Society, 133

mis." By Erasmus Wilson, Esq., F.R.S., Lecturer on Anatomy and
Physiology in the Middlesex Hospital.

The author adduces evidence derived from his microscopic obser-
vations, in confirmation of the commonly received doctrine respect-
ing the origin of the cells of the epidermis and epithelium generally,
from the materials furnished by the liquor sanguinis or plasma of
the blood ; which fluid, passing by endosmosis through the walls of
the capillary vessels and peripheral boundary of the surface, deve-
lopes granules by a vital process, analogous to coagulation. On a
careful examination of the inner surface of the epidermis with the
aid of the microscope, he finds it to be composed of four kinds of
elements, arranged in such a manner as to constitute an irregular
plane, similar to a tesselated or mosaic pavement. These elements
are, — 1. Granules, which the author ierm^ primitive, of a globular
form, solid and apparently homogeneous, and measuring about
1 -20,000th part of an inch in diameter. 2. Aggregated granules,
having about double the diameter of the former and apparently com-
posed of as many of these as can be aggregated together without
leaving an unoccupied space in the centre of the mass. 3. Nucleated
granules measuring in diameter from the 6000th to the 4000th part
of an inch, each being composed of an aggregated granule as a
nucleus, enveloped by a single layer of aggregated granules, giving
to the whole mass an oval or circular, and at the same time flat-
tened shape. Their constituent granules have acquired, during this
aggregation, greater density, and are separated from each other by
distinct interstitial spaces filled with a transparent homogeneous sub-
stance. 4. Nucleolo-nucleolated cells pervading the deep stratum of
the epidermis, and of which the longer diameter measures from the
3000th to the 2500th part of an inch. These cells, which constitute
the principal portion, and may be regarded as the chief constituent
of the epidermis, are formed from the nucleolated granules, on the ex-
terior of which there is superposed a transparent layer, bounded by a
well-defined outline, by the dark interstitial substance of the wall of the
cell ; the nucleolated granule being the nucleus, and the aggregated
granule the nucleolus of these primitive cells of the epidermis. The
author is of opinion that the nuclei, up to a certain point, grow with
the cells, by the separation of the original granules from the deposi-
tion between them of interstitial matter, and also by the cleavage of
the latter and the consequent multiplication of the granules. This
peripheral growth of the cells is totally different from the mode of
growth described by Schwann, and explains the disappearance of the
nucleus in the scales of the epidermis. The observations of the
author lead him to believe that the same process of development and
of growth is followed in the epithelium as in the epidermis ; and he
offers evidence, showing that similar arrangements take place in the
cells of melanosis, in the pigment cells of the choroid membrane of
the eye, and in those of the skin of the negro.

" On the Temperature of Man." By John Davy, M.D., F.R.S.
L. &E.

Having in a former paper shown that, contrary to a commonly

184 Royal Society.

received opinion, the temperature of the human body, as mea-
sured by a thermometer placed under the tongue, is not a constant
one, the author has resumed the inquiry, and gives, in the present
paper, the results of numerous observations made with a particular
instrument constructed for the purpose, admitting of minute accu-
racy (each degree of the scale being divided into ten parts), and
when used with the precautions pointed out, affording satisfactory
indications of the many problems which may be proposed relative to
the temperature of man, &c., confining himself to a small number,
and offering the information he brings forward only as a preliminary
contribution in aid of their solution.

The paper is divided into seven sections.

The first treats of variations of temperature during the twenty-four
hours. The author finds from his observations, that the temperature
is highest in the morning, on rising after sleep ; that it continues
high, but fluctuating, till the evening ; and that it is lowest about
midnight, ranging on an average from 98*7 to 97*9.

The second, of variations during the diff'erent seasons. These, he
finds, bear some relation to the temperature of the air, but less than
might be expected ; which he attributes to the majority of the ob-
servations having been made within doors, under circumstances pe-
culiarly favourable to uniformity.

The third, of the influence of active exercise on the temperature.
The effect of this, when not carried to the length of exhausting fa-
tigue, he finds to be elevating ; and that the augmentation is, within
a certain limit, proportional to the degree of muscular exertion.

The fourth, of passive, such as carriage exercise. The effect of
this in a cool air, contrary to that of quick walking or riding, would
appear to be lowering.

The fifth, of abstinence from all exercise in a cold atmosphere.
This he finds to be depressing in a still greater degree ; sitting in a
cold church has occasioned a reduction of temperature from 1° to
2°, the air of the church being from 42° to 32°.

The sixth, of sustained attention or exertion of mind. This would
appear to have the effect of raising the temperature, but in a much
less degree than bodily exercise.

The seventh, of taking food. It would appear that a light meal,
such as breakfast, alters very little the temperature, whilst a heavy
meal, such as dinner with wine, tends to lower it.

The conclusion drawn by the author from his observations, con-
sidered in their greatest generality, is, that the temperature of man
is constantly fluctuating within a certain limit, regularly during
the twenty-four hours ; and irregularly according to the operation
of certain disturbing circumstances.

Should multiplied observations give similar results, he infers that
they will admit of many applications, both as regards the regulation
of clothing, the warming of apartments, and it may be the preven-
tion and cure of diseases, — conducive alike to increase of comforts
and health.

Tables are appended containing a series of observations extend-

Geological Society. 135

ing through eight months, in which not only the temperature of the
body is noticed, but also the frequency of the pulse and of respira-
tion, and the temperature of the air.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Feb, 26, 1845. — A paper was read by Mr. Lyell, *' On the
Miocene Tertiary Strata of Maryland a^d Virginia, and North and
South Carolina."

These rocks of the middle tertiary period are chiefly exhibited
between the hill countiy and the Atlantic, and form a band of low
and nearly level country, almost 150 miles wide, and not 100 feet
high. They are assumed to belong to this period, because they are
seen resting on the eocene deposits, and exhibit about the same pro-
portion of recent species. The United States miocene beds consist
chiefly of incoherent sand and clay, and the sandy beds, otherwise
barren, have often been fertilized by the use of shell marl. In the
suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, there is however a remarkable bed
of siliceous sand, derived from the cases of infusorial animalcules.
The paper was accompanied by comparative tables and lists of the
fossils.

A paper, also by Mr. Lyell, *' On the White Limestone and
other Eocene Tertiary Formations of Virginia, South Csu-olina and
Georgia."

The eocene beds extend chiefly to the south of the miocenes de-
scribed in the foregoing paper, and are very widely spread in the
Southern States on the shores of the Atlantic. The mineral character
of the beds in the north is so like that of the cretaceous series, that
were it not for the fossils, they might readily be mistaken ; but to-
wards the south a new mineral type is put on, and the rocks consist
of highly calcareous white marl and white limestone. In point of
fact, there seems to be as great a chasm between the cretaceous rocks
and the tertiaries in America as in Europe.

A second part of Mr. LyelFs paper gave an account of a series of
rocks, called in America the Burr-stone, a siliceous rock, ccmtaining
fossil sponges, and belonging, it would seem, to the upper division of
the eocene period.

March 12. — A communication was read by Prof. Sedgwick, "On
the Comparative Classification of the Fossiliferous Slates of North
"Wales, with the corresponding deposits of Cumberland, Westmore-
land and Lancashire."

The object of the author in this memoir was to give a general ac-
count of the Silurian rocks of the lake district of the North of En-
gland, comparing them with those of North Wales, so far as he had
hitherto investigated the subject. In both there appears to be a se-
ries extending through the various members of the Silurian rocks.
In the lake district, the Lower Silurian rocks are imperfectly seen,
and are not more than 300 or 400 feet thick, the Ash Gill beds being
the highest ; but the Upper Silurians are admirably shown, and con-
tain characteristic fossils. Of these latter, the Coniston limestone

186 Geological Society,

and the Coniston flags form an important group as much as 1200 or
1400 feet thick, and correspond with the Denbigh flags of North
"Wales and the Wenlock shale and limestone of the Silurian system.
The Ireleth slate and grits succeed and occupy a considerable space,
and must be of very great thickness. These higher beds in Cumber-
land abound with Terehratula Navicula, but above them are remark-
able bands with Asterias, while the upper portion is full of fossils,
the prevailing type of which is Upper Ludlow.

April 2. — A paper was read by Mr. Austen, ** On an Aerolite
said to have fallen near Lymington, Hants."

A paper was also read by Capt. Bayfield, R.N., "On the Junction
of the Transition and Primary Rocks of Canada and Labrador."

April 16. — A paper was read by Mr. Macintosh, " On the Sup-
posed Evidence of the former existence of Glaciers in North Wales."

Mr. Macintosh combated the opinion of Dr. Buckland as to the
origin of scratches and grooves on various rocks, referring these ap-
pearances, in many cases, to structural phsenomena.

April 30. — A paper was read by Mr. Murchison, " On the Palae-
ozoic Deposits of Scandinavia and the Baltic provinces of Russia,
and their relations to Azoic or more ancient crystalline rocks, with
an account of some great features of dislocation and metamorphism
along their northern frontiers."

In this paper Mr. Murchison gave a general outline of the result
of his recent examination of Northern Europe, and the conclusions
to which he has arrived, chiefly with reference to the classification
of a large tract of country before undescribed on a large and compre-
hensive scale.

May 14. — An extract was first read from a letter by Dr. A. Ges-
ner, ** On the Gypsiferous Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia."

A paper was read by Mr. Austen, ** On the Coal Beds of Lower
Normandy."

The chief object of the author was to describe the actual geolo-
gical position of these small basins, and suggest that they might
rather be of the Permian than the true Carboniferous period.

Dr. Mantell read a paper, entitled *' Notes of a Microscopical Ex-
amination of the Chalk and Flint of the South-east of England, with
remarks on the Animalcules of certain Tertiary and Modern Deposits."

This paper is given entire in our present Number, p. 73.

A paper was read by Mr. Bowerbank, *' On some specimens of
Pterodactyl recently found in the Lower Chalk of Kent."

May 28. — A communication was read, "On the Geology of Lycia."
By Prof. E. Forbes and Lieut. Spratt, R.N.

The authors stated, that the rock forming the greater part of Lycia
consists of the scaglia, or Apennine limestone, a series not very di-
stinctly defined, and that near the river Xanthus another rock of
greenish sandstone, whose age was not determined, rested conform-
ably on the scaglia. In other places true tertiary beds, both marine
and freshwater, overlie the scaglia ; and of these the marine are the
most ancient, and, from the fossils which occur in the diflferent beds,
they are found to be all of the same age. The authors then described

Asiatic Society. 137

the districts in which the tertiary marine beds appear, some of them
being from 2000 to 3000 feet, and others at a still greater elevation
above the sea-level. The freshwater tertiaries of Lycia are much
more extensive than the marine beds, and extend over the district at
heights of 200 or 300 feet above tlie plain. They consist of marls,
capped by flat tables of conglomerate limestone. The relative age
of these tertiary beds is determined by the presence of both marine
and freshwater strata in the two great valleys of the Xanthus, the
former being identified with the Bordeaux miocenes, and the latter
therefore being much newer than the eocene freshwater tertiaries of
Smyrna. A considerabl^«iass of travertine is found in the great
plains of Pamphylia, and it forms cliffs of considerable height, through
which the rivers pour. Certain recent changes of level were also
noticed, which had attracted the attention of Sir C. Fellows. In
conclusion, the authors consider that the scaglia, the formation of
most ancient date, was deposited as fine sediment in a deep sea, and
was in progress during the whole of the secondary, including the
cretaceous, epoch ; the evidence of this consisting in the remarkable
mixture of fossils observable in Mount Lebanon and elsewhere, and
the great thickness, the extent, and the conformable superposition
of the different beds. The sandy beds resting on the scaglia seem
to have been more recent than the miocene marine strata, the pre-
sence of which marks a great change in elevation. This change was
more than paralleled by a converse one of depression, producing
lakes in which the freshwater tertiary beds were deposited, and which
have been since drained by changes in level still going on.

A short notice was read, being the translation of a memoir by the
Baron Leopold von Buch, " On a new family of Crinoidal Animals,
called Cystidea"

The stony cases of these animals differ from Encrinites chiefly in
the absence of arms and the presence of ovarial apertures in the
plates. They are found abundantly in the lower beds of the Silurian
series, chiefly in Scandinavia.

A paper was read, " On the Relation of the New Red Sandstone
to the Carboniferous Strata in Lancashire and Cheshire." By E.
W. Binney, Esq.

The author endeavoured to show that the Lancashire coal-field, al-
though of great thickness, does not exhibit a passage upwards into
the new red sandstone, but that it is a more perfect series than that
in the west of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. He also supposes that the
coal-measures are generally thrown down by the various faults, the
dislocation being of some extent ; that these measures continue un-
altered beneath the upper beds ; and finally, that the lower portions
of the new red sandstone are but imperfectly exhibited in the coal-
field in question.

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

June 21.— Sir G. T. Staunton, Bart., M.P., in the chair.

