CONTENTS OF VOL. IV.

NUMBER XXI.

Page.

I. Descriptions of some Cheiroptera discovered in Cuba by W. S.

MacLeay, Esq. By Jonn Epwarp Gray, F.R.S. &c. With some account

of their Habits, extracted from Mr. MacLeay’s Notes. (With a Plate.) 1

II. Account of a Journey across the Pampas of Buenos Ayres to

IN = Py GAMER PWENDIE osc cc ccake. ces eccsacccscecsenccecs cocsscecs 8

III. Observations on Trilobites, founded on a comparison of their

Structure with that of Crustacea. By W.S. MacLuay, M.A. ......... 16

IV. Flore Insularum Nove Zelandie Precursor; or a Specimen of

the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. By Atuan Cunninauam, Esq. 22

V. On the Habits of Macroscelides Rozeti. By Dr. MorttzWacner 26

VI. Amaryllidearum Species Nove. By the Hon. and Rey. W.

a Coe cU dbs yshacosustneseadssoscawsisecestscesdeseesseereovsuaaesss 28

VII. Descriptions of British Chalcidites. By Francts Water, Esq. 29

VIII. Instructions relative to Botany, Vegetable Physiology, and

Zoology for the Scientific Expedition to the Antarctic Regions, prepared

by the President and Council of the Royal Society ..........ssesssseseeees 33

New Books :—Supplement to the History. of British Fishes, by W.

Yarrell; Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici seu Synopsis Hymeno-

mycetum, E. Fries; Linnza, ein Journal fiir die Botanik, &c.;

Plantes Cryptogames de France, par J. Desmaziéres; Deustch-

lands Kryptogamische Gift-Gewichse, von Dr. Phoebus; Fauna

Coleopterorum Helvetica, by O. Heer; Dr. Pye Smith’s Congre-

Sia ceecsuted ON Geology -.,..........ckcsccecseesccssesscnseeess 42—46

Meeting of the British Association ; Proceedings of the Zoological So-

ciety ; Linnzan Society ......... pink vd ca uncdad en aaawasexas teed ates 46—69

On the place of Scarabeus longimanus in the system, by Prof. Klug ;

Identity of the Shannon with the Lough Neagh Coregonus; Pre-

ventive against madness in Elephants, by Carl von Hiigel; Are

the Closteri@ Animals or Plants? Meteorological Observations and

AP ieras Bho prise ndsddnisindaccksccavnce bes she dsvndeadnsvcedacasese 69—72

NUMBER XXII.

IX. On the Discoid Piths of Plants. By Cu. Morren, Professor of

Botany in the University of Liége. (With a Plate.) ...........scseeeeeee 73

X. Zoological Notices. By Dr. A. Paitiprr :—

I. On two new species of Euplocamus ....1...seeeseseeceereeees 88

II. On the Animal of Pileopsis Garnoti, Payr. ......++seseees 90

lV CONTENTS.

III. On the Animal of Galeomma ....+. scaesatous coneves ebcuas a

IV. On the Oculina ramea of Ehrenberg .....sss+ssseeeees hoveke 7 ae

V. On the Chelura terebrans, a new Amphipod Genus ...... 94

XI. Account of a Journey across the Pampas of Buenos = to

Tucuman. By James Tweets, Esq. .....sscereeeeereeseeeee oesenocnatdneen 96

XII. Route from Lima by the Quebrada of San Mateo. = J. ae

LEAy, Esq., of Lima .......ccsccscesesesceceses casececsersecteees ¢4:aevaNn mma 105

XIII. Flore Insularum Nove Zelandiz Precursor; or a Specimen

of the Botany of the Islands of New Zeaiand. By Atian CunNiING-

New Books :—Principles of General and Comparative Physiology, by

William B. Carpenter ; Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History

Society, vol. viii. Part I.; Scandinaviens Fiskar malade of W. v.

Wright, med text of B. Fries och C. U. Eckstrém; Verzeichniss

der Conchylien in der Sammlung von E. Anton.........++ w. LL1—117

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; British Association for the Ad-

vancement of Science; Botanical Society of London; Wernerian

Natural History Society ........,ccecs seccereccesseneccersssecens 118—139

Notice of an uncommonly tame Pine Marten, by St. von Siemuszova-

Pietruski; Clangula Barrovii, anative of Iceland; On the Moult-

ing Process of the Cray Fish; Meteorological Observations and

MMM cane kcesc sn see ineitsseinatusekeseieandacssaphnnaie cel socreseee Laon 44

NUMBER XXIII.

XIV. Description of Animal Life in Nova Zembla. By K. E. von

ie Rarer rer ve wus ass een du dduccongcsdvedesessanvses gus besesasheq. (aE oveces 149

XV. On the Fructification of Ly ycoperdon, Phallus, a their allied

Genera. By the Rev. M. J. Berxexey, M.A., F.L.S. (With a Plate.) 155

XVI. Hore Zoologice. No. I. On the History and Habits of Cro-

tophaga. By Sir W. Jarpine, Bart.

XVII. Account of a Journey across the Pampas of Buenos Ayres

toTucuman. By James Tweepre, Esq. ............csccecsssoscnscscescase 171

XVIII. Onthe Laurus Cassia of Linnzus, and the Plants producing

the Cassia Bark of Commerce. By Rosert Wiout, M.D. .....0e0000s 179

XIX. On the Discovery of Fossil Teeth of a Leopard, Bear, and

other Animals in a Crag Pit at Newbourn in Suffolk. By Cuarzes

Lyeun, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., 8&0. icesssccvecseesce sasctussees wesseietaahs 186

XX. On the occurrence of Fossil Quadrumanous, Marsupial, and

other Mammalia in the London Clay, near Woodbridge in Suffolk. By

Cuanves Lyext, Eeq., F.B.S., V.P.G.S,, G20.: scigesseossccsusstaccvermerans 189

XXI. Description of the Mammalian Remains found at Kyson in

Suffolk, mentioned in the preceding Notice. By Ricuarp Owen, Esq.,

F.R.S., &. «6055 Stevsaeses seidsactvesanghassads Ouedesbecss sodebisiendesccsesehaiey 191

XXXII. Information respecting Botanical Travellers: —Mr. Schom-

burgk’s Narrative of his recent Expedition in Guiana...............see00s 194

CONTENTS. ¥

_ New Books ;—Pracht-Flora Europaeischer Schimmelbildungen, by A.

C. J. Corda; History of British Sponges and Corallines, by Dr.

Johnston; Corpus Florarum Provincialium Suecie.—I. Floram

Scanicam scripsit E. Fries ......cccsceseeseseeseoeee pasdoaenveavtees 200, 201

Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Lon-

MOT cas cesaecseesckcsceascccessncsers i suseaanednds clnbdiniensh sotcavsedes 202—213

Birds collected in Asia Minor by Mr. Fellows ; on the genera £gilops

and Triticum, and their modifications ; on the Animal Nature of

the Oscillatoria ; new species of Frog found in Amber; Meteoro-

logical Observations and Table .......... bib ikes 4a uutes svevacees 213—216

NUMBER XXIV.

XXIII. On a Shell-bank in the Irish Sea, considered Zoologically

and Geologically. By Epwarp Forses, Esq. .......scscosescseceneeveeees 217

XXIV. Miscellanea Zoologica. By Grorce Jounston, M.D., Fel-

low of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. (With Plate VI.) 224

XXV. Descriptions of British Chalcidites. By Francis WALKER,

Pe Wercsasevedeeee DIAS FREI CR AAG Spina sis ny ban dudwlcanacéave divesens panes 232

XXVI. Hints on the Anatomico-Physiological Differences in the

Organization of Stems. By Dr. M. J. Scurzripen...... Sbesiksseenmaginee 236

XXVII. On the Mycology of the neighbourhood of Bristol. By

Mr. Hewry Oxtey STePHens

XXVIII. On the Arctium Lappa and Bardana of Sir J. E. Smith,

By Cuartes C. Bazineron, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., &. ....cecesseeeeeeee 253

XXIX. Flore Insularum Nove Zelandiz Precursor; or a Speci-

men of the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. By Auuan Cun-_

BINGHAM, ESQ. occeccccsecscceccscveses ables tubwandubecsvavecduecssacensoueasWapas 256

XXX. Information respecting Botanical Travellers :—Mr. Schom-

burgk’s Narrative of his recent Expedition in Guiana .......... becky es 262

New Books :—Nouveau Recueil de Planches Coloriées d’Oiseaux, pour

servir de suite et de Complément aux Planches Enluminées de

Buffon, par C. J. Temminck et Meiffren Laugier Baron de

Chartrouse ; Flora Lipsiensis Excursoria, Auctore G. L. Peter-

MANN ....csececesscccccssscccccecsccceceeeces Se ceecceeseceecesceeccanes 266—268

Proceedings of the Botanical Society of London ; Zoological Society ;

MN TNNNOEY save aels sic -sacbndesieecdsasacedaesseporvses¥ose 270—282

Dr. Westendorp and Mr. W. H. White; Mr. Gulliver on Blood Cor-

puscles in the Mammalia; Notes on Irish Birds, by W. Thomp-

son, Esq.; Ehrenberg on the remarkable diffusion of Coralline

Animalcules from the use of Chalk for ordinary purposes; Note

on Peloria, by Mr. A. White ; Meteorological Observations and

ile. le UNS ae REAR”. ca Taal A ae ab ped 283—288

NUMBER XXV.

XXXI. On Allium Porrum and A. Ampeloprasum. By Cuarves

C. Bapineton, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., 8&0. ccsccssscccces fabvlshesadeteeccs. Bee

V1 CONTENTS.

XXXII. Notice of some Fungi collected by C. Darwin, Esq. during

the Expedition of H. M. Ship Beagle. By the Rev. M. J. Berxexey,

M.A., F.L.8,° (With Plates.) < ..cc.scccscssssnassbeasorestabeune shsacatusnuane (wel

XXXIII. Zoological Notices. By Dr. A. PHILiprr ........0c0000e ». 294

XXXIV. Notes on Dr. Philippi’s Zoological Notices in the prece-

ding Article. By J. E. Gray, Esq. ......+00 oovvaneeene scccccsessetsceesess GOO

XXXV. Notices of Botanical Excursions in the neighbourhood of

Trieste. By Epwarp Forses, M.W.S., For. Sec. B.S., &c. 2.20000... 307

XXXVI. On the Habits of the Apterya Australis, a Bird of New

Zealand, closely allied to the Struthionide, and named by the native

Inhabitants Kiwi. By the late ALLan Cunninenam, Esq. ......... .. 312

XXXVII. Characters of Four New Cape Orchidaceae. By Professor

LQNDURY a cdccrnse das cnenuevananeees pat ede cbactdncekss jis snapnueeaee Sececeseneseass OL4

XXXVIII. On the Occurrence of Squalus spinosus, Linn., on the

Coast of Yorkshire. By Artuur STRICKLAND, Esq. ..cscccccsecssecceece 315

XXXIX. Hore Zoologice. By Sir Wini1am Jarpine, Bart. ...... 318

XL. Information respecting Botanical Travellers:—Mr. Schom- _

burgk’s Narrative of his recent Expedition in Guiana ........cccseseesesss 322

New Books :—Histoire Naturelle des Poissons d’eau douce de l’Europe

Centrale, par Ls. Agassiz; Natural History and [Illustrations of

the British Salmonide, by Sir W. Jardine, Bart. ; On the Growth

of the Salmon in Freshwater, by W. Yarrell, F.L.S., V.P.Z.S. ;

Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa during the years

1836 and 1837, by Capt. W. C. Harris ; Deutschlands Lebermoose

in getrockneten Exemplaren, Herausgegeben von Dr. J. W. P.

Hiibener und C. F. Genth; A. Bertolonii Flora Italica, sistens

Plantas in Italia et in Insulis circumstantibus sponte nascentes ;

Verzeichniss der in Jahre 1832 im 6stlichen Theile der Altai-ge-

birges gesammelten Pflanzen. Ein Supplement zur Flora Altaica,

von Al. v. Bunge; Fungorum et Byssorum Illustrationes, &c., by

F. Fulg. Chevallier; Linn; British Coleoptera delineated, by

W. Spry, M.E.S., edited by W. Shuckard, Lib. R.S.......... 329—339

Proceedings of the Linnzan Society; Zoological Society; Royal So-

ciety of Edinburgh ; Botanical Society of Edinburgh ; Royal Phy-

sical Society of Edinburgh |.....05....<>ds00sseaskssasecdenecua uel 339—355

On different Tissues, the work of Insects; Structure of the Ovule in.

the Ericee; Colour of Salt Marshes; Falco Eleonore ; Deserip-

tion of a new species of Meliphaga, by M. Dumas; Flannel formed

of Infusoria and Confervz ; Meteorological Observations and

AMI gates ocesaes scan anvsvaden savas 6qucuuaaslnsspnessi chakabaneel aes 356—360

NUMBER XXVI.

XLI. On the Structure of the Sete of Funaria hygrometrica. By

EWI LS WEROTER. DDD. ois bccn atin s codvsass scene cacsuhendeacascaesebanisel enn 361

XLII. On the Tentacular Classification of Fimihoted By Joun

BEGG, PAG. DAs, ateeae, Wits... QC, ccscssoccssnieseresseass ese ceavopsine 364

CONTENTS. Vil

XLIII. Miscellanea Zoologica. By Grorce Jounston, M.D., Fel-

low of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. With Plates X.

EE TR isch eecusedvesscoccees Bin elstyususdvens cine Sdeasibshbueestasehposs seseee 368

_ XLIV. Note onthe Occurrence at various times of the Bottle-nosed

Whale (Hyperoodon Bulzkopf, Lacep.) on the coast of Ireland; and

on its nearly simultaneous appearance on different parts of the British

_ coast in the autumn of 1839. By Wittiam Tuompson, Vice-President

es of the Natural History Society of Belfast ........... eavacsvinchesesesshe oe ole

XLV. New Orchidaceae. By Professor LINDLEY .....0secseereessceeeees 381

_ XLVI. Note on the Annelida. By W.S. MacLeay, M.A., F.L.S.

ee Bsicovek ss Savsactessvenenens PibU aad N chews wis as sestusasonbaeies vee 385

_ XLVITI. Notes on the Excitability and Movement of the Leaves in

_ the Species of Oxalis. By Professor J. De Bricnoxi pe Brunuorr of

q Modena, and Prof. Morken of Liége ......... besdeeyes sie habs etl decsbesgss OOO

— XLVIIIL. An attempt to ascertain the Fauna of Shropshire and North

mee ts ©, WYTON, Esq, F.L.S...,.,.s0cccncsvectssecsocisssebeceseces 396

__ XLIX. On the production of Isinglass from Indian Fishes. By Dr.

_ Cantor, Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society.........++000. 399

e L. On Isinglass in Polynemus sele, Buch., a species which is very

common in the Estuaries of the Ganges. By J. McCuetzanp, Esq.... 401

_ LI. A Supplement to the Synopsis of the Fishes of Madeira in the

__ Second Volume of the Transactions of the Zoological Society. By the

Rev. R. T. Lowe ...... Leu pu ss speNe Ant autocdiveccausctebacens sages eases evvese 405

LII. Information respecting Botanical Travellers :—

Mr. Griffith’s Journal of the Mission to Bootan.......... eevee 494

Mr. Schomburgk’s Expedition in Guiana ......sesesescecevees 429

NUMBER XXVII. SUPPLEMENT. :

Information respecting Botanical Travellers :—Mr. en ee 5

Expedition in Guiana [Contimued.] ......ssccccsssessssssesecvecnccssesee - 433

_ New Books :—Etudes de es ciuialocic. I Revue des ES,

des Rats et des Campagnols, suivie d’un Index méthodique des

my Mammiféres d’Europe. Par Edm. De Selys-Longchamps......... 434

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; Geological Society ; Tweedside

Physical and Antiquarian Society; Physical Society of Edin-

; RT ccutnsdesevsiescntcosGnsanecssrccobsucannsesne sedis stiecens scores 442461

_ Movement of the Style of Goldfussia anisophylla ; Echinospermum lap-

pula; Guiana Expedition; Grew “ On the Principles of Bodies ;”

Notes on the Birth of the Giraffe; Meteorological Observations

WEG TAD... .ccccseccstvoesecccscveceevonssecvesceveessvenessecsocess 4020466

PLATES IN VOL. IV.

