^ / 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. •ajiqs -saujiunQ s>; ^ : O oi j; ^ c c n f5 M -I •lu'd 18 I Tf^O «0 lOOO CO ' I T^ ^^ ^< ^« ^(* ^« ■ •OI'B 16 lO T^ T^ Tt rj* Tf --^ ^' • O o^ o^ o^ o c^oooor^^^•oot^o^oooo^o^c>l«NO^ S2 Q •uimr H« --In hIs) f*i «|ff» Hf '^le' '^IN He* •XBW He '^IN "-ilw lo 1/5 lo in u:i m -^ 1 ■^oc- — lO^■rf•Q0(Nc^ (ovo^vo tco too tnmtotoioio.o a\6 t^o m lO JO lo ioc«4f^'!tcibo toioioiciO'<:j*»oioioiotou3 tomtou:) •uiK •XBK o'ooLOLc.lpQpc^c^c^-H-Hg^ooo9990^a^7-o»7•7CM00 OO^OOOOOOC^'7l V,^ v", *Aj i.'^v^i >*^i v^i >Wi^ "^^ ^fc-' >^>' ^*^ '~* *^ v.^ ^™ »— • •*•' *— ' « *— ' '^^ '■^ »— ^ ^^ ^»' "^ • ' , , , • 6^6^0^6^6^6^6^6^C^(>6^(^6666o66^6o66666^o6ooo C*C^C- OD l>" "-O ^T ^vtJ'*.)ati'^v k^ ■— ' w a^6^6^c^6^c^6^6^6^6^c^6^0 6 o o 6 6^^^a^6^o^6^6^c^6^a^c^o^oO ^^io-"^'!a''^o>po. CM 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 ^ V C ^ aj •aaiqs -saujuino: «• w*M &' ^* &' c ^' &' i ^' SJ J „• « oj c c ^•%=il^"^'^^«i^* S '^ ^ k > • > • ^ ^ s S . S J s s . i ^ i S:* ^' ^- ;»: 2 J a . •ra-d I i i ^ & <«• ^ ^ « v; (O u} m « &' S:* i ^ ^ i i ^ •ra"d ¥8 ?6 c^a^a^Oln■^f^>.^oco'^ooco•^OlOcou:sQO■^ 8 . •uiw •XBJtt •Ul'8 ^8 •uoisoa •uiM ■^inio-^-'^'^-^tioio'Ou:)*© li^jio-^T^fi •XBJM -< — '^t^t^COO«'MO-'COrOOiOa^OOOO^OOiOO--^t^o ■^cnr>-r-cr>o> 7-.c»ipo»p O^O^O^ONO^O^ONONO O O o O O O^ONONC^O^O ONC^ONONONONONONC^lO^ CIOIOIOO(NCOCM(N.oo coo 6>6^c 6 r5 o ,-1 ,-. — r o ON 6 6 6 6 ON CO CO CO CO -vo ■^00 vo o CO o in '^ S 00 :3 ^ n\ co-^ino t^oo o^o / ///// (:JfiU)..V,!/.IfL-it.\\)L\(\n M.AUman del. Anatorny of Acta^oJi. ff ff \'oi.i(-3 y/. 17. ■ I 7s } if / / A/ut/ofn V of ArtiVon . / !///; X-.IA/r/ .Vr// ///y/.\olic- 'Vli' Aii-tiioiiiy o/' AcUtojL, H.AfJiniin tJ/l . 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 accompanying figure is slightly reduced. Genus Gnathodon, Jard. Gen. Characters. — Bill strong, maxilla hooked, sharp-pointed ; mandible cut at tbe tip into three distinct angular teeth ; nostrils ^nn.dfMaff.Nat.Hist.VolAG.m.VlU. 1846. Siriir-Jai-diTU dcL^ Vi Slizars So. I^MUSg^ Zi Mo 3 :yRAL HV^^ "^ '"'ii i'^ " li! li 11 \i\ 1 !l! ■r\ iii 'l! i|' .■iijl ji il .1 1 1 1 1 t i r Sir W. Jardine's Illustrations of Ornithology. 175 basal, linear, pierced in an oval membrane ; wings broad, concave ; quills acuminated, second, third, fourth nearly equal ; bend of the wing with a small tubercle -, tarsi short (the tarsi here are im- perfect and cannot be defined) ; feet gressorial ; toes unconnected at the base, exterior and interior equal in length ; claws slightly curved. Type G. strigirostris. Gnathodon strigirostris, nat. size. Gnathodon strigirostris (Plate IX.). — We are indebted to Lady Harvey, whose extensive collection of natural history in Edin- burgh is always open when science can be promoted, for a speci- men of this very remarkable bird. It was purchased at a sale of various Australian productions, and although we cannot fix upon the district or locality whence they were obtained, we have little doubt of the specimen having come to this country with the others. The size is about that of the common stock dove. The maxilla, strigine-like, hooked and sharp-pointed, has been yellowish orange. The nostrils are externally linear, and are pierced in an oval membrane ; the mandible is proportionally strong, and at the tip is cut into three distinct angular teeth, orange-yellow, red at the base. Space between the nostrils and eyes, and a small patch on each side of the throat bare of feathers. The head, neck, upper part of the back, breast and belly are black with green re- flections, brightest on the upper back and sides of the breast, and there having each feather tipped with a broad margin of gray conspicuous in some positions, and appearing at times to occupy the whole space. The back, rump, wings except the quills, tail and under tail-covers rich orange-brown ; quills and secondaries grayish black. The tarsi and feet have been pink or scarlet. Entire length of the stuffed specimen from 11^ to 12 inches; bill to gape, 1 ; to forehead, -^-^ ; of wing to the end of third quill, 8. The first general appearance of this bird is somewhat dove-like, 176 Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera, but the very strong hooked bill and remarkable teeth displayed in the mandible are at variance with the most powerfully-billed pigeons, and we can form at present no opinion as to the pro- bable use or adaptation of the latter structure. The position and linear form of the nostril agree with that of Megapodius as w^ell as the bare space in front of the eye_, and the indication of the want of feathers on the sides of the throat. The form of the wdng approaches to that of Penelope. The tail of fourteen feathers is square and comparatively short, while the colouring of the plu- mage reminds us of some of the ground doves. The tarsi are short, and are naked very shortly above the tarsal joint ; the out- ward covering has been destroyed, but in front appears to have consisted of rounded scales. The feet are of moderate size, and the outer and inner toes, quite unconnected at the base, are of equal length. From a careful consideration of the general characters, we are inclined then to place this singular bird with the Peneloponince or MegapodincBj probably the latter. We are aware of no existing description, though there is one allusion made to a bird which may eventually turn out to be this. In Mr. Strickland's Report on the Recent Progress and Present State of Ornithology, read before the British Association at York, it is stated, " The recent American voyage of discovery will extend our knowledge of Poly- nesian zoology, and its researches will be made known by Mr. Titian Peale, who is said to have discovered among other rarities a new bird allied to the dodo, wh^ph he proposes to name Diduncu- lus'" and we believe ^^ strigirostris'' has been applied specifically. In that part of these voyages already published there is no zoology given, so that we cannot now ascertain the value of this discovery, and from the specimen before us possessing no characters in com- mon with a struthious bird, we have ventured to characterize it as a new generic form. July 30, 1845. XIX. — Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Diurnal Lepidoptera. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum, F.L.S, &c. Fam. PAPILIONIDiE. Genus Papilio. P. Bromius. P. alls omnibus nigris, fascia communi lata puuctieque marginali viridibus ; subtus fuscis, posticis fascia maculari pallide aurea. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 9 lin. vel95 millim. Hah. Ashanti. P. Bromius, Cat. of Lep. of Brit. Mus. 147. Wings above black, traversed by a bro^d bright green fascia di- Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera. 177 vided by the nerviires, commencmg in the discoidal cell of the an- terior wing, and terminating on the inner margin of the posterior wings, of which it occupies fully two-thirds. This band is nearly straight on its inner side, but externally it is suddenly widened be- low the radial nervure of the anterior wings, and much dentated on the posterior wings. It is preceded on the costa by a large sub- quadrate spot of the same colour divided into four by the nervures. At the apex of the anterior wings are two elongate green spots, followed on the outer margin by a series of geminate spots and a simple round one at the anal angle of the same colour. On the posterior wings, towards the outer margin, are three rounded green spots, each followed by a small dot of the same colour (sometimes very indistinct). These are succeeded by three ge- minate spots ; the first rounded, the second elongate, the third rounded, near the anal angle and almost touching the transverse band. Below fuscous, the anterior wings darker at the base ; to- wards the anal angle a marginal series of five or seven small white spots placed in pairs between the nervules, between which and the margin are two or three very minute white dots. Pos- terior wings with three black striae in the cell, a macular band of a pale gold colour near the outer margin, and two points of the same colour near the anal angle. Head and thorax black, spotted with white. Abdomen fuscous, above with the edges of the segments paler, below with five series of white spots ; anal valves rounded. This species is closely allied to P. Nireus, but has the band much wider and somewhat different in its direction, and the anal valves are much rounder. I may here remark that the P. Nireus of Cramer, t. 378. f. F. G, from the Cape of Good Hope, is quite a distinct species from the true Nireus of the west coast of Africa. The distinctions were clearly pointed out to me by Dr. Boisduval, who had placed the name Char opus to it in his cabinet about four years ago. This name having been lately used by Mr.Westwood for a species in my brother^s collection, the name cannot be now used for the Cape insect. I therefore propose for it the name of JjycEus. It may be known from P. Nireus by its generally smaller size, its cilia spotted with white, the apex of the anterior and disc of the posterior wings below clouded with silvery gray, and by the band of the posterior wings not being macular. This band is wanting in the females, the whole of the disc and outer margin of the posterior wings, and the apex of the anterior being clouded with light brown with silvery reflections. Only having seen im- perfect specimens, when I drew up the catalogue of the Papilionidce in the collection of the British Museum, I was afraid to sepa- rate the Cape specimens, not being then aware that Dr. Boisduval, from the examination of numerous perfect specimens, had become Ann. ^ May. N, Hist. Vol.xvl O 178 Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera. convinced of their being a separate species. To secure the name of LycBus, it may be well to add the following short character : — P. Lyaus. P. alls omnibus supra nigris, fascia transversa communi, macula costali, nervis divisa, maculisque duabus apicalibus alarum anticarum octoque submarginalibus posticarura viridibus subtus fuscis, nebulis apicis anticarum, discique posticarum argenteo- albidis, fascia submarginali baud macular!, maculisque duabus ad angulum ani pallida aureis : foemina alis omnibus snbtus fuscis, ar- genteo-brunneo nebulosis, ciliis in utroque sexus albo maculatis. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 7 lin. vel 93 millim. Hab. Africa Australiori. P. Aidoneus. P. alis anticis elongatis, fuliginosis, striis nigris ; pos- ticis angustis, dentatis, nigris, immaculatis ( c?). Exp. alar. 3 unc. 10 lin. vel 95 millim. Hab. Montibus Himalayis. Anterior wings elongate, fuliginous; the nervures and nervules, the inner margin, four longitudinal strise in the discoidal cell and eight between the nervules, black. Posterior wings long, narrow, dentate, the abdominal fold broad; entirely black, with purple and greenish reflections. Below all the wings as above, but paler. Head rose-coloured, occiput black, forehead with a few black hairs. Antennse black. Thorax with the sides below rose-coloured. Abdomen black above, rose-coloured below; the anal valves very large, rose-coloured. This interesting species belongs to the same group as P. Nax and Varuna, close to which should be placed P. Rhetenor, Pro- tenor ^ &c. The anterior wings have the inner margin very short, not being nearly one-half the length of the anterior margin : the posterior resemble in form those of P. Rhetenor, but like those of P. Varuna have no disco-cellular nervure, the median and sub- costal actually anastomosing. In the collection of H. G. Harrington, Esq. Fam. APATURIDiE. Genus Apattjra. A. Namouna. A. alis omnibus supra fuscis, splendide caeruleo nitente, fascia transversa punctisque marginalibus albis, subtus argenteo- albis fimbria, fasciaque transversa, rufis. All the wings above fuscous black, with a transverse pure white band slightly bordered with bluish, commencing by three rounded dots at the extremity of the discoidal cell of the anterior wings, afterwards widening and attaining the abdominal margin of the Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidopiera. 179 posterior wings ; beyond this band are three white dots towards the apex of the anterior wings, and one or two indistinct ones towards their anal angle, and on the posterior a series of seven whitish dots : anal angle rufous. The whole dise and inner mar- gin of the anterior wings, and the whole of the posterior, except the pure white part of the transverse band and the white dots, are in certain lights of the most splendid metallic light blue. Be- low silvery white with pearly reflections, a faint indication of the band above ; the costa of the anterior wings except at the base, the outer margins of all the wings, a transverse band beyond the middle much widened towards the anal angle of the anterior wings, rufous. This band is marked at its widest part by a round black spot, and bordered there externally with two sublunulate black spots and a sagittate one. In addition to this are two small black spots in the discoidal cell followed by two short black per- pendicular lines, below this is a black spot and two black lunules, and on the posterior wings a black dot near the anal angle, pre- ceded in the band by a similar one. Head fuscous ; the orbits of the eyes, the palpi below, and four spots on the vertex white. Antennae fuscous. Thorax and abdomen fuscous above, paler below ; legs silvery white. In the collection of the British Museum. Presented by W. W. Saunders, Esq. Fam. ADOLIAD^. Genus Adolias, Boisd. A. Euthymius. A. alis omnibus supra Isete aurantiacis anticis puncto discoidali, margine externo, strigaque submarglnali valde angulata, fuscis ; posticis strigis duabus, submarginalibus, lunulatis, nigris ((^), Exp. alar. 3 unc. 7 lin. vel 90 millim. Hab. Montibus Himalayis. All the wings bright orange-red above, the anterior with a large spot on the disco-cellular nervure, followed by two small ill-defined ones on the lower discoidal nervule -, the outer margin broadly fuscous bla<;k, with faint indications of four or five red- dish lunules ; this black border dilated towards the apex, much dentate internally, preceded by a broad zigzag striga, commencing near the anterior and extending nearly to the inner margin; the median nervules each with a round fuscous spot before their middle. Posterior wings clothed at the base with long hairs ; a discoidal spot, two lunulate bands, and the outer margin slightly fuscous. Below paler, all the wings marked at the base with some in- distinct fuscescent spots, beyond which is an undulating striga crossing the middle of the discoidal cell of the anterior wings, 02 180 Mr. E. Boubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera, and reaching the inner margin of the posterior wings near the middle. Beyond this is a less curved band commencing on the costa beyond the middle and reaching nearly to the anal angle, followed by a space rather paler than the rest of the wings. Be- yond the middle are four black dots, the first and fourth largest, the latter pupiled with white. Faint indications of the bands above are visible below. Head rufous ; antennae brown, darker towards the apex ; palpi red. Thorax and abdomen brick-red. In the collection of H. G. Harrington, Esq. Fam. NYMPHALID^. Genus Diadema, Boisd. The genus Diadema of Boisduval is a most interesting one, from the resemblance which many of the species bear to those of other families. In general we find a Papilio and either an Eu- ploea, Danaus or Acraa always of the same country, which they much resemble in form, colour and character of the markings, — in some species so close as to have caused some confusion as to their identity with the older figures. In D. Bolina it is only the female which offers this resemblance to species of other groups, and as yet there has not been found representatives for two or three species, but probably some day these will occur. D. Boisduvalii. D. alls subdiaphanis, anticis fuscescentibus, supra basi margineque interne pallida rufesceutibus, maculis basalibus discoidalibusque decern, striolisque marginalibus septem nigris ; posticis rufis basi maculis nigris undecim, margine externo nigro, rufo maculato. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 9 lin. vel 95 millim. Hah. Ashanti. Diadema ? Cat. of Lep. of Brit. Mus. 97. Anterior wings semitransparent, fuscescent, the internal mar- gin tinged with red : in the discoidal cell are four rounded black spots, three placed in a triangle towards the base, one near the extremity, a similar spot on the disco-cellular nervule, one on the first median nervule, three at the base between the median and radial nervure, one on the radial a little beyond the middle ; ner- vules fuscous, between them a series of fuscous striae, on the fourth of which is a rounded whitish spot. Posterior wings rufous, paler towards the inner margin, the base itself black ; the dis- coidal cell with three rounded black spots, the two nearest the base almost confluent ; around the cell are six black spots, of which the fourth is very small, the fifth on the disco- cellular ner- vure. These are followed by two spots near the inner margin ; the outer margin has a rather broad black border, undulated in- ternally, marked with seven more or less lunulated red spots. Mr. E, Doubleday on some nev) Diurnal Lepidoptera. 181 Below the anterior wings are nearly as above, but are shaded with a rosy red at the base, the posterior are yellowish, the dis- coidal cell rose-coloured in the middle, the lunules in the mar- ginal band paler, the fourth of the spots round the discoidal cell wanting. Head black, with six white spots ; palpi rufescent ; apex black ; antennae black. Thorax black, spotted with white, two rufescent spots on the disc. Abdomen black, with a row of brown spots on each side above, a series of paler ones on each side, and also a median series below. In the collection of the British Museum. This species closely resembles in its colouring P. Ridleyanus, and some of the Acrcece near to A. Zidora. For the first time I have deviated from a rule I had laid down for myself, never to name an insect after any living entomologist, or even after any entomologist whatever ; but having, in accordance with the law of priority, converted into a synonym the name oiBoisduvalii, given to an Adolias by Mr. G. R. Gray, I have as a compensation de- dicated this beautiful insect to my excellent friend, whose kind- ness and liberality to me in placing at my service his books, ma- nuscripts and collections has been beyond all praise. D. Anthedon, Boisd. MSS. D. alis omnibus nigris, anticis plaga magna, subapicali, alteraque magna marginis interni, maculaque parva disci albis, cseruleo-nitente. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 7 lin. vel 90 millim. Hah. Africa Occidentali. Diadema ? Cat. of Lep. of Brit. Mus. 98. Anterior wings black, a longitudinal spot in the discoidal cell, a broad transverse fascia before the apex, and a large patch oc- cupying nearly the whole inner margin, pearly white shaded with blue. Posterior wings silvery white at the base, the outer margin broadly fuscous, the fuscous colour extending inwards between the nervules. Below the wings nearly as above, but paler towards the apex, three small white spots at the base, an- other in the discoidal cell, and towards the anal angle a series of small gemmate white dots, preceded by two spots of the same colour ; a faint fuscous line in the white fascia near the margin. Posterior wings pearly white, clouded with fuscous towards, the outer margin, the nervules and a series of striae between them fuscous, the margin narrowly fuscous with white lunules. Cilia spotted with white. Head and thorax black with white dots. Abdomen fuscous. In the collection of the British Museum, &c. 182 Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera, This species as closely resembles A, Hippocoon and EupL Nia- vius as D. duhia does Eupl. Damocles. I have adopted the name under which it stands in Dr. BoisduvaFs cabinet. D. Euryta. D. alis omnibus supra nigro-fuscis, fascia media, com- muni, transversa, albida, anticis punctis duobus basalibus albis, nigrisque quinque, fascia subapicali alba, posticis subtus basi ru- fescente, punctis utrinque basalibus, nigris decem ( $ ). Exp. alar. 3 unc. 3 Hn. vel 82 millim. Hab. Africa Occidentali. This insect is the true P. Euryta of Clerck, t. 31. f, 4^ but not the A. Euryta of Godart. Perhaps P. Hirce of Drury [Diadema Hirce, Cat. of Lep. Brit. Mus. 97) is only the male of this spe- cies. I have however seen a specimen, apparently a male, more nearly resembling D. Euryta in colour in the fine collection of M. Marechal at Paris. I therefore give the characters of D. Hirce, D. Hirce. D. alis anticis rufo-fuscis, basi nigro punctatis supra ma- cula subapicali alteraque marginis interni rufis, posticis rufis basi nigro punctatis, striate fimbriatoque margine externo nigro subtus basi saturatiore. D. Nyctelius. D. alis anticis supra nigris, apice caeruleo-nitente, margine externo albido striate ; posticis albidis, . basi, nervulis, margineque externo fuscis. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 3 lin. vel 82 millim. Hah. Sylhet. Anterior wings brownish black, the apex broadly shaded with pale blue, the colour varying with the direction of the light : be- tween the nervules is a series of whitish striae, becoming less elon- gate towards the anal angle ; posterior wings dusky white, fus- cous at the base, the outer margin narrowly fuscous, the colour extending inwards between the nervules, which also are fuscous. Below the anterior wings are fuscous, with a marginal series of whitish spots, and two submarginal ones near the anal angle. Posterior wings fuscous ; the inner margin and a double series of ill-defined spots towards the outer margin, of which those of the inner series are rounded, of the outer elongate, geminate, whitish. Head and thorax black with white dots; antennae with an elongate club, fuscous. Abdomen fuscous. In the collection of the British Museum. This species closely resembles some of the Indian Euploece. [To be continued.] M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides, 183 XX. — On the Development of the Annelides. By M. Sars*. [With a Plate.] Till recently, all that was known respecting the development of the Annelides was based solely upon observations made on the leech ; the other Annelides were judged of from this, and their development considered to be extremely simple, i. e. that the animals left the egg as perfectly formed as they appear during their whole life. To what very erroneous conclusions we fre- quently come in this way, and how cautious we ought to be in generalizing, abundant instances prove. So, for instance, not to mention others, it was concluded, from the knowledge of the de- velopment of the craw-fish, that all the other Decapods were in this respect similar ; and naturalists were thus led to doubt for a long time, to the injury of science, the beautiful discoveries of Thompson. In the month of February 1840 I discovered, in the examina- tion of a Polyno'e cirrata, Fab., that the young when they leave the Q^^ have a very different form from that of the adult animal, and that they are deficient in most of the external organs which are so characteristic of these animals ; in a word, therefore, that this Annelide is subject to a metamorphosis. I only succeeded in observing the first stage of development, and therefore kept back my observations on this subject, with numerous other imperfect notices, with the hope of being able to complete them in the course of time. However, although I had occasion to repeat the observation in February and March 1841, 1 could not succeed in tracing the development any further; and it might, perhaps, appear superfluous to publish these observations at present, after Loven has communicated to the public his far more complete observa- tions on the metamorphoses in a species of Annelides. I do it however partly to confirm the latter, which no one yet has done, and partly because I am able, which was not the case with Loven, to point out a known species in which at a certain period of the year the development may be observed. When the minute cir- cumstances or conditions in the generation are once known, some one will undoubtedly succeed in completing that in which our knowledge of the development of the Annelides is still deficient. Polyno'e cirrata is common on the coast of Norway, and occurs between the roots of Laminarice, under stones, in empty shells and other holes in which it can hide itself. It agrees perfectly, as I have convinced myself by comparison, with the Greenland species characterized by Fabricius under this name, but it never attains on our coast the immense size it does on that of Greenland. In the months of February and March is the period of propa- • From Wiegmann's Archiv, 1845, Part I. 184 M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides, gation of this Annelide : in some individuals^ the body^ which at other times is of a hght brownish gray or whitish gray and shining with a blue reliection, is observed to have assumed a pale rose-colour. This arises from a numberless quantity of eggs which fill the common cavity of the body, with the exception of about the first anterior fourth and the feet, and appear every- where through the skin. When the skin is cut open, the eggs are found to hang together in great masses by means of a con- necting tenacious mucus. They are spherical, the yolk finely gra- nular and opake, closely surrounded by the transparent chorion. When the egg is somewhat compressed (Plate IV. fig. 13), it ex- hibits the large Purkinje's vesicle without any perceptible trace of Wagner's spot. In other individuals the eggs have frequently been secreted at about the same time. They occur on the top of the back of the mother, beneath the branchiae or so-called dorsal scales, in immense numbers, connected with one another by a tenacious mucus. The heaps of eggs cover the whole of the hinder half of the back, but more anteriorly only the sides above the base of the feet : no eggs are met with on the seventh to the eighth front rings of the body. It seemed to me as if the eggs passed through a very small aperture just above the feet, as Rathke found to be the case in Nereis pulsatoria. They are all of the same size in the same individual (viz. about gV^^ ^^ ^ millimeter), and mostly equally developed, and therefore all of one and the same brood. Their colour is still very pale rosy red, or almost reddish white. Here, protected beneath the branchise, the eggs remain until the young creep out. In the meantime the yolk, between which and the chorion is a small space filled with limpid albumen, undergoes the usual process of division or furcation. Thus I once observed that the yolk had the appearance of a blackberry (fig. 14), its sur- face being covered with granules of different sizes, as was proved on submitting them to compression (fig. 15) ; each contained a bright roundish spot with a distinct outline like a nucleus, and were therefore evidently cells. On the following day, the 4th of March, the surface of the yolk had already become more finely granular, and approached again nearer to an even surface. . The ova subsequently become slightly oval, and the yolk or foetus into which the entire yolk is converted, without any part whatever separating, is smooth, grayish white, and is more or less narrowly surrounded or inclosed by chorion (fig. 16, 17). A peculiar kind of motion was now perceptible on the separated ova under the microscope, the ova turning round and round. This was effected by the very short fringe, consisting of minute mucous filaments (fig. 16,17 «), which is attached to the one ex- tremity of the ovum, and probably covering the entire egg in the M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides, 185 form of a membrane, similar to the so-called membrana nidulans of Burdachj connects all the ova as it were by means of a tena- cious mucus. This fringe is seen now and then to move slowly, and curve in a worm-like form, drawing the e.^^ with it back- wards and forwards. The cause of this motion remains a mystery to me, if it be not owing to the action of the water on the mucous substance of the fringe. The foetus itself, which gra- dually acquires a bright gi-ayish green colour, was still without motion in most of the ova ; only in a few a circle of extremely minute, projecting and vibrating cilia was perceptible, which sur- rounds horizontally the centre of the body of the foetus at an equal distance from the two poles of the ovum. At last the foetus is arrived at maturity, and the mother now carries on its back many thousands of young ones (fig. \% aaa), which gradually come forth from the mucus surrounding the eggs, leave their mother and swim freely about in the water, visible to the naked eye as very minute greenish gray points (g'o^h of a millimeter in size) endowed with a lively motion. The young, which have just left the shell (fig. 18, 19), are ex- tremely unlike the mother both in form and in structure. They are short, oval, cylindrical, unarticulated, and have, as above men- tioned, horizontally round the centre of the body, a circle of tole- rably long cilia [d d), in other respects however without any ex- ternal organs. The portion of the body situated anteriorly to the ciliary circle is somewhat narrower than the hinder one, and bears two eyes {e e), and should therefore without doubt be con- sidered as the head, the more so as the young one always swims with this extremity in front. The eyes are at some distance from the anterior free extremity (Z>), in the vicinity of the circle of cilia, one on each side and a little towards the back; they are very large m proportion to the body, black, and slightly elongated diagonally, or almost kidney-shaped, with the convexity turned anteriorly; not a trace of tentacula or antennae is observable about the head. We just now called the side where the eyes approach nearest together the dorsal side, while the opposite one, which moreover, when the young is regarded from the anterior extremity, is some- what more projecting (fig. 19 «), is proved to be the ventral side, from the fact, that on it, close behind the circle of cilia, there is an aperture (fig. 18 «), which I look upon to be the mouth. This mouth-aperture is a diagonal fissure, whose lips are provided with vibratory cilia, which are however much smaller than those of the circle of cilia. There are also some very minute cilia at the most anterior extremity of the head (fig. ISb). The intestine, as far as I could observe from the slight transparency of the body, appears 186! M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides, to expand considerably from the very mouth and to form a large sac, the stomach, and then gradually narrowing to proceed to- wards the hinder part of the body, where probably the anal aper- ture is situated. I could not distinctly recognise this, but I have observed it very clearly at this place in similar young of another Annelide, which will be noticed subsequently (fig. 21/). The colour is everywhere of a dirty pale green and only shghtly trans- parent. The body is soft, but it rarely exhibits contractions or variations of form ; it is only when the young animal is quiet, or has but little water, that contractions are perceptible on its body (and sometimes also of the intestinal canal), from its becoming broader or narrower and curving slightly at some places. Locomotion, that is to say swimming, is effected by the vibra- tion of the cilia. Only the large cilia of the circle effect the loco- motion ; the small ones near the mouth and at the front extremity of the head contribute little or nothing to it. The former cor- respond therefore to the powerful cilia which, in the young of the Nudibranchise and many other Gasteropods, effect the swimming, and are subject to the will of the animal ; the latter, on the other hand, are not subject to their will, and constitute the so-called ciliary organs. During the swimming, which is very rapid, uniform, and in all directions, the anterior portion of the head (fig. 18 ^) is always directed forwards. Frequently these young animals revolve du- ring swimming round their longitudinal axis : their sight is di- stinctly developed, for they are seen to avoid one another with adroitness, and they always swim towards the light. Although I turned the glass containing an immense number of them in various ways, they immediately swam in great troops to the side turned towards the light. The time from the laying of the eggs till the extrusion of the young may probably amount to a couple of weeks, for I have found, in the first days of February, the cavities of the body of a Polynoe filled with eggs ; but from the middle of this month to the middle of March, eggs on the backs in some individuals ; and in others at this same period, young just on the point of quitting the backs of their mother (fig. \%aa). I kept the above-described young of Poiyno'e, which left the egg under my eyes, alive for four weeks in glasses filled with sea- water, dm'ing which time they grew it is true somewhat, but ex- hibited no further changes. In this respect Loven was more fortunate, for the young Annelides which he met with swimming freely in the sea were evidently further advanced, and therefore exhibited to him in the space of two days the further development, the tentacula, and the articulations of the body growing under M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides, 187 his eyes. I therefore refer to his observations, as probably the further development of our young Polyno'e takes place in a coin- cident manner. The results of the above observations are briefly as follows : — 1. Polyno'e ciyrata propagates in the months of April and March by ova which are secreted from particular apertures on the dorsal side in masses connected together by mucous fila- ments ; they collect on the back and under the branchiae of the mother, where they remain during their further development and until the exit of the young. The branchiae have here there- fore a similar function as in the freshwater Mollusca ( UniOf Ana- donta), that of protecting the brood. 2. The young when they leave the egg have a very different form from that of the mother and a very imperfect structure. They are short, oval, cylindrical, unarticulated, and so to say, little more than mere head, for this occupies more than half of the en- tire body, and has two very distinct eyes (the full-grown animal has, as is well known, four). The mouth is a horizontal fissure on the ventral side of the body, and the anus is situated at its posterior extremity. With the exception of a circle of cilia, which surround horizontally the centre of the body and effect locomo- tion, there exist no other external members, no tentacula or an- tennae, no feet with their appendages of cirrhi and bristles, and no branchiae. All these organs must therefore be developed sub- sequently, when the true body (abdomen) has grown and become divided into articulations (as the observations of Loven show), as well as the two eyes, which are still deficient, while the ciha, as transitory, disappear. In short, we have here all the criteria of a metamorphosis, — different external form, parts which disappear entirely, and numerous organs which are subsequently added. It is therefore certain that many Annelides undergo a very considerable metamorphosis. In this respect they are related to the other Articulata, and indeed most to the Myriapoda, whose young, according to the observations of Waga and Newport, leave the egg in a very imperfect state and without any articulated members. As connected with this subject, I must mention the mucous globules which are likewise met with in the months of Fe- bruary and Mai'ch on our coast, adhering at the depth of some feet to Zostera marina and Fucus vesiculosus. These globules (fig. 20) are about an inch in diameter, of a beautiful grass-green colour, and consist of an immense number of eggs (b b) enveloped in a tenacious mucus which is rolled irregularly like a riband into a knot, the whole of which is coated with a slimy envelope. The eggs are globular, filled with limpid chorion, somewhat al- bumen, and grass-green yolk, which I observed in all the various 188 M. Sars on the Development of the Annelides. forms of the process of division or furcation during its metamor- phosis in the foetus. The young (fig. 21) are, when they have escaped from the egg, short, oval, cyHndrical, of a Hvely grass- green colour, and have the centre of the body surrounded horizon- tally by a circle of cilia {dd), while the head [b) is remarkable from two kidney-shaped eyes of a bright red colour, which occupy the same position as in the young Polynoe : these young are likewise without any articulated joints. The anus (/) is more distinctly visible as a small round aperture at the posterior extremity of the body than in the young Polynoe. They swim very quickly about in the water by means of the cilia, and always towards the light. In short, they resemble so closely the young of the Polynoe, that there can scarcely be a doubt of their belonging to some Annelide. As I was unable to ascertain either the species to which these eggs and young belonged or their further development, I must content myself at present with the mere announcement, that some sea- Annelides secrete their ova enveloped in a mucous mass of a certain form, as has long been known of the leech ; on the con- trary, others deposit free eggs *. EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV. FIGS. 12 to 21. Fig. 12. represents a Polynoe cirrafa, natural size : a dorsal view. The yel- lowish gray mass, a a a, which covers the back (with the exception of about the anterior fourth and below and between the branchiae), from which the young are on the point of escaping. Fig. 13. An egg taken from the cavity of the body, magnified and some- what compressed, to show Purkinje's vesicle. Fig. 14. An egg taken from the back, showing the blackberry form of the yolk. Fig. 15. The same egg very much compressed, exhibiting a bright nucleus in each of the large granules (cells) of the yolk. Fig. 16, 17. Further developed eggs, whose yolk or foetus is become smooth and whitish : a is the moveable fringe consisting of mucous fila- ments by which the eggs are connected. Fig. 18. The young animal just escaped, magnified and seen from the left side : a, mouth ; b, front, and c, posterior extremity of the body ; d d, circle of cilia ; e, left eye. Fig. 19. A front view of the same animal: a, ventral surface ; dd, circle of cilia ; e e, eyes. Fig. 20. represents the globular masses of eggs of an unknown Annelide of the natural size adhering to a piece oi Zoster a 7narina, cc: a a, the surrounding envelope of mucus ; b b, the eggs. Fig. 21. One of the young escaped from this mass of eggs: a dorsal view magnified: 6, anterior; c, posterior extremity of the body; dd^ circle of cilia ; e e, eyes ; /, tail. • For instance, the Nereides, as I have observed in Nereis pelagica and in a species of the genus Heteronereis Oersted. I saw in the month of March an immense number of eggs, which were very minute, globular, and of a beautiful azure-blue colour, deposited one by one by both of these An- nelides. Botanical Notices from Spain, 189 XXI. — Botanical Notices from Spain. By Moritz Willkomm*. [Continued from p. 122.] No. VI. Granada, November 4th, 1844. On the 12th of September I quitted the village of Guejar, and on the following day, after traversing a very difficult and somevi^hat danger- ous path over the Puerto de Vacares, I reached the south side of the Sierra Nevada, where I pitched my quarters in the village of Tre- velez, lying at an elevation of about 6000 feet, the first and highest inhabited place of the Alpuj arras. This village lies immediately at the base of the Mulahacen, in a very rocky valley, watered by the wild river of the Trevelez, which runs parallel to the principal chain of the Sierra, and divides this from the second, much lower and very sterile chain, the Sierra de Contraviesa. Notwithstanding the great height at which this village lies, it is surrounded with the most lux- uriant chestnut- and nut-trees, and rye and barley are even grown in the alpine region ; the vine however will no longer flourish here. This very circumstance shows that the position of the region is very different from that of the northern declivity, and moreover its limits are not so sharply marked as on the opposite side. The southern declivity of the Sierra Nevada presents a perfectly different appearance from that of the northern declivity. Whilst the summits of the principal chain terminate abruptly toward the north, and form immense and frequently inaccessible rocks, these toward the south pass into long, parallel, gradually descending coombes, which on the whole leave but very little undulating country between them. Between these mountain coombes, at a height of from 8000 to 10,000 feet, there lie a number of tarns or small moun- tain lakes as clear as crystal, from which innumerable rivulets issue into the valleys of Trevelez, the Rio Toqueira and Rio Grande. 1 have myself seen and visited, between the Cerro Caballo and the Puerto del Lobo, — apparently the two terminations of the mountain range, — fourteen lakes on the south side ; but their shores present no remarkable vegetation ; indeed, in general the vegetation of the whole southern declivity appears to be much less rich than that of the northern, which may be partly explained by the formation of this side, and partly by its exposure to the south. One of the most characteristic plants of the south side of the Sierra Nevada is the Arenaria pungens, Clem., which is found throughout the whole alpine and snow region, growing from the valleys up to the mountain re- gion, and forms the flora of the snow region and the highest sum- mits, together with A. tetraquetra, Artemisia granatensis, Ptilotri- chum spinosum, Eryngium glaciate, E, Bourgati, Gouan., Sideritis scordioides, var. vestita, Boiss., Thymus angustifolius. P., and Ten- crium Polium, y. aureum. The shores of these lakes are for the most part so thickly covered with Plantago nivalis , Boiss., that from a * Translated from the Botanische Zeitung, May 2, 1845. 190 Botanical Notices from ^pain. distance they appear quite white, and have frequently deceived me. On the margin of the alpine rivulets and on moist alpine meadows grow Saa:ifraga stellatns, L., Parnassia palustris, 1j., Euphrasia mi- nima, Schleich., and some liverworts ; in bogs of the mountain re- gion Juncus hufonius, J. glaucus and a Senecio, whilst the fissures of the limestone rocks are filled especially by Linaria origanifolia and Antirrhinum molle. On the fallow fields around Trevelez I found here and there Jasione montana, L,, a rare plant in Andalusia, and very frequent Carlina corymhosa, whicli grows high up into the al- pine region, as well as Polygonum Persicaria and lapathifolium. On walls and hedges in the environs of the village grow Senecio linifo- lius, L., very frequent and in full blossom, Artemisia Absinthium, L., Mentha rotundifolia, sylvestris and Pulegium, Brassica adpressa,BoisQ., Crambe filiformis, Jacq., Rumex pulcher, Helichrysum serotinum, Boiss., Althcea officinalis, Rubus hispanicus, Pteris aquilina, Cystopteris fragilis, Asplenium Trichomanes, A. Adiantum-nigrum and Ceterach officinarum, all which plants I have for the most part met with on the north side. The Mulahacen yielded a somewhat richer booty ; I began its ascent on the 15th of September, after having in vain attempted to ascend it three weeks before from the north side, when, instead of the Mulahacen, I came upon the Cerro Alcasava, and found my way back only with great danger over the frightful rocks of the northern declivity. The ascent to the highest summit of the Sierra Nevada (according to the measurement of D. Simon de Roxas Clemente equal to 4259^ varas castellanas, or 12,779 feet, which appears to be somewhat exaggerated) is not at all dangerous starting from Trevelez, at least in fine weather, which I was so fortunate as to have. After ascending for six hours, I came at noon to a pretty steep and pathless acclivity, on the highest rocks of the summit, and obtained such a magnificent view over a great portion of Spain, bounded by the sea and the coast of Africa, as is seldom presented. With the exception of some lichens, there is only found between the loose masses of rock of the summit, which consist of mica, contain- ing an endless number of garnets, the Artemisia granatensis, with the pretty Erigeron frigidum, Boiss., which is distributed over the whole of the upper snow region, but everywhere only sparingly, in company with Viola nevadensis, Galium pyrenaicum and Ptilotrichum purpureum. On the side opposite to the Picacho de Veleta, about 100 feet below the summit, I found about a dozen specimens of Papaver pyrenaicum, Gouan., already in fruit, gathered by M. Bois- sier on the same spot seven years ago, without doubt the rarest plant of the Sierra Nevada, as hitherto no other habitat is known, and even here it occurs very seldom. On the wet alpine meadows on the southern declivity of the Mulahacen and on the margins of the rivulets I found the dwarf Gentiana Boryi, Boiss., immersed among mosses, in company v/ith G. alpina and G. Pneumonanthe, var. de- pressa, Boiss., Ranunculus angustifolius, DeC, and Plantago nivalis. On a subsequent excursion of two days, which I made on the 16th and 1 7th of September toward the Puerto del Lobo lying nearly at the east end of the Sierra, I found that the eastern portion of the Botanical Notices from Spain. 191 southern declivity is still poorer in plants than the central i)art of Trevelez, and gathered only one neM' plant, viz. the rare Erodium trichomancefolium, L'Herit., which grows pretty plentifully on boul- ders of mica on the broad and high coombe between the Puerto de Jeres and Puerto del Lobo, but seldom blossoms. On the 18th of September I quitted Trevelez, with the hope of obtaining a richer harvest in other parts of the Alpujarras ; but in this hope I was soon deceived ; for the further I went towards the south, all was parched under the summer sun. Except Carlina co- rymbosa, Picnomon Acarna, Chameepeuce hispanica, Antirrhinum molle, Senecio linifolius, Helichrysum serotinum, Artemisia campestris, Bu- pleurum spinosum, Altheea cannahina, Centaurea Calcitrapa and sal' mantica, — plants which are especially common on the limestone for- mation and which I had already collected, — I observed in the valleys of the limestone mountains between Trevelez, Notaez, and Orgiva only Scilla maritima, L., in blossom, and on the perfectly arid lime- stone in the neighbourhood of Notaez, some bushes of the beautiful Lavatera ohlongifolia, Boiss. Even the environs of the charmingly situated baths of Lanjaron presented, with the exception of some salt-plants growing around the mineral springs, little of interest. There were in blossom Samolus Valerandi, L., Erythrcea maritima ?, Statice globulariafolia, Desf., and a Linum ; whilst on the arid lime- stone rocks in the neighbourhood of the town grow the sweet- smelling Balsamita multijicta, Clem, (according to Boissier's ' Voyage' Tanacetum annuum, L. ?), and in some fissures of the rock, but very rarely and not in blossom, the Lapiedra Martinezii, Lag. On per- pendicular limestone rocks at Orgiva and between Lanjaron and Granada I for the first time met with the rare Brassica moricandioides, Boiss., with thick, round, fleshy, bluish green leaves, with ripe fruit, in company with Bupleurum gihraltaricum, Lavandula multifida and a Satureja. In order also to ascertain the nature of the vegetation of the coast at this season, I made an excursion on the 20th of Sep- tember to the town of Motril, distant four leagues from Lanjaron and half a league from the coast, which is reached by the romantic valley of the Rio Grande, which carries off almost all the water from the southern declivity of the Sierra Nevada to the sea. The valleys of the Alpujarras possess quite a different character from those of the north side, for they are all very wide and the beds of the rivers very broad, even and sandy. Their banks, as especially those of the Rio Grande, are clothed with thick and liigh bushes of Arundo Do- nax, L., which began to unfold its colossal bunch of blossoms, and the beautiful Saccharmn Ravenna:, L., clothed with its elegant silver panicles ; in company with which plants are found in profusion the Tamarix gallica and Nerium Oleander. Further toward the sea ap- pear the Salix alba, S. purpurea, Populus nigra, alba and canescens frequent on the banks ; Passerina hirsuta, L., which blossoms through- out the year ; Scilla maritima and Chamcerops humilis, M'hich already from Orgiva and Lanjaron indicated the neighbourhood of the coast and the hot region. On the northern declivity of the last chain of hills between the valley of the Rio Grande and the Plain of Motril, 192 Botanical Notices from Spain. I noticed some gigantic shrubs of Kentrophyllum arborescens with stems as thick as an arm, but already completely dried up. It was here that the Andalusian robbers paid me a visit ; but fortunately I escaped them by the speed of my horse. The very friendly town of Motril lies at the foot of a limestone chain of hills planted with vines, which surrounds the basis of the Sierra de Lujar, and at the com- mencement of a wide fruitful plain, quite covered with the most luxuriant fields of cotton, sugar-cane, batates and maize. The coast is quite flat and very sandy ; Pancratium ?naritimum, L., blossomed in parts in company with a Salsola, Kakile maritima, L., and Euphor- bia Paralias, L. 'I'he last had past flowering, whilst on the banks of the ditches of the above-mentioned plains and on grassy places Panicum arenarium, Brot., Xanthium Strumarium, L., and Ricinus communis, L., and in the cotton plantations Datura Stramonium, L., are not rare. At the end of September I returned to Granada, and in the begin- ning of October I made the last excursion, of four days, in the Sierra Nevada, from whence I brought away little more than seed. The fresh-fallen snow which already covered the mountain down to the lower alpine region, prevented me from visiting the snow region, as I had intended. A subsequent excursion to the neighbouring Sierra of Alcafar yielded little beside a small form of Merendera Bulhoco- dium. Crocus nudiflorus, Sm., and Satureja cuneifolia. Ten. The summer months are not the most favourable months of the year for botanizing in Andalusia, even in the mountains, as I have found by experience ; but much the best time is the spring, from March to May, and June and July for the mountains. On the arid hills around Granada, the Artemisia Barrelieri, Boiss., which is here very frequent, begins to flower in the end of October ; and about the same time I found on moist shady places in the valley of the Darro the beau- tiful Sternbergia lutea, Ker. {Amaryllis lutea, L.), which had not hitherto been found in the kingdom of Granada. In the second half of October it rained almost incessantly, which prevented my making any distant excursions, but favoured the development of the Cryp- togamous plants ; so that I have obtained a tolerable harvest of lichens and liverworts during the latter part of my stay in Granada : of the last species, besides several forms of the Pellia epipJiylla, I found especially Marchantia paleacea, Bertol., everywhere in moist shady places, common on walls and on stony sites and with spore^ bearers ; on moist masses of rock I also gathered Targionia and Lunu- laria vulgaris, Mich., both very beautiful and in rich fructification. Zoological Society. 193 PROCEEDLNGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. April 8, 1845. — William Horton Lloyd, Esq., in the Chair. Abstract of a paper on Nepalese Birds, by Bryan H. Hodgson, Esq., Corr. Memb., late British resident at Nepal : — Brachypodin^. Genus Stachyris, mihi (olim Cilathora) . Types, S. nigriceps, pyrops et chrys(£us, all new. Bill as long as head, strong and straight, elongate- conic, much compressed ; towards base much higher than broad, with its ridge elevated and keeled between the large nareal fosses ; rounded for- wards, and the tips either straight, entire and depressed, or the upper one suddenly inclined, with remote notch; gape smooth; frontal plumes rigid, and concealing the base of the bill ; nares placed at fore end of the fosse, and covered by a salient arched incumbent scale, which closes the aperture forwards ; tongue narrow, simple, with bifid jagged tip ; wings short, bowed, perfectly rounded ; tail moderate, gradated, rather cuneate than fan-shape, and either frayed or subrigid ; feet suited to creeping and clinging ; tarse elevate and strong, longer than central toe and nail, and nearly or quite smooth ; toes short, depressed, unequal, basally connected ; hind large, and equal to outer fore toe ; nails repent and Parian. Exclusively monticolous and shy of man ; not gregarious ; feeds on tiny hard insects and the larvae and pupae of tree-haunting species — rarely on seeds ; exclusively arboreal ; builds large globular nests, which are fixed upon and between the crossing twigs of low thick bushes, and lays four or five eggs, of a pale fawn-colour, either unmarked or spotted with brown. 1 st species, S. nigriceps, mihi. — 5 J inches long ; bill to gape, W ; tail, 2^^ ; tarse to sole, if ; central toe and nail, W ; hind toe and nail, -j^ ; closed wing, 2^, Colour. — Above medial red-bi^wn, deeper and purer on wings and tail ; below sordid rusty, brightest forwards ; top and sides of head black, picked out with hoary ; chin hoary, confined by a black band running from the cap towards the breast; legs fleshy; bill horn- yellow, darkened on ridge ; iris pale orange. 2nd species, S. pyrops, mihi. — Olive-brown above, sordid rusty below and on the sides of head and neck ; beneath and before the eye and under the chin a black spot ; bill sordid sanguine, dusky on the ridge; legs horn-colour; eye sanguine. 4\ inches long; bill, ^; tail, 2 ; tarse, J ; central toe and nail, -^^ ; hind, -^ ; wing, 2. 3rd species, S. chrysceus, mihi. — Above vernal green, deeply tinged with golden; below bright golden; cap with dusky stripes; bill dusky ; legs yellow. Length, 4| inches ; bill, -j^ ; tail, 2 ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, j ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, ^. Remark. — These singular birds belong I think to Swainson's group of the Brachypodince, among the creeping genera of that group ; but they show some tendency to pass to the Leiotrichanians, by means Ann, ^ Mag. N. Hist, Fb/. xvi. P 194 Zoological Society. of Pteruthius and our Heterornis ; Heterornis at all events must take place next Pteruthius ; but I think the true position of Stachyris is among the Brachypods, near to Ibra and Icteria, with the forms that we shall next give, and leading to the Crateropodans. Genus Mixornis, mihi. General structure of liira, but the bill quite different and Meruline ; commissure and culmen subarched throughout ; tarse lower and not exceeding the large thumb with its nail ; tail fully rounded. Type, M. ruficeps, mihi. — Timalia gularis of Horsfield } M. ruficeps. — Body vernal green, passing to yellow on the throat and breast, where also there are dark lines down the shafts of the plumes ; cap, wing and tail brunescent ; bill bluish horn ; legs fleshy grey ; iris hazel. Length 5| inches ; bill, | ; tail, 2^ ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, -^^\ hind, -^\ closed wing, 2|. Sexes alike. Genus Erpornis. General structure of the last, but the bill very straight, compressed, with the culmen well-raised and keeled between the nares, as in Sta- chyris and in lora, but less thick and rounded and the notch more remote than in lora ; wings longer and more acuminate, with the first three quills less equally gradated ; legs smaller ; tail even. Type, Erpornis wanthochlora, mihi. — Above vernal yellow, below white ; legs and bill fleshy grey ; iris brown. Five inches long ; bill, J ; tail, 2^; closed wing, 2| ; tarse, ^; central toe and nail, ^^ ; hind, ^. Sexes alike. Remarks. — The above two forms are much related to each other, as well as to Stachyris and the other Brachypodan clinging-birds ; but Mixornis inclines towards Timalia among the Crateropodans, while Erpornis is nearer to Stachyris and Zosterops, which last I consider to be a Brachypod. Both inhabit the lower and central hills, and feed on tiny tree-insects and their larvse and pupae. Their tongue is simple. Genus Iwulus. General structure of Polyodon, but the bill, tongue and nares sim- ple, and Brachypodan, not Meliphagian ; bill short and singly notched at the tip. Type, Polyodon flavicollis or Yuhina flavicollis , as printed. Remark. — Polyodon is a strictly Meliphagian form. Ixulus is one of the genera serving to connect the true Honey suckers with the re- pent Brachypods, such as Zosterops, Chloropsis, &c., and which are so like the former. Crateropodin^. Genus Pyctoris, mihi. Bill short, strong, perfectly entire, arched throughout the culminal and tomial lines ; nareal fosse and scale obsolete; rictus with very strong short bristles ; orbits nude ; wings short and feeble, the first two quills much, the next two little gradated ; third pair equal and longest ; tail long, broad and gradated throughout ; legs and feet ty- Zoological Society, 195 pically Crateropodan, with a high strong tarse ; toes medial, unequal, central not elongated, laterals unequal, hind large ; nails large, but not much curved nor acute ; hind one largest. Type, Timalia hypoleucos, Auct. Hab, The plains only, represented in the hills by Deceira, A. rufifrons, mihi. — Above sordid ashen olive, passing to clear rusty brown on the alars, caudals, brows and chin, and the former (typically) marked with frequent regular cross-bars of black ; tail longer and more gradated than in Nipalensis ; head similarly crested ; bill and feet embrowned fleshy or horny grey ; iris brown. Length, 8| inches; bill, J; tail, 4 J ; wing, 3^; tarse, IJ; central toe and nail, j-|; hind, |^. Remarks. — These birds form one of those singular links which unite the Crateropodan and Brachypodan thrushes with the Meli' phagidce, of which last our Alcopus is a true member, having the brushed tongue in perfect development. Zosterops, Chloropsis, Hypsipetes, &c. of the Brachypodan group, likewise have the brushed tongue in more or less development, but not so perfectly as in Al- copus. In Ixops there is little trace of it. Ixops leads from a Meli- phagian type {Alcopus) to the Crateropods, and Ixulus from another {Polyodon) to the Brachypods. Myotherin^. Genus Pnoepyga (olim Tesia), mihi. Bill short, straight, Cinclosylvian, depressed as far as the nares, compressed beyond, with inflexed tomia and tip faintly inclined and notched; nares large, fossed, unplumed, furnished with a salient membranous scale, which lunates the aperture ; rictus and brows smooth ; wings very short, bowed, and perfectly rounded ; tail rudi- mentary, consisting of only six plumes, which are hid by the puffy rump-feathers; legs and feet ambulatory; tarse elevate, smooth; lateral toes equal. Types, the following : — 1st species, albiventer (M. squamata, Gould, postea), mihi. — Above and sides olive-brown, more or less dotted with rufous ; below white, largely picked out with central dusky drops ; feet dusky grey ; bill dusky horn. Length, 4 J inches; bill, ^ ; tail, ^ ; closed wing, 2| ; tarse, 1 ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, if. 2nd species, rujiventer. — Very like last, but the ground-colour below invariably rufescent, not white, and size rather less. 3rd species, unicolor, mihi. — Throughout of a dull brunescent olive, like Cinclus. Length, 3J inches ; bill, -^ ; tail, W ; closed wing, 2 j^ ; tarse, if ; central toe and nail, J ; hind, ^. 