Mr. A. Bettington, of the Bombay Civil Service, read a paper " On
certain Fossils procured by himself on the Island of Perim. in the
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. L

138 Asiatic Society.

Gulf of Cambay ; more particularly on a Gigantic Ruminant, having
some affinities to the Sivatherium and the Giraffe." After adverting
to former notices of fossils obtained on this island, the writer de-
scribed its situation in the midst of the gulf -stream of Cambay,
which separates it from the main land, and deposits large quantities
of alluvium brought down by the rivers emptying themselves into it.
These rivers, in the present day, in the freshes, transport into the
Gulf large trees, and the bodies of oxen, deer, bears, and other ani-
mals ; and in the great floods of past ages are considered to have
brought down and deposited, as now discovered, the remains of rumi-
nants and Pachydermata, some extinct and unheard-of, others having,
in the present day, their living congeners in the Indian rivers. The
bed from which the writer obtained the fossil specimens exhibited is
below the usual water-mark, and inaccessible except at the ebb of
spring-tides. A portion only of those obtained were brought to
England, the remainder were left in India. The most remarkable of
those in this country was a large skull, which is now, by competent
judges, pronounced to be the first specimen of a new genus. The
mass of conglomerate which contained it weighed about 170 lbs., and
the separation of the skull from near 100 lbs. of matrix occupied Mr.
Bettington many weeks. The skull, on the whole, is well-preserved,
though a portion has suffered from the action of water. The lines
of teeth on the two sides of the palate are unconformable ; and it has
been conjectured that the head must at this part have suffered from
violence, but there is no appearance of fracture. For the purposes of
comparison, Mr. Bettington had made a close measurement of every
part of the Perim fossil, of the Sivatherium, and of the skull of the
adult giraffe in the British Museum ; from all which it appeared that
the Perim fossil is the smaller. The teeth are similar in number and
character to those of the Sivatherium, and are somewhat smaller, as
the comparative size of the heads would lead us to expect A marked
distinction between the two is found in the excess in width of the
cranium at the vertex, being in the Sivatherium twenty-two inches,
and in the Perim fossil little more than eleven inches, in which cha-
racter the latter approaches nearer to the giraffe. But the greatest
point of difference is in the form and position of the horns. In the
Sivatherium the horns bear somewhat the same relation to each other
as in the four-horned antelope ; whereas, in the fossil under consi-
deration, the anterior horns rise from a confluent base measuring
twenty-five inches, the horns above the line of division measuring
eighteen inches. This formation the writer considers to be without
precedent in the animal kingdom, fossil or recent. The general
character, cancellar structure, and extensive development of the pro-
tuberance at the lower edge of the transverse ridge of the occiput,
compel the conviction that it was a posterior horn, " reflected" as in
the common Indian buft'alo, and must have produced an appearance
truly monstrous. The whole formation indicates great force and
power. Among the other fossils, there were some identical with
those of the Sevalik hills, and others peculiar, as yet, to Perim.
Among the latter was a new Crocodilean. There were specimens of

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 189

three species of mastodon, gariols and rhinoceros, and the heads,
horns and teeth of stags, antelopes, oxen, &c. The writer concluded
with the observation that there was still a rich field of research re-
maining at this deposit, and that he had sent to India, not only for
some of the specimens before referred to, but was also making ar-
rangements for prosecuting further research.

Dr. Mantell remarked, that the specimens aflforded additional
confirmation of the fact, first pointed out by Capt. Cautley and
Dr. Falconer, that in the tertiary formations of India were collocated
the remains of several species of reptiles and mammalia, with those
of extinct species and genera belonging to the most ancient European
deposits of the same geological group (the eocene) ; as, for exam])le,
the teeth and bones of the Cheiropotamus, and other pachyderms of
the Paris basin, with those of the existing gariol of India. Dr.
Mantell then offered some observations on the analogy which the
specimens from Perim, as well as those from Ava and from the Se-
valik hills, presented in their mineralogical condition, and the me-
chanical action to which they had been subjected, with those more
ancient fossil bones and teeth that abound in the Wealden deposits
of the south-east of England, particularly with those obtained from
the conglomerate and grits of Tilgate Forest. The Indian and the
British fossils are alike mineralized by iron, and have an investment
of indurated ferruginous sand, interspersed with quartz, piebbles and
rolled fragments of other rocks ; and the bones are, for the most part,
mutilated and much water-worn, proving that previously to their
mineralization they had been exposed to abrasion from streams and
rivers, and were transported from a great distance by currents.
Dr. Mantell dwelt on the discrepancy between the faunas of the two
epochs, although that of the Wealden was as decidedly of a tropical
character as that of the tertiary strata of India ; but in the latter
large mammalia prevailed, while in the far more ancient secondary
formation of England mammalia were absent, and the place of the
gigantic ruminants and pachyderms was occupied by herbivorous
reptiles of appalling magnitude.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

May 8, 1845.— Dr. Seller, V.P., in the Chair.

A collection of British specimens was announced from the London
Botanical Society ; and fresh specimens of a Primula, regarded as the
P. elatior of Jacquin, from Dr. Dewar, Dunfermline, were placed on
the table.

The following papers were read : —

1. "On some species of Cuscuta." By Charles C. Babington,
M.A., F.L.S. &c., Cambridge. (Ann. Nat. Hist. p. 1 of the present
volume.

2. " On the genus Diodium, Breb." By John Ralfs, M.R.C.S.
&c., Penzance.

June 12. — Dr. Douglas Maclagan, President, in the chair.
The following communications were read : —
1. "List of the rarer Lichens found in the neighbourhood of

L2

140 Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

Oswestry and Ludlow, with occasional observations." By the Rev.
T. Salwey. (See p. 90 of the present Number.)

2. Dr. Seller read part of a paper, entitled " Observations on some
Plants obtained from the shores of Davis's Straits."

3. " On Datura tatula, as a Specific for Relief of Asthma." By
Mrs. H. N. Ferguson of Biel. In this communication (which is an
extract from a letter), the Datura tatula is described as most effica-
cious in relieving asthmatical complaints, while the D. Stramonium,
the species commonly used, was found quite inert.

The following directions regarding the preparation of the plant
may be deemed useful : — " The proper time for taking up the roots
is towards the end of October, when the seed-pods are ripe ; the
plants should be drawn from the ground, and the roots cut off, with
an inch or two of the stalk. They should then be freed from soil,
and dried in the shade. When required for use, the root should be
torn into small shreds, and put into a clean tobacco-pipe. The
smoke causes no nausea, so that the most delicate lady may use it."

July 10. — Dr. Douglas Maclagan, President, in the chair.

The Curator reported that several valuable additions had been
made to the Society's collections during the present season, both in
the Foreign and British departments, and that the library had re-
ceived valuable additions through the liberality of members and
correspondents. During the past year the Assistant-Curator has
been chiefly engaged in adding to and arranging the Society's her-
barium, and he has to acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered
by Mr. C. C. Babington of Cambridge, in reducing to order the ex-
tensive collection of European plants. A very valuable and instruc-
tive series of these has been selected for the Society, the remainder
being set aside for distribution among the members. Much of
the Assistant -Curator's time has also been employed in the distribu-
tion of the Society's duplicates, especially to foreign members. This
work is now nearly completed. A large collection of British plants
which have been accumulating for several years is now being ar-
ranged, and specimens for the Society selected, in order to fill up
the different sections marked out in Mr. Brand's plan for arranging
that part of the herbarium. A detailed account of the donations to
the herbarium and library will be published in the annual report.

The following communications were read : —

1. Dr. Seller read the remainder of his paper, entitled '* Observ^a-
tions on some Plants from the shores of Davis's Straits."

2. " On two species of Desmidiece." By Mr. J. Ralfs.

Mr. James M'Nab exhibited a Pelargonium bearing two distinct
varieties of flowers which were strikingly dissimilar, and were
growing on separate branches, no artificial means having been em-
ployed in their production.

Dr. Neill exhibited a specimen of the Tussac grass, received from
the Falkland Islands.

Miscellaneous, 141

MISCELLANEOUS.

RANUNCULUS LENORMANDI, F. W. SCHULTZ.

In my * Manual' I have noticed a plant as a variety (/3. grandiflorus)
of R. hederaceus, v^'hich it seems quite certain is the above species,
described by Schultz in the ' Flora,' vol. xx. p. 726, and aj^ain in the
same journal, vol. xxiv. p. 171, and recently figured by Cosson and
Germain in the first portion of their beautiful ' Atlas de la Flore des
Environs de Paris.' It differs from R. hederaceus by each lobe of its
leaves having two or three notches, its carpels obovate and tipped
with a terminal style, petals broader and longer, stipules very broad
and scarcely at all adnate to the petioles. It is a considerably larger
plant than R. hederaceus, and has probably been overlooked in En-
gland as either that species in a vigorous state or perhaps as a state
of R. aquatilis, from which the want of capillarily-divided leaves and
the absence of setse on the receptacle distinguish it. — C. C. B.

CAREX MONTANA, LINN.

Mr. William Mitten, of Hurstpierpoint, has had the good fortune
to find this plant in a field in Sussex, near to Tonbridge Wells. It
much resembles C. pilulifera, a specimen of which is I believe pre-
served in the Linnsean herbarium in mistake for C. montana ; but the
true plant of Linnaeus has been accurately determined in Sweden.
C montana differs from C. pilulifera by having ovate fertile spikes,
much blunter or retuse and darker glumes, oblong-obovate hairy
fruit, and an oblong nut. — C. C. B.

MIGRATIONS OF SALMON.

About a year and a half ago. Lord Glenlyon, with the praiseworthy
motive of deciding the long-agitated question as to whether the sal-
mon, after returning to the ocean from its spawning-ground, again
resought the same river on another return of the season, caused a
number of kelts, or foul fish, to be caught and marked, by attaching
a label, by a ring, to what is called the dead fin of each. I^ast sum-
mer a number of these were captured on various stations in the Tay,
but, so far as we have heard, none in the Earn ; on Tuesday last an-
other was caught at the Rashbush, a fishing-ground below Inchyra.
This fish was in excellent condition, and weighed 21 lbs. The label
bore as follows: — "Lord Glenlyon, Dunkeld, No. 129." — Perth
Advertiser.

ON THE SPORES OF SOME ALG^. BY M. GUSTAVE THURET.

M. Unger has published a very interesting investigation of the
Achlya prolifera* . The researches which I have made on this sin-
gular Alga, whilst confirming most of the observations of M. Unger,
have presented to me some new facts, which I shall describe else-
where. I shall content myself here with rectifying an error into

* Ann. dcs Sc. Nat., 3rd Series, 1814, vol. ii. p. 5. pi. 1.

14S Miscellaneous.

which the German naturalist has fallen on the subject of the organi-
zation of the spores. M. Unger regards them as clothed with a
ciliated membrane, similar to that which he was the first to observe
on the spores of the Vaucheria. I am convinced, on the contrary,
by repeated observations, that they are furnished with two long cilia
inserted on the rostrum ; an analogous arrangement to that which I
have figured in the spores of the Conferva glomerata and crispata*.

During the excursion which I made with M. Decaisne on the coasts
of the British Channel, we had frequent opportunity of studying the
spores of Ectocarpus siliculosus, of Ulva lactuca, and of Enteromor-
pha compressa. In the Ectocarpus we found two cilia inserted on
a colourless rostrum. In Ulva and Enter omorpha the spores have
four ciha. I found this same number in soft-water Algae, the Con-
ferva zonata, whose spores are similar to those of the Chcetophora and
Draparnauldia. They present a very visible red point, which I have
even perceived sometimes on spores still enclosed in the tube of the
plant. I may remark that the Conferva zonata is, moreover, a very
distinct Alga from the true Conferva. These latter appear to me to
form a clearly limited genus, all the species of which have the tube
finely striped with longitudinal striae, for instance Conferva glomerata^
crispata, rupestris, &c. These longitudinal striae are themselves in-
tersected by extremely fine transversal striae, which appear to me
to have hitherto escaped all microscopic observers. — Ann. des Sci.
Nat., Mai 1845.

On the Extinct Mammals of Australia, with Additional Observations
on the genus Dinornis of Netv Zealand. By Prof. Owen.

In a previous report Prof. Owen had demonstrated the former
existence in Australia of two genera of Marsupial animals, rivalling
in size the rhinoceros and hippopotamus of the old continent. Since
the reading of his first report, Prof. Owen had received three molar
teeth belonging to the upper jaw of the Diprotodon ; the crown of
each tooth was divided into two principal transverse ridges, like those
of the lower jaw, and the enamel presented the wrinkled and punc-
tate surface peculiar to the genus. With these was found a large
scalpriform incisor, whose bevelled cutting edge showed that it
worked upon a similar tooth in the lower jaw. The Diprotodon,
therefore, had molars like the kangaroo ; but, instead of the two
large incisors in the lower jaw being opposed to six smaller in the
upper, as in the kangaroo, it had two large incisors above as well as
below, agreeing in form and structure, and relative size, with those
of the Wombat. Prof. Owen considered himself justified in conclu-
ding that the Diprotodon combined the characters of Phascolomys
with those of Macropus, exhibiting both upon a gigantic scale, and
constituting one of those links in the chain of being which the course

• Recherches sur les Orgaiies I^ocomoteurs des Spores des Algues (Ann.
des Sc. Nat, 2nd Series, 1843, vol. xix. p. 266. pi. 10.). In that memoir I
have erroneously designated the Conferva crispata by the name of C. rivu-
laris.