Pirate I. Cheiroptera of Cuba.

II. Discoid Pith of Plants.

III. Species of Euplocamus and Chelura :—Animals of Pileopsis and

Galeomma.

IV. Species of Pandorina, Astarte, Hersilia, and Peltidium :—Ani- —

mal of Pleurostoma, and Eggs of Vermetus.

V. Fructification of Fungi.

viL} British Nereides.

VIII. Sporidesmium adscendens; and Stilbum lateritium.

IX. Dedalea erubescens.

ey } Beilish Ancelides.

ERRATUM IN VOL. I.

Art. XXI., On a new species of Epilobium, should have been described as a Translation of a

Memoir by Dr. Westendorp; see p. 283 of the present Volume.

ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

——_-

I1.—Descriptions of some Mammalia discovered in Cuba by

W.S. MacLeay, Esq. By Joun Epwarp Gray, F.R.S.,

&e. With some account of their Habits, extracted from Mr.

MacLeay’s Notes.

THE small collection of Mammalia made by Mr. MacLeay

during his stay in Cuba consisted of the following species of

Cheiroptera, and a foetal specimen of a Dolphin (Delphinus),

which I have not been able to determine on account of its

youth. ;

The bats, besides adding to our knowledge, are very inter-

esting forms, and several hitherto unrecorded species are par-

ticularly interesting, as enabling me to locate with certainty,

according to my present views, the genus Mormoops of Dr.

Leach, of which only a single dried specimen was before

known, and which had always been placed among the anoma-

lous genera of this interesting family. It is curious, as regards

the geographical distribution of these animals, which have

usually been considered very local, that out of this small col-

lection of eight species five should prove to be new to science

and one of them an entirely new form, and that the other

three should be common to Cuba and Jamaica.

VESPERTILIONIDA, Gray.

Tribe Phyllostomina, Gray.

Arctibeus faleatus, Gray. Edge of the lips crenulated, in-

ner part of the sides near the angle ciliated, front of the lower

lip with a small central tubercle surrounded by a lunate series

of six distant small warts. Nose-leaf broad ovate lanceolate,

expanded, with a very large elevated laminar crumpled pro-

jected edge on the sides. Tragus thick and convex inter-

nally at the end, with three or four distinct notches on the

outer side of the ears. Fur (in spirits) grey-brown, with dark

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No.21. Sept. 1839. B

2 Mr. J. E. Gray on some new Bats collected

tips to the hairs, paler beneath. The wings large, blackish ;

the index-finger falcately curved, with the membrane between

it and the middle finger smooth, nearly transparent. Gland

of the penis granular. _

The form of the index-finger at once distinguishes this

species from all the others of the genus.

Hab. Cuba, “ Killed in my bed-room.”—MacLeay.

Arctibeus Jamaicensis, Leach, Linn. Trans. xii. Phyllo-

stoma jamaicense, Horsfield, Zool. Journ. vii. 238. Edge

of the lips crenulated, the inner edge with a series of brown

membranaceous processes. Nose-leaf ovate lanceolate, acu-

minated, with a broad convex central midrib, edge folded

back, and rather compressed at the tip; cheek at the sides of

the nose-leaf large, convex, swollen, subtubercular ; front of

the lower lip triangular, with a central rather large, and two

smaller lateral tubercles, surrounded with a series of close

oblong warts. Tragus thickened at the top, crenulated exter-

nally, with three or four distinct notches at the outer side of

the base. The index-finger straight.

Hab. Cuba. “ Devours oranges on the trees and leaves the

skins almost empty; it also comes into bed-rooms at night in

search of mosquitoes.” —MacLeay.

Brachyphylla cavernarum, Gray. Vespertilio cayernarum.

Guilding, MS. Plate I. fig. 1.

Hab. West Indies. St. Vincents, Cuba.

I cannot observe the slightest difference between the

Cuban specimen and that which I described from St. Vin-

cents (1837), from the collection of Mr. Guilding, except that

the Cuban one is smaller, and probably not an adult speci-

men, which view is somewhat favoured by the finger-bones

being rather shorter comparatively with the armbone. In

the Cuban specimen there are several round glands on the

chin, and a very distinct convex isolated gland on the side of

the face a little behind the angle of the mouth.

St. Vincents. Cuban.

Length of body and head ...... 3 24

of ym: Done: osc i. ek OR 24

Of ahin hone 3's 6 sis Sark 1,4, +

in Cuba by W.S. Macleay. 3

Tribe Noctilionina.

* Tail short, tip'free on the upper side of the truncated in-

terfemoral membrane.

Mormoops, Leach, not F. Cuvier. Nose obliquely trun-

cated, warty ; lower lip expanded, membranaceous, sinuous,

with a square warty plate in front ; ears large, united over the

forehead, with the lower edge produced and united to the

membranes on the lower lip. Tragus distinct.

Dr. Leach, who first described this genus, characterizes it

as having “a single nose-leaf confluent with the ears,” and

all subsequent writers, misled by his description, have placed

it with the Jeaf-nosed bats. In my new arrangement I placed

it at the end of the Phyllostomina, with a mark of doubt before

it. The specimen under examination shows that it has no

true nose-leaf, but that it is much more closely allied to the

Taphozoi among the Noctilionina. This and the new Cuban

genus Chilonycteris, which agrees with it in many particulars,

will together form a new section in that group, characterized

by the expansion of the lower lip and the convex and rounded

form of the skull.

Mormoops Biainvillii, Leach, Linn. Trans., xii. p. 77. t. 7.

The Cuban specimen agrees well with Dr. Leach’s short

description and the detailed figure of the head of the specimen

which was formerly in Mr. Brookes’s museum, and which he

received from (Mr. Lewis) Jamaica: the only difference that I

can see between them is that the two appendages in front of

the disk in the centre of the chin are rather larger in the figure

than in our specimen, and the hinder fold of the hinder mem-

branes in front of the chin is represented as entire instead

_ of being divided ; but these I am inclined to regard as most

probably errors of the artist, arising from Dr. Leach’s speci-

men being dry, while ours is preserved in spirits.

As Dr. Leach’s description was very short I shall now pro-

ceed to give a more detailed account of this curious and very

interesting animal. The head is nearly globular, with a rather

produced muzzle. The nose is rounded above, with three

warts on each side, and obliquely truncated below, with a lon-

gitudinal central rib and a dentated transverse rib between the

margin and nostrils. The upper lip is flat, expanded, with

B 2

4 Mr. J. E. Gray on some new Bats collected

some acute prominences on its inner, and a series of rounded

tubercles on its outer edge ; the hinder tubercles are much the

largest. The lower lip is expanded, rather membranaceous, _ .

variously folded and twisted, forming a complicated appear-

ance on the sides of the chin. There is a small smooth trian-

gular disk above, immediately in front of the lower cutting

teeth ; and directly in front of this is placed a rather large

four-sided expanded plate or disk, which has a quantity of

small close warts on its upper face, and two small diverging

appendages in the middle of its front edge. The front and

hinder edges of this plate are scalloped out.

The ears are membranaceous, very large, broad, united over

the upper part of the nose, and dependent over the face, with

a slight notch on the upper part of the front edge; the lower

side is expanded, with a rounded lobe in front, and is conti-

nued into the folded lower lip. The tragus is lunate, with a

slight notch on the thickened front edge, and has a large ap-

pendage on the outer side of its upper part. The anti-tragus

is large and tubercular. The eyes are small, far back, near the

conche of the ears, and have a large wart before and behind

them.

The wings are long, rather wide, hairy beneath near the

sides, with rather wide marginal membranes inclosing the first

joint of the thumb. The interfemoral membrane is yery large,

truncate at the tip, and furnished with many transverse and

five diverging lines from the tail. The tail is elongate, and

the last joint is elongated, tapering, and free in the upper

side of the interfemoral membrane. The legs are elongate,

slender; the ankle short, tapering; toes nearly equal, com-

pressed, and the heel bone very long and marginal.

Hab. Cuba. “ Killed in my bed-room.” MacLeay.

CuHILONYCTERIS, Gray. Lipped Bat. Head conical, fore-

head high, convex; nose obliquely truncated, smooth, with a

keeled toothed upper edge ; nostrils anterior, inferior ; lower

lip large, dilated, hairy, with a broad reflexed membranaceous

edge, furnished with a group of regular granular warts on the

middle of its upper surface, and with a similar smooth mem-

branaceous ridge behind it on the chin ; ears large, separate,

lateral, elongate, acute, with two folds on the front edge, and

in Cuba by W.S. MacLeay. 5

a large notch on the centre of the outer edge, expanded, mem-

branaceous, and produced to the hinder part of the crest on

the edge of the lower lip. Tragus distinct, large, with an ap-

pendage on the outer side of its tip; eyes small, far back.

Wings elongate, narrow, their index-finger of one bony joint;

interfemoral membrane very large, elongate, slightly truncated.

Heel bones very large, thumb compressed ; tail elongate, su-

perior, half as long as the interfemoral membrane, with the

last joint free on its upper edge. Hind feet rather small ;

ankle elongate, subcylindrical ; toes nearly equal, compressed.

Essential Characters. Nose obliquely truncated, appen-

daged ; lower lip rounded, with two transverse reflexed mem-

branaceous ridges; ears lateral, separate, with the lower

outer edge expanded and continued to the hinder edge of the

expansions on the lower lip. Tragus distinct.

This genus is highly interesting from its being intermediate

between the Saccopteri and the genus Mormoops of Dr. Leach.

Chilonycteris MacLeayti, Gray. Fur mouse-colour, (in spi-

rits) with greenish tips to the hairs, rather paler beneath;

lower lip, with a triangular central wart and a group of small

close warts on the centre of the lower lip plate; edge of

the nose with two tooth-like expansions on each side, one

over each nostril, and the other, which is rather larger, on the

outer side of the first; chin with three longitudinal ridges

and a conical wart on each side extending to the hinder edge

of the lower chin membrane; wings chestnut-brown, nearly

bald, the under sides of the interfemoral membrane with a few

scattered hairs. Length 12, expanse 9”, Fore arm 12; tail 3.

Plate I. fig. 2.

Hab. Cuba. “ Found in my bed-room; congregates in im-

mense numbers in the eaves of houses and in holes in walls.”

MacLeay.

Nyctinomus macrotis, Gray. Ears very large, united in a

common tubercle on the forehead, rather hairy in front ; lips

very large, pendulous ; muzzle bald, with a central longitudinal

and a transverse marginal ridge of close-set short rigid hairs ;

_ upper lp with an oblong tuft of black hairs under the nose ;

6 Mr. J. E. Gray on some new Bats collected

tail cylindrical, elongate, rather more than half free; feet

with a small round hinder pad, The pads of the great and

jittle toes rather large, covered with white hairs, which are

curved and rather dilated at the tip. Tragus rather large,

truncated, with two or three small lobes on the edge; lobule

large, rather obliquely truncated at the tip, and with a slight

notch in front of the lower edge. Plate I. fig. 3.

Hab. Cuba. “Sent up from the interior of the island,

where it was found in the hollow of atree.” MacLeay.

The head and nose of this species are very like the N. pli-

catus of India, but the lips and ears are much larger in pro-

portion, and the lobule of that species is higher, rounded

above, and without any notch at the base of the front edge.

Like that species, the thumb has a large circular callous pad

at its base, which agrees with Spix’s character of his genus

Thyroptera, and induces me to believe that his genus will

only prove to be a synonym of Nyctinomus.

The species of Nyctinomus at present known may be thus

divided :—

A. Ears united at the base in front on a common tubercle.

Lobule high, rounded, without any notch at the front of

the base ; ears large ; tragus distinct. WN. plicatus.

Lobule elongate, truncate above, with a notch at the front

of the base; ears very large; tragus very small. N. ma-

crotis.

B. Ears close but separate at the front of the base.

Lobule semi-ovate, not notched in front; tragus subqua-

drate, rather large. N. nasutus.

Molossus tropidorhynchus, Gray, Mol. velox, Horsf. Zool.

Journ. vil. 237. Upper lip with a roundish tuft of close

slender hooked hairs under the nostrils ; muzzle angular with

a central longitudinal and a transverse slightly crenated keel ;

throat pouch large; tail rather slender, tapering, more than

half inclosed in the membrane.

Hab. Cuba. “ Very common in the city of Havana.” Mac

Leay.

This species is very like Dysopes velox, but is smaller, and

differs in having only a single central ridge between the nos-

trils, which is forked and sends a transverse ridge over each,

in Cuba by W. 8S. MacLeay. 7

_ while in that species two oblique ridges continue separate

nearly to the base.

It is not easy to distinguish the species as described by

M. Temminck, for his figures and descriptions appear to have

been mostly taken from stuffed and dried specimens, in which

state the peculiarities of the face and ears, which are often the

most characteristic parts of the species, are frequently de-

stroyed. The species of this genus that are in the British

Museum may be thus divided.

** Gland on the throat very large and distinct.

a. The lobule of the ear semi-ovate with a large base ; ears

large, forehead rounded.

Mol. rufus. Chestnut with whitish tips to the hairs; nose

with a crenulated ridge over, and a broad flat bristly space

_ between, the nostrils; tail thick, half free.

b. The lobule of the ears round, compressed, with a contracted

: base ; forehead keeled.

Mol. velox. Chestnut, nose with a diverging ridge from the

centre of the space between the nostrils; tail thick.

Mol. tropidorhynchus. Chestnut, nose with a longitudinal

central ridge, and then a nearly straight crenulated cross ridge

over the nostrils; tail tapering, thin.