4th species, joms///m5, mihi. — Above saturate olive; below orange tawny, margined finely with black above and below; the colours confused towards the vent ; legs sordid fleshy ; bill dusky horn ; iris brown. Length, 3i inches; bill, i; tail, y^^; closed wing, 1| ; tarse, -i| ; central toe and nail, W ; hind, j^. Genus Oligura, mihi. General structure of Pnoepyga, but the tail more developed and P2 196 Zoological Society, furnished with twelve plumes ; the bill more depressed ; rictus less entirely smooth ; nareal tect less developed and nares consequently ovoid ; lateral toes unequal, hind large, and nails more acute. Types, the following: — 1st species, flaviventer, mihi. — Above deep grass-green, below rich yellow ; cap bright chestnut ; legs fleshy grey ; bill dusky above, fleshy below ; iris brown. Length, 3| inches ; bill, -^ ; tail, 1 ; wing, IJ ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, \^ ; hind, plus i. 2nd species, cyaniventer, mihi. — Above grass-green, below slaty blue ; legs and feet smoky grey ; bill dusky above, horn below. Length, 3| inches ; bill, \^ ; tail, \^ ; closed wing, less 2 ; tarse, 1 ; central toe and nail, W ; hind, ^. Remarks. — The above genera were first discovered and described by myself, but I failed then to note the distinction between the two. I have now thrown all the prior and new species together. These singular birds are peculiar to the mountains, and dwell in moist woods where there is plenty of underwood ; they are solitary, silent, live and breed on the ground, and feed on seeds, gravel and insects ; their stomach is thick — almost a gizzard. They should stand with Aipunemia and Brachypterix, between Pitta and Cinclus. Our Horor- nis and Monticola are analogous forms among the Sylviance, and Todus among the Muscicaps. Gould has figured our first species of Tesia, which he calls Micrura squamata, Sylviad^. Saxicolinje. Dimorpha, mihi (see ' Indian Review,' Siphia). Bill short, cylindrico-depressed ; Muscicapan, but less wide and less armed at the tip ; base loaded with a forward soft zone, putting forth hairs which partly conceal the nares ; rictus less wide and less armed than in Muscicapa, but approaching thereto ; wings more or less elongated and acuminated, with 4th, 5th, or 6th quill longest; the first three or four more regularly gradated than in Muscicapa ; alar and caudal plumes wedged and mucronate, and the tail itself either slightly gradated from centre and sides, or cuneate ; legs and feet more suited to walking than in Muscicaps ; tarse smooth and exceeding the mid toe and nail ; toes medial, compressed, unequal ; hind sometimes large, but not broad ; nails large and slender, or small and more bent. The subgenera seem to be three, or Dimorpha, Digetiea, and Syn- ornis. Dimorpha proper, with long wings, having the fourth quill longest ; tail broad and gradate from centre and sides ; feet with the lateral fore-toes nearly equal and the hind-toe small, and the nails falcate and short. Types, D. sirophiata, monileger and rubrocyanea. D. strophiata printed apud Indian Review, quod vide. D. ? monileger, mihi. — Above olive-brown, sordid, save on the wings and tail ; below diluted and sordid ; frontal zone rusty ; chin Zoological Society, 197 and throat white, enclosed by a black band ; bill black ; legs fleshy ; iris brown. Length, oj- inches ; bill, | ; tail, 2 ; closed wing caret; tarse, f| ; central toe and nail, \\ ; hind, \%. Sexes alike nearly. D. ? ruhrocyanea, mihi. — Above indigo-blue, below deep rusty ; frontal zone, basal edges of tail and vent white ; bill black ; legs fleshy. Length, 4| inches; bill, yV; tail, 1 J ; closed wing, 2J; tarsC; |- ; central toe and nail, plus ^% ; hind, -^. Deviates from the type in form of wing, which has lirst three quills much gradated and fifth longest, and it has the legs, feet and nails of the next sub- genus, Digenea, mihi, which diff^ers from Dlmorpha proper by having the wings shorter, with the fifth or sixth quill longest, the legs and feet longer and slenderer, and the nails less bent, but larger ; the thumb larger and the nail cuneate. The types are tricolor and leucomelanura, D. tricolor. — Above olive-green, passing into ruddy olive-brown as you recede from the head ; below sordidly luteous or fulvous ; bill blackish ; legs fleshy grey. Length, 4f inches ; bill, | ; tail, 2 ; closed wing, 2y^^ ; tarse, less | ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, ^. D. leucomelanura, mihi. — Above saturate slaty, passing to black on wings and tail ; tail laterally towards the base white, below albescent slaty ; throat pure white ; bill and legs black. Length 5 inches ; bill, I ; tail, 2^^ ; wing, 2| ; tarse, if ; central toe and nail, j^ j hind, ^. Passing next to the subgenus Synornis, we have a medial Muscicapan wing, whereof the first quill is spurious, the second long, and 3-4 longest. The bill is more exposed at its base, the rictal and nareal hairs are shorter, and the legs and feet are more ambulant, with smaller thumb and nails, neither slenderly elongate nor shortly falcate. The type of this form is our Joulaimus, but it is the species whereof the male seems to be Sykes's Saxicola rubeculoides, and the female Gmelin's Muscicapa leucura. S.Joulaimus, mihi Above earthy brown, below diluted to luteous ; throat and breast bright rusty ; sides of head and neck dull slaty ; tail black, with white lateral base. Female below void of the red colour, being throughout sordid white. Length, 5| inches ; bill, -^-^ ; tail, 2 J ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, J ; central toe and nail, ^^ ; hind, 7 3^. Weight, ^ oz. Hab. Tarai. Rarely or never the hills, to which the others are as entirely confined. PhILOMELINuE. Genus Muscisylvia, mihi. General structure as in Grillivora, but feebler ; gape wider and bristled ; tip of the bill more suddenly bent ; nares elongated, with nude membranous tect and lunato-elliptic aperture, set over by tiny hairs ; wings and tail ample, with broad webs and obtuse mucronated terminations ; wings round, acuminate ; fifth quill longest ; tail me- 19S , Zoological Society. dial, even, broad; legs and feet suited to walking and perching; tarse equal to mid toe and nail ; toes long and slender ; nails acute ; hind much the largest, and equal to the digit ; exclusively Montico- lous ; stomach muscular and strong ; feeds on hard and soft insects, pulpy berries and small seeds. A shy forester ; not gregarious. Type, M. leucura, mihi. — Throughout deep indigo-blue, passing to black on alars and caudals ; forehead and shoulders rich cobalt blue ; tail basally and laterally whitened ; a white spot on the side of the neck of the male ; bill and legs black ; iris dark. Length, 7-| inches; bill, J; tail, 3 J ; wing, Sj; tarse, 1^^; central toe and nail, if; hind, |. Weight 1 oz. Genus Nemura, mihi. General structure of Phcenicura, but slighter, with slenderer legs and feet, and bill more armed at the point, and lateral toes unequal ; wings and tail mucronated, as in the last, but the webs less broad and the tips narrowed wedgewise ; nails long, slender and delicate, like the digits and legs. Manners of Phcenicura, but a forester and shy. Feeds on insects, soft and hard, and on pulpy berries. Found in central and northern regions of hills. Types, N. rufilatus etjlavo- livacea et cyanura. N. rufilatus, mihi. — Above and the cheeks indigo-blue ; brows, shoulders and rump soft cserulean; below white, save the flanks, which are bright rusty ; bill and legs black ; iris brown. Length, 5| inches ; bill, f ; tail, 2f ; wing, 3 J ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, f ; hind, -5^. N. flavolivacea, mihi. — Possibly female of the last. Above olive- green, with a yellowish tinge ; below sordidly fulvescent ; bill and legs fleshy grey. Length, 5| inches ; bill, -5^^ ; tail, 2| ; wing, 3 ; tarse, 1| ; central toe and nail, if ; hind, if. JV. cyanura, mihi. — Head, neck, breast and wings olive-brown, more diluted below ; rump and tail verditer-blue ; flanks bright rusty ; chin, belly and vent white ; legs and feet black. Sexes alike. Length, 5| inches ; bill, f ; tail, 2 J ; wing, 3 ; tarse, 1 ; central toe and nail, f ; hind, less f . Sylvian^. Genus Tarsiger, mihi. Bill equal to head, straight, subdepressed, feeble, gradually widen- ing from the tip ; the upper mandible more than half exceeded by the nareal fosse, and much overlaid by the soft frontal plumes ; nares broad lunate, forward, apert, shaded by a nude membrane ; tip of bill obtuse, and nearly unarmed; gape rather wide and ciliated; wings submedial, round rather than acuminate, firm; fifth quill longest ; 4-6 and 3-7 respectively equal ; alars and caudals wedged and mucronate ; tail medial, rounded ; tarse very elevate, slender and smooth ; toes ambulant, simple ; laterals unequal, hind rather large ; nails large, slender, simple ; hind largest. Exclusively mon- ticolous ; dwells in low brushwood solitarily, and is much on the ground, feeding chiefly on small ground insects. Makes its nest on the ground, saucer- shape, of moss, and places it under cover of some Zoological Society, 199 projecting root or stone ; eggs verditer. Has much analogy with both the last genera, which it represents among the feebler SylviancB, to which it belongs, as they to the Philomelince. It differs from the last by its feebler, more depressed bill, larger and more membranous nares, and more slender legs and feet ; also by its mucronate and wedge-tipped alars and caudals. The mucronation allies it to Mus- cisylvia, from which it differs by its less ample wings and tail, more elevate tarse, and feebler bill. Type, T. chryscBus, mihi. — Below the whole body with the entire shoulders, the lower back and greatest part of tail, deep gamboge- yellow ; superciliarj'^ line the same ; head above, neck and upper back, yellow-tinted olive ; lores, orbits and ears continuously, central caudals and tips of the others black ; alars dusky black, fringed on the lower edges with yellow ; legs fleshy brown ; bill horn-yellow below, dusky above. Female duUer-hued, devoid of the black cheek- mark and superciliary line ; her body above entirely olive-green ; alars and caudals dusky olive. Length, Sj inches ; bill, \^ ; tail, 2J ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, 1 ^^ ; central toe and nail, \^ ; hind, ^. Genus Orthotomus^ Horsf. 1st subgenus, Orthotomus. Bill sub-certhian, long, slender, inclining to arch, and entire, with the base largely exceeded by the nareal fosse ; nares large, membra- nous, free, the aperture lunate-linear and shaded above by a large unarched membrane ; rictus slightly bristled ; wings short, bowed, and feeble, but not perfectly rounded ; first four quills conspicuously gradated in a diminishing ratio ; 5-6 equal and longest ; tail mode- rate, narrow, feeble, much-rounded, with the two central plumes frequently elongated, as in the Bee-eaters ; tarse high, stout, double that of the central toe, and strongly scaled ; toes short, unequal, the outer fore longer and basally connected ; the hind large and strong ; nails strong and acute, the hind largest. Nearly confined to the hills ; rare below in the cold season ; solitary or in pairs ; familiar ; dwells in low bushes and hedge-rows and fences, picking up minute insects from the leaves and decayed wood, and frequently descending to the ground, where they move fitfully, by hops, to take minute in- sects, and presently return to their low perch. Make beautiful pen- sile nests, by sewing together the edges of large leaves, and hence are called ' Patia' or the ' Leaf- bird ' in the hills. Type, Sylvia putoria, v. sphenura, v. ruficapilla, Auct. — Above vernal green, below white ; the great ulars and caudals dusky ; the top of the head brown-red ; bill dusky horn ; legs fleshy brown ; iris brown. Female similarly coloured, but wanting almost entirely the prolonged central tail-feathers of the male, and smaller. Length (of male), 5| inches; bill, J; tail, 2|- ; closed wing, 1| ; tarse, J ; cen- tral toe and nail, -^ ; hind, y^- Weight J or ^ oz. Has a loud shrill monosyllable note — tee-tee-tee. I suspect there are two spe- cies, because the eggs differ in colour in the nests brought me, some being verditer-blue and unspotted, and others bluish white, with fawn spots. The latter, I think, belong to the above, and the 200 Zoological Society. former, to a smaller species, having the caudal appendage very little developed. I call this OrtJiotomus Patia, and subjoin the following measurements. Length (of male), 4|- inches; bill, ^•, tail, Ij; wing, IJ; tarse, \^\ central toe and nail, plus -^ ; hind, -f^. 2nd subgenus, Prinia, Horsf. Bill shorter and straighter, but still longer than the head, and not notched ; less cut out at the base by the nareal fosse ; rictus hispid ; nares smaller, with wider aperture ; wings yet shorter and absolutely rounded, with the first five quills conspicuously gradated up to the sixth and longest; tail ampler, more elongate and more gradate, fan -shaped, feeble ; legs and feet slighter. Manners and nidification* of the last, but a lowlander, being more rarely found in the hills than these. Type, Prinia fusca, mihi. — Length 5 inches; bill, -j^; tail, ^2^; wing, less 1 J ; tarse, if ; central toe and nail, -^ ; hind, ■^. Above lutescent brown ; laterally luteous ; below white ; tips of the caudals with black drops, margined with white ; bill dusky ; legs carneous ; iris brown. 2nd species of Prinia, P. brunnifrons, mihi ; ruficapilla, Auct. } — Above olive-brown, deeper and ruddier on the cap, wings and tail ; below sordid white ; under tail- coverts sordid olive, and the thighs the same ; bill yellow horn ; legs plumbeous grey ; tail smaller than in the last. Length, 4 inches ; bill, plus J ; tail, 1^ ; tarse, j ; central toe and nail, \^ ; hind, -^. Remark. — Aberrant towards Horeites by its smaller tail and more perfect foot. This is a common species in the plains, and may pos- sibly be the Tailor-bird of authors rather than our Patia, which is rare there. 3rd subgenus, Horeites, mihi. Bill shorter than the head, quite straight, cylindric, feeble, di- stinctly notched; nares basal, ovoid, covered with a membranous scale ; legs and feet stronger than in either of the above, and more suited to ground action ; tarse high, strong, and heavily scaled, as in Orthotomus ; toes longer, more ambulant, with the laterals equal and central elongated ; rictus quite smooth ; wings and tail as in Prinia, or as in Orthotomus. Inhabits the northern region near the snows, dwelling in brushwood and being much on the ground. 1st species, H. pollicaris, mihi. — Remarkable for its small wings and tail and large hind digit, the tail being equal in length to the closed wing, which is perfectly rounded and short, as in Prinia. Above olive-brown ; below and the eyebrow pale yellow ; bill sordid corneous grey ; legs fleshy grey. Length, 3| inches ; bill, -^^ ; tail, \^ ; wing the same ; tarse, if ; central toe and nail, if ; hind, i. 2nd species, H. schistilatus, mihi. — Has an ampler wing and tail than the last and a smaller thumb ; its wing is as large as in Ortho- tomus, and its tail broad and fan-shaped, like Prinia. In colours very like brunnifrons, but distinguished by its broader ampler tail, larger Zoological Society* 201 wing, and shorter Regulus>like bill. Above uniform olive-brown ; laterally pale slaty and below pure white ; cap clear brown -red or chestnut. Dwells near the snows, like the last-named. Length, A\ inches; bill, \\ tail, 2yV ; wing, l|f; tarse, |; central toe and nail, |- ; hind, -^-^, Alhed to the last two species are some more Cachar birds of very similar manners and plumage, distinguished by a compressed bill, which is raised between the keeled nares, as in our Stachyris, and by the inner toe and nail of their strong ambulant feet being longer than the outer toe and nail. Some have the tarse smooth and the tail more or less scansorial, that is, cuneate in form and rather rigid or worn; these I call Trihura. The others have the tarse scutellate and rather longer, and the tail broad and fan- shaped, and not at all rigid or worn ; these I style Horornis, though they hardly deserve subgeneric separation. Genus Tribura, mihi. Bill to gape equal to head or less, straight, cylindric, compressed ; at base higher than broad, and having the ridge raised and keeled between the oval apert nares ; tip of upper mandible scarcely inclined, but distinctly notched ; rictus smooth ; wings short and feeble, but not much or equally gradated ; first two quills conspicuously gra- dated, three next subequal and longest ; tail more or less elongated, and gradated throughout, rather cuneate than fan- shaped, and some- what rigid or worn ; tarse stout, smooth, longer than the mid toe and nail; toes and nails simple, compressed, inner fore with its nail ex- ceeding the outer fore, central elongate, hind least ; nails acute. Type, T. luteoventris, mihi. Tribura luteoventris, mihi. — Above olive-brown, with a luteous lustre ; below lutescent laterally and albescent centrally ; a pale line over the eye ; bill dusky horn ; legs carneous. Length, 5| inches ; bill, -j^ ; tail, 2| ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, ^ ; central toe and nail, -^ ; hind, ^. Inhabits the Cachar, among brushwood ; manners un- known. Genus Horornis, mihi. General structure of Tribura, but the rictus more or less armed ; the tarse strongly scaled ; the wings more gradated, having the fifth or sixth longest, and the tail broad, fan-shaped, and not worn or rigid. Inhabits the northern hills ; manners unknown. Types, for tipes and flaviventris. H. fortipes, mihi. — Above olive-brown, dark and pure ; below and the brow yellowish ; bill yellow horn ; legs pure fleshy. Length, 4-| inches ; bill, J ; tail, 2 ; wing, 2-jlg^ ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, H;hind,^. H. flaviventris, mihi. — Very similar to the last, but a smaller bird, with shorter tarse ; above olive-brown ; below and the brow greenish yellow and pale ; bill and legs fleshy. Length, 4| inches ; bill, \ ; tail. If ; wing, 2 ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, i^; hind. -^, H. ? fuligiventer , mihi. — Aberrant; probably a Tribura, having the wing of that form, but the tail not worn or rigid, and hence perhaps JOS Zoological Society, that character may not be permanent. Above dusky olive-brown, diluted into greenish of a dusky cast below ; bill and feet dark. Length, 5 inches ; bill, J ; tail, 2 ; wing, 2\ ; tarse, J ; central toe and nail, W ; hind, |. H .? fulviventris , mihi. — Above saturate olive-brown ; below sordid luteous, shaded on the flanks with the upper hue ; bill and legs dusky grey. Length, 4| inches ; bill, -^ ; tail, 1| ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, -fl ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, ^. Our singular genus Temnoris (olim Suthora), and which name, if objected to, may give place to Hemirhynchus , is I think a Parian form, being much allied to the small long-tailed Tits. It seems however to group well with our Heteromorpha and Conostoma and Gould's Paradoxornis, and the whole may perhaps fall into the Glaucopince. There are two species of Suthora confounded by me under the name of nipalensis ; I now erase that name, and substitute atrifrons B.nd fulvifrons, thus : T. atrifrons, mihi. — General colour bright rusty, palest on the belly and vent, brightest on the wings ; false wing black ; margins of the prime alars albescent ; caudals and alars internally blackish, and apertly so towards their tips ; head saturate slaty, margined late- rally and in front by a darker zone, and passing into diluted slaty, mixed with rusty on the sides of the neck ; chin transversely barred black ; cheeks albescent ; bill dusky, with a bluish base ; legs sordid grey. Length, 4J inches ; bill, less ^ ; tail, 2^ ; wing, l|-§- ; tarse, | ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, |. T. fulvifrons, mihi. — General hue of the preceding, but the head and neck concolorous with the back; the cheeks not whitened, the chin unbarred, and the size larger; bill paler or fleshy, with a dusky ridge. Length, 4| inches ; bill, ^ ; tail, 2^ ; wing, 2^ ; tarse, ^ ; central toe and nail, ^ ; hind, -j^. MuSCICAPINiE. Genus Chelidorynx, mihi. General structure of Rhipidura, but the bill very short and Crypto- lopho-hirundine, being as broad as long from the forehead and very slightly armed at the tip ; rictal bristles long, as in Rhipidura ; nares advanced, lateral, elliptic, and shaded above by a membrane ; tail rigid, with wedged tips to the plumes, smaller and less rounded than in Rhipidura. Type, Ch. chrysoschistos, mihi. — Above slaty, with a greenish smear ; below bright yellow ; wings and tail dusky ; shafts of the caudals whitened ; ears, lores and orbits black. Length, 4 J inches ; bill to gape, f ; tail, 2J ; wing less 2^ ; tarse, -^ ; central toe and nail, -j^ ; hind, ■^, Weight \ oz. Inhabits the central hilly region and great valley, on skirts of woods, among shrubs and low trees ; very lively and shows itself much ; solitary or in pairs. Stomach distinctly muscular; diet small insects. Zoological Society, ' 203 This type seems to require a place between Rhipidura and Crypto- lopha, to which last it is allied by the bill, which however is shorter and broader, leading to the next singular form, which is a flycatcher in the guise of a swallow, and forms with this one a perfect passage from the Flycatchers to the Swallows. Genus Hemichelidon, mihi. General structure of a swallow, with only something Muscicapan in wings and rictus ; bill as in Hirundo exactly, but the gape hardly so wide and slightly bristled ; nares round and vertical, as in Hirundo ; wings long and pointed ; 1st quill spurious, 2nd long, 3rd longest ; tail moderate and subfurcate ; legs and feet small and slender. Types, H.fuliginosa emdferruginea. H.fuliginosa, mihi. — Uniform sooty brown, darkest on the wings and tail, and shaded with white on the belly, vent, and under tail- coverts ; the body below paler than above. Length, A\ inches; bill, I ; tail, 2 ; tarse, -^ ; central toe and nail, less -^-^ ; hind, -^ ; wing, 2|. H. ferruginea, mihi. — Size and proportions of the last ; colour rusty brown, passing to olive on the cap ; alars and caudals inter- nally blackish, and more or less so apertly ; bill dusky carneous ; legs pure fleshy ; tail (in both) moderate and slightly forked. Found only in the hills, and chiefly the central region ; dwell in woods and have the general manners of the Flycatchers, but with a bolder and more continuous flight. Genus Hemipus, mihi. General structure of Rhipidura, passing to Myiagra ; legs and feet very small ; bill more or less elongated and cylindric ; rictal bristles moderate, that is, shorter than in Rhipidura ; tail gradated and narrow. Type, H. picacolor, mihi. — Above dusky brown, passing to black on the wings and tail ; a large obhque central bar of white down the wing ; two bars on the croup, the margin of the black cap, and the terminal . part of the lateral alars white ; below pale sooty to the breast, thence to tail- coverts albescent ; bill and legs black. Female wanting the black cap of the male. Length, 5| inches ; bill, ^ ; tail, 2-| ; wing, 2| ; tarse, ^ ; central toe and nail, -^ ; hind, ■^. Inhabits the hills generally ; chiefly procured in the great valley. Alaudinje. Genus Heterura, mihi. Bill to gape equal to the head, to brow much less than the head ; Anthine in the general character, but stronger, with the culmen, commissure and gonys more or less curved ; base of the upper man- dible a good deal cut out by the nareal fosse, and its tip inclined and notched ; tomise trenchant and scarpt internally ; nares advanced, la- teral, oval, shaded above by a nude scale-like membrane ; rictus to eye, and slightly bristled ; wings very short, not surpassing the base 204 Zoological Society. of the tail, yet strictly Alaudine in all their details, with the primes ungradate, the tertials equal to primes, and all the centrals notched at the tips and emarginated on the outer web towards the tips, as in the Alaudines ; 1st quill equal to 5th, and both rather less than 2, 3, 4, which are equal and longest ; tail ample, scansorial, that is, distinctly rigid, and the separate plumes acutely wedged ; form of the tail Pa- rian, or slightly gradate from centre and from sides ; legs and feet strong and typically ambulant, with high scutellate tarse and medial, compressed, full, solid toes, having the laterals equal, the central sufficiently long, and the hind least and not depressed ; nails simple, slender, fully curved ; hind long and nearly equal to the digit. Exclusively monticolous ; found in the brushy uplands of the cen- tral region ; feed and breed on the ground ; food grylh and other in- sects and seeds ; stomach strongly muscular ; intestines of medial length and furnished with tiny caeca. Nest made loosely of grass and saucer- shaped ; eggs bluish, thickly spotted. Type, H. sylvana, mihi. H. sylvana. — Above clear brown, picked out marginally with clear rufous, as in the Larks ; below rufescent, with narrowing central stripes ; chin immaculate ; a dark mustache ; superciliary line pale ; tail-feathers internally and laterally albescent ; upper coverts pro- longed and pointed, as in the Larks ; bill sordid fleshy or horn ; legs clear, carneous ; iris brown ; sexes alike. Length, 7| inches ; bill to gape, W ; tail, 2 J ; wing, 3 ; tarse, 1^ ; central toe and nail. Remark. — This singular bird has been thus particularly described because of the difficulty of sparing details by anything like an assured allocation of it. It seems to be an analogous form to Praticola, and to belong to the Alaudince, near Brachonyx. Its tail in form reminds one of Dolichonyx. pARIANiE } Genus Accentor, Auct. These birds are found in the central and northern regions of the hills only, and chiefly in the northern. We have four species, all of which are I believe new. 1. Ace. Nipalensis, mihi. — Head and neck dusky olive ; body above ferruginous, with large central dashes of black ; shoulders and all the wing-coverts dusky, with white drops ; alars and caudals blackish, with ochreous red margins ; breast and belly ochreous ; under coverts of the tail dusky, picked out with white ; bill dusky, with a yellow horn base ; iris golden brown ; legs sordid brown. Length, 6 J inches ; bill, \% ; tail, 2f ; wing, 3^ ; tarse, 1 ; central toe and nail, |f ; hind, if 2. Ace. Cacharensis, mihi. — Very similar in colours to the last, but larger, and the wing proportionally longer ; head and neck, shoulders and wing- coverts dusky ; throat white, with black bars ; breast and belly deep clay-red ; back and upper tail-coverts rusty, with large central blotches of blackish ; alars and caudals blackish, margined and tipt with rusty red ; vent dusky, picked out with Zoological Society, 205 whitish ; bill yellow horn, with dusky tip ; legs fleshy. Length, 7 inches ; bill, W ; tail, less 3 ; wing, 3J ; tarse, l^^g^ ; central toe and nail, fl ; hind, |f . 3. Ace. immaculatus, mihi. — Least of the three; not unlike them in colours, but the plumage more uniform and freer from spots and blotches ; head and neck dusky olive, passing gradually into em- browned ochreous red on the body above and below, as well as on the whole visible part of the closed wing ; shoulders pale slaty blue and unspotted ; alars and caudals dusky brown, and nearly void of brighter margins or tips ; bill blackish ; legs fleshy grey ; iris straw- colour. Length, only 6 inches ; bill, -^ ; tail, 1| ; wing, 2 J ; tarse, |- ; central toe and nail, | ; hind, -^. 4. Ace. strophiatus, mihi. — Above and laterally sordid rusty, with black central blotches ; below white, with similar marks, but smaller and paler ; wings and tail black-brown ; the alars and their coverts margined with embrowned rusty ; ears and lores margined towards the body all round with bright rusty, and a large gorget of the same on the top of the breast ; from nares to brow a white line, joining the red one above spoken of ; bill dusky horn ; legs fleshy brown ; iris brown ; wings shorter and tail longer than in any of the others. Length, 6 inches ; bill, plus 1 ; tail, 2f ; wing, 2i ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and uail, J ; hind, ■^. Weight less 1 oz. Breeds on the ground, making a saucer-shaped nest of moss, well-compacted. These birds are much on the ground and have an ambulatory structure of legs and feet : I should place them among the Finches, near to the next- named, or Buntings, which also are exclusively monticolous I believe, and are found in the central and northern regions. They are con- stantly flushed from the ground in corn-fields and are comparatively familiar birds to the Accentors, which avoid houses and cultivation. Genus Emheriza. We have four species, three of which are the erythroptera, cMo- rocephala, and aureola of authors, and the fourth is I think new, as follows : — Emberiza oinops, mihi. New subgenus, Ocyris, mihi. Bill very acute and perfectly conic, without any curve along the culmen or gonys ; mouth simply angulated, without palatal knob ; wings with 2-3 longest and equal. Type, E. oinops, mihi. — Above rusty red, picked out with large blackish central dashes ; below white, with narrower dark marks, and none on the lower belly and vent ; wings and tail black-brown ; wing with large ruddy margins ; alars internally and laterally albescent ; head and face rusty red, with two longitudinal black marks on the crown and another circling round the ear from the eye nearly to gape ; bill dusky horn ; legs embrowned fleshy ; iris brown. Length, 5^ inches ; bill, ^-^ ; tail, 2| ; wing, 2| ; -tarse, | ; central toe and nail, |. Weight i to f oz. Sexes alike. Stomach gizzard-like ; contents seeds and gravel. 206 Zoological Society, PYRRHULINiE. Genus Loxia. L. himalayana, mihi. — Structure typical and plumage very similar to that of the European type, and indeed I believe to all the known species ; size small, and most resembling the American bird ; most part of the head and neck and whole body below red, of a hue between roseate and blood, and more or less sordid ; rest of the head, neck, back, wings and tail deep dusky brown, more or less suffused, and emarginated with the richer colour ; wings long, reaching two- thirds down the tail ; 1-3 quills rather shorter than the second ; legs and feet strong; tarse heavily scaled, less the mid-toe and nail; lateral fore- toes equal and basally connected ; hind large, equal alone to the laterals, and, with its large nail, much exceeding them ; claws large, but not greatly curved. Female dusky brown above, slightly suffused and margined with vernal greenish yellow ; below greenish yellow, with dusky centres to the plumes; bill and legs in both blackish ; female smaller. Male measures 5|- inches ; bill, -^ ; tail, ^TB" » wing, 3^ ; tarse, \^ ; central toe and nail, W ; hind, \^. In- habits the Cachar only, near the snows, and rare there. To the same region are for the most part confined the other thick- billed Finches of the genera Coccothraustes, Corythus, Pyrrhula, and their allies ; but most of these pass into the central hilly region in spring in search of ripe fruits and berries, and in the winter some of them proceed to the plains in search of food and warmth, or are car- ried there by dealers. The Himalayan Siskin is almost always found in the central region, where indeed it is commoner than in the north- ern ; and one of the roseate Finches is very common below in the winter, under the name of the Tooti or Surkha Tooti. This I believe is the Hcemorhous rosea and Coccothraustes rosea of authors : it is an anomalous or osculant form, which cannot I think be referred to any known genus. I call it PyrrhuUnota, because it unites a semi^* pyrrhuline bill with the wings, tail and feet of Linaria and Linota. Genus PyrrhuUnota, mihi. Bill Pyrrhulo-Linarian ; wings long and pointed, with the first quill usually longest ; tail deeply forked ; tarse rather shorter than the mid- toe and nail ; toes long, laterals unequal, central long, hind least, but with the nail equal to the inner fore ; nails simple. Type, the common Tooti or Surkha Tooti of Hindostan ; Cocco- thraustes roseata of Vieillot ? P. roseata, mihi. The other two rosy Finches of the hills are much less known be- low, though they also are found there, in the hands of dealers at least, and are called without distinction Goolabi Tooti. They are the Fringilla rhodopepla and rhodochroa of Vigors, apud Gould ; but they are not I think true Fringill(B, but nearer to Passer. I deno* minate them Zoological Society* 207 Fringillinjs. Genus Propasser, Bill Passerine, with the culmen and gonys more or less curved or straight, and the tip distinctly notched ; wings short, first quill less than three next, and longest ; tail forked ; legs and feet ambulant ; tarse longer than mid-toe ; toes compressed, laterals equal, central long, hind least ; nails simple. Types, rhodochroa and rhodopepla. We have in the northern region chiefly two species of true Bull- finch or Erythrocephala, Gould, and Nipalensis, mihi, to which we must add a third species, styled epauletta by me, but which deviates too much from the typical form to remain under Pyrrhula ; I separate it as a new type, by the name of Pyrrhoplectes. Bill Pyrrhuline, but longer and less tumid, with the upper mandi* ble subterminally, and the lower subcentrally notched; the gape angulated ; wings shorter and more gradate than in Pyrrhula, with the fourth quill commonly longest ; tail even or divaricated, not forked ; legs and feet slenderer, longer, and more suited to action on the ground than in Pyrrhula. Type, Pyrrhula epauletta, As. Trans, vol. xix. Propyrrhula Ruheculoides , mihi. — Above, together with the lower breast, belly and vent, smoky brown ; face as far back as the eye, chin, throat and breast, bright red, of a sanguineous scarlet hue ; bill dusky horn, paler below ; legs dusky. Female fulvous, below with large central dashes of dusky brown, and the croup the same. I shall conclude this paper with the description of a new and splendid species of Buzzard, peculiar to the Cachar and Tibet. Falconid^. buteonin^. Genus Buteo ? Buteo leucocephalus, mihi. — General structure Buteonine, but the tarse two-thirds plumed to the front, and the nude part reticulate, not scutellate ; acropodia half reticulate and half scutellate ; colour medial brown, with the head and neck more or less perfectly albescent ; chin to breast darker, and breast again paled crescent-wise ; tail with frequent pale buff bars ; bill blue ; its tips and the talons black ; legs and cere greenish yellow ; iris hoary ; size extremely large. Length, 25J inches (foem.) by 58j in expanse of wing ; closed wing, 17| ; bill to gape, 2 ; tail, 11^; tarse (to sole), Sf ; central toe and nail, 2| ; hind, If, Weight 3^ lbs. Caught beyond the snows in Tibet. Another species, with the tarse considerably plumed, leads to this bird from the Moor Buzzards. This second species has the general form and characters of the moor buzzard, but is distinguished at once by half the tarse being plumed ; the tarsi likewise are shorter, and so are the toes ; but the tarse is scutellate before and behind, as in that species and the rest of the Buzzards. There is no sign of 208 Entomological Society. the Circine facial disc in the present bird, which is I believe new, and belongs to Buteo proper and not to Circus. Buteo plumipes, mihi. — Throughout of a uniform dusky brown, as in the moor buzzard ; region of the lores only albescent ; cere and legs greenish yellow ; bill blue, with black tips and talons ; tail very vaguely rayed with a paler shade of colour and wings inter- nally. Of slender make, and with long and acute talons, whereas the white head is of very robust make, and has less acute but stronger talons. This is in make as in colours, a Circus ; that, a buzzard proper or an eagle. In plumipes the tarse is scutellate before and behind, reticulate to the sides and at base, and two-thirds of the acropodia likewise are reticulate. The cere is large in both, and in both the nares are longitudinally cleft and irregularly ovoid in form. The one passes towards Buteo from Circus, the other towards Aquila from Buteo. Length (fcem.), 19^ inches; bill, 1^- ; tail, 9 ; tarse, 3 ; central toe and nail, 2 ; hind, 1;^. Procured in the central hilly re- gion. Manners not noted. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, October 2nd, 1843. — George Newport, Esq., President, in the Chair. Captain Parry exhibited a box of Coleopterous insects from Co- lombia, inchiding Megasoma Elephas, a curious genus allied to Me- galopus, and another apparently allied to Ancistrosoma. Mr. Westwood exhibited a gynandromorphous specimen of En- dromis versicolor from the collection of Dr. Becker, the antennae and wings on the left-hand side being masculine, and those of the right side being female. The Rev. F. W. Hope exhibited a specimen of the laiTa of Acilius voided by a boy at Tunbridge Wells. The following memoirs were read : — ** Description of new species of exotic Coleoptera." By the Rev. F. W. Hope, F.R.S. Lucanus Parryi, Hope. Niger nitidus, mandibulis longitudine capite cequalibus, apicibus acutis supra dentatis ; elytris glabris ; tibiis anticis exterrie serratis, posticis unispinosis . Long. corp. lin. \Q\\ lat. lin. 5J. A ffinis Ij. ne'^^lQii&i, Hope. — Hab. in Agro Nepalensi. Mus. Pariy. Lucanus Vitulus, Dejean (ined.) ? . Niger nitidus glaber, man' dibulis brevibus acutis; thorace marginato, angulis anticis hand productis, posticis parum rotundatis ; tibiis anticis externe denti- culatis, posticis 4 in medio unispinosis. Long. corp. lin. 16 ; lat. lin. 6. — Hab. in Java. Mus. Buquet. Lucanus (Hexarthrius) Buquettii, Hope. Niger, mandibulis exsertis arcuatis, apicibus 2-furcatis, introrsum crenatis unidentatis den- teque majori fere basali ; capite thoraceque scabriusculis ; tibiis intermediis 1-spinosis, posticis 2 inermibus. Long. corp. lin. 35 ; lat. lin. 9.— Hab. in Java. Mus. Buquet. Entomological Society. 209 Pholiodotus Reichei, Hope, ? . Niger, capite thoraceque rugosis hoc tuberculato, mandibulis apice acutis ; thoracis lateribus ser- ratis, angulis posticis acutis ; elytris fere glabris obscuris, lined elevatd obliqud erosd, e humeris ad medium disci extensd ; pedibus simplicibus. Long. corp. lin. 15 ; lat. lin. 5. — Hab. in Colombia. Mus. Reiche. Callirhipis Laportei, Hope. Rubro-testaceus seu fulvus ; antennis nigris, articulo basali antrorsum fiavescente ; thorace lineis tribus nigris ; elytris maculis tribus basalibus apicibusque nigris; pe- dibus nigris ; femoribus fulvis. Long. corp. lin. 6^ ; lat. lin. 1^. — Hab. apud Coban. Mus. Hope. Saperda ocularis, Hope. Aurantia, antennis nigro-griseis pubescen- tibus, capite antrorsum atro, oculis albo cinctis ; thorace postic^ nigro, maculis 5 albis ; elytris octo maculis albis atro-cingulatis ornatis ; pedibus atro-griseis. Long. corp. lin. 4^ ; lat. lin. l^. — Hab. in Amer. Merid. Mus. Hope. " Description of a new exotic genus of Longicorn Beetles, remark- able for the dilatation of the anterior femora." By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. EuPROMERA, Westw. Corpus breve, crassum, subdepressum. Caput breve, verticale, pronoto pariim angustius. Antenncefere corporis longitudine, 1 1 -articulates, subfiliformes ; prothorax subquadratus, dorso lateribusque subtuberculatis , pone medium subconstrictus ; elytra lateribus parallelis, apice inermia. Femora antica maxima inflata, tibia antica curvatce, tibia 4 posticce in medio haud sco- pifercB. Eupromera Spryana, Westw. Griseo-villosa fusco luteoque pariim variegata, apicibus articulorum antennarum fusco-cinctis, elytris fusco tuberculatis. Long. corp. lin. 3|. — Hab. in Brasilia. In Mus. Hope and Westwood. " Account of the Fire-flies observed at the Baths of Lucca." By G. Woolmer, Esq. These insects, which are termed Luccioli by the natives, evidently from their bearing light, belong to the same family {Lampyrida) as the English fire-fly ; but the females are winged, and in the spring and early part of the summer are seen in all directions on the wing, emitting a phosphoric kind of light at intervals ; thus producing a most beautiful efl'ect where they abound in company with the glow- worm. Previous to a storm they are more than usually active, and their light much more brilliant. In the day-time they rest on the bushes in a state almost of torpor. Their flight is very regular, the light appearing and disappearing at short distances. They entirely disappear shortly after the hay is gathered in. It is considered that it is the female which emits the light, thus attracting the male. The lower (posterior) part of the body, which emits the light, is of a sul- phur colour, and is observed to shine for a short time even after death. When alive, any irritation offered to the part causes the in- sect to emit its light. " Descriptions of various exotic Crustacea, Coleoptera and Homo- Ann. ^f Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. Q 210 Entomological Society. ptera" (Annals of Natural History, vol. xii. p. 342.) By Adam White, Esq. ; by whom it was stated, that a nest of Pelopceus pro- visioned with spiders had recently been presented to the British Museum from Sierra Leone by Mr. Whitfield. November 6th. — The President in the Chair. Mr. F. Bond exhibited two distinct species of Geophilus, which he had ascertained to possess luminous powers. Also a species of Or- flit homy ia (0. viridis }) which he had found to be parasitic both on bats and swallows. Mr. W. F. Evans exhibited a specimen of the common Hornet, which he had confined in a small box, in which, some time subse- quently, were found several specimens of the Dipterous genus Mo- lohrus, which Mr. J. F. Stephens suggested had been hatched from eggs deposited upon the hornet after death and whilst still damp. He also exhibited the larva and pupa of a Lepidopterous insect (most probably the Dlatraa sacchari, Guilding) which he had found in sugar-canes brought from Madeira. Also specimens of Trechus ful- vus captured during flight after dark by candle-light. Mr. Yarrell exhibited a specimen of Lemargus imhricatus which had been found parasitic upon the short sun-fish. Also specimens of Cecrops Latreillei from both the sun- fish and tunny. A paper by G. R. Waterhouse, Esq., containing descriptions of some new species of Curculionidce from the Philippine Islauds, was read. Mr. Walton brought under the notice of the Meeting the following case, in which some fixed rule of nomenclature seemed necessary. It appears that the CurcuUo Alliance of Linnaeus belongs to the mo- dern genus Magdalis. A very careful description of a species of the modern genus Rhynchites has however been published by PaykuU, who applied the specific name of Alliarice to it, expressing at the same time his doubts whether it were really the Curculio Alliaria: of Linnaeus. PaykuU's specific name has subsequently been altered by Stephens and Schonherr, as they considered, that as it was not the species described by Linnaeus under the name of Alliarice, it was improper to give the Linnaean name to it. After considerable dis- cussion among the members present, it appeared to be the general opinion, that as Paykull had first given a good description of Rhyn- chites Alliaria, it was proper to retain his specific name, citing his name, however, and not that of Linnseus, more especially as the Linnaean species belongs to a distinct modern genus, so that no con- fusion could arise from the employment of the same name in both genera. December 4th. — The President in the Chair. Mr. Westwood exhibited a drawing of a new genus of Goliath Beetles, received by Mr. Melly from Signor Passerini (Amaurodes Passerinii). Also a box of Beetles from the Ashantee district, in- cluding a new genus of Goliath Beetles (^Asthenorhina Turneri), Paussus microcephalus, and other rare and new species from the col- lection of Mr. Turner. Entomological Society. 211- The Rev. F. W. Hope exhibited a series of drawings of the trans- formations of various Indian Lepidoptera, made by Mr. Ezra Downes. The following memoirs were read : — " On the Existence of Thoracic Branchiae in the Imago state of the Neuropterous genus Pteronarcys." By George Newport, Esq., Presi- sident E.S. (Annals of Natural History, vol. xiii. p. 21). In refer- ence to this memoir Mr. Westwood stated, that he had detected some thoracic appendages in the genera Ptychopteryx and Heliophi- lus, described and figured in his ' Introduction to the Modern Clas- sification of Insects,' vol. ii. fig. 126, 7. p. 526. note t, and p. 557, which he considered to be analogous to the branchise discovered by Mr. Newport in Pteronarcys. The latter gentleman however objected to this analogy, as the organs in question existed simultaneously with the true spiracles. Mr. E. Doubleday, in reference to a suggestion made by Mr. Newport, stated that he had always noticed that the North American species of ChauUodes are on the wing in rainy evenings. " On the proceedings of a species of TromUdium which infested the Plane-trees in the Regent's Park during the past summer." By George Wilson, Esq., M.R.C.S. Communicated with additional notes by A. White, Esq. At the beginning of September Mr. Wilson's attention was directed to the trees, several of which had the trunks and branches entirely or partially covered with a very delicate web, upon which myriads of a small Arachnidous insect were running to and fro, extending their webs rapidly along the branches. The web was so fine as to appear like a thin compact layer of varnish upon the stems of the trees ; and from the vast numbers of the insects, the grey web ap- peared dusted with a reddish powder, the insects being of a light orange colour inclining to brown. From the web so completely en- veloping the tree and obstructing the vital influence of the atmo- sphere, the leaves became withered and fell. This was especially the case with the plane-trees, the elms and horse-chestnuts being free from them. The weather for several days previously and sub- sequently was fine and sultry, but in the course of a few days a heavy fall of rain, accompanied by a thunder-storm, put a stop to the injury by destroying the insects. On placing a portion of the web with its inhabitants in a bottle, Mr. Wilson observed that in about an hour a beautiful transparent cylinder had been spun within the bottle from the base of the top, impinging against the side of the bottle at about half its height ; and it was remarkable that there was not a single thread stretched across the inside of the cylinder, nor was a single insect enclosed within it. Having completed their first cylin- der, they threw a second around it more slender than the former, leaving only a small interval between them. Mr. White considered the species to be the Trombidium tiliarium, Herm., or an allied species, and distinct from the Acarus telarum, Linn., and Trombidium socium, the habits of which, as described by Hermann, were mentioned by Mr. White. Mr. Walton informed the Meeting that a specimen of the true Q2 212 Miscellaneous. CurcuUo Bacchus, Linn., but not of Marsham, had been captured on the 20th of September last on a young oak-tree at Birch wood, Kent, by Mr. B. Standish; Mr. J. F. Stephens however stated that he had taken both R. Bacchus and auratus from the same tree at Crayford. MISCELLANEOUS. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF AFRICAN MONKEY. Black- cheeked Ascagne, Cercopithecus melanogenys, n. s. Black, olive speckled ; ears, middle of the back and end of tail red- dish ; sides and outer side of the limbs grayish ; hands and feet, frontal band, and lower part of the cheeks black ; temples yellowish, broad cordate spot on the nose white ; chin, chest and beneath ashy white. Inhab. Africa. British Museum. This species is at once known from the Cercopithecus Petaurista, with which it appears to have been confounded, by the distribution of the colour on the cheeks : in this species they are black below and yellowish above, while in that they are black above and yellow be- neath, like the throat and chest, and in the spot of the nose, which is ovate and elongate in C. Petaurista, and broad and cordate in the one now described, and it also differs in the general colouring of the fur. The species of this genus may be thus divided : — a. Face flesh-coloured, whiskers white : C. Cynosurus. b. Face black, whiskers white. * Frontal band none : C. Saleeus. * * Frontal band distinct, not bearded : C. pygerythrus, C. Engy- thithia and C. ruber. * * * Frontal band distinct, chin bearded : C. Diana. c. Face black, whiskers annulated : C. albogularis, C. Mona, C. Camp- bellii ?, C. leucocampyx, C. labiatus, C. Temminckii, C. Burnettii, C. Pogonias. d. Nose reddish : C. erythrotis. e. Nose blue, white beneath : C. Cephus. f. Nose white : C. nictitans, C. Petaurista, and C. melanogenys. J. E. Gray. MEXICAN FOSSILS. In a letter to Prof. Bronn, M. Claussen states that he has again found in Brazil a great many fossil bones, and among them the head of a large tiger related to Felis meganthereon (Ursus cultridens), but it is much larger; the upper canine teeth are nearly 10 inches long and \\ broad. The French Institute has purchased it for 4000 francs. The remainder of the collection, except the duplicates, has been dis- posed of to the British Museum. He promises subsequently to com- municate some remarks on the occurrence of these fossil bones, and especially on that of the human remains, which are found among the bones of various extinct animals. He has discovered two kinds of monkeys, which approximate to the genera Mycetes and Cebus. A Miscellaneous, 213 short time since also, among a number of pieces of amber (not copal), he found some containing insects, in which distinct spiders' webs could be seen (thus fossil spiders' webs ! !) ; in some, the webs and also the insects hanging in them were evident. — Leonhard and Bronn's Jahrbuchfiir Geologie. COUNTY OF DOWN FOSSIL INFUSORIA. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. Belfast, August 9, 1845. Gentlemen, — As Dr. Mantell, in a communication published in the last Number of the * Annals,' p. 86, briefly notices some Fossil Infusoria from the county of Down, without any allusion to their having been previously described, it is perhaps desirable for the in- formation of persons interested in the subject to state, that a paper on the subject of these same Infusoria, accompanied by some figures, appeared in 1839 in Charlesworth's ' Magazine of Natural History,' vol. iii. Wm. Thompson. CAPTURE of ACIPENSER HUSO. Cork, July 31, 1845. A fine specimen of the Isinglass Sturgeon (^Acipenser Huso), 8 feet 4 inches long, and weighing 1^ cwt., was taken within a mile of this city on Tuesday July 1st. I examined it carefully, and compared it with the plate of A. Huso in Shaw's * Zoology,' with which it exactly agreed. As this is, I believe, the first instance of that fish having been cap- tured on the coast of this county, or, as far as I am aware, on any part of the coast of Ireland, I feel a pleasure in sending information on the subject to the * Annals of Natural History.' The common sturgeon (A. Stmio) has been taken more than once in the river Lee, near Cork. John Humphreys, Librarian R C. Institution. ON THE CYSTIDE^. BY VON BUCH. In a letter to Prof. Bronn, M. Buch states that his monograph of the Cystidece is now printing. Troschel's drawings to it are very beautiful, and he hopes that the copper-plates will turn out well. A lucky incident has rendered this work more perfect than he had anticipated. The Echino-encrinus (a barbarous term, and one founded upon an entirely erroneous analogy !), described by Meyer and Schlotheim, — this extinct form has been collected and brought here in several pieces, by the industry of M. Krantz. Hence he had an opportunity of studying all its peculiarities, its affinity, the points in which it differs from other Cystidece, and the laws of its develop- ment. He clearly saw that M. VoUborth in his first paper (Bullet, de Petersb. 10. no. 19. pi. 1 and 2) had figured it well and accurately, with a commentary which did not seek for laws but curiosities ! In Bullet. 1844, 3. 2 ^, he imagines that this form possesses two rows 214 Miscellaneous. of arms, and consequently refers it to the Crinoidea. M. Vollborth saw these tentacula once only ; no one else has seen them. They are placed on the lip of the mouth ; the arms of the Crinoidea how- ever are really never placed there ; the apertures which our speci- men exhibits on the lip, moreover, are so small, that they could only have allowed the passage of very small tentacles. And worse than all, what a huge ovarian aperture ! No crinoid ever had such. M. Vollborth continually calls it the anus of the animal, not considering that in all such animals the anus is situated very near the mouth, never in the deeper-seated parts ; in fact, in Pentremites it is in the mouth itself. But in Sphceronites and Cryptocrinites this is still more striking ; in both, at the point of the five valves which close the ovarian aperture, there are five openings, just as in the mi- nute ovarian plates of the Cidarites and other Echinodermata. Who will hereafter seek in them for cloacal excretions } The Cystidece are essentially distinguished from the Crinoidea by these ovarian apertures ; this M. Von Buch states that he shall al- ways maintain, and to have explained it is certainly of some service. Leonhard and Br onus Jahrhuchfur Geologie, SfC. ON THE ORIGIN OF INFUSORIA AND MUCOR. In the * Ann. des Sci. Nat.' 1845, Zool. p. 182, Dr. M. F. Pineau describes the first origin of infusoria and of mould, which resemble one another so much on their first appearance, that it is impossible to determine what will become an infusorium, what a mould. We shall here merely communicate one of the cases relating to the man- ner in which Penicilliiim glaucum is formed ; as in the other cases enumerated, the observer could not follow the originating mould to its perfect development, and was consequently unable to determine it. An infusion of bread exhibited up to the sixth day at a tempera- ture of 10° to 12° R. the appearance of a considerable production of Bacterium Termo, Vibrio lineola and Monas lens. Soon after this pe- riod acid fermentation commenced, when all these animals died, and the liquid became covered with a uniform granular pellicle. The surface of the piece of bread was also covered with granulations, and numerous particles, more or less in the granular state, were seen floating about in the water. On the following day traces of a sepa- ration in the form of a network with polyangular meshes 0*003 mil- limeters broad were noticed in the granular mass covering the sur- face. A similar formation of small globules also took place in the granular substance on the bread. After twelve hours these globules possessed well-defined outlines and began to assume an oval form. Small isolated patches consisting of considerably larger oval globules, difficult to separate from one another, likewise floated about. A few hours afterwards the liquid contained a number of micodermic glo- bules which had evidently originated from the above patches ; these globules now expanded into filaments and formed the Penicillium glaucum. In the same manner this Penicillium likewise formed on milk; but the author could not observe what Turpin has said re- Meteorological Observations. 215 specting the fat globules which change into filaments of mucor. The other experiment, which was not carried on to the fructification of the mould, was made with isinglass and the addition of a little vine- gar. No animals were formed in it, but in other respects it presented all the appearances of the other case, only that the filaments aggre- gated into a thick thallus. Preparing for Publication. Dr. Johnston is preparing for the press a second edition of his * History of British Zoophytes.' It will be published by Mr. Van Voorst in a style to correspond with that spirited publisher's series of * Histories of British Animals,' and will contain descriptions of all the species discovered since the publication of the first edition, with numerous additional plates. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JULY 1845. Chiswick. — July 1. Rain and boisterous, with heavy rain in forenoon : over- cast. 2. Overcast : rain. 3. Sultry : thunder and rain : clear at night. 4, 5. Very fine. 6. Sultry, with slight dry haze : lightning at night. 7, 8. Very fine. 9, Cloudy : rain. 10. Rain : overcast. 11. Rain : cloudy : I p.m. thunder and excessively heavy rain commenced. 12. Fine. 13. Slight rain: overcast. 14. Very fine : rain. 15. Showery: fine. 16. Very fine : rain. 17. Showery. 18,19. Very fine. 20. Cloudy : rain. 21. Fine. 22. Very fine : rain. 23. Drizzly. 24. Overcast. 25,26. Foggy: overcast. 27,28. Cloudy : rain. 29. Heavy clouds : clear. 30. Densely clouded : rain. 31. Heavy showers. — Mean temperature of the month \\° below the average. Boston. — July 1. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rain a.m. and stormy p.m. 2. Cloudy. 3. Cloudy : rain early a.m. : rain with thunder and lightning a.m. 4. Cloudy : rain, with lightning p.m. 5. Fine. 6. Fine : lightning at night. 7. Fine: 3 o'clock p.m. thermometer 81°. 8. Fine. 9. Fine : rain p.m. 10. Cloudy. 11. Rain. 12,13. Cloudy. 14. Cloudy: rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 15,16. Fine. 17. Rain. 18. Fine. 19. Cloudy. 20. Cloudy: rain p.m. 21 — 27. Cloudy. 28. Fine: rain p.m., with thunder and lightning. 29. Rain : rain early A. M : rain p.m. 30. Fine: rain p.m. 31. Fine: rain, with thunder and lightning p.m. Sandwich Manse, Orhiey. — July 1. Cloudy : rain. 2. Damp: clear. 3. Clear: drizzle. 4. Clear : showers. 5^6. Clear. 7. Rain : fog. 8. Clear. 9. Cloudy: showers. 10. Showers: clear: damp. 11. Bright: showers. 12. Showers. 13. Showers: clear. 14, 15. Cloudy: showers. 16. Cloudy. 17. Clear. 18, 19. Bright: hot. 20. Damp: fog. 21. Fog. 22, 23. Cloudy. 24. Cloudy : damp. 25. Cloudy: drops. 26. Drops: cloudy. 27. Clear: showers, 28. Clear: rain: clear. 29. Fine. 30. Cloudy : fine. 31. Bright : drops. Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire. — July 1. Very heavy rain. 2. Very beau- tiful day. 3. Showers : thunder. 4. Fine. 5. Very fine, 6. Showers : thunder. 7. Showers A.M. : fine P.M. 8,9. Showers. 10. Fair and fine. 11. Showers. 12. Fair and clear. 13. Wet, 14. Heavy showers. 15. Fair and fine. 16. Heavy showers. 17. Fair and fine. 18,19. Fair, but cloudy. 20,21. Fair, but clear. 22, 23, Fair, but cloudy. 24, 25. Fair and fine. 26. Showers. 27. Fair A.M. : showers P.M. 28. Fine : thunder. 29. Showers p.m. 30,31. Showers. Mean temperature of the month 56°'2 Mean temperature of July 1844 56 '9 Mean temperature of July for twenty- three years . 58 •! Rain in July 2 '18 inches. Mean rain in July for eighteen years 3 '91 „ '3JU|S -saijjtuna •3I0iMSiq3 •SIOIAipUBg •ajiqs -saiJj'uinQ •uoisog •ra-d I '3I0iAisiq3 •ra*8 ?6 'n\yi XBJtt •uojsog •uiH XBW O -^ ^ .r-l -- i i «• I « « « s* I fi i i i i c ^* « 6'i G i c i & ^* ^-•^ ^' I i s i i ^* -• «• ^' «• i i ^ ^ i i ^ c3 i n i I i .• »• i |- i i i i ^* ^ » «; »• 05 i i i i i i i i a iii ci 6 6 i i i i i & i ^ i i VI .■r}<^oc^"»*l-<— '~<>-'"rf*F-.t^'-'^r^rr)C^or---<*'^0«N(NOOCIOC^"r5tCCO»r5 C^