Meteorological Observations. 143

of time has broken and destroyed. Prof. Owen also stated that a
large collection of bones of the Dinornis had been obtained from a
new locality by Mr. Percy Earle. This collection contains four of
the species of Dinornis already described, including the three most
remarkable for gigantic stature. One of these, with a stature nearly
equalling the ostrich, presents in all the bones of its leg double the
thickness in proportion to their length, and must have been the
strongest and most robust bird in proportion to its size that ever
existed. Of the gigantic species, vertebrae, ribs, and an almost en-
tire sternum, most resembling that of the Apteryx, have been ob-
tained. The Rev. Mr. Williams has also transmitted the cranial
portion of a skull related in size to the Dinornis struthoides, mani-
festing many peculiarities and a striking resemblance to the same
part in the Dodo and Apteryx. — Proc. Brit. Assoc. Cambridge.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JUNE 1845.

Chismck. — June 1. Overcast and fine. 2. Very fine : sultry. 3. Sultry: rain
at night. 4. Showery. 5. Slight rain : cloudy: boisterous at night. 6. Cloudy
and windy. 7. Very fine : showery, and boisterous at night. 8. Boisterous :
clear and fine. 9. Very fine. 10 — 12. Very fine : sultry : clear and fine at nights.
13. Foggy: sultry. 14,15. Very hot and sultry. 16. Overcast. 17. Sultry.
18. Rain: clear at night. 19. Hazy : very fine. 20. Cloudless: very fine.
21 — 23. Very fine. 24. Uniformly overcast : heavy rain : clear. 25. Cold and
dry: cloudy: rain. 26. Cloudy : fine. 27. Rain. 28. Overcast: heavy showers :
clear. 29. Very fine. 30. Slight rain : very fine. — Mean temperature of the
month 1 \° above the average.

Boston. — June 1. Rain : rain early a.m. : rain a.m. 2. Fine. 3. Fine :
2 o'clock P.M. thermometer 72° : rain p.m. 4. Fine: thunder and lightning, with
rain P.M. 5. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 6. Windy. 7. Fine : rain p.m. 8. Cloudy.
9. Fine. 10. Fine: 3 o'clock p.m. thermometer 74°. 11. Fine: I o'clock p.m.
thermometer 75°. 12. Fine: 4 o'clock p.m. thermometer 76°. 13. Fine:

I o'clock P.M. thermometer 78°. 14. Fine : 12 o'clock noon thermometer 78°.
15. Cloudy. 16. Cloudy : 1 o'clock P.M. thermometer 78". 17. Fine. 18. Cloudy:
rain early a.m. : rain a,m. and p.m. 19. Fine. 20. Cloudy. 21. Fine. 22.
Cloudy. 23. Fine. 24. Fine : rain, with thunder and lightning p.m. 25. Cloudy.
26. Fine. 27. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 28. Cloudy : rain a.m. : thunder
and lightning 1 p.m. 29. F'ine. 30. Fine : rain early a.m. — N.B. The warmest
June since June 1826.

Sandwich Manse, Orkney. — June 1. Cloudy. 2. Cloudy : clear, 3. Bright :
cloudy. 4. Showers. 5. Bright : showers. 6. Bright : drops. 7. Clear :
fine. 8. Drops: rain: clear. 9. Drops: cloudy. 10. Bright: damp. 11,
12. Bright : cloudy. 13. Bright: clear. 14. Damp : cloudy : fine. 15. Cloudy:
rain. 16. Fog. 17. Bright : damp. 18. Rain : damp. 19. Bright : clear.
20. Bright: damp. 21. Cloudy. 22. Showers : cloudy. 23. Bright : cloudy.
24. Damp : fine. 25. Bright : showers : cloudy. 26. Rain : damp. 27. Showers.

28. Cloudy: showers. 29. Showers : clear. SO. Cloudy : clear.
Applegarth Manse, Dumfries -shire. — June 1. Fine soft rain. 2. Very fine:

fair. 3. Fine rain. 4. Showers all day. 5. Rain continued. 6. Kain. 7. Soft
showers. 8. Heavy rain a.m. : fair p.m. 9. Showers. 10. Fair and growing.

II — 14. Very fine summer day. 15. Very fine summer day: thunder: a few
drops of rain. 16. Showery all day. 17. Slight showers. 18. Slight showers
p.m. 19, 20. Fair and fine. 21. Fair and fine: a few drops : rain. 22. Fair
and fine : very dry. 23. Fine : one slight shower. 24. Rain, very heavy. 25.
Showers. 26. Fair and fine. 27. Rain: wind : thunder. 28. Fair and clear.

29. Fair a.m. : shower p.m. 30. Showers.

Mean temperature of the month 56°'55

Mean temperature of June 1844 55 '10

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THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

No. 104. SEPTEMBER 1845.

XIV. — On the Anatomy of Actseon, with remarks on the Order
Phlebenterata of M. de Quatrefages. By Geo. J. Allman,
M.B., F.R.C.S., M.R.I.A., Professor of Botany in Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, late Demonstrator of Anatomy T.C.D.*
[With three Plates.]
In the seventh volume of the ' Linnsean Transactions ' is a memoir
by Colonel Montagu, in which is described, under the name of
Aplysia viridis, a small gasteropod discovered by this naturalist on
the coast of Devonshire. The Aplysia viridis of Montagu was
afterwards separated by Oken from the true Aplysias, and made to
constitute a distinct genus under the name of Actaon. A moUusk
evidently referable to the same genus is named Aplysiopterus
neapolitanus by Delle Chiaje, who describes and figures it in his
great work on the Invertebrate animals of the kingdom of
Naples. The Italian naturalist gives some details of its anatomy,
but his account is manifestly full of errors, and he seems to
mistake the ramified apparatus in connexion with the stomach
for a vascular system. A mollusk also apparently referable to
Oken's genus Actaon is described in the ' Faune d^Europe Sep-
tentrionale ' of Risso, under the name of Elysia timida ; and iXiore
recently M. de Quatrefages (Ann. des Sci. Nat. March 1844) has
published a very elaborate description of the genus, in which he
advances some new and startling views to which he had been pre-
viously led by the examination of Eolidina, a small nudibranch,
apparently an Eolis, but for the reception of which this naturalist
believes it necessary to construct a new genus. The claims of
M. de Quatrefages' opinions to reception by naturalists will be
considered in the present paper.

The following anatomical details have been drawn up from
careful dissections of Actaon viridis, and as no figure which we
have seen represents with sufficient accm-acy the external cha-
racters of this little mollusk, we have thought it necessary to give
among the illustrations of the present memoir a drawing made
with great care from the living animal.

* Read before the Meeting of the British Association at York, Sept. 1844.
Ann. ^ Mag, N. Hist, VoLxvi. M

146 Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon.

Action, Oken, Aplysia, Mont., Aplysiopterus, Delle Chiaje,
Elysia, Risso.

Body subcylindrical, with two foliaceous lateral expansions
which are produced beyond the posterior extremity of the body,
where they unite with one another along the mesial line. Ten-
taenia two, auriform, not retractile. Anus lateral, placed at the
right side.

A. viridis (PI. V. figs. 1, 3, 3.). — The largest specimens of A,
viridis measured about nine lines in length ; the general colour
of the body and foliaceous expansions is a dull green ; the latter
are margined with purple and dotted on both sides with small
green, blue, and rose-coloured points of a brilliant metallic lustre,
and arranged in groups without any definite order ; similar dots
are also found upon the upper surface of the body ; a nearly co-
lourless line extends from the posterior extremity of the body to
the termination of the branchial expansions. TJie tentacula are
of a dull purple, and the eyes are placed in the centre of a nearly
colourless areola. The upper lip is dark purple.

This little mollusk was obtained abundantly by means of a
small dredge among Zostera marina in the harbours of Glandore,
Castletownsend and Crook Haven, co. Cork, in the months of
August and September 1844.

When confined in a glass of sea-water it would creep upon the
sides of the vessel, adhering not only by the under surface of the
body, but by that of the lateral expansions along the whole
length of their junction in the mesial line ; external however to a
narrow space corresponding to their line of junction, the expan-
sions were entirely free, and possessed no power of attachment.
Our little mollusk would also take delight in suspending itself in
a horizontal position with its back downwards, from the surface
of the water. It would sometimes separate its lateral expansions
till they became placed nearly in the same plane, and again ele-
vating them vertically, would bring their opposed sm-faces nearly
into contact.
^ Anatomy.

Digestive system. — From a simple unarmed orifice in the an-
terior extremity of the body, a short but rather wide canal,
PL VI. Cy with membranous walls leads beneath a slightly bifid
lip (PI. V. fig. 3.) to an irregularly spherical body, PL VI. a, which
consists of thick walls inclosing a central cavity. In this body
is contained a tongue of very singular structure, PL VI. b and
PL VII. fig. 5. It consists of a chain of hard transparent spines,
and is curved so as nearly to return into itself, thus forming a
loop, whose long diameter will be parallel to the axis of the buccal
mass. M. de Quatrefages has given a correct figure of the organ
as detached from the animal, but has overlooked a most singular

Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon. 147

appendage with which it is furnished. This appendage is a py-
riform sac, PL VII. fig. 5 a, which communicates by means of a
canal with the left extremity of the tongue.

The sac is filled with spines, precisely similar to those of which
the tongue is composed. They seem to be perfectly formed, and
are placed without any apparent order in the sac. It is difficult
to assign to this sac any other function than that of secreting
the tongue- spines ; and we can easily conceive that as the tongue
is worn away at one extremity, additions are as constantly made to
it from the contents of the sac at the other. The lingual sac is
applied against the outer side of the buccal mass, being wholly
external to this body.

The tongue terminates at the right side in a small unarmed
prolongation, PL VII. fig. 5 Z>, which curves forwards along the
convexity of the loop.

From the posterior part of the buccal mass a slightly sinuous
(esophagus, PL VI. d, runs backwards and terminates in an oval,
longitudinally striate stomach, e, from which a short intestine, ff
runs transversely to the right side in order to terminate near the
anterior margin of the lateral expansion. The direction of the in-
testine thus places the true position of the anus beyond all doubt,
though so accurately is the external orifice kept closed, that it has
hitherto escaped my attempts at detection.

The stomach and intestine are clothed internally with a ciliated
epithelium, by which their contents are kept in a constant state
of agitation.

In connexion with the alimentary canal just traced are several
accessory organs which require special mention. Four glands
analogous to salivary maybe detected. Of these, two, PL Nl.g g,
are connected with the anterior extremity of the buccal mass, and
appear to consist each of a cluster of small vesicles, which pour
their contents into the commencement of the alimentary tract.
The posterior pair of salivary glands, h h, consists each of a sim-
ple tube of great delicacy, which commences in the buccal mass
just anterior to the origin of the oesophagus, and then becoming ^
attached to the oesophagus runs over the supra- oesophageal ganglia,
and soon exhibits a series of little caecal offsets forming small sacs
appended to the tube for the remainder of its course, PL VII. fig. 6.
The gland thus constituted runs back through the body of the
animal, extending for a considerable distance behind the stomach.

The salivary glands in Actceon are highly interesting from their
simplicity of constitution, and afford a fine illustration of the
reduction of glandular structure to one of its least complex ex-
pressions.

At a short distance from the termination of the oesophagus
there opens into this tube a small sac of a pyriform figure, PL Vl.f ;

M2

148 Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon.

but whether this is destined to receive from the oesophagus a por-
tion of the ahmentary matter, thus performing the office of a crop^
or whether its function is that of simply discharging into the ali-
mentary tract some peculiar product of secretion, I have been
unable to determine.

But perhaps the most remarkable of all the organs accessory
to digestion is the singular ramified system which constitutes so
large a portion of the viscera of Actceon, and which M. de Quatre-
fages, conceiving it to be of high importance, has assumed, along
with certain other peculiarities of structure which he supposes
invariably to accompany it, as entitling him to unite into a new
order a certain number of Gasteropodous MoUusca, distinguishing
them under the name of P hleb enter ata.