** Gland on the throat very small, rudimentary.

Mol. fuliginosus. Black, tail elongate, slender, tapering ;

nose with a diverging ridge from the centre of the space be-

tween the nostrils; lobule round, compressed, contracted at

the base ; forehead keeled.

Mol. Norfolkensis. Grey-black, beneath grey; tail elon-

gate, tapering ; nose without any ridge; lobule small, round,

not contracted at the base, ears acute; forehead not keeled ?

Tribe Vespertilionina.

Scotophilus Cubensis. Fur blackish-brown (in spirits) ;

wings dark, blackish; underside of the interfemoral membrane

whitish, with scattered hairs ; feet large; heel bone short, ta-

pering ; ears moderate, entire; tragus ovate-lanceolate. Body

and head 22; tail 13; fore arm 13.

Hab. Cuba.

8 Account of a Journey across the

Il.—Eztracts from a few rough Notes of a Journey across the

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman, in 1835. By Mr.

James TweEeEpDIE, addressed to Sir W. J. Hooker.

In reply to the inquiry contained in your last letter, as to

whether I kept a journal of my late excursion to the interior,

of which, if such be the case, you desire a copy, I beg to state

that it is certainly my custom to take a few notes of whatever

may particularly strike me as singular and worthy of remark,

but that I am far from pretending to describe in a minute or

scientific manner ; although

In wilds unknown I love to stroll,

Where virgin plants their flowers unfold,

Where unknown warblers tune their song,

And unnamed rivers glide along.

Of my journey to the Andes of Tucuman, I now therefore

send you a few notes, which had been hastily written while

crossing the Pampas. My object in troubling you with them

is merely to show the causes of that poverty in my botanical

collections of which you complain.

On the 2nd of March our Tropa left Buenos Ayres: it con-

sisted of seventeen waggons, each of which, together with its -

cargo, was computed to weigh about three tons, and was drawn

by six bullocks. The body of the waggon is built of sticks and

straw, and is arched over the top where it is covered with raw

hides: the length is about 15 feet, the breadth 5, and the

height 64 feet inside. Each wheel has a diameter of 8 feet.

Thus when these unwieldy, uncouth-looking vehicles are set

in motion, you might imagine that a village of Indian huts or

toldas had suddenly taken a mind to walk, and the whole ap-

pearance is as curious as can well be imagined.

The tropa, on this occasion, consisted, besides the waggons,

of 240 cattle, 44 horses, 35 mules, and 32 persons, including

passengers. Well knowing by experience the lagging mode

of travelling that prevails in this country, I allowed the party

to have four days’ start of me, and came up with them at the

village of Morros, about five leagues distant from Buenos

Ayres. Thus my future companions had performed rather

more than a league per day. At the moment when I arrived

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 9

the tropa was preparing to cross an Arroy, where meeting two

other tropas on their way to Buenos Ayres, we made a very

grand appearance from the union of such a large number of

cattle, &c., and six hours of time were lost before we again re-

sumed our road. Morros is a small straggling village with a

population of from 400 to 500 persons, and a respectable look-

ing little church: excellent wheat, maize, and pumpions are

raised in this neighbourhood, these being the chief articles of

produce to which the farmer directs his attention.

While passing the Arroy I spent some of the leisure time

which was thus afforded me in examining its marshy sides,

in search of any new or rare plants, and my disappointment in

this first attempt proved but too true an omen of the slender

share of success which attended my journey. The tropa had

hardly resumed its march on a good road, when they proceeded

at the rate of about two miles an hour, than the approach of

sunset warned them to halt for the night, and then the whole

party dispersed to gather dry thistles, withered straw and

herbage, or any material with which a fire can be lighted to

cook their victuals. This process is very quickly and sum-

marily performed ; often have I seen the animal on foot help-

ing to draw the waggon, and killed; flayed, roasted and swal-

lowed in less than two hours! Dry grass is often the only

fuel that can be procured: the men divide into parties, four

to each mess ; the portion of beef is handed to them; and they

generally cook it by sticking it on an iron rod which they fix

in the ground and lean over the smoky fire. Then each indi-

vidual pulls off his singed and bloody portion, severing it

partly with his knife and partly with his greased and gory

fingers ; and with unwashed hands and filthy beard, enjoys

his half-raw meal, devoured without bread, vegetables or salt,

in as much comfort and with greater health than does the

London epicure his highly seasoned and varied feast.

Many of the people who accompany these tropas have been

born in them and know no other home than a cart or waggon,

nor can do anything save driving and tormenting the poor

animals committed to their charge; he being esteemed the

cleverest fellow who can make his bullocks cry loudest with

the tortures he inflicts. It cannot be wondered at that they

10 Account of a Journey across the

are avery ignorant, thievish and deceitful set of savages. The

traveller requires to be constantly on the look-out or his pro-

perty will be stolen: if he has carried anything to eat or drink

and does not share it with these ruffians, they abuse him, call

him a bad Christian, and take it away; nay, murders are fre-

quently committed and gloried in under these circumstances :

and such were the people with whom I was once for seven

months, the only stranger save one Frenchman !

Early on the 6th of March we crossed the river de las

Conchas, twenty-one miles from Buenos Ayres, on an old,

rickety, dangerous wooden bridge, the only bridge of any de-

scription that we met with in a journey of nearly 1200 miles.

The care that was taken to prevent accidents consumed three

hours in passing it, immediately after which we entered a

grassy plain, diversified by no change of scenery, except a

forest of tall thistles (Carduus marianus) six to ten feet high,

mingled with a coarse species of Erigeron. At mid-day we

halted and were here joined by a large carriage conveying the

family of the owner of the waggons and his servants.

While stopping here I strolled a little way and found the

first specimen worth gathering, it was an Eupatorium, with

broad cordate leaves and tricoloured flowers, which I had how- |

ever seen before at the Rio Negro, Banda Oriental.

7th. This day we performed the extraordinary distance of

five leagues, all the way being over a grassy plain, where no

water could be had, except at one solitary Rancho, where they

gave us some excellent water, drawn from a depth of only 11

feet below the surface. I took the opportunity of ascertain-

ing the depth of all the wells (which are however few in num-

ber) that we saw, and found that by digging about 20 feet at

most, an abundance of fine water can always be procured.

So lazy are the people, however, that they generally prefer

using what they can obtain from some filthy stagnant pool,

to taking the trouble of sinking a well; one hindrance, how-

ever exists in the want of materials for cradling such pits, as

they have nothing for the purpose but bones. At night we

were deprived of sleep by the clouds of mosquitoes which is-

sued from a stinking marsh close to which we had encamped.

8th. Four hours were occupied this morning in crossing

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 11

the marsh, though but half a mile wide. Each waggon had to

be dragged over by eight pair of oxen, so that after one had

passed, the cattle had to be sent back to assist the next. I

saw several vehicles, besides our own, thus engaged ; for as

there is no general road, each takes his own way as seems

best. One unfortunate fellow had overset his cart loaded with

wheat in this grassy marsh; he was going with it to Buenos

Ayres, and the grain being in bulk and not in bags, must

have been almost entirely lost under the water and among the

aquatic herbage. Two others were helping him to recover it,

standing nearly up to the middle in water.

Corn is not carried to market here in sacks, but four hides

are loosely attached by their corners to the inside of the huge

hurdle-cart already described, thus forming a kind of open

box, into which the grain or any other cargo is flung.

At sunset, having been travelling over a grassy and some-

what undulating country, we arrived at the village of Lujuan

(pronounced Leuchan) lying in a sort of flat valley. Our first

view of it from an elevated ridge was very prepossessing: its

straggling roofs and whitened church, mingled with fig trees,

and lighted by the setting sun, gave me the idea of a neat Eng-

lish village ; but a nearer approach dispelled this favourable

appearance. We found it a poor miserable place, chiefly con-

sisting of mud-built, straw-covered Ranchos ; a few tolerable

brick dwellings formed a kind of square in the centre and out-

side them were ranged several wretched huts, without gardens

or any appearance of cultivated ground, except some small

peach clumps, which are kept to be cut every two or three

years for fuel. The peach trees here are as plentiful as osiers

in England, and may generally be seen growing along with the

Agave Americana and the seven-angled Cactus. A consi-

derable quantity of good wheat and maize is raised in this di-

strict for the Buenos Ayres market: the pieces of ground

thus occupied being unfenced are preserved from the intru-

sions of cattle by having a lion or tiger tethered in the centre,

the smell of which deters any cattle from approaching. (What

is here called a lion, is probably the American lion or puma.)

9th. Leaving Lujuan at midnight, we passed the Guardia

de Lujuan, three miles on our left, where are the head quarters

12 Account of a Journey across the —

of the Argentine cavalry: here the country is chiefly occupied

in keeping and breeding horses for the army, being clothed

with rich grass and abounding in good water.

10th. Having travelled most of the night, and up to eleven

o’clock in the forenoon, except resting two hours at sun-rise,

we halted about noon when the sun was very warm, and turned

out the cattle to feed in a fine and rich, though rather coarse,

grassy meadow. Except two species of grass | added nothing

to my specimen-book, the vegetation being similar to that of

Buenos Ayres. Water was scarce and bad; near one Rancho

we unexpectedly found a’ sunken well, but nothing to draw

withal, except a large horn which had many ups and downs

before our thirst was satisfied; there was only eight feet of

depth before we came to the water, but the well being lined

with shank-bones gives the water a very bad taste.

_ 11th. This day’s travelling was slow and fatiguing, owing

to the scorching unclouded sun; but we made up the differ-

ence by pushing onwards during the night, when we came to

good roads, for the most of the daylight had been consumed

in passing a bog of soft mud. ‘To each cart the united force

of nine or ten pairs of bullocks had to be applied to pull it

through this bog which is only three-fourths of a mile wide..

The whole day being thus spent, I took the opportunity of ex-

amining the vegetation of this neighbourhood, but only found

two Syngenesious species that were new to me.

12th. Early this morning we came to another soft marsh

with a slow river winding through it: the current did not flow

faster than half a mile an hour. This river is called the Ar-

roya del Pez, or Fish River, a name generally applied to di-

stinguish such streams as do not dry up in summer from those

which disappear at that period, although there may be no fish

in either. Great caution was necessary in crossing this place,

as the heads of the shaft bullocks were often drawn under

water by the weight of the waggon. So long was the line of

cattle, that often the foremost animals were already across be-

fore the cart had entered the water. When the traces break,

as not unfrequently happens, the poor beasts are drowned.

13th. We rested during most of the hot afternoon of yes-

terday, and travelled all night through a rough trackless plain,

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 13

and stopped in sight of the small village of Salto Chico, which

we reached in the afternoon. This was another straggling

assemblage of Ronchos, their walls of unburnt bricks, but the

church with its whitewashed spire looked rather respectable ;

for here, as in all countries where the Romish pontiff holds

sway, be the morals of the people as depraved as they may,

the outward appearance of the church is the first considera-

tion. For instance, at San Lorenzo on the Poran,a village of

but five miserable huts, the church is one of the most splendid

buildings in the whole Argentine Republic. The population

of Salto Chico is about 1500: the place is noted for sending

a great number of cheeses to Buenos Ayres, which are how-

ever but very poor eating, and fetch a current dollar, fivepence

each, weighing about 2lbs. A small river passes the village :

the water is very brackish and bad, but we obtained a supply

of what was good from wells, about fifteen feet deep to the

bottom.

14th. Having again travelled most of the night, we found

ourselves in the morning traversing a dreary houseless plain

country, covered however with cattle and sheep. Rain came

on in the evening, accompanied with thunder and vivid conti-

nued flashes of lightning ; these, however, caused no alarm to

the inhabitants as they would have done in a metallic coun-

try: for though storms of lightning are much more frequent

and violent here than in England, they are never known to do

any injury.

15th. We entered another poor village, called Pergamena,

with a population of about 2000. Here we quitted the pro-

vince of Buenos Ayres and therefore found it needful to lay

in a stock of pumpions and some bread; the latter was with

difficulty procured, being considered a luxury in this neigh-

_ bourhood. We are now 120 miles from Buenos Ayres, and I

have found but seven specimens of plants.

16th. At the Arroya del Medio, which divides the province

of Buenos Ayres from that of Santa Fé, we were joined by

100 fresh draught bullocks, as we now enter uninhabited

Pampas, occupied only by wandering Indians, and it is most

desirable to pass through this country as quickly as possible

lest the Indians should have time to collect and attack us for

14 Account of a Journey across the

the sake of plunder. We therefore travelled night and day,

making only very short stoppages to change the cattle and

singe our beef, cooking being out of the question, where no

fuel could be procured except dry grass, and when it was un-

advisable to make any delay. We however saw nothing in

these vast plains but three Tropas on their way to Buenos

Ayres, at considerable distances from us. On these wide and

open tracts an assemblage of fifty waggons only looks like a

few ships scattered on the vast ocean, steering their way, as

by compass, through the-trackless wastes. Even the wild

animals, as Foxes, Polecats, and Becatchos, abundant in more

inhabited districts, are not to be seen in this desert: some

grey and black vultures only attended our Tropa, which

picked up any offal that came in their way. Here while stop-

ping, during the passage of the Arroya called Del Indio-

muerto, I saw great quantities of a large species of quail, ge-

nerally called the pheasant of the country, probably attracted

to this spot by the fine and large species of grass, with eat-

able seeds, which grow in the Arroya. On the 22nd of March,

which was a clear calm sunny day, we noticed vast flocks of

swallows, flying in a direction contrary to our course, which

was north-west, at a great height from the ground ; probably .

on their way to the warm islands of the Pacific Oceans. These

birds generally quit Buenos Ayres in the beginning of April

and return thither late in September. Only one kind of swal-

low is found in this country: it is large, and with more grey

on the back than the house swallow of Britain, builds its nest

under tiles and in holes of walls, and has a strong melodious

note much resembling that of a rising lark.

24th. Having travelled for the last seven days and nights

through a continued flat grassy plain, where nothing but bit-

ter and brackish water could be had, we stopped at sunrise to

let the poor exhausted cattle eat the damp though withered

grass, and at nine in the morning reached Guardia del Equina,

a poor village of thirty-two Ranchos. Here are some old mud

forts, whence the cannon have however been removed ; this

military establishment, which was built by the old Spaniards

to awe the Indians, is now given up. We rested all night at

this place to repair our carts, and sent back about 100 of the

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 15

most worn-out bullocks. While these affairs were proceeding

I examined the vegetation, but as the ground is dry and saline

I only found a paniculated Syngenesious shrub, and a spe-

cies of Hordeum. Round the old forts, where the ground has

been broken up, the land is covered with the common Hore-

hound and Fennel: these plants, which are inseparable com-

panions, always occur in great abundance in similar spots,

springing up wherever the original soil has been disturbed.