'^ 'rf^t^iSi''C> o^o^o^o^o o o O^O^O^O^O^C^lO^O O o^o o o O o c O o^o^c^o^o^o^o^ OOO'TJ-OO — "^^JNO •uo'jsoa -o O CTi 6 6^ CO CI O CO ^ ( N (M d (^— I CO ■00 — O^o 00 6 6 9^ 6 c^6^ C0(N M o o < O "^ — (N C7m3> 1 1-^ 10 10 CS On CO ri U3 "* 0^ 00 i>-r^ UO 10 o t^ 1^00 r^ to JO SiCBQ CO 3 100 t^oo o%o THE ANNALS ▲NO MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, No. 105. OCTOBER 1845. XXII. — On the Howling Monkeys (Mycetes_, Illiger). By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c. Much attention has been paid by various zoologists to tlie spe- cies of Monkeys of the Old World, but as yet little consideration has been devoted to those of the western hemisphere, and pro- bably zoologists have been deterred from attending to them on account of the difficulty of the subject. Humboldt in his 'Zoological Observations,^ Prince Maximilian and Spix in their works on Brazilian zoology, are almost the only modern authors who appear to have written on them from the personal examination of the specimens, having moreover en- joyed the advantage of observing them in their native forests. Spix described one of the species, M. Caraya, as being black in the male and yellow in the female and young ; and Prince Maximilian observes that the males and the specimens of M. ur- sinus from the more northern regions of Brazil are rufous or fer- ruginous, whilst the female and those from the more southern regions are brown or blackish brown, and Lichtenstein describes the young of this species as blackish. Cuvier observes, that there is very little difference between M. ursinus and M. seniculus. We have been fortunate at the British Museum in having pro- cured a considerable number of specimens of this genus, and as I find amongst those that have been received at the same time or from the same localities the two sexes of nearly the same colour, and the young and adult equally so, I am inclined for the pre- sent to regard them as species ; at the same time I must confess that some of the specimens of the same apparent species vary considerably in tint, and that some of the black species have so many red hairs scattered amongst their fur when it is bent back and examined, as to make one almost doubt if the black are not another state or local variety of the red ones. Under these difficulties, I think it is desirable that the various Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist, Vol.xwl R 218 Mr. J. E. Gray on the Howling Monkeys. specimens which we have in the British Museum should be ac- curately described, leaving the consideration of the permanence of the distinctions pointed out to be determined at some future time, or by a person more fortunately placed for such a purpose. In examining the species, I have been induced to believe that the manner in which the hair of the forehead is directed offers perhaps a better character for the separation of the species than that of the colour, or the length, softness or stiffness of the hairs ; I have therefore used it to divide the species or varieties into two groups, though it separates specimens of nearly the same colour and external appearance j and I am aware that sometimes the hair of the forehead has its direction more or less changed by the animal-preserver; yet, as far as I have been able to examine these animals, it appears to afford a very available character. The next character in importance appears to be the length and softness, or the stiffness of the hairs of the fur ; unfortunately, the different degrees of this character are not easily expressed in words. In most of the species the hair is of one colour, appear- ing more or less annulated from the slight curl or rather wave in the hair ; but in others it is darker at the base, and one species has an obscure indication of a paler central ring. I shall now proceed to characterize the different specimens in the British Museum collection, premising, that for the purpose of coming to a more correct conclusion as to their distinctness, I have examined all the specimens which have come under my observation in other English and continental museums. I may remark that measurements are of little importance, as the adults of all the specimens are nearly of the same size, and as nearly as one can judge from stuffed specimens, the limbs, &c. are nearly of the same proportion. I. Forehead high, with the hair reflexed, forming a ridge across the centre of the head, 1, The Araguata or Brown Howler, Mycetes ur sinus, Pr. Max. Abbild. t. Simiaursina, Humb. Obs. t. 30. S. Guariba, Humb. Obs. Zool. M. fuscus, Kuhl, Beytr. ; Spix, Braz. t. 30. brown var. j M. stramineus, Spix, Braz. t.31. yellow var.; M. barbatus, foem., Spix, Braz. t. 33 ? yellow var. ? Brown or blackish, yellow- washed ; hairs rather rigid, brown with yellowish tips. Inhab. Brazils and British Guiana. We have two males and two females of this species ; one of the latter is young and the other adult. One male is yellow, with the tail, hands and feet, the sides of the head, body and limbs Mr. J. E. Gray on the Howling Monkeys. 219 redder. It agrees well with the M. stramineus, Spix, t. 31. The young female is yellow-brown, darker on the shoulders; the adult is black slightly washed with yellow from the small yellow tips to the blackish hairs, and the other male is just intermediate in colour between the two females ; the latter nearly agrees with M. fuscus, Spix, t. 30. In the Zoological Society's museum are two females from British Guiana, which are of a uniform dark brown, with the hair between the shoulders very minutely yellow- tipped. 2. The Golden Howler, Mycetes seniculus, Kuhl. Simia seniculus, Linn. Royal Monkey, Penn. ; Buffon, N. H. Supp. vii. t. 25. Reddish chestnut; middle of the back golden yellow; hair one-coloured to the base, short, rather rigid, without any under- fur ; of the head short. Inhab. Brazils. The Museum collection contains three adult males : we have no females of a different colour that would suit them, and we have none that have not their proper-coloured mates. 3. The Silky Howler, Mycetes laniger. Reddish chestnut; middle of the back golden yellow; hair elongate, very soft and silky, dark brown at the base, golden or chestnut at the tip, with a close under-fur ; of the head rather elongate. Inhab. Columbia. Purchased at Paris. We have two males and two females of this species, an adult and half-grown specimen of each sex ; one of the females has the end half of the tail decidedly rather paler, so that in this parti- cular it agrees with M. chrysurus of M. I. Geoffroy ; but the other specimen varies a little in the intensity of the colour of this part, so that I cannot consider it of any importance. 4. Black and Yellow Howler, Mycetes bicolor. Black ; hair rather rigid, uniform black, sides of the loins varied with yellow ; hair of this part black, with a broad subcentral red- dish-yellow band. Inhab. Brazils. We have an adult male ; it is much like M. Caraya in external appearance, but the hair of the forehead is decidedly reflexed, marking a distinct ridge. It is most like M. seniculus in texture of fur,. &c., but vcijy ^^ifFercnt-coloured. If it had not been of the same sex and age 5|^pur specimen of that species, I might have been inclined to have regarded it as identical R2 220 Mr. J. E. Gray on the Howling Monkeys. II. Forehead with the hair directed forwards ; crown smooth with radiating hairs. 5. Ked and Yellow Howler, Mycetes auratus. Dark red chestnut- brown ; back and sides golden yellow ; hairs rather short and rigid, dark at the base ; beard darker. Inhab. Brazils. We have an adult specimen which appears to be a female. It is very like M. seniculus in colour and in the shortness and rigid- ness of the fur, but differs in the hair being brown at the base, like M. ursinus and M. laniger, and from all these species in the direction of the rather short close-pressed hair of the forehead. 6. Black Howler, Mycetes Caraya. Simia Caraya, Humb. Obs. Zool. M. niger, Pr. Max. Abbild. Black; hair rather elongate and rigid, uniform black; the sides, especially at the loins, with interspersed reddish hairs. Inhab. Brazils. "We have an adult male. 7. Gray -handed Howler, Mycetes barhatus, Spix, Braz. t. 32 c?. Black ; circumference of the face, hands, feet, inside of the thighs and end of the tail grayish ; hair moderately long, rather rigid, uniform-coloured. Inhab. Brazils. An adult (sex doubtful, probably female). 8. Yellow-handed Howler or Guariba, Mycetes Beelzehul. Simia Beelzehul, Linn. M. rufimanuSj Kuhl, Diet. Sci. Nat. xlix. M. discolor J Spix, Braz. t. 34 ? Black ; hands, feet, upper line and tip of the tail, spot in front of the ears and on knee reddish yellow ; hairs rather soft, uni- form black or reddish, with a few interspersed brown hairs on the shoulders. Inhab. Brazils, Para. We have an adult and a half-grown female, and the very young of the adult specimen. 9. The Villose Howler, Mycetes villosus. Black ; hair very long, silky, uniform black, on the cheeks un- der the ears brownish at the base. Inhab. Brazils. We have an adult specimen of this species, which is imme- diately known by the abundance, softness and length of the hair ; but unfortunately it is in such bad condition that we cannot be Mr. J. Walton on the genei^a Oxystoma and Magdalis. 231 quite certain of the direction of the hair on the forehead, though it appears to be directed forwards, nor of the sex. Besides the nine species here described, there have been de- scribed two which do not exactly agree with any specimens I have seen, viz. M. chrysurus, I. Geoff., Guerin, Mag. Zool. 1832, and M, flavicaudatuSy Humboldt. XXIII. — Notes, ^c. on the genera of Insects Oxystoma and Mag- dalis. By John Walton, Esq., E.L.S. Earn. CURCULIONID.E. Genus Oxystoma, Steph,, Westw.j Spry and Shuckard. Mr. Stephens has created this genus for the reception of the following three species, separated by him from that of Apion, which he refers to Dumeril ; but the latter author has taken his characters from Attelabus Pomome of Eabricius*, and it is very remarkable, that Dumeril appears not to have been aware that Kirby had previously characterized the genus Apion as a tribe of insects which includes that species, consequently the name Oxy- stoma of Dumeril is cited by Kirby and Schonherr as a synonym to that of Apion. I have always entertained considerable doubt, from the characters selected by Mr. Stephens, whether Apion fuscirostriSj Ulicis and Genista ought to be separated generically ; Kirby and Curtis have located them in a separate section in the genus Apion, because the rostrum is bent downwards or nutant (a character common to many species), and this appears to be the chief character upon which the new genus Oxystoma is founded. It is generally understood that the female of Oxys. Ulicis, with its remarkable elongate deflexed rostrum, is the type of the genus as figured and referred to in the ^ British Coleoptera ' by Spry and Shuckard, and is also referred to Ap. Ulicis of Kirby by West- wood in his ^Generic Synopsis^; but Stephens describes the second and third joints of the antennae as ^^ subglobose,^-' whereas they are elongate, neither does the form of the rostrum nor the structure of the antennae in the male agree with the characters given by him ; therefore I think he has di-awn them from Oxys. fuscirostris, as it stands first in the genus. The three insects in question approx- imate rather closely in general habit and affinity to some of those species of the genus Apion which are placed by Germar and Schonherr in the section that have their antenna? seated near to the base of the rostrum, and likewise have the rostrum (when in its natural position) deflexed ; for example, the small males of Ap, * DuBH^r, Consid. sur les Ins. tab. IC. f. G, 1823. 222 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Oxystoma and Magdalis. Ulicis to the large females of Ap. atomarium, and the female of Ap. Hooker i to that of Ap. Genista : in the construction of the rostrum Ap. fuscirostris resembles Ap. Ervi, Viciae, vicinum and vorax, whilst others are more curved and deflexed, as Ap. varipes, Ononides of Gyll., &c. Many species both foreign and British are clothed more or less with hairs or bristles, and some with elongate scales of various forms, as Ap. Makes, vernale, fusciros- tris, Ulicis and Genista, but these characters are only regarded as specific, not generic. All the species of the genus Apion have the rostrum with two oblique fossulets or oblong fovese more or less deep, terminating outwardly at the sides and inwardly be- neath the rostrum ; their external edges or margins are more or less incrassated or dilated, and are placed at a greater or less distance from the base; the antennae are inserted within the fossulets at the under sides, and always in the same relative situation ; the form of the rostrum, the structure of the antennae, together with the sexual dissimilarities in those organs are so ex- tremely anomalous and discrepant in this natural group of insects, that it is very difficalt to find good or fixed characters for the foundation of genera ; the species are held together by general habit, and especially by a peculiarity in the form of the trochan- ters first described by Kirby*. The three species comprised in the genus Oxystoma are fur- nished with a remarkable process at the base of the rostrum be- neath, which I shall endeavour to describe under their respective names, and which, as far as I know, has not been noticed before ; but these appendages or processes are not confined to those spe- cies, for Apion Carduorum participates, and others in the genus Apion have modifications of the same, but not so fully developed ; Oxys. fuscirostris, Ulicis and Genista differ however from all the species of the genus Apion that I have examined in not having antennal grooves at the base of the rostrum beneath, or under the head, as in Apion Cracca, Pomona and subulatum ; these charac- ters may be considered of sufiicient importance to constitute a new genus, and I therefore leave Oxystoma as it is. 1. O. fuscirostris, Fab., Steph. Apion melanopum. Marsh., Kirb. — fuscirostris, Germ., Schonh. This insect is sparingly clothed with whitish and cinnamon- coloured elongate scales, which are distinct and well-defined when magnified. The rostrum is thickened at the base above, and dilated on both sides at the points of insertion of the antennae, and has two deep oblong foveae very near the base beneath, * Linn. Trans, vol. x. p. 347. Mr. J. Walton on the genera Oxystoma and Magdalis. 223 diverging outwardly and terminating on each side in a deep sinus for the reception of the antennae when extended forward ; the dcr curved edges behind each sinus are much produced in the middle, curved inwardly, and form the posterior edges of the fovese ; the latter have between them a narrow longitudinal ridge; the rostrum, when viewed at the sides, has the appearance of being bidentate at the base ; the antennae are inserted at the under sides of the rostrum near the base and within the fovese. Apion difficile of Herbst, of which I have specimens from Germar, is a distinct species, but closely allied to O. fuscirostris, and having the rostrum at the base, as described by Germar, bi- dentate. I have taken many specimens of this insect in the Charlton sand-pits, and at Shirley Common near Croydon, from the broom (Spartium Scoparium) in October. 2. O. Ulicis, Foster, Steph. Apion Ulicis, Marsh., Kirb., Germ., Curt., Schonh. This insect is densely covered with silvery gray elongate scales. The female differs from the male in having the rostrum remark- ably longer, the antennae distinctly longer and more slender, and as a consequence the length of the articulations is extremely disproportionate in the sexes. The rostrum at the base above and beneath and its appendages are very similar to the preceding species, but it differs in having the foveae strictly at the base, with their external decurved edges considerably more dilated in the middle, and when viewed laterally it appears to be acutely bidentate ; the antennae are inserted at the under sides of the rostrum near the base and within the foveae. Very abundant in Yorkshire and in the south of England on the common furze ( Ulex europceus) from February to November. Mr. George Luxford, by gathering (on the 1st of August) a num- ber of the unopened pods of the common furze, found several perfect insects of this species inclosed in nearly every one that he examined. 3. 0. Genista, Steph. Apion Genista, Kirb., Germ., Curt., Schonh. Densely clothed with silvery white and fawn-coloured elongate scales ; the rostrum at the base is constructed like that of fusci- rostris, and with a similar process, but the decurved edges of the foveae in the middle are less produced, and consequently when viewed in profile it appears indistinctly bidentate. I found this insect abundant on the north side of the Lake House, Wanstead Flats, on Genista tinctoria in September, and it is the only locality for it near London that I am acquainted with; it appears to be very local and not frequently met with. 224 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Oxystoma and Magdalis. Genus Magdalis, Germ., Steph., Curt. Magdalinus, Sclionh. vii. p. 135. Thamnophilus Schonh. olim, Rhinodes Schonh. olim, Stepli., Pa- nus Schonh. olim, Steph., Westw. The few indigenous species of this genus have been described by British and foreign authors under so many different names, which have been so often transposed, that the nomenclature and synonymy of several species are in the greatest confusion ; the sexual dissimilarities in the form of the rostrum and the clava of the antennae in many species, and the great variation in magni- tude in nearly the whole, have added to the difficulty of determi- ning the species correctly. A. Femora dentate. 1. M, phlegmaticaj Herbst, Gyll., Germ., Schonh. Linear-elongate, blue-black and subglabrous. Head narrow, oblong, subconical, depressed between the eyes, very closely and minutely punctm'ed ; eyes rather large, prominent, and obscure brown ; rostrum subcylindrical, nearly as long as the head and thorax, porrect, a little bent, slender, black and shining, delicately punctulated throughout. Antennae rather longer than the ros- trum, the basal joint piceous, the club robust, pubescent and fuscous, inserted just behind the middle of the rostrum. Thorax longer than broad, constricted and deeply impressed in front, the anterior margin elevated, the base bisinuated, with the pos" terior angles produced and'reflexed, almost flat above, very thickly punctured and dull blue-black. Elytra punctate-striate, the in- terstices very distinctly punctulated and shining, and greenish blue. Legs blue-black, with all the femora acutely dentate. (Length 2^— 2f lines.) I possess specimens oi M. frontalis of Gyll. from Germar, which are identical with Cure. Alliaria and C. violaceus of the Linnsean cabinet, and I also possess Swedish specimens that agree with the description of Rhynch. violaceus of Gyllenhal. A specimen of this fine insect, which is new to our fauna, was first found by the Eev. Wm. Little four or five years ago, on the 25th of May, by sweeping in marshy ground in Dalmeny Park, Scotland; subsequently Mr. R. N. Greville captured two others in the same locality, one of which he kindly presented to me : these are all that are known. 2. M. carhonaria, Linn. (Mus. Linn.), Gyll. ? , Curtis S ? • Rhynch. atratus, Gyll. J', vol. iii. M. atramentaria, Germ, (not Marsh.), Gyll. (^ $ , Schonh. This insect differs from the following in having the thorax nar- Mr. J. "Walton on the genera Oxy stoma and Magdalis. 225 rowed in front, dilated and rounded at the sides, and the latter crenulated before the middle ; the elytra very shining, profoundly punctate- sulcate, the intervals between the punctures narrow and distinctly elevated, the interstices of the sulci narrow, convex, nearly smooth or very finely rugose transversely. (Length 2 — Sp- lines.) Gyllenhal justly observes, that it varies greatly in magni- tude ; it also varies in having the sides of the thorax more or less dilated and rounded in the middle. Mr. Waterhouse has a fine male specimen (3^ lines) that has the thorax subglobose, with the sides remarkably dilated and rounded. I have a very small female specimen that only measures two lines in length, and has the thorax less rounded at the sides in proportion. The insect preserved in the Linnsean museum, which is pinned to the name carbonariuSj agrees so well with the short description of Linnaeus, that I have no doubt of its authenticity ; it is a large female (3|^ lines), and the insect placed near to the label, but not upon it, is certainly a small male (2 lines) of the same species ; these insects agree so very closely in every character with GyllenhaPs descrip- tions of Rhynch. carbonarius ( ? ) which he refers to Linnseus, and R. atratus {S)> that there can be no doubt of their identity. Mr. Curtis has figured with his usual accuracy the female, and the head and rostrum of the male ; I have frequently inspected the two insects in his cabinet, and I am now satisfied they are correctly referred by him to Cure, carbonarius of Linnseus, al- though at one period, from the variable form of the sides of the thorax and their small sides, I was a little dubious. Germar has incorrectly referred this insect to Cure, atramentatius of Mar- sham* ; Gyllenhal in his 4th volume, in accordance with the opi- nions of Schonherr and Germar, has adopted that name, and cited carbonarius of Linnseus as synonymous ; Schonherr in his Supplement (vii. p. 140) still adheres to the Marshamian name, and there refers it to Germar !, notwithstanding he had pre- viously received specimens from me (as will be seen below) of the true Cure, atramentarius of Marsham and Kirby. Cure, carbo- narius of Fab. (Mus. Fab.) is referred with doubt by Germar to Linnseus ; it is elaborately and well described by Professor C. H. Boheman in the work of Schonherr under the name of Magda- Unus carbonarius of Fabr., a name that must necessarily be changed. I possess an insect given to me by Mr. Bracey Clark (which he found upon the fir, Pinus sylvestris, at the sides of the Jura mountains in Switzerland) that agrees exactly with the de- scription by Boheman of Cure, cai^bonarius of Fab. Only seven specimens of this insect have come under my ob- servation : two in the collection of Mr. Curtis, taken by him from a hazel-tree near Ambleside the 19th of June ; one in each of the * Ins. Spec. p. 193. 226 Mr. J. Walton on the genera Oxystoma and Magdalis. cabinets of Mr. Dale and Mr. Waterhouse ; the fifth in that of the Rev. Wm. Little, captured at Raehills in D umfries- shire ; the sixth received by Mr. S. Stevens from Newcastle, and the seventh kindly presented to me by Mr. Heysham of Carlisle ; it appears to be rare and only found in the north. 3. M. aterrimttj Fab. 1781 (Mus. Fab., Mus. Banks), Germ., Steph. Cure, atramentarius, Marsh. 1802 (Mus. Staph., Mus. Kirb.), Steph. — stygius, Marsh, var., Gyll., Schonh., Curt. M. asphaltina, Steph. (^. This insect differs from the preceding in having the thorax sub- quadrate, the sides slightly rounded, sometimes nearly straight, and armed on each side adjacent to the anterior margin with a large tooth, behind which are several smaller ones ; the elytra less deeply punctate-striate, the interstices flat, broader than the striae, and very finely strigated transversely or coriaceous. I forwarded many specimens of this insect to Schonherr and Germar, with the name Cure, atramentarius of Mar sham and Kirby, citing Cure, stygius as synonymous, with a note of interrogation to the latter name ; all my specimens were referred by them to Magd. stygia of Gyll., aterrima of Fab. ; subsequently I have had an op- portunity of examining a typical example of Cure, stygius of Mar- sham, and I have now no doubt whatever it is but a small nar- row variety of his Cure, atramentarius. According to the mu- seums of Fabricius and Banks, the first examined by Germar and the last by myself, this species is doubtless the true Cure, ater- rimus of Fabricius ; but he refers it to Linnaeus ; yet the Linnsean Cure, aterrimus, according to the insect in his cabinet, is the Apion marehieum of Herbst, and as it does not entirely agree with the description of Linnaeus, the name is sunk into a syno- nym (see notes on Apion marehieum) ; under these circumstances I consider there will be less risk of confusion by following Ger- mar and Stephens in adopting the oldest name. This is rather a common insect in the south of England, but apparently very scarce in the north ; I have found it in Yorkshire, and plentifully near Gravesend, always upon the common elm- tree {Ulmus campestris), in July. B. Femora unarmed. 4. M. Cerasi, Linn., Marsh., Germ., Gyll., Schonh. Rhynch. Rhini, Gyll. ? , vol. iii. Rhinodes Cerasi, Steph. $ . Partus barbicornis, Steph. ^, Mus. Steph. Cure, Cerasi, Mus. Kirb. The males of my foreign specimens of Magd. barbicornis from Mr. T. C. Eyton on some new species of Birds from Malacca. 227 Germar and Chevrolat differ from the males of this insect in ha- ving the basal joints of the antennse rufous ; the club of a very different form, being narrower, considerably longer, and densely clothed with erect rigid hairs j the thorax very finely punctured ; the elytra glossy, deeply sulcate, the sulci faintly punctured, and the interstices convex and finely coriaceous : although I have ex- amined many collections of this family of insects, I have never seen a British example of Magd. barhicornis. Occasionally found upon the black-thorn (Prunus spinosa) in hedges in July. 5. M. Prunij Linn., Mus. Linn., Marsh., Gyll., Germ., Curt., Schonh. Cure, ruficorne, Linn., Mus. Linn. Rhinodes Pruni, Steph. Cure. Pruni, Mus. Kirb. Mr. Stephens has separated this and the preceding species from Magdalis under the name of Rhinodes, but they are closely linked in general habit and in affinity to M. carbonaria and M. aterrima, especially in the sexual disparities in the form of the rostrum ; and as no other writer that I am aware of, excepting Mr. West- wood in his ' Generic Synopsis,' has concurred in this subdivision, I have no hesitation in following those authors who have retained them in the genus Magdalis. I have always found this insect (but not plentifully) upon the same plant as the foregoing in July. The following observations on genera, on which I have nothing further to remark, may be as well introduced here. Phlo'eobius griseus, Steph., is, according to Schonh err, Arcece- rus CoffecBj Fab., a native of the East Indies, &c. Rhinobatus planiis, Steph. : British specimens sent to Schon- herr were named Larinus Carlina, Oliv. Lixus productus, Marsh., Steph., is, according to the Linnaean museum, Lixus paraplecticus of Linn. BothynodereSy Schonh. olim, albidus, Fab. ; now Cleonus, Schonh., albiduSj Fab. XXIV. — Descriptions of some apparently new species of Birds from Malacca. By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S. The collection of birds from which the following have been selected was brought to this country by Capt. Andrew Charlton of the East India Service, the discoverer of the tea-plant in As- sam, and collected by him on the Malay Peninsula. Astur barbatus. A. brunneus, gula alba linea atra longitudinali 328 Mr. T. C. Eyton on some new species of Birds from Malacca, notata ; posteriore parte colli albis maculls ornata, macula post- oculari subtusque strigis transversis albis notatis ; tectricibus su- perioribus caudee albis rnaculis notatis, inferioribus totius ejusdem coloris ; rectricibus caudse supra quatuor vectibus, subtusque api- cali, transversatis ; rostro atro, cera pedibusque flavis. Long. tot. 16|- unc. ; tarsi 2^ unc. ; ros. fron. 1 unc. Athene malaccensis . A. fuliginoso-brunnea subtus alba rnaculis ro- tundatis brunneis notatis rectricibus secondariis vectibus angustis albis et transversis ornatis ; cauda utrinque fasciis quatuor atris transversatis ; rostro atro, culmine pedibusque flavis. Long. tot. 11 unc. ; tarsi 1 unc. ; ros. fron. J unc. Pycnonotus rufocaudatus. P. vertice cinereo, gula alba dorso alis tectricibusque caudse flavo-brunneis ; subtus Isete flavus, cauda rufa, pedibus flavis ; rostro nigrescente, marginibus flavescentibus. Long. tot. 7:J unc. ; tarsi 11 lin. ; ros. fron. | in. Fem. mari similis, sed capite brunnea et reliquis coloribus obscuris. Malacopteron squamatum, M. capite dorsoque superiore oleaceo- brunneis, gula subtusque albis, singulis pennis media parte atro notatis ; uropygio marginibusque exterioribus rectricum caudae laete castaneis ; ventre imo brunneo ] rostro atro, pedibus tarsisque cinereis. Long. tot. 6^ unc. ; ros. fron. J unc. ; tarsi 10 lin. Malacopteron aureum. M. dorso uropygio marginibus externis rec- tricum caudae alarumque aureo-viridibus tectricibus inferioribus caudse Isete aureis, capite coUo subtusque cinereis ; rostro atro, pe- dibus viridibus. Long. tot. 5|- unc. ; tarsi ^ unc. ; ros. fron. | unc. Ixos metallicus. I. flavus capite gulaque atro-seneis, remigibus fascia- que prope apicem caudse atris, rostro pedibusque atris. Long. tot. 8 unc. ; tarsi ^ unc. ; ros. fron. 5 lin. Fem. mari similis, sed capite subtusque cinereis rectricibusque caudse interne brunneis. Brachypteryx maculatus. B. partibus superioribus brunneis, vertice saturatiore, medio pennarum capite dorso superiore scapularibus- que striga longitudinali alba ornatis ; genis gula subtusque albis, macula ad basin rostri lateribusque ferrugineis, pectore fascia atra indefinita transversato ; rostro atro, pedibus flavis. Long. tot. 5 unc. ; ros. fron. 5 lin. ; tarsi 9 lin. Brachypteryx nigrogularis . B. capite gula thoraceque atris, linea superciliari macula ad basin rostri marginibus pennarum frontis fasciaque pectorali semicirculari albis ; dorso, scapularibus, margi- nibus externis remigum rectricibusque caudae Isete brunneis, sub- tus cinereis ; rostro atro mandibula inferiore ad basin alba, pedibus nigris. Long. tot. 5J unc. ; ros. fron. 7 lin, ; tarsi 11 lin. Brachypteryx acutirostris. B. vertice dorso caudaque brunneis sea- Mr. T. C. Eyton on some new species of Birds from Malacca. 229 pularibus marginibusque exterioribus remigum Isete castaneis subtus genisque cinereis ; rostro atro, jDedibus cinereis. Long. tot. 4 j unc. ; ros. fron. ^ unc. ; tarsi f unc. This is the smallest species of the genus with which I am ac- quainted. The above three species differ in the comparative length of the bill, but as they agree in the structure of the wings, feet and tail, I am unwilling to increase the number of genera by subdividing them. Philentoma, n. g. Rostrum capite sequale ad apicem incisum latum depressum lateribus tumidis, ad basin setis longis armatis nares ovales. Tarsi mediocres digiti externi vix longiores quam interni posteriores medios sequantes, ungues compressi, posteriores longissimi, scuta tarsi indivisa. Al tarsi 10 lin. Dendrocopus sordidus. D. gula genis paucisque pennarum cristse sordide cinereis reliquis cristse verticeque llavo brunneo, dorso re- migibusque secondariis atris, marginibus flavo-albis remigibus pri- mariis caudaque atris, uropygio marginibusque pennarum tectri- cum inferiorum caudae flavo-albis tinctis ; rostro pedibusque atris. Long. tot. 5 J unc. ;ros. fron. | unc. ; tarsi 7 lin. Fern, mari similis, sed crista verticeque totius cinereis. Tripsurus auritus. T. ater fronte verticeque cinereis brunneis leviter tinctis, occipite atro vix cristato lateribus utrinque macula parva coccinea, dorso alis caudaque atris, illo immaculato, his transver- satis et maculatis albo, subtus sordide albus mediis pennarum atris, rostro pedibusque atris. Long. tot. 4|: unc. ; ros. fron. 7 lin. ; tarsi | unc. 230 Mr. T. Moore on Glyceria fluitans and G. plicata. Theron tenuirostre. T. capite colloque castaneis, dorso humerisque vinaceis, pectore ochraceo, uropygio ventreque canis, cauda supe- riore parte tectricibusque viridibus inferiore atra apice cano tec- tricibus inferioribus Isete castaneis et elongatis ad extremitatem caudse, tibiis maculaque inter illos flavis remigibus scapularibusque atris fiavo Isete marginatis ; rostro flavo, pedibus rubris. Long. tot. 10 unc. ; tarsi | unc. ; ros. fron. 7 lin. Perdix Charltonii. P. dorso alisque superiore parte atris oleaceo- brunneis irroratis et maculatis, vertice nuchaque brunneis; gula fronte lineaque superciliari albis singulis pennarum atro apice ma- culatis, collo capistro ferrugineo ornato pectore lateribusque atris, fasciis ferrugineis, transversatis ventre maculaque post-oculari fer- rugineis, tibiis albidis, rostro pedibusque flavis. Long. tot. 12 unc. ; tarsi 1 J unc. ; ros. fron. j unc. Rallus superciliaris. R. oleaceo-brunneus gula alba striga superci- liari rufo subtus strigis atris et albis transversis alternate notatis, pedibus rostroque viridibus. Long. tot. d^ unc. ; tarsi li unc. ; ros. fron. -^-q unc. XXV. — On the Glyceria fluitans and G. plicata. By Thomas Moore, Esq. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. Gentlemen, It may be interesting to some of yom* readers to know tliat the Glyceria plicata of Fries has been determined to hold a place in the British flora. The following are the circumstances upon which this state- ment has been made. In the summer of 1844 I was much struck by the great difference in appearance between the plants of Gly- ceria (assumed to be G. fluitans) which surrounded one or two pools of water in some meadows northwards of London. The plants appeared to consist of two distinct forms, which grew in- termixed, and were so different from each other as to be detected on the slightest glance. One of these forms had the leaves about half-folded, so as to appear channeled ; at the same time, they were long and gradually tapering to a fine point, and conse- quently had the appearance of being much narrower than those of the other form, which had (comparatively) short, flat (and therefore apparently broad) and obtusely-pointed leaves. On a closer examination, that which may be termed the narrow-leaved plant was found to have large, oblong outer palese, whilst in the broad-leaved plant these were smaller and of an ovate form. I generally noticed that in plants of equal vigour the spikelet was Mr. T. Moore on Glyceria fluitans and G. plicata. 231 about of equal size in the two kinds, but in the broad-leaved one there are a greater number, about one-third more, of flowers. From the first, I had formed an opinion that the plants were abundantly distinct either as species or varieties ; and with this impression I took an early opportunity of sending them to Mr. Babington, who, not having time to give them the requisite careful examination, forwarded them to Dr. Parnell, and also subsequently communicated to me Dr. ParnelFs opinion, that " he could find no character to distinguish them.^' I could not however believe that two grasses, as different in their foliation as grasses well could be, were really identical ; and accordingly I procured some seeds of the broad-leaved plant, which I conceived to be the least common, and from them I have this season raised a plant or two, which though not old enough to flower, retain precisely the same character in their foliage, and thus furnish collateral evidence that the plant in question is permanently dif- ferent. Mr. Babington has subsequently given both plants a most rigid and careful examination, and has detected the following specific distinctions : — Narrow-leaved (G. fluitans). Broad-leaved (G. plicata). Outer pale oblong, nearly three times Outer pale oval, twice as long as as long as broad ; apex rounded, or broad ; apex obtuse-angled, with with a large triangular point, and three nearly equal teeth. a minute tooth on each side. Anthers about five times as long as Anthers three times as long as broad, broad, pale yellow when dry. fuscous when dry. Panicle nearly simple, with few Panicle with numerous branches from (1 — 3) branches from the lower the lower joints. joints. To which the following may be added : — Leaves tapering, acute. Leaves broad, less acute. Ligule twice as long as broad ; apex Ligule about as long as broad ; apex rounded, ending in a fine point. with a long central tooth and two smaller toothlets. Another summer acquaintance with the plants, both in a wild and cultivated state, tends only to confirm the conviction of their being decidedly distinct. Mr. Babington has also several times during the present summer examined fresh specimens ; and the result is, that he considers the narrow-leaved plant to be un- doubtedly the G. fluitans, and the broad-leaved one the G. pli- cata of Pries. The figure given in ^Enghsh Botany,^ t. 1520, most nearly agrees with the latter plant. Having directed attention to these plants, I shall leave for more competent hands the task of pointing out the details of the dif- ferences between them. 1 may mention, that I have since met 233 Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoj^tera.' with both plants in several localities j in fact, both appear to be plentiful in situations suitable for them. I am J yours, &c., September 1, 1845. ThoMAS MooRE. P.S. Mr. Babington has just favoured me with the following specific characters for these two plants : — G. fluitans (R. Br.) ; panicle subsecund, slightly branched, very long ; branches nearly simple, roughish, divaricated whilst in flower J spikelets linear, of 7 — 12 flowers; outer pale nearly thrice as long as broad, blunt ; anthers about jive times as long as broad [purple) ; sheaths compressed. Leaves pale green, acute. Ligule elongate. Outer pale blunt, with a triangular central point. Dry anthers pale yellow. — Poa fluitans, var. subspicata, ParnelFs British Grasses, pi. 95. This plant is considered as the true Festuca fluitans of Linnaeus by the Swedish botanists; it was originally published under that name in ' Linn. Fl. Suec.^ G. plicata (Fries) ; panicle compound ; branches compound, nearly smooth, divaricated whilst in flower ; spikelets linear, of 7 — 20 flowers ; outer pale oval, twice as long as broad ; apex ob- tuse-angled, with three nearly equal teeth ; anthers thrice as long as broad {yellow) ; sheaths compressed. Resembling G. fluitans. Ligule shorter. Dry anthers fuscous. Leaves glaucous, bluntish. — G. plicata, Fries, Nov. Fl. Suec. Mant. ii. 6. F. fluitans, Eng. Bot. pi. 1520. Poa fluitans, Parn. pi. 45 (not good). Mr. Ba- bington has seen authentic specimens of this plant, from Fries himself, which agree with that found commonly in Britain. XXVI. — Descriptions of new or imperfectly described Diurnal Lepidoptera. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum, F.L.S. &c. [Continued from p. 182.] Fam. NYMPHALID^. Genus Diadema, Boisd. Diadema Nama, Boisd. MSS. D. alls anticis sinuatis nigris, posticis castaneis, omnibus albo lineatis maculatisque. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 6 lin. vel 90 millim. Hab. Sylhet, &c. Anterior wings with the outer margin sinuate, slightly glossed with purplish, especially towards the apex ; with numerous semi- transparent markings of a bluish white, viz. a longitudinal vitta in the cell at the base, followed by two spots, of which the outer one is triangular ; above these three indistinct spots, the middle one sometimes wanting ; between the lower median nervule and Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptet'a. 233 tlie radial nervure two vittae united at the base, the upper one followed by a round spot ; above these between the nervules five vittse, of which the one nearest the costa is pointed, the others bifid externally, each vitta followed by three spots, of which the lower are somewhat lunulate, the upper ones more rounded ; four rounded spots near the apex, two near the anal angle. The inner margin is glaucous, the apex tinged with brown. Posterior wings castaneous, darker in the females than in the males, with seven whitish subdiaphanous vittae placed between the nervules, all, ex- cept the innermost, followed by a round white dot, beyond which the ground-colour of the wings is slightly darker; towards the outer margin a scries of indistinct whitish spots, sometimes nearly obsolete. Cilia of all the wings spotted with white. Below, the anterior wings are black with strong blue reflections, the apex broadly chestnut, slightly bronzed towards the disc ; the markings as above but clearer, with two additional spots on the costa near the base. Posterior wings paler than above, the white portions more or less irrorated with chestnut scales ; on the margin a di- stinct series of whitish lunules. Head, thorax and abdomen black, clothed with gray hairs ; head above and thorax below spotted with white ; abdomen below gray ; palpi black, spotted with white ; antennae black. In the cabinets of the British Museum, &c. This species, which much resembles Pap. Agestor and Danais Tytia, has the cells of all the wings open. The genus Diadema as it now stands requires subdivision ; the neuration I believe will be of great service for this purpose. D. Lisarda. D. alis omnibus fuscis, vittis discoidalibus albidis, se- riebus duabus submarginalibus punctorum albidorum. Exp. alar. 5 unc. 6 lin. vel 140 millim. Hab. Sylhet. Anterior wings fuscous with whitish markings, viz. an elon- gate spot at the base and extremity of the discoidal cell, an oval one near the costa towards the middle, a scries of vitta? between the nervules, of which the first and third from the costa are short and narrow, the second also slender but longer, the fourth long, the fifth and sixth progressively shorter, well-defined towards the base, less so externally, the seventh broad, short, the eighth broad, longer than the seventh, the ninth long, commencing near the base, the tenth occupying the inner margin from the base nearly to the anal angle ; near the margin between the nervules a series of seven more or less rounded spots, of which the one nearest the anal angle is geminate ; this series, preceded by another of six spots, of which all except the first are connected with the vittae by in- distinct prolongations. Posterior wings with the base and abdo- minal margin whitish, the nervures broadly brown, a broad vitta Ann. §• Mag. N, Hist. Vol xvi. S S34 Mr. E. Boubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera, near the anterior margin, five vittse around the cell, a series of eight round spots near the margin, and four between these and the terminations of the vittse, all whitish. Cilia fuscous, spotted with white. Below, anterior wings with the disc fuscous, the apex light brown, the markings nearly as above but more defined ; posterior wings brown, the discoidal cell and abdominal fold whitish, the vittse nearly as above but much less distinct ; the vitta between the first and second discoidal nervules terminated by a rounded spot ; the inner row of whitish dots very small, the outer much larger. Head and thorax black, spotted with white, the latter gray pos- teriorly. Abdomen gray at the sides, fuscous above and below. This insect in form and in some respects in colouring resem- bles P. dissimilis. It has the cell of both wings closed. Of three specimens in the Museum collection, no one has the antennae perfect ; a fragment on one specimen is black. Fam. MORPHID^. Genus Thaumantis. Th. Diores. Th. alis omnibus nigro-fuscis supra maculis magnis disci, perpulchre caeruleis, nitidis ; subtus strigis disci fuscis marginisque externi albidis ; posticis ocellis duobus. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 9 lin. vel 95 millim. Hab, Sylhet. Above, all the wings fuscous black, the anterior with a broad band-like spot, commencing near the costa beyond the middle, and extending towards the anal as far as the lowest median ner- vule. This spot is of a brilliant metallic, changeable blue, much paler and less changeable externally. On the posterior wings is a large patch of the same rich blue, paler in the centre, occupy- ing the whole disc of the wing. Below, all the wings less black than above, the outer margin paler ; this pale portion bounded internally by an undulated pale or whitish striga, becoming brown towards its termination at the anal angle of the posterior wings : between this and the margin is another less distinct si- milar striga. The anterior wings have besides two fuscous strigse in the discoidal cell inclosing a paler space, and a third striga commencing on the costa beyond the cell and extending ob- liquely nearly to the anal angle, slightly bordered internally with whitish. The posterior wings have a transverse fuscous striga near the base, and another commencing near the middle of the costa and reaching nearly to the anal angle. Just within the pale submarginal striga near the costa is a round yellowish spot, inclosing a brown one placed towards its outer margin, and be- tween the first and second median nervule a round black spot sprinkled with blue atoms anteriorly, and surrounded by a yel- Mr. E. Doubleday on some new Diurnal Lepidoptera. 235 lowish and a black iris. Anal angle with a geminate spot com- posed of black and white atoms. Head, thorax and abdomen fuscous. In the collection of the British Museum, &c. This species seems to be the representative of Th. Odana in Northern India, and does not seem to be rare. The blue is of a peculiar brilliancy. Fam. PAPILIONID^.. Genus Papilio. P. Evan. P. alls anticis elongatis falcatis acuminatis, posticis elon- gatis, dentatis, caudatis, omnibus luteo-rufis, margine externo late fusco-brunneo, maculis lunulisque luteo-rufis. Exp. alar. 5 unc. 1 lin. vel 130 millim. Anterior wings elongate, falcate, acuminate, of bright light fulvous, the base and anterior portion of the costa more ob- scure, the costa from the middle to the apex and the exterior margin deep brown, with fulvous spots at the apex and anal angle ; a sigmoid spot in the cell and a larger spot on the disco- cellular nervure of the same colour as the margin. Posterior wings elongate, dentate, caudate, light fulvous at the base, deep fuscous brown beyond ; a series of five lunulate light fulvous spots near the outer margin, preceded by three spots and a striga of a deeper fulvous near the anal angle, the tail fulvous brown, paler towards the apex ; cilia marked with pale fulvous near the outer angle. Below, the wings a bright yellow-ochre colour, the ante- rior with several irregular spots in the cell, a larger one on the discoidal, three on the costa near the apex, a fourth below the last of these, followed by a zigzag line, and the outer margin bright brown : the margin is marked with lighter-coloured clouds, and preceded by some indistinct spots on the nervures more or less confounded with it. The posterior wings have four brown spots at the base, a broad band beyond the middle of deep rich brown, extending along the abdominal margin to the tails, which are brown. This band is marked anteriorly between the nervules with silvery atoms, those nearest the inner margin forming a sil- very lunule. Beyond the band the wings are of the same colour as at the base, with four sigmoid spots, a narrow line on the margin itself, and the cilia at the ends of the nervules rich brown. Head and antennae brown. Thorax bright shining black, covered at the sides with brown hair and scales, apparently naturally almost bare on the disc. Abdomen very pointed, luteo-fulvous. This beautiful species, figured on the second plate of my Ge- nera of Diurnal Lepidoptera, is closely allied to P. Payeni of Van S3 236 M. J. Miinter on the Structure of Nupliar lutea. der Hoeven ; but a comparison of the two figures will at once show the difference, P. Payeni being much smaller and not having the posterior wings dentate, and also wanting the broad deep brown band below. [To be continued.] XXVII. — On the Surface of the Stem and Contents of the Medul- lary Cells o/Nuphar lutea {Smith). By Julius Munter*. Although the internal structure of the submersed stems of Nuphar lutea, Sm., is but little adapted for indicating the dico- tyledonous nature of the Nymphceacea, still in other respects it possesses so much interest, that it appears well-worthy of a spe- cial notice in these pages. The stem of the yellow water-lily is found in tolerably deep stagnant waters, lakes and large rivers ; its length is 5 feet or more, and its diameter from 2^ to 3 inches ; it is sometimes simple and sometimes branched, and sends off from its summit to the surface of the water its floating leaves and beautiful flowers on smooth footstalks, which are often 6 to 8 inches long. The stem is sometimes brought to the surface of the water or the banks either by the net of the fisherman or the drying up of the water, and we are then enabled to examine it more accurately. The entire surface of the stem is coated with elastic leaf-scars directed obliquely from above downwards, as in the stems of the Cycadecs, and the torn bundles of woody fibre are indicated on these scars. We do not, however, usually find any buds in the angles of the leaf-scars, and in such a case not even the slightest trace of one. But where the buds situated in the angles are developed, they form a branch directed almost at right angles to the axis, which soon acquires the thickness of the stem. A little below the leaf-stalk scars, which are arranged circularly around the stem, we find single or grouped foveolse of the size of a pea, of a more or less rounded form, which are either arranged beneath these leaf-scars around the stem, or are only visible on those parts of its surface directed towards the soil. When these foveolse are grouped, three, five or six together, the lower ones are usually larger than the upper, and on minutely examining them we find a remarkable resemblance of each foveole to the cavity of the human acetabulum. In the former a circular protuberance (limbus) surrounds the foveoles, as in the latter, but this has in addition a notch at its lower part ; we then find on the inner sur- face of the pit a ring running parallel with the limb, i. e, con- * Translated from the Botanische Zeitung, Aug. 1845. M. J. Munter on the Structure o/Nuphar lutea. 237 centric ; at the bottom of the pit a bundle of woody fibres, broken off, but still somewhat projecting, like the ligamentum teres of the human acetabulum ; the surface of the pit between this woody- bundle and the ring-shaped scar is smooth, and presents nothing remarkable. As regards the nature of these elegant pit-like scars, by comparing all parts of the surface we soon perceive that they owe their origin to roots, which separate spontaneously ; this view is confirmed by tracing the course of the separation. Even whilst the root is perfectly entire, the bark of the stem is raised from the surface of the latter, and gives rise to the above-mentioned limb. The concentric ring on the inner surface of the pit is formed by the separation of the bark of the root from that of the stem, and the broken-off woody bundle found in the bottom of the pit was previously continuous with the central woody bundle of the root. Besides this interesting formation of scars from the spontaneous separation of roots, a phsenomenon which I have never elsewhere observed, the solid contents of the cells of the highly developed pith excited particular interest. If we examine microscopically that portion of the stem most remote from the buds placed on the summit, we find that the contents of the cells do not assume any definite shape, but form a parenchymatous tissue filled with water or air. At the distance of 2 — 3 inches, however, and especially just beneath the buds on the summit, all the cells of the pith are filled with a solid sub- stance which has a definite form, is coloured blue on the addition of aqueous solution of iodine, and consequently agrees in proper- ties with starch. As regards the forms of the particles, some are simple, more or less rounded cells ; others are hemispherical, and formed of two grains lying in contact like rolls ; again, others form segments of circles, and derive their shape from the union of three double grains, and are arranged either in a linear or superficial manner : we also observe granules which are formed from the union of four, and finally perfect penta- and polyhedra. Whilst these forms agree most distinctly with those of the starch particles which I found and described in Gloriosa superba, their size forms also another point of similitude ; it cannot indeed be asserted that the Nuphar starch in general exhibits such large particles as the Gloriosa, but it most resembles it in the relative size of the separate granules ; in it the internal layers are as sharply outlined as in the Gloriosa starch, and thus afford a good substitute for the latter, which is so difficult to obtain. For this reason I recommend the Nuphar starch as an excellent ex- ample for those who have occasion to demonstrate microscopi- cally ; and also to those who may think it worth while to test my view of the centripetal formation of the starch granules, as I am 238 Dr. Hooker on some results of Deep-sea Dredging, unacquainted with any other plant, except the Gloriosaj which exhibits the innermost layers of the compound starch forms with such remarkable distinctness. XXVIII. — Note on some Marine Animals, brought up by Deep-sea Dredging, during the Antarctic Voyage of Captain Sir James C. Ross, R.N. To Richard Taylor, Esq. My dear Sir, West Park, Kew, Aug. 31, 1845. Having remarked, in the notice given of Mr. Goodsir^s valuable labours in the last number of the ' Annals of Nat. Hist.,' that 300 fathoms is supposed to be the extreme depth from which living animals have been dredged, I think it may interest some of your readers to know that Sir James Ross, during the late Antarctic Voyage, used the dredge on several occasions with considerable success in the same and in much deeper water. In latitude 33° 32' S. and long. 167° 40' E., living specimens of Homera frondosa, besides four other Corals, a Dictrupia, two Ophiurce, an Annelide, one small Echinus (and the spines of an- other, three inches in length), were all procured in a living state from 400 fathoms. Off Victoria Land, between the parallels of 71° and 78° of south latitude, the dredge was repeatedly employed -, once with great success at 380 fathoms. Generally the contents of the net, after dredging at between 200 and 400 fathoms in these latitudes, were various Crustacea, as numerous Nymphia, Pycnogona of a very large size, and such Arctic genera as Crangon, Alpheus, Gammarus and Idotea, the species sometimes resembling very closely indeed those that Capt. Ross had met with during the North Polar voyages : of MoUusca, the genus Chiton, Boltenia, and the remains of both univalve and bivalve shells, of which we found no traces on the lands we visited ; various Annelides and Serpulce, Ophiurce and Asterice, Alectos, Bicellaria, an Encrinite resembling the Irish one, very many Virgularice and Sponges, with Holothurics several inches in length. The pebbles were ge- nerally covered with Flustrce ; but on one occasion a magnificent mass of syenite was procured, the edges of which were sharp and the surface clean ; it must have been but recently deposited by an iceberg, for the greater proportion of the stones around were of trap or basalt of various kinds. The most remarkable circumstance connected with this subject of deep-sea dredging is, that the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean, near the lands visited by Sir James Ross, was found to be covered with a mud consisting in great part of the remains of Infusoria, Dr. Hooker on some results of Deep-sea Dredging. 