The system under consideration consists in our mollusk of two
tubes which open, close to one another, into the stomach, at its
cardiac extremity. Near to its termination in the stomach each
tube divides into two branches, one, PI. NLkk, passing forwards
towards the head, the other, / /, running backwards into the late-
ral expansions. Each of these branches then undergoes minute
subdivision, the ramifications extending forwards nearly to the
anterior margin of the head, and backwards to the posterior ex-
tremity of the lateral expansions. The ultimate ramuli terminate
each in a cul-de-sac, mmm, and PI. VII. fig. 4, filled with a green
or brownish substance, in which the microscope enables us to
detect oleaginous globules floating through a fluid of aqueous
consistence.

It is to this curious system, visible through the semitransparent
integuments, that the prevailing colour of the species must be
attributed ; its nature and function, and its claim to constitute a
character of ordinal importance, will be presently considered.

Vascular and Respiratory systems. — The best way of detecting
the vascular system of Actceon is to view the mollusk as an opake
object by means of a single lens and without compression, when
a delicate ramification of vessels will be seen creeping over the
upper surface of the foliaceous expansions, PL V. fig. 4. Those
vessels which spread themselves over the posterior part of the ex-
pansions terminate in two trunks, a a, one for each lateral half,
which running nearly parallel to the mesial line and at a short
distance from it, at either side appear to end in a circular canal, b,
into which the vessels from the anterior part of the expansions
also open. This circular vessel cannot be satisfactorily seen with-
out actual dissection ; it is placed immediately beneath the inte-
guments of the back and over the posterior part of the body, and
embraces an organ, c, of an irregularly semicircular figure, into
whose structure strong fibres may be seen to enter with a reticu-
lated arrangement. Beyond this point my researches have failed

Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon. 149

to trace the anatomy of the apparatus under consideration. We
can however have no difficulty in recognising in the system now
described a heart and vessels. That the vascular ramification ob-
served upon the upper surface of the foliaceous expansions is a
system of branchial vessels j there can indeed be no doubt, and the
expansions themselves must therefore be considered as true aera-
ting organs. It will at once be seen too, that the ventricle must
be sought for in the reticulated organ just described, though, from
the difficulty of the investigation, I have been unsuccessful in my
attempts to discover its direct connexion with the vessels. The
circular vessel also must be considered as performing the func-
tions of an auricle, and it is indeed by no means improbable that
what appears under the microscope as simply a circular canal
surrounding the ventricle, is really the projecting margin of a de-
licate transparent auricle, whose central portion is rendered invi-
sible by the stronger and more opake ventricle.

The general opacity of the tissues in Actceon, the extreme te-
nuity of the walls of the vessels, and the transparency of the fluid
which these contain, render the investigation of the circulatory
apparatus a subject of great difficulty. If too much reliance be
placed on the compressor, it will certainly escape detection ; and I
have no doubt that the abuse of this instrument will account for
the fact of M. de Quatrefages having denied the existence in Ac-
tion of a vascular system, as well as for many other errors into
which this naturalist has fallen.

Nervous system : Sensation. — Soon after the oesophagus leaves
the buccal mass it passes through a system of seven ganglia,
PL VI. n, and PI. VII. fig. 1, of which six are arranged in three
symmetrical pairs, and one is azygous.

Of these ganglia, the two largest, PL VII. fig. 1 aa, are placed
upon the upper surface of the oesophagus, being in contact with
each other internally. The ganglia of the second pair, b b, are
placed immediately below the first, upon the sides of the oeso-
phagus, being thus separated to allow of the passage of this tube.
The third pair, c c, seems like a protuberance upon the under side
of each of the ganglia last mentioned, and the azygous ganglion,
d, occupies an inferior and median position, completing the sub-
oesophageal portion of this ganglionic collar. The difierent parts
of this system of oesophageal ganglia are maintained in union by
three commissures. One commissure, e e, springs from each of
the large ganglia on the upper surface of the oesophagus, and
then running down along the side of this tube, terminates in the
azygous ganglion ; while the third commissure, /, runs trans-
versely beneath the oesophagus, uniting the two gangha of the
second pair. The oesophagus thus passes between the great
supra-oesophageal ganglia above, and the transverse commissure
below. Two small spherical bodies, PL VI. 0, most probably

150 Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy of Actaeon.

pharyngeal ganglia, are placed upon the oesophagus just as this
organ emerges from the buccal mass ; but the means by which
they are connected with the other parts of the nervous system, I
have not succeeded in detecting.

The great supra-oesophageal pair seems to be chiefly destined
for the organs of sense. The optic nerves, PI. VI. p, arise from
this pair, and large nerves, q r, are sent off from it to the tenta-
cula and lips and the parts immediately surrounding the mouth.
Some nerves going to the generative organs would also seem
traceable to the same source, while the digestive and other sy-
stems would appear to derive their nerves, s, from the remainder
of the oesophageal mass.

Vision. — The organs of vision are placed at a short distance
behind the tentacula, and to the naked eye present the appear-
ance of minute black points ; with the assistance of the micro-
scope, the following parts may without difficulty be detected in
them. The first thing which strikes us is a pigmental body,
PL VII. fig. 2 «, of a somewhat pyriform figure, furnished poste-
riorly with a prolongation, at one side of which the optic nerve,
b, may be seen entering. Whether this body contains a cavity
with a retinal expansion I cannot assert as the result of observa-
tion, though all analogy would lead us to suppose such to be the
case.

The pigment is of a deep black colour, and is doubtless in-
tended to effect the absorption of all rays of light which may
happen to fall on it. A crystalline lens, c, of a nearly spherical
figure and powerfully refractive, is imbedded in the anterior ex-
tremity of the pigmental body, and surrounding the whole appa-
ratus is a transparent capsule, d, perforated posteriorly by the
optic nerve, and apparently performing the function of a cornea
anteriorly.

Hearing. — The organs detected by Siebold in several moUusca,
and supposed by this anatomist to be destined for the function of
hearing, are demonstrable without much difficulty in Action.
They look like appendages to the cerebral system, and present
the appearance of nearly spherical bodies, PI. VII. fig. \ gg^ with
a transparent refractive nucleus, and supported upon a club-
shaped peduncle. They would seem to consist of two spheres
concentric with the nucleus, which become apparent when a short
exposure has caused some degree of collapse in the bodies from a
slight evaporation of their contents. The nucleus, which corre-
sponds with the otolites observed by Siebold, is single, and did
not present the peculiar oscillatory motion manifested by the oto-
lites of other mollusca. The peduncles arise between the fii'st
and second pair of ganglia, but with which of these they are more
intimately connected I have not been able to satisfy myself.

Touch. — Though the sense of touch is without doubt univer-

Prof. G. J. AUman on the Anatomy 0/ Actaeon. 151

sally diffused over the soft and constantly lubricated skin of the
mollusk, yet it would appear that the tentacula are specially ap-
propriated to its exercise. These organs consist in auriform
expansions rolled into a cylindrical tube, PI. V. figs. 1 and %, but
capable of being to a certain extent opened out at the will of the
animal. They are incapable of undergoing any true retraction,
but may be slightly shortened and thickened, in which condition
they present a number of transverse rugae. They are supplied
with large nerves from the supra-oesophageal ganglia. No fact
has thrown any light upon the question whether another sense
besides that of touch has also its seat in these organs.

The entire surface of the skin is copiously lubricated with a
thick mucous secretion, which is poured out in large quantity
when the animal is irritated. The source of this fluid would seem
to be in certain pyriform bodies, PL VII. fig. 3, which are found
in considerable numbers beneath the integument. Each termi-
nates in a sinuous duct, which after running for some distance
beneath the skin, opens, most probably, upon the surface. These
organs are described and figured by Quatrefages, but the French
naturalist is in error when he speaks of them as the source of
the beautiful metallic tints with which the surface of our moUusk
is adorned. These tints are due to a pigment inclosed in distinct
cells, arranged in irregular groups beneath the epidermis, consi-
derably smaller than the bodies just described, and evidently
without any duct or external communication whatever. I am
unable to bring forward any observations of interest relative to
the senses of taste and smell in Actceon.

Generative system : Embryology. — The reproductive system of
Actaon is one of great complexity, and one in which there must
be great difficulty in assigning to each part its proper function.
Actaon is hermaphrodite. A pyriform body, PI. VI. /, placed
anteriorly and at the right side, would seem to be the male in-
tromittent organ. This body is furnished with a tubular perfo-
ration which occupies the axis, and leads from the apex into an
oval cavity, v, situated in the base. From this cavity a sinuous
tube, or vas deferens, w, may be traced backwards, which, after a
course of considerable length, communicates with an oval body, x,
to be presently described, and then pursuing its course backwards
may be seen to bifurcate, one branch passing to the right and the
other to the left. Beyond this point I have in vain attempted
to trace the course of the tube. Its whole internal surface is
thickly clothed with cilia, whose presence is rendered manifest
by the constant rotatory motion imparted to the granular fluid
with which the tube is filled.

Occupying a median position in the posterior part of the body
is an oval sac, y, near whose anterior extremity two tubes may be

152 Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon.

seen to enter close to one another. One of these tubes, s, runs
a little forwards, then bends backwards and bifurcates, the divi-
sions again bifurcating dichotomously : its ultimate distribution,
however, I have not succeeded in tracing. The other tube, /8,
runs forwards to the oval body, x, just alluded to, into which it
opens. This body is evidently furnished with a cavity ; its ante-
rior half is of a peculiar complex structure, perhaps glandular,
and destined for the elaboration of some definite secretion. From
its anterior extremity a tube may be traced forwards till lost be-
neath the edge of a large, irregularly-shaped, somewhat plicated
body, 7. In this body the tube would seem to terminate, though
here I cannot speak with certainty. The sac, y, contains a yel-
lowish semifluid secretion, which can be forced by the action of
the compressor forwards into the oval body, 00, and backwards
through the bifurcating tube, z. With the plicated body, 7,
which I would feel inclined to look upon as a testis, a pyriform
sac, 8, is connected ; this sac contains a substance of a semifluid
consistence, and is furnished with a long neck, which can be
traced into the plicated body ; but whether it terminates here or
is continued to some external outlet, I have been unable to satisfy
myself.

Occupying the great lateral expansions, and placed immediately
beneath the ramified organ already described in connexion with
the digestive system, is a curious and very complicated body, f f f.
This body, which is perhaps an ovary, is double, being formed of
two perfectly similar portions, one of which is placed in each
branchial expansion, and consists of a delicate tube dichotomously
ramified, and furnished along its entii'e length with closely-set
sacciform appendages, PI. VII. fig. 8 a. These contain a gi'anular
substance, but whether they communicate with the interior of the
tube is not very manifest. Besides these appendages, numerous
spherical capsules, PI. VI. 6 6, and PI. VII. fig. 8 b, may be seen
arranged at tolerably regular intervals along the tube, and appa-
rently communicating by means of a short neck with its interior.
These capsules inclose a number of oval bodies, PI. VII. fig. 8 e e,
and fig. 7, in each of which is a granular mass surrounding a
very distinct nucleus, which is placed towards one extremity, and
is itself furnished with a secondary nucleus. The connexion be-
tween this curious system and the other parts of the reproductive
apparatus has escaped my attempts at detection : neither can I
speak positively as to the exact position of the external orifices of
generation.

Embryology, — Some days after the capture of our little mol-
lusk, I was much gratified at finding that it had deposited its
spawn upon the sides of the glass jar in which it was confined.
The spawn was laid in little spiral discs, PI. VII. fig. 9, of four or

Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon. 153

five lines in diameter, and I at once recognised it as similar to
what I had observed in considerable abundance upon the leaves of
Zostera marina in the locality where the Actceon was captured.
It consisted of numerous ova enveloped in a gelatinous covering,
and deposited in the form of a ribbon rolled into a plane spiral.
In about six days after the deposition of the spawn the eggs were
hatched, and the young Actseons, PI. VII. figs. 10, 11, 12, escaped,
not in any respect resembling the parent, but of a totally different
type of organization, — very similar to what has of late years been
observed in the young of DoriSy Aplysia, and some other Gaste-
ropoda.

The embYjo-Actceon is inclosed in a nautiloid shell, and fur-
nished anteriorly with two oval discs, figs. 10, 1 1 ««, ciliated along
the margin, and capable of being approximated till the upper sur-
faces are brought into contact, fig. 11, and again separated till
they lie nearly in the same plane, fig. 12. The discs are con-
tinued anteriorly into a sort of foot, figs. 10, lib, also ciliated
on the margin and provided with an operculum, figs. 11, 12 c,
which is drawn after the little animal when it retires into the re-
cesses of its shell, and thus completely protects it from all intru-
sion from without, fig. 12.

Near the place where the foot joins the discs are two ocelli-
form spots, figs. 10, 11, 12 dj doubtless visual organs, though Van
Beneden considers what are evidently the same organs in the
embryo of Aplysia, as the rudimental oesophageal ganglia. That
the organs under consideration are not ganglia, would alone ap-
pear from their high refractive power.