25th. Having now passed that part of the road which is

considered the most dangerous from the attacks of Indians,

we halted for six hours, but as it was by the side of a horribly

stinking marsh, the clouds of mosquitoes prevented our get-

ting any sleep. Most of the day was spent in crossing the bog,

during which time I had the gratification of gathering a very

beautiful kind of Digitalis, with crisped linear leaves. We then

changed the draught beasts and resumed our journey on a

fine dry ground, which, gradually rising, brought us to the

‘summit of the highest ridge we had yet passed. From the

summit we had before us one of the finest and most welcome

views that could be imagined. Hitherto we had been travel-

ling over a lonely desert, bare of everything but grass of a

foxy-brown colour; but now our eyes were suddenly glad-

dened with a delightfully fresh verdure; a beautiful serpent-

ine river, the Corcoufeon, slowly winding its course through

richly wooded land, adorned with lakes of clear looking water.

Several of the fields have the appearance of being cultivated

with wheat and maize; this is owing to the fresh grass spring-

ing up after the process of burning the ground. A little be-

fore sunset we came to a beautiful piece of water where I had

the comfort of getting myself thoroughly washed ;—no small

refreshment, after travelling for three weeks through clouds of

_ dust. Here I found a curious Eryngium, smelling strongly

like Angelica, and a species of Eupatorium with fine tufts of

peach-coloured flowers.

[To be continued. ]

16 W.S. MacLeay on the Structure and

III.—Odservations on Trilobites, founded on a comparison of |

their structure with that of living Crustacea. By W. S.

MacLeay, M.A., F.L.S., &c.*

TRILOBITEs were originally considered by Klein and others

to be a particular kind of molluscous shell with three lobes.

This supposition, however, was afterwards abandoned as un-

tenable, and remained so until Latreille, in the 7th volume of

the ‘ Annales du Muséum,’ revived it and referred the trilo-

bitic fossils to the genus Chiton among the Mollusca. Latreille

founded his argument on the presumed absence of feet, and

on the lateral edges of the body in several species having been -

sub-coriaceous. It is evident, nevertheless, that these early

inhabitants of the sea could not have belonged to the sub-

kingdom Mollusca, since they possessed compound sessile

eyes and a distinct labrum. They must, therefore, be assigned

to the sub-kingdom Annulosa, in which we may find many

articulated animals which have compound eyes and a labrum

very similar in structure to those of Trilobites. Having a

hard, shelly, apterous tergum and inconspicuous feet, the Tri-

lobites must have either belonged to the order Chilognatha

among the Ametabola, or to the class of Crustacea. But all

the Chilognatha are terrestrial animals, and the obvious geo-

logical fact is, that Trilobites resided in the sea. We must

clearly therefore exclude them from the Chilognatha and place

them among the Crustacea, in which class it becomes” now

necessary to determine their exact place.

The class of Crustacea, so remarkable above all other ani-

mals for the great variation of their feet, both in number and

form, is divisible into two groups; those which have the eyes

sessile or the Edriophthalma of Leach, and those which have

their eyes supported on moveable peduncles or the Pod-

ophthalma of Leach. To the Edriophthalma the Trilobites

clearly belong, and the question is now reduced to determine

merely whether they belong to the Amphipoda or those existing

Crustacea which do not undergo metamorphosis in their larva

state, (among which I include not only the Amphipoda of La-

* Reprinted with permission from R. I, Murchison’s valuable work on

the ‘ Silurian System.

Affinities of Trilobites, 17

treille, but also his Lemodipoda and Isopoda,) or whether they

belong to the Entomostraca or those existing Edriophthalma

which do undergo a change of form in their larva state. I

conceive that the Trilobites will be found to differ in so many

respects from both the Amphipoda and Entomostraca, that ac-

cording to the present state of our knowledge, we must allow

them to form a distinct order, intermediate between the tribe

Isopoda on the one side, and the tribe Aspidophora on the other.

Those circumstances which generally are reckoned most

anomalous in the Trilobites are not in reality so very extraor-

dinary, since they may be detected in many Crustacea now

existing. Thus the trilobed form of the body occurs in Serolis

and Bopyrus. The membranaceous or rather coriaceous mar-

gin of the body, assumed by Latreille and others to exist in

Trilobites, is to be found in the female Cymothoe. In these

last animals also, as well as in the female Bopyrus, we observe

the eyes to disappear as in many Trilobites. The compound

eyes of Calymene are situated on the back of the head, but wide

apart, and are composed of large facets. The same structure

may be seen in the male of Cymothoa trigonocephala, and

many other Cymothoade. The absence of antennz and the

rudimentary state of the feet, both occur in Bopyrus, the well-

known parasite of prawns. In Spheroma we have not only

the onisciform body of Calymene, but also its property of roll-

ing itself up into a ball. In Spheroma also we find the large

- convex semicircular anal segment of Bumastus. I think, there-

fore, that we can have no hesitation now in allowing the im-

mediate affinity of the Trilobites to Isopod Amphipoda, and

more particularly to the Cymothoade and that parasitical

group which is called Epicarides by Latreille. Indeed, if the

Trilobites are once demonstrated to have possessed articulated

feet, it will be difficult to remove a male Bopyrus from the

group. Here the two eyes are placed on the back of the head

wide apart. Here also there are no antenne, no posterior

lateral abdominal appendages, and besides no very distinct

articulation to the sternum. If the Bumastus of Murchison

had a body of thirteen equal segments with short crustaceous

feet it would be a male Bopyrus, so close is the affinity! The

differences between a male and female Bopyrus, such for in-

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.21. Sept. 1839. Cc

18 W.S. Macleay on the Structure and

stance as the presence of eyes in the former and the want of

‘them in the latter, may also induce us to fancy that similar

differences may have possibly occurred between certain male

and female Trilobita, which from their prima facie difference

of form are now placed in distinct genera, although they may

have truly belonged to one and the same species. Serolis has

been generally considered to come near to Paradowxides ; but

as the former has got four well-developed antennz with crus-

taceous feet, and the latter none, I am inclined to believe the

relation between them to be one of analogy rather than of im-

mediate affinity—Let us now turn to the Entomostraca.

Dr. Buckland, following other authors, has compared the

Trilobites with the genera Limulus and Branchipus. With

the latter genus, however, they obviously have no immediate

affinity; although it may be well, by reference to Branchipus,

to show that Crustacea can and actually do exist, with soft

membranaceous feet, such as Audouin and Brongniart sus-

pected, and. Goldfuss has more lately asserted, to have been

the feet of Trilobites. When, nevertheless, I take into consi-

deration the perfect manner in which the soft body of an ani-

mal referred to me by Mr. Murchison, and by that gentleman

called Nereites Cambrensis, has left its impression in a slaty

rock, I confess I find it difficult to understand how the ves-

tiges of legs in a Trilobite (if such legs ever really existed)

should not be more evident than Goldfuss has represented

them in his plates. In short, I consider the question of feet

to remain still unsettled. At the same time I ought to remark,

that if the Trilobites were Crustacea, between Apus and Bo-

pyrus, a fact I conceive capable of demonstration, they must

have been in possession of subabdominal, laminar, oviferous,

appendages. Now, no traces-of such appendages remain,

consequently we can easily understand how feet of a similar

membranaceous consistency may have disappeared in like

manner. I may here observe, that Brongniart is certainly

wrong in imagining that the Ogygia Guettardi had oval ovi-

ferous bags appendent to the abdomen like Cyclops, for what

he considers to be such organs are more probably the mem-

branaceous margin of the abdomen, and, besides, Ogygia has

no immediate affinity to Cyclops. With reference to Limulus,

Affinities of Trilobites. 0

its crustaceous, semilunar cephalothorax bears considerable

resemblance to that of certain Trilobites, such as the genera

Ogygia, Asaphus, Paradowides, &c. In Limulus, we find reni-

form, compound eyes placed widely apart on the back of the

head, and consisting of peculiar facets. We find, also, an indi-

stinct trilobed structure of the superior abdominal shield. But

then this is composed of a number of confluent segments, so as

to appear of one piece ; and, besides the two ocelli, the large

erustaceous feet and cheliform antenne throw Limulus far

away from the Trilobites. We must, therefore, compare them

with Apus and other Aspidophora ; animals which, in my opi-

nion, of all the Entomostraca, appear to come nearest to the

Trilobita. Here we have a large clypeiform shell, rounded in

front, and posteriorly emarginate, which forms a cephalotho-

rax, on the back of which are situated three eyes. Of these

the two largest are lunated, and obviously correspond to the

eyes of Trilobita, although they are placed proportionally

much nearer to each other. It is true they are simple, but so

appear to have been the eyes of Bumastus*. The abdomen,

divided into many distinct segments, the foliaceous feet, the

structure of the front of the cephalothorax, the two rudiment-

ary antenne, the large labrum and projecting mandibles, all

show the affinity of Apus to the Trilobites, more particularly

to Asaphus platycephalus, in a specimen of which from Lake

Huron, Mr. C. Stokes has discovered a subquadrate labrum,

which only differs from that of Apus, in being anteriorly

deeply emarginate, while the latter is truncated. Dr. Buck-

land has compared this organ to that of crabs, but decapod

Crustacea possess a very different structure, and the thing

most like this labrum is to be found among the Xiphosura, or

still better, among the Aspidophora of Latreille, of which group

this naturalist’s genus Prosopistoma ought more particularly

to be compared with Trilobites. I am not aware, however,

that any trilobite has yet occurred with vestiges of ocelli.

* The distinction between smooth eyes and granulose eyes does not seem

to be of much importance in these animals; for among the existing family

of Cymothoide we not only see the males of some species with eyes and the

females without them, but we observe neighbouring genera, such as Zurydice

and Nelocira, the one with granulose eyes like a Calymene, and the other

with smooth eyes like a Bumastus.

20 W.S. MacLeay on the Structure and

Still there are characters which, in my opinion, distinguish

Trilobites from almost all other Crustacea; and among these

characters I would particularly mention the absence of all la-

teral, posterior, abdominal appendages. Excepting Bopyrus*

and certain Lemodipoda, all the Amphipoda possess these anal

appendages, which are generally styliform, articulated and in

numbertwo. The Lemodipoda, however, want these append-

ages, because the whole abdomen in them has become eva-

nescent, a case totally different from that of Trilobites, which,

like Bopyrus, have a well-developed abdomen consisting of

many segments. I therefore consider this deficiency of anal

appendages to a well-developed abdomen, when joined with

the evanescent feet and the total absence of antennz, to be

characters separating the Trilobita from all Crustacea except

Bopyrus. The affinities of the group may be roughly expressed

by the following diagram.

AMPHIPODA.

Cymothoade,

Leach.

is)

Bumastus,

Murch,

Xiphosura,

Lat.

ENTOMOSTACA. TRILOBITA.

Asaphus,

Brongn.

Aspidophora,

Lat.

Calymene,

Brongn.

If we allow any accuracy to belong to the foregoing remarks

on the affinities of Trilobites, it will follow that the class of

Crustacea may for the present be distributed into orders, thus ;

V1Z.

Normal Group. Orders.

E Decapropa, Lat. Antenniferous region

Poporutuatma, Leach. of head confluent

Animals having their with the thorax.

eyes supported on move- | STomAToropa, Lat. Antenniferous region

able peduncles. of head distinct

E from the thorax.

* Bopyrus may possibly belong to the Trilobita, but I confess I do not

see how Agnostus can. Nor do I believe that the latter fossil has any con-

nexion with the Annulosa at all.

Affinities of Trilobites. 21

Aberrant Group. Orders.

r AmPuiropa, Lat. Head distinct with

four antenne. Feet

thick and crustace-

ous. Animals not

undergoing meta-

morphosis.

Trixosita, Brongn. Head distinct without

EprioputHautma, Leach. antenne. Feet ru-

Animals having their 4 dimentary, soft, and

eyes sessile. membranaceous.

Entomosrraca, Lat. Head rarely, if ever,

distinct from tho-

rax, but provided

with antenne. Feet

always _ distinct.

Animals undergo-

ing metamorphosis,

With regard to the habits of true Trilobites, these animals

have been supposed by some naturalists to be parasitical ; but

I conceive this hypothesis not to be very tenable, since almost

all existing articulated parasites that adhere externally to other

animals have strong feet, hooked at the end for that purpose.

Now the Trilobites certainly had no such strong crustaceous

hooks to their feet, or these hooks would have long since been

detected. The close affinity of Trilobites to Bopyrus does not

prove a parasitical mode of life, for Spheroma and other Cymo-

thoade which, like Trilobites, have the power of coiling them-

selves up into a ball, are not parasitical, although so close in

affinity to the parasitical genus Cymothoa. Nay, it has been

said that the Cymothoade and Epicarides do not draw their

nourishment directly from the animals to which they adhere ;

but, on the contrary, live entirely on the animalcule brought

to them in the water by the play of the branchiz, near which

they always take their post. Still the close connexion of Tri-

lobites with Bopyrus, and their feet almost null, if not entirely

so, induce me to think that these animals must have been to a

certain degree sedentary. The flat under surface of their bodies,

and the lateral coriaceous margin of several species, which is

so analogous to that of Chiton, make it probable that they ad-

hered with a soft articulated underside either to rocks or fuci.

They appear to have been among Crustacea what the Vermes

or white-blooded worms are among Ametabola,—often without

eyes, and always without antenne or distinct feet. If they

had feet, as Audouin and Goldfuss imagine, and, as indeed is

22 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

most probable, they must have been so small, so membrana-

ceous, so soft, and so rudimentary, as almost to be useless to

the animals for locomotion. The mouth, so analogous to that

of Apus, makes us imagine that the Trilobites were carnivorous ;

and they may possibly have fed on Acrita, Annelida, or naked

Mollusca. That they had to search for their food, and that

they possessed some small power of locomotion, is to be in-

ferred from their highly organized eyes; for no truly sessile

animal is provided with sight. The Balanus, when it becomes

sedentary, loses its eyes, as does also, in like case, the female

Coccus. I imagine, therefore, that although the Trilobites

were to a certain degree sedentary, more particularly the blind

ones, they must have had some power of crawling over a flat

surface ; but whether they moved by rudimentary, soft, mem-

branaceous feet, or whether it was by means of the undula-

tion of setigerous segments, like the earth-worm, or by wrin-

kling the under surface of the abdomen like a Chiton, are ques-

tions yet to be determined. One thing, moreover, is in my

opinion clear, from their longitudinally trilobed form and la-

teral coriaceous margin; namely, that they had the power of

adhering to a flat surface, like a Chiton, Bopyrus, or Coccus.

While thus sedentary, the hard, although thin dorsal shell,

probably saved them in some degree from the attacks of fishes,

just as that of Chiton protects such Mollusca from all fishes

except the Scaride. The Trilobites probably, like Ostree,

Chitones, Cocci, and other sedentary animals, adhered in

masses one upon the other, and thus formed those conglome-

rations of individuals which are so remarkable in certain

rocks.

IV.—Flore Insularum Nove Zelandie Precursor; or a Spe-

cimen of the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. By

ALLAN CunniINGHAM, Esq.

[Continued from vol. iii. p. 319.]

TILIACEA, Juss.

Enteiea, R. Br., Juss.