239 very similar to those forming the " fossil powder '^ detected in the neighbourhood of New York and in other parts of the globe. Prof. Ehrenberg has described from our collections as many as 140 species, or thereabouts, all brought from the vicinity of Palmer's and Victoria Land. In a living state they inhabit the surface of the ocean and the newly-forming ice, and afford food for Salpce and animals of a higher organization ; which, in their turn, nou- rish the most fully-developed beings inhabiting those regions where the animal kingdom lives and abounds independently it would seem of the vegetable. Well may we agree with Professor Owen in regarding these " minute Infusory animalcules'' as " the wakeful members of nature's invisible police, everywhere ready to arrest the fugitive organized particles which are suspended in water, and to turn them back into the ascending stream of ani- mal life." It is probable that animal life exists at a very great depth, sus- pended in the ocean. On one occasion a sounding-line that had been lowered to 1000 fathoms brought up at the 550-fathom mark, long strings of animal matter, about the diameter of a crow-quill, of indefinite length, great elasticity, and as viscid as bird-lime. It is certainly possible that in descending or ascend- ing the line may have become entangled with this substance nearer the surface ; but I am not inclined to suppose so for the following reasons : because the tow-net was constantly used, both during and before and after the soundings, without procuring any of the substance ; because its viscidity was so great, that no other part of the line could well have passed through without a portion adhering to it ; and because, upon two future occasions, the same substance came up on the sounding-line from unques- tionably very deep water. Allow me to conclude by expressing my earnest hope that your pages may be destined to announce the results of dredgings at far greater depths than those I have just mentioned, and in lesser ones too, from all longitudes between Baffin's Bay and Behring's Straits ; for I am satisfied that every means of forwarding this object will be granted to Mr. Goodsir, who has abeady proved himself admirably qualified to turn such opportunities to the best account. Believe me ever yours very truly and respectfully, Joseph Dalton Hooker. 240 M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvaceae. XXIX. — Report on a memoir Z>y M. P. Duchartre, entitled ' Ob- servations on the Organogeny of the Flower of the Malvaceae.^ By MM. BiioNGNiART, Richard and De Jussieu*. We have been requested by the Academy to give an account of the botanical memoir presented by M. Duchartre, and bearing the above title. M. Duchartre has distinguished himself by various investiga- tions, several of which have had the same object as the present, but related to different plants ; many of them have been submitted to the Academy and have received its approbation. These re- searches may serve to explain several particular questions relating to the vegetables to which they refer ; but in addition to their in- terest in this point of view, they are of much greater importance for the solution of general questions. We shall commence by giving a sketch of them, and enunciating the problems to which they relate, before detailing the results at which the author has arrived in seeking for their solution. It is well known that botanists agree pretty generally in con- sidering that the different parts of a flower represent so many more or less modified leaves. These leaves, which constitute the segments of the calyx and of the corolla, the stamens and the parts of the pistil, are sometimes independent of each other as the true leaves generally are, sometimes coherent by a portion of their margins or their surfaces. DeCandolle, who has contributed so much to the establishment of this theory, has proposed the word soudure (confluence) to express this union, which implies that the parts were primarily separate before being thus combined. How- ever, he admitted that the separation could only have existed prior to that period at which the parts become accessible to ob- servation, and then this adhesion is called by him predisposed. But that which he had not been able directly to establish, others might anticipate doing, when the perfection of instruments and methods of observation had removed the barrier by which he was checked. This is, in fact, what has been accomplished. With the aid of the microscope, the development of the organs has been traced from their first appearance ; that is to say, from the moment at which they separate from the axis to which they are attached, and appear constituted simply by the aggregation of a few cells. Now, are these primary rudiments constantly or only occa- sionally independent of each other ? Upon this point observers are not agreed. M. Schleiden speaks decidedly for the primitive independence * Translated from the Comptes Rendus for August 15, 1845. M.Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvacese. 241 of the parts* : " In all those calyces and corollse called Tnono- 2)hyllous, the various parts, which subsequently cohere, are at their origin everywhere, and without exception, separate, and their independent existence is prolonged for a sufficient length of time to render all reasoning on the number of parts superfluous, because it is a matter of observation susceptible of demonstrative evidence/^ He subsequently maintains the same original inde- pendence of the stamens and carpels. He has supported his conclusions by numerous examples, and especially, at a later pe- riod, by a very detailed history of the development of the flower of one of the papilionaceous Leguminoscs. However, on the other hand, M. Adolphe Brongniart f had established the fact, that in the very young buds of mono- petalous flowers, the corolla at first forms a kind of minute ring around the stamens. A high authority, Mr. R. Brown J, also adopts this view : he says, " In the description of the modifica- tions of the ovary and stigma which I have given, in conformity with the ordinary language of botanists, I have employed the term confluence, by which however we must not understand the union or cohesion of parts originally distinct. For in the great majority of cases, the separation or the complete development of these parts from their original cellular and pulpy state has never occurred ; but with this understanding the term may be preseiTcd, unless we prefer the word connate as subject to less objection. ^^ The previous memoirs of M. Duchartre led to the same result, by proving in certain cases the union of certain parts of the flower after their first appearance ; and we shall see that he has found new examples of this original cohesion in the Malvacecs. There is another class of facts in the history of the flower which may throw great light upon organogenic researches ; such are those known by the name of duplication. Frequently in the place which should be occupied by a single organ we find two or more arranged in the same plane, or in several diff'erent planes, i. e. in bundles. Each of these bundles may then be considered to represent a single leaf. Is this the case ? and how has this multiplication of organs, this duplication of a single one, oc- curred ? The family of the Malvacece is well-chosen for studying this question. In that of the Byttneriacea, which was once united with it, and which, although now separated, cannot be far re- moved from it, and evidently forms part of the same natui'al group, we sometimes find only five stamens opposed to as many petals ; sometimes opposite each petal, a system of several united * Wiegmann's Arcliiv. [A translation of this paper appeared in the Philosophical Magazine for P'eb. 1838. Ed.] t Ann. des Sc. Nat. vol. xxiii. p. 229. X Plant. Javan. liar. p. 112. 242 M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvaceae. stamens, consequently represented in the first case by a single one ; and alternating with these systems of stamens in a circle a little more internally situated,, an equal number of lobes or teeth, which according to the laws of position should represent the row of normal stamens, — ^that which should alternate with these same petals. In the true Malvacece we find a large number of sta- mens cohering inferiorly into a single hollow column, which en- velopes the pistil ; but notwithstanding the apparent confusion resulting from their multiplicity, it is not difficult to perceive, in many cases, that this collection of stamens is divided into five groups, which are opposite to the petals ; and even where it is difficult to prove this distinction, it is indicated by the existence of double vascular bundles, which, arising from the base of the petal, follow the column to its summit, where it divides into a large number of antheriferous filaments. Frequently the column within and above these threads is divided at the summit into five more internal teeth alternating with these vascular bundles, and these more or less distinct groups of stamens ; these teeth are incontestably analogous to those described in many of the Bytt- neriacece. Finally, in the centre of the flower we find a pistil composed of five more or less intimately combined carpels ; but at other times the carpels are more than five, and even become very numerous, and either still arranged in a circle or situated at un- equal heights, so as to form together a kind of capitulum. Does each of these carpels then represent a carpellary leaf ? or is each of these five carpellary leaves doubled so as to simulate several ? Their arrangement in five distinct systems can hardly leave a doubt on this point in Kitaibelia; but in Malope, and others of the same group, an apparent confusion results from the un- equal or completely arrested developments of a certain number of carpels. In tracing these parts from their first appearance, we should expect a decided answer to these questions ; this is what M. Du- chartre has proposed in the memoir before us, and which it re- mains for us to analyse. The calyx, which at a later period becomes monophyllous with five divisions, appears at first in the form of a continuous rim, surrounding the" central mass of the flower, bounded by a large convex tubercle having no distinction of parts. This border soon sends off five small festoons, which correspond to the five sepals thus united at the base from the commencement. The author insists upon this mode of formation, which he has found in the envelopes of all those flowers having a monophyllous calyx or corolla, the development of which he has had an opportunity of studying. The petals and stamens may be subsequently distin- guished and are simultaneously developed, so that it is well to M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvaceae. 243 trace their evolutions together. Soon after the appearance of the calyx, the margin of the central tubercle becomes raised into five smaller tubercles, which are rounded, alternating with the segments of the calyx, and thus representing the floral whorl which immediately succeeds it. Each of these tubercles soon appears like two in juxtaposition, its development ensuing more rapidly at the two sides than in the median line ; and thus, in- stead of five small primitive eminences, we have five pairs. Nearly at the same time a slight transverse fold appears below and outside of each of these five projections ; this appears to be another appendage of the tubercle, which, at first single, sub- sequently becomes double. The fold becomes the petal; the tubercles become stamens. Hence the petals and stamens here belong to one and the same group of organs developed from a base which is common to that spot which m most flowers is oc- cupied by the petal alone. The petal in its further development, which is generally rather slow, much more so than that of the stamens, does not become doubled, and gives no other indication of this tendency except in its more or less bilobate summit. Not so however with the stamens ; for shortly after the first ten staminal tubercles have become distinct, we find that a for- mation perfectly similar to the first is produced. Five new pairs of tubercles opposite to the first appear in a more internal circle; then a third arranged concentrically, and consisting of ten other tubercles ; then a fourth, so that the total number is successively doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. We thus have ten radiant series, opposed in pairs to the petals, and supported upon a com- mon base, which is frequently cut into five corresponding lobes, more or less marked. At a little later period, each of these tu- bercles, continuing to grow more at the sides than in the median line, is itself divided into two, and we find that four parallel series become substituted for the two before each petal, and the total number is a second time doubled. The same occurs in those flowers which have very numerous stamens ; but there is a slight difference in those in which they exist in less numbers. Then, either fewer concentric rows arc formed, or each of these rows stops at that period at which the pairs are* simple and not doubled, or within the first pairs a single tubercle only is formed ; this is slightly lateral and oblique, then another still more inter- nal and on the opposite side, so that within the first pair we find only isolated tubercles, sent off alternately, first from one side, then from the other, in a zigzag direction. In all cases, there are invariably five systems of stamens opposite to the petals. During these changes, the small common tube, to which all these organs are attached, continues to elongate, raising these 244 M.DuchsLvtre on the Orffanoffeny of the Malvacex. concentric formations so as to produce a system of stages ar- ranged one above the other; and although they enlarge at the same time^ they do not do so in the same proportion. The or- gans which enlarge do not then find sufficient room to lie side by side in regular and concentric circles ; they become rather con- fusedly mixed, and the original symmetry becomes less and less apparent. When they have arrived at a certain degree of deve- lopment, each of the tubercles shrinks up at the base into a mi- nute filament which becomes more and more elongated. Each also becomes marked by a median furrow, and buried within two cells which subsequently fuse into a single one. In short, these are so many reniform, unilocular anthers, which tend more and more to assume their definite form. In several species M. Duchartre has observed an ulterior change, from which a new increase in the number of stamens results. Several of them are curved into a horse-shoe form, and termi- nate by becoming divided into two by a constriction of the sum- mit of their curve, — a constriction which ends by forming a com- plete solution of continuity ; this, extending from above down- wards, also divides the filament which was at first simple into two corresponding to the anthers thus formed. This is a true duplication. This term would apply with less accuracy to the anterior for- mations, from which the multiplication of the stamens has re- sulted ; for we may say, that at each of these changes they have doubled rather than multipled. Be this as it may, we have clearly five groups of organs alternating with the five leaflets of the calyx, each comprising a petal and several stamens, supported upon a base which is common and simultaneously developed. This is the whorl which is within and alternate to the calyx, and which is ordinarily called the corolla, with this difference, that here each petal is replaced by a group or bundle of organs. One of us has long since professed the doctrine, that in those flowers which have stamens double in number to the petals, whenever the stamens of the external row are opposed to the petals (and this is most frequently the case) they do not constitute a distinct whorl, but form a part of that of the corolla. The de- velopment of the flower of the Malvacea supports this opinion, exhibiting to us each of the petals, opposed, not to a stamen, but to an entire bundle. We may add, that such appears to be the most common symmetry in polyadelphous polypetalous flowers, as is seen in so many Mijrtacece, Hypericacea, &c., where the bundles, which are perfectly distinct, are opposite to the petals. But what has become of the normal whorl of the stamens, — that which should alternate with the petals ? M. Duchartre discovers this in the five terminal lobes of the staminal tube, situated upon M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvaceae. 245 a plane anterior to that of the filaments, alternating with their five groups, — lobes which we observe in many of the Malvacea, although they are barely perceptible, and even are entirely want- ing in many others. MM. Dunal and Moquin-Tandon recog- nised them, and considered them as the border of a five-lobed disc. But the nature of the disc is far from rigorously defined, and in many cases this term exactly applies to abortive whorls, as may be seen in many Vinifera, in the Myrsineay &c., — families which are equally remarkable by the opposition of their stamens to the petals, to which they are equal in number. M. Duchartre mentions this example of the Myrsinece as exhibiting exactly the sjrmmetry of the Malvacea, with this difference, that a single stamen only corresponds to each petal. We do not agree with him in this opinion, but think that in the Myrsinece there are two whorls of stamens independent of the corolla, the external or that alternating with the petal being metamorphosed or abor- tive. This appears to be demonstrated by the flowers of Theo- phrasta, or better still by Jacquinia. The author, arriving at the pistil of the Malvaceae, finds in their diiFerent genera variations which are sufficiently considerable to establish four diff*erent categories, which he successively ex- amines. In the first the quinary symmetry is at once apparent, and the five carpels differ but little in their mode of development from the views and theories generally adopted. In fact, we know that each carpel is considered as a leaf folded on itself, and that numerous organogenic observations exhibit this organ to us in the form of a minute scale which soon becomes concave internally, then tends more and more to close up by the approximation of the borders of the concavity, the adhesion of which completes the formation of the ovary and forms a perfectly closed cavity, in which one or more ovules subsequently become developed. Now, imagine five of these scales or plates soldered together by their la- teral surfaces, we then have the first condition of the pistil of Hi- biscus. That will be a small border having five angles, which alter- nately project and recede internally ; the projecting angles corre- spond to the borders of five carpels, approximated in pairs, and these angles projecting more and more and converging, terminate by uniting so as to form a quinquelocular ovary. But at a still earlier period, before the internal projections were marked, we had a pentagonal border which soon becomes festooned by five tubercles, the first indications of the styles. In a second category, Malope for instance, we also observe a pentagonal border, the five angles of which are opposite to the petals, and consequently correspond to the place which five nor- mal carpels should occupy. That border of the pentagon which is first united sends out a series of rounded tubercles, which sub- 246 M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvaceae. sequently become slightly swollen externally and inferiorly, so that each tubercle presents two enlargements; one external and inferior, the future ovary, — another superior and internal, the future style. The latter becomes elongated and raised in proportion as the former increases in size ; but as it elongates, the stylous portions, remaining distinct at their summits, are confounded at their base, — at least all those which correspond to the same angle of the com- mon support of the carpels ; an angle which becomes more and more marked as far as the point at which the entire body is as it were cut into five oblique lobes loaded with ovules on every part of their surface. A bundle of styles, equal in number, di- stinct superiorly and united inferiorly, thus corresponds to each of these systems of ovaries ; and each of these systems, in the general symmetry, plays an analogous part to that which we have found assigned to each of the bundles of stamens, because it oc- cupies the place which a single carpel should occupy, and which it consequently represents. How is the cavity of the ovary formed ? M. Duchartre has not in this case found that the margins of a folded leaflet approximate towards one another, then touch and adhere ; but, at a certain period, dissection has exhibited to him the cellular mass of the ovary excavated by a slight fissure, which continues to enlarge, without any manifest external appearance. A third category, and that includes the greater part of the Malvacecs, exhibits the carpels not in constant relation with the quinary number of the other parts of the flower ; but they form a perfect circle, are not grouped into five systems, and frequently their entire number is no multiple of five. However, M. Du- chartre is led to believe that the same symmetry occurs here as in the preceding case. The ovaries and styles are developed in the same manner, with this diff^erence, that all the styles are united inferiorly into a single cylinder. Finally, a fourth category seems to belong to the first by the quinary number of the carpels ; but here we observe ten tu- bercles on the pistillary border, which subsequently form ten summits of distinct styles, and which correspond in pairs to five ovaries, the centre of which also becomes hollowed by a fissure, which forms its cavity without any change being externally ap- parent. The necessary conclusion from all these observations is, that the parts, from their earliest appearance, present the relations of ad- hesion which they subsequently exhibit in the perfect flower. The monophyllous calyx on its first appearance was a body simple at the base. The petals, coherent by their base with the staminal tube, originated from a base common to them with the stamens, and the latter at their origin were united by this base in the same M. Duchartre on the Organogeny of the Malvacese. 247 manner as they appear subsequently. The ovaries were from the first grouped and adherent together, nearly in the same manner as the flower subsequently exhibits them, their styles being di- stinct at the summit, coherent in the rest of their extent, which has been more slowly developed. As regards the peculiar results to be deduced from these obsei-vations relative to the symmetry of the flower of the MalvacecB, we have noticed them above, and it would be useless to repeat them. Undoubtedly we have not been able ourselves to verify all these facts, for this would occupy almost as much time as that devoted by the author to the original investigations ; but we have verified a sufficient number to justify the truth of most of them. We regret that M. Duchartre has not carried out his extensive re- searches still further, so as to teach us by anatomical details the formation of the tissues in the organs, the external forms of which he describes, and informing us at what periods the developments he describes correspond to the changes gradually established in the tissues, which are at first entirely cellular. We think that these details would throw a new light upon the phsenomena of duplication, which are still so obscure, and would enable us better to comprehend the mechanism of this substitu- tion of several fascicled organs for a single plane organ. The for- mation of cavities by an excavation in the centre of a cellular mass, which assimilates certain carpels closely to anthers, is a fact so much opposed to the generally admitted theories as to require new observations and more development, especially by connecting with it the histoiy of the ovule, and ascertaining how it is formed in the cavities thus produced. We acknowledge that these are researches of extreme delicacy, since the point at which M. Duchartre has arrived presented in- contestable difficulties, and the dissection of such minute bodies is exceedingly tedious, and even sometimes appears impossible. But for some years we have seen that microscopic observation surmounts difficulties which had long been considered insur- mountable, and facts, the direct knowledge of which had been despaired of, have become familiar to all those who are occupied in this kind of researches : just as those parts of the earth which were long unknown, now, being frequented, have become easily accessible, and from them we set out for more remote unexplored parts. These reflections must not be looked upon as detracting from M. Duchartre^s investigations, but rather as an encourage- ment for pursuing them. We address them to him the less re- luctantly, because what he has already done proves what he is capable of doing. 248 Botanical Notices from Spain. XXX. — Botanical Notices from Spain. By MoritzWillkomm*. [Continued from p. 192.] No. VII. Seville, December 30, 1844. On the 5th of November, after a continuance of the most dis- agreeable rains for nearly four months, I quitted Granada and tra- velled the next day to Malaga. From the incessantly rainy and misty weather, I could see very little of the character of the vegeta- tion from the diligence. The only specimens which I had not before seen were some bushes of the cork- oak, which I noticed on the se- cond day of my journey. The environs of Malaga, situated as it is in a kind of paradise, — which in the spring is so rich in plants, — pre- sented now little or nothing, although the surrounding hills began already to be decked with fresh green and gave signs of approaching spring. Scilla maritima, long faded, unfolded everywhere its broad dark green leaves, in company with Asphodels ; but, with the excep- tion of the ever-blossoming Alyssum maritimum, L., and some late plants of Atractylis humilis, L., there was scarcely anything in bloom to be remarked. The gardens presented more flowers than the country around. Upon the balconies I saw frequently the splendid Euphorbia heterophylla, in the gardens Datura fastuosa, Brugmansia arhorea, Verbena citriodora. Plumbago zeylanica, Cestrum nocturnum, Viola odorata. Calendula officinalis, &c., and roses in full bloom. In a garden without the city I noticed several gigantic bushes of banana, and a noble tree of Dracaena Draco 1 6 feet high, which grows here quite as in its own climate. The Alameda of Malaga, a public pro- menade, is planted with large trees of Gleditschia triacanthos, Melia Azedarach, Phytolacca dioica'jind Acacia Farnesiana. In the environs batatas and oranges are much grown, as well as Annona squamosa, whose spicy and much-prized fruit is everywhere sold under the name of Chirimoyas. As it was impossible, on account of the backward state of the sea- son, to study the flora of Malaga from nature, I was greatly desirous of being allowed to do this in the rich herbarium of the chemist Don Pablo Prolongo, whose name is so well known from Boissier's ' Voy- age ' : he is the only botanist at present in Malaga, and unfortu- nately, from great occupation of his time, he is able to do little for the natural history of his province. Don Prolongo has fortunately also preserved a portion of the herbarium of M. Felix Hiinseler, whose death three years ago deprived science of an able botanist ; the other portion of his collection is lost. At the desire of Don Prolongo, I undertook the agreeable task of putting in order his herbarium, which was in great confusion ; and this gave me an op- portunity of becoming generally acquainted with the character of the vegetation of Malaga, which I hope to study from nature also next April. Sometimes by myself, and sometimes accompanied by my friend, I made many excursions in the environs of the city du- * Translated from the Botanische Zeitung, May 9, 1845. Botanical Notices from Spain, ring my stay, although, as was to be expected at this season of the year, with little success. On moist grassy spots blossomed the Ra- nunculus bullatus, L., plentifully; in hedges and under impenetrable bushes of dwarf palms and thorny species of asparagus grew Aristo- lochia bcetica and Melissa Calamintha, and upon the arable fields in great profusion Mandragora officinarum in company with Ecbalium Elaterium. On the sea- shore I met with Glaucium corniculatum in abundance, which had already begun to blossom, or flowered a second time. On the fallow fields the Verbena supina began to shoot up its stalk, and on the adjoining hills the root-leaves of the rare Diplotaxis Prolongi, Boiss., appeared here and there. Upon an excursion into the neighbouring Sierra de Mijas I found Viola arborescens, L., al- ready in full blossom, and the Thymus capitatus, Lk. and HofFm., had also begun to flower. In fissures of the limestone rocks occurred frequent the Lapiedra Martinezii, Lag., but not a single specimen in flower, as well as Cheilanthes odora and Lycopodium denticulatum. Under groups of palms on the loamy plain known by the name of the Dehesilla, between the river Guadalhorce and the sea, I noticed here and there Narcissus serotinus, and some scattered plants of Scilla autumnalis, L. In hedges of Spanish reed in the vicinity of the shore I found tall luxuriant shrubs of Tagetes graveolens, L'Herit., certainly run wild, and especially on the sea- shore often gigantic tree-like specimens oiRicinus communis, L. This is nearly all that can be said of the November flora of Malaga. The coast, which is mostly flat and sandy, presents also but few sea plants, like almost all the flat sandy coasts of the Mediterranean, where, from the absence of a tide, only rarely a few Algce are cast up. On the 1 st of December I quitted Malaga, and, favoured by the most glorious spring weather, I travelled on horseback towards Seville ; for the roads between these two cities are only to be found upon the map, but do not exist in reality — not a bit more than roads from Granada and Jaen to Seville ! The corn-fields were already clothed in the most beautiful green, as w^ith us in April, and the blossoms of the almond- trees were already far advanced. Every- where there were still in flower the Mandragora officinarum, as well as Alyssum maritimum and Aristolochia bcetica, whilst the Ranunculus bullatus and Balsamita multifida, Clem., here plentiful, were appa- rently over. Here and there Lavandula multifida was seen in flower, and a small Calendula. In the immediate vicinity of Malaga com- mence arid hills and extensive tracts of uncultivated land, mostly covered with dwarf palms and species of asparagus. Several species of Ulex had already unfolded their beautiful yellow flowers. Beyond the small town of Cardama the land is better cultivated, and the banks of the neighbouring Guadalhorce are in many parts clothed with hedges of orange-trees, which were now loaded with golden fruit, and, together with the perfectly leafless fig- and apple-trees» which are found in great quantities in the intervening space, pre- sented the appearance of summer and winter at the same time. On the branches of the olive-trees, whose shining black fruit the people were busied everywhere in gathering, I remarked frequently the Vis- Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist. Vol.xyi. T 250 Botanical Notices from Spain. cum cruciatum, Sieb., with yellowish red berries, as well as here and there upon the banks luxuriant shrubs of Viburnum Tinus, with young blossoms. On the second day I reached the little town of Yunquera, lying at the foot of the lofty Sierra de la Nieve, to which I made an excursion on the 3rd of December, in spite of the violent rain and snow, which had set in the night before, in order to see the Abies Pinsapo, Boiss., and Quercus alpestris, Boiss. The first I met with at a height of 5000 feet, but arrived unfortunately too late, for the cones had long fallen off and lay quite withered upon the ground. The Pinsapo has the growth of the Scotch fir, but with respect to the bark and position of the branches it resembles the spruce fir, from which it is however very remarkably distinguished by the peculiarly short and thickly- set needles. I cannot say with certainty whether I have found the Quercus alpestris. Boissier remarks, that this oak grew in company with the Pinsapo. There are however two species of oak frequent here, one of which with evergreen leaves appears to be no other than the Qu. Ilex. The other, whose leaves had fallen off, may be the Qu. alpestris ; but both had quite lost their fruit. In the shade of the adjacent rocks of marble a small Iberis blossomed in abundance, the only one which this excursion yielded ; I returned to Yunquera wet through to the skin and half- killed by the cutting cold wind. On Wednesday the 4th of December I started again, and after passing through a part of the lonely, wild and rough Ser- rania de Ronda, I arrived in the evening at the town of Ronda. The above-mentioned mountain, which at this season of the year presents nothing except species of Ulex (not yet in flower), although in its proper season it is one of the richest mountains in plants of Anda- lusia, is almost wholly covered with low bushes, chiefly of Pistacia Lentiscus, P. Terebinthus, Rhamnus Alaternus, Rh. lycioides, Olea europcRa, var. sylvestris, Juniperus Oxycedrus, J. phoenicea. Daphne Gnidium and Quercus cocci/era, as well as a number of Cisti, The large and beautifully situated town of Ronda is in summer one of the pleasantest spots in Andalusia, but in winter it is the coldest point, as on the following morning all the ditches and water- courses were covered with ice an inch thick and the fields with hoar-frost, — which is something extraordinary in this country. As soon however as we had passed one of the chains of hills covered with thick oak-woods, in which I noticed among others many spe- cies of Helianthemum, of course still without blossom, and had en- tered upon the broad and cheerful valley of the Rio Guadalete, I found myself at once in another and warm climate, in which a per- petual spring reigns. The banks of the above-mentioned river are mostly surrounded with the thickest bushes, 12 feet high, of Pistacia Lentiscus and Nerium Oleander, encircling whose branches a beautiful Atragene (?) occurred here and there in full blossom. In this valley I also found for the first time between groups of palms some few specimens of the odoriferous Iris scorpioides, Desf., which I have subsequently observed at Seville on loamy declivities, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir in great quantity and in full blossom. Between the villages of Algodonales and Puerto- Serranos, where I Botanical Notices from Spain, 251 lodged on the fifth night, is a pleasant but quite lonely and very unsafe table-land, almost wholly covered with Pistacia Lentiscus, which gives it a beautiful dark green colour. Among these I found single shrubs of Phillyrea angustifolia. Ph. media and Arbutus Unedo, the latter loaded with white bunches of blossom. At Puerto- Ser- ranos, lying on the Guadalete, which from this point rushes in innu- merable windings to the Atlantic Ocean, commences the immense .broad land of the Guadalquivir. The Sierra de Montellano had still to be crossed, — an undulating plateau covered with pistacios and the kermes-oak, where I found the shrubby Glohularia Alypum, L., in flower, and for the first time descried the Atlantic in the distance : upon this terrain, extending as far as the little town of Coronil, olive-trees and large groups of palms occur. The country from Coronil as far as the pleasant town of Utrera is an undulating arable land with scarcely a tree upon it, which, as the dried stalks showed, may in summer be covered with, in great part, Atractylis cancellata. On the 7th of December I at length rode, in the rain, which from that day to the present has continued almost uninter- rupted, from Utrera to Seville, five leagues distant, the road to which leads almost continuously through olive-groves and forests of Pinus Picea. The perfectly level environs of Seville, consisting of a sandy- loamy soil, are said to be clothed in April and May with flowers, but I scarcely think the character of the soil is such as to produce any very remarkable flora. For, besides that the country is very level, it is almost all cultivated, with only occasional patches untilled. The heat of the climate of Seville, as I have been assured by Americans from the Havannah and Peru, is in the summer not exceeded by the glowing heat of the West Indies, and its spring is of short duration ; as early as June everything is completely burnt up. In the summer a suffbcating heat prevails, whilst in winter the air is not cold but disagreeably moist, — so moist, that in the chambers, which are always on the ground-floor, everything, — clothes, beds, books, paper, &c. are in a few hours wet through. This part of Andalusia espe- cially, where snow is only known through tradition, is visited by a thoroughly rainy season, like the tropics. In spite of all my endea- vours, I could not succeed in obtaining any dry paper, so that I could only preserve ray plants from complete destruction by fre- quently turning and shifting them ; for drying them was out of the question here, where nothing could be had to obtain artificial heat. I took advantage of the few fine days during my stay in the capital of Andalusia to make excursions in the neighbourhood, which at first the Guadalquivir, a mile in width, surrounding the whole city like a lake, utterly prevented. On the walls and ditches in the im- mediate suburbs I found Mercurialis annua, L., and the Calendula, which has been before mentioned, frequent ; also in the latter part of my stay, on shady grassy spots, Ficaria ranunculoides , a Fumaria and a beautiful large-flowered yellow Oxalis, together with 0. corni- culata, frequent and in flower. Under the high corn I saw Veronica hedercefolia, V. verna, V. arv'ensis, Lamium purpureum, Capsella Bursa- T2 252 Bibliographical Notices. pastoris ; in short, the same spring flora as in our corn-fields, only- some months later. On some uncultivated spots under clumps of palms I found Allium ChamtEmoly, L., plentiful in flower, as well as Arum Arisarum, L., which occurred also in the olive-gioves with Corrigiola littoralis, L., Bellis annua, L., and a small Sisymbrium ? The banks of the Guadalquivir are clothed with Tamariw gallica, Ricinus communis and Malva ; Anacyclus Valentinus already unfolded its flowering heads here and there, and on loamy declivities on the other side of the river the Vinca major with Iris scorpioides before mentioned, and Doronicum Bellidiastrum, flower in abundance. The hedges between the orange-groves for the most consisted of Agave americana, Cactus Opuntia, Osyris alba and Lonicera Capri/olium. As the weather did not permit my making daily excursions, and as moreover the vegetation was so backward, I was not a little happy to have an opportunity of inspecting the valuable herbarium of the late botanist Don Claudio Boutelou, the pupil of Cabanilles, which contains above 15,000 species. The present possessor of this col- lection, Don Pablo Boutelou, son of the late botanist, had the kind- ness to place it at my disposal. In this herbarium I have not only in a great measure become acquainted with the flora of Seville, but also with the Spanish flora in general, as it contained a great portion of the collections of Clemente, Lagasca, and Cabanilles. M. Boutelou is the present professor of botany in the university of Seville, but he has almost wholly relinquished this branch of natural history, since he has neither any pupils, nor is he in the smallest degree assisted by the government. The botanical garden, of which he was the director, has been unavoidably given up for want of pecuniary re- sources, and it is at present a complete waste. Boutelou is also di- rector of the gardens of the Alcazar and of the pubUc walks, which, although at first laid out in the stiflf French fashion, are kept up in a manner truly praiseworthy. In the commencement of the approaching new year I think of visiting the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda, lying at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, where I hope the vegetation will be more advanced, or at least that the shore will yield a richer harvest of maritime plants. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca, with Figures of all the Species. By Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. London, printed for the Ray Society, 1845. 4to. No. 1. The ten plates in this number represent — 1. Doris flammea, 2. Doris Johnstoni, S. Idaliaaspersa, 4. Dendronotus arborescens, b.Eolisalba, 6. Eolis concinna, 7. Eolis olivacea, 8. Eolis tricolor, 9. Eolis Far- rani, and 10. Eolis despecta. We have felt a difiiculty, as we turned over the leaves to make this enumeration, to suppress the repeated expression of our delight. The figures of the species are admirable Zoological Society, 253 in every point of view : the position of the animals well-chosen to exhibit their characters and habits, — nothing overstrained, nothing exaggerated, — and yet, sobered down as they are to nature, nothing can well be imagined more chaste and beautiful in colouring, or more curious in exterior decoration. The letter-press is not less worthy of praise for its correct and almost severe simplicity. The singular beauty of the objects before them has never tempted the authors to the indulgence of a figurative and flowery style, which, while it might have rendered the descriptions obscure, would only have marred the pleasing effect which these portraits must produce on every culti- vated mind. All is in keeping, — artists and authors, — and every page of the work bespeaks the correct and excellent taste of the authors of it. The promise which this number gives us of the value of that which is to come, will be kept, we feel assured, to the letter ; and what pleases us most of all, is the fact, that this beautiful volume wall have a circulation far beyond what similar works have hitherto had ; that it will not be confined to the libraries of the rich, but will travel down, unaided by the cheapness of plain copies and of inferior paper, to the table of the great bulk of the naturalists of this country. It is this diffusive quality of the " Ray Society " that makes us set a value upon it. Here it has placed before a great number, pictures of forms which are novel and hitherto undreamt of by them ; and we, who have been long familiar with the animals, can almost envy their new-born feel- ings of delight at the contemplation of this now unveiled feature in the portraiture of the Divine Mind. There is a great deal of good done, were the effect of this monograph to stop at this ; but we even cherish the hope that it may induce some to taste a higher pleasure in the personal study of these " elaborate compositions " of our and their Creator. We cannot but wish all success to a Society which affords so rich a treat at so small an expense. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. April 22, 1845.— Richard C. Griffith, Esq., in the Chair. " Descriptions of new species of Helix, in the cabinet of H. Cu- ming, Esq.," by Dr. L. PfeifFer. Helix ponderosa, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, suhglohosd, tumidd, solidd, ponderosd, laviusculd (striis incrementi et concentricis con- fertissimis vix perspicvis) , alba, bast epidermide nitidd, pallide corned indutd ; anfractibus 4^ convexiusculis, ultimo subangulato, fasciis albis hydrophanis infra angulum obsolete notato ; columella recta, lata, perobliqud ; aperturd subauri/ormi, intus albd ; peri- stomal e late rejlexo. Diam. long. 23 ; transv. 17 ; altit. 13^ hn. From Banguey, province of North Ilocos, isle of Luzon : found on leaves of trees. (Cuming.) 264 Zoological Society. DifFert ab Hel. latitante magnitudine, colore et sculptura minutis- sima. Helix semiglobosa, Pfr. Hel. T. suhperforatd, semiglolosd, tenui, lutescenti- corned, supra minutissime granulatd ; suturd vix im- pressd; anfractibus 6 planis, ultimo carinato, infra carinam Icevi- gato, nitido, fascia dilutd hrunned notato ; umhilico angustissimo ; aperturd lunari-ellipticd, intus fasciatd ; peristomate simplice, acuto, margine columellari late rejlexOy umhilicum semitegente. Diam. 22; altit. 13 lin. From the isle of Zeyte : found on leaves of trees. (Cuming.) /3. Anfractu ultimo magis infiato, saturatius hrunnescente (Catba- longa, isle of Samar). Helix obtusa, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, suhglohosd, tenui, striis incrementi et lineis impressis concentricis obsoletis suhdecussatd, nitidd, Icete castaned ; spird suhelevatd, obtusd ; anfractibus 4 con- vexis, ultimo inflato ; columella obliqud, acuta, albd ; aperturd dila- tatd, subauriformi, intus margaritaced ; peristomate simplice, ex- Diam. 17|; altit. 13 lin. From Catanauan, province of Tayabos, isle of Luzon : found on leaves of bushes. (Cuming.) /3. Alba, minor (diam. 15 ; altit. 10 lin.). From Zigas, province of South Camarines, Luzon : found on leaves of trees. Helix filaris, Valenc, Mus. Paris. Hel. T. imperforatd, depresso- globosd, tenui, striis incrementi validis notatd, albidd, epidermide pallide corned decidud munitd ; spird paritm elevatd, obtusd ; suturd lineari, albo-marginatd ; anfractibus 4 planiusculis, ultimo obtuse angulato ; columelld obliqud, margine granulosd ; aperturd dilatatd, lunari ; peristomate nigro, subincrassato, parttm expanso. Diam. 19 J; altit. 12^ lin. From the island of Marinduque : found on leaves of trees. (Cu- ming.) Intermedia inter Hel. Valenciennesii et virginem. Helix constricta, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, semiglobosa, nitidd, concenirice minutissime striata, jlavo -albidd, fasciis 2fuscis inter- ruptis ad peripheriam ornatd ; anfractibus 4^ convexiuscuUs , ul- timo basi subplanato, ad aperturam subitb descendente, constricto ; aperturd lunari, intus nitide flavd ; peristomate acuto, albo, lat^ refiexo, margine basali subincrassato; ared columellari callosd, subexcavatd. Diam. Ill; altit. 6^ lin. From Calapan, island of Mindoro : found on leaves of trees. (Cu- ming.) Affinis sequenti. Helix paradoxa, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, globoso-depressd, nitidd, concentrice subtilissime et confertissime striatd, virescenti- flavd, apice nigro-violaceo, ared basali saturate castaned ; anfrac- tibus 5 planiusculis, ultimo irregulari, lateraliter subcompresso , prope aperturam tumido ; aperturd lunari-ellipticd; peristomate Zoological Society. 255 alboy acuto, late reflexo, margine superiore intus callo castaneo mu- nito, basi in dentem horizontalem incrassato. Diam. long. 12|; transv. 10 ; altit. 7 lin. From Sorsogon, province of Albay, isle of Luzon : found on leaves of trees. (Cuming.) Affinis H. Thersit., margine non carinato, colore et sculptura di- versa. Helix fodiens, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, subglobosd, tenui, dia- phand, rufo-corned, oblique confertim rugosd; anfractibus 5^ con- vexis, ultimo subangulato ; umbilico pervio ; aperturd suborbicu- lari ; peristomate simplice, ad umbilicum late expanso. Diam. 11 ; altit. 7^ lin. From Banguey, province of North llocos, isle of Luzon : found partially buried in earth, uader stones. (Cuming.) /3. Minor, pallidior, anfractibus 5, diam. 9^, altit. 6 lin. From Cagayan, isle of Luzon. (Cuming.) DifFert ab H. frutico testa rugosa et apertura magis dilatata, ab H. tourannensi rugis testae, spira non acuminata, et peristomate intus non labiato. Helix succinea, Pfr. Hel. T. depressd, obsolete subperforatd, tenui, pellucidd, nitidd, succined ; suturd mediocri ; anfractibus 5 celeriter crescentibus, vix convexiusculis ; aperturd lunari ; peri- stomate simplice, acuto, margine columellari subreflexo, perfora- tionem obsoletam tegente. Diam. 5 ; altit. 3 lin. From Sorsogon, province of Albay, isle of Luzon : found on leaves of trees. (Cuming.) Helix gallinula, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, lenticulari, acut^ cari- natd, solidd,flavescenti-grised,fasciis nonnullis rufis et epidermide hydrophand, m^culas triangulares pallidas formante, ornatd; an- fractibus 4^ planis, ultimo ad aperturam subitb deflexo ; aperturd horizontali, ellipticd; peristomate simplice, marginibus callo tenui junctis, basali reflexo, ad umbilicum mediocrem pervium arcuato. Diam. 13 ; altit. 4^ lin. From Bongabong, province of Nueva Ecija, isle of Luzon : found on trunks of trees. (Cuming.) /3. Minor, testd basi oblique rugulosd, aperturd lateraliter minus di- latata. From Mt. St. Cristoval, province of Batangas, isle of Luzon. (Cu- ming.) y. Testd utrinque lineis impressis obliquis, circa umbilicum subcon- centricis notatd, fasciis obsoletis. From Daleguete, isle of Zebu. (Cuming.) Helix horizontalis, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, depressd, solidd, oblique striata, carinatd, luteo-corned, rufo-fasciatd; fasciis 2 supra, I infra carinam ; anfractibus 5 planis, ultimo superne con- vexo, basi planidato , ad aperturam subitb fer^ verticaliter deflexo ; aperturd horizontali, integrd, oblongd ; peristomate crasso, reflexo, cameo, marginibus parallelis. Diam. 15^^; altit. 7 lin. 256 Zoological Society. From the island of Bantayon, Philippines : found on the trunks of trees. (Cuming.) Helix radula, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, depressd, suhlenticulari, solidiusculd, striis incrementi confertis et lineis acute prominenti- bus concentricis exasperatd, pallide corned, carinatd ; anfractibus 6^ convexiusculis, lent^ crescentibus, ultimo basi injlato, lineis con- centricis infra carinam obsoletis ; umbilico mediocri, pervio ; aper- turd lunari-ellipticd ; peristomate simplice, vix incrassato, margi- nibus callo linearijunctis. Diam. 10; altit. 5 lin. From Sinait, province of North Ilocos, isle of Luzon : found under stones in earth. (Cuming.) Helix acutimargo, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, depressd, supra pla- niusculd, basi convexd, tenui, pellucidd, pallide corned, acute cari- natd, supra carinam striis nonnullis confertis, concentricis notatd ; anfractibus 6 lente crescentibus ; umbilico mediocri, pervio ; aper- turd securiformi ; peristomate simplice, acuto. Diam. 8 ; altit. 3 lin. — An adulta ? From the mountains of the isle of Negros : found on the leaves of bushes. (Cuming.) Helix biangulata, Pfr. Hel. T. subperforatd, scalceformi, tenui, corneo-rubelld, leviter striata, nitidiusculd ; anfractibus 7 lente crescentibus, ultimo bicarinato; carind inferiore filari ad periphe- riam, superiore per omnes anfractus adscendente ; aperturd lunari- ovali; peristomate simplice, acuto, perforationem angustissimam fere occult ante. Diam. 8 ; altit. 4| lin. From St. Frun, province of Cagayan, isle of Luzon : found in earth at the root of bushes. (Cuming.) Helix excentrica, Pfr. Hel. T. subperforatd, superne planiusculd, basi inflatd, tenui, cered, nitidd, striis excentricis subcostulatd, acuti carinatd ; anfractibus 4 supra planis, rapide crescentibus ; aperturd securiformi ; peristomate simplice, acuto, ad perforatio- nem angustissimam dilatato-rejlexo. Diam. 9 ; altit. 4J lin. From the isle of Siquijor : found on the leaves of bushes. (Cuming.) DifFert ab H. smaragdind, Grat., spira minus depressa, anfractu ultimo minus inflate, et apertures forma. Helix spectabilis, Pfr. Hel. T. subperforatd, depressd, solidd, nitidissimd, corneo-luted, fascia 1 rufd percurrente ornatd; spird paruM elevatd; anfractibus 5| convexiusculis, ultimo infra fasciam angulato ; aperturd late lunari ; peristomate simplice, acutOy mar- gine columellari subreflexo, perforationem tegente. Diam. 9 ; altit. 5 lin. — An adulta ? — Nanina spec. } From Bangojon, isle of Samar : found on the leaves of bushes. (Cuming.) Helix eximia, Pfr. Hel. T. umbilicatd, depresso-globosd , oblique rugosdet confertissime granulosd, olivaceo-corned, fasciis b fusco- viridibus ornatd ; anfractibus 4^ convexiusculis, rapide crescenti- Zoological Society. 257 buSt ultimo permagno, circa aream umbilicarem fuscam compresso- inflato ; aperturd lunari-ovali, intus margaritaced, lilaced ; peri- stomate simplice, anguste reflexo, umbilicum angustum semitegente. Diam. 21 ; altit. 14 lin. From Vera Cruz, province of Honduras, Central America : found on leaves of trees. (Delatere.) Helix trigonostoma, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, irochiformi, tenui, oblique striatuld, lineis nonnullis concentricis impressis notatd, albd, fasciis superne linearibus, basi latioribus, fusco-violaceis ornatd; spird late conicd; anfractibus 4^ planiusculis , ultimo spiram superante, obsolete angulato ; columelld brevi, callosd ; aperturd subtriangulari ; peristomate simplice, margine supero parilm expanso, columellari reflexo, adpresso, Diam, 14 ; altit. 9 lin. From Vera Cruz, province of Honduras, Central America : found on leaves of trees. (Delatere.) Affinis H. teneree. Sow. DifFert spira minus elevata, anfractibus planis, columella brevi et aperturae form§.. Helix tenuis, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, subglobosd, tenui, fused, rufo-zonatd, lineis obsoletis impressis, concentricis notatd, epider- mide tenuissimd, sericind indutd ; spird obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 5 celeriter crescentibus, vix convexiusculis, ultimo magno, inflate, ad columellam obliquam, subtortam excavate ; aperturd lunari- ovali ; peristomate recto, simplice, basi subincrassato. Diam. 16; altit. 11 lin. Patria ignota. (E coUectione Cumingiana.) Helix dilatata, Pfr. Hel. T. imperforatd, subglobosd, solidd, pallida luted, lineis confertissimis brunneis, interruptis supra et infra fasciam concolorem medii anfractds ultimi pictd, apicealbidd; spird parvd, obtusiusculd ; anfractibus 4 rapide crescentibus^ ul- timo amplissimo ; columelld albo-callosd, arcuatd ; aperturd maxi- md, oblique ovali, intus lacted ; peristomate recto, intus incrassato, Diam. 17|, altit. 12 lin. Patria ignota. (E collectione Cumingiana.) Glandina obtusa, Pfr. Glan. T. ovatd, utrinque attenuatd, apice obtusd, soliduld, pellucidd, pallide earned; anfractibus 5| vix con- vexiusculis, ultimo spiram paulh superante; suturd crenulato- marginatd; aperturd latiusculd; columelld verticali, basi subitb truncatd ; peristomate simplice, marginibus callo tenuissimojunctis, dextro medio vix dilatato. Long. 9^ ; diam. 5 lin. From the Real Llejos, province of Nicaragua, Central America : found on leaves of bushes. (Cuming.) May 13. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. " Descriptions of eighty-nine new species of Mitra, chiefly from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq.," by Lovell Reeve, Esq. : — Mitra fastigium. Mitr. testd abbreviato-ovatd, subventricosd, solidiusculd, spird brevi, acuminatd ; lavigatd, basim versus exiliter 258 Zoological Society. sulcatd; luted; columelld quadriplicatd, bast truncatd; lahro sim- plici, superne sinuato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 28. f. 221. Hah. .? A small, solid, compact cupola-shaped shell. Mitra Bulimoides. Mitr. testa elongatd, hast suhtruncatd, spird acuminatd; tenuiculd,subpellucidd, quasi corned; albido-fuscescente ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 28. f. 224. Hab. } A smooth transparent homy shell. Mitra rhodia. Mitr. testd elongatd, spird acuminatd; l^sviusculd, transversim subtilissime striatd ; nig err imo -fused; columelld tripli- catd, aperturd brevi. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 28. f. 225. Hab. ? Not much unlike the preceding species in form, but of a diiFerent colour and texture. Mitra coeligena. Mitr. testd ovatd, spird breviusculd, suturis profundis ; transversim sulcatd, sulcis subpunctatis ; luteo-fusces- cente^ albipunctatd, anfractuum parte superiori balteo angusto lutescente cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 28. f. 226. Hab. ? The entire surface of this species is speckled with small white spots. Mitra Auriculoides. Mitr. testd ovatd, crassd, solidd, basim versus striatd, spird brevi, obtusd; rubido-castaned, anfractuum parte superiori, balteo unico albo angusto cingulatd; columelld quinqueplicatd ; labro intus superne sinuato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 28. f. 228. Hab. ? A dark chestnut-brown Auricula-shaped shell, encircled with a conspicuous narrow white belt. Mitra duplilirata. Mitr. testd elongatd, spird valde acuminatd, angustd, tereti, basi tortuoso-recurvd ; transversim subtiliter du- pliliratd, liris interstitiisque granulosis ; albidd, aurantio-fusco hie illic concentrice fiammatd ; columelld quadriplicatd, basi subcana- liculatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 229. Hab. ? This species has a peculiar tapering form, and by the aid of a lens it may be observed that the transverse ridges are all duplicate. Mitra discoloria. Mitr. testd ovatd, basi granulatd, spird acu- minata -turritd ; anfractibus superne prominent ibus, longitudinaliter conspicue costatis, costis latiusculis, obtusis, transversim impresso- lineatis ; fasciis roseis et albis alternatd, fasciis roseis inter costas ustulato-nigricantibus ; columelld quadriplicatd, aperturd parvd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 230. Zoological Society, 259 Hab. An extremely prettily painted species. MiTRA coRiACEA. Mitv. tcstd ovatcL, utHnque attenuatd, spird bre- viusculd, acute acuminatd ; anfractibus superne rotundatis, trans- versim impresso-lineatis, interstitiis granosis ; anfractuum parte superiori albidd, infra fuscescente ; columella quinqueplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 231. Hab. Island of Corrigidor, Philippines (found among coarse sand at the depth of five fathoms) ; Cuming. A species of very peculiar character. MiTRA VERRUCOSA. Mitr. testa ovatd, subventricosd, spird brevi- usculd, acuminatd ; longitudinaliter concentrice plicatd, plicis tu- berculis parvis prominentibus mucronatis undique armatis ; alba, V fuscescente pallide fasciatd ; columelld quinqueplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 232. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found in sandy mud in deep water) ; Cuming. The tubercles with which the entire surface of this shell is covered are quite sharp and prickly. Mitra elegans. Mitr. testa oblongo-ovatd, spird acuminatd, $u- turis subprofundis ; longitudinaliter subtilissime costatd, costis angustis, interstitiis eleganter clathratis ; albicante, aut pallidis- sim^ carneo-fuscescente, lined rubrd unicd aut pluribus cingulatd, apicefusco; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 233. Hab. Island of Burias, Philippines (found among coral sand and shells at the depth of four fathoms) ; Cuming. This species is well characterized by the very elegant style of its sculpture and by the sharp red lines with which it is encircled. Mitra decora. Mitr. testd subfusiformi, basi contractd, spird acuminato-turritd, suturisprofundis; transversim impresso-sulcatd, liris intermediis granulosis, plicisque angustis concentricis subdi- stantibus longitudinaliter ornatd ; alba, balteo aurantio-fusco, an^ fractu ultimo balteis duobus, cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd , umbilicatd, subcanaliculatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 234. Hab. ? The form, colour and sculpture of this species are each of peculiar interest. Mitra mutabilis. Mitr. testd abbreviate -fusiformi, spird turritd, interdum elevatd, interdum breviusculd, suturis subprofundis ; an- fractibus superne depressis, longitudinaliter concentrice costatis, costis angustis liris subtilibus transversis clathratis ; albidd, oli- vaceo-viridi fasciatd, apice fusco ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 235. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water, and at the depth of about ten fathoms) ; Cuming. An extremely variable sj^ecies both in form and colour. 260 Zoological Society. MiTRA MiLiTARis. Mitv. tcstd subfusiformi, hasi contractd, splrd acuminatd, suturis subprofundis ; longitudinaliter costatd, costis obtusiusculis, interstitiis transversim impresso-lineatis ; anfractibus superne luteis, ultimo zond laid coccineo -rubra cingulato ; coin- melld quadriplicatd, umbilicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 29. f. 236. Ilab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found on the sands) ; Cuming. Distinguished in part by the rich, broad, crimson-red band which encircles the last whorl. Mitra tuberosa. Mitr. testd obtuso-conicd, crassd, obesd, spird brevi, bast truncatd ; longitudinaliter plicato-costatd, costis rudibus, subdistantibus, superne tuberculato-nodosis ; transversim lineari- sulcatd, sulcis pertusis ; luteo-olivaced, aut fused, superne albd, basi fused, albipunctatd ; columella quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 237, a and b. Hab. Island of Zebu, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. A small stout species, somewhat after the form of the Mitra pa- triarchalis. Mitra forticostata. Mitr. testd abbreviato-ovatd, spird sub- turritd ; anfractibus supern^ angulatis, infra angulum longitudina- liter costatis, costis solidis fortissimis, distantibus, basim versus subobsolete granosis ; nigerrimo-fuscd ; columella quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 238. Hab. New Holland. Resembling Mitra ficulina, but of a much more solid and angular structure. Mitra lota. Mitr. testd oblongo-ovatd, spirce suturis impressis, transversim subtilissime impresso-striatis, longitudinaliter concen- trice costatd, costis basim versus granosis ; rufulo-aurantid, viridi- fusco variegatd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 239. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The painting of this species is of very irregular character. Mitra cons anguine a. Mitr. testd ovatd, solidiusculd, obesd, basim versus contractd, spird obtuso-rotundatd ; transversim subtilissime punctato-striatd, longitudinaliter confertim plicato-costatd, costis inferne granosis ; rubidd, anfractibus maculis parvis rotundis in medio uniseriatim cinctis ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 241. Hab. ? Allied in some measure to the Mitra pardalis. Mitra cremans. Mitr. testd obeso-ovatd, spird brevi, suturis subimpressis ; Icevi, basim versus granosd, longitudinaliter subob- lique plicatd ; nigerrimd, flammis rufo-aurantiis hie illic variegatd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi, 30. f. 242. Zoological Society. 261 Hab. St. Nicolas, island of Zebu, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. This species may be known by its confused flame-like painting. MiTRA LEUCODESMA. Mitv. testd obeso-ovatd, spird brevissimd, longitudinaliter plicato-costatd ; Icevi, apice crenulatd, basi granu- laid ; nigerrimo-fuscd, anfractibus mncularum albarum zond unicd in medio cingulatd ; columella quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 243. Hab. Island of Ticao, PhiH]ppines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. Painted in a manner similar in some degree to the Mitra microzo- nias, from which it is materially distinct in form. Mitra lauta. Mitr. testd obeso-ovatd, solidiusculd, spird obtuso- rotundatd, longitudinaliter subobsolete plicato-costatd, costis Icevi- bus, interstitiis impresso-striatis ; costis, aurantio-rufis, interstitiis nigerrimis, anfractuum medio albo ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 244. Hab. Island of Masbate, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. A stout, very prettily painted species. Mitra luculenta. Mitr. testd ovatd, Icevi, longitudinaliter sub- obsolete plicato-costatd, costis basim versus granosis ; anfractibus zonis cceruleo-nigris et albis alternatim conspicu^ pictd, columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 30. f. 245. Hab. Philippine Islands ; Cuming. This species may be recognized by the decided character of the painting, which consists of alternate blue-black and white zones. Mitra avenacea. Mitr. testd oblong o- ovatd, transversim undique liratd, liris angustis, elevatiusculis ; flavescente-spadiced, juxta suturas albicante subindistincte maculatd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 246. Hab. Islands of Burias, Ticao and Capul, Philippines (found on the reefs and in sandy mud at the depth of about six fathoms) ; Cuming. A solid, cylindrical, closely-ridged shell. Mitra pica. Mitr. testd ovatd, tenuiculd, subventricosd, spird breviusculd, acutd ; anfractibus lavibus, aterrimis, supern^ et in- ferne niveis ; columelld triplicatd ; aperturd subampld. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 247. Hab. ? May be distinguished by the jagged white band with which its black whorls are encircled next the sutures. Mitra cithara. Mitr. testd ovatd, crassiusculd, suturis impressis ; longitudinaliter creberriml costatd, costis angustis, obtusis, inter- stitiis transversim clathratis ; pur pur eo -plumbed, zonuld pallidd angustd cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 248. Hab. } Of a peculiar purple lead- colour. 262 Zoological Society. MiTRA NYMPHA. Mitr. testd suhfusiformi, spird acaminatd ; an- fractihus transversim pvnctato-striatis ; incarnato-fuscesc€nte,alho maculato-variegatd, anfractu ultimo fascid alhidd subindistinctd cingulato ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 249. Hab. ? A solid punctured shell, of a fleshy-brown or pale salmon-colour, variegated with white spots, particularly around the sutures. MiTRA CALLOSA. Mitv. testd ohlo^go-ovatd, spird breviusculd, su- turis subimpressis ; Icevigatd, basi liratd ; plumbeo-fuscd, punctis fuscis hie illic variegatd; columelld fused, quinqueplicatd, callosi' tate albd superne armatd, plieis albis ; labro subflexuoso. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 251. Hab. Pasacao, island of Luzon, Philippines (found on the sands) ; Cuming. Distantly allied to the Mitra ebenus, Mitra J5Gra. Mitr. testd fusiformi, spird acuminatd, transversim undique crebriliratd, liris lavibus, interstitiis puncturatis ; fusees- cente, roseo-albicante pallide et indistincte fasciatd et maculatd ; columelld qitadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 252. Hab. ? Like the Mitra cylindracea in form, but of a different sculpture. Mitra modesta. Mitr. testd subfusiformi-ovatd, basi contractd, spird turritd ; anfractibus rotnndatis, longitudinaliter costatis, in-- terstitiis transversim cancellato-impressis ; nived, rosacea basim versus pallidissime tinctd ; columelld quadriplicatd, aperturce fauce rosaced. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 31. f. 254. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found on the reefs at low water) ; Cuming. A chaste pink- white shell, with a highly-relieved lattice sculpture. Mitra semen. Mitr. testd ovatd, utrinque attenuatd, Itsvigatd, po- litd ; castaneo-fuscd lineis albidis undatis longitudinaliter pictd; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 256. Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, Philippines (found on the sands at low water) ; Cuming. Covered with characteristic longitudinal waved lines . Mitra milium. Mitr. testd ov at o -fusiformi, crassiusculd, lineis elevatiusculis undique creberrime decussatd ; rufescente -fused ; co- lumelld quadriplicatd ; aperturd subdngustd, labro incrassato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 257. Hab. } Belonging to a small group of a peculiar narrow contracted struc- ture, with thickened lip, of which the Mitra gratiosa, recurva, exilis and mirifica may be quoted as examples. Mitra lachrtma. Mitr. testd ovatd, utrinque attenuatd, tenuiculd. Zoological Society. 263 spird hrevi, suhohtusd ; anfractibus superne longiUtdlnaliter subti- lissime costatd, transversim obsolete elevato-striatd ; albd, maculd grandi aurantio-fuscescente dorso peculiariter pictd ; columelld bi- vel tri-plicutd, plicis fere obsoletis, labro effuso. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 258. Hab. ? A small white transparent-looking shell, which may be immediately recognised by the large brown stain on the back of the last whorl. Mitra cimelium. Mitr. testd abbrevioto-fusi/ormi, spird turritd, longitudinaliter costatd, costis superne tuber culatis ; albd, costis ivfra tuberculis lineis brevibus nigerrimo-fuscis transversim vividP. pictd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 260. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The lower portion of the ribs of this species are crossed in a very peculiar manner with short brown parallel lines. Mitra turriger. Mitr. testd fusiformi, spird angulato -turritd ; anfractibus superne angulatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis an- gustis, ad angulum muricato-tuberculatis, interstitiis transversim impressis ; albidd, fascia castaned latiusculd inter costas pictd, columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 262. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found in sandy mud at the depth of six fathoms) ; Cuming. A prickly sharply- turreted species, encircled with a brown band, which only appears in the interstices between the ribs. Mitra c^lata. Mitr. testd cylindraceo-ovatd, bast contractd, paululilm elongatd, spirce suturis subprofundis ; anfractibus longi- tudinaliter costatis, costis angustis, crebris, interstitiis impresso- cancellatis ; lutescente-fuscd, subindistincte albifasciatd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 32. f. 265. Hab. Cagayan, province of Misamis, island of Mindanao, Philip- pines (dredged from sandy mud at the depth of thirty fathoms) ; Cuming. The upper portion of this shell has a peculiar cylindrically short- ened structure, whilst the base is inclined to become elongated. Mitra lucid a. Mitr. testd fusiformi, spird turritd, basi subelon- gato-contractd ; anfractibus longitudinaliter costatis, costis superne tumidis, transversim elegantissime liratis ; lucido albicante ; colu- melld quinqueplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 266. Hab. Philippine Islands ; Cuming. A delicate transparent species, of a peculiar elongated fusiform growth. Mitra typha. Mitr. testd subelongatd, spird acuminatd ; transver- sim subtilissime striata, corned, translucidd,fascid lata ferrugined cingulatd ; columelld triplicatd. 264 Zoological Society, Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 267. Hab. Loay, island of Bohol, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. A minute homy-looking shell, encircled with a conspicuous orange- brown band. Mitra tornata. Mitr. testd oblongo-ovatd, spird acutd, anfrac- tihus convexis, transversim undique liratis, liris tribus supremis minoribus ; lutescente-fuscd, epidermide fused indutd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 269. Hab. Island of Guimaras, Philippines. The ridges of this species are remarkable for their close regularity and precision. Mitra vultuosa. Mitr. testd ovatd, spird breviusculd ; anfracti- bus convexis ad suturas depresso-planis, transversim costatis, coS' tis crebris sulcis longitudinalibus angustis exsculptis ; aurantio- fuscd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 270. Hab. Island of Capul, Philippines (found on the reefs) ; Cuming. The longitudinal grooves impart a nodulous character to the trans- verse ribs. Mitra granata. Mitr. testd oblongo-ovatd, crassd, transversim undique liratd, liris parvis subtiliter granatis ; lutescente -fused ^ apice albicante ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 271. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water); Cuming. Crossed with finely- grained ridges. Mitra Pacifica. Mitr. testd oblongo-ovatd, crassiusculd, spird turritd ; anfractibus superne angulatis, longitudinaliter liratd, liris numerosis, angustis, transversim impresso-sulcatis ; albd, fascid fused inter liras solum cingulatd ; columelld quadriplicatd, plied supremd valde maximd, aperturd breviusculd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 272. Hab. Lord Hood's Island ; Cuming. Allied in form to the Mitra exasperata. Mitra turgid a. Mitr. testd ovoided, medio turgidd, basi contractd, spird brevi, acuminatd ; transversim undique liratd, sulcis subir- regularibus longitudinaliter impressd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 273. Hab. Island of Capul, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The sculpture of this species is of a somewhat similar character to that of the Mitra tornata. Mitra amabilis. Mitr. testd ovatd, crassiusculd, spird obtuso- depressd; anfractibus subrotundatis , longitudinaliter costatis, transversim impresso-sulcatis ; cinereo-grised varie albifasciatd ; columelld quadriplicatd; aperturd breviusculd, intus fused. Zoological Society. 265 Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 274. Hab. Islands of Ticao and Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. A pretty species, banded alternately with white and ashy grey. Mitra purpurata. Mitr. testd ovatd, utrinque attenuatd, spird breviusculd, subturritd; anfractibus ad suturas piano -angulatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis numerosis, angustis, prominentibus, interstitiis impresso-cancellatis ; fusco-purpured, zond angustd albd cingulatd; columella quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 33. f. 275. Hab. Island of Capul, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The whorls of this shell being flatly angulated at the sutures, give a turreted character to the spire. Mitra puella. Mitr. testd rotundato -ovatd, spird brevi, subob- tusd, suturis impressis ; anfractibus transversim subtilissime stri- atis, anfractds ultimi parte inferiori minute nodiferd ; aterrimd, anfractuum parte superiori maculis niveis pyriformibus, concentric^ dispositis, conspicue ornatd ; columelld triplicatd ; labro intus den- ticulate. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 276. Hab. Island of St. Tliomas, West Indies ; Gruner. The pyriform white spots which encircle the upper portion of each whorl exhibit a striking contrast with the jet-black ground of the shell. Mitra gratiosa. Mitr. testd elongatd, subcylindraced, liris pro- minentibus minutis creberrime decussatd ; fused; columelld quinque- plicatd, labro subincrassato. Conch. Icon.. Mitra, pi. 34. f. 277. Hab. Gallapagos Islands (found among coral sand at a depth of about seven fathoms) ; Cuming. A narrow cylindrical shell, with beautifully decussated sculpture, and of an uniform brown colour. Mitra mirifica. Mitr. testd elongatd, gracili, subcylindraced^ basi recurvd, liris minutissimis creberrim^ decussatd; rosaced, subpellucidd, zonuld angustd albidd cingulatd; columelld sexplicatd, labro subincrassato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 278. Hab. Island of Capul, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The general aspect of this shell is very similar to that of the pre- ceding species; upon examination it will be found however of a thinner and more slender structure, whilst the sculpture is of a smaller pattern, and the colour altogether different. Mitra inermis. Mitr. testd oblong o- ovatd, longitudinaliter cre- berrime plicatd, basi sulcatd ; rufescente-fuscd,fascid albidd, fusco subtilissime undulatd, cinctd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 279. Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvi. U 266 Zoological Society, Hah. Puteao, province of Albay, island of Luzon (found on the sands) ; Cuming. Encircled with a white band, traversed with line brown zigzag lines. MiTRA BRUMALis. Mitv. testd elongatdy suhcylindraced , undique subtilissime decussatd ; lutescente, aurantio-fusco pallidissime hie illic tinctd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 280. Hab. Philippine Islands ; Cuming. A solid obtuse shell, with the lip slightly effused. Mitra d^dala. Mitr. testd suhfusiformi-ovatd, spird turritd; longitudinaliter costatd, costarum interstitiis fortiter clathratis ; cinereo-viridescente, zond alba conspicud cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 281. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found in sandy mud at the depth of six fathoms) ; Cuming. The colour of this shell is a peculiar livid ashy grey. Mitra suturata. Mitr. testd elongato-ovat ; , basi subrecurvd, spira suturis profunde impressis ; transversim undique angisulcatis, sulcis profundis, puncturatis, liris intermediis subgranosis ; pallide stramined; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34, f. 282. Hab. Gindulman, island of Bohol, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The entire surface of this shell is encircled with close finely granu- lated ridges, the interstices between which are deeply grooved and punctured. Mitra tusa. Mitr. testd ovatd, spirce suturis profunde impressis, longitudinaliter subtiliter costatd, transversim impresso-striatd ; anfractuum parte superiori albidd, maculis grandibus subquadratis fuscis ornatd, parte inferiori totd fused; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 283. Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, Philippines (found on the sands at low water) ; Cuming. Distinguished by the dark chocolate-brown spots upon the upper part of the shell, whilst the lower part is entirely stained with the same colour. Mitra micans. Mitr. testd subfusiformi-ovatd, Icevigatd, politd, eburned, aurantio pallide fasciatd, columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 34. f. 285. Hab. South Pacific Ocean. A small white orange-banded shell, with a surface as hard and shining as polished ivory. Mitra armiger. Mitr. testd elongatd, subfusiformi, spird turritd; anfractibus superne angulatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis ad angulum nodosis, inferne evanidis, transversim impresso-striatis ; rubidd, albizonatd, costis superne albis ; columelld quadriplicatd. Zoological Society. 26-7 Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 288. Hab. ? A pretty species, the sculpture of which is of a very decided cha- racter. Mitra chelonia. Mitr. testd ovatd, spird hreviusculd, acutd; leevigatd; nigricante-fnscd, zonula luted unicd, cingulatd; colu' melld triplicatdy lahro superne sinuate. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35, f. 289. Hab. Island of Burias, Philippines (dredged from sandy mud at the depth of ten fathoms) ; Cuming. Belonging to that well-known division of the genus of which the Mitra ebenus is the type. Mitra sculptilis. Mitr. testd elongatd, subcylindraced, basi paU' lulilm recurvd, spirce suturis subimpressis ; longitudinaliter crebri- liratd, interstitiis transversim fortiter clathratis ; albicante,fusces- cente pallide maculatd, anfractHs ultimi parte inferiori fuscescente basi albicante ; columella quinqueplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 290. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. Distinguished by its very closely latticed sculpture. Mitra spicata. Mitr. testd fusiformi, spird acuminato-turritd ; anfractibus longitudinaliter crebricostatis, superne acutangulis, costis ad angulum tuber culato-nodosis, anfractu ultimo medio exi- liter noduloso, costis fere obsoletis ; pallide fulvd ; columelld qua- driplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 291. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found on the sands) ; Cuming. The upper whorls of this species are longitudinally finely ribbed, but there is very slight indication of ribs upon the lower. Mitra Hebes. Mitr. testd fusiformi, spird acuminatd, lineis pro- funde impressis transversis et longitudinalibus undique creberrime decussatd, albicante, columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 292. Hab. } The entire surface of this species is decussated with narrow deeply- cut lines. Mitra analogica. Mitr. testd ov at o- oblong d, basi contractd, sul- catd; spirce anfractibus longitudinaliter plicato-costatis, anfractu ultimo lavigato ; nigricante fused, zonuld luted cingulatd ; colu- melld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 293. Hab. } This species has very much the appearance of a gigantic Mitra Savignii, from which it however differs in its proportions. Mitra bilineata. Mitr. testd ovatd, solidiusculd, spird acuminatd; longitudinaliter subobsolete plicatd, lavigatdf politd ; nigerrimo- U2 268 Zoological Society. fuscdy apicem versus albicante, lineis duahus htteis cingulatd ; co- lumelld quinqueplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 35. f. 294. Hub. ? A hard polished blackish brown shell, encircled with two distant yellow lines. Mitra recurva. Mitr. testdfusiformi, bast attenuatd, subrecurvd ; longitudinaliter granoso-liratd, transversim impresso-striatd ; ro- saceo-purpurascente,fusco minutissime hie illic punctatd ; columelld quadriplicatd ; labro incrassato. Conch. Icon., Mitra. pi. 36. f. 297. Hab, Island of Capul, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The minute granules with which the surface of this shell is longi- tudinally sculptured have a semitransparent pearl-like appearance. Mitra incarnata. Mitr, testd oblongo-ovatd, spird breviusculd. transversim elegantissirrie crebriliratd, longitudinaliter angisulcatd; incarnatd ; columelld sexplicatd, aperturd longiusculd. Conch. Icon., Mitra. pi. 36. f. 299. Hab. Cagayan, province of Misamis, island of Mindanao, Philip- pines (dredged from sandy mud at the depth of five and twenty fathoms) ; Cuming. The sculpture of this delicately tinted shell is very elaborate. Mitra articulata. Mitr. testd abbreviato-fusiformi, subventri- cosd; anfractibus liBvibus, longitudinaliter subobsolete plicatisy medio leviter tuberculatis ; pallid^ rosaceo-coccined, zonuld albd fusco articulatd cinctd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 36. f. 302. Hab. } I have found no specimen approaching comparison with the one above described, from the collection of Thomas Norris, Esq. Mitra festa. Mitr. testd pyramidali-ovatd, longitudinaliter ob- tuso-costatd, costarum interstitiis transversim cancellatis ; eburned, anfractu ultimo fascidlatd olivaceo-cinered, fusco indistincte punc- tatd, cingulatd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon. Mitra, pi. 36. f. 303. Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, Philippines (found on the sands) ; Cuming. A solid ivory-white shell, encircled with a dark band, which is concealed in the upper part of the shell by the superposition of the whorls. Mitra pinguis. Mitr. testd subobeso-ovatd, longitudinaliter sub- oblique noduloso-costatd, transversim impresso-st?'iatd, sttms cre- berrimis, an/ractds ultimi parte inferiori sulcatd ; albidd, fascid unicd fuscescente cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 36. f. 304. Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, Philippines ; Cuming. The last whorl of this shell exhibits a peculiarity of structure Zoological Society. 269 which is worthy of observation ; above the brown band it is very closely impressly striated across; below it, it is merely distantly grooved. A difference between the transverse sculpture of the upper and lower portions of the whorls is rarely met with. MiTRA PECULiARis. Mitv. tcstd clougatd, anfractihus lavibus, con' cavis, carind unicd prominente superni ornatis ; albidd,fascid latd luteo-fuscescente cingulatd ; columella biplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 36. f. 305. Hab. Puerto Galero, island of Mindoro, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. This species may be easily distinguished by the hollow character which is imparted to the whorls by the very prominent keel round the upper part. MiTRA ROBOREA. Mitr. tcstd pyramidalt, spird acuminatd; nigri" cante-fuscd, liris albidis angustis undique funiculatd ; columelld biplicatd, plicis subindistinctis ; aperturd parvd. Conch. Icon., Miira, pi. 37. f. 306. Hab. ? An interesting dark pyramidal shell, encircled throughout with white cord-like ridges. MiTRA RADIUS. Mitr. testd gracili-fusiformi, spird acuminatd, bad contractd, subelongatd ; anfractibus longitudinaliter concentric"^ plicato-costatis, interstitiis cancellatis ; pallid'^ earned, anfractu uU timofascidfuscescente basim versus cingulato ; columelld biplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 309. Hab. Island of Corregidor, Philippines (found among coarse sand iit the depth of seven fathoms) ; Cuming. A light elegant shell, in which the ribs are of a peculiarly concen- tric growth. MiTRA GLANDiFORMis. Mitr. tcstd ovatd, utrinquc attenuatd, spira suturis profunde impressis ; longitudinaliter costatd, costis lavibus, interstitiis profunde clathratis ; cinereo-griseo alboque variegatd, bast albicante ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 310. Hab. } In most examples of this species the white rather predominates. Mitra cineracea. Mitr. testd pyramidali-ovatd, spird turritd, basi subrecurvd; anfractibus superne angulatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis ad angulum subnodosis, interstitiis liris parvis transversis cancellatis; cinereo-grised, fascid albidd subinterruptd cingulatd, basi albidd ; columelld quadriplicatd, aperturd parvd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 311. Hab. Cagayan, province of Misamis, island of Mindanao, Philip- pines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. A sharply turreted shell, in which the prominent parts of the ribs are white upon a dark ashy ground. Mitra limata. Mitr. testd ovatd, crassiusculd, spird mediocri ; Icevigatd, politd, transversim undique sulcatd, sulcis puncturatis ; fSTO Zoological Society, albidd, fascid fuscescente alhifloccatd cingulatd; columella quadri- plicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 312. Hab. Island of Bohol, Philippines (found under stones on the reefs at low water) ; Cuming. The grooves of this species are more deeply punctured towards the upper part of the whorls. Mitra exilis. Mitr. testd elongatd, basi subrecurvd, spird sub~ obtusd; liris minutis undique granoso-decussatd ; pallide violaceO' purpurascente, anfractu ultimo fascid laid saturatiore cingulato, infra albicante ; columelld quadriplicatd, plicis parvis ; labro in- crassato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 313. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. An interesting small species, with a decussated granular surface, like that of a thimble. Mitra mica. Mitr. testd elongatd, subcylindraced, basim versus contractd ; liris granulosis undique creberrime decussatd ; fused, zond albidd cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 314. Hab. Island of Guimaras, Philippines (found in coarse sand at the depth of six fathoms) ; Cuming. The colour of this shell is a dull earthy brown. Mitra armillata. Mitr. testd pyramidali, spird turritd; anfrac- tibus supern^ piano -angulatis, longitudinaliter concentrice costatis, costis angustis, numerosis, ad angulum nodosis, transversim im- pressis ; purpureo-fuscd, zonula lutescente cingulatd; columelld quadriplicatd, aperturd brevi. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 37. f. 315. Hab. Island of Annaa, Pacific Ocean (found on the reefs) ; Cuming. A prettily sculptured species, in which the ribs are disposed some- what concentrically. Mitra Tornatelloides. Mitr. testd rotundato-ovatd, spird brevi, obtusd ; transversim undique sulcata, sulcis subindistincte punctu- ratis ; sanguineo-fuscescente, zonuld transversa strigisque longitu- \ dinalibus undatis albis vivide notatd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 316. Hab. Philippine Islands ; Cuming. The general aspect of this shell is very like that of a well-known species of Tornatella. Mitra gausapata. Mitr. testd ovatd, spird subacuminatd ; an- fractibus superne piano -compressis, tuberculato-costatis, trans- versim undique liratis; nig errimo -fused, anfractuum ared super d luted; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 317. Hab. Gallapagos Islands (dredged from the depth of. about ten fathoms) ; Cuming. :•> ' r.^ Zoological Society, fiTI The whorls are characterized by a peculiar narrow depression round the upper part, beneath which they are for a short distance tubercularly ribbed. MiTRA AMANDA. Mitv. tcstd suhpyvamidali, spird acuto-turritd ; anfractibus longitudinaliter crebricostatis, transversim impressis ; fasciis angustis rubido-fuscis albisque undique cingulatd ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 318. Hab. Islands of Burias and Negros, Philippines (found among coral sand at the depth of four fathoms) ; Cuming. Encircled throughout with narrow white and reddish brown bands. Mitra crocea. Mitr. testd ovatd, spirce suturis impressis; an- fractibus superne plano-angulatis ; longitudinaliter crebricostatis, transversim basim versus sulcatis ; pallide croced, apertura fauce aurantio tinctd; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 320. Hab, Island of Capul, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. Of a beautiful clear yellow colour, with orange mouth. Mitra rosacea. Mitr. testd ovatd, spird breviusculd ; liris gra- natis undique cingulatd -, nived, maculis grandibus pallide rosaceis bifasciatim ornatd ; columelld quinqueplicatd ; aperturd oblongo- ovatd; labro crenulato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 321. Hab. Island of Corrigidor, Philippines (found among coral sand at the depth of ten fathoms) ; Cuming. An extremely delicate semitransparent pink- stained white shell. Mitra mcesta. Mitr. testd oblong o-ovatd, transversim sulcatd, la- vigatd; fuscescente, anfractuum parte superiori pallida luted; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 323. Hab. Island of Corrigidor, Philippines (dredged among coral sand at the depth of ten fathoms) ; Cuming. Tlie columella and mouth of this species are brightly enamelled. Mitra ^thiops. Mitr. testd ovatd, crassd, spird acutd, liris parvis transversis et longitudinalibus, concentricis, undique decus- satd; nigerrimd, vel olivaceo-nigrd ; columelld planatd, quadri- plicatd, callositate superne munitd; labro planato, intus denticulate, superne sinuato. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 324. Hab. Islands of Ticao and Luzon, Philippine Islands (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. Belonging to that interesting group of which the Mitra ZiervogeU iana and Woldemarii form part. Mitra zelotypa. Mitr. testd ovatd, anfractibus superne rotunda- tis, longitudinaliter costatis, transversim fortiter cancellato-liratis ; luteo alboque undique fasciatd ; columelld quadriplicatd, apertures fauce violascente. 273 Zoological Society, Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 38. f. 325. Hab. ? A very distinct species, from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq., concerning which he possesses no information as to its locality. Mitra infausta. Mitr. testa ovatd, solidiusculd, longitudinaliter subundato-costatd, transversim impresso-striatd ; incarnato-stra' mined, lineis impressis rubido-fusco hie illic exiliter tinctis ; coin- melld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 326. Hab. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low water) ; Cuming. The transverse impressed striae are chiefly stained with reddish brown where they pass over the ribs. Mitra Graia. Mitr. testd ovatd, solidd, spird brevi, acuminatd; lavigatd, albd, opacd, epidermide luted indutd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 327. Hab. Island of Paros, Grecian Archipelago ; Miller, R.N. A stout solid shell, of a peculiar opake marble- white, covered with a yellow epidermis. Mitra Candida. Mitr. testd ovatd, subfusiformi, transversim crebriliratd, lirarum interstitiis longitudinaliter subtilissiml stri- atis ; candidd ; columelld triplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 328. Hab. La Guayra, South America. A white closely-ridged species, in the collection of His Majesty the king of Denmark, by whose permission it has been forwarded to me for illustration. Mitra rustica. Mitr. testd oblongo-ovatd, spird turritd; anfrac- tibus superne angulatis, longitudinaliter costatis, costis subdistan- tibus, ad angulum muricato-tuberculatis, transversim puncturatis ; albidd, inferne cinered; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 329. Hab. ? The upper edge of the ash-colour is slightly marked between the ribs with one or two brown dots. Mitra corallina. Mitr. testd subfusiformi, politd, basi subre- curvd; anfractibus transversim obsolete striatis, longitudinaliter plicatO'COstatis ; electro- vel corallio-rubrd, costis albicantibus ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 330 a and b. Hab. Island of Masbate, Philippines (found on the sands) ; Cuming. This is a beautiful species, some examples having the appearance of bright amber, whilst others resemble red coral. Mitra lubens. Mitr. testd elongatd, subfusiformi, basi con- tractd, spird turritd ; anfractibus superne angulatis, liris parvis longitudinalibus et transversis creberrime clathratis ; albidd, apice basique rosaceis ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 331. Entomological Society. 273 . Hah. Island of Ticao, Philippines (found under stones at low ■water) ; Cuming. The ridges of this very delicate and pretty shell are slightly nodu- lous, and prickly on the angle. MiTRA PATULA. Mitr, testd ovatd, tenuiculd, ventricosiusculd, Ice- vigatd ; cinered, fusco hie illic variegatd et nehulatd ; columelld quadriplicatd ; aperturd ampld ; labro tenui, supernt sinuate. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 333. Hab. ? Very distinct from any form of the genus I have met with. Mitra alveolus. Mitr. testd ahhreviato-ovatd, spirce suturis pro- funde impressis ; longitudinaliter suhtiliter pUcato-costatd, basi transversim sulcatd ; anfractibus inferri^ aterrimis, supern^ albis, nigra tessellatis ; columelld quadriplicatd. Conch. Icon., Mitra, pi. 39. f. 334. Hab. .> A characteristic tessellated species, from the collection of Thomas Norris, Esq. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. January 1st, 1844. — The President in the Chair. An extract from a letter addressed by the Rev. Mr. Savage to the Rev. F. W. Hope was read, giving an account of the capture of a new species of Goliath Beetle on the west coast of Africa, Mecyno- rhina Savagii (Harris, Journ. of Boston Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. iv. pi. 21; Westw. Arc. Ent. ii.pl. 81. f. 1, 2). Extracts were also read from two letters addressed to Mr. Hope by C. D. E. Fortnum, Esq., giving some account of the entomology in the neighbourhood of Port Adelaide, and mentioning some particulars respecting the reproduction of the limbs in a species of Phasmidee, Diura violascens, Gray, a larva of which (about one inch long and having much the appearance of a Bacillus) had its left intermediate leg broken off when captured. It fed on the young leaves of the gum- tree. Eucalyptus, and grew very fast. On the first moult after the accident a small leg appeared on the old stump, but with a withered appearance, and apparently the joints were not formed. At the se- cond moult the leg had grown to half its natural size, with all the joints perfect. The third moulting produced the pupa with the leg about two-thirds of the original size. On the change to the imago the limb had regained its full size. Mr. Fortnum adds, that the young Phasmidte invariably eat the old skin after moulting. He also mentions the capture of a species of Mantispa and one of Ascalaphus. In a subsequent communication he mentions the capture of several apparently new species of Phasmidte, and states that Diura violascens and roseipennis are the sexes of the same species, having reared several from the larva. He had collected a great many species of ants, and "several new predaceous beetles (including a beautiful Harpalus with 274 Entomological Society. the head and thorax splendid green) ; likewise several new aquatic beetles and Buprestida, and two new species of Ontkophagns ; but he had met with no Necrophaga. The little insect allied to Elaphrus is exceedingly abundant, and he had collected three species of Adelo- topus, one described by Mr. Hope in Trans. Ent. Soc. vol. i., and two others ; he had also seen one or two more, and had collected another species of Scarites, a species of Trox (very abundant), nine Melolon^ thidce, three species of Mantispa and seven of Myrmeleon. In reference to the Phasmidce noticed by Mr. Fortnum, the Presi- dent stated that he considered Mr. Fortnum's communication to be one of great interest, as affording a further proof that reproduction of the limbs takes place in true insects. He also stated that he is equally sure that reproduction of lost parts takes place in the Myria- poda, as he formerly expressed his belief when exhibiting an instance of what he regarded as the first noticed occurrence of this fact in a tScolopendra, at^the meeting of this Society in November 1839. In consequence of the suggestions made by Mr. Westwood on that oc- casion, that the limb in the specimen in question had not been re- produced, but was only an instance of retarded development of the original limb, and at a subsequent meeting of the Society (November 2, 1840), Mr. Newport had instituted a series of experiments on the lulidcE and Lithohii, in which reproduction both of the antennae and legs had taken place, and in one instance the reproduction of some of the legs was repeated a second time in the same individual Litho- bins. He stated also that reproduction of lost parts does not take place after the individual has acquired, or has very nearly attained its adult size. Mr. Marshall also stated that he had observed a specimen of the common species of Blatta, one of the legs of which was much smaller than the rest. Mr. Yarrell mentioned, in reference to the continued growth of the limbs in the Crustacea, that it appeared to have its limits, as he had observed lobsters several years old which had certainly not lately cast their shells, which they did not fill. An extract was also read from a letter addressed by Colonel Hearsey to Mr. Westwood, giving an account of the habits of a mi- nute species of the genus Diopsis, in India. This species is very closely allied to Say's D. brevicornis*, and was captured by Colonel Hearsey in different months and various localities ; some on window-panes in June, some on orange and ci- tron leaves in gardens in July, and some in the middle of August on cucumber leaves ; they appear to feed either on the sweet deposit of * It may be thus characterized : Diopsis Hearseiana, W. Brevis, robusta ; capite fulvo, nigro vario, cor- nubus oculiferis abbreviatis crassis, apice nigris ; thorace griseo-nigro, spina brevi utrinque sub basin alarum aliisque duabus, apicalibus alhidis longe setigeris ; abdomine nigro nitido ; pedibusJlavescentibus,femori- bus anticis intus fusco maculatis, tibiisque anticis nigris, alls hyalinis. Long. Corp. lin. 2 ; expans. alar. hn. 4. Entomological Society* 275 the Aphis, or on the Aphides* themselves. The different kinds of Diptera which he had collected in the latter situation were numerous, some very curiously marked, and others very minute and of brilliant colours. A memoir, containing descriptions of two species of Sacred Beetles from Southern Africa, was read by J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. &c. Sebasteos, Westwood. Typus Scarabseorum sacrorum Heliocantharo magis affinis. AntenncB articulis 3 et 4, 5to duplh longiorihus, bto et 6to brevibus ; clypeus radiatus, subtHs tridentatus. Tibice anticce angulatce, eoctils 4-dentatcB, dentibus 2 apicalibus inter se remotis, intus ser- rulatce, denteque medio armatce. Tarsi 2 postici articulis subcla- vatis. Species unica, Scarabaeus (Sebasteos) Galenus, Westw. Niger, nitidus ; capite magna varioloso-punctato, pronoto punctata, mar^ gine postico Icevi; elytris strid suturali alterisque 5 tenuibus sub lente punctatis. Long. corp. lin. 14. — Hab. in Africa meridi- onali. D. Burke. ScELiAGEs HippiAS, Westw. Niger, uitidus ; capite sub lente tenuis- sime punctata, clypea carnubus 2 mediis porrectis, pronoto fere IcBvi, elytrisque sublccvibus et minus nitidis, singula striis 6 vix discernendis ; tibiis anticis hand in media angulatis, ewtits A-dentatis et serrulatis, metasterno antic^ praducta. Long. corp. lin. 8. — Hab. cum prsecedente. February 5th. — George Newport, Esq. (who had been re-elected President of the Society at the Anniversary meeting on the 22nd January), in the Chair. The President exhibited a specimen of Hypena rastralis, which had continued ahve in a state of hybernation since the 1st of September last. Mr. Edward Doubleday exhibited a large box of North American Lepidoptera, collected by Mr. Barnstone near the Albany River, in a cHmate nearly corresponding with that of Lapland, and remarkable on account of a very large proportion of the species being apparently identical with those of this country. Some species and even genera were however quite unlike any of those known in Europe, amongst which was a very large species of Hepialus, two new species of Alypa, &c., whilst some of the species were evidently identical with those of Florida, thus exhibiting a very wide geographical range. Mr. F. Bond exhibited a specimen of Pantia Rapes, evidently but recently disclosed from the chrysalis, which he had captured during the month of January. Mr. Walton exhibited a monstrous specimen * Col. Sykes's observations on the predaceous habits of D. Sykesii might lead to the opinion that it was upon the Aphides themselves that the Dio- psis feeds. 276 Entomological Society, of Otiorhynchus picipes, each antenna having only four joints in the funiculus instead of the ordinary number. The following memoirs were read : — ** Description of a genus and species of Syrphideous Diptera new to Britain." By P. Desvignes, Esq. DiDEA, Macquart (Enica? Meigen). Antennee porrectcB, articulo 2tio elliptico, compresso, intus attenuato, setd tertid parte longitu- dinis insertd, nudd ; oculi nudi ; abdomen oblongum, valde depres- sum, limbatum ; cellula marginalis alarum aperta, submarginalis pedi/ormis. Didea fasciata, Macq. Face and forehead yellow ,' antennee inserted on a prominence, black ; thorax metallic green with yellow hairs on the sides ; scutellum yellowish ; abdomen with two large lateral yellow spots on 2nd segment, 3rd and 4th segments with a broad yellow band posteriorly crescent-shaped ; four anterior thighs black at base ; tibice yellow ; hind legs and all the tarsi black, the former yellow at the knees; wings hyaline, with a faint tinge of yellow ; submarginal and mediastinal cell brown. (Syn. Enica Foersteri ?) This genus approximates to Eristalis in having the submarginal cell pediform, and to Syrphus, Macq., in having the marginal cell open ; but differs from both in its antennae. It appears very rare abroad. Taken in October 1841 at Birch Wood. In Mus. Desvignes. " Descriptions of some new species of the Lamellicom genus Pa- rastasia, Westw." By Professor Erichson of Berlin. Parastasia scutellaris, Erichs. Supra lutea, capite scutelloque nigris, infra nigra, abdominis lateribus luteis. Long. lin. 7. — Hab. in insula Riouw, prop^ Sumatram. Mus. Reg. Berol. Parastasia dimidiata, Erichs. Nigra, nitida, elytris postic^ luteis, pygidio rufo. Long. lin. 41. — Hab. in insuM Riouw. Mus. Reg. Berol. Parastasia nitidula, Erichs. Nigra, nitida, elytris fusco-ceneis politis. Long. lin. 4. — Hab. in insula Bintam, prop^ Sumatram. Mus. Reg. Berol. Omnes sunt genuinse Parastasia. ** Descriptions of some new exotic species of Lucanidcc." By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. ^gus platycephalus, Guerin MSS. Niger, tenuissime punctatus, capite et pronoto latissimis ; mandibulis capite longioribus, apice falcatis, intus ante medium dente valido, suberecto, obtuso, instruc- tis ; pedibus et elytris piceis, his 6-striatis ; tibiis 4 posticis in medio l-dentatis. — Long. corp. mand. excl. lin. 16. Mus. Guerin. ^gus sequalis, Hope MSS. Piceo-niger, capitis et pronoti lateribus magis piceis, Icevis, oblongus, elytris 6 punctato-striatis ; capite lato; mandibulis capite parum longioribus falcatis, singuld ad basin dente supero armatd. Long. corp. mand. excl. lin. 11^. ^gus Malabaricus, Hope MSS. Niger, elytris opacis punctatis- simis, singula 1 -striate ; striis alternatis, profundioribus ; capite angusto, lateribus angulatis, pronoto fere quadrato ; mandibulis Entomological Society, %^1 depressis, capite duplo hreviorihus, suhtriangularihns , intus dente armatis. Long. corp. (mand. excl.) lin. 10. — Hab. in Mala- baria. .^gus distinctus, Hope MSS. Niger, nitidus, capite et pronoto elytrorum latitudine ; mandibulis falcatis, basi supra dente acuta armatis; pedibus et elytris piceis ; his 7-striatis, lateribusque punctatis. Long. corp. (mand. excl.) lin. 12 J. A correspondence between Messrs. Melly and Westwood on the extent of the detrimental effects of insects in dissipating the active principle of vegetable manure was also read. March 4th. — The President in the Chair. The President announced the terms and subjects of the Essays for two prizes of £5 each, offered by the Rev. F. W. Hope, one being upon the natural history and medical properties of vesicatory insects, and the other upon the natural history and early stages of the genus Stylops. The Secretary announced that the Address delivered by the Pre- sident at the last Anniversary Meeting had been printed for distri- bution among the Members. Mr. Evans exhibited a monstrosity in the common moth, Arctia Caia, in which the antennae and wings of the left side of the body were much smaller than those of the other side, without however showing any appearance of gynandromorphism. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited a remarkable variety of ilfe/zY<^a Euphro- syne, taken at Darenth Wood ; likewise varieties of Fidonia atomaria and Cidaria fluctuata ; also a fine specimen of the rare Charceas nigra, taken at Leith Hill in September last. Mr. E. Doubleday exhibited a specimen of a new and large species of Polyommaius from the Missouri, being the fifth species of that genus which inhabits North America. Mr. Westwood exhibited four hitherto unfigured Assamese species of the genus Papilio, which he had received from Major Jenkins (since published in the 'Arcana Entomologica'). He also exhibited a specimen of Croesus septentrionalis with one of the hind feet much smaller than the other, which he regarded as a case of arrested development ; and also a large apterous Phasma from Mexico, collected by Mr. Coffin, one of the hind legs of which was also rather smaller than the other, but destitute of the small foliaceous appendages of the femur, tibia and basal joint of the tarsus, and which he regarded as a case of reproduction in consequence of the details given by Mr. Fortnum at the meeting of the Society on the 1st of January last; stating at the same time his opinion, that in those orders of insects which ndergo an incomplete metamorphosis (having active larvae and pupae similar to the imago), reproduction of limbs alone takes place, those insects which undergo a complete metamorphosis being considered by him as incapable (so far at least as hitherto observed) of undergoing such a reproduction ; and which opinion seemed to be confirmed by the remarks of M. Schneider upon the genus Raphidia, recently published in his elaborate monograph 378 Entomological Society, of that genus. The President, however, was unwilling to admit that the case mentioned by Mr. Westwood was an instance of retarded development, and contended that reproduction was capable of occur- ring throughout all the orders of insects, as it was now proved to be throughout the Crustacea, Arachnida and Myriapoda ; and Mr. Desvignes mentioned the fact recorded by Reaumur, that the hairs of caterpillars, when shaven off previously to moulting, were repro- duced on the shedding of the skin. [See the account of Mr. New- port's subsequent experiments on this subject given at the meeting of the 7th October 1844.] A memoir was read "On the Economy of the genus Palmon, Dalm.'* By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. After alluding to the singular economy by which the female Ich- neumonidcd are enabled to introduce their eggs into various substances, within which are contained the insects upon which their larvae are destined to feed, and giving an extract from an anonymous writer in the Entomological Magazine respecting the production of specimens of one of the Chalcididce from the egg-cases of the Mantidce, the author states that the latter insect evidently belongs to the genus Palmon of Dalman (Swed. Trans. 1825), founded upon a species observed in gum copal, and that the Priomerus pachymerus of Walker is another species of the genus ; and then illustrates the genus in detail, and describes the following species, the majority of which possess the same singular habits. Sp. 1. Palmon beUator, Dalm. Sp. 2. Palmon clavatellus, Dalm. Sp. 3. Palmon pachymerus {Priomerus pack.. Walker). Sp. 4. Palmon religiosus, Westw. Niger, suhceneus ; thorace te- nuissime punctato ; antennis nigricantibus, articulo basali luteo ; abdomine piceo, subtils magis luteo, dorso ceneo tincto nitido ; pe-^ dibus luteis, coxis posticis, dentibusque femorum posticorum nigris, oviductu corporefere dimidio longiori ( ? ). Long. corp. lin. 1^. — Hab. in ovis Mantidis religiosae. D. KoUar. Mus. Hope. Sp. 5. Palmon insularis, Westw. Cupreo-nigricans,vixtenuissime punctatus, collari magis cuprescenti ; antennis nigricantibus, bast fuscis ; abdomine chalybceo-nitido, basi subluteo, oviductu vix cor^ poris longitudine ; pedibus anticis albidis, femoribus in medio in- fumatis, coxis et femoribus posticis cupreo-aneis, apice tarsis- que albidis ( $ ). Long. corp. lin. 1^. — Hab. in ovis Mantidis ex " He de France." D. V. Audouin. Mus. Westwood. Sp. 6. Palmon fraternus, Westw. Cceruleo-viridis, tenuissime punc- tatus ; antennis crassiusculis luteis, apice fuscescentibus ; abdo- mine purpurea nitidissimo, subtils luteo, oviductu abbreviate -, pe- dibus luteo-fulvis ; coxis et femoribus posticis ceneis vel chalybceis, apice extremo luteis (c^ ?). Long. corp. lin. \\. — Hab. cum prsecedente. Mus. Westw. Sp. 7. Palmon obscurus, Westw. Niger, ceneo vix tinctus,fer'^lcevis, opacus ; antennis nigris, basi articuli \mi luteo, articuloque api- cali albido ; abdomine nigro, submetallico, nitido, oviductu corpore fer^ dimidio longiori; pedibus 4 anticis piceo-luteis, posticis ni- Miscellaneous. 279 gricanti-aneis dentibus validis, tarsis luteis (^). Long, corp, lin. 1^. — Hab. King George's Sound. D. Dr. J. Hooker. Mus. Westwood. Sp. 8. Palmon melleus, Westw. Lat^ aurato-viridis, punctatis- simus ; abdomine melleo ; antennis crassis, melleis, apice fuscis ; pedibus melleis, coxis posticis, basi viridibus, spinisque femorum posticorum nigris (c?)