I could not succeed in detecting a mouth, though a tube,
fig. 11 e, which I believe to be an oesophagus, may with some care
be traced from the root of the discs backwards, till it dilates into
an oval cavity or stomach, /, part of which is concealed beneath a
granular mass, ff, which occupies the posterior convolutions of the
shell.

Near the origin of the oesophagus are two spherical bodies, h ;
these I believe to be the true rudiments of oesophageal ganglia.

Two fibres, fig. lie i, may be seen to run from the root of the
discs backwards, and would seem to have some attachment to the
interior of the shell ; they bifurcate near their termination. It is
difficult to say whether they be nervous filaments connected with
the oesophageal ganglia, or muscular fibres destined for the re-
traction of the embryo.

The little embryo is eminently natatory, swimming about with
wonderful activity by means of its curious ciliated discs, and by
its varied and elegant gyrations, constituting an object of great
beauty and interest.

IM Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy of Actaeon.

General Observations.

Such are the facts which, from a most careful examination of
a great number of specimens, I beHeve myself justified in consi-
dering as demonstrated. I took much pains in again and again
verifying their correctness ; and as most of them have not as yet
been recorded, while many are in direct variance with recently
published statements, I lose no time in making them public.
This I am the more desirous of doing, from the fact of the ana-
tomy of our little mollusk having within the last year been as-
sumed by an acute and indefatigable French zoologist as charac-
teristic of a new order of Gasteropoda which he has thought fit
to construct, but which appears to me to be constituted upon
grounds totally insufficient, in some respects the result of im-
perfect observation, and in others of conclusions which the ob-
servations, supposing them to be correct, wdl in no degree
warrant.

In the ' Ann. des Sci. Nat.^ 2nde serie, torn, xix., is a memoir
by M. de Quatrefages on the anatomy of a small Nudibranchiate
Gasteropod, which this naturalist conceives himself justified in
separating, imder the name of Eolidinaj from all previously cha-
racterized genera of Nudibranchs. In this memoir M. de Qua-
trefages maintains, that in the anatomy of Eolidina there are pe-
culiarities of such importance as to afford grounds for the esta-
blishment of a new order among the Gasteropodous MoUusca.

M. Milne Edwards had previously directed the attention of
zoologists to a remarkable character of the stomach in the Eoli-
dian Nudibranchs, demonstrating the existence in Calliopcea of
an extensive system of ramified canals connected with this organ.

Upon this fact M. de Quatrefages seizes with avidity : he main-
tains that the gastric ramifications perform the office of branchial
vessels ; that they are therefore subservient to respiration as well
as to digestion ; and finding them also in his Eolidina, he con-
nects them with other peculiarities which he asserts to have dis-
covered in this mollusk, raises them to a rank of ordinal import-
ance, gives them the name of phlebenteric system, and then sur-
prises zoologists with the somewhat startling announcement of
the existence of a new order among the Gasteropodous Mol-
lusca.

The doctrines which the examination of M. de Quatrefages^
Eolidina had thus led him to adopt, are carried out to their full
extent in a subsequent memoir (Ann. des Sci. Nat. March 1844),
in which, after the examination of Actaon and of five new genera
of his own characterizing [Zephyrina, Acttsonia, Amphorina, Pelta
and Chalidis), he maintains the complete establishment of his
new order, and enters into the details of its zoological affinities.

Prof. G. J. AUman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon. 155

The general characters upon which the French naturalist main-
tains the distinctness of his new order of Gasteropods, are the dis-
appearance in whole or in part of the circulatory system, and the
transference of the-respiratory function from special organs to the
digestive system or common integument, — peculiarities which he
asserts draw with them a general degradation of the organism,
approximating it to the Acalephse, and thus establishing a group
of animals which depart from the type of their class, and are
among the Gasteropods what the Entomostraca are among the
Crustacea.

The memoirs of M. de Quatrefages are certainly characterized
by great ingenuity and will well repay perusal. They have how-^
over, I fear, thrown themselves open to justly severe criticism, and
by advancing statements of great zoological importance upon
what must be admitted to be imperfect and too manifestly pre-
judiced observations, would, if not corrected, exercise a most in-
jurious influence upon a science so strictly inductive as zoology.
Of the various animals dissected by M. de Quatrefages in the con-
struction of his Phlebenterate group, Actaon is the only one which
I have had an opportunity of examining. The result of the ex-
amination of this one however is so totally at variance with the
anatomy of the same animal as recorded by the French zoologist,
that though we can hardly be justified in asserting from this,
that his observations on the others are equally erroneous, we must
yet surely hesitate before we adopt conclusions of such great im-
portance in zoology as those to which M. de Quatrefages has
arrived.

On comparing the description and figures of Actceon, as given
by M. de Quatrefages in the memoir to which allusion has just
been made, with the structure which my own observation of this
animal had revealed to me, I was struck with a discrepancy, for
which I must confess I found it difficult to account by reference
to any of the ordinary and unavoidable errors to which the obser-
vation of these minute animals is necessarily liable.

Among the most important points in which the observations
just recorded difi*er from those of M. de Quatrefages, may be
mentioned the detection of a distinct heart and vessels, organs
whose existence is denied by the French naturalist, and of a'/o:-
teral termination to the intestine, which is described in the fo-
reign memoir as opening dorsally and medially. The form and
disposition of the gastric ramifications do not at all correspond
withM. de Quatrefages' description; the terminal culs-de-sac of this
system are arranged very differently from the disposition which
he assigns to them, and the ramifications of opposite sides do not
communicate. There is certainly no such organ in the posterior

1^6 Prof. G. J. AUman on the Anatomy of Actseon.

extremity of the branchial appendages as M. de Quatrefages de-
scribes under the name of cloaca*. The length of the oesopha-
gus and the form of the stomach are altogether at variance with
his description. The oesophageal collar consists of seven, not
four, ganglia ; and if to these points of discrepancy we add some
others mentioned in the present paper, and call to mind that he
has totally overlooked the salivary apparatus and made no men-
tion of the highly-developed generative system, we cannot but
conclude that the establishment of a new order of animals on ob-
servations so imperfect is unwarrantable and rash.

But suppose the observations of the French zoologist not al-
together so erroneous as is here maintained, is he yet justified in
the step which he has taken ? We assuredly think not.

Let us consider for a moment whether the singular ramified
system connected with the stomach in Actceon and other allied
genera is really of that vast importance in a zoological point of
view with which M. de Quatrefages would invest it. If the sy-
stem in question be merely a ramification of the stomach, we can
certainly see in it a disposition by which the surface of the gastric
cavity is greatly increased ; but this disposition, exercising no
marked influence over the organism, cannot be supposed to de-
mand any important modifications in the other organs, and surely
ofiers no solid grounds for believing that its ofiice is to expose
the products of digestion to the influence of the aerated medium.
In truth it is ill-adapted to this function, separating its contents
from the surrounding fluid, not only by its own walls but by the
intervention of a portion of the cavity in which it floats, and by
the whole thickness of the integumentary structures.

But it may be asked, what office is it possible to assign to the
system now under consideration, if it be not that of respiration ?
I believe that the ramified apparatus in Actceon and the EolididcB
is truly a hepatic system, and affords an interesting example of
the reduction of a gland to one of its simplest conditions f.

We have in these gastric ramifications one or more offsets from
the lining membrane of the alimentary canal greatly extended

* We can in no way explain what M. de Quatrefages intended by the
organ which he describes as a cloaca, unless we suppose that he really meant
the oval sac (y, PI. VI.) in the posterior part of the body, which we have de-
scribed in connexion with the generative system, and which by some strange
confusion he has transferred to the posterior extremity of the branchial ex-
pansions.

t Since the opinions here expressed were laid before the Association,
there has been placed in my hands a number of the * Comptes Rendus,' con-
taining a paper by M. Souleyet on the Phlehenterata (Annals, xiv. p. 342),
in which I find that the author's observations on this subject are entirely in
accordance with my own.

Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon. 157

and terminating in culs-de-sac, where doubtless resides the func-
tion of elaborating the biliary secretion. We have just such an
appearance as a careful preparation of glandular structure would
present with all its component ducts and terminal culs-de-sac
accurately disentangled ; we have in fact in the Phlehenteric sy-
stem of M. de Quatrefages nothing more or less than an unra-
veled liver.

This view of the subject would appear to be admitted to a cer-
tain extent even by M. de Quatrefages himself, who describes the
blind terminations of the branches as surrounded with a layer of
a peculiar substance which he believes to be the liver. Of the
connexion of this substance with the gastric ramifications I can-
not speak, as in Actceon I could find nothing of the kind. As
M. de Quatrefages however has not succeeded in isolating it from
the culs-de-sac, his statement amounts to an admission that on
these terminations of the branches devolves the function of secre-
ting the bile*.

To the view now taken it may be objected, that the biliary
ducts ought to open into the intestine behind the stomach. In-
stances however of the bile being poured into the stomach itself
are by no means without example among the Gasteropoda, and
in some cases, as in Scyllcsa and Onchidiunij this secretion is
discharged into the oesophagus. The remarkable partition of the
liver in Onchidium moreover is an evident approach to the con-
dition assumed by this organ in the moUusca now under consi-
deration. Another objection to the hepatic character of the gas-
tric ramifications may be urged from the curious discovery by
Messrs. Alder and Hancock, that in Eolis the extremities of the
ramuli are not really cseca, but open externally through the ter-
minations of the branchial papillse. This however cannot be con-
sidered as a valid objection. It is true that the termination of
the ducts in culs-de-sac has been described as a universal con-
dition of glandular structure, but it has been by no means proved
that a perforate state of the terminations of these tubes is incon-
sistent with the performance of the secreting function. The pur-
pose served by this curious condition of the organ in Eolis it is
not very easy to explain. I cannot however avoid looking upon
the perforations in the extremities of the branchial papillse as
analogous to the orifice placed at the base of the branchial plume

* I have just seen an excellent paper on the anatomy of Eolis by Messrs.
Hancock and Embleton (Annals, xv. pp. 1, 77), in which these gentlemen
describe the terminations of the gastric ramifications in Eolis as lined by
glandular structure, which in most species exhibits a complex follicular dis-
position. The caeca in Actceon are certainly much more simple, nor do they
seem to be furnished with any distinct glandular lining.

158 Prof. G. J. AUman on the Anatomy of Actseon.

in Doris where it gives exit to a part of the hepatic secretion, — an
office which it is by no means unhkely the branchial apertures
in Eolis are also destined to fulfil.

M. de Quatrefages maintains, that throughout the whole of his
Mollmca Phlehenterata, with the exception of Eolidina, there is a
total absence of a heart and vessels. In Eolidina he allows the
existence of a heart and arteries, but denies that of a venous sy-
stem. We have already seen that so far as Actceon is concerned,
the French anatomist is quite in error, and we have no doubt that
future researches will still further prove the untenableness of his
positions. When we consider the extreme tenuity of the venous
tubes in these animals, and the colourless nature of their contents,
we can surely place but little reliance on any statements which
deny their existence solely from the fact of their having escaped
detection.

But after all, is a diffused condition of the venous fluid of such
great importance in determining the position of a molluscous
animal in the zoological scale ? Setting aside the Ascidice, a
group universally allowed to manifest a degradation of structure,
we know that in Aplysia a diffusion of this very kind begins to
show itself in the remarkably imperfect condition of the venous
trunks in this genus, and yet M. de Quatrefages himself would
hardly be rash enough to degrade from its co-ordinate Gastero-
pods this highly organized moUusk.

It remains for us now to consider the zoological relations of
Actaon and its true position among the Mollusca. We have seen
that Montagu originally described ihis moUusk under the name
of Aplysia, and all zoologists since his time have, with the ex-
ception of M. de Quatrefages, agreed in placing it in the vicinity
of the AplysicB. Sander Rang, it is true, in his ' Manuel des
Mollusques,' expresses in a note his opinion that the position of
Actceon is in the neighbourhood of Placobranchus, a genus esta-
blished by Van Hasselt for a mollusk discovered by him on the
coast of Java; in the text however he follows the opinion of
other zoologists, making Actaeon a genus in his family of
Aplysiens.

It is without doubt to M. de Quatrefages that we are indebted
for having first decidedly removed Actceon from the Tecti-
branchiate Mollusca, and placed it in the vicinity of Eolis and
its allies, — a position which is assuredly its true one, being fully
borne out, not only by its internal structure but by its external
conformation, however at variance this last may at first appear
with the legitimacy of the position now assigned to it.

The lateral expansions of Actceon are truly analogous to the
branchial papillse of Eolis, their real homology being easily found

Prof. G. J. AUman on the Anatomy of Actseon. 159

in the united branchise of an Eolidian mollusk ; and if to this we
add the gastric or hepatic ramifications, and consider the general
character of the anatomy as detailed in the present paper, we can
have no hesitation in making^c^^ow a genus of Nudibranchiate
Mollusc A. As to the close affinity of Actceon to Placobranchus,
I fully agree in the opinion of M. Sander Rang, expressed in the
note just alluded to. Indeed I believe the relation between these
mollusca to be closer than has been yet suspected, though, from
the imperfect state of our knowledge of PlacobranchuSj it would
be at present premature to urge with confidence any further opi-
nion upon this subject.