Calyx 4—5 phyllus. Petala 4. Stamina indefinita uniformia, Antheris

subrotundisincumbentibus. Stigma denticulatum. Capsula ena

echinata, 6-locularis, semi 6-valvis, polysperma.

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 23

601. E. arborescens. R. Br. Mss. Bot. Mag. 2480.—Apeiba australis. 4.

Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 301. t. 34.—Corchorus Sloanoides. Sol. Ms. in Bibl.

Banks.

Whau or Iwau, indig. R. C.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Shores of the

_* Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Arbuscula 12—15 pedalis, ramis teretibus pubescentibus. Folia alterna,

longe petiolata, palmaria, subcordata, palmato 3—5 loba, inzequaliter eroso-

dentata, preesertim subtus pubescentia, pilis densis stellatis. Stipule bine,

lanceolate deciduxz. lores in racemum brevem, pauciflorum, peduncula-

tum dispositi.

ELZOCARPEA, Juss.

1. Exzocarrus, L. (Dicera, Forst.)

602. FE. Hinau; foliis petiolatis alternis oblongis subacuminatis obtusis

basi sensim attenuatis dentato-serratis subter pube adpressa sericeis venosis,

in venarum axillis seepe saccato-foveolatis, racemis simplicibus axillaribus

folio brevioribus, petiolis trilobatis, drupis ovatis, nucleo sulcato.—E. den-

_ tatus. Vahl. Symb. iii. p.67.—Dicera dentata. Forst. Prodr. n. 226. DC.

Prodr. i. p.520. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p.303. :

_ Hinau ab incolis vulgo nominatur. bok: a Coy phe es

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Frequent in

the forests of Wangaroa, Hokianga, &c.—1826, 4. Cunningham. (Middle

Island.) Shores of Queen Charlotte’s Sound.—1773, G. Forster.

Arbor procera, 50—60 pedalis; rami teretes, patentes ; cortice brunneo-

griseo. Folia alterna, oblonga, vel ovato-lanceolata, dentato-serrata, coriacea

glabra, patentia, petiolata, subtus tenuissime sericea, pulchre reticulato-ve-

nosa, et in axillis venorum szpe profunde foveolata. Racemi axillares sim-

plicissimi, palmares, laxiflores, folio breviores. Calyx 5-sepalus, sepalis

lineari-lanceolatis acutis villosis equalibus patentibus. Petala alba, oblongo-

dilatata, 3-lobata, 3-nervia, unguiculata, lobis oblongis obtusis undulatis in-

termedio longiore. Stamina circiter 15—20. Anthere lineares, teretiusculo-

tetragonz, villoso-scabre, 2-loculares, filamentis longiores, apice 2-valves

dehiscentes, valva unica aristata, altera breviore reflexa. Discus hypogynus

5-glandulosus, glandulis basi bifidis extus sericeis. Ovarium superum coni-

cum sericeum 5-loculare. Stylus subulatus. Stigma simplex. Drupa nu-

cleo sulcato 5-loculare? loculis 4 plerumque abortivis.

The wood of the Hinau is remarkable for its whiteness, but it is

almost useless on account of the way in which it splits, when exposed

either to wet or warmth. Its chief use is that it makes an excellent

dye, either a light brown, puce or dark black, not removeable by wash-

ing. The natives employ it (that is the outer skin of the bark) for

the purpose of dyeing the black threads of their garments.—Yates’s

New Zealand, p. 49.

. 2. Frresia, DC.

Calyx profunde 4-partitus, foliolis eequalibus ovatis. Petala 4, cuneata,

24 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

subunguiculata, apice triloba. Discus glandulosus. Stamina citciter

12. Anthere cordato-oblonge, mutice, 2-loculares, poris sub apice

dehiscentes. Stylus leviter sulcatus, apice 2-vel 4-fidus. Bacca sicca,

fragilis, 4-locularis, loculis dispermis. Semina angulata subtriquetra,

testa atra nitida, rugosa, crustacea.

603. F. racemosa, foliis (oppositis) cordato-ovatis acuminatis petiolatis

inzequaliter serratis flaccidis venosis, racemis compositis subpaniculatis pa-

tentibus axillaribus ramulisque villosis.—Dicera? serrata. Forst. Prodr. n.

227. DC. Prodr.i. p. 520. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p.304.—Eleocarpus Di-

cera. Vahl. Symb. iii. p. 67. Pork’. Te ft. 4.7. F697.

Mako-Mako of the natives. R. C. .

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Shady forests

and margins of running streams, shores of the Bay of Islands, and elsewhere

on the east coast where it usually flowers in Oct. and Nov.—1826, 4. Cun-

ningham. (Middle Island.)—1773, G. Forster. ;

Arbuscula erecta pulcherrima, ]2—15 pedalis: rami patentes, teretes,

suboppositi. Folia membranacea, minute reticulato-venosa, juniora varie

violacea purpurascentique picta. ores in racemos patentes dispositi.

Calyx villosus ciliatus. Petala albido-rosea vel purpurascentia, sepalis al-

terna. S%lamenta staminum cinereo-villosa. Stylus deciduus.

STERCULIACE, Kunth. Endl. (Bombacee, D.C ?)

Piaciantuus, Forst.

Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx subhemisphericus 5-fidus aut dentatus,

persistens. Petala 5, cum tubo staminum unita. Stamina 10—12, fila-

lamenta in tubum cylindraceum unitum, Pistillum solitarium. Ovarium—

ovatum, 1—2 ovulatum, ovulis suspensis. S*ylus crassiusculus. Stigma

magnum bilobum, hinc decurrens, papillosum. Capsula subdrupacea 1—2

cocca, apiculata indehiscens. Cocculi 1-spermi. Semen pendens. Albu-

men carnosum. Embryo immersus, curvatus. Jadicula cylindracea, ad

hilum seminis versa: Cotyledones majuscule plane subfoliacee longitudi-

naliter undulatee.—Arbores vel Frutices. Folia stipulata, alterna, linearia

aut ovata. Flores subsolitarii paniculatique.

604. P. divaricatus, glaber, foliis fasciculatis lineari-spathulatis obtusis

integerrimis patentibus trinerviis floribus solitariis binisve axillaribus, pe-

talis obovatis ad basin tubi staminum unitis, lobis stigmatis tubo inclusis,

caule fruticoso. Forst. Prodr.n. 254. DC. Prodr.i. p.477. A. Rich, Fl.

Nov. Zel. p.299. Bot. Mag. 3271.

Runa, indigenis. R. Cunn.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Frequent in

salt marshes on low sides of rivers, where it forms dense bushes.—1826, 4.

Cunningham. (Middle Island).—1773, G. Forster. a

Frutex gracilis, diffusus, 3—4 pedalis, ramis virgatis divaricatis alternis

teretibus prorsus glabris, cortice atro-brunneo, stipulis procumbentibus,

Flores solitarii interdum bini; pedicellis brevibus. Caly« cyathiformis, 5-

dentatus, dentibus acutis parvis brevibus divaricatis. Petala ovata, conca-

epee

— wee.

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 25

viuscula, patentia, flavescentia. Stigma bilobum, longitudine tubi staminum.

Ovarium parce tomentosum, mono-dicoccum, ovulis pendulis,

_ 605. P. betulinus; ramulis foliisque villosis, foliis sparsis petiolatis ovato-

lanceolatis acuminatis grosse ineequaliterque serrato-trinerviis, floribus ter-

minalibus lateralibusve ramoso-paniculatis decompositis, pilis cinereis con-

spersis, petalis lineari-spathulatis subciliatis ad medium tubi staminum co-

herentibus, lobis stigmatis patentibus tubum superantibus recurvis, caule

arborescenti.

New Zealand (Northern Island). A lofty tree on the banks of the Kana-

Kana river, near its head, Bay of Islands.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Arbor procera, 70 pedalis. Rami stricti, teretes ; juniores tomentosi, pilis

stellatis, cortice fibroso tenaci brunneo. Stipule decidus. Flores paniculati,

ramis patentibus villosis. Calyx 5-fidus; lacinize ovate acuminate, nervose,

coriaceze, rigide, patentes. Petala alba, spathulata. Stigma bilobum, tubo

staminum longius. Ovarium villosum, 1-loculare, uniovulatum. Ovulum

pendulum.

606. P. urticinus ; ramulis foliisque canescentibus, foliis sparsis petiolatis

ovato-lanceolatis attenuatis grosse inzequaliterque serratis venosis, paniculis

ramosis terminalibus, petalis lineari-spathulatis elongatis acutis, juxta basin

tubi staminum concretis, stylo omnino incluso, caule fruticoso.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Among underwood on the banks of

the Kana-Kana river, Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Frutex 6—8 pedalis. Rami virgati, teretes laxiusculi, ramulis alternis

brevibus, foliatis. Stipule caduce. lores paniculati, ramis strictis dense

stellato-pilosis. Calya« 5-fidus, laciniis ovatis acutis, minus rigidioribus sed

villosioribus quam in precedenti. Petala attenuato-spathulata. Stylus in

tubo staminuin penitus inclusus.

_ This species differs from the preceding in its leaves being smaller

and more attenuated, in having its branchlets more hoary, and its

petals, which are united almost at the base of the tube of stamens,

more attenuated and somewhat exceeding the tube in length, within

which the style is, moreover, wholly inclosed.

MALVACEA, R. Br. Kunth.

Hisiscus, L.

607. H., vesicarius. L. Willd. Sp. Pi. iii. p. 832. DC. Prodr, i. p. 453.

Cav. Diss. iii. p. 171, t. 64. f. 2.

New Zealand (Northern Island). On hills near the village of Manga-

maka on the Hokianga river, and at Ngaire opposite the Cavallos Isles, off

the East Coast.—1833, R. Cunningham.

An planta vere indigena? Forsan ex Anglia introducta.

LINEA, DC.

Linum, L.

608. L. monogynum, caule basi suffruticoso, foliis sparsis lanceolatis 3-

nerviis integris glabris, stylo simplici. Forst. Prodr. n. 145. DC. Prodr.

i, p. 428. A. Rich, Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 317. Don. in Sweet Fl. Gard.t.

26 Dr. Wagner on the Habits of the Macroscelides Rozeti.

Kaho, incolis. R. Cunn.—Nao vulgo ab incolis dicitur.. D’ Urville.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. On bare rocks

on the islets of the Bay of Islands, &c.—1826, 4. Cunningham. (Middle

Island.) —1773, G. Forster. Astrolabe Harbour.—1827, D’Urville.

CARYOPHYLLEZ.

1. Arenaria, Z.

609. A. media, L. DC. Prodr.i. p.401. - A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 315.

—A. marina. Engl. Bot. t. 958.

Note-noho ab incolis vulgo sub nomine cognoscitur. D’Urville.

New Zealand (Middle Island). Frequent on rocks near the sea-coast,

Astrolabe Harbour.—1827, D’Urville.

2. Stetiaria, LZ,

S. media, Sm. Fl. Brit. p.473. DC. Prodr. i. p. 396. Engl. Bot. t. 537.

—Alsine media, Z. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 316.

Kaikaka, indigenis. D’Urville.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Frequent in open grounds, distant

from any European settlement, apparently indigenous, in the country be-

tween Waimaté and Hokianga.—1833, R. Cunningham.

ELATINEZ, Cambess. in Mem. du Mus. (1829.)

Exatine, LZ.

Calyx 3—4 partitus persistens inferus. Petala 3—4. Stamina 3—6—8.

Styli 3—4, breves. Capsula 3—4 valvis, 1—4 locularis, polysperma.

Semina cylindrica, longitudinaliter sulcata, transversimque striata pla-

centis centralibus affixa.

610. E.? gratioloides, glabra, foliis oppositis subsessilibus obovatis obtusis —

venosis, floribus alternis axillaribus sessilibus.

New Zealand (Northern Island). In a bog at Tauraki, Hokianga river.

—1833, A. Cunningham.

Herba glabra, caules repentes radicantes. Folia opposita, lato-obovata,

obtusa, prope modum sessilia, decurrentia integerrima vel subrepanda, minu-

tissime asperata. Stipule nulla. Flores nondum vidi, sed expositione

fructus judicans sessiles, axillares, alterni. Calyx 3-partitus, persistens, la-

ciniis subrotundis, obtusis, concavis. Capsula depressa, umbilicata, 1-locu-

laris, polysperma. Semina oblonga, cylindracea, longitudinaliter tenuiter

striata, transversim sulcata.

[To be continued. }

V.—WNote on Macroscelides Rozeti*. By Dr. Moritz

WAGNER.T

Tus curious small insect-eater inhabits the western portion

of the province of Algiers. It has hitherto been discovered

* Established by Duvernoy in the ‘ Mém. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Stras-

bourg,’ i. p. 2.

+ Translated from Wiegmann’s Archiv. First part, 1839.

2 il

rr acl

Feel ey

Dr. Wagner on the Habits of the Macroscelides Rozeti. 27

only in the neighbourhood of the towns of Oran, Tlemsan and

Arzew. It does not appear to go further eastward than Arzew.

It is moreover very rare and difficult to obtain even near these.

towns. Capt. Rozet who first sent this animal to France pro-

cured it through the industrious soldiers of the bataillon

d’Afrique, who with their meagre pay have an insatiable thirst,

and grasp after all possible means of gratifying it. ‘Two sol-

diers of this famous corps, who were in great renown in Oran

as rat and serpent catchers, conducted me to a rocky moun-

tain to the west of Oran, whose summit is crowned by a Ma-

rabut temple and the Spanish fort Santa Cruz. The Macro-

scelides lives there among the cavities formed by large frag-

ments of rock. It seeks out natural places of concealment,

and does not excavate any holes; the female, however, forms

a nest for the young among the most dense thickets of the

dwarf palm (Chamerops humilis), which grows in great plenty

on this rock. In the early hours of the day the animal quits

its hiding-place and seeks out some sunny spot, but during

mid-day hies to the shade of the Chamerops, and there lurks

for its prey, the insects which settle on the lower plants.

The Macroscelides prefers insect larvee, grasshoppers without

elytra, and especially snails, in fact all small soft animals.

Incapable of breaking the hard house of Heitz lactea, it thrusts

its remarkably prolonged narrow mouth into the aperture, and

generally tears away a portion of the snail before it has time

to draw itself completely into the interior of its shell. I

kept my twelve animals for some weeks alive at home, and

fed them on small Orthoptera. They would not touch bread,

maize, or sugar, although Rozet states that he kept his on

bread.

They are exceedingly gentle animals, which never bite, not

even when they are tormented. They do not go on the hinder

feet like the species of Dipus, but always on all fours, and

when running the prolongation of their posterior feet is not

at all perceptible. On the other hand I frequently observed

them sitting on the rock raised like a rabbit on their hind

feet, either watching their pursuers or spying about for prey.