- Long. corp. fer^ lin. 2. — Hab. in ovis Mantidis Brasilise. D. Klug. Mus. Westwood. Subgenus novum Pachytomus, Westw. Palmoni congruit nisi abdomine maris piano depresso-elongato, spi- nis femorum posticorum tantum 4, articulo basali tarsorum omnium dilatato, necnon oeconomid, habitanti in ficubus more Blastopha- garum. Sp. 1. Pachytomus Klugianus, Westw. Cupreo-teneus, tenuissim^ punctatissimus ; antennis basi tantum luteis ; abdomine piceo-fulvo apice nigricanti ; pedibus 4 anticis pallide jlavescentibus, posticis piceis, geniculis luteis. Long. corp. lin. 1^. — Hab. in ficubus ^gypti. D. Klug. Mus. Westwood. MISCELLANEOUS. ON THE GENUS SACCOPTERYX OF ILLIGER. ScHREBER, in his work on Mammalia, described and figured a bat from Surinam under the name of Vespertilio lepturus, remarkable for having on the end of the fore- arm-bone nearest the elbow a peculiar sac. Illiger, from the description (for it does not appear that he ever saw a specimen of the species), as was his habit, formed for this bat a genus which he called Saccopteryx. GeofFroy, who had never seen the species, referred it with doubt to his genus Taphozous, which is peculiar to the old world ; and Temminck has followed him, and appears to doubt the accuracy of Schreber's description and figure. Among a most interesting collection of bats, birds and other animals lately sent to the British Museum (collected in various parts of the Brazils by the late Mr. Graham, who with his family was so dis- tressingly lost at Para, just as he was returning home with his very extensive collections and notes elucidating their habits), are two specimens which exactly agree with Schreber's figure. The pouches are about half an inch long, and are convex and bag-like on the lower side of the fore-arm-bone, a short distance from the elbow-joint ; they have a slit-like opening on the upper edge of the upper side of the same bone about half an inch long, and the inner surface of the bag is plaited, and appears to secrete an unctuous fluid. From the side of the neck there is a rather thick band which extends to the middle of the bag, and there is another lesser one from the other side of the bag to the edge of the membrane on the front of the wing. I may observe that Saccopteryx is more nearly allied to Embalo- nura than Taphozous, and that Cuvier (R^g. Anim. i. 121) considers the existence of this bag in the wing as one of the characters of Taphozous ; for he observes, " Un petit prolongement de la membrane 280 Miscellaneous, de leur ailes forme une sorte de pouche pres du carpe " (should be elbow). " C'est ce qui avait fait nommer par lUiger Saccopteryx, celui de ces genres qui comprend les Taphiens." J. E. Gray. ON THE OFFICINAL SPECIES OF PEPPER. By M. MlQUEL. Miquel, like Jussieu, De Candolle and Endlicher, places the Pipe- racecB among the Dicotyledons, as the embryo in germination exhi- bits two regular seed-lobes, which are uncommonly small, and so difficult to discover while the embryo in the ripe seed is enclosed in the permanent embryo sac, half sunk in the apex of the albumen, that very recently this was regarded as the only cotyledon. The Piperacecp. belong to the imperfect Dicotyledons, and stand best among Endlicher's lulijlores., somewhere near the Betulacece, and in the vicinity of the Urticacece, with which indeed Jussieu united them. The family is evidently quite tropical, the species being dispersed universally over the torrid zone of the earth ; the indivi- duals are most abundant in the hot parts of America, and propor- tionally rare in tropical Africa. The American are almost ail gene- rically, or, with the exception of one truly cosmopolitan species, at least specifically diiFerent from those of the Old World. Miquel divides the PiperacecB into two tribes, the first of which, PiperomiecBi comprehends the herbaceous with axillary catkins, an- drogynous flowers and anthers one-celled in dehiscence. They are, with very few exceptions, American, and none are employed offi- cinally. The second tribe, Piperem, contains the shrubby and arborescent species. Their catkins are situated opposite the leaves; flowers mostly dioecious, the female exhibiting several distinct stigmas, the males with two-celled anthers. To the first division, characterized by permanent stipulae and numerous sessile catkins, belongthe genus Pothomorphe, Miq., of which many species, especially Pothomorphe umbellata, Miq., have pungent aromatic roots, which, under the name of Caapeba, are used in Brazil as stomachics and sudorifics. The root of Macropiper methysticum, Miq., possesses similar qua- lities. It is used in the South Sea islands in the preparation of an intoxicating drink (highly pernicious in its effects), called Awa or Kawa, and has lately been made use of in medicine in England under the name of Radix Awcb. Of the true Piperece, which are separated from the preceding division by deciduous stipulae and solitary catkins, two genera in this first volume are to be noticed here : — Chavica^ Miq. and Cu- beba, Miq. I. Genus Chavica^ Miq. — Flowers dioecious. Bracts of the male like those of the female catkins, shortly stalked, almost four-angled, shield-shaped. ^ Stamens % with two-celled anthers. ? Style very short or wanting. In the latter case the 3-6 thick stigmas are immediately sessile on the ovate ovarium. The berries unite with the permanent bracteae and the thickened axis of the catkins into a fleshy fusiform fruit. Seeds longish or almost lenticular, with scaly. Miscellaneous. ^1 finely -pitted testa. Albumen mealy, often horny at the outer part. Species all Asiatic. Chavica Betle, Miq., and Chavica Siriboa, Miq., are frequently cultivated throughout the East Indies ; their sharp aromatic leaves, with chalk and areca nuts, furnish the material for the habit of betel- chewing, universal in those countries. The three following species are to be named as the plants fur- nishing the officinal Piper Ionium : — 1. Chavica peepuloides, Miq — The younger branches, as well as the leaf- and flower-stalks, are clothed with fine hairs ; the leaves smooth, membranous, and with transparent dots ; the lower ovate, seven-nerved, rounded at the base, attenuated at the apex ; the upper unequal, lanceolate, with an attenuated apex, five-nerved. Male catkins shortly stalked, slender, with circular bracts ; the female also shortly stalked and cylindrical. Synonym, Piper peepuloides, Roxb. 2. Chavica Roxburghii, Miq. — A forked-branched, trailing shrub, only erect during the flowering period, with stems at first finely- hairy, afterwards smooth, and thick membranous leaves at first clothed with fine hair on the nerves, afterwards smooth, covered with fine transparent dots. The lower leaves have long stalks, are roundish, with broadly-cordate base ; the upper are sessile, of a more elongated form, and with an unequally-cordate base embracing the stem. The male catkins filiform, cylindrical, with their stalk as long as the leaf; female scarcely half as long, but thicker than the male; the stems as long as the catkins. Synonym, Piper longum^ L. Z. Thl. Abbildg. ; Nees, Plant. Me- dic, tab. 23. This species, growing wild in damp thickets throughout the fron- tier of India and cultivated frequently in Bengal, yields like the preceding the Piper longum coming from the English colonies, which is gathered in January, and consists of the fruit-catkins dried in the sun. In India they use instead of these the roots and stem of the plant cut in small pieces. 3. Chavica officinarum, Miq. — A climbing shrub, with coria- ceous leaves covered with fine transparent dots, smooth and paler below ; the lower are longer-stalked, 3-5-nerved and ovato-cordate ; the upper more shortly stalked, more elongated, with an unequal rounded or attenuated base and an attenuated apex. The stalks of the catkins are longer than the leaf-stalks. The female catkins are short and cylindrical, slenderer towards the apex. Synonym, Piper longum, Rumph, Blume, Linn, in part. This species grows wild in the Philippines, the Sunda Islands (perhaps also in Bengal), and is cultivated particularly in the island of Java, in the neighbourhood of the sea. It yields the Piper longum coming from the Dutch colonies. The dried catkins smell strongly aromatic, and have a sharp burning aromatic taste, stronger than black pepper. They are of a grayish-brown or grayish-cinnamon colour; their stalk is roundish, compressed, somewhat woody, curved, \\ centim. long, and almost smooth. Thev are thick, cylindrical, Ann. ^Mog.N. Hist. VoLxvi. " X 282 Miscellaneous. somewhat attenuated towards the apex, obtuse, 2-4 centim. long, straight or slightly curved, 5-8 millimet. thick at the base, with an almost cylindrical axis, and facetted with a sort of net-work of the projecting apices of the berries. The berries are very thickly planted in spiral lines, so that about ten are always seen in a transverse sec- tion. The persistent bracts situated between the berries are shield- shaped, with compressed membranous-winged stalks, which adhere in some degree to the surrounding berries and to the coriaceous, round or roundly-triangular scutellum, which usually coheres very firmly with the three bracts enclosing it, and is of a blackish-brown colour, with a membranous, somewhat incurved border. The dried berries are about 2 millimet. long, obovate, and from the base to two-thirds of their height mostly five-angled through compression, as they are in contact with one another to that point. The remain- ing upper part projects out beyond the shields of the bracts, is smooth, compressed below, hemispherical, with an obtuse apex. The dried pericarp is thin, the seed about ly millimet. long, obovate or rather spherical, somewhat angular beneath, and with an inconspi-? cuous umbilicus ; slightly pointed above. The testa or outer seed- membrane is crustaceous, black, shining, and under the lens presents groups of dots ; the inner seed-membrane {Endopleura) is whitish ; both adhere firmly, in the scarcelj'^-ripe seed, to the cellular albumen, in the apex of which is imbedded the embryo, enclosed in the conico- circular embryo-sac- II. Genus Cubeha, Miq. — Flowers dioecious. The male catkins are smaller, and have unstalked bracts overlapping one another, be- hind which stand 2-5 stamens, with ovate or reniform two-celled anthers. The bracts of the female catkins are almost sessile, roundly shield-shaped, often hairy beneath and persistent. Ovarium sessile, ovate, with 3-5 sessile, recurved, short stigmas. The berries are, from their contracted base, apparently stalked {pseudo-pedicellat(B), Fruit-membrane thin. Seeds roundish, with coriaceous or horny testa and mealy albumen. Climbing shrubs from the East Indies and hotter parts of Africa. The female plant is often distinguished from the male by habit and the form of the leaf, but always by the catkins being thicker, and presenting at maturity an almost clustered appearance on account of the stalked berries. Ciibeba officinalis^ Miq. — A climbing shrub with smooth leaves ; the lower cordate at the base, ovate, and with a short point ; the upper ovate, but more elongated, with a rounded base and smaller. Those of the male plant are 5-, those of the female 5-9 nerved. The catkins grow on stalks of the length of the leaf-stalks; the male are slender, the female thicker ; the bracts coarsely hairy, the berries globular, and their stalks longer than themselves. Synonyms, Piper Cubeba, Linn, fil., Blume, Abbildung. ; Miquel, Comment. Phytogr., tab. i. et ii. This species, the only one furnishing the true cubebs, grows wild in Bantam, the west part of Java, as well as in the neighbouring small islands. It is cultivated now only in the lower parts of the Miscellaneous. 283 island of Java, whence an extraordinary quantity is annually ex- ported. 'J he cubebs, the dried ripe fruit of this species, are globular, with a stalk (which is more properly the contracted base of the berry) thicker at the upper part, and exceeding them in length. Their colour is a sometimes brighter, sometimes duller, dark brownish-gray, with a grayish ring. Their surface is wrinkled as their succulent flesh shrinks into folds in drying, which form 20 or 30 regular 5-, 6- or more angled planes. The largest are about 5 millimet. in diameter ; length of the stalks 5-8 millim., more rarely 1 centim. The seed adheres firmly to the dried flesh of the berry ; its outer membrane (testa) is grayish-white ; the inner {Endopleura) is shining, some- times grayish or dull yellow, sometimes reddish. The nucleus is ex- ternally brownish or yellowish, internally whitish and comes into view on fracture, as the seed-membranes adhere closely to the fruit- membrane. This cubeb-plant has very often been confounded with an allied species, namely — Cubeba canina, Miq. = Piper caninum, Rumph., Blurae ; Piper Cubeba, Vahl; Nees, Plan t. Med., tab. xxii. fig. 1. This is distinguished by its flexible, rooting stem, by its leaves being hairy beneath, the lower 5-nerved and somewhat unequally cordiform, while the upper or younger are 7-nerved and regularly cordate. The berries are more ovate than the genuine cubebs, somewhat pointed, and a little longer than their stalk. This species grows in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. The figures 2, 4 and 5 of Nees's plate xxii. represent another species, erroneously taken for the plant yielding genuine cubebs ; this Mi- quel calls Cubeba costulata. It is a native of the Mascarenhas Islands, and is easily distinguished by its lower, distant, soft- haired leaves, the midribs of which send off 10 nervures; by the stalks of the catkins, which are twice as long as the leaf-stalks, and lastly by the elongate-ovate fruit. Cubeba borboniensisy Miq. = Piper Cubeba^ Linn., is also an allied species. Cubebs have also been obtained lately from the Cape of Good Hope and Guinea. Miquel, however, holds that the plants furnishing both are specifically different from Cubeba officinalis^ and calls the former Cubeba capensis^ the latter Cubeba Clusii (=■ Piper e Guinea, Clusius). He believes that, besides the fruit of Cubeba officinalis, the very similar one of Cubeba sumatrana, and occa- sionally the two Indian species, named C Neesii and C. Wallichii, are met with in commerce. — From Miquel's Systema Piperacearum, OBITUARY. Professor Graham of Edinburgh. — It is with sincere sorrow that we announce the death of this distinguished individual. The mournful event took place at Coldoch, in Perthshire, on the 7th of August, after a painful and protracted illness, which he bore with calmness and Christian fortitude. Robert Graham, M.D.,F.R.S.E., Professor of Botany and Medicine X2 281 Miscellaneous . in the University of Edinburgh, the third son of Dr. Robert Graham, afterwards Moir of Leckie, was born at Stirling on 7th Dec. 1786. In the first part of his career he practised in Glasgow, where he was highly respected and very popular. In 1818 he was appointed Professor of Botany in the University of that city. Previous to that time, there was no separate chair of Botany in Glasgow. The Pro- fessor of Anatomy, by his commission, was also Professor of Botany : he was bound to lecture on Anatomy during the winter, and on Botany during the summer session. Dr. Jetfray, the present Professor of Anatomy, lectured occasionally on Botany ; but subsequently a separate lectureship was established. Dr. Thomas Brown of Langfine held this office for some time. Before retiring, he asked Dr. Graham to lecture for him, which Dr. Graham declined to do, urging as an apology the inadequacy of his botanical knowledge ; but ultimately he was prevailed on to read Dr. Brown's lectures. On the resigna- tion of Dr. Brown, the Crown instituted a distinct chair of Botany, and conferred it upon Dr. Graham, who was in the habit of referring to this appointment as an unexpected event, on which his future success in life depended. He held this office till his translation to the chair of Botany in the University of Edinburgh in 1821 *. From this time, Dr. Graham devoted himself assiduously and successfully to botanical pursuits. To his exertions Edinburgh is in no small degree indebted for the excellent Botanical Garden which it now possesses. By his enthusiasm and energy, as well as by his affable and pleasing manners, he did much to promote a taste for his favourite science among the pupils of his class. Under his auspices, the Edinburgh school became famous for the number of accomplished and zealous cultivators of botanical science which it sent forth, many of whom now occupy the most distin- guished places as professors, teachers, and collectors. One of the J^ef circumstances which tended to bring about these results, was it)t% Graham's practice of taking excursions with his pupils, not merely in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but in various districts of Scotland, England, and Ireland — excursions to which, as we well know, his pupils look back with feelings of the highest satisfaction and delight. The first long excursion was made in 1826, when Sutherlandshire was the district explored. In 1827 he paid another visit to the same county, accompanied by several pupils. These excursions were continued annually in the month of August ; and in this way were explored the floras of various parts of Scotland, such as Clova, Glen-Isla, Braemar, Ben Lawers, the Breadalbane districts, Wigtonshire, Ross- shire, &c. The floras of Cunnemara in Ireland, and of North Wales, were also, in this way, carefully examined. In all these excursions, the Professor was ably assisted by Mr. M'Nab, the excellent superintendent of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. During the excursions several additions were made to the * Dr. Graham was succeeded in Glasgow by Sir William Jackson Hooker, (at that time Dr Hooker,) who upon his appointment to Kew resigned the chair, which was bestowed upon Dr. J. H. Balfour, the present incumbent. Miscellaneous, 285 flora of Scotland ; among some of which may be mentioned. Astra- galus alpinus, Lychnis alpina, Carex Vahlii and aquatilis, Thlaspi alpestre, Luzula arcuata, and Ononis reclinata. No one enjoyed these trips more than the Professor, and no one was better able to endure their attendant fatigues and hardships. His walking powers were unrivalled ; his constitution seemed to be one of the most robust ; and by all who knew him, he was regarded as one likely to enjoy long health, and attain a good old age. Dr. Graham was long engaged in preparing a Flora of Britain ; but he died without being able to give it to the world. His pub- lished works consist chiefly of descriptions of new and rare plants, which flowered in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. These, as well as notices of his excursions, appeared in the ' Edinburgh New Philo- sophical Magazine,' and ' Curtis's Botanical Magazine.' He also published in * Hooker's Companion to the Botanical Magazine,' an account of the Gamboge- tree of Ceylon, which he named Hebra- dendron Camhogioides . A genus of Chilian plants has been called Grahamia, by Gillies, in honour of the deceased Professor ; and several species of plants have also been named in a similar manner, among which we would particularly mention a new alpine species of Carex (allied to C. saxatilis), found in Clova, the scene of many of Dr. Graham's ex- cursions, and designated Carex Grahami by Boott. Some years ago. Dr. Graham began to experience some peculiar sensations in his chest, which he attributed to incipient disease of the heart, or great vessels : they gradually became more marked, and were ultimately accompanied by severe pain and occasional spasms. It soon became evident, from various symptoms — especially from his diminished strength and increasing emaciation — that he was the subject of organic disease ; but of what precise nature his physicians were unable to decide, from the extreme obscurity and ambiguity of some of the signs. They were latterly of opinion, that the symptoms were referable to a malignant tumour deeply seated in the chest or abdomen. Amid all his sufferings. Dr. Graham continued to the last to take a lively interest in botany. At the beginning of May, he appeared for the last time in his class-room in the Garden; upon which occasion he introduced Dr. Hooker to the students, as his substitute for the season. Finding his end approaching, he expressed a wish to go to Perth- shire, and was accordingly conveyed to Coldoch. He there breathed his last, on the 7th of August. Upon examining the body after death, an encephaloid tumour was discovered in the posterior me- diastinum, lying close to the vertebrae, pressing on the vessels, thoracic duct, &c., and extending to the diaphragm. Thus termi- nated the career of one, who had contributed in a great degree to advance the fame of the University of Edinburgh, by the numerous enthusiastic students whom he sent forth to prosecute botany in every region of the globe ; — one whose kindness and genuine frank- ness of manner endeared him to all who came in contact with him. 286 Miscellaneous. in the various relations of teacher, hospital physician, and friend ; — one of whom it may be truly said, that while he was eminently conspicuous as a successful and able Professor, he was not less di- stinguished by his candour, straightforward conduct, scrupulous honour, and unswerving rectitude. — J. H. B. Dr. J. W. Meigen. — This celebrated entomologist died in his 82nd year, on the 11th of last July, at Stolberg, near Aix-la-Chapelle. — Bot. Zeitung, Sept. 12. SHOWER OF DUST AT ORKNEY. Saiidwick Manse, Sept. 19, 1845. On the morning of the 3rd inst. there was a fall of dust resem- bling Roman cement over all Orkney, and probably Jutland also ; at least it extended as far as Lerwick, the capital of these islands, as it fell on the sails of a French sloop-of-war which was in that bay at the time ; and by all the intelligent people here as well as there, it is thought to be of volcanic origin, and to be the produce of a burn- ing mountain in Iceland. We were disposed to ascribe it to Mount Hecla then, but the French officers and savans, who had just returned from Iceland, think it more probable that it is from another mountain, which, though not so celebrated as Hecla, was threatening an eruption when they left that country. I have not yet heard of its extending to other counties in Scotland, but think there is little doubt of the fall of some on the N.E. of Caithness, whether observed or not. Some people in different parts of Orkney had clothes out bleaching on the preceding night, and they were not a little distressed to find them covered with the dust next morning ; but it seemed so much like common dust from a road, that they were more disposed to blame their neighbours for the trick than Hecla, or any of its neighbours. I am told that it was observed floating on the surface of the sea that morning, and it could be collected from flag-stones, glass, or leaves of cabbage, and other plants, for some days after. I do not know the duration of the fall, but a medical man who had occasion to be out between 3 and 4 o'clock that morning was much distressed with the dust in his eyes and on his face, which could not have arisen from the ground, as it was too wet at the time ; and it also fell on board of ships and fishing-boats, much to the annoyance of the fishermen. Iceland lies about 500 miles N.W. of this, and the wind for some days previous had been from that quarter. This may appear a long way for the ashes to be carried through the air, but such cases are not unprecedented, and Dr. Barry, in his ' History of Orkney,' men- tions a similar occurrence about eighty years ago, which was known by the name of " the black snow." The weather for several days before was fine ; the barometer being high and steady, about 30'27, and the daily average height of the thermometer from 57 to 52. Some people observed a sulphureous smell in the atmosphere a few days before. C. Clouston. Meteorological Observations. 287 RAIN DURING THE PRESENT YEAR. Mr. Luke Howard has furnished us with the following monthly amounts of rain for this year up to the end of August inclusive : — January .... 0*83^ February .... 065 I ^.gg g^.^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ March 1-85 [ April 1-36 May 2 00^ June 3-09 July 3 3-95 ( 4-36J 13'40 last four months. August 4-36 J 1^^9 18'09 in the eight months, the usual average of a year being 26 inches. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUG. 1845. Chiswick. — August 1. Fine: cloudy: overcast. 2. Very heavy rain. 3. Cloudy: showery : partially overcast. 4. Cloudy: fine: clear. 5. Showery. 6. Very fine. 7. Rain : thunder- showers in afternoon : clear. 8. Fine. 9. Rain : boisterous, with rain. 10. Overcast. II. Heavy showers : thunder. 12. Over- cast. 13. Slight rain : cloudy : showers. 14. Densely clouded. \5. Cloudy: clear and fine. 16,17. Cloudy. 18. Very fine : rain. 19. Foggy : heavy rain. £0. Very clear: cloudy. 21. Very fine. 22. Cloudless and very fine. 23. Over- cast: rain at night. 24. Very fine. 25. Foggy : very fine : rain at night. 26, 27. Fine. 28. Clear : cloudy. 29,30. Bright sun and very fine. 31. Slight haze : very fine : overcast. — Mean temperature of the month 2" below the average. Boston. — Aug. 1. Windy: rain yesterday (rain p.m.). 2. Fine : rain a.m. and P.M. 3. Cloudy. 4. Rain. 5. Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 6. Cloudy. 7. Cloudy : hail and rain, with thunder. 8. Cloudy. 9. Cloudy : rain early a.m. 10. Cloudy : rain early a.m. : rain a.m. 11. Cloudy: rain p.m. 12. Cloudy : rain early A.M. 13. Cloudy. 14. Cloudy : rain a.m. and p.m. 15. Cloudy: rain early a.m. : rain p.m. 16—18. Cloudy. 19. Rain : stormy p.m. : rain a.m. and P.M. 20. Stormy. 21. Fine: rain p.m. 22. Fine. 23. Fine : rain p.m. 24. Fine. 25. Fine : rain p.m. 26. Fine: rain p.m., with thunder and light- ning. 27. Fine. 28. Cloudy. 29,30. Foggy. 31. Fine.— Not so much rain in one month since August 1831, nor so cold an August since August 183SiOjii Sandtvick Manse, Orkney. — Aug. 1. Bright : clear. 2. Bright: cloudy. 3. Rain: rain and cloudy. 4. Rain: showers. 5. Cloudy: fine. 6. Bright: cloudy. 7. Damp : rain. 8. Much rain : rain. 9. Bright: clear. 10. Bright: damp. 11. Cloudy : drizzle. 12. Cloudy. 13. Cloudy : drizzle. 14,15. Showers. 16. Showers: cloudy. 17. Bright : damp. 18,19. Showers: cloudy. 20. Rain: showers. 21. Bright: cloudy. 22. Cloudy : rain. 23. Bright: showers. 24. Clear. 25. Rain : clear, 26. Much rain : rain. 27. Bright : clear. 28. Cloudy: clear. 29. Cloudy : damp. 30. Showers : drizzle. 31. Fog : drizzle. Applegarlk Manse, Dumfries-shire. — Aug. 1 — 3. Showery. 4. Rain heavy a.m. 5, 6. Slight showers. 7. Fine and fair ; a few drops. 8. Fine and fair. 9. Rain all day. 10. Slight shower. 11. Fine : a few drops. 12— 16. Fine. 17. Rain from 11 A.M. 18. Shower. 19. Showers. 20. Fair, but cloudy. 21. Fair and fine. 22. Fair, but cloudy : stormy and rain p.m. 23. Heavy showers. 24. Fine after one shower a.m. 25. Heavy rain : thunder. 26. Fine: one shower. 27. Fair and fine. 28. Very fine and clear. 29. Fine, but cloudy. 30, 31. Very fine. Mean temperature of the month 56°-4 Mean temperature of Aug. 1844 54 '6 Mean temperature for 23 years 57 -Q •IJOIAVpUBg 'X9UJ[JO 'djiqs -saujuina •uojsoa •3[0i.ttStq3 •JlOtMpUBS •ajiqs -sauj'mna; •ui"d I •JlDtMsiqo ®=5! £2 •u?W •xvK •ui'B n •uojsoa ^ QJ Oi CO ^ ^ .. 5 • ;* S S -• fe c B » & & i I i s = i s* N ^* « « I i ^ ^ ^ s i si - i i I ^" « i = i I n c ^' 1 1 ^- i i i &| ^- > ^ & S:* ^ ^ S ^ k J > >M > > fe fe fe ^ g: ^' J ^' S J K.' J a aass U U U u ^ &' i ^ :n ^ ^ i i k £t ^* St Be 3: ^* *: ^ & ^" > :^* fe fe fe > S: « «' c^oo^*co--4?^lO^(^l0^c^cN--c^>OlOQO--<'^^f«5cr)^•-<^^c^ rtlN r<|«rtl« M|e-C30 o o •XBJM irj »p ip lO ip »p ri I'S' '^ .9 1^ "^ ."S* ,"r ."■■ t^ o .^ocootN■^0':t^oroOlO>r5u:)0^c*3lOc^c^ooc»c^oip»pa)r^vpc» O^O^O^O^O^O^O^C^O^O^C^O O^O^O^C^O^O^O^O^O^O^C^O^O^O^O O O O O *S 0^0^6^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^C^O^O^O^O^C^6^C^6^C^O^O^O O O O O OOOnCCIiOOOI — ir500(Na>^CCOOt^O00^OC»O--OO^•c^cr)Olooco •ttl'BfS •uojsoa JO SifBQ !5 ^ 2-? •;Hop — c^p•^>^ i<-S • t«>^ f^t /"«^\ /•*( r*^ l«*S #>S#^ (<«\ «NM f-^i^ l-Stf^ »-w »w ^^ . . ^^d U L. U k «i«. b .tfk,. .«>. »^ 1 _ 00 o CX) 00 CT^ o^ o^ -0» QO O 00 I>- O !>. 00 ■<* 00 "O — — (N -^ OJ o^oo o t^ ■7 Looo — I o a^ C^C^ OMC 6 ^^ Ol (N rfO o Ol lOOO 00 00 o C^C^6 OI^_CO ■^ o rs o CO fN (N CI CO -^ to « t^oo a^ o o«cortko-oocriO'— o^co■^uo*ot^ooo^o — '-'-^'-F-F^rt^.-l(^^o^o^c^|L Smith. This beautiful species is closely allied to H. Andromeda, but is readily distinguished by its immaculate anterior wings and the brilliant blue patch of the posterior. Genus Argyrophenga. Maxillse rather long, slender. Labial palpi long, porrect, divergent, the basal joint short, the second joint very long, both densely clothed with long hairs ; third joint not quite so long as, and slenderer than, the second, densely clothed with hairs of moderate length. Antennse short, gradually tapering to a compressed blunt club. Anterior wings rather elongate, subtriangular, anal angle rounded ; the subcostal, median and radial nervules slightly di- lated at the base, the first median nervule thrown oiF at the end of the cell. Posterior wings obovate. This genus is closely allied to Erebia, and from Mr. EarFs ac- count of its habits, they seem much to resemble those of the sub- alpine species of that genus. The elongate palpi and short an- tennse give it at first sight the appearance of Libythea, but there does not appear to be any real affinity between them. The sil- very markings below suffice alone to distinguish it from all the other Satyrid(s, giving it a resemblance to the Argynnida. A. Antipodum. A. alls omnibus fusco-brunneis, plaga, magna pone medium rufa, in qua in alis anticis ocellus niger albo bipupillatus, in posticis tres vel quatuor unipupillati, posticis subtus ochraceo- brunneis, vittis novem longitudinEilibus argenteis ( (J ). Exp. alar. 2 unc. vel 50 millim. Hub. Nova Zealandia. Anterior wings fuscous bro\vn, the base and costa thickly sprinkled with paler scales and hairs, with a large fulvous patch beyond the cell, occupying the whole disc of the outer half of the wings, and in some specimens almost attaining the inner margin, in which, near the middle of its anterior margin, is a large black ocellus with two snow-white pupils. Posterior wings coloured as the anterior, the fulvous patch with a series near its outer mar- gin of three or four black ocelli pupilled with snow-white. Be- low, the anterior wings are much paler at the base and along the Z3 308 Mr. J. llalfs on Spirulina and Coleoclisete. costa ; the outer margin is ochraceous brown, bordered internally with black, externally with a bright silvery line, and marked to- wards the apex between the nervules with three or more silvery vittae. Posterior wings ochraceous brown, margined externally by a silvery line ; a vitta in the cell, commencing above it at the base of the subcostal nervure, a very slight one above the first subcostal nervule, a long slender one below it, followed by four very distinct ones in the interstices between the nervules, a longer one extending to the base between the median and radial ner- vures, and a similar one between the latter and the abdominal margin bright silvery white, all except the two first-mentioned connected with the marginal line. Cilia of the anterior wings rufescent, darkest towards the anal angle ; of the posterior ochra- ceous brown. Head brown ; antennse brown above, white below ; palpi light brown. Thorax clothed with long brown hair ; legs very pale brown. Abdomen black above, very pale brown below. The female is smaller, much paler in colour ; the outer margin of all the wings above, and of the anterior below, very pale brown ; the apex of the anterior marked above with two silvery vittae, their discoidal cell on both sides and that of the posterior above with a fulvous vitta. In the collection of the British Museum, Mr. W.W. Saunders, &c. The only specimens of this insect which I have seen were ob- tained by P. Earl, Esq., who discovered them on a plain in the southern island of New Zealand. The specific name was sug- gested to me by Dr. Boisduval, who agreed with me in the opi- nion that it was one of the most, if not the most, interesting spe- cies of the family yet known. At present it is the only one from New Zealand. XXXIII. — On the Genera SpiiTilina and Coleochsete. By John Ralfs, Esq., M.R.C.S., Penzance*. [With a Plate.] Spirulina, Turpin {Kutz.). Filaments collected into a mucous film-like stratum, simple, spiral, oscillating, ^inarticulate. ^^ — Kiitz. Phycologia Gene^^alis, p. 182. Spirulina has its filaments interwoven into a thin stratum of * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Dec. 12th, 1844, and Jan. 9th, 1845. Mm Jb yfag.Xat.lIist. XiAAiiFLX Ih'.'is ,-f Ji-yt.-.er. ,M : Mr. J. Ralfs on Spirulina and Colcochsetc. 309 no determinate form, and by the naked eye cannot be distin- guished from Oscillatoria, to which indeed it is nearly alhed, as its filaments are in like manner simple, oscillating and radiating. Kiitzing describes them as inarticulate, and I have failed to de- tect any joints or strise ; but as I have also been unable to per- ceive any granular matter, the apparent absence of striae may pro- bably depend upon the extreme fineness of the filaments. The close and regular spires formed by the filament are very remarkable, and constitute, I believe, the only certain distinctive mark between Spirulina and Oscillatoria. 1. S. tenuissima, KUtz. "Stratum very lubricous, seruginose, sub- radiant ; filaments densely spiral, very slender, parallel, flexuose." Kutz. Alg. xiv. no. 131 ! ; Phycol. Gener. p. 183. On decaying algae in a brackish pool near the Menai Bridge, Anglesea. On sticks in brackish pools at Penman Pool near Dol- gelley. It forms at first a thin pellicle of a rich green colour, but in an advanced state becomes somewhat skin-like and tinged with brown ; filaments shortly radiate. Under the microscope the filaments are extremely slender, of a pale bluish green colour, elongated, straight when free, equal, not attenuated at the extremities, vividly oscillating. Spires very close, like the volutions of some shells, broader than long. There is no appearance of granular matter, and the filaments are so fine that I cannot ascertain whether they are jointed. The oscillations of this plant are more vivid than those of any species of Oscillatoria I have examined. When I first gathered this plant in 1841, I suspected, not- withstanding its diff'erent colour, that it might be the Oscillatoria spiralis of Capt. Carmichael ; but having communicated a speci- men to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, he informed me of its real name, and sent me a specimen of CarmichaeFs plant, which is a true Oscillatoria, and cannot belong to this genus, as the filaments, in the dried state at least, though somewhat distorted, are not regularly spiral. Through the kindness of Mr. Borrer I have been able to com- pare our plant with the specimen in Kiitzing's ' Alg. Aq. Dul.,' and am satisfied of their identity, although his specimens were gathered in fresh water, and I have always found mine in brack- ish pools. Plate X. fig. 1. Spirulina tenuissima. CoLEocH^TE, Breb. Fronds minute, parasitic, green, disciform, appressed, composed 310 Mr. J. Ralfs on Spirulina and Coleochsete. of series of cells radiating from a centre and connected together by a hyaline substance ; spores imbedded in the frond*. 1. C. scutata, Br^b. Cells having on their upper surface a cylin- drical truncate sheath, from which a bristle at length protrudes. Breb. Ann. d. Sc. Nat. s^rie 3. vol. i. p. 29. tab. 2. In pondsj parasitic on aquatic plants, especially on the under sur- face of the leaves of Potamogeton nutans and Nymphcea alba when verging to decay. Victoria Park, Manchester, and in Windermere, Mr. Sidebotham ; Aberdeen, Dr. Dickie ; Henfield and near Tun- bridge Wells, Sussex, Mr. Jenner ; near Fleetwood, Mr. J. S. Ash- worth ; near Bristol, Mr. Thwaites ; ponds at Singleton and Sketty near Swansea, Mr. Moggridge ; also abundant in Cromlyn Bogs near the same town. In several stations near Penzance and Dolgelley. This parasite, I suspect, is not uncommon, but from its mi- nuteness it is difficult to detect, especially when growing on leaves which still remain slightly green. It was first gathered in this country by Mr. Sidebotham, who kindly sent me specimens ex- ceedingly well-mounted. The very minute fronds, which to the naked eye seem mere specks, are under the microscope found to consist of many series of cells radiating from a centre and connected together by a co- lourless substance, which is best seen at the margin. Each series of cells is repeatedly dichotomous ; the cells are longer than broad and truncate, the four or five central ones somewhat irregular, the others of equal length, forming concentric circles. These circles vary from five to twenty in number. Endochrome greeii, and usually contracted into a central spot in each cell. After some time a cylindrical, colourless process appears on the upper surface of each cell ; it is directed outwards and is trun- cate at the extremity ; within it a bristle becomes visible, gra- dually protrudes, and finally becomes much elongated. The bristle sometimes contains pale granular matter, when it may be traced even before it issues from the tube. Before the protrusion of the bristle the sheath is always truncate, as if open at the end, but afterwards it is sometimes conical, as if a membrane was pushed out and then perforated. Although the fronds are closely appressed, if care be used they may generally be separated by a penknife from the leaf on which they grow. The margin of the frond is well-defined ; in young plants it is usually circular, but in the larger specimens often slightly lobed. The spores, which are imbedded in the frond, are suborbicular * " Frons disciformis, adpressa filarnentis e centro radiantibus ssepius coadunatis ; formata filamenta articulata dichotomo-vamosa edorso articulo- rum vaginas cylindricas, truiicatas longe setigeras passim prodeunt. Endo- chromas viride." — Breb. Ann. d. Sc. Nat. serie t3. vol. i. p. 29. Messrs. Alder and Hancock on Nudibranchiate Mollusca. 311 and at first green, but finally brown ; they are large compared with the size of the plant, and are arranged in a circle near the margin. I am indebted to Dr. Dickie for determining the name of this plant, which I had Supposed was one hitherto undescribed, and also for a specimen gathered at Falaise which he had received from M. Lenormand. Having sent a British specimen to Professor Kiitzing, he in- formed me, that as far as he could determine from the dried specimen, it is his Phylactidium pulchellum ; but although he considers it distinct from Coleoch(2te scatata^ wliich he has also gathiered in Prussia, I believe that he has Only described its young state as Phylactidium pulchellum, for his figure well repre- sents our plant before the appearance of bristles ; and as it is un- doubtedly Br ebisson^s plant, I have retained the present name*. Plate X. fig. 2. Coleoclicele scutata : h, pdrtion of a frdnd in fructifica- tion ; c, portion magnified to show the processes. XXXIV. — Notice of a new genus and several new species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. By Joshua Aider and Albany Hancock, Esqrs. Genus Eumenis. Body elongated, quadrilateral ; head subinferior, with corneous jaws ; veil very small or none. Tentacles two, dorsal, clavate and laminated, with sheaths. Branchiae papillose, set on a waved pallial expansion down the sides of the back. Foot linear. Ori- fices of the generative organs and of the amis ? on the right side. Eumenis marmorata. Body nearly linear, tapering to an ob- tuse point behind ; olive-brown, streaked and spotted with dark chocolate-brown and white. Head with a few tubercular pro- cesses in front. Tentacles clavate, broadly lamiiiated on the upper part and truncated at the apex ; lower part plain, inclosed in small and rather tight sheaths. The sides of the bddy are pro- duced into a pallial expansion, which undulates ihto three or four lobes, the margin set with irregular papillose braUchise of a fawn- colour with pale edges. Interrupted dark brown markings run down the centre of the back, streaked and spotted on each side with brown and white. The sides of the body below the margin of the cloak are also streaked with interrupted lines of dark brown • " Phylactidium, Kiitz. PI13 llonia minutum, monbgtromaticum, orbicu- larc, s. fiabellatiiM coiijuncta coiistituentibus compositum. Spermatia ignota." — Kiitz. Pliijcologia Generalis, p. 294. '* 1. P. piikhdlnm, Kiitz. Orbiculare, amcene viride ; celliilis caelogoni- micis, dcmuin transverse zonatis, centro globulb gotiitriicb majori notatis." —Kutz. I. c. p. 295. t. 16. f. 1 1. 312 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a new genus and and white. Foot nearly linear, transparent white,, the front trans- versely slit and produced at the sides into tentacular points. Length rather more than half an inch. From deep water, Torbay. This genus belongs to the family of Eolididcej having a ramified digestive system. In general appearance however it greatly re- sembles a Tritonia. It has the same squared or prismatic form, with a pallial expansion down the sides of the back bearing the branchiae, which are papillose and not branched as in that genus. The jaws are large and powerful, resembling those of Eolis, but rather shorter and flatter. The tongue is covered with numerous rows of strong teeth denticulated at the edges. In most respects, the anatomy, as far as it could be made out from a single speci- men imperfectly preserved, agrees pretty nearly with that of Eolis. The principal trunk of the digestive system appears to be follicu- lated and the branches much-divided. The foot, in the only known species, has long tentacular processes, as in several of the Eolides, which it also approaches in the papillose branchiae. We thus find the external characters of the two typical genera of the Tritoniadce and the Eolididce so united in this animal, that were it not for its internal organization, we should have been at a loss in which fa- mily to place it. From this circumstance we see the impropriety of dividing these families into separate orders. The anatomy of Dendronotus leads to the same conclusion. This genus, which we have found it necessary to establish in the first part of our ^ Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca ' for the Tritonia arborescens of authors, shows the ramifications of the digestive system peculiar to the Eolidida, with a remarkable modification approaching it to the other two families of the order. The follicular portion, instead of being entirely at the extremity of the branches as in Eolis, is principally concentrated round the main trunk, thus re- verting in part to the form of the true liver, and supporting the views of those anatomists who consider the ramifications to be merely modifications of the hepatic ducts. So far, therefore, as the digestive system is concerned, there appears to be no good reason for dividing the order as proposed by M. de Quatrefages; and respecting the vascular system, we have cause for believing that we were correct when we hazarded an opinion that there would be found less difference throughout the order than was supposed. We have recently discovered that the Dorides — even the most spiculose — have the whole of the cloak covered with vibratile cilia. From this circumstance alone it might be inferred that the Do- ridida as well as the Eolididce have the blood partially aerated from the general sui-face of the body. This inference however is several new species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. 313 rendered still more probable from the fact that the skin is a tissue of cells, or perhaps is rather composed of a sort of network of vessels running in every direction and uniting in two large trunks that pass along the sides and pour themselves into the posterior angles of the auricle. The blood that comes from the skin con- sequently never passes into the true branchise. Cuvier, we are aware, states that these vessels empty themselves into the gills. With all deference to his high authority, we have convinced our- selves after repeated dissections that such is not the case, but that they go at once, as above stated, to the auricle. This fact is interesting, as it shows that even in those Nudi- branchs which have the branchiae most perfectly specialized, only a portion of the blood passes through the gill ; and when taken in connexion with the anatomy of Dendronotus, and with the peculiar form and internal organization of Eumenis, goes far to establish the imity of the order Nudibranchiata. ^.^ Doris diaphana. Body not much depressed, equally rounded \ at both ends, transparent yellowish white : cloak covered with rather large clavate tubercles. Tentacles nearly linear, laminated with eight oblique plates ; apertures without sheaths. Branchial plumes eleven, simply pinnate, retractile within separate cavities, set in an imperfect open circle. Head with a large veil. Foot yellowish white, showing the liver through in a large dark patch. Length nearly an inch. Under stones near low-water mark on Meadfoot sands, Torbay. This Doris approaches nearest to D. bilamellataj but has much fewer plumes and is quite transparent and colourless. ^^^^ Doris pusilla. Body ovate, much depressed : cloak yellowish j white, thickly freckled with dark brown spots, and having nume- rous conical papillae obtusely pointed at the top. Tentacles long and slender, pure white and finely laminated. Branchial plumes nine, bea]itifully white, simply pinnate, set in an incomplete, rather distant circle round the vent, and retractile within sepa- rate cavities. Head with a broad veil. Foot rather broad. Length about three lines. Under stones between tide-marks, Torbay. This pretty little species is not unlike D. depressa, but has the papillse less slender. The plumes are fewer and form a smaller circle, but are more conspicuous from their snowy whiteness con- trasted with the darker colour of the cloak. ..^^ Doris subquadrata. Body rather elevated, white with a slight 1 yellowish tinge, semitransparent. Cloak small, scarcely covering ' the head and foot, a little squared before and behind, mth the edge slightly raised, not very convex, thinly covered with small papillary tubercles. Dorsal tentacles finely laminated, retractile within short smooth sheaths. Branchial plumes seven, non-re- 314 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on a new genus and tractile, large and spreading, bipinnate, the central stem large and lying flat on tlie back. Head covered by a broad veil, pro- jecting frequently a little beyond the cloak in front. Foot large and thick, rounded before, and extending to a blunt point consi- derably beyond the cloak behind; the sides rather high. Length nearly an inch. One specimen was dredged near Berry Head in Torbay. Doris oblonga. Body rather convex, oblong-ovate, tapering behind. Cloak pale straw-coloured, freckled and spotted with umber-brown, densely spiculose, covered with moderate-sized, nearly equal fconical papillse. Tentacles rather thick and finely laminated, without sheaths. Branchial plumes seven, shortish and not much spreading, surrounded by a circle of large tubercles. Head fm-nished with a large veil. Foot narrowish, straight and slightly notched in front, not extending beyond the cloak behind. Length nearly half an inch. Obtained with the last. Goniodoris castanea. Body ovate, rather broad and flattish, of a reddish brown hue, covered with soft warty tubercles. Head bilobed, deeply sinuated in the centre, arched and terminating in* tentacular points at the sides. Cloak small, warty, the margin reflected all round ; interrupted behind. An elevated waved ridge runs down the centre of the back, intersected by a small trans- verse one about half-way down. Dorsal tentacles small, very broadly laminated and truncated at the apex. Branchial plumes eight or nine, rather large, purplish brown, bipinnate, forming a complete circle round the vent. A waved tubercular ridge ex- tends down to the tail, which is rather obtuse. Foot broad, ex- tending much beyond the cloak, with a deep notch under the mouth in front, and rounded at the sides ; yellowish with a tinge of purple. The upper surface tuberculated like the rest of the body, the prominent parts being blotched with opake white. Length three-quarters of an inch. Under stones at low-water mark near the ruins of Salcombe Castle, Devonshire. Eolis glauca. Body rather depressed, oblong, tapering to a fine point behind, of a pale brick-red, more intense towards the head. Dorsal tentacles moderately long and rather slender, ta- pering. Oral tentacles about the same length as the dorsal ones, set wide apart, whitish with a tinge of red. Branchiae numerous, rather stout, vermicular, tapering at the ends and depressed to- wards the base ; of a pale sage-green colour, speckled with brown and opake white, and frequently with a reddish tinge near the apex ; arranged in about fourteen transverse rows on each side, leaving a bare space for about half-way down the back ; the front rows divided into clusters of two or three rows each. Foot pel- several new species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca, 315 lucid, broadisli in front, slightly arched and extending into broad tentacular points at the sides ; tapering to a fine point behind. Length If inch. One specimen of this fine species was dredged up in Torbay. Eolis inornata. Body ovate-oblong, rathfer depressed, tapering to a fine point beiiind. Oral and dorsal tentacles rather short and thick, nearly of the same length ; the first white, the others yellowish and slightly wrinkled. Back pale fawn-coloured or nearly white. Branchise cylindrical, tapei-ing to an obtuse point, set in eight or nine rows of four or five papillse each ; of a dull brownish orange freckled with brown and white : apices for some distance transparent white, with the ovate vesicle of a more opake white seen distinctly through. Foot white, expanded in frotit, curved and extended into points at the sides. Length ^ths of an inch. Under stones near low- water mark^ Torbay. When in motion, the branchise nearly cover the whole of the back* This species is allied to E. angulata. Eolis punctata. Body yellowish, inclining to flesh-colour on the back, covered with largish opake white spots. Dorsal ten- tacles yellow, thickish, tapering and truncated at the top ; lami- nated with twelve or thirteen oblique folds sloping downwards behind as in Doris. Oral tentacles very long and tapering. Branchise nearly linear, tapering to a fine point ; of a yellowish brown colour spotted with white, arranged in five or six clusters down the sides of the back, the first and second^ large, the rest small and confluent, extending nearly to the tail. Foot nearly linear, the front bow-shaped and extending into tetitacular points at the sides. Length nearly an inch* Dredged in deepish water, Torbay. This Eolis is peculiar from the shape of its dorsal tentacles and the conspicuous white spots with which it is entirely covered^ It is allied to the Eolis Drummondi of Mr. Thompson. Eolis tenuibranchialis. Body fawn -coloured or yellowish, rose- coloured near the head. Dorsal tentacles orange tipped with yellow, and ringed with numerous small lattiinse. Oral tetitacles rather longish and thick at the base. Branchise sinall and very slender, linear, of an olive colour tipped with opake white ; set in seven clusters down the sides of the back, the first three distinct, the others coalescing. The back in the region of the stomach is of a dark purplish colour. Foot with a deep transverse slit in front and extending into tentacular processes at the sides. Length an inch and a quarter. A single specimen in a sickly state was dredged in Torbay and died very soon afterwards. Allied to E. Drummondi. 316 Messrs. Alder and Hancock on Nudihranchiate Mollusca. T""^ Eolis amcena. Body slender, greenish or yellowish white. ' Dorsal tentacles wrinkled, long, linear, greenish with a band of brown and spotted with white. Oral tentacles much shorter than the dorsal ones, white. Branchiae linear or slightly elliptical, of a warm green spotted with white, brownish towards the base, and a faint yellowish white ring near the apex. They are set in eight transverse rows ; each row has three, sometimes four papillse on each side : the three anterior rows are placed close together, the rest wide apart. The back has rich brown markings near the region of the heart. Foot rather slender, rounded in front, and not produced at the sides. Length about three lines. Two specimens of this beautiful little Eolis were dredged up at different times in Torbay. ^ ^ Allied to E. viridis of Forbes. * Eolis elegans. Body slender, subpellucid, yellowish white. Oral tentacles long, tapering. An opake white line runs down each, and is continued across the front of the head. Dorsal ten- tacles not above half the length of the oral ones, stoutish, erect, tapering at the top and wrinkled, pale fawn-coloured or buff. Branchiae numerous, slender, nearly linear, set in about seven dense clusters on each side : the first cluster large and approach- ing very near the dorsal tentacles ; the remaining diminish gra- dually and extend very close to the tail. They are of a deep rosy flesh-colour, terminated above and below by a dark patch of pur- plish brown approaching to black, above which, on the apex, is a ring of white. Foot slender, produced into longish angles at the sides. Length half an inch. One specimen dredged up near Berry Head, Torbay. The contrast of the dark spot with the white and red on the papillse gives this species a very elegant appearance. V" Eolis amethystina. Body yellowish, slightly depressed. Oral and dorsal tentacles of a yellowish tinge, the latter twice as long as the former, bases approximating, points fine and spreading. Branchiae elliptical, much inflated one way and somewhat de- pressed the other, set in nine or ten rows of four papillse each ; the gland linear, purple, granulated ; apices with a broad ring of pale orange-red. Foot transparent, linear, rounded in front, and a little widened for a considerable way backwards. Length three- eighths of an inch. Under stones at low- water mark, Cullercoats. This species comes near to E. tricolor, but differs from it in the shape of the anterior portion of the foot, in the length of the tentacles, and in the size and character of the branchiae. Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on some Heteromerous Cokoptera. 317 XXXV. — Descriptions of some new genera and species of Hetero- mei'ous Coleoptera. By G. R. Waterhouse, Esq. Platesthes, nov. gen. Head rather short, the lateral lobes or ridges protecting the base of the antennse, less prominent than the eye. Chjpeus separated from the head by a distinct transverse impres- sion, and by two less distinct lateral grooves ; the anterior mar- gin slightly emarginated. Eyes transverse, convex, rather large and distinctly emarginated in front. Lahrum prominent, transverse, distinctly emarginated in front. Mandibles moderate, bidentate at the apex. Maxillce with the outer lobe entirely uncovered by the mentum : the maxillary palpi moderate, the terminal joint triangular. Labial palpi short and stout, the terminal joint truncated. Mentum broader than long, four-sided, the hinder margin di- stinctly shorter than the front, which is obscurely emarginated, but nearly straight. Labium transverse, corneous, exposed. Throat-plate^ with a narrowish oblong polished and transversely grooved area in the middle, joining the mentum by a straight margin. Antennce rather long and slender ; if extended backwards would nearly reach the base of the thorax ; the joints, most of them, of a long obconic form ; the second joint short, the third scarcely longer than the fourth ; the three terminal joints distinctly broader than the rest, the last of a short ovate form and equal to the penultimate. Thorax large, very nearly equal in width to the elytra, and nearly quadrate, but slightly narrower in front, the outer edge emar- ginated, the posterior margin very nearly straight, and not closely applied to the elytra ; the angles nearly right angles, but slightly rounded ; the upper surface slightly convex in the middle, but the lateral margins are recurved ; the whole dorsal surface however is pretty nearly flat. Scutellum very broad, but rather short, and obtusely pointed be- hind. Elytra soldered together at the suture ^ oblong ; the dorsal sur- face nearly flat, the sides parallel, but on the posterior third gradually contracted, so that the outline of that region w^ould form half an oval ; the apex however is produced, recurved and * This part, which I term throat-plate^ often furnishes somewhat import- ant characters : it is the mesial part of the head beneath, below (or behind) the mentum. 