While I have thus strongly objected to the establishment of a
new order for the reception of the Eolidian Nudibranchs, I yet
believe that strict zoology peremptorily demands the formation
among the Nudibranchs of a distinct group for these mollusca,
by which they may be kept apart from other Nudibranchs with
which many zoological writers have too closely united them. In-
deed the light which has of late years been thrown upon the ana-
tomy of the Mollusca Nudibranchiata places us in a position for
recognising those relations by which a natural' subordinate group-
ing of the order may be effected. A dismemberment founded
upon the differences of organization of the Mollusca Nudi-
branchiata had been to a certain extent carried out by M. de
Blainville in the establishment of his groups Poh/branchiata and
Cyclohranchiata, the former corresponding to the family Trite-
niadcB of subsequent zoologists, and the latter to that of Dori-
didcB. De Blainville divides the Polybranchiata into two minor
groups, Tetracerata and Dicerata, both natural, the former in-
cluding Eolis, Glaucus, &c., and the latter Tritonia, Scyllcea and
Thetis.

With the position heye assigned to Tritonia, Scyllcea and The-
tis, though the group is in itself natural, I cannot concur, as I
believe these mollusca much further removed from Eolis and its
allies than from Doris.

Sander Rang (Man. des Mol.) rejects De Blainville^s groups
Polybranchiata and Cyclobranchiata, and primarily divides the
entire order into five families : 1 . les Pterosomes, established for
the reception of a single genus Pterosoma, discovered by Lesson
in the equatorial seas ; 2. les Glauques = Polybranchiata Tetra-
cerata, Blainv. ; 3 . les Tritonies = Polybranchiata Dicerata, Blainv. f
4. \q^ Doris =^Cyclobranchiata,^\ii\n.w.', 5. les Placobranches, ests.-
blished for the Placobranchus of Van Hasselt.

Pterosoma, upon which Rang founds his first family, is cer-
tainly a very doubtful Nudibranch, and I believe admitted into
this order upon very uncertain grounds. Lesson, its discoverer,

160 Prof. G, J. AUman on the Anatomy 0/ Actseon.

described it (Mem. de la Soc. d^Hist. Nat.) as a Nucleohranch
nearly allied to Firola, and there is at least as much reason for
considering it in this point of view as for assigning it a place
among the Nudibranchs. Rejecting therefore Pterosoma from
the Nudibranchs as a moUusk as yet too imperfectly understood,
the remaining four families are judiciously constructed, based as
they are upon true differences of organization, and consisting of
really natural groups. ^

In the beautiful work of Messrs. Alder and Hancock on the
British Nudibranchiate MoUusca, the first part of which, just
published by the Ray Society, I have had an opportunity of
seeing, since the present paper was placed in the printer^s hands,
these gentlemen distribute the British genera under the three
families, Dorididce, Tritoniadce and Eolididce. They make more-
over a most important revision of the old genus Tritonia, separa-
ting from it the Tritonia arborescens of previous authors, which
they find, notwithstanding its divided branchiae and general Tri-
^^tonia-like appearance, to possess a true Eolidian structure, and
'which they accordingly locate in the family of the Eolidida as a
distinct genus under the name of Dendronotus.

In order however that Actceon may also find a place among the
MoUusca Nudibranchiata, an additional family must be formed"
for its reception. The family which it is thus found necessary to
constitute will perhaps correspond with the Placobranches of
Sander Bang, though, from our entire ignorance of the structure
of Placohranchus, it is impossible to form a decided opinion as
to the identity of the two families.

Having thus established four families among the Mollusca
Nudibranchiata, the next question which suggests itself is, whether
these families, when arranged in strict zoological co-ordination,
are separated from one another by equal intervals ? The answer
must here be at once given in the negative, the Dorididcs being
much more nearly allied to the Tritoniadce than these are to any
of the remaining families of the order. This circumstance there-^*'
fore demands the division of the entire order into two great pri-
mary sections, by which means a natural grouping of the families
themselves may be effected, and their true relations to each other
be rendered apparent.

The grounds upon which this primary division of the Nudi-
branchiata is based, will be found in the singular system of
hepatic ramifications, to which attention has already been so
frequently directed, and which, though far from being of that
importance with which it has been invested by M. de Quatrefages,
is yet a decided indication of the existence of two subordinate
groups in the order Nudibranchiata.

Prof. G. J. Allman on the Anatomy 0/ Actaeon. 161

In accordance therefore with this arrangement, the Nudi- ^
branchiate Mollusca will stand as follows : —

ORDER. SECTION. FAMILY. GENUS.

BranchisB in the mesiaH

Liver compact

Liver disintegrated..

line, placed in a circle I d^Hs, Polycera,
more or less complete f 0.
around the anus.

DoRIDID^. -^

Branchiae arranged along! ^^.^^^. g j_
the sides, or scattered. > i^^a, Thetis:

TaiTONIADiE. J '

]

'Branchiae papillose, orl Eolis, Alderia,
branched or muricated. > Dendronotus*,
EoLiDiD^. J Glaucus,&c.

Branchiae foliaceous. "I Actaeon, Placo-

AcT^oNiD^. J branchus? ^

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

Plate V.

Fig. 1 . ActcBon viridis, viewed from above.

Fig. 2. The same, viewed in profile.

Fig, 3. The head seen from below.

Fig, 4. Vascular system : a a, trunks which receive the blood from the pos-
terior parts of the branchial expansions ; b, circular vessel into
which the trunks a a open, and which also receives the blood from
the anterior part of the branchial expansions ; c, the ventricle.

Plate VL

Actceon viridis opened from above ; that portion of the hepatic ramifications
which occupies the right side has been removed in order to sim-
plify the figure, and for the same reason the ovaries ? have not been
represented on the left : a, buccal mass; 6, tongue; c, canal through
which the buccal mass opens exteriorly ; d, oesophagus ; e, stomach ;
/, intestine ; g g, anterior pair of salivary glands ; h h, posterior
pair ; i, pyriform sac opening into cesophagus ; k k, anterior trunks
of hepatic ramifications; I /, posterior trunks; m mm, culs-de-sac
in which the hepatic ramifications terminate ; «, ganglionic collar
of oesophagus; o, pharyngeal ganglia?; p, optic nerve; qr, nerves
running to tentacula and lips ; s, nerves supplying the digestive
system ; t, penis ; v, oval cavity in base of penis; w, vas deferens]

* I would feel well-inclined to separate Dendronotus as the type of a
small family distinct from the true Eolididte. With Dendronotus 1 would
also join Data {Meltboea, Johns,), and then the second section of Nudi-
brauchs would consist of three families, of which the Dendronotida: would
be exactly co-extensive with the subfamily Meliboeince o^ Messrs. Alder and
Hancock. With the animal assumed by Rang as the type of his genus Jlle-
liboea, I am not sufficiently acquainted to decide upon its exact location.

Ann, ^ Mag. N. Hist. VoLxvl N

162 Mr. J. E. Gray on a new genus of Night Lizards.

x^ oval body with which vas deferens communicates ; y, sac of im-
known function ; z, dichotomously divided tube which opens into
the sac y ; /3, tube connecting the sac y with the oval body x ;
y, the testis ? ; ^, pyriform sac connected with y; ^^^, the ovary ?;
6 6, capsular bodies connected with ovary.

Plate VIT.

Fig. 1. System of oesophageal ganglia : a a, great supra- oesophageal ganglia;
h b, second pair ; c c, third pair ; d, azygous ganglion ; e e, com-
missures connecting supra-oesopbageal ganglia with azygous gan-
glion ; /, commissure which runs beneath the oesophagus and
unites the two ganglia of the second pair ; gg, organs of hearing.

Fig. 2. Organ of vision: a, pigmental body; h, optic nerve; c, crystalline
lens ; J, transparent capsule inclosing pigmental body and lens.

Fig. 3. Subcutaneous mucous glands.

Fig. 4. Terminal cids-de-sac of the hepatic system.

Fig. 5. The tongue : «, lingual sac ; b, unarmed prolongation, in which the
tongue terminates at the right side.

Fig. 6. Portion of posterior salivary glands.

Fig. 7. One of the oval bodies contained in the ovarian capsules.

Fig. 8. Portion of the ovary with its capsule : aa a, sacciform appendages;
b, capsule ; c, oval bodies inclosed by the capsule.

Fig. 9. Group of ova as deposited upon the leaves of Zostera marina^ &c.

Fig. 10, 11, 12. Embryo: a a, locomotive discs; b, foot; c, operculum;
J, organs of vision ; e, oesophagus; /, stomach; g, granular mass,
beneath which the posterior part of the alimentary canal is con-
cealed ; h, rudiments of oesophageal ganglia ; i i, filaments which
pass backwards from the base of the discs.

Xy. — Description of a new genus of Night Lizards from Belize.
By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

Gentlemen, — ^This interesting new form of Gecones, or Night
Lizards, was sent from Belize by Mr. Dyson under the name of
*' Gallwaspe," a name which appears to be generically applied to
most Lizards by the English in Tropical America. It is at once di-
stinguished from all the genera of the family before known by the
short, blunt, compressed, equal-diametered toes, but more particularly
by the very small size of the claws, which are completely hidden be-
tween two large, half oblong scales, which have a narrow one between
the base of the upper edge.

Genus Coleonyx. Fam. Gecotid^.

Toes rather compressed, equally thick their whole length, blunt
at the end ; edges simple, rounded ; upper surface covered with a single,
and the sides with three series of six-sided scales, the under surface
with a single series of rather narrow, slightly convex, transverse scales ;
the end of each toe furnished with large, oblong, convex scales on
each side, forming a complete sheath to the small claws, and with

Tiie Arctic E-Tpeditinn. ] 63

an elongate tapering- scale covering the suture between these two
scales above. Preanal pores distinct, in an angular series ; scale gra-
nular, with series of larger, round, convex granules. Tail cylindrical,
with rings of larger subangular tubercles, swollen near the vent be-
neath, and with large tubercles on each side.

Coleonyx eleyans. Gray ; head and nape with concentric black streaks ;
back and tail with irregular black cross-bands, beneath gray;
back with numerous series of roundish tubercles, smaller and
more distant on the head and nape, and more crowded on the
limbs.
Inhab. Belize. Collection of the British Museum.

XVI. — The Arctic Expedition under the command
of Sir John Franklin.

We have been favoured with the sight of letters from Mr. H.
Goodsir, who is attached to this expedition, and hasten to com-
municate to our readers an outline of the results already obtained.
The zeal ^nd scientific knowledge of our friend Mr. Goodsir have
raised high anticipations of the value to natural science of this
voyage, and these have, if possible, attained a still greater eleva-
tion by what has been already done. It is most satisfactory to
learn that the officers of the expedition, and also a considerable
number of the men, are most active in rendering every assistance
to him in his researches. They have indeed kept him at work
almost night and day (if there can be said to be any night in
these latitudes), examining, drawing, and describing new or
highly interesting animals.

We will now proceed to give a short account of the voyage, as
learned from Mr. Goodsir's letters, which are dated from " Disco
in Baffin's Bay, July 7, 1845.'^

The earlier part of the voyage was rather tedious, owing to ad-
verse and stormy winds, so that the ships were driven far to the
north-east, near enough on June 11th to have seen the moun-
tains of Iceland, had the state of the atmosphere allowed. On
the 22nd they were off Cape Farewell, the southern point of
Greenland. Up to this date there were only two days upon
which he could make any observations, but the results of these
are extremely interesting. On the 10th of June, in lat. 61° 47',
long. 14° 14', numerous specimens of a species of Briaretis were
obtained, furnishing an important addition to our knowledge of
these animals. The presence of " cilia fringing the bifurcated
portions of the lateral extremities of its body,'' decides the posi-
tion of the genus in nature, and proves that Quoy and Gaimard's
idea of its being molluscous is not correct. Its intestinal canal
consists of a straight tube with but one oval opening. The re-

N2

164 The Arctic Eccpedition.

jection of the indigestible portion of its food is effected by dila-
ting the whole body with water and then ejecting it.

At the same time a small species of Clio, several Beroe, one
specimen of a free Actinia, and a very beautiful Crustacean^ form-
ing a new genus in the family Pontia and allied to Irencnis, were
obtained. The last is characterized by its large size, " the enor-
mous length of the four central tail-filaments, the inner of which
are not themselves armed with filaments, all the others being so ;
each of the antennse has a joint at the distal part of the first third,
thus enabling the animal to bend them and conceal them under
its body/^

On the second fine day a most interesting Ciliograde was ob-
tained of very peculiar form, and having the ciliated ribs trans-
verse instead of longitudinal ; the cilia arising from either edge
of the ribs. Mr. Goodsir thinks that its minute structure, which
is very complicated, proves its affinity to the DiphydcE and also
the Salp(je. All the Medusce obtained on these two days were
Ciliogrades.