When catching flying or hopping insects they hide them-

selves, lurking among the dwarf palm, and then generally en-

28 On some new Species of Amaryllideze.

deavour to reach their prey with the first long spring, for

which the length of the hinder feet is of great service. The

taking of this insect-eater is very difficult. Should the pur-

suer not succeed in discovering their hiding-place and cutting

off their retreat under the mass of rock, it is then necessary to

turn over the heavy blocks of stone with iron crow-bars. In

the hot months, as also during rainy days, the Macrosce-

ides disappears. The best time to obtain it is in spring and

autumn. My soldiers had found the very small young of this

snouted mouse in the month of February near ‘Tlemsan, con-

sequently the time of pairing appears to be during the winter

months. When imprisoned, I noticed in these small animals

a very peculiar, powerful exhalation. A single Macroscelides

which had been confined for some days in a large case left be-

hind it an odour which the box retained for several weeks.

Among themselves these animals appear to be very mild and

not quarrelsome, at least I never observed them to fight, even

about their food.

V1.—Amaryllidearum Species nove. By the Hon. and Rev.

Wan. HerBervt.

PANCRATIUM TORTUOSUM.

Bulbus subrotundus. Collo producto; folia angusta line-

aria =, unciee lata, tortilia (humifusa?); scapus brevis

(subterraneus ?); spatha 24 unciali, 3—4-flora, germine

sessili, tubo gracili 5 unciali. Corona 21 unc., limbi la-

ciniis linearibus ultra 3 uncialibus, stylo filamentis coro-

ronam ;5, superantibus longiore.—W. H. |

“Habitat in planitie arenosa Djedde in Arabia; floret

Febr.” S. Fischer, MS. in Herb. Hooker. Planta viva est

in hort. Spofforthiano.

PANCRATIUM TRIANTHUM.

Scapus 4—9 unc., spatha 14 unc., germen sessile; tubus

4—5 unc., limbus 2;—3 unc., coronam circ. unciam sty-

lum 3 unc., superans, filamenta stylo breviora coronam

circ. $ unc. superantia.

Ex Senegambia, 1839. Specimina omnia triflora ex herb.

Hooker. Absque foliis—W. H.

sig jinn 2 lan

Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites. 29

VII.—-Descriptions of British Chalcidites. By Francis WALKER,

F.L.S.

[Continued from vol. iii. p. 419.]

Sp. 70. Cirrospilus Zopyrus, Mas. Viridi-eneus, abdomen cupreum, an-

tenne fusce: pedes flavi fusco- et fulvo-varii, ale sublimpide.

Viridi-zeneus : oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne fuscze; articulus 1" viridis;

2"s piceus, apice fuscus: abdomen cupreum: pedes flavi; coxe virides; fe-

mora fusco late cincta: tibiz fulvee apice et basi flavee; tarsi apice fusci ;

propedes tibiis et tarsis pallide fulvis: alee sublimpide ; squamulz picee ;

nervi fusci, basi fulvi. (Corp. long. lin. 2; alar. lin. 3.)

Found near London. |

Mas. Corpus sublineare, nitens, scitissime squameum, parce hirtum: ca-

put transversum, breve convexum, juxta thoraci latum: antenne filiformes,

corporis longitudine, pilis longis vestite ; articulus 1"° gracilis, sublinearis;

2"s longicyathiformis; 3"° brevis; 4%, 5"S et 6" longi, lineares ; clava longi-

fusiformis, acuminata, articulo 6° duplo longior: thorax longiovatus, con-

vexus: prothorax brevissimus, supra vix conspicuus: mesothoracis scutum

latitudine longius ; parapsidum suture bene determinate; scutellum brevi-

conicum: metathorax mediocris, transversus: petiolus brevissimus: abdo-

men sublineare, planum, thorace brevius fere angustius: pedes graciles : pro-

ale anguste ; nervus ulnaris humerali longior, radialis vix ullus, cubitalis

sat longus.

Sp. 71. Cirr. Arathis, Mas. Viridis, abdomen cupreum, antenn@ picee,

pedes picei, tarsi fulvi, ale limpide.

Obscure viridis: oculi et ocelli rufi: antennz nigro-picez ; articuli 1" et

2"; virides: abdomen nigro-cupreum: pedes picei; coxe virides; genua

fulva; tibize apice fulve ; tarsi fulvi, apice fusci; propedes tibiis et tarsis

fulvis: ale limpidz ; squamulz picee; nervifusci. (Corp. long. lin. 3 ;

alar. lin. 14.)

Found near London.

Mas. Corpus sublineare, nitens, scitissime squameum, parce hirtum: ca-

put transversum, breve convexum, juxta thoraci latum: antenne filiformes,

latze, pilis longis vestitee, corpore paullo breviores ; articulus 1"* longiovatus,

latus ; 2"* longicyathiformis; 3"° brevis; 4" et sequentes fusiformes, usque

ad 6"™ curtantes ; clava longifusiformis, acuminata, articulo 6° duplo longior:

thorax ovatus, convexus: prothorax brevissimus, supra vix conspicuus: me-

sothoracis scutum latitudine longius; parapsidum suture bene determinate ;

scutellum breviconicum: metathorax mediocris, transversus: petiolus bre-

vissimus: abdomen sublineare, planum, thorace angustius non brevius:

pedes graciles: proalz late; nervus ulnaris humerali longior, radialis vix

ullus, cubitalis sat longus.

Sp. 72. Cirr. Rhode, Mas. Viridis, abdomen cupreum, antenneé nigre;

pedes piceo-fulvi, femora viridia, tarsi flavi, ale limpide.

Viridis: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre, articuli 1"* et 2"* nigro-vi-

30 Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites.

rides: abdomen nigro-cupreum: coxe virides; trochanteres picei; femora

viridia, apice flava; genua fulva; tibiz fulve; tarsi flavi, apice fusei; me-

sotibie apice piceze; metatibiee piceze, basi fulvee; protarsi fulvi: ale lim-

pide ; squamule pices; nervi fusci. (Corp. long. lin. 3—%; alar. lin. 1¢

te)

Var. @.—Obscure zeneo-viridis : pedes flavi; coxe nigro-virides; femora

nigro-picea ; tibize fuscee, apice et basi flavee; tarsi apice fusci; propedes

tibiis et tarsis fulvis.

Found near London.

Mas. Corpus breve, latum, sublineare, nitens, scitissime squameum, parce

hirtum : caput transversum, breve convexum, juxta thoraci latum: antennze

filiformes, late, pilis longis vestitee, corpore non breviores; articulus 1"

longiovatus latus; 2"5 longicyathiformis; 3"° brevis; 4"% et sequentes fusi-

formes, usque ad 6"™ curtantes ; clava longifusiformis, acuminata, articulo

6° duplo longior: thorax ovatus, convexus: prothorax brevissimus, supra

vix conspicuus: mesothoracis scutum latitudine longius; parapsidum su-

ture bene determinate; scutellum breviconicum: metathorax mediocris,

transversus: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen sublineare, planum, thorace

brevius vix angustius: pedes graciles; proalee late ; nervus ulnaris hume-

rali longior, radialis vix ullus, cubitalis sat longus.

Sp. 73. Cirr. Clito, Mas. Nigro-viridis, abdomen cupreum, antenne

picee, pedes nigri, tarsi flavi, ule limpide.

Nigro-viridis: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne picez ; articuli 1° et 2"* ni-

gro-virides: abdomen nigro-cupreum: pedes nigri; trochanteres flavi ;

genua flava; tarsi flavi, apice fulvi; propedes tibiis tarsisque fulvis: alz

limpidz ; squamulz fusce ; proalis nervi fulvi, metalis flavi. (Corp. long.

lin. $; alar. lin. 1.)

July; near London.

Fem. Corpus sublineare, nitens, scitissime squameum, parce hirtum:

caput transversum, breve, convexum, juxta thoraci latum; vertex sat latus;

frons abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres: antenne graciles, extrorsum cras-

siores, corporis dimidio paullo longiores; articulus 1" sublinearis, gracilis;

2" longicyathiformis ; 3"° et sequentes ad 5"™ curtantes; clava longiovata,

acuminata, articulo 5° multo longior: thorax ovatus, convexus: prothorax

transversus, brevis: mesothoracis scutum latitudine longius, linea per me-

dium; parapsidum suture remotz, bene determinate ; scutellum obconicum:

metathorax mediocris: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen longiovatum, de-

pressum, acuminatum, thorace paullo longius vix latius; segmenta transversa,

subzequalia: pedes graciles, simplices; tarsis articuli 1° ad 3"™ curtantes,

4"5 paullo longior ; ungues et pulvilli parvi: alze vix ciliate; nervus ulnaris

humerali longior, radialis brevissimus, cubitalis sat longus apice stigma mi-

nutum fere bimucronatum fingens.

Sp. 74. Cirr. charoba, Fem. Cyaneo-viridis, abdomen cupreum, antenne

fulve, pedes flavi, ale subflave.

Cyaneo-viridis, zneo-varius: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne fulve ; arti-

culi 1** et 2"* virides, hic apice fulyus: abdomen viridi-cupreum: pedes

‘a

=A eet |

“2 we 2 ie

Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites. $1

lete flavi; coxe virides; tarsi apice fusci; protarsi fulvi: al flavescentes ;

squamule flavee ; nervi flavi.

July ; near London.

Genus Miscocaster, Walker.

Mas. Corpus sublineare, convexum, nitens, scitissime squameum, parce

hirtum, caput transyersum, breve convexum, thorace paullo latius; vertex

latus ; frons abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres, non extantes: antennze fili-

formes, corpore breviores; articulus 1"* gracilis, sublinearis; 2" brevis ;

3"5 et 4"5 minimi; 5"* et sequentes lineares, usque ad 10¥™ curtantes; clava

linearis, apice acuminata, articulo 10° duplo longior: thorax longiovatus ;

prothorax transversus, brevissimus : mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius ;

parapsidum. suture bene determinate ; scutellum obconicum: metathorax

sat magnus, declivis, postice angustior : petiolus brevissimus : abdomen sub-

lineare, breve planum, thorace paullo brevius et angustius; segmentum 1%

magnum; 2"™ et sequentia brevia: pedes simplices, subaequales ; ale me-

diocres ; nervus humeralis ulnari fere duplo longior, radialis ulnari longior,

cubitalis ulnari multo brevior; stigma minutum.

Sp. 1. Misc. Dryops, Mas. Cyanea cupreo et viridi varia, antenne ni-

gre, pedes luteo-fulvi, femora fusca, ale limpide.

Cyanea, viridi-varia: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre; articuli 1" et

_ 2"s yirides: abdominis discus cupreus: pedes lutei; coxe virides; trochan-

teres fusco maculati; femora fusca, apice subtus lutea; tibize fulve; tarsi

apice fusci; propedum tibie lute, tarsi fulvi: ale limpide; squamule

picez ; nervi proalis fusci, metalis flavi. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 23.)

Found near Edinburgh, by Dr. Greville.

Mas, M. enee proxima: corpus sublineare, convexum, nitens, scitissime

squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thoraci latius; vertex

latus ; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres, non extantes: an-

tenne filiformes, corpore breviores; articulus 1° gracilis, sublinearis; 2"

breviovatus ; 3" et 4"* minimi ; 5"* et sequentes lineares, usque ad 10¥™ cur-

tantes ; clava sublinearis, apice acuminata, articulo 10° fere duplo longior ;

thorax longiovatus: prothorax transversus, brevis antice angustior : meso-

thoracis scutum longitudine paullo latius ; parapsidum suture bene determi-

nate; scutellum fere conicum: metathorax sat magnus, declivis postice

angustior: petiolus brevis: abdomen sublineare, breve, planum, thorace

brevius et angustius; segmentum 1¥™ magnum ; 2¥™ et sequentia breviora ;

sexualia exerta: pedes simplices, subaequales: ale sat magne; nervus hu-

meralis ulnari duplo longior, ulnaris radiali brevior, cubitali paullo longior ;

stigma parvum.

Sp. 2. Misc. Gelanor, Mas. Cyaneo-viridis, abdomen cupreo-varium, an-

tenne nigre, pedes luteo-fulvi, femora fusca, ale limpide.

Cyaneo-viridis: oculi et ocelli rufi: antennz nigre, articuli 1"° et 2" vi-

rides: abdominis discus cupreo-varius: pedes fulvi; cox virides; tro-

chanteres fusci; femora supra fusca; genua lutea; protibize lutez ; meso-

et metatarsi apice fusci: alz limpidz: squamule picee ; nervi proalis picei,

metalis fulvi. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 24)

Found near Edinburgh, by Dr. Greville.

32 Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites.

Mas. M. Dirci proxima: corpus crassum, breve, convexum, nitens, scitis-

sime squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thorace latius; ver-

tex latus; frons abrupte declivis, vix impressa: oculi mediocres, non extantes:

ocelli approximati: antennz valide, extrorsum crassiores, thorace paullo

breviores; articulus 1"° gracilis, subarcuatus, fere linearis; 2"* longicya-

thiformis; 3"% et 4" minimi; 5"° et sequentes approximati, usque ad 10"™

curtantes ; clava fusiformis, articulo 10° plus duplo longior: thorax brevi-

ovatus, altus: prothorax brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine

multo latius ; parapsidum suture non bene determinate ; paraptera et epi-

mera magna; scutellum breviovatum, prominens: metathorax obconicus,

declivis: petiolus brevis: abdomen longiovatum, convexum, breve, thorace

brevius et angustius ; segmentum 1% magnum; 2¥™ breve; 3%™ longius ;

4um adhuc longius; 5% et 6"™ minima: pedes graciles, simplices, sub-

zequales; mesofemora subtus unisetigera: alee mediocres ; nervus humeralis

ulnari plus duplo longior, cubitalis ulnari vix longior radiali multo brevior:

stigma parvum, ramulum emittens perbrevem.

Sp. 3. Misc. Sopolis, Mas. Z£neo-viridis, caput cyaneo-viride, antenne

nigre, pedes picei, femora viridia, tarsi flavi, ale limpide.

neo-viridis: caput cyaneo-viride : oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre ;

articuli 1"* et 2"° virides, ille basi fulvus: abdomen viride, eeneo-varium :

pedes virides ; trochanteres picei; genua fulva ; tibie piceze ; protarsi picei ;

meso- et metatarsi flavi, apice fusci: alz rniipiiee squamule pice; nervi

proalis picei, metalis fulvi. (Corp. long. lin. 14; alar. lin. 2+.)

Found near Edinburgh, by Dr. Greville.

Genus Gastrancistrus, Westwood.

Mas. G. compresso proxima: corpus breve, convexum, nitens, scitissime

squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thorace latius; vertex

latus; frons abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres, non extantes: antennz gra-

ciles, submoniliformes, corporis dimidio multo longiores; articulus 1"* gra-

cilis, sublinearis; 2"* brevis; 3° et 4"* minimi; 5"8 et sequentes discreti,

usque ad 10¥™ curtantes ; clava fusiformis, acuminata, articulo 10° plus du-

plo longior: thorax ovatus, crassus: prothorax brevissimus, supra vix con~

spicuus : mesothoracis scutum longitudine latius; parapsidum suture bene

determinate: scutellum magnum, subovatuin : metathorax transversus, bre-

vis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen lineare, depressum, subcompressum,

lve, thorace brevius et multo angustius: pedes simplices, subzequales: alz

medivcres ; nervus humeralis ulnari fere duplo longior, radialis ulnari paullo

brevior, cubitali longior ; stigma minutum.