818 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on some new genera and rounded ; the lateral keel is very distinct^ acute, and remote from tlie lateral margins of the elytra. Legs moderate ; the anterior tibise but little compressed, and very little dilated at the extremity : they are provided with a short spine on the inner side at the apex, and the outer angle is somewhat prominent. Tarsi moderate as to thickness and rather long, those of the middle and hind legs being equal to the tibise in length, and those of the anterior pair of legs but little shorter than the tibise from which they spring : claws rather large. Praste7num not produced posteriorly. This genus, to which I have given the name Platesthes in allu- lusion to its flat covering, the whole back of the insect being de- pressed and nearly on the same plane, evidently approaches closely to the genera Gyriosomus and Praocis, near to which should also be placed, in my opinion, the genus Physogaster. The last-men- tioned genus, M. Le Comte de Castelnau says, is closely allied to Pimelia ; but in making this assertion he must entirely have over- looked the structure and position of the labium, a part of the mouth which furnishes good characters for the sections of the Heteromera. On this subject I cannot enter at present, but I will merely remark, that in the Pimelidce, Akisidce, TentyriidcB and Erodiidcs the labium is attached to the back part of the mentum in such a manner as to be totally hidden, or, at most, to leave ex- posed the points only of the paraglossse * ; to these we may also add the Adesmia anAEpiiragus group f. In the genus, the affi- nities of which T wish to determine, as well as the genera with which I have associated it, the labium is attached to the anterior extremity of the mentum, and is completely exposed and com- bined with a great similarity in the structure of other parts of the mouth ; they all have the throat-plate marked with the pecu- * The term paraglossae is applied by Kirby and Spence to the lateral lobes of the labiuni of the bees, and as the same parts exist in beetles, I think it well to call them by the same name ; they lie for the most part behind the tongue, and are nearly always fringed with hairs in the Heteromera ; but in the latter groups (according to Dejean's arrangement of the order), Taxi- comes and Tenebrionites, where the tongue is narrower, the outer margins of the par^glossse are distinctly exposed ; in some cases where the tongue is broad, as in BoUtophagus, the paraglossse are still very distinct (viewing the labiupi from its outer surface), projecting as they do considerably iu the lateral direction. f Why should not these groups, in which the tongue is hidden, be asso- ciated together? We might commence with Epitragus, and continue through the other groups, Tentyriidce, Erodlidce, Adesmia, he. y where there is no separate emargination for the maxillee, and where the mentum covers that organ, to the f^melidce, Ak'mdce and Nycfelidce, where there is a sepa- rate notch in t^^e. tihrft^t-pUto far t\\^ maxillae, which are exposed — at the base at least. species of Heteromerous Coleoptera. 319 liar transverse rugse in the middle, and tlie part thus marked is more or less distinctly separated from the other under parts of the head by an oblong furrow on each side. Near to these in- sects are the NyctelidcBj also a South American group, in which the throat-plate presents a more striking peculiarity, — that of having a distinct and deep mesial groove immediately under the mentum, and extended more or less in the longitudinal direction ; they however have the labium almost entirely hidden. Platesthes silphoides. Platesth. ater, nitidus, corpore oblongo, late- ribus fere parallelis ; capite distincte punctatis ; thorace crebre punctatis, lateribus piceis ; elytris punctis distinctis adspersis, sin- gulo tricostatis ; antennis tarsisque piceis. — Long. corp. 6 lin. ; lat. 3 lin. This insect was found by Mr. Darwin at Port Desire, Patagonia : in general aspect it greatly resembles a Silpha. The head has large punctures scattered on its upper surface, but on the fold covering the base of the antennse and under surface they are snialler, more dense, and for the most part confluent. The thorax is very thickly punctured, the punctures distinct and of a triangular form ; on and near the lateral margins, however, they are less numerous and more delicate : on the anterior portion of the thorax the la- teral margins are scarcely reflected, but they become gradually more so towards the posterior margin, where the reflected portion is broad ; a slightly impressed line runs parallel with, and close to the lateral margin. The elytra have the dorsal surface nearly flat, but on each elytron are two sharp longitudinal ridges, be- sides a third, which forms the lateral keel : between the ridge on each elytron which is nearest the suture, the space is flat, but the other interspaces are concave, and the whole surface has di- stinct, and widely, and irregularly scattered punctures : the ridges themselves have a few punctures. The produced apical portion of the elytra is pitchy ; distinct scattered punctures are observable on all the under parts. Scotobius Akido'ides. Scot, ater, obscurus ; corpore supra fere piano, punctulato ; thoracis marginibus lateralibus reflexis ; elytris carina laterali distincta. — Long. corp. 9 lin.; lat. 4^ lin. This species, brought by Mr. Darwin from Port Desire, Pata- gonia, is remarkable for the produced and reflected lateral keel of the thorax, the distinct lateral keel to the elytra, and the absence of any distinct sculpturing on the upper parts of the body, to which peculiarities we may add, the very slight convexity of the dorsal surface of the thorax and elytra. In size it is nearly equal to the Scotobius pilularius ; its thorax, however, is larger in proportion to the elytra than in that insect, and the anterior tibiae are stouter. The head is distinctly punctured; the thorax is 320 Mr. G. R. Waterliouse on some new genera and strongly emarginated in front, mucli broader than long, and but little narrower than the elytra ; it is contracted in front and be- hind, and broadest rather behind the middle ; the lateral margins are greatly produced and distinctly curved upwards ; the dorsal surface is slightly convex and thickly but finely punctured. The elytra are but slightly convex above, have a distinct lateral keel, which is slightly reflected, and towards the apex of the elytra this keel is indistinctly broken up into some small tubercles; the whole surface is finely punctured, and there are some extremely faint traces of striae ; the apex of the elytra is slightly produced. It is the distinct lateral keels to the thorax and elytra which gives the flatness to the back of this insect, and imparts to it the aspect of an Akis, Family TENTYRIID^. Genus Thinobatis, Eschscholtz. Thinobatis rotundicollis. Thin, piceo-rufa, pilis minutissimis ad- spersis ; thorace transverse subrotundato, supra convexo ; elytris breviter ovatis, postice subacutis, indistincte striatis, interstitiis paulo convexis; antennis pedibusque ferrugineis. — Long. corp. If lin. This species, as it would appear (judging partly from Esch- scholtz^s description and partly from his figure*), is of smaller size than the Th. ferruginea, the thorax more transverse, and more boldly rounded at the sides, and the posterior angles must be more obtuse; indeed the hinder margin is almost evenly rounded, the angles being scarcely perceptible. The characters of the genus Thinobatis, as drawn up by M. So- lierf, are taken from an insect which evidently difi'ers in several respects from the type of the genus [Thinobatis ferruginea), and more especially in having distinct posterior angles to the thorax, the humeral angles of the elytra prominent, and, I strongly sus- pect, in the form of the mentum. Unfortunately Eschscholtz is silent on this last point ; but in the insect above described, which approaches most nearly to the Th. ferruginea, the mentum is either truncated in front or most indistinctly emarginated, and not deeply emarginated as in the figure and description of M. Solier. Again, the elytra are of an ovate form in the two species of Thinobatis with which I am acquainted, and not subparallcl. The terms " corps filiforme, deprime," used by the Comte de Castelnau J in his definition of Thinobatis, will by no means apply to the type of the genus. ♦ See Eschscholtz's Zoologischer Atlas, part 4. pi. 18. fig. 3. p. 8. -f* Annales de la Soci^te Entomologique de France, torn, iv, p. 406. X Cours complet d'Histoire Naturelle, Insectes, torn, ii. species of Heteromerous Coleoptera, 321 Genus Megalophrys*. Head large, but little narrower than the thorax, strongly trilobed in front, the mesial lobe the largest, nearly semicircular, but having an indistinct angle in the middle : the lateral lobes very prominent, recurved and descending posteriorly, so as partially to inclose the base of the antenna, and indistinctly encroaching upon the fore part of the eye, above vi^hich is a longitudinal ridge. The eye lateral, tolerably prominent, with the vertical diameter the greatest, slightly emarginated in front. Labrum small, obtusely pointed in front j hidden when the jaws are closed. Mandibles short and stout, very broad at the apex, which is strongly notched, and thus divided into two lobes, of which the lower one is the largest and longest and truncated at the extre- mity, and the upper one is pointed. Maxillary palpi moderately long ; the terminal joint securiform, and obliquely truncated at the apex. Mentum broad, hiding the maxillse, truncated in front : it may be described as hexagonal, with the hinder margin by far the longest, and the remaining sides nearly equal to each other. Antenna moderately long and slender; the joints, most of them, of a longish obconic form ; the second joint nearly equal in length to the fourth or fifth, the third about half as long again as the fourth : from the fourth to the tenth the joints become gradually and successively shorter ; the penultimate joint pre- sents a nearly triangular outline, and the last is of a short ovate form, and smaller than the preceding; the terminal joints are of equal width, or very nearly so, to the other joints. Thorax rather narrow, but little convex above, the width in front exceeding the length ; contracted behind and with the angles acute : its posterior margin is bisinuated, and applied to the base of the thorax : a delicately impressed line is observed close to the lateral and posterior margins, which are acute. Scutellum small, and rounded behind. Elytra soldered together at the suture, distinctly broader than the thorax, convex, and of an oblong-ovate form, sinuated at the base so as to present an outline corresponding to the hinder margin of the thorax ; the humeral angles obtuse, and the apex somewhat pointed : they are simply rounded at the sides, the lateral keel being only represented by a line situated close to the lateral margin, and which can scarcely be said to be raised excepting at, and near the humeral angle. Legs moderately long and slender, the tibise cyhndrical or nearly * This name is suggested by the great projection of the lobes of the head, which are situated in front of the eye. Ann, ^ Mag, N, Hist. Vol, xvi. 2 A S^ Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on some new genera and so : tarsi slender ; the hindermost but little shorter than the tibiae. Presternum rather nari'ow^ with a longitudinal groove, and not produced posteriorly beyond the hinder margin of the anterior coxae. In having the scutellum distinct, the eyes not crossed by the lateral keel of the head, the tibiae filiform, the thorax contracted behind, and the clypeus rounded in front, this genus approaches Tentyria ; it has the head proportionately larger, the thorax more strongly margined at the sides, the antennae longer, and the se- cond joint not so distinctly shorter than the rest ; its more direct affinity I believe to be with Hylithus, Thinobatis, Evaniosomus and Melaphorus. Megalophrys evinces its affinity to these insects in having the eye nearly round, more convex (as compared with Ten- tyria), and with the lenses very large (they appear to be positively larger and more distinct in the small insect, Megalophrys patago- nica, than in a Tentyria of at least five or six times the bulk) : the lateral lobes of the head, or folds which cover the base of the an- tennae, are more produced, and separated from the clypeus by a di- stinct notch in all these genera with the exception of Thinohatis. None of these insects have the comparatively hard wing-cases which we find in Tentyria and its approximate genera. The prin- cipal distinctive characters of the South American genera above alluded to, may be thus expressed : — I. Antennae cylindrical, the terminal joint smaller than the others. A. Antennae with the three basal joints equal or very nearly so ; the head elongated ; thorax without lateral keel. p . , , / Melaphorus, Guerin. ^ \ Stenhohnay ^oWev. h. Eye large 2. Evaniosomus. B. Antennas with the second joint shorter than the first or third, and the third the longest ; head as broad or broader than long ; thorax with a distinct lateral keel Megalophrys. II. Antennae incrassated at the apex, the last joint as large, or larger than the penultimate. A. Antennae with the three basal joints nearly of equal length ; clypeus truncated in front ; anterior tibiae short and distinctly dilated at the apex , Thinohatis, L^schsch. 13. Antennae with the second joint shortj the third longer than the other joints; cl^^peus rounded in front ... Hylithus, 0\\qx\w. Megalophrys patagonica. Megaloph. picea ; antennis pedibusque piceo-rufescentibus ; capite thoraceque crebre punctatis ; thorace subquadrato, postice angustiore, raarginato, angulis anticis posti- cisque acutis, supra subconvexo ; elytris elongato-ovatis, convexis, seriatim punctatis interstitiis subseriatim punctulatis ; corpore subtus punctate. — Long. corp. 4J lin. ; lat. Iflin. In general form this insect somewhat resembles a Tagenia, but species of Heteromerous Coleoptera. 323 its body is rather less narrow in proportion, and the elytra are more convex; they are considerably broader than the thorax. The thorax is rather broader than long, broadest in front, and considerably contracted behind. The elytra have the punctures forming the ordinary striae rather small, and there are some very minute punctures between these rows, and these have a tendency to a linear arrangement, there being two irregular rows of them on the fore part of the elytra, and one row on the hinder part. Mr. Darwin found this insect at Port Desire in Patagonia. Family TAGENIID^. Grammicus, nov. gen. Head with obtuse posterior angles, which are rather remote from the thorax (the head being furnished with a long neck, which however is but little seen), longer than broad, the sides straight and parallel and with a lateral keel ; the part in front of the eye as long as the hind part ; the clypeus contracted and trun- cated in front ; the fold covering the base of the antennae but little prominent, not produced laterally beyond the outline of the head, its margin somewhat reflected : cheek-plate consi- derably produced in front ; the space between it and the men- tum, for the maxilla, narrow. Eye small, nearly round ; situated entirely above the lateral groove of the head, its vertex directed upwards. Antenna about equal in length to the head and thorax taken together ; very thick, the joints equal to each other, with the exception of the last two, and presenting a square outline ; each joint is joined to the next by a narrow neck ; the penul- timate joint longer than the rest ; the last very small, some- what pointed, and so joined to the last that the line of separa- tion is with difficulty perceived. Mandibles short and stout, very broad and bidentate at the ex- tremity. Maxillary palpi rather long and with the joints moderately stout ; the first and second obconic ; the thii4 rather the longest, of an elongate-ovate form, the broadest part however rather be- yond the middle. Mentum moderate ; transverse, hexagonal, slightly emarginated in front, not covering the maxillae. Thorax fully as long as broad, slightly trisinuated in front ; the hinder margin straight (or very nearly so), the lateral margins parallel on the fore half of the thorax, and from the middle gradually contracted to the hinder angles ; the angles right angles ; the sides keeled. Scutellum very small. 2A2 324 Mr. G. R. Waterhoiise on some Heteromerous Coleoptera, Elytra elongated, but little broader in the middle than at the base, rounded at the extremity ; distinctly broader at the base than the thorax at the same part, and with a transverse ridge ; the humeral angles prominent ; lateral keel distinct. Leffs moderate ; the tibiae simple ; tarsi rather shorter than the tibiae. Grammicus chilensis. Gramm. rufo-piceus ; corpore elongate, sub- depresso ; capita thoraceque rugoso-punctatis ; thorace bicostato ; elytris singulis quadricostatis, seriatim punctatis, subtransversim rugosis. — Long. corp. If lin. This little insect was found by Mr. Darwin at Valparaiso. It is exceedingly like a Tagenia, having the small, narrow, elongated form, and in having the thorax and elytra furnished with distinct longitudinal ridges it will bear a still closer comparison with M. Solier's genus Microtelus ; from both these genera, and indeed all the TageniidcB, it differs in having the eye situated entirely above the lateral groove of the head * ; from Tagenia it may moreover be distinguished by the antennse being of equal width throughout, the joints being less transverse, and indeed presenting a nearly square outline, though rather broader than long, — by the penul- timate joint being distinctly longer than the rest, and longer than broad, and the terminal joint smaller and confounded with the penultimate, to which differences may be added that of the mentum not being notched at the side. The long head and equal joints of the antennse (if we except the last two) at once distin- guish the present insect from Microtelus ; the epistoma or clypeus moreover is not emarginated in front, and in the genus last men- tioned we do not find the penultimate joint of the antennse longer than the rest. The two longitudinal keels on the thorax divide its dorsal sur- face into three equal parts, and the interspaces are flat : the keels or ridges of the elytra are nearly equidistant, sharp and distinct ; and in the interspaces are two rows of distinct punctures, each row being placed close to a ridge ; and there are moreover some irregularly transverse rugse, but these are by no means strongly marked. * In Leptinoderes I find the nearest approach, in the extremely con- tracted condition of the eye, to the present insect. A7m.A: Ma^. J^atMist. Ycl.le.T'/'. h li S Goodsir. dtiP ^.ft. C So" crfy. JK j Mr. H. D. S. Gooclsir on new species of Crustaceans. 325 XXXVI. — On several new species of Crustaceans allied to Saplii- rina. By Harry D. S. Goodsir, M.W.S., late Conservator of the Museum of the Roy. Coll. Surg. Edinburgh, Assist. Surgeon in H.M. Arctic Exploring Ship Erebus. One of the most striking features in the structure of this pecu- har form of Crustacean is the double eye in a single dark spot. The antennae are similar in form to those of the Isopoda, being either filiform or almost truncate, the general form of these or- gans in the Isopoda, and by no means like those of the Monoculi, which are setaceous and very often dilated in the middle. As in the Isopoda, they are short, being generally about as long as one- half of the breadth of the body. The animals here referred to have a projection from the me- sial line of the carapace, analogous to the rostrum, generally found in the Monoculiy and in the extremity of this rostrum the eye is generally situated. The first segment of the body is in all cases longer than the remaining segments combined, and in some instances the lateral edge is curved inwards and downwards, so as to give it the ap- pearance and form of a carapace. The remaining segments of the body are small, gradually decreasing from the second to the terminal. In several species the terminal abdominal segment is provided with a jointed pedicle on each side, which is armed at the extre- mity with spines, and in some species this structure is exactly similar to Monoculus. The anterior extremities are very short, so much so as not to be seen extending beyond the edge of the body ; generally however one or more joints of the last pair of legs are seen posteriorly. The most striking character in this order of animals is the double extremities, a character common to the Stomapoda and Monoculi as well as this form of Crustaceans. As in Stomapoda the two terminal filaments arise from one common pedicle, the external one being much longer than the internal ; the former also is chelate and three- jointed, the latter four-jointed. The number of joints however in these legs varies. The legs arising from the carapace (first thoracic legs) are not double, or if so, one of the terminal filaments is obsolete. These animals are very active in their habits, and swim about in company with the other forms of the family Pontia. Body depressed as in the Isopoda ; posterior thoracic legs double. Sterope ovalis. Plate XL fig. 11. Rostrum not prominent; antennae unarmed, three- or four- 326 Mr. H. D. S. Goodsir on new species of Crustaceans. jointed. Eye situated behind the rostrum, rhomboid, transverse. Posterior pair of legs showing only one joint from the posterior and lateral edge of the body, armed on the lateral edges with strong spines, the two terminal spines being strongest. Description. — Body ovoid, rather dilated, anteriorly quite smooth. The anterior segment of the body as large as the whole of the remaining segments, and having the lateral edges surrounded with a narrow border. This animal is very active and swims about with great rapidity. It is exceedingly minute, not being larger than a mere point. Sterope armatus. Plate XI. fig. 9. Rostrum very prominent, rounded, and one-third the whole breadth of the body ; antennae six-jointed, and armed at the ex- tremity and on the anterior edge with a series of robust long spines. Eye not apparent. Carrillus oblongus. Plate XI. fig. 13. Rostrum one-eighth the breadth of the whole body, prominent, rounded at the extremity, with the eye very small, and situated almost upon the anterior edge ; anterior edge of body hollowed out on either side of the rostrum. Antennse clavate and eight- jointed, very little longer than half the breadth of the body, un- armed, last joint pointed. Abdominal legs delicate, and armed at the extremities only with one or more spines. Abdominal segments of body taper gradually. Sterope interruptus. Plate XI. fig. 10. Rostrum prominent, one-tenth the breadth of the whole body, pointed. Eye large, and filling almost the whole of the rostrum. Anterior edge of the body hollowed out on either side of the rostrum. Posterior thoracic legs strong, spined, and serrated on the external edges. Three strong short spines arise from each side of the abdominal portion of the body, and a strong pedicle armed with three spines arises from the posterior edge of the last abdominal segment on each side of the mesial line. Zaus spinatus. Plate XL fig. 1. Antennse three-jointed. A spine arises from the anterior edge of the carapace on each side of the mesial line, one from the base of each of the antennse. Abdominal pedicles three-jointed, distal one armed at its extremity with three robust strong spines, the central ones longest. EXPLANATION OF PLATE XL Fig. 1. Zaus spinatus, magnified. Figs. 2, 4, 5, 7, 8. Organs of locomotion. Fig. 6. One of the first antennas. On the Fructification of the genera Clathrus and Phallus. 327 Fig. 9. Sterope armatus. Fig. 10. Sterope interrupliis. Fig. 11. Sferojye ovalis. Fig. 12. Carrillus oblongus. Fig. 13. Second thoracic leg of Carrillus oblongus. ' Fig. 14. First abdominal extremity of Carrillus. Fiff. 16. Second abdominal eictremity. XXXVII. — On the Fructification of the genera Clathrus and Phallus. By M. Maurice Lespiault*. The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, in a notice published in 1839t, described the fructification of Phallus caninusj Huds. [Cyno- phallus caninuSj Fries) ; he demonstrated by delicate observations, that, in this genus, until then wrongly separated from the Hyme- nomycetes, or rather the Basidiosporce of Leveilje, the spores were supported on basidia, as in the Boleti, the Ayarici, and other mushrooms of the same class. Mr. Berkeley thence presumed that an analogous organization must be found in all the Phal- loidece, but no further recent observations had as yet supported this hypothesis. M. Corda, whose analyses have thrown so much light on the intimate structure of Fungi, denies the existence of the basidia in the genus Phallus : " Sporce in strata congestce, muco primumfirmo dein diffluente immerses, simplices, basidia nulla t-'' (Anleitung, The investigations of botaiiists on this subject have not gone further ; the fructification of the genus Clathrus is still more im- perfectly known. Nor can we be surprised, when the analysis of these mushrooms presents such great difficulties, It is, in fact, not sufficient to subject to examination indivi- duals little developed or inclosed in their volva ; the substance which contains the fructiferous organs must be firm and of an almost fleshy consistence. As soon asit has begun to soften^ the spores are displaced, and the basidia disappear. It is moreover very difficult, even with the aid of a perfectly fine-pointed lancet, to remove very thin sections of a mucilage which yields to the slightest pressure : we are therefore obliged, in order to obtain * Translated from the Annates des Sciences Naturelles fur July. — The position which Clathrus cancellatus should occupy in the clq,ss of ihe Ba- sidiosporep, and the mode of insertion of the spores of this curious plant, have been already established by Mr. Leveille, but, notwithstanding the priority and accuracy of the observations of M. Leveille, we think the me- moir of M. Lespiault , who has extended his researches to other plants of the group of the PhalloidccB, will be read with interest. — {F^d. Ann. des Sci, Nat.) f Annals of Natural History, vol. iv. p. 155. X 'I'here is no question here of the Phallus caninns, which h^^ becoqie the type of a new genus. 328 On the Fimdification of the genera Clathms and Phallus. some transparency, to wet the substance subjected to examina- tion ; but then the action of the water detaches a cloud of spores, which immediately obscure the field of the microscope. All these circumstances suffice to explain how the observations of botanists have remained so long without result. If a Clathrus cancellatus still undeveloped is cut vertically, we remark at first externally, a volva composed of two membranes separated by a thick gelatinous layer; immediately under the volva and applied to its interior surface are seen the branches, almost in a rudimentary state, which are subsequently developed, to form the most brilliant part of the mushroom. The interior of the space circumscribed by this network is occupied by a greenish matter, in the centre of which is a small cavity filled with a co- lourless and gelatinous liquid. A microscopical examination is necessary to ascertain the in- timate structure of these various parts of the mushroom. The gelatine of the volva is formed of or intermingled with a great number of anastomosed filaments, sometimes articulated, and terminated by small swellings ; it is divided by a thin membrane into parts completely isolated from one another, and susceptible of separating like the sections of an orange. This arrange- ment makes the volva appear, on the outside, barred into small polygons. The substance of the trellis, of a rose-colour, is solely composed of large, round and perfectly distinct cells : some bo- tanists, deceived by a superficial examination, have imagined that these cells contained a liquid which carried along with it the seeds ; but the branches of the Clathrus are in reality only a sup- port analogous to the stem of the Phallus, and serve solely to prop the greenish substance, the structure of which we proceed to examine. This substance, at first fleshy, then mucilaginous, is composed, as in the Lycoperdons, of sinuous cavities, variously anastomosed, separated from one another by a colom-less zone, and strewed with greenish spores, supported, to the number of four to six, on club- shaped basidia. These basidia, scarcely refracting the light, should be observed with attention to be seen distinctly ; they are sometimes furnished with, and at other times deprived of, sterig- mata, and as they do not rise to the same height, the greenish layer of spores which surrounds the hymenial cavities appears to have a certain thickness. All this fructiferous mass speedily softens, tears into shreds,by the development of the anastomosing branches to which it ad- heres, and deliquesces. The liquid which carries the seeds dif- fuses a well-known cadaverous odour*. * The volva of Clathrus^ on the contrary, exhales a delicious aroma, — a remarkable singularity hitherto unnoticed. Botanical Notices from Java, 329 In the Phallus impudicus, the type of the genus Phallus, there exists, as in the preceding genus, a gelatinous volva, inclosed in two thin membranes, hymenial cavities whose agglomeration forms a mucilaginous mass, and lastly a central axis, which serves, like the branches of the Clathrus, to support the hymenium. The analogy is perfect, and to dilate further on the structure of Phallus would merely be to repeat what we have already said. The organs of fructification deserve however particular notice. The hymenial cavities do not at all differ from those of Clathrus, but they are furnished with spores at least twice as large ; these spores are grouped in fours, fives and sixes, and are undoubtedly supported on basidia, which it is very difficult to isolate and to see distinctly, but the existence of which is evident. The fruc- tiferous substance undergoes the same modifications as in Clathrus; at first adhesive, it afterwards becomes mucilaginous, and in the end deliquesces, forming a liquid of a very disagreeal3le odour. An identical organization already observed in the genus Cyno- phallus ought necessarily to exist in the rest of the Phalloidece and of the ClathraceiB ; it doubtless extends also to the Lysuroidea and to the genus Battarea, which forms a point of transition with the TrichogastrecB. We hope that further observations will confirm these hypo- theses, and throw some light on the structure, so imperfectly known, of the mushrooms belonging to these various groups. XXX VIII. — Journey through Java, descriptive of its Topography and Natural History. By Dr. Fr. Junghuhn*. The present work, by the well-known botanist Dr. Junghuhn, fur- nishes us with the results of the author's great labours in natural history in Java. They are the more interesting, as his descriptions (as might be expected from a botanist) relate especially to vegeta- tion. They are also the more important to the phytographer, as the author has shown himself capable of connecting intimately these de- scriptions with the other natural features of the country ; and thus to present to our minds picturesquely all the details of natural history, and at the same time in a strictly scientific manner. We may also infer, from the ability of the author, that his geognostical and phy- sical investigations possess the greatest accuracy ; from which cir- cumstance, we have in this work a valuable mass of observations in natural history, corresponding to the magnificence of the natural features of Java. It is our intention to give a sketch of this journey as far as our limits will allow, which will be the more easy, as the author charac- terizes episodically every distinct subject in all its relations to na- tural history. * From the Botanische Zeitung, Aug. 29th, 1845. 880 Botanical Notices from Java. Sketch of the environs of Weltevreden and Batavia lying adjacent on the north. Two leagues distant from the sea-coast, these two places He on a plain scarcely 50 or 60 feet high, covered with the richest vegetation, which appears like one large continuous forest when viewed from a height. This large wood consists of a varied mixture of fruit- trees, under whose thick foliage are concealed the buildings and kampongs. If any one expects to see a wilderness or a primitive forest, he finds himself deceived when he enters it and goes amongst the wide- spreading stems of lofty fruit-trees ; one while hemmed in by bushes of the pisang or the sirip plantations (Piper Betle), which creep up the slender stems of the Hyperanthera Moringa, W., or by coffee- bushes and shrubs of Ananas (Bromelia Ananas). Of these trees the most plentiful are Garcinia Mangostana, Man- gifera indica, and other species of this genus, Artocarpus incisa and integrifoUa, Nephelium lappaceum, numerous species of Citrus, Aver- rhoa Bilimbi, Morinda citrifolia, many Eugenice (Jambos), Anona mu- ricata and tuberculata, Persea gratissima, Lansium domesticum, Durio Zibethinus, Carica Papaya, and innumerable cocoa-palms, which are partly scattered among the former, and partly form groups in small copses. More scattered among the rest are Areca communis and the Areng-palms (Gomutus Rumphii), the stem of which is covered by numerous ferns. In the neighbourhood of Weltevreden are also found Tamarindus indica. Citrus decumana and Canarium commune, which form lofty and noble alleys ; on many roads are planted the Morus indica and Hibiscus tiliaceus, a small tree, whose large yellow flowers captivate the eye. The Musa paradisiaca and bamboo bushes (Bambusa arundinacea) may also from their dimensions be reckoned trees. The latter is especially found at the entrance to villages in large clusters and on the banks of rivers, to which it imparts a peculiar physiognomy, uniting the expression of beauty and light- ness with strength. Its slender stalks, as thick as an arm, shoot up to a height of 40 to 60 feet, and interlace themselves into a foliage which forming a vaulted top gives the most agreeable shade. On the sides of the road leading toward Buitenzorg (as on many other roads in Java) is planted the Bixa Orellana, small round trees covered with red hairy fruit, which at a distance give it the appearance of rose-bushes in bloom. The Casuarina equisetifolia is an ornamental garden-plant ; its slender branches are divided like our fir-trees, and here and there are seen upon the tall rounded foliage the beautiful lilac- coloured blossoms of the Lagerstroemia Regince, Rxb. : species of Ixora, Dra- ccena terminalis, Jatropha multifida, &c. adorn the sides of the road. The whole appearance of this luxuriance of thick groups of trees affords an enjoyment which can better be expressed by the pencil than the pen. Let the reader transport himself for example to the shade of a high vaulted Mangifera, drink in the perfume which the flowers of the Uvaria odoratissima, the Michelia Champaca, or the Plumeria obtusa, spread around ; and let him cast a glance upon the Botanical Notices from Java. 331 wood which rises on the other side of the small river : — A young bamboo-bush, crisp and round, borders the water's edge ; then are seen upon a dark ground the light green of the gigantic Pisang- leaves, which rise up from their spongy stems and are slowly moved by the gentle breezes. Behind these the view is closed by the inter- woven foliage of the trees, among which are distinguished by their brilliant foliage numerous species of Citrus, — the Artocarpus incisa by its large serrated leaves, and Bomhax pentandrum by its horizontal branches ; among these rises up the bluish green foliage of the Areng- palm ; but all these trees are surmounted by the crowns of the cocoa- palms, whose gray stems, covered with lichens, rise perpendicularly out of the dark arborescence, and majestically overtop with their lofty summits the rounded foliage of the other trees. Golden fruit, as large as gourds, glitter among their long feathery branches, which rustle gently in the wind. In the woods and plantations of -this kind there remain here and there small open spaces and irrigated rice-fields, lying in the lovely enameled fields pf young grass ; here the Pontederia vaginalis unfolds its azure blossoms. The streets in the town and the arid grass-plots, which occur here and there among the houses, are overgrown with the weeds of species of Sida (S. acuta, retusa, elongata, &c.), by Urena lobata, by some Compositse, also by species of Mercurialis, Celosia, Achyranthes, and by Portulaca oleracea, L. ; between which are here and there hidden upon sandy and stony places the small Portulaca quadrifida, C. In fertile spots, on the borders of the ditches, is found the Heliotropium indicum. The small bushes which above Welte- vreden enliven by their green the margin of «ome rivulets, consist of species of Psidium and Melastoma Malabathricum ; with which are mingled the Mussmnda glabra, V., whose fiery yellow blossoms and milk-white yellow calycine bracts attract the eye of the traveller. [The author here only refers to those plants which characterize the physiognomy of the country and attract attention from their masses.] Woods, properly so called, are no longer found in the im- mediate environs of Batavia ; but we meet with them on the moist, inhospitable sea-shore (even at Anjol), stretching along a great por- tion of the north coast. What the author says of the occurrence of the Fungi in the tro- pics (p. 99) is interesting : They appear under the tropics to be limited to no fixed season of the year. The difference between the temperature in the wet and dry half-year is very small, at least in the mountains, where also in the dry season frequent rains fall. Heat, the first impulse of production of all vegetable life, is there- fore always present ; moisture of the ground, the second thing of importance which the formation of spongy plants requires, also ob- tains from year to year in these primjeval forests, whose thick foliage is never penetrated by the sun's rays. The rich, brown soit, abound- ing in humus, is always soaked and loose and spongy ; the watery particles of the atmosphere, which are precipitated by the coolness at night, and the amount of the exhalated carbonated water, moisten with their dew-drops all the leaves, so that a person can scarcely go Zoological Society. into the wood in the middle of a dry day without being wetted through. Added to all this is the quantity of fallen branches, sticks and whole trunks of trees, which rot upon the ground, and the in- side of which is frequently already converted into rich earth, even if their outer bark has been preserved as a thin and light fragile crust. Thus the outer conditions requisite for the growth and origin of the fungi (heat, moisture, and abundance of decaying organic sub- stances) are always present in the tropical woods ; and indeed we find these woods decorated with manifold forms of fungi throughout the whole year, without its being possible to observe at any parti- cular time a more frequent occurrence, as in the autumn of the tem- perate zones. Even the individual species are limited to no time, and the occurrence of the same species is uninterruptedly continued. On the other hand, the fungi are not found in the tropics in such groups ; they are less sociable than in our climate, where in autumn they principally enliven the woods. They here occur more scattered and isolated, although found at every period of the year ; and it is the parasitic Polypori, which are especially numerous on the branches of the trees, that delight the eye by their brilliant colours. In cen- tral Europe the Agarici terrestres prevail, and determine the physi- ognomy of an autumnal wood. [To be continued.] PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. May 13, 1845. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. " Descriptions of new species of Land Shells, from the collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq.," by Dr. Louis PfeifFer : — 1. Helix geandis, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, glohoso-turUnatd, solidd, ponderosd, striatd, nigricanti-rufd, epidermide griseo- fuscescente fasciatim ohductd ; spird conicd, apice pallidd ; an- fractihus 6 vix convexiuscuUs, ultimo spird breviore, basi inflato, fortius striata ; columelld verticali, brevi, subtortd ; aperturd late lunari, intus margaritaced ; peristomate nigricante, late expanso, margine basali incrassato, rejlexo, cum columellari valde dilatato, albido angulum obtusum formante. Diam. 68 ; alt. 58 mill. Found at Bangui, province of North Ilocos, island of Luzon, by H. Cuming, Esq. 2. Helix Gmeliniana, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, globoso- depressd, soliduld, irregulariter rugoso-malleatd, carinatd, nitidd, pallide viridi, ad suturam et infra carinam albo-cingulatd ; spird subelevatd, apice obtusd, albidd ; anfractibus 4^ vix convexiuscuUs, sensim accrescentibus, ultimo non descendente, basi planiusculd ; aperturce angulato-lunari ; peristomate subincrassato, margine su- pero breviter expanso, antrorsum arcuato, basali rejlexo, columel- lari declivi, dilatato, albo-calloso. Diam. 23; alt. 13 mill. Found at Bayambong, island of Luzon, by H. Cuming, Esq. Zoological Society, 333 3. Helix Linn^ana, Pfr. Hel, testd umbilicatd, depressd, utrin- que convexiusculd, acute carinatd, pallide fulvd, superne rugoso- malleatd, basi minute et oblique rugulosd ; anfractibus 5^ lente ac- crescentibus , planulatis, ultimo basi subinflato, antice vix descen- dente ; umbilico majusculo, cylindrico ; aperturd angulato-lunari, ad carinam canaliculatd ; peristomate incrassato, carneo, margini- bus callo Junctis, supero brevi, expanso, basali arcuate, reflexo, columellari breviter descendente, subdilatatd. Diam. 62 ; alt. 28 mill. Locality unknown. Mus. Cuming. 4. Helix Chemnitziana, Pfr. Hel. testd imper/oratd, depressd, solidd, superne radiatim plicato-malleatd, undique granulosd, sub epidermide olivaceo-rufd, acute carinatd ; spird subelevatd, obtusd ; anfractibus 5 planis, ultimo basi convexo ; aperturd subtriangulari, intus nitidd, earned; peristomate carneo, margine supero subex- panso, basali reflexo, dente unico valido instructo, columellari stricto, dilatato, adpresso, incequaliter pluridentato. Diam. 57 ; alt. 26 mill. Locality unknown. Mus. Cuming. 5. Helix Bainbridgii, Pfr. HeL testd umbilicatd, depressd, sub' discoided, solidd, striata, undique granulatd, cinna?nomed, basi pallidd; spird vix elevatd, obtusd; anfractibus 5\ planis, ultimo rotundato, basi vix convexo ; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-subtrian- gulari, intus nitidd, earned; peristomate subincrassato, carneo, marginibus callo junctis, supero late expanso, basali reflexo, dente unico, valido, complanato instructd, columellari perdilatato , umbi^ licum mediocrem semi-occultante. Diam. 64 ; alt. 26 mill. Found at Demerara by Mr. Bainbridge. Mus. Cuming. 6. Helix Martiniana, Pfr. Hel. testd obteste perforaid, discoided, acut^ carinatd, solidd, striatd et minutissime granulatd, olivaceo- fuscd; spird depressd; anfractibus 5 planulatis, ultimo non de- scendente, basi inflato, antice profunde scrobiculato ; aperturd depressd, late angulato-lunari, intus laded ; peristomate albo, in- crassato, marginibus callo tenui junctis, supero expanso, basali reflexo, dentibus 2 conjunctis, columellari dilatato, dentibus 2 in- aqualibus armato. Diam. 34; alt. 14 mill. From the island of Jamaica. Mus. Cuming. 7. Helix Schroeteriana, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, depressd, lenticulari, acute carinatd, solidd, obsolete granulatd, luteold, utrinque rufo-latefasciatd ; spird subelevatd; anfractibus 5 planu- latis, ultimo antice deflexo, basi inflato, antice profunde scrobicu- lato ; aperturd subhorizontali, ellipticd ; peristomate incrassato, lat^ expanso, reflexo, fusco-carneo, marginibus callo junctis, supero leviter arcuato, basali dilatato, umbilicum angustum semitegente, intus d-4-dentato ; dentibus 2 majoribus basi junctis, 1-2 minori- bus propl columellam. SSi Zoological Society. Diam. 31; alt. 14mill. From the island of Jamaica ; Mr. P. Gosset. Mus. Cuming. Intermediate between H. tridentina, Fer., and H, Martiniana, Pfr. The position of the teeth is the same, but from the former it is at once to be distinguished by the sharp keel, from the latter by the deflexion of the last whorl. 8. Helix Bruguieriana, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, turUnato- globosd, solidd, nigro-castaned, epidermide hydrophand, fused stri- gatd, sursum pallescente ohductd ; spird conoided, apice ohtusd, purpured, nitidd; anfractihus 5 convexiusculis, ultimo non descen- dente, bast vix convexo, denudato ; columelld intrante, ohliqud, strictiusculd, planatd, alba ; operturd lunato-ovali, intus lacted; peristomate simplice, brevissime reflexiusculo, intus nigro-margi- nato. Diam. 29 ; alt. 24 mill. Collected on the island of Tablas by H. Cuming, Esq. 9. BuLiMus GiLvus, Sow. Bul. testd imperforatd, ovatd, soliduld, striatd, sub epidermide gilvd rufescens ; spird apice obtusd, nudd, pallidd ; anfractibus 6 convexis, ultimo spird paulh breviore ; volu- melld strictiusculd y albd, subexcavatd ; aperturd obliqud, lunato- ovali, intus lacted; peristomate subincrassato, breviter reflexo, margine dextro arcuato, columellari adpresso. Long. 54 ; diam, 38 mill. Collected in several varieties on the island of Bohol, by H. Cu- ming, Esq. Geomelania, nov. gen. Testa imperforata, turrita ; apertura integra, effusa ; peristoma sim- plex, reflexum, ad basin appendiculo porrecto instructum. 10. Geomelania jamaicensis, Pfr. Geom. testd iruncatd, ttirritd, arcuatim costatd, nitidd, albd; anfractibus 6 convexis, ultimo ^ longitudinis sub^equante ; aperturd ovali, intus nitidd; peristo- mate simplice, margine dextro sinuoso, basi in appendiculum lingui- formem porrecto, columellari adpresso. Long. 12 ; diam. 4 mill. Found at Jamaica, " Savanah la Mar," under stones in earth, by M. Attanasio. Mus. Cuming. 11. Tomogeres turbinatus, Pfr. Tom. testd rimatd, compresso- turbinatd, tenui, lavissime striatuld, pallide corned, nitiduld ; spird turbinatd, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 5 convexis, ultimo spiram vix €dquante, d latere compresso, basi subangulato, antice adscendente, subtils constricto, scrobiculato ; aperturd verticali, subauriformi, fete clausd ; peristomate late expanse, tenui, margine dextro ar- cuato, interne lamind validd, superne bifidd, munito, basali oblique descendente, trident ato ; pariete aperturali lamellis 3 imequalibus armato. Diam. maj. 11, min, 7 J ; alt. 10 mill. Hob. In BrasiM. This interesting shell is nearly allied with Tomogeres clausus, Spix, Zoological Society. 335 but easily to be distinguished by the substance of its shell, by the raised spire and the thin peristome, characters quite constant in all specimens known. May 27. — William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. Gould exhibited to the Meeting four new species of Birds from Australia, which he characterized as follows : — Ardea (Herodias) picata. Ard. capite superiore^ occipite, pin- mis occipitalibus, corpora superiore, caudd, alisque cceruleo-nigris ; mento, nucha, pectore, et quibusdam plumis apectore dependentibns albis. Upper part of the head, occiput, occipital plumes, the whole of the plumage of the body, wings and tail bluish slaty black ; chin, neck, chest and some of the lanceolate feathers dependent therefrom white ; some few of the lanceolate feathers on the neck and breast have one web white and the other web bluish slaty black ; the remainder of these lanceolate feathers are the same colour as the body ; irides yellow ; bill, legs and i^et greenish yellow. In young specimens the whole of the under surface is white. Total length, 17 inches ; bill, 3J ; wing, 10 ; tail, 3|- ; tarsi, 3J. Hab. Port Essington. Colluricincla parvula. Col. corpore superiore, caudd, alisque olivaceo-brunneis ; subtus pallide cervind ; medio plumarum gulce et pectoris vittd latd brunned ornato. All the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown ; a feint line over the eye and the chin white ; all the under surface pale buff, the feathers of the throat and breast with a broad stripe of brown down the centre ; irides dark brownish red ; bill blackish grey ; tarsi bluish grey. Total length, 7 inches; bill, 1 ; wing, 4 ; tail, 3J; tarsi, 1. Hab. Port Essington. This is the smallest species of the genus yet discovered. Melithreptus melanocephalus. Mel. toto capite, guld, et ma- culd semilunari apud latera pectoris saturate nigris ; corpore su- perne flavo-olivaceo pectore albo. The whole of the head and throat, and a semilunar mark on either side of the chest, deep glossy black ; all the upper surface yellowish olive, becoming brighter on the rump ; wings and tail brownish grey, with lighter margins ; breast white ; remainder of the under surface greyish white ; bill black ; irides reddish brown ; feet brown ; bare skin over the eye pearly white, slightly tinged with green. Total length, 5;^ inches ; bill, -^ ; wing, 3 ; tail, 2f ; tarsi, J. Hab. Van Diemen's Land. Hemipodius scintillans. Hem. corpore supernt pallide castaneo, singulis plumis fasciis latis brunneo-nigris ornatis ; marginibus plumarum cinereis ; intra margines lineis angustis nigris et albis ornatis; tectricibus alarum et tertiariis pallide castaneo -rvbris balteis irregular ibus ziczac fasciatis ; inter spatiis balteorum cine- reo-albis ; mento genisque albis macula semilunari brunned ad 336 Zoological Society, apicem singula plumce ; peat ore et corpore inferiore pallida cervino- albis ; plumis pectoris ordine macularum saturate grisearum ad marginem ornatis. Upper surface light chestnut-red, all the feathers crossed by broad bars of brownish black and margined with grey, within which are two narrow lines of black and white ; wing- coverts and tertiaries light chestnut-red, crossed by irregular zigzag bars of black, the in- terspaces margined externally with greyish white ; chin and sides of the face white, with a narrow crescent-shaped mark of brown at the tip of each feather ; sides of the breast chestnut, each feather tipped with white, within which is an indistinct mark of deep black ; chest and under surface pale buffy white, the feathers of the chest with a row of dark grey spots on each margin, giving that part a speckled appearance; primaries brown, narrowly edged with white; irides reddish orange ; feet yellow ; bill horn- colour. Total length, male, 5 inches ; bill, W ; wing, Z\ ; tarsi, W. Fe- male, 6 inches ; bill, j ; wing, SJ ; tarsi, |. Hah. Houtmann's Abrolhos, oif the western coast of Australia. Remark. — Like the rest of the genus, the male is much inferior in size to the female. The species is very nearly allied to, but much smaller than, Hemipodius varius. " Description of twenty- two new species of Land- Shells, belong- ing to the collection of Mr. H. Cuming," by Dr. L. Pfeiffer : — • 1. Helix Gruneri, Pfr. Hel. testd umhilicatd, depressd, superri^ planiusculd, minutissim^ punctato-striatd, rufd; anfractibus 5^ sensim crescentibus, planiusculis, ultimo rotundato, antice vix de- fiexo ; umbilico angusto, pervio ; aperturd subverticali, depressd, late lunari; peristomate incrassato, rejlexo, marginihus callo tenui, superne dentem arcuatum, validum, callosumformantejunctis. Diam. 38, alt. 18 mill. Locality unknown. A beautiful shell, next allied to H. unguicula, De Ferussac, differing by the strong and arcuated tooth on the body pf the penultimate whorl. 2. Helix Okeniana, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, orbiculari, utrinque convexiusculd, obtuse carinatd, undique regulariter gra^ nulatd, superne fused, basi pallidd ; anfractibus 5^ rotundato^ planatis, ultimo antice deflexo, basi profunde biscrobiculato ; aper- turd subhorizontali, ellipticd, coarctatd ; peristomate carneo-fusco, incrassato, marginihus callo junctis, supero expanse, basali reflexo, tridentato ; dentibus cequidistantihus, 2 minoribus prope columellam, tertio major e superne sulcato. Diam. 37, alt. 17 mill. Found on the island of Jamaica at Savannah la Mar, by M. Atta- nasio. To be distinguished from H. lucerna, Miill., by having three teeth at the basal margin of the aperture. 3. Helix neogranatensis, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, carinatd, tenui, undique minute granulosa, saturate rufd; spird vix elevatd ; anfractibus 4^ planiusculis, ultimo basi convexo, an- Zoological Society, 337 tice deflexo, constrict o ; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-rotundatd ; peristomate cameo, simplice, expanse, rejiexiusculo, marginibus callo tenui junctis, basali obsoletissime unidentato, columellari brevi, dilatato, adpresso, Diam. 34, alt. 15 mill. Found in the mountain Quendeu at New Granada. 4. Helix cinerascens, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, globoso-tur- binatd, tenuiusculd, stramined, fasciis 2 latis et area basali nigri- cantibus ornatd, epidermide tenui, hydrophand, cinered, obductd ; spird breviter turbinatd, apice obtusd ; anfractibus 5^ convexlus- culis, ultimo basi injlato ; columelld subarcuatd, carneo-fuscd ; aperturd r otundato -lunar i, intus alba; peristomate breviter ex- panse, subincrassato, castaneo-limbato. Diam. 41, alt. 37 mill. Found by H. Cuming, Esq. at the island of Masbate. 5. Helix Turbo, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, turbinatd, solidius- culd, distincte striatd, sub epidermide tenuissimd, decidud, flaves- cente albd, medio rufo-fasciatd; spird brevi, conoided, obtusd; anfractibus 5 convexis, ultimo obsolete angulato, basi vix convexo ; columelld strictd, dilatatd, albidd ; aperturd irregulariter lunari ; peristomate expanse, margine columellari dilatato, reflexo, rimam formante, cum basali angulatim juncto . Diam. 43, alt. 35 mill. Hab. Isle of Mindoro. 6. Helix unicolor, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, depressd, acute cart- natd, tenui, fused, superne subtiliter striatd, subths lineis nonnullis spiralibus elevatis munitd; spird depresso-conoided ; anfractibus 5 planiusculis, sensim accrescentibus , ultimo antice non descendente, basi convexo, ad umbilicum angustum abrupte angulato ; aperturd rhomboided ; peristomate saturate fusco, marginibus callo tenuis- simo Junctis, supero dilatato, expanse, basali ascende?it€, stride, columellari brevi, dilatato, umbilicum semi-occultante, cum basali angulatim juncto. Diam. 32, alt. 16 mill. Locality unknown. Constantly distinguished from H. Xyster a, Valenc, by its narrow umbilicus, elevated spire, and the number of its whorls. 7. Helix omphalodes, Pfr. Hel. testd late umbilicatd, depressd, solidd, leviter striatuld, sub epidermide flavescente, decidud albd, ad peripheriam et suturam rufo-cingulatd ; spird vix convexd ; an- fractibus 5 planiusculis, ultimo antice vix descendente, basi paulh cenvexiore, circa umbilicum magnum, spiralem, intus castaneum subcompresso ; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-ovali ; peristomate bre- viter refiexo, fusco, marginibus conniventibus. Diam. 41, alt. 16 mill. Locality unknown. 8. Helix involuta, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, su- perne convexiusculd, basi planiusculd, medio impressd, tenuissimdt Ann, ^ Mag. N, Hist. Vol, xvi. 2 B Zoological Society. striatuld, nitidissimd, corned, fusco-radiatd ; anfractibus plane in- volutis, ultimo antice oblique depresso ; aperturd depressd, lunato- oblongd; peristomate simplice, recto, marginibus utrinque centre testa insertis, dextro antrorsum arcuato-dilatato. Diam. 18, alt. 1\ mill. Found on the mountains of Quendeu in New Granada. 9. Helix campanula, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, globosd, solidd, subtiliter et regulariter obliquh siriatd, castaned ; spird semiglo- bosd, apice obtuso, pallido ; anfractibus 4^ convexius cults, ultimo antecedente vix latiore, antice vix descendente, inedio pallide cin- gulato ; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-ovali, intus livesccnte ; peri- stomate fusco, subincrassato, breviter reflexo, marginibus callo junctis, basali introrsum obsolete albo-unidentato, extrorsum dila- tato, umbilicum angustum, profundum semi-occultante. Diam. 27, alt. 21 mill. Locality unknown. 10. Helix labiata, Pfr. Hel. testd aperte perforatd, depressd, tenui, striatuld, superne lineis concentricis obsolete decussatd, bast lavigatd, nitidd,fulvd; spird planiusculd ; anfractibus 6 subpla- nulatis, ultimo dilatato, depresso ; aperturd late lunari ; peristomate acuto, intus calloso-labiato, margine supero antrorsum rotundato, basali plane arcuato, columellari vix reflexiusculd. Diam. 40, alt. 20 mill. Locality unknown. Distinguished from H. citrina, Linn., by the concentrical strise, the number of its whorls, and the callus within the aperture. 11. Helix Hanleyi, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, depressd, len- ticulari, acute carinatd, tenui, subtilissime decussatd, nitidd, sul- phured, adsuturam et carinam albo-fasciatd ; spira parum elevatd ; anfractibus 4 subplanulatis, ultimo antice angulatim defiexo, con- stricto ; aperturd parvuld, horizontali, oblongd ; peristomate sim- plice, undique expanse et reflexo, marginibus fere contiguis. Diam. 19, alt. 9 mill. (3. Testd superne nigricanti-purpured, ad aperturam albo-fasciatd, basi albidd, infra carinam castaneo-fasciatd. Found by Mr. Cuming at Sinait, island of Luzon. This fine shell is not unlike some varieties of the Hel. bfasciata. Lea, but constantly to be distinguished from that species by the angular deflection of its last whorl and by the shape of its small aperture. 12. Helix amcena, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, globoso-depressd, lineis longitudinalibus et spiralibus sub lente decussatd, albidd, fascia unicd spadiced supra peripheriam et lined rufd, suturali ornatd ; anfractibus 4 vix convexiusculis, ultimo obsolete angulato, antice deflexo, basi parum convexd ; aperturd transverse lunari- oblongd, intus concolore ; peristomate simplice, marginibus sub- parallelis, dextro expanse, basali antice reflexo, ad columellam dilatato, adpresse reflexo. Diam. 18, alt. 10^ mill. Found by Mr. Cuming at Catanauan, island of Luzon. This spe- Zoological Society. 339 cies is likewise similar to several unkeeled varieties of Hel. hifasciata, but by examining a large number of specimens of this and the other ones, I found the above characters to be invariably constant. 