On the 23rd of June, having rounded Cape Farewell in a
heavy gale of wind on the preceding day, on entering Davis^
Straits numerous beautiful Pteropoda of the genus Clio were ob-
tained in company with Spiratella. They were swimming ac-
tively in the water and were adorned with the brightest colours ;
only approaching the surface of the sea on calm evenings. The
observations made upon these animals have enabled Mr. Goodsir
to confirm the observations of Eschscholtz in most points.

On the 25th numerous Medusce were seen, all of these of the fa-
mily Beroid(B and mostly of the species B. punctata of Eschscholtz.
On the 27th soundings were obtained in 41 fathoms and a dredge
put down, which produced, amongst many other interesting cap-
tures, a new species of Caprella, Amphipoda in great number,
several Asteriadce, a Terebratula and several other MoUusca, an
Isopod forming a new genus allied to Munna, a very beautiful
Ascidian, four species of fish — Cyclopterus, Liparis, Ammodytes,
and a beautiful species new to the observer. On the same day a
large shoal of the Caing whale [Phoccejia Melas) passed on their
way towards the south.

On the 28th a dredge was sunk to the enormous depth of
300 fathoms, and produced many highly interesting species of
MoUusca, Crustacea, Asteriada, Spatangi and Corallines; such
as Fusus, Turritella, Venus, Dentalium, &c. ; and also some large
forms of Isopoda. As bearing upon the geographical distribution
of species, Mr. Goodsir considers the occurrence of Brissu^ lyrifer
(Forbes) and Alauna rostrata (Goodsir) as of the greatest in-
terest, both of them being natives of the Scottish seas. The
remarkable depth also appears to us to give peculiar interest to

The Arctic Expedition. 165

these researches, as we believe that the deepest dredgings ever
previously obtained were those of Prof. E. Forbes in the Levant,
the deepest of which was 230 fathoms, itself far beyond any made
by other naturalists. Such valuable and laborious researches can
only be made when the officers of a ship have such kindly dispo-
sitions towards the observer of nature as was the case during
Prof. Forbes's voyage, and is now shown by those under the
command of Sir J. Franklin.

On the 1st of July two specimens of a small species of Beroe
were obtained, which greatly illustrated the process of their deve-
lopment. " A thick germinal membrane of a red colour was ob-
served lining the central cavity of the body, in which both male
and female cells appeared to be developed. The ova having ar-»
rived at some size project so far as to become pedunculated, and
so hang from the membrane into the cavity. The male cells are
also developed in the same membrane."

Mr. Goodsir is making minute observations upon the ice of the
bergs, and as he purposes continuing them throughout the voy-
age, there can be little doubt of his arriving at valuable conclu-
sions. He observes that it is quite without salt ; this was to be
expected, when we consider that they are not formed of marine
ice, but are parts of glaciers which have become detached and
fallen into the sea. " The surface of a mass when melting pre-
sents numerous flat concavities, all of them of about the same size
and form, and without any interruption, excepting the ridges
forming the walls of separation." A loud cracking noise is heard
and small particles are occasionally thrown off. The minute
structure of the ice consists of three series of cells — two traver-
sing the mass in one direction, and one at right angles to them.
Of the former, one series consists of moderately large and quite
globular cells of nearly uniform size, each having within it ^^ a
small globule of a peculiar fluid ;" the oblong, sausage-shaped
cells of the other series also contain small globules, but usually
several instead of one. The mode of formation of these cells and
the nature of the inclosed fluid are subjects to which his atten-
tion will be especially turned. The third series consists of very
minute cells, arranged in well-defined wavy bands, which run
across the lines formed by the other series. These bands are of
an opake white colour.

We also find some observations upon the action of floating ice
upon the granitic shores of the islands. All the rocks below high
water mark and some considerably above it are rounded off into
long irregular ridges with intervening hollows by the half-float-
ing masses of ice.

As the ships were to stay at the Whale-fish Islands for a few

166 Dr. W. Seller on some Plants obtained

clays, Mr. Goodsir hoped to obtain a complete collection of the
animals, plants and minerals existing upon them.

The expedition has now proceeded into the inhospitable icy
regions of the north, and we must not expect to receive any
further accounts of it until it has either succeeded in making its
way into the Pacific Ocean, or having found that to be impossible,
is on its return to England. In either case there can be no doubt
that much valuable scientific infoi*mation will be obtained.

XVII. — Observations on some Plants obtained from the shores of
Davis' Straits. By William Seller, M.D., Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh*.

A FEW weeks since, Mr. Sutherland, a student of medicine, who
made a voyage last summer to Davis' Straits as medical officer of
a whale ship, presented me with some plants gathered on the
coasts and dried as he best could without any of the usual bota-
nical conveniences. There are in all about twenty-five species,
and a few of them are plants which cannot fail to interest the
botanist. All of them were gathered within or close upon the
Arctic Circle, on the coasts of Davis' Straits and Baffin's Bay,
adjacent to the usual course of whale-fishing vessels, so that, were
it deemed desirable, it would be easy, by holding out a little en-
couragement, to induce some of the many young men who go
out annually in the same capacity with Mr. Sutherland to bring
home collections of this description.

It is impossible to believe that the variations of species under
the opposite circumstances of different regions, as respects soil,
situation and climate, do not take place in obedience to fixed ge-
neral laws. Yet our knowledge on this head at present consists
almost exclusively of what may be called unreduced particular
observations on certain species ; too few to found upon. It may
be that such laws prevail, yet lie beyond our reach. If such be
the case, the only resource is to make up our minds to sacrifice
brevity in regard to species observed to vary, and to practise de-
tailed description of all their varieties. And fortunately, while
this method serves as a considerable corrective of the evil in the
meantime, it is the only plan, by following out which we can
hope to arrive at the general laws of variation, if these be attain-
able.

When a species is known to be polymorphous, we might, in
the meantime, advisably lay aside the ordinary circumscribed

* Read before the Botanical Society of PMinburgh, 12th of June and
10th of July, 1845.

from the shores of Davis* Straits. 167

form of definition in regard to it as leading only to error, and, in
its stead, adopt detailed descriptions drawn from individuals pro-
duced in distant localities offering the widest possible range of
circumstances. The obvious objection to such a practice is the
room it takes up. In methodical botany, without doubt, brevity
is a prominent excellence. But here there can hardly be any
real sacrifice of brevity. For the needless multiplication of spe-
cies is an unavoidable result of our definitions being not universal
but local, that is, applicable to some localities only. All who have
attended to Arctic botany feel in particular the force of the diffi-
culties referred to.

Sir Wm. Hooker has well remarked on the extreme difficulty
which attends the determination of what ought and what ought
not to be considered as good species among Arctic plants : " Ve-
getables,^^ he says, '^of our own more southern latitudes often
assume in those frigid regions an aspect quite different from
what we are accustomed to see them wear ; and which, without
referring to a very extensive series of specimens, might well be
supposed to afford decided marks of specific distinction*.^^ And
Wahlenberg, the well-known author of the ^ Flora Lapponica,'
speaking of the botanist who limits his attention to the charac-
ters of species as studied in one district, says, " Fingit sibi cha-
racteres sic dictos certos, et putat se eorum criteriis dijudicare
posse diversitatem specificam plantarum totius mundi /' adding,
after some further observations, " In hac re alii faciant quae me
facere vetant visa repertaque f-^'

On such views the observations with which I am about to
trouble the Society are chiefly founded.

Crucifer^. — Among the plants in this small collection are
some CrucifercB. There are several specimens of Cochlearia and
a Draba. Most of the specimens of Cochlearia are so imperfect,
that it would be a waste of time to attempt to determine whether
they should be referred to the C officinalis or to the C. anglica,
the latter of which is said to be the most common of the Arctic
species. There is however one well-developed specimen in fruit
which agrees with the C. fenestrata of Mr. Brown, with the ex-
ception of having long peduncles, particularly in the lower fruit,
in which respect it answers to the C. lenensis of DeCandolle. It
seems very certain, as Sir Wm. Hooker has remarked, that the
fenestra occurs in the fruit-septum of other species of Cochlearia
besides that which Mr. Brown ndiVL\G,d. fenestrata ; still, if the fe-
nestra or rima be of rare occurrence in the other species, and if
the absence of it be the exception in the C. fenestrata, it is a

* Appendix to Parry's Second Voyage, p. 382.
f Flora Lapponica, Ratio operis, p. 9.

168 Dr. W. Seller on some Plants obtained

useful descriptive character. In our specimen it appears in
almost all tlie siliculse that have been opened. In DeCandolle's
description of the Cruciferae, he mentions, as occasional, the pre-
sence of a stria or a rima in the axis of the fruit-septum ; and as
far as I have observed, the stria, v^rhich may be regarded as indi-
cating the tendency to the rima or fenestra, occurs generally in
the species of Cochlearia. This stria or fenestra in the axis seems
to suggest the idea that the dissepiment in the fruit of the Cru-
cifera is composed of two portions extended from the opposite
sides to meet there. And if this be deemed probable, then the
conclusion would follow that their seed-vessel is composed, not
of two, according to the received view, but of four carpels. As
Mr. Brown says he met with one specimen of C. fenestrata in
which many of the siliculse were three- valved and three-celled, I
was curious to ascertain if any of those in our specimen presented
this anomaly, but was disappointed. Mr. Brown does not say
how the second dissepiment was placed. It is impossible to sup-
pose that there were two dissepiments parallel to each other. I
infer then, particularly as Mr. Brown uses the word " dissepi-
mentum^^ in the singular number, that the additional septum
joined the normal septum in the axis. Mr. Brown^s discovery
of three-celled pericarps in a cruciferous plant is an encourage-
ment to botanists to search for the farther anomaly of four-celled
pericarps among the same ; which can hardly fail to occur, if the
theory of their fruit being composed of four carpels or carpellary
leaves be correct ; for on this view it must be by abortion that
placentae and a septum fail to appear opposite to the cleft of the
stigma, at the place in the valves occupied by the carina, when
that is present in this kind of fruit. Mr. Brown also remarks,
in his description of the C. fenestrata, that the umbilical cords
are joined together at their bases by a narrow membrane. This
narrow membrane farther iUustrates the structure of the fruit in
the CrucifercB. It represents the margin of the interior layer of
the carpellary leaf stopping short close to the inner side of the
middle rib, which here enters into the replum or frame of the
dissepiment, while the dissepiment itself is composed of the outer
layer joined with its fellow of the adjacent carpellary leaf and ex-
tended to the axis. This accords in so far with DeCandoUe^s
account of the structure of the septum in the Cruciferce, though
he describes it in different terms ; he says the septum is formed
by the reflexion inwards of the epicarps, while the endocarps stop
short close to the suture and produce the placentse. But if there
be four such shortened borders of the endocarp, two at each
margin of the septum, as in all siliculse with a double row of
seeds in each cell, then there must have been four original car-
pellary leaves, two entering into each valve, and two into each

from the shores of Davis' Straits. 169

half of the septum ; and the replum or frame of the septum must
he double, being composed on each side of the middle ribs of two
of thesis leaves united ; and further, each lobe of the stigma must
be double, as being a prolongation of this double replum. Again,
as the middle ribs of the carpellary leaves which make up each
double lobe of the stigma are manifestly to the right and left
of the portions of these produced into the dissepiment, the place
of the dissepiment itself, though not in appearance, is in reality
between these united halves of each lobe of the stigma, or the
dissepiment in the Crucifercs, according to this view, is not a false
but a true dissepiment, as alternating with the divisions of the
stigma ; and this must be very apparent if cases occur in which
the usual abortions do not take place in the region of the carinse
of the valves.

Our next Cruciferous plant is plainly a Draha. It is not easy
to say with certainty to what species this plant should be re-
ferred. But for the small number of leaves on the stems, it
might pass for a variety of the D. incana. I set it down as the
D. hirta ; not the D. hirta of the ' English Botany,^ but the D.
hirta, var. «, of Wahlenberg. The number of leaves on the scape
is not so constantly two in our specimens as stated in the descrip-
tion of that species ; sometimes there is but one ; sometimes even
four. The silicles are glabrous, oblique or slightly twisted, the
peduncles shorter than the silicles and not absolutely free from
pubescence. Some of the root-leaves are slightly toothed, those
of the scapes uniformly toothed. DeCandolle remarks on this
species, " Planta polymorpha cum sequentibus ssepe confusa et
extricatu difficillima.^^

CaryophylletE. — Of the Caryophyllece we have the Lychnis
alpina, the Cerastium alpinum, and a single specimen of a small
plant with the habit of a Stellaria. The plant being far advanced,
the form of the petal could not be made out at first, so that it
was difficult to say whether it was an Arenaria or a Stellaria. At
our last meeting, when the plant was shown, Mr. M'Nab sug-
gested its being the Stellaria scapigera. This I believe it to be,
and have since found that the petal is cleft to the base as in that
species. Though found on our highland mountains, the S. sca-
pigera has not appeared, as far as I have observed, in any of the
lists of Arctic plants hitherto published. It does not occur in
Wahlenberg^s * Flora Lapponica,^ nor even in Hooker's ' Flora
Boreali-Americana.' In a small collection of Arctic plants in the
Society's museum, a specimen of what appears to be the same
plant occurs under the name of Stellaria Edwardsii. To this
species, however, our plant has but a distant resemblance. In
our plant the feaves are connate, which I do not find to be re-

170 Dr. W. Seller on some Plants obtained

marked in the descriptions of Stellaria scapigera. As the plant
in the Society^s herbarium was obtained also from the shores of
Davis' Straits, we may hope that opportunities will occur of ex-
amining the species under more favourable circumstances.