Sp. 1. Gast. Acontes, Mas. neo-viridis, abdomen cupreo-purpureum,

antenne fulve, pedes fiavi, ale limpide.

Viridis, zeneo-varius: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne fulve; articuli 1"*

apice 2"*que basi obscuriores: abdomen cupreo-purpureum, basi viride :

pedes flavi; cox virides ; tarsi apice fusci: ale limpide ; squamule fulve ;

nervi proalis fulvi, metalis flavi. (Corp. long. lin. }; alar. lin. 4.)

Found by Dr. Greville near Edinburgh.

[To be continued. }

Scientific Expedition to the Antartic Regions. 33

VIlI.—Instructions relative to Botany and Vegetable Phy-

siology, for the Scientific Expedition to the Antarctic Re-

gions, prepared by the President and Council of the Royal

Society *.

Tue duty of the Botanist should be, to collect specimens and pre-

serve evidence concerning every department of Botany and Vegetable

Physiology, not merely in illustration of these subjects as branches

of science, but with reference to purposes of general utility.

The vegetation of the Antarctic regions and of the most southern

countries which the expedition may visit, should be an object of

especial attention, for however sterile and uninviting a place may

appear to be, it is most desirable to know exactly what plants those

regions produce. Here, therefore, and at all other places, as com-

plete an herbarium as possible should be formed. At Kerguelen’s

land, of which the Flora is so little known, this is especially neces-

sary: even at St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and Hobart Town,

carefully as the botany of these places has been examined, a dried

collection of plants should be made, especially of the lower orders of

phenogamous vegetation and of aquatic and submersed plants,

whether of fresh or salt water. Fungi also, and Rhizanths, should

be diligently sought for, and all those minute species of cryptogamic

plants which are parasites.

_ Though but little accession to our knowledge of Systematic Bo-

tany can be anticipated at any of the principal stations of the expe-

dition, many new and interesting facts may be collected in Physio-

logical Botany, if anomalous forms of vegetation be examined, as

concerning these so little that is positive has as yet been ascertained

in foreign countries. Collections should be made of the stems of Ca-

suarinas, Urticaceous trees, and of twining woody plants, the internal

structure of which is frequently at variance with the ordinary plan

of vegetable formation. Diligent search should also be made for

cases of the occurrence of the embryo buds of Dutrochet. It is

probable that attention skilfully directed to these last productions

will throw light upon some of the most obscure points of Vegetable

Physiology. Most of the specimens of this kind may be preserved

in a dry state; but as some will require to be kept moist, it is re-

* The President and Council having been informed by the Lords Commissioners

of the Admiralty that it had been determined, in conformity with their recom-

mendation, to send out Captain James C. Ross on an Antarctic Expedition for

scientific objects, and having been requested to communicate any suggestions upon

subjects to which they might wish his attention to be called, referred the consi-

deration of each to distinct Committees. We have selected those reports which

are connected with the subject of our Journal.—Ep.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 21. Sept. 1839. D

34 Instructions for the Scientific Expedition

quisite, for this purpose, that the Botanist should be supplied with

bottles, jars, acetic acid and spirit.

Attention should be especially directed to the distribution of re-

markable species in each country, regard being paid, in particular, to

the elevations at which they are found, and the soils which they seem

to prefer, where preference is observable. Connected with this topic

are the limits to which cultivated plants extend, and the circum-

stances under which they succeed or fail. In noting points of this

nature, facts concerning the commoner species will be interesting,

because they are so frequently neglected, and because of the evi-

dence as to climate which they may be expected to afford. In the

absence of this kind of knowledge, it is difficult for persons here to

judge correctly respecting the kind of plants it may be desirable to in-

troduce into another country. Should the causes of failure or of suc-

cess in the cultivation of particular plants be apparent, they ought

tobe noted down. As an instance of the importance of this branch

of inquiry, the Vine at the Cape of Good Hope may be mentioned :

the bad quality of Cape wine, with the exception of that produced

at the farm of Constantia, is well known: can any physical cause be

assigned for this circumstance? If exotic plants are commonly cul-

tivated with apparent success, they should receive particular notice ;

European Oaks, for example, are common about Cape Town, where

they are planted for their shade; the species to which they belong,

and the effect of that climate upon their growth, and the quality of

their timber, are points deserving of attention.

The original Flora of St. Helena should be fully investigated

and carefully distinguished from that which has been gradually

formed there by the introduction of numerous plants from various

countries. The association of plants in this island will be found

extremely curious, and the circumstances which enable species of

very different habits to flourish equally well in the same place, not-

withstanding their constitutional diversity, are deserving of particu-

lar attention. A very detailed catalogue should be formed of these

exotics, the degree in which they are affected by their new country

should be observed, and an attempt be made to discover the causes

which are favourable to the maintenance of so singularly mixed a

vegetation in so small an island, Such a catalogue, if well prepared,

may be expected to illustrate many difficult and important questions

which are connected with the relation borne by vegetation to cli-

mate.

Both at St. Helena and Hobart Town, Tree Ferns will be found :

those in the former place have the stems destitute of external fibres

fo the Antarctic Regions. 35

except near the ground, while the Tree Ferns of Hobart Town are

thickly covered with similar fibres from the very summit. The origin

of these fibres and the circumstances under which they are produced,

are unknown, and should, if possible, be determined; indeed, the

manner of growth of these plants in all other particulars is an in-

teresting subject for careful investigation, as are also the circum.

stances under which this tropical form of vegetation is produced

upon Mount Wellington. In the event of the expedition visiting

the southern part of New Zealand, it should also be ascertained

under what conditions the Tree Ferns that exist there extend so far

beyond the usual geographical limits of such trees, and also whether

they are not accompanied by other forms of an equally tropical

character.

The northern coast of Van Diemen’s Land being in many re-

spects clothed with a different vegetation from the south side, it is

desirable to notice the peculiarities of each. At Emu Bay, there

exists the Gunnia australis, an orchidaceous epiphyte, which is far

to the southward of the general range of plants of that kind. It

will probably be found that this apparent exception to general rules

is dependent upon some local peculiarity of climate. Possibly other

species with similar habits occur on the same line of coast; they

should be sought for, and particular attention should be paid to the

plants with which the orchidaceous epiphytes are associated.

A principal object of inquiry should be, plants yielding useful

products of all kinds. It is in this way only that the resources of

foreign countries can be ascertained, and it is presumed that in an

expedition which will be stationary for considerable periods of time,

such inquiries can be easily made. Under the head of useful

products the following may be particularly mentioned :

1. Dietetical, medicinal, and poisonous agents of all kinds. The

nature and action of the poisons employed by the natives of many

countries are but slightly known.

2. Dye stuffs. Attention should be paid, especially to obtain

Lichens, as substitutes for the Roccella tinctoria, now becoming scarce,

and consequently very valuable in European commerce. The fitness

of these plants for this purpose may be approximately ascertained

by Hellot’s lichen test, which is as follows: digest the lichen at

a temperature of 130° F. for a few hours, in a weak solution of am-

monia, but sufficiently strong to be tolerably pungent. One that is

fit for the dyer will yield a rich violet red liquid.

3. Astringent substances adapted for tanning. It is desirable to

ascertain with accuracy the source of the various astringent extracts

36 Instructions for the Scientific Expedition

imported from New Holland and the neighbouring parts, and which

are employed by the tanners of this country.

4. Fibres adapted for cordage and weaving. Substitutes for Hemp

are very desirable. Great strength, flexibility and freedom from

injurious influence in working are three essential qualities of good

hemp. |

5. Information respecting the source of many of the ornamental

woods imported from the southern hemisphere is very imperfect.

It is desirable, therefore, that inquiries be made on this subject as

well as for new kinds of wood.

6. Gums, resins, volatile oils, fecula. Especially the source of

some resins brought to this country from New Holland, and which

are analogous in some properties to the yellow resin of that country.

In forming collections of such objects, especial care must be taken

when collected to number alike both the products and the plants

by which they are furnished, and to note whatever can be learned

concerning them, more particularly with regard to their abundance

and the facility with which they can be procured. It is also ne-

cessary that the observations made by the Botanist himself should

be carefully distinguished from such information as he may receive

from other persons.

No opportunity is to be lost of collecting information respecting

the source and mode of preparation of any vegetable substances

known in commerce; for many exotic products, even those with —

which we are most familiar, have many points connected with their

natural history deserving attention.

The vegetation of South Shetland cannot be expected to furnish

much that can be made available for purposes of commerce, except

Lichens. With respect to these plants, however, it is possible that

species fit for the purposes of the dyer may be found in those

southern latitudes; and if such should prove to be the case, an

additional source of profit may become available for the South-

sea traders.

Where the native names of useful plants can be correctly ascer-

tained, they should be preserved; but care must be taken to avoid

error in this respect. Implicit credit must not be given to the

statements of individual natives; it is only by comparing the sepa-

rate evidence of different persons, that correctness can be expected.

Collections should be formed of the seeds and bulbs of useful and

ornamental plants wherever opportunities occur, and they should be

forwarded to Europe from time to time. It is also recommended

that duplicate collections be transmitted to the Supreme Govern.

to the Antarctic Regions. 37

ment at Calcutta for distribution among the botanical gardens

of India. In packing these collections, the best method is to en-

close each kind of seed in separate packets of brown paper, which

should be placed loosely in canvas bags, or in boxes with holes in their

sides, and arrangements should be made for their being transmitted

in a cabin, or some well-ventilated part of the ship. Among those

seeds which it is more particularly desirable to procure, may be

mentioned the arborescent Composite of St. Helena, and the na-

tive Coniferous plants of all countries, particularly the Phyllocladus

or Celery-leaved Pine, and the various species of Athrotaxis inhabit-

ing the mountains of Van Diemen’s Land. As the seeds of such

plants are apt to suffer from long keeping, and as other instances

may occur when it would be desirable to send home young plahts

instead of seeds, it would be advisable that the expedition should

be supplied with one of Mr. Ward’s glazed cases, to be used if oc-

casion should arise.

Light is an agent which operates so powerfully upon plants, de-

termining the amount and even nature of their secretions, and in-

fluencing in the most essential manner their vital actions, that it

would be most interesting to obtain, if possible, some good pho-

tometrical observations. The extreme and mean temperatures of

the atmosphere, its humidity, the quantity of rain, and the tempera-

ture of the earth immediately below and within a few feet of the

surface, have also a direct and important bearing upon Vegetable

Physiology, especially when considered with respect to the distri-

bution of plants, and the arts of cultivation. Observations upon all

such points tend to explain the connexion which exists between

vegetation and climate, and should be introduced by the Botanist

into his report, notwithstanding that they also occur in the Meteoro-

logical Journal.

If the observations here recommended be briefly noted in a ta-

bular form, and at the time that they are made, the registration

of much useful matter which might otherwise escape recollection,

will be secured, and a valuable document formed for future reference.

In conclusion, the Council most particularly recommend that

the Botanist to the expedition be directed to number all the objects

collected by him in one consecutive series; that the dried speci-

mens, seeds, woods, and productions of all kinds, shall correspond

in number with the plants producing them; and that two complete

collections be prepared for Government, of which one shall be for

incorporation with the general collections belonging to the public,

and the other be preserved separately, to illustrate the botany, &c.,

38 Instructions for the Scientific Expedition

of the expedition. The Council also recommend that both these

collections be delivered up within six months after the return of the

expedition ; and, finally, that a report upon the botanical results of

the expedition be furnished to Government within six months after

its return, every plant or object mentioned in the report bearing

the number of the specimens in the collections to be delivered up

as above recommended.

Zoology and Animal Physiology.

1. Martne INVERTEBRATA.

Tue animals which it is desirable to preserve, and which may first

- present themselves to the notice of the naturalist in the present ex-

pedition, are the floating marine Mollusca and Crustacea, and those

which inhabit the Sargazzo or Gulph-weed.

With respect to the Mollusca, all the species of the Cephalopoda

or Cuttle-fish tribe, and all the Pteropoda or lower organized floating ~

Mollusca, should be preserved. If taken alive they should be allowed

to die gradually in sea water, by which means they commonly remain

in a relaxed state, and display more of their natural outward form.

- When dead they should be soaked for a short time in fresh water,

and then put into spirit; or if transparent, in the saline solution*,

to prevent decomposition, which otherwise rapidly takes place.

To each specimen should be attached a number, stamped on sheet ©

tin, corresponding to the entry-number in the Catalogue, in which

should be noticed the kind of locomotion, or other vital phenomena,

and the colour of the living animal, the latter being speedily altered

or lost in the preserving liquor. ‘The larger Crustacea will be liable

to become putrid in spirit, unless the soft mass, which fills a large

portion of the body, consisting of the liver, &c. be removed. Each

specimen of this class, excepting the very minute ones, which will

be best preserved in small phials or glass tubes, should be wrapt in

a piece of very soft, thin linen or cotton cloth, to prevent the legs

from being intermixed or lost, as they are very likely to fall off after

having been a short time in spirit.

A very important object of investigation is the development of the

Crustacea, from the earliest period at which they can be observed to

the perfect state. ‘They may be readily examined even before they

leave the egg, by opening the egg under a single microscope.

Boiling water

Filter the solution when cold.

to the Antarctic Regions. 39

Drawings of these changes are very desirable, and when practicable

the eggs and young ones in different stages should be preserved in

spirit in short glass tubes. The smaller oceanic Crustacea offer a

prolific and hitherto unexplored field of investigation.

Among the floating Mollusca likely to be met with in the tropical

latitudes is the Spirula, a small Cephalopod with a chambered shell.

An entire specimen of this rare Mollusk is a great desideratum; and

if it should be captured alive, its movements should be watched in a

vessel of sea water, with reference more especially to the power of

rising and sinking at will, and the position of the shell during those

actions.

_ The chambered part of the shell should be opened under water,

in order to determine if it contain a gas; the nature of this gas

should likewise, if possible, be ascertained. As a part of the shell

_ of the Spirula projects externally at the posterior part of the animal,

this part should be laid open in the living Spzrula, in order to ascer-

tain how far such mutilation would affect its power of rising or

sinking in the water. In the event of a living Pearly Nautilus (Nau-

tilus Pompilius) being captured, the same observations and experi-

ments should be made on that species, in which they would be at-

tended with more precision and facility, as the species is much larger

than the Spirula, and its shell external. The towing-net should be

kept overboard at all practicable-periods, and drawn up and examined

at stated intervals, as some of the rarest marine animals have been

taken by thus sweeping the surface of the sea.