13. Helix Metcalfii, Pfr. Hel. testd late umhilicatd, depressd, discoided, acute carinatd, striatuld, pallide vel rufescenti-corned, utrinque juxta carinam albam castaneo-unifasciatd; spird vix ele- vatd ; anfractibus 6 vix convexiusculis, ultimo antice vix descen- dente ; aperturd subtriangulari ; peristomate simplice, margine supero antrorsum arcuatim dilatato, depresso, basali ad columellam leviter arcuato. Diam. 21, alt. 7 mill. /3. Minor, flavida, lineis angustis nigricanti-rufis juxta carinam, Diam. 17, alt. 5^ mill. y. Unicolor , f us CO- cornea. Diam. 15, alt. 5 mill. Found by Mr. Cuming on the Philippine Islands and at Sibonga, island of Zebu ; /3. at Tanhay, island of Negros ; y. on the island of Siquijor. Distinguished from all species belonging to the same group by its flattened shape. 14. Helix tristis, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, ovato-globosd, tenui, striatd, lineis concentricis obsolete decussatd, olivaceo-fuscd, rufo 5 -fasciatd ; spird parvuld, conoided ; anfractibus 4 convexi- usculis, ultimo inflato ; aperturd lunato-ovali, intus nitidd ; peri-' stomate simplice, recto, margine columellari dilatato, reflexo, ad- presso. Diam. 21, alt. 18 mill. This species is said to be found in Sicily, but there may be a mistake. 15. Helix Adamsii, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, orbiculato-con- vexiusculd, leviter striatuld, nitidissimd,fulvescenti-luted, unicolore velfasciis saturate fulvis et castaneis multimode ornatd et radiatd ; spird convexiusculd, obtusd ; anfractibus 3j-4 vix convexiusculis, ultimo basi planiore ; aperturd rotundato-lunari ; peristomate sim- plice, acuto, margine columellari subobliquo, dilatato, albo. Diam. 12, alt. 6^ mill. Hab. Pitcairn's Island and Opara. Collected by Mr. Cuming. The late patriarch of the island pointed out this shell to Mr. Cu- ming, and at his request I have the pleasure to dedicate it to the venerable man's memory. 16. Helix bahamensis, Pfr. Hel. testd angust^ umbilicatd, de- pressd, tenui, corned, costulato-striatd. ; spird brevi, convexiusculd ; anfractibus 4| vix convexiusculis, ultimo antic'P deflexo ; aperturd subhorizontali, transverse ovali ; peristomate simplice, tenui, mar- ginibus approximaiis, supero breviter expanso, basali reflexo, intus dente triangulari, valido munito, columellari dilatato, reflexo, um- bilicum angustum, pervium semitegente. Diam. 17, alt. 7^ mill. Hab. Bahamas. 17. Helix bermudensis, Pfr. HeL testd umbilicatd, lenticulari, 2B2 340 Zoological Society, tenuiusculd, carinatd, leviter ruguloso-striatd, pallide fulvescenie, cingulo castaneo supra et latiore infra carinam ornatd ; anfractibus 7 vix convexiusculis, lente accrescentibus ; umbilico angusto,pervio; aperturd subtrapezid ; peristomate simplice, recto, margine colu- mellari vertically brevi, rejiexiusculo, cum basali unguium rectum formante. Diam. 19, alt. lO^mill. Hab. Bermuda. 18. Helix Pennantiana, Pfr. Hel. testd anguste umbilicatd, or- biculato-conoided, acute carinatd, tenui, striatuld, irregulariter et leviter malleatd, unicolore earned, apice rufescente ; anfractibus 5 j vix convexiusculis, ultimo antice vix descendente, basi planius- culo ; aperturd perobliqud, angulato-lunari, intus albd ; peristomate roseo, late expanso, margine basali reflexo, columellari brevi, strictiusculo , dilatato, umbilicum fere tegente. Diam. 37, alt. 20 mill. Hab. Philippine Islands ? Nearly allied to H. labium, Fer,, from which it may easily be di- stinguished by its sharp keel and sculpture. 19. BuLiMus Leopardus, Pfr. BuL testd imperforatd, ovatd, soli- diusculd, longitudinaliter confertim costulato-striatd, fulvd, strigis et maculis albidis epidermidis hydrophanoi eleganter variegatd ; spird brevi, conoided, sursum pallescente ; anfractibus 5 convexis, rapide accrescentibus, ultimo spiram superante ; columelld elongatd, introrsum acutd; aperturd amplissimd, rotundato-ovali, intus albd; peristomate late expanso, rejiexiusculo, castaneo-limbato. Long. 47, diam. 30 mill. Hab. Isle of Mindanao, Philippine Islands. 20. BuLiMus egregius, Pfr. Bui. testd perf or atd,fusiformi, soli- duld, striis longitudinalibus confertis et lineis spiralibus remotio- ribus subdecussatd, nitidd, fiammis castanets pellucidis etfulvis, opacis egregie pictd ; anfractibus 6 vix convexiusculis, ultimo spi- ram turritam cBquante, basi cotnpresso ; columelld subangulato- arcuatd ; aperturd oblongd, utrinque acutd, intus lividd ; peristo- mate vivide rubro, late expanso, breviter refiexo, basi canaliculato, marginibus callo tenui junctis . Long. 41, diam. 15 mill. Locality unknown. Distinguished from B. goniostoma. Sow., by its size, colouring and widely expanded peristome. 21. BuLiMUS canaliculatus, Pfr. Bui. testd umbilicatd, oblique fusiformi, ruguloso-striatd, nitidd, albido, cameo et spadiceo mar- moratd ; spird turrito-conicd, acutd; anfractibus 7 vix convexius- culis, ultimo spird vix longiore, basi valde constricto-carinato ; columelld arcuatim antrorsum elongatd ; aperturd ovali, basi cana- liculatd; peristomate simplice, tenui, margine dextro vix expansi- usculo, columellari dilatato, reflexo. Long. 37, diam. 14 mill. Hab. Bolivia. 22. BuLiMus CASTANEUs, Pfr. Bui. testd vix perforatd, ovato- Zoological Society. 341 acuminatd, solidiusculd, longitudinaliter confertim striatd, lineis spiralihus distantioribus decussatd, unicolore castaned ; spird brevi, conicd, acutiusculd ; anfractibus 4 J vix convexiuscuUs, ultimo in- fiato, 2-3 longitudinis subcequante ; columelld tenui, subsimpiice ; aperturd ovali, intus saturate fused, nitidd ; peristomate vix in- crassato, brevissime reflexo, marginibus callo tenui junctis, colu- mellari vix dilatato. Long. 70, diam. 39 mill. Hab. Nova Granada ; Vegas on the river Quendeu. Nearly allied to Bui. Gibbonius, Lea ; distinguished by its trans- verse striae, closed umbilicus, peristome, etc. " Description of a new species of Amphipeplea," by Dr. L. PfeifFer. The shell I am describing belongs to the genus of freshwater shells distinguished by Nilsson from Limneeus under the name of Amphipeplea, and sufficiently characterized by the shape and habits of its animal, perfectly agreeing with our new species, according to Mr. Cuming's information, who first discovered it, and by whose name I am pleased to illustrate the species. Amphipeplea Cumingiana, Pfr. Amph. testd ovato-globosd, tenu- issimd, longitudinaliter confertim, striatuld, nitidissimd, pellucidd, pallide corned; spird brevissimd, mucronulatd, callo tenui semi- obtectd; columelld nulld; margine anfractuum interno arcuato, appendice membranaceo (deciduo) munito ; aperturd amplissim,d, semi-ovali, margine supero br^eviter arcuato, patente. Long. 30, diam. 22 mill. ; apertura 26 mill, longa. Found at Naga, province of South Camerines, island of Luzon, by H. Cuming, Esq. June 10. — Rev. John Barlow in the Chair. ** Descriptions of twenty-two new species of Helix, from the col- lections of Miss Saul, — Walton, Esq., and H. Cuming, Esq.," by Dr. Louis PfeifFer : — L Helix PACHYSTYLA, Pfr. Hel. testd imperf or aid, globosd,soliddy ponderosd, striatd, lineis concentricis decussatd, albd, epidermide sordide viridi, nigricanti-radiatd indutd; spird brevi ; anfractibus 5 celeriter accrescentibus, ultimo globoso, antice breviter deflexo ; columelld obliqud, dilatatd, callosd, albd, obsolete et late uniden- tatd ; aperturd irregulariter lunato-rotundatd, intus lacted; peri- stomate recto, intus subincrassato, margine basali reflexiusculo. Diam. 43. alt. 37 mill. Locality, New Zealand. Similar to H. pomum, Pfr., from which it may be distinguished by its transverse strise, and by being quite imperforate. (Coll. Metcalfe.) 2. Helix euryomphala, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, orbiculato- convexd, tenui, pellucidd, virenti- corned, superne regulariter costu- lato-striatd, lineis concentricis obsolete decussatd, basi remotius striatd, nitidissimd; spird parum elevatd, obtusd ; anfractibus 6 convexiusculis, ultimo dilatato, subdepresso, antice non descendente ; 343 Zoological Society. umbilico magna, pervio ; aperturd oblique lunato-ovali, intus mar- garitaced ; peristomate recto, simplice, marginibus conniventibus. Diam. 37, alt. 17 mill. Locality, Cuba. To be distinguished from H. laxata, Fer., by the number of its whorls, forming a more elevated spire, by the last whorl not deflected and less dilated, &c. (Coll. Cuming.) 3. Helix micans, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, globosd, tenui, fragili, striatuld, lineis confertissimis obsolete decussatd, diaphand, albidd ; spird parvuld ; anfractibus 4 planiusculis, rapide accres- centibus, ultimo inflato ; columelld tenui, intrante, excavatd ; aper- turd rotundatO'lunari ; peristomate simplice, recto, margine dextro antrorsum subarcuato. Diam. 28, alt. 19 mill. Found at S. Juan, province of Cagayan, island of Luzon, on bushes, by H. Cuming, Esq. This shell might easily be taken for an enormous species of Vitrina, 4. Helix Forbesii, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, discoided, tenui, oblique confertim striatd, unicolore rufd ; spird planiusculd ; an- fractibus 5 convexis, ultimo basi convexiore, antice vix descen- dente, obtuse angulato, superne obsolete impresso ; umbilico magno, spirali ; aperturd per obliqud, rotundato-lunari ; peristomate sim- plice, acuto, albido-carneo, intus subincrassato, margine supero late expanse, basali reflexo, columellari subdilatato. Diam. 41, alt. 14 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Walton.) 5. Helix rubicunda, Pfr. Hel. testd perforatd, depresse turbi- natd, rugoso-striatd, obsolete et minutissime granulatd, subepider- mide corned, decidud rubicundd; anfractibus ^^ subplanulatis , ultimo medio obtuse angulato, basi convexiore ; aperturd oblique lunari ; peristomate simplice, recto, margine dextro antrorsum subdilatato, columellari dilatato, reflexo, perf or ationem semi-occul- tante. Diam. 27, alt. 15 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Walton.) 6. Helix Sauli^, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, globoso-depressd, solidiusculd, oblique striatd, fulvidd, medio fascid unicd albd, utrinque rufo-marginatd ornatd ; spird brevi, obtusd ; anfractibus 4 vix convexiusculis, ultimo basi subplanato, antice subith deflexo, circa umbilicum angustum, pervium rufo; aperturd perobliqud, lunato-ovali ; peristomate breviter reflexo, marginibus conniventi- bus, callo tenui junctis, columellari castaneo, valde dUatato, umbili- cum fere occultante. Diam. 32, alt. 20 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Cuming, et Saul.) 7. Helix rhombostoma, Pfr. Hel. testd imperforatd, trochiformi, tenuiusculd, oblique striatuld, lineis confertissimis concentricis subdecussatd, nitiduld, albido-fulvescente,fasciis castaneis plurimis Zoological Society, 343 ornatd ; spird brevi, conicd, apice acuta ; anfractibus 5 planius- cutis, ultimo acute carinato, basi vix convexo, antice pariim defiexo, d latere subcompresso ; aperturd rhombed ; peristomate violaceo, margine supero expanso, superne impresso, columellari stricto, di- latato, piano, adpresso. Diam. 28, alt. 15 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Saul, et Metcalf.) 8. Helix planissima, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, depressissimd, lenticulari, tenui, utrinque oblique rugoso-costatd, albidd, subtHs interdum corneo-fasciatd ; anfractibus 5\ convexiusculis, acute carinatis (carind compressd, prominente, serratd), ultimo antice vix descendente, basi convexiore, circa umbilicum mediocrem, spiralem subangulato ; aperturd depressd, angulato-lunari ; peristom.ate sini' plice, margine basali plane arcuato, rejlexo, Diam. 11^, alt. 4| mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Walton.) Similar to H. amanda, Rossm., from which it may be distinguished by its thin and flattened shell, its umbilicus, and the peristome not thickened. 9. Helix filicosta, Pfr. Hel. testd subobtecte per/or atd, depressO' globosd, regulariter costatd (costis Jili/ormibus), tenuiusculd, car- neo -albidd, lineisfuscis obsoletis cinctd; anfractibus 4\ convexis, ultimo antice deflexo ; aperturd lunato • orbicular i ; peristomate acuto, intus subincrassato, labiato, marginibus conniventibus, callo introrsum diffusa roseo junctis, dextro vix expanso, columellari dilatato, reflexo, roseo. Diam. 14, alt. 9 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Saul.) 10. Helix retifera, Pfr. Hel. testd umbilicatd, obtuse trochi- formi, striato-plicatuld, lineis nonnullis concentricis clevatis reti- culata, carinatd, diaphand, pallide corned; spird elevatd, obtusd ; anfractibus 6^ planiusculis, ultimo basi subplanulato, striata ; umbilico mediocri, pervio ; aperturd depressd, securiformi ; peri- stomate simplice, acuto, margine supero brevi, basali plane arcuato. Diam. 7, alt. 4 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Metcalf.) 11. Bulimus Grayanus, Pfr. Bui. testd gracili, turritd, soliduld, longitudinaliter subtilissime striatd et lineis impressis spiralibus subdecussatd, cinnamomed ; spird turritd, apice valde attenu- atd; anfractibus 6 vix convexiusculis, ultimo ^ longitudinis sub- cequante, antice deflexo, soluto, dorso et basi carinato, lateribus scrobiculato ; aperturd angustd, oblongd, basi canaliculatd ; peri- stomate simplice, undique expanso, dentibus 7 marginem non attin- gentibus armato ; 3 in latere dextro, 4 in sinistra, summo tuber- culiformi, secundo valido, lamelliformi. Long. 35, diam. 11 mill. Locality, Brazils. Nearly allied to Bui. adontostoma. Sow., but quite distinct from the two varieties figured by Ferussac. (Coll. Cuming.) 344 Zoological Society, 12. BuLiMus coARCTATus, Pfr. Bul. testdriniato-perforatd, ovato- acutd, solidd, albidd, lineis interruptis, fiiscis cingulatd; spird conicd, acutd; anfractihus 6^ planulatis, ultimo convexiore, spiram ccquante ; aperturd angustd, oblongd^ coarctatd ; columella incras- satu, tuber culatd ; peristomate late expanso, margine dcxtro in- trorsum incrassato, acute prominente, medio sinuolato, cum colu- mellari dilatato, reflexo, patente angulatim Juncto, Long. 34, diam. 17 mill. Locality unknown. Nearly allied to B. signatus, Desh. 13. BuLiMUS Deshayesii, Pfr. Bul. testd umbilicatd, turritd, so- lidd, striatuld, violascenti-albd, strigis et maculis violascenti-fuscis irregulariter signatd ; suturd subcrenulatd ; anfractibus 9 vix convexiusculis, ultimo ^ longitudinis subcequante ; columelld sub- recta ; aperturd ovali, intus violaced ; peristomate simplice, recto, margine columellari dilatato, fornicatim reflexo, rimam umbilica- rem non occultante. Long. 45, diain. 15 mill. Locality unknown. (Coll. Cuming.) 14. BuLiMUS Thompsonii, Pfr. Bul. testd imperforatd, ovato- oblongd, soliduld, longitudinaliter striatd, fusco-olivaced ; spird conicd, apice obtusd, rubrd ; anfractibus 6, supremis planulatis, purpureo-strigatis, ultimo spiram cequante ; suturd albo-marginatd, crenulatd; columelld rectd (non tortd), leviter arcuatd ; aperturd oblongo-ovali, intus lividd ; peristomate subincrassato, recto, intus nigro-limbato, marginibus callo castaneo junctis, basali cum colu- melld basin attingente subangulatim juncto. Long. 70, diam. 31 mill. Locality, Quito. (Coll. Cuming.) Nearly allied to B. Taunaysii. 15. BuLiMus SiQuiJORENSis, Pfr. Bul. testd imperforatd, ovatO" oblongd, tenui, fulvd, epidermide pallide fused elegantissime mar- moratd et flammatd ; spird conicd, obtusd, apice nudd, rufescente ; anfractibus 6 vix convexiusculis, ultimo spird vix breviore, sub- angulato ; columelld subtortd, longitudinaliter biangulatd, intror- sum acutd; aperturd oblong o-subpyriformi, intus albidd ; peristo- mate tenui, breviter expanso, margine dextro deorsum dilatato, basali cum columellari unguium obsoletum formante. Long. 52, diam. 25 mill. Locality, island of Siquijor (Philippines). Collected by Mr. Cu- ming. 16. Achatina semisculpta, Pfr. Achat, testd tenui, ovato-elongatd, longitudinaliter regulariter striata, fuscescenti-albidd, strigis ful- gurantibus rufis pictd; spird conicd, apice obtusiusculd, lineis confertis concoitricis regulariter granulosd; anfractibus 7-|- con- vexiusculis, ultimo spiram subcequante, usque ad peripheriam lineis impressis distantioribus decussate; columelld subrectd, abrupte truncatd ; aperturd ovali-acutd ; peristomate simplice, recto. Zoological Society. 345 Long. 55, diam. 23 mill. Locality, Africa, Loanda, coast of Benguela. (Coll. Cuming.) 17. AcnATiNA RETICULATA, Pfr. Ackut. tcstd oblongo-ttcutd, so- lidd, ponderosd, longitudinaliter confertim plicatd, sulcis coticen- tr ids profundi reticulatd, albidd, castaneo-marmoratd et maculatd ; spird elongatd, acutd, supcrne minute granulatd ; suturd subcrenu- latd ; anfractibus 8 pariim convexis, ultimo y longitudinis sub- cequante ; columelld crassd, albd, arcuatd, abrupte truncatd ; aper- turd utrinque attenuatd, oblongo-ovali. Long. 160, diam. 70 mill. Locality, Africa. (Coll. Cuming.) 18. AcHATiNA PAPYRACEA, Pfr. AcTittt . tcstd ovato-oblougd, tenui, striis longitudinalibus et concentricis obsolete decussatd, diaphand, fulvd, castaneo obsolete marmoratd ; spird conicd, apice obtusd; suturd maryinatd ; anfractibus o^ vix convexiusculis , ultimo spi- ram vix superante ; columelld subrectd, basin aperturca fere attin- gente, oblique truncatd, lined purpured ornatd; aperturd ovali, intus margaritaced. Long. QQ, diam. 30 mill. Locality, banks of the river Nun in Africa. (Coll. Cuming.) 19. AcHATiNA FUSIFORM IS, Pfr. Achttt. testd ovato-fusiformi, tenui, longitudinaliter confertim costulatd, lineis transversis minute reti' culatdyfulvidd, saturatius strigatd ; spird conicd, acutiusculd, apice rubescente ; suturd marginatd ; anfractibus 7-8 convexiusculis, ultimo spiram paulo superante, basi attenuate ; columelld leviter arcuatd, abrupte truncatd, rubelld; aperturd angustd, oblong d ; peristomate simplice, repando, margine rubicundo. Long. 87, diam. 35 mill. Locality, mountain of Coban, Vera Cruz, Central America. (Coll. Cuming.) This species, as well as the next following, may perhaps belong to the genus Glandina. 20. AcHATiNA cosTULATA, Pfr. AcJittt. tcstd ovato-fusiformi, tenui, longitudinaliter confertim et regulariter costulatd, diaphand, fulvo- rubelld, strigis parvis saturatioribus ornatd ; spird pyramidali, acutd ; suturd sulco parallelo crenulato-marginatd ; anfractibus 8 vix convexiusculis, ultimo spiram vix cequante ; columelld subrectd, abrupte truncatd; aperturd oblongd, utrinque attenuatd, intus margaritaced. Long. 72, diam. 31 mill. Locality, mountains of Quendeu, New Granada. (Coll. Cuming.) 21. Glandina nigricans, Pfr. Glan. testd ovato-oblongd, solidi- usculd, minutissime striatuld,nitidissimd, nigricante, strigis remotis angustis fulvis ornatd, basi corneo-luted ; spird conicd ; suturd virenti-marginatd ; anfractibus 7 planulatis, ultimo f longitudinis cequante ; columella arcuatd^ callosd, oblique truncatd, basin aper- iurcB non attingente ; aperturd angustd, semiovali, inius concolore. Long. 35, diam. 16 mill. Locality, Vera Cruz, in Central America. (Coll. Cuming.) 346 Microscopical Society. 22. Glandina monilifera, Pfr. Glan. testd/usi/ormi-ovatd, tenui, pellucidd, regulariter costulato-striaid, costulis in medio anfractds ultimi evanescentibus, fulvo -rosed, lineis remotis rufis pallide mar- ginatis ornatd ; spird brevi, conicd ; suturd eleganter et confer- tim granulosd ; anfractibus 7 planiusculis , ultimo f lo?igitudinis subcequante, ventroso ; columelld vix arcuatd, basi abrupte trun- catd; aperturd angustd, semiovali. Long. 29, diam. 14^ mill. Locality, mountains of Coban, Vera Cruz, Central America. (Coll. Cuming.) A number of Birds' -skins from Australia were presented to the Society by Jeremiah Olive, Esq. The Secretary exhibited to the Meeting a specimen of Sand Grouse, Tyrrhaptes paradoxus, and five specimens of Mammals (all of which were new to the Society's collection), from the Altai Mountains of Siberia, viz. :— Meriones opimus, Aspalax Zokar, Mustela Altaica, Dipus Jaculus, Ml/ gale moschata. Mr. Gould laid upon the table a series of Terns, and characterized a new species : — Sterna gracilis. St. summo capite et nuchd posterior e saturate nigris ; lateribus nucJice et parte inferiore seriaceo-albis ; pectore et abdomine leviter rosaceis ; rostro carnicolore, apice brunneo- nigro ; pedibus aureo-fuscis. Crown of the head, nape and back of the neck deep black ; sides of the neck and all the under surface silky white, with a blush of rosy red on the breast and abdomen ; back, wings and tail light grey, becoming darker on the primaries ; irides brownish red ; bill flesh- colour, except at the tip.- where it is washed with blackish brown ; feet orange-red. Total length, 13 inches; bill, 21; wing, 8|^ ; tail, 6| ; tarsi, |. Hab. The Houtmann's Abrolhos, off the western coast of Australia. MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. Oct. 15, 1845.— J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., F.R.S. &c., in the Chair. A paper by H. Deane, Esq., being a continuation of a former com- munication, read at the last meeting of the Society, " On Fossil Xanthidia found in Chalk," was read. After a brief summary of the former paper, in which he stated that various species of the genus Xanthidium had been found by him in the Folkstone chalk, Mr. Deane went on to state that this discovery, by affording the means of isolating and mounting these bodies in various ways for examination, suggested to him the possibility of ascertaining their true nature. Their minuteness and other obvious i Microscopical Society. 847 circumstances prevented their chemical examination, and conse- quently they could only be operated upon mechanically. Their shape is that of a flattened sphere, the major part of them closely resem- bling- some of the gemmules of sponges, most of them having a cir- cular opening. The arms of all appear to be closed at the ends and not tubular, as has been supposed, from the examination of some of the flint specimens under pressure in water between two pieces of glass : they were torn asunder in the same manner as a horny or cartilaginous substance would be, and the arms in contact with the glass were bent ; some, after maceration in water for several weeks, became quite flaccid, thus entirely disproving their siliceous nature. On the contrary, there is every reason to suppose them to have been of a horny or cartilaginous nature. Some other bodies resembling the husks of peas were also observed, which appear to be identical with the Pixidiculce in flints ; but these, although agreeing in colour, he does not consider to have any relation to the XantJiidia, but, from their close resemblance to sponge- gemmules, to be some animal or animals in a progressive state of development. Another paper by the same gentleman, " On a mode of isolating the siliceous shells of Infusorial animals found in the Ichaboe Guano," was also read. After premising that the guano from Ichaboe was soon found to contain siliceous shells of microscopic animals, allied to those brought from Richmond in Virginia, and from Ber- muda, he stated that the extreme difficulty of finding them in the ordinary mode induced him to try whether, by decomposing the guano by means of nitric acid, more satisfactory results might not be obtained. The experiment was successful, and the following is the method he employed. Take any quantity of pure Ichaboe guano, and wash it by repeated ablutions of distilled water until the water is no longer coloured, observing after each addition of water that it must be well- stirred two or three times and allowed to settle for some hours. When sufliciently washed, a small quantity of hy- drochloric acid is to be added to the water last used. This dis- solves some portion of the guano with eff^ervescence, and causes a more perfect subsidence of that portion which it does not act upon. After this, allow sufl&cient time for the deposit to become well-settled down ; then the clear liquor being poured oflf as closely as possible without loss of the sediment, a quantity of strong nitric acid in the proportion of two acid ounces to every ounce by weight of the guano employed is to be added ; a strong eff'ervescence results,, which is to be assisted by its being placed in a warm situation at a temperature of about 200° for six hours, during which time the greater part of the guano will be dissolved. After allowing it to stand in a cool place for twenty-four hours, pour off the acid liquor and wash the sediment with plenty of distilled water. The fine portion of this sediment will contain all the siliceous shells of the guano, perfectly freed from extraneous matter. 348 Miscellaneous. MISCELLANEOUS. ON A FISH ALLIED TO LEPIDOSIREN ANNECTENS. At the sitting of the Berlin Academy on the 5th of December 1844, Prof. Muller presented a communication from Dr. Peters, " On a fish from the Quellimane marshes provided with both lungs and gills, re- lated to Lepidosiren annectens." This animal, which resides during the dry season in a cavity formed in the earth and lined with leaves, resembles the Lepidosiren annectens so completely in many points of its external and internal organization, that Dr. Peters is inclined to regard these two animals as identical, and to consider the distinguishing characters of the latter as consequent on our still imperfect knowledge of it. The composition of the skull, the vertebral column, the arches furnished with and those not furnished with gills, the lungs, alimentary canal, the generative organs, the brain, heart, external form, scales, and the teeth are exactly as in the Lepidosiren annectens. The pectoral and ventral fins, the labial cartilages, the perforated nostrils, and the existence of external gill-filaments difi^er from what has been hitherto described in the latter. The pectoral and ventral fins do not consist of merely a single ar- ticulated member or ray, but also of cartilaginous rays, which ema- nate from the inferior margin of the main limb or principal ray of the fin, and to which still finer cartilaginous filaments are attached. These rays are not extensions of the main limbs of the fin, but are attached to it ; the length of the rays diminishes towards the end of the main limb or principal ray of the fin until it becomes inappre- ciable ; the extremities of the rays do not lie loosely upon the skin, but the whole fin is covered by a prolongation of the skin, which also covers the principal ray of the fin. In the pectoral fins, the beard of the fin is as long as its ray. In the ventral fins, one-third of the length of the ray is free at the base of the fin ; this then commences very low and remains much lower than in the pectoral fins. In the latter the beard of the fin external to the ray is 3 lines broad in its widest part. This kind of formation of the fins, in which the rays arise laterally from a main ray, is quite peculiar, and we have no other example of it amongst fish except in the dorsal fin of Polypterus. The nostrils are double, and the posterior lies on the palatal side of the upper lip, as in Lepidosiren paradoxa, the labial cartilage of which is similarly placed. There are three gill-filaments above the thoracic fin behind the gill- aperture ; they are not branched, and consequently appear like ten- tacles ; they are placed closely together, one above the other. Two are of equal length, being 4 lines long ; the third is the lowest, and is much shorter. They are not present in the young specimens only, but in all, even those which have attained the length of 2 feet. These filaments, which are somewhat broad and pointed at the ex- tremity, are composed at their fore-part of a continuation of the external skin of the animal ; the posterior part exhibits fine feathery ramifications of blood-vessels. In the middle line of the posterior Miscellaneous. 349 part this surface is smooth ; its lateral surfaces have a colourless, soft, velvety aspect, and with a lens, crowded, small, shaggy prolongations are perceptible, in which the arteries and veins of the gills ramify. These vessels are elongations of the vessels of the inner gills ; we find them also at the posterior part of the gill-aperture, between the upper end of the gill-arches and the external gills beneath the skin cover- ing the gill-aperture : they are five, three arteries and two veins. One of the arteries arises from the second aortic arch ; the two others are the continuation of the extremities of the gill- arteries of the first and middle of the three posterior and internal gills. The two other vessels, which return the blood from the external gills, terminate in the gill-veins of the first and second of the three internal and poste- rior gills, after they have separated from the superior extremity of their gill-arches. The most anterior gill, at the anterior margin of which the gill-cavity is situated, and is separated by a cleft from the most anterior of the two gill- arches which are unfurnished with gills, is a true respiratory gill, and thus represents the supernumerary respiratory gill of the cartilaginous fishes, not the pseudo-branchia of other fishes. It receives a branch of the gill-artery and gives off superiorly a gill-vein, which corresponds to the carotis anterior. It is however remarkable that the artery of the most anterior gills, al- though it arises in the same manner as the other gill-arteries, yet before it enters the gill gives off a branch for the nutrition of the body, which is distributed to the inferior aspect of the most anterior part of the head, to the skin and muscles of this part ; a fact which is unique in ichthyology, and can only be explained from the gill- arteries of the heart conveying not only dark red but also partly bright red (arterial) blood, which is transmitted from the lungs to the heart. The auricle of the heart is single. The spleen of the Lepidosiren has hitherto been overlooked. It is large, and lies be- hind the stomach and commencement of the intestinal canal, beneath the peritoneal coat of the tractus intestinalis. It must be separated from the black pigment which forms a copious substratum beneath the peritoneal covering of the intestines. The lateral anus is not always situated on the same side, being in some on the right, in others on the left. Should Lepidosiren annectens and the fish of Quellimane belong to diflferent genera, which is not probable. Dr. Peters proposes Rhino- cryptis amphibia for the name of the latter. A circumstance which is much in favour of their identity, and renders it probable that we are not perfectly acquainted with Lepidosiren annectens, is, that this has been lately observed by Jardine * also to have filaments on the pectoral fins ; these were mistaken by Jardine for accessory fin-rays. The next point to be determined is, whether the cartilaginous fin- rays found in the fish of Quellimane are present in Lepidosiren an- nectens. Then comes the question, whether these and the external branchial filaments are also present in Lepidosiren paradoxa. Upon this will depend whether the African fish, although identical in genus, * Ann. of Nat. Hist. vol. vii. p. 24. 350 Miscellaneous. is generically different from the American genus Lepidosiren, and whether the generic name Protopterus proposed by Owen for the Lepidosiren annectens should be restored or not. On the African Musk, Moschus aquaticus, Ogilby. Some time ago Mr. Ogilby, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1 840, described an animal in the collection of the Earl of Derby under the name of Moschus aquaticus, which was very inter- esting as being an African species of a genus which had hitherto only been found in Asia and its islands. The general form and colouring of the animal are so similar to that of the Mouse Deer, or Traguli, from Java, Ceylon, and India, that it was natural it should be placed with them in the same genus. But the Earl of Derby having kindly sent a specimen with its skull to the British Museum, the examination of the bones of the head have at once proved, that instead of being a species of an Asiatic genus, it is the type of a pe- culiar genus as yet only found in Africa, and therefore not, as has hitherto been thought, an exception in the geographic distribution of Mammalia. The skull is short with short broad nasal bones, which are dilated and rather truncated behind ; the intermaxillaries are also short and truncated behind, not extended behind the base of the upper ca- nines. The ear-bones are large, vesicular, and produced beyond the surface of the bones of the skull, while in the genus Moschus the nasal bones are narrow, linear- elongate, and produced nearly to the front edge of the orbit ; the intermaxillaries are large, dilated behind, and produced behind between the maxillaries and the front of the nasal bones, and the ear-bones are small and inclosed in the base of the skull : from these characters and the pig-like habit of the animal, I propose to form for it a genus under the name of Hyemoschus. The skull is much more like that of the genus Tragulus than of Moschus, as it agrees with it in the large size and vesicular form of the ear-bones; but the Traguli are easily known from the Hyemoschi by the large size and triangular form of the hinder part of their intermaxillaries, which reach to the nasals and form the front part of the cheek in these animals. 1. MoscHDS. — Nasal bones linear- elongate ; ear-bones small, in- closed ; intermaxillaries large, produced behind, narrow, and extended far beyond the base of the upper canines. M. moschiferus, M. leuco- g aster, M. chrysogaster. 2. Tragulus. — Nasal bones elongate, rather dilated and truncated behind ; ear-bones large, vesicular ; intermaxillaries large, triangular, broad, oblique, truncated behind, hardly produced beyond the base of the upper canines between the maxillaries and the nasal bones. T.javanica, T. Stanleyanus {M. ecaudatus, Temm. MSS.). 3. Hyemoschus. — Nasalbones short, dilated, and truncated behind. Ear-bones large, vesicular; intermaxillaries small, short, scarcely dilated behind on the front of the maxillaries, and not extended be- yond the base of the upper canines. H. aquaticus. — J. E. Gray. Miscellaneous. 851 OCCUERENCE OF AQUILA NiEVlA IN IRELAND. Clonmel, Oct. 7, 1845. To Richard Taylor. Dear Friend, — At the request of my friend William Thompson of Belfast, I write to inform thee of the occurrence in the south of Ireland of an eagle new to these countries, Aquila neevia (Linn.). I need enter into no description of the bird, as of course it is well-de- scribed in works on continental ornithology, but will just remark, that it is in the immature or spotted stage of plumage ; in contour it closely resembles the golden eagle, but is much smaller. This specimen (which is now in my possession on loan) was shot on the estate of the Earl of Shannon, and was in a fallow-field in the act of devouring a rabbit at the time ; this was in 1st month (Jan.) 1845 ; and another said to be similarly marked, but of rather a lighter colour, is stated to have been shot in the same place a few days be- fore : both had been observed in the neighbourhood (between Castle- martyr and Clay Castle near Youghal, co. Cork) for several weeks previous, sweeping over the low grounds there. It at present belongs to my friend Samuel Moss of Youghal, who had it from the gamekeeper who killed it, but I think it is probable that before long it will be placed in the Museum of Trinity College, Dublin. I have made a rough coloured drawing of it which I sent to Wm, Yarrell *, with similar information to what this note contains. I am, thy friend, Robert Dairs, Jun. ON MOUNTING MINUTE ALG^ FOR THE MICROSCOPE. In describing the method pursued by Mr. Thwaites in the prepa- ration of algee for microscopical observation, I stated that the cells were made of gold-size. As this is however liable to be softened and redissolved by the gold-size employed in fastening down the piece of thin glass, he found it advisable to look out for some more convenient substance. He now uses two compositions, one suitable for very shallow, and the other for somewhat deeper cells. For the former he takes equal measures of finely-powdered lamp-black and litharge ; a portion of this is rubbed down with equal parts of gold-size and black japan, and the cells immediately formed on the glass slides with a camel's hair pencil. As the composition hardens very rapidly, the cells should be made as quick as possible, and to save time and trouble, a good many should be made at once. If the mixture becomes too thick for use before all the intended cells have been made, a little more gold-size may be rubbed down with it, and this may be repeated if necessary, but the last-made cells will take longer drying than the first. Before the walls are quite hard, they may be flattened by pressing them with a piece of wet glass. If this is not done, it takes * For insertion in his 2nd edition of 'British Birds,' expected to appear next month. 352 Miscellaneous, a longer time to grind down the irregularities of the surface, which is best effected by rubbing them upon a piece of wet unpolished marble. For the deeper cells Mr. Thwaites finds nothing so good as marine glue, which must be melted and dropped on the slip of glass, like sealing-wax, then warmed and flattened with a piece of wet glass : what is superfluous must be cut away with a knife, so as to leave only the wall of the cell ; should this become loose, it ean easily be fixed by heating the other side of the slip of glass over a spirit-lamp and gently pressing. Before these cells are used, it is desirable to flatten them by rubbing gently upon a piece of wood and then upon the wet marble. In using the cells, as small a quantity as possible of gold- size, of a thick consistence, should be laid on the wall of the cell, and also on the edge of the piece of thin glass ; and in covering up the cells, gentle pressure should be employed in order to squeeze out the su- perfluous fluid. It would be a very useful thing for travellers to take with them the proper ingredients for preparing the two solutions for fresh and marine algae. A portion of each species of alga might then be pre- served in small phials carefully sealed and ticketed, which may be mounted and observed at leisure. The benefit of such a practice has been strongly impressed upon me during the examination of some highly curious foreign algae which have lost many of their distinctive characters in drying. M. J. Berkeley. On the Discovery of a Fossil Frog and Butterfiy in the Gypsum Deposits of Aix. By M. Coquand. Among the fossils in my possession from the gypsum formation of Aix, a remarkable and very distinct impression of a reptile belonging to the order of the Batracians, and to the family Anoura, has par- ticularly caught my attention : M. Boue (Guide du Geol. vol. ii. p. 259) notices indeed, in the tertiary formations, the presence of some reptiles, such as salamanders, frogs and ophidians ; but as he does not enter into any details, either of their description or the localities in which they have been found, the palaeontologist will perhaps read with interest some details respecting the species in my possession. Its dimensions are as follows : — Millimetres Total length of the body, inclu- ding the head 32 Great diameter of the head ... 13 Transversal diameter 8 Diameter of the sternum at the origin of the anterior feet ... 9 Length of the humerus 6 The body of this species, which I shall name Rana aquensis, is not so plump as that of the common frog ; its head, although as flat, is more elongated, and is terminated by a snout which describes an al- Millimetres Cubitus and radius truncated in part Femur 12 Tibia 12 Tarsus 7 Toe of the posterior foot 5 Miscellaneous. 353 most perfect oval. The bones of the hind feet are proportionably longer, although less strong ; lastly, its form is much more slender than that of the other Anourous Batracians, and may belong as well to the Frogs properly so called as to the Tree-frogs (Hijla), which difFer from the former only in the extremity of each of thtjir toes, which is enlarged and rounded into a kind of viscous swelling. But, as may be imagined, this character has not been preserved. ITie Rana aquensis has preserved a portion of its skin ; there is scarcely any part but the feet which has been deprived of it, and these are represented by the bones which form their skeleton. As may be judged by its dimensions, this fossil frog is small, and its form is far from corresponding to the idea which we may form of the tertiary fauna of Aix, if we imagine it among the palm-trees, the crocodiles and other animals which have left their remains in the gypsiferous marls. It is well known, that when the discovery of a diurnal lepidopterous insect in the same formation was announced to the Entomological So- ciety of Paris, M. Boisduval, one of the most celebrated entomologists in Europe, considered the fact as so novel, that he would not credit it until he had examined the specimen. As this discovery has passed, we may say, unnoticed, I shall be pardoned for entering into some details on the almost miraculous occurrence which enabled M. Bois- duval not only to recognise the genus to which this butterfly be- longed, but also to determine its species with the greatest ease. As the opinion of this naturalist perfectly agrees with the ideas which I have previously entertained and published on the probable temperature of the globe at the period of the deposit of the gypsums of Aix, I can- not resist supporting my opinion by such an authority, especially as M. de Serres (Geognosie des Terrains Tertiaires, p. 220, &c.) states that the genera of fossil insects of that locality are mostly identical with those which now inhabit Provence and more southern climates, as Sicily and Calabria ; and as M. Boue (Guide, ii. p. 286) says that it is well-known that the fossil plants and fishes of Aix are most nearly related to the vegetables and marine fishes of Provence, whilst it has been proved that the gypsiferous marls of Aix are essentially of a la- custrine origin, and that no maritime plant or animal has ever been discovered there. Mr. Curtis (Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, Oct. 1829) in the same manner refers all the specimens from Aix to still' existing forms. Now as the gypsums of Aix are inferior to the ma- rine molasses of the central beds, containing animals the greater part of whose genera only live in the tropical regions, the occurrence in a lower stratum of species still existing in the country or in the ad- joining countries, established a fact of anomalous distribution, and a contradiction, not only to almost all known facts, but also to the presence in the same stratum of crocodiles, palm-trees, and other species of warm climates. We must therefore consider the conclu- sions advanced by the naturalists whom we have cited as the result of erroneous determinations, into which the specialty of M. Boisdu- val has prevented his falling. That entomologist discovers, " that the most common species of insects of the gypsiferous beds of Aix Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist. Vol. xvi. 2 C 35i Miscellaneous. are a species of Diptera of the genus Bibio or Cecidomya, several spe- cies of Tipularice, large Curculionites allied to the Otiorhynchus, larvae or nymphs of Lihellulce, Blattce, Ichneumonidce, FormicidcE and Arach- nida. All these fossils belong to extinct species, but their genera, which still exist, do not occur in Europe. ** The diurnal lepidopterous insect belongs to one of those genera the species of which are not numerous, and are at present confined to the islands of the Indian Archipelago or the warmest countries of the Asiatic continent. According to M. Blum of Leyden, they hover around the palm-trees, on which perhaps they feed in the state of caterpillars. The individual which has been named sepulta, to recall its antediluvian origin, belongs to the genus Cyllo, and is allied to the Rohria, Camnus, and other neighbouring species ; but it cannot be referred to any of those known at the present day, " The outline and form of this insect are so well-preserved, that one might imagine it lithographed on a schist : only the right side is alone preserved, which is perfectly untouched, with a portion of the thorax and a slight impression of the abdomen. The upper wing is in great part hidden by the under one, and it is impossible to say whether it presents other delineations than an apical ocellus sur- mounted by a white point ; the other, the whole surface of which is seen, is of a brownish gray colour, as in the alHed species, with a white costal spot, a sinuated, median transverse band, of the same colour, followed by two black ocelli bordered in white, connected exteriorly with two white spots. The extremity of this same wing is rather paler, almost whitish, and divided, as in most of the living species, by two parallel brown marginal lines. The caudal appendix is rather longer than in the Rohria, but situated in the same manner. The preservation of the specimen admits of distinguishing the out- line, and probably the true colour of the butterfly as it was before its incrustation." I am not sufficiently acquainted with the species of exotic frogs to be able to compare them with the Rana aquensis, but I can assert that it differs entirely from those which exist in Europe. I await a favourable opportunity to allow me to describe and publish the fossil insects which for the last ten years I have collected in the gypsiferous beds of Aix ; the number of the species I possess at the present time amounts to more than sixty. — Bulletin de la Soci4t4 Gdologique de France, April 21st, 1845. On a curious appearance presented by the contents of the Capsules of a Moss from Chili, extracted from a Letter to Me Rev. M. J. Berke- ley, by Dr. Montagne. "I was engaged in describing for the Cryptogamic flora of Chili a new genus allied to Weissia, and in consequence was desirous of ascertaining the form and structure of the spores in the species which I had before me. What was my surprise to find, instead of spores in every capsule which I opened, a kind of gemmse analogous to those which occur in the cups of Marchantia ! They have not indeed the I Miscellaneous. 355 same form, but their structure is the same, or at least appeared to me to be so. They are wedge-shaped or parallelogrammic, about y^ths of a milHmetre in length, and from y^ths to yfo^hs in breadth. It is very difficult to ascertain their thickness, but I believe it to be about a third of their length. They are composed of at least two layers of two or three rows of broad cells on either surface, as vi- sible under the microscope. Their colour is a deep green verging on bistre. I know of nothing at all similar in the family of Mosses, and at least in a physiological point of view, the fact is not unim- portant. It must be observed that the capsules were quite ripe, having already lost their opercula, so that the question is not one of unripe spores. The species in which this curious structure was ob- served is Eucamptodon perichcetialis, Mont." Dr. Montague kindly accompanied his observations with speci- mens, which has enabled me to confirm their correctness. — M. J. B. M. Agassiz on the Geological Development of Animal Life. The Zoophytes, Mollusca and Articulata existed in the earliest pe- riod of the earth's development, although all their classes were not numerously represented in the oldest members ; but they do not al- low of our supposing that any progressive perfection to the present creation occurred. This is the case with the Vertebrata only, among which fish appeared in the first period, reptiles in the second ; mam- malia and birds did not appear for a long time after the former ; lastly came man, as lord of all : hence M. Agassiz denominates the corre- sponding periods, those of fish, reptiles and mammalia. The greatest change in the fish occurred at the end of the Jura period. All fish which existed prior to the chalk have a peculiar aspect and belong in general to extinct families ; those of the later epochs resemble those now living, and many of them belong to fa- milies and genera at present in existence ; but they all differ speci- fically, just as all Vertebrata in different geological epochs differ in species. — Jahrhuch fur Mineralog. Geolog. &c.. Part 3. 1845. EXPLORATIONS OF DR. SCHRENK. The extreme limits of the wild and remote regions of south-eastern Siberia and along the Chinese frontier have been successfully ex- plored by an able and enterprising botanist. Dr. Schrenk, who has recently returned to St. Petersburg. Remote and unfriended, this ardent naturalist has passed four years in a country, the greater part of which was never before trodden by an European foot. In addition to copious materials with which he will soon enrich botany, geology, and other branches of science, he has made most important obser- vations on the eastern extension of the mass of land which forms a portion of that vast depressed area so vividly brought before our con- sideration by Humboldt, and which is now found to extend eastward from the shores of the Aral to the Saissar and Balkash lakes ; though in approaching the latter region the ground rises to a few hundred feet above the sea. Thence penetrating to the lake of Issikul, sur- rounded by lofty mountains considerably south of the range of tlie 2C2 356 Miscellaneous. Altai chain, and obtaining from one of them a view of the Thian- Chan, whose height he estimates from 16,000 to 17,000 feet, nearly, one-half being covered with eternal snows. Dr. Schrenk won for him- self the proud title of being the first European who had pushed his researches to the northern foot of the " celestial mountains" of the Chinese empire. It is indeed quite clear, from what I already know of them, that Dr. Schrenk's researches must materially change all earlier maps ; for though the lake Balkash is laid down, the Issikul does not appear, at least not by that name. Again, the, sources of the Tchu river, and its course into the Telekul lake, and the occa- sional communication between that lake and the Jaxartes (Sir Daria) ; the true course of the latter stream is the country watered by the upper streams of the Sara Su-a-Ishein, where alone the beautiful mineral " dioptase " is found. ^-From the Anniversary Address of the President of the Royal Geographical Society. Description of three new species of Bivalve Shells, of the genera Cy- therea and Venus, by Sylvanus Hanley, Esq. Cytherea Ovum. Cy. testd ovatd, solidissimd, cequivalvi, ventri' cosd, nitidd, Icevigatd, albidd, epidermide fulvd indutd ; margine ventrali integro, arcuato ; dorsali, utrinque convexiusculo et sub- declivi; latere antico rotundato ; postico obtuse subangulato, su- perne glauco-cineraceo ; natibus recte incurvatis, scepe erosis ; lunuld obsoletd ; superficie internd albidd, postice livido-purpuras- cente infectd ; dente postico leviter crenulato ; sinu palliari vix ullo. Long. 0-90 ; lat. 1*20 poll. Index Test., sup. t. 15. f. 21. Mus. Cuming, Hanley. Hab. ? Remarkable for its peculiar solidity and the equality of its sides. It bears a slight resemblance to the true casta of Chemnitz, but is a more ovate shell. Venus Bruguieri. Ven. testd oblongd, solidiusculd, subnitidd, con- vexd, valde inaquilaterali, aut pallide brunned, radiis paucis albis ornatd, aut fusco-cineraced, radiis saturatioribus angustis remotis interruptim pictd ; radiatim sulcaid ; sulcis in medio subimbricatis, utrinque subdecussatis , et postice in costellas (plerumque subgra- nosas) mutatis ; margine ventrali subrecto autpaulo convexiusculo; dorsali, postice vix declivi, subrecto aut convexiusculo, antic^e sub- declivi et convexiusculo ; extremitate anticd rotundatd ; latere pos- tico producto, obtuse et oblique biangulato ; margine postico magis minusve convexo ; natibus curvatis et radio brevi livido postice ornatis ; lunuld subobsoletd ; ligamento subinfosso ; margine cardi- nali intus purpureo ; dentibus angustis, recurvis,parallelis. Long. 0-85; lat. 1*40 poll. Index Test., sup. t. 15. f. 59. Mus. Cuming, Hanley. Hab. ? Belonging to the section Pullastra, and allied to decussata, but easily distinguishable by its shape and peculiar sculpture. It has how- ever been figured for that species in the ' Encyclopedie Methodique,' pi. 283. f. 4. ' Miscellaneous. 357 Venus magnifica. Ven. testd suhorhiculari, suhcordatd, tumidd aut ventricosd, soUdissimd, valde inmquilaterali ; margines versiis purpurea tinctd, umhones versiis alhidd hrunneo sparsim maculatd ; lincis concentricis , sulcisque radiantibus decussatd ; lineis, antice undosis et paulb elevatis, postic^ obsoletis, medib planulatis et sur- silm spectantihus ; sulcis frequentibus, profundis ; margine ven- trali arcuato, intusque crenato ; dorsali, antice convexo et declivi, postice convexo et vix declivi ; latere postico majore, obtuso ; nati- bus maxime curvatis ; pube, lunuldque prominente cordiformi, livido-purpureis ; ligamento infosso ; superficie internd albidd, im- maculatd; dentibus ut in V. puerperS,. Long. 5* ; lat. 5 poll. Hab. Ticao, on the sands ; Cuming. Mus. Cuming. This sjjlendid shell is most closely allied to puerpera, but the ces- sation of the concentric ridges on the posterior side, the tinge of purple which environs the whole margin, and the absence of any coloured rays, enable us at once to separate them. The concentric lines gradually become less elevated and more distant towards the lower margin, and finally (in the adult) entirely disappear. The ra- diating sulci in aged specimens are so broad at their extremity as to give the interstitial spaces the appearance of costellse. ON THE LARTJS CAPISTRATUS, TEMM. At the meeting of the Zoological Society, May 27, Mr. W.Thomp- son read a paper to prove that the Larus capistratus, Temm., is not a distinct species from L. ridibundus, and exhibited a series of speci- mens of both forms in different states of plumage obtained in the neighbourhood of Belfast. The differences between these supposed gpecies are — 1st. In size; but a female specimen of L. ridibundus, with black hood, bill and legs arterial blood-red, was exhibited, agreeing in the size of body, tarsi, &c. with L. capistratus. 2nd. The colour of the tarsi and toes attributed to L. capistratus, and as distinguishing it from L. ridibundus, is a mere transition shade, through which all individuals of the latter pass before the arterial blood-red hue is attained. 3rd. The disposition of black or brown on the head, its taking the form of a mask, as in L. capistratus, or as a hood, as in L. ridibundus, is either transitional or accidental*, and the shade of colour com- monly varies from the "broccoli-brown" of the former to the deeper tint of the ordinary L. ridibundus. A specimen of the L. capistratus, purchased at the sale of Bullock's collection by Dr. Leach, and believed to have been one of the first birds seen by Temminck, to which he gave this name, is now in the British Museum. By the kindness of Mr. George R. Gray, the au- thor was enabled to make a critical comparison of this bird with the specimens exhibited, and, excepting in the smaller size of the toes and webs of feet, there was no difference between it and some of them ; * Mr. Thompson stated that he had known it to be both transitional and accidental, i.e. for birds to exhibit the mask the^r.9^summer of their attain- ing adult plumage, and others the hood in their first assumption of the black hood. 358 Miscellaneous. and from the adult female, L. ridihundus, in full summer plumage it differed in the most trivial manner only. ON THE DISEASE OF POTATOES. BY PROF. KtJTZING. The diseases of potatoes have of late years attained so unusual an extent of diffusion, that their investigation must become of universal importance, especially when we recollect that this is the only means of ascertaining the cause of the disease. During the presentyear a disease has appeared in the potatoes grow- ing around Nordhausen with which the author of this communication was not previously acquainted ; nor is it mentioned in the writings which have in modem times treated of the diseases of potatoes. It is of a totally different nature from the so-called dry-rot (caries of the tubers), in which the starch granules become so altered as to exhibit minute brown fungi similar to those of corn- smut, and the cellular tissue which surrounds these bodies becomes destroyed or dissolved at a subsequent period only. In the disease of the present year an alteration and solution of the cellular tissue alone is visible, the starch granules remaining within it in a sound and unaltered state. For this reason I have called it cell-rot. The cell-rot at first appears just beneath the cuticle of the tubers, and always extends from thence towards the interior. It constantly commences with a brownish discoloration of the substance, which at first is still firm and solid, but gradually assumes a lighter and darker colour until it is dissolved and forms a greasy, soft, dark brown (sometimes verging to violet) mass, which possesses a foetid odour. On microscopic examination perfectly healthy starch granules may be detected in all the stages of the disease, a proof that the true nutritious ingredient is not destroyed by this change. But the cells, which contain these starch granules, and which in the healthy substance are clear, colourless and extraordinarily transparent, even in the earliest stage of the disease appear of a yellowish colour, and the membrane exhibits a finely granular structure which impairs their transparency. As the disease progresses the colour and granular structure of the surface of the cells increase, until at last they are either partially or completely dissolved, the starch granules pass out of them and become mixed with the