RosACEiE. — Of the Rosacea, besides the Potentilla tormentilla,
there are several specimens of a Potentilla which deserves some
attention. These specimens are of the same species, though one
is much more branched than the others. The lower part of the
stem is covered with a dense brown mass, composed of the en-
larged stipules of the inferior leaves. In the midst of this cover-
ing the stem divides into several branches. These stems or
branches in all our specimens are one-flowered and few-leaved,
yet each at its base is covered with brown stipular sheaths arising
from itself. The radical or lowest leaves are on pretty long pe-
tioles arising in the mass of stipular sheaths. These petiolated
leaves are ternate, and each leaflet is crenate, having from five to
seven convex teeth nearly but not absolutely equal ; in the ter-
minal leaflet there are commonly seven such teeth. Both sur-
faces of the leaflets, particularly the lower, are covered with silky
hairs, and hairs of the same description copiously ciliat* their
margins. They are rather small, each leaflet being about the
third part of an inch long and less than a quarter of an inch
broad. The few leaves on the flower-bearing stems are also ter-
nate, but smaller and less perfectly developed, the terminal leaflet
having no more than three convex teeth ; these have no petiole,
but in lieu of it a pair of connate stipules. The flower-bearing
stems, as well as the petioles of the lower leaves, are hairy, the
hairs on the former being shorter. The calycine sepals are ovate,
blunt or subrotund, the five exterior rather smaller than the five
interior, the inner rather less round than the outer, subequal in
both rows ; both are hairy and fringed with hairs. The petals
are considerably longer than the sepals, large and broad, obcor-
date or emarginate.

There are not a great many species of Potentilla hitherto de-
scribed with ternate leaves. Of these, the only species to which
our plant approaches are the P. nivea, Vahliana, emarginata and
nana. In some respects it agrees with each of these. The flowers
are too large for the P. nivea, and moreover it dififers in its whole
aspect from the P. nivea at least of the Alps. It agrees better
with the P. Vahliana, which is held to be the same as the P.
Jamesoniana from Greenland, described by Dr. Greville. The
leaves however in Dr. Greville's figure have hardly the same
aspect ; in Dr. Greville's plant the lateral leaflets are trifid, in
ours usually quinquefid; moreover Dr. Greville describes the
leaflets as gashed at the apices, those of our plant are crenate

from the shores of Davis* Straits. 171

over the whole margin. The description of the P. emarginata
is rather vague ; it seems indeed, as Sir Wm. Hooker * suggests,
to be the same as the P. nana. Our species on the whole agrees
very well with the P. nana, though the name does not seem very
applicable to it, unless it refer to the large size of the flowers as
compared with the moderate height of the plant. Lehmann, as
cited by Hooker t, says the P. nana is distinguished from all the
allied species by the " foliola calycina exteriora subrotunda obtu-
sissima/^ These leaflets in our specimens are certainly roundish,
though it may be doubted if they come completely up to the
strong expression just quoted. The remarkable fringing of the
leaves with silky hairs, so striking in our specimens, is hardly
referred to in the description of P. nana or of the allied
species.

SANGUisoRBEiE. — Here we have the Alchemilla vulgaris, a
well-developed plant.

ONAGRAREiE. — Amoug the plants before us there are two
Epilobiums : one a single imperfect specimen, which may probably
pass for the Epilohium angustissimum of Linnseus, among the
habitats of which he gives Greenland ; the other the Epilobium
latifolium, of which there are several excellent specimens ; the
most beautiful indeed in this small collection.

DeCandoUe says, in his definition of the Epilobium latifoliumj
" caule simplici,^^ with a mark of interrogation ; Sir Wm. Hooker
says, " caule subramoso." In all our specimens there are several
stems arising immediately from the root, while there is hardly
any branching in each. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, as stated
by all authorities. It is not however commonly noticed that the
leaves are distinctly unequal on the opposite sides of the middle
rib. Again, they are said byDeCandolle to be " integi-iusculis,''
and by Hooker to be ^^ subintegerrimis.^' On examining the
leaves in the specimens before the Society, I find the margins
minutely revolute with slight irregularities, which give the ap-
pearance of very small straggling teeth. This appearance has
possibly given rise to the belief of the leaves not being absolutely
entire, as the above expressions imply. In these specimens the
leaves are glabrous, which seems to be less usual. The leaves
moreover in our specimens are alternate and opposite, as described
by Linnaeus. The peduncles are axillary, yet sometimes so close
as to appear to be ternate or fasciculate. These peduncles, which
are as long as the flower, are purple and inflated. The calyx is
coloured as in the E. glandulosum of Lehmann.

Saxifrages. — There are four Saxifrages, the Saxifraga op-
positifolia, S. tricuspidata, S. cernua and S. rivularis.

* Flora Boreali-Americana, vol. i. p. 194. ' * f lb.

172 Dr. W. Seller on some Plants obtained

Of the S. oppositifolia I have nothing to observe. The speci-
mens of S. tricuspidata are several and very well marked. Of the
S. cernua the specimens are pretty numerous^ while very few, as
is usual, have flowers. One has a rather large flower with two
imblown flowers near it, so as to form an approach to a simple
umbel. In another there is a well-blown flower and an unblown
small flower near it. The only specimen besides, which has a
flower at all, is one-flowered. Sir Wm. Hooker in the ' British
Flora ' remarks on this species, ^' frequently there is no flower,
and I have never seen more than one upon a stem." Linnaeus
also describes the S. cernua as one-flowered. Wahlenberg how-
ever says, " caule subunifloro," and Sir Wm. Hooker in his ' Flora
Boreali- Americana^ has in the definition " flore ssepe subunifloro."
In these specimens the minute rounded bodies or bulbils which
stand instead of flowers are easily extracted from the axils of the
uppermost leaves. And in all the specimens the root is clothed
with amylaceous scales, giving to it at the first inspection no small
resemblance to the root of the S. granulata. In none of the de-
scriptions that I have consulted is this singularity of the root
referred to except by Mr. Don, who speaks of the " radix squa-
mata, squamse e basibus petiolorum foliorum primordialium
enata." And moreover he places this species in his third section
of the genus Saxifragaf termed Leiogyne, of which he remarks,
that " the roots, whether scaly or fibrous, scarcely afibrd any spe-
cific character, as they have all a tendency to become scaly."

Our fourth Saxifrage is the S. rivularis. It is wholly in fruit,
and is taller and stouter than usual. Wahlenberg says the S. ri-
vularis hardly exceeds an inch in height. Hooker describes it
as " pigmaea." Don gives two inches as the height of the stems.
Our specimens approach to three inches. There can be no doubt
however that these are specimens of the S. rivularis.

CoMPOSiTiE. — Of the plants before us, one only belongs to
the Compositcp. On mentioning at our last meeting that I took
this syngenesious plant for a species of Arnica, my opinion met
with very little countenance. I have since examined the speci-
mens with some care, and I feel satisfied that the plant is an
Arnica, and that it is the same as what authors have described as
one of the x^rctic forms of the Arnica montana.

As however this Arctic plant difi'ers so much in aspect from
the luxuriant plant of more temperate countries, it may be worth
while to give the results of that examination. Our specimens
have no root-leaves, and Mr. Sutherland assured me that he saw
none when he gathered them. On this however I shall not insist.
The scape is five or six inches long, hollow, one-flowered. Be- '
tween one and two inches above the base two opposite leaves or
leafy scales arise, in some degree amplexicaul, or even approach-

from the shores of Davis^ Straits, 173

ing to connate, each almost an inch long, triangular, acute,
broadish at the base ; above the middle of the scape are produced
two other leaves, alternate, of the same form, smaller in size,
the lower being rather the larger, distant from each other about
the third part of an inch, each Ijeing amplexicaul in the same
degree as the two opposite leaves beneath. The leaves are ribbed.
In one of the specimens these upper leaves are wanting, and in
another they are opposite, like those below. The scape has a
jointed appearance at the origin of the opposite leaves, and is
somewhat inflated just below the flower. It is shghtly striated
and clothed, as the leaves also are, with soft hairs varying in
length. The receptacle is round, slightly convex, distinctly
pitted, the apertures minute but deep, of two sizes with a raised
narrow margin, which is fringed with an evident pubescence. In
the Linnsean definition of the genus Arnica, which has been fol-
lowed by most authorities, the receptacle is represented as naked ;
but DeCandoUe says, ^^ receptaculum fimbrilliferum pilosiuscu-
lum,^^ as exhibited in these Arctic specimens. The leaflets of the
involucrum are in two rows, eleven in the outer row, eight in the
inner ; those of the outer row ovate-lanceolate, nearly uniform ;
those in the inner less regular, some being of the same form and
size with the outer leaflets, while others are narrower and even
shorter. The outer leaflets are near half an inch long, more
hairy on their external surface than the scape, their outer sur-
face and both surfaces of the inner leaflets being less hairy. The
leaflets in both rows are deeply concave on their inner aspect, or
rather carinate, with a middle rib. The ligulate florets are few
compared with the number of tubular florets in the disc. They
stand in a single row, and being eight in number, one seems to
correspond with each of the inner leaflets of the involucrum. The
pits or apertures in the receptacle answering to the insertion of
these ligulate florets are wider than those from which the bases of
the tubular florets arise, with the exception of two pits near the
centre, which have the same diameter as those around its border.
The ligulate florets are rather large and conspicuous, being an
inch in height from the receptacle ; the lamina is broad, marked
with several prominent, nearly parallel nerves, which branch off
to bound the margins of the terminal teeth. The tubular florets
are short, intermixed with the abundant pappus and overtopped
by it : these are five-toothed. The style is forked in the florets
of both disc and ray, the branches being long and pubescent, a
part of DeCandoUe's character of the genus Arnica, The pap-
pus is scabrous, the achenium hairy.

Ericace^. — The Ledum palustre.

MoNOTROPE^. — The Pyrola rotundifolia,

ScrophularinejE. — There are several specimens of Pedicu*

1 74 Sir W. Jardine's Illusti^ations of Ornithology.

laris. The form of the petiole and leaves resembling the snout
of the saw-fish, marks them out as belonging to P. hirsuta.

PoLYGONE^. — Polygonum viviparum and Oxyria reniformis.

Empetre^. — Empetrum nigrum.

Salices. — Salix Myrtilloides and two imperfect specimens not
yet determined.

Cyperace^. — Eriophorum capitatum and E. polystachion.

I owe an apology to the Society for the length to which these
observations have extended, — ^far beyond the slight notices at first
designed; and yet I have been able but very imperfectly to
execute the task proposed. But in the progress of this slight
attempt I have felt more and more convinced of the advantage
to be derived, in abler hands, towards the improvement of prac-
tical botany from detailed descriptions of individual plants in the
case of species liable to much variation.

XVIII. — Horce Zoologies. By Sir W. Jardine, Bart.,
F.R.S.E. & F.L.S.

[With two Plates.]
No. VI. Illustrations of Ornithology.
Artamus mentalis (Plate VIII.). — Of the native country of this
Artamus we have no information. The specimen from which our
illustration was taken forms part of the ornithological collection
belonging to the York Philosophical Society, and was noticed there
by Mr. Gould as distinct from any of the previously described
species. The principal characters that are at first sight apparent,
are, the strength and size of the bill, the dark colour of the upper
plumage, and the small size of the dark space on the chin com-
pared with the colouring of the same part on A. leucorhynchus,
where it covers the whole front of the throat and neck.

The bill is dilated and swollen at the base, and appears to have
been of the same rich blue colour which prevails in those species
which have been described from recently killed birds ; towards the
tip it shades gradually into black. The head, cheeks, mental
patch, back and wings brownish black with an opake grayish
shade ; tail black, narrowly tipped with white ; the throat, breast
and under parts, the rump and upper tail-covers, under wing-
covers and axillary feathers pure white.

Entire length of the stuffed specimen, Gy^^j inches ; bill to
gape, 1 ; to forehead nearly -f-Q ; of the wing to the end of second
or longest quill, 5. The