A sketch or drawing of Molluscous and Radiate animals, of which

the form and colour are liable to be materially altered by death, or

when put in spirit, will aid materially in rendering the description

of the species useful and intelligible. ‘The Echinodermata and As-

terias echinus, and similar forms, should be soaked in fresh water

previously to their being put into spirit.

Care must be taken not to crowd too many soft-bodied Inverte-

brata in the same bottle, and to change the spirit or preserving liquor

at least once, if not oftener.

2. Fisues.

The mode and speed of swimming, living colour, temperature,

and any other peculiarity, should be noticed before placing the spe-

cimen in spirit.

_ In very large specimens of the Shark or Ray kind, a section of the

jaws, with a part of the vertebral column, should always be pre-

served as wet preparations, and the remainder of the jaws and ver-—

40 Instructions for the Scientific Expedition

tebral column in a dry state. The eyes, eyelids, and part of the

surrounding skin should be preserved in the saline solution. In less

bulky specimens the entire head should be taken off by dividing the

fish below the heart across the upper part of the liver, by which

means the mouths of the oviducts, if it be a female, the heart, gills,

and head are all preserved together.

The tail of a Shark may be taken off a little belese the anus, and

the trunk alone preserved for examination. If the trunk be too large,

it should be cut through above the pelvis, and the parts contained

in the hinder portion, as the claspers of the male, should be pre-

served in spirit. If the specimen be a female, separate the two ovi-

ducts through their whole length, where they run along the abdo-

men, on each side of the spine, but keep them meses to the cloaca

and its surrounding parts.

If with young, or eggs, take the whole out in the same way with-

out opening the oviducts.

The heads of all fishes should be preserved, when the teers

are too large to be preserved entire.

All external parasites, and those which infest the gills of fishes,

should be preserved. 'The alimentary canal should, in all cases, be

examined for the presence of the entozoa, which, if adherent to the

coats of the intestine, should be preserved with the part to which

they are attached. One of the most interesting fishes of the South-

ern Seas is the Port Jackson Shark (Cestracion Philippi). Mode-

rate sized specimens of this species should be preserved entire: and

the head, vertebre, with the dorsal spines, viscera, and especially

the impregnated oviduct, should be preserved. The Southern Chi-

mera (Callorhynchus antarcticus) merits also the especial attention

of the Naturalist, and the same specimens of this species should be

preserved as of the Cestracion.

3. REPTILES.

Specimens of Turtle should be carefully examined for parasitic

animals; a curious Barnacle (Chelonobia) and a Leech (Hirudo

branchiata) are occasionally found adhering to these marine Reptilia.

In the event of the expedition touching at the Galapagos Islands,

specimens of Amblyrhynchus, a lizard of marine habits, should be

secured, and the particular locality of the capture noted.

4, Brirps.

The Chionis or Sheath-bill of the Falkland Islands and Cape Horn.

The Great Penguin (Aptenodytes).

The Penguin of the Isle San Lorenzo.

to the Antarctic Regions. 41

Of these rare and desirable birds, besides the prepared skins, the

entire body should be preserved in spirits for anatomical purposes.

The young of the Great Penguin, and the eggs at different stages

of incubation, should likewise be similarly preserved.

5. Mamattia.

The skulls, skeletons, and viscera of a specimen of each species of

_ the Cetacea of the Southern Ocean are worthy of being preserved.

: - With respect to the Sperm Whale, an entire foetus, or, if of large

size, the brain, eyes, pharynx, larynx, and blow-holes, and the vis-

cera; a part of the impregnated uterus; the ovaria, and a portion of

the membrane of the foetus; are all parts worthy of preservation.

The same observations apply to the great Elephant-Seals (Phoca

_ (Cystophora) proboscidea) ; of which the skull and skeleton of both

male and female are very desirable.

The skulls or skeletons of all the species of the Southern Seals

should be preserved, the sex being noted.

6. In Partricutar Recions.

In Australia or Van Diemen’s Land the following species are more

especially worthy of attention.

Thylacinus Harristi, Hyena of the Colonists.

Of this species, the skeletons of male and female, detached skulls,

an entire specimen in the saline solution for dissection, the viscera,

and more especially the impregnated uterus, and a young specimen

for the changes in dentition are particularly desirable; such speci-

mens not having been as yet transmitted to the museums of this

country or on the continent.

_ The skeletons, skulls, and female organs of every marsupial qua-

_ druped, and of the Ornithorhynchus and Echidna (or Porcupine of

the Colonists) should be preserved.

_ Thesmaller Mammalia of Australia, whether Marsupial or Rodent,

_ should be preserved in spirit, and particular notice taken of their lo-

cality and habits.

,: Among the birds of Australia the Lyre-Pheasant (Menura) would

_ be an interesting subject for anatomical investigation. Of this spe-

cies are wanting the skeletons of a male and female, and of the young

_ bird; and the entire body of both sexes in spirit, or the saline solu-

tion.

_ The same with respect to the large-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops),

and Sea-Partridge (Glareola).

In New Zealand similar preparations should be obtained of the

_ Megapodius, and of the Apteryx australis.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 21. Sept. 1839. E

42 Bibliographical Notices.

With regard to birds it may be observed, that if spirit be injected

down the windpipe, it will pass through almost the whole body by

means of the air-cells. In the case of a quadruped preserved in spirit,

or in the saline solution, it is proper to inject the preserving liquor

into the abdominal cavity and intestinal canal.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Supplement to the History of British Fishes. By William Yarrell,

F.L.S., V.P.Z.S., Illustrated by Wood-cuts. London, Van Voorst,

8vo. 1839.

In an early number of the ‘ Magazine of Zoology .and Botany,”

we noticed the work to which that bearing the title above is a Sup-

plement, considering it as one well executed in all its departments, and

of much importance in bringing together our knowledge of a branch

of the British Fauna which had not been investigated so minutely

as either the zoology or ornithology ; and moreover we looked upon

it as a work which was sure to cause the production of much ad-

ditional information. In the latter prophecy the Supplement before

us bears ample testimony that we have not been deceived, while it

also exhibits the zeal of the author in his interesting department,

and the assiduity with which he is assisted, which is mainly to be

attributed to the excitement given to our ichthyologists by the in-

terest of his previous volumes.

The execution of the Supplement more than equals that of the

former volumes. Thirty-one figures of fishes are given, besides vig-

nettes illustrating structure or characters, Among the species the

greater number are new to our Fauna, the others bemg improved re-

presentations of fishes previously illustrated, or taken from speci-

mens where the former wood-cuts were, for want of better materials,

copied from drawings or other engravings. In the letter-press se-

veral mistakes and inadvertencies have been corrected. We trust

that Mr. Yarrell will continue to collect materials as he has already

done, and we will venture to predict that it will not be long before

they will again swell to an extent even beyond that which he has

already presented to the public.

The following may be noticed as occurring among the more im-

portant corrections and additions to this Supplement :—Couch’s

Serranus Mr. Yarrell has found to be identical with the Polyprion

cernuum of Cuv. and Val. An improved figure of the baagmaer or

Deal fish is given from the representation of Professor Reinhart of

Bibliographical Notices, 43

Copenhagen, together with extracts from that naturalist’s not easily

accessible memoir. There is a beautifully cut figure of Crenilabrus

rupestris, which formed the subject of an interesting paper by Mr.

Selby in an early number of this periodical, and which (since atten-

tion has been directed to the species) has been met with on several

_ parts of the English and Irish shores. In the paper alluded to ‘ Mag.

of Zool. and Bot.’ i. p. 137, the third specimen is said to have been

found on the shore near “ Barncleugh :” there is no such place, the

name is a misprint for Bamborough, which we regret to see copied by

Mr. Yarrell, as well as by foreign writers without blame on their parts,

and we trust that this notice will tend to correction. The Pomera-

nian Bream, C. Buggenhaggii, is a fine addition to our Cyprinide, and

has been taken in Dagenhambreach, Essex, and by Mr. Thompson

‘in the river Logan near Belfast. Of the very singular genus Hemi-

ramphus, a fish is represented under the title of H. Europeus, de-

tected several years since by Mr. Couch of Polpero. In the descrip-

tion Mr. Yarrell remarks, ‘‘ one question may be hazarded :—Is this

fish, with its unequally developed jaws, the very young state of our

common Garfish, Belone vulgaris ?’’ and we would request our ich-

thyologists to attend to this query, very interesting and important,

whether it proves us to have a British member of the genus Hemi-

ramphus, or that the lengthened jaw is only a peculiar structure in

- another division; and perhaps touching upon another question im-

mediately suggested by Mr. Yarrell’s surmise,—whether or not the

Hemiramphi may not be all a young or immature form of this fish, and

if so what is the use of the elongation of the under jaw at this early

period ? Among the Salmonide we have a second figure of S. feror

from an Irish specimen, authenticating its Irish range. Mr. Yarrell

also mentions having received specimens of trout weighing 32 and

34 lbs. from Lake Wenern, and which are considered identical with the

British fish. A species of smelt, Osmerus Hebridicus, taken near the

Isle of Bute, is given as new to Britain and to ichythology. The

powan of Loch Lomond, and pol/an of Loch Neagh, are also now

figured. Platessa elongata, taken at Stoford, in Bridgewater Bay, is

described as new to ichthyology. Among the British Sturgeons

ichthyologists will find interesting employment, and we refer to

Mr. Yarrell’s finely cut figures of the heads of two, and to his short

observations for excitement. Hchinorhinus spinosus is a very inter-

esting addition, but surely there is much difference between Mr. Yar-

rell’s figure and Dr. Smith’s in the proportion and relative positions

_ of the members, and also in the form of the teeth. We judge now

only from the figures before us.

E 2

44 Bibliographical Netices.

Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici seu Synopsis Hymenomycetum. ‘Elias

Fries. Upsaliz, 1836—1838. Vol. I. 8vo. :

Twenty years have elapsed since the preparation of the first volume

of the ‘Systema Mycologicum,’ which appeared in 1821. Nume-

rous species have since been published by the learned author himself

in his ‘ Elenchus,’ and in the ‘ Linnea,’ and various new labourers

have arisen in the mycological field. The author’s intention in the

present work, of which we have here only the commencement, is to

give short characters of all the fungi hitherto published or known in

Herbaria under manuscript names. At the same time he takes the

opportunity of completely revising the species, correcting errors, im-

proving the synonyms where needful, and making such alterations

in the arrangements and such new genera as the very enlarged

number of species may demand. The difficulty and labour of the

task can scarcely be fully estimated, except by persons versed in the

intricacies of the subjects, though some notion perhaps may he formed

from the fact that the volume, which comprises only the Hymeno-

mycetes, contains specific characters of nearly 2560 species. The

number of genera amounts to 65; of these about 28 are either new

or sectional divisions of different value raised to the rank of genera.

As it is, the genus Agaricus, after nine dismemberments, some of

which are very extensive, still comprises 980 species. Of the value of

the new genera it would be very rash to speak without careful inves-

tigation. The whole group is so natural that it is exceedingly diffi-

cult to define genera very nicely, though the species associated are.

evidently allied in a more peculiar degree amongst each other; and

the characters assigned will be judged sufficient or insufficient ac-

cording to the notions which individuals attach to the term genera,

which are confessedly artificial assemblages ; for genera do not exist

in nature. It is at present uncertain whether the other orders of

Fungi will be reviewed, as the encouragement to mycological works

is so small, that even in the case of an author of such superior qua-

lifications no publisher could be found to undertake the risk. The

work is therefore published ‘‘ sumtibus auctoris,’’—a circumstance

which we hope will be an inducement, not only to mycologists, to

whom it is indispensable, but to botanists not so immediately inter-

ested in the subject, to become purchasers. As it was imperative

upon the author to bring the book out at as little cost as possible,

he has been obliged to curtail the descriptions as far as is consist-

ent with clearness, to give only the most important synonyms, and

to forgo a general index. It is painful to find the author after sa

- Bibliographical Notices. 45

‘many years of labour expressing himself in such terms as the fol-—

lowing: “ Mycologia enim referatur ad vilia illa et a plerisque neg-

lecta studia que nec pecuniam nec honores suis parant cultoribus ;

sed eo ipso fidos tantum semper habebit, licet paucos, quibus satis

erit in nature gremio acquiescendo infinitam rerum creatarum varie-

tatem et artificium admirari.” Sweden however is not singular in

this respect. Little encouragement is given at home to works on

Cryptogamic botany, especially on Mycology; and in France, we

know from the highest authority, that it is regarded as a very infe-

rior branch of botany. Germany alone appears duly to appreciate its

value.

Linnea, ein Journal fiir die Botanik, &c. Vol. XII. Part 6. Vol. XIII.

Parts 1, 2, 1839.

{Continued from vol. ii. p. 465. ]

Contributions to the genus Mentha; by A. Rochel.—Supplement-

ary observations on Papaveracee and Fumariacee; by Prof. Bern-

hardi.—On the structure of the Flowers of Balsaminee ; by Prof.

Bernhardi.—Observations on the Hairs in the Air-tubes of Limnan-

themum and Villarsia ; by Drs. Grisebach and Hoffmann.—Monstro-

sities of Plants; by Schlechtendal.

Vol. XII. No. I.

Anatomical investigation of the reproductive organs of Riccia

glauca; by Prof. Unger.—On Brasilian Vetches; by Dr. Vogel.—

On the Liverworts, collected by Beyrich in North America; by

E. Hampe. —Description of Mount Slavnik and its botanical rarities,

particularly Pedicularis Friederict Augusti; by M. Tommasini.— A

very interesting account of a Botanical Excursion to the mountainous

regions between Trieste and Fiume; by the Botanists who accom-

panied Mr. Forbes in his botanical excursion to the mountains of

Ternova, of which an account is given in this work, vol. ili. p. 236.

—Description of a new Pancratium and Gilia; by C. Bouché.—Re-

marks on American Laurocerasi ; by the Editor.—To the memory of

Chamisso; by Schlechtendal.

Vol. XIII. No. 2.

On Jungermannia Porella, Dick; by Prof. Schwigrichen.—On the

origin and development of Botrytis Bassiana and another parasitic

mould ; by Prof. Crivellii—On a curious monstrosity of Hordeum

Himalayense trifurcatum; by 'T. Irmisch.—Supplement to the enu-

meration of Mexican Ferns, collected by Schiede, Ehrenberg, and

46 Bibliographical Notices.

others; by Kunze.—On Conyza chilensis, Spreng, and C. diversi-

folia, Weinw. ; by Weinmann.— Review of a century of Brazilian

Malpighiacee ; by Dr. Grisebach.—On Mexican Plants collected by

Schiede, &c.; by Schlechtendal.

Plantes Crypiogames de France. Par J. B. H. Q. Desmaziéres.

Of this valuable work three Numbers, 18—20, have appeared

since our last notice. It would take up too much room to give a

list of the species, which amount te 150, contained in them; but it

may truly be said that with every number the interest increases.

Deutschlands Kryptogamische Giftgewichse, 8c. Von Dr. P. Pheebus.

Berlin, 1838. 4to.

This is a continuation of Brandt and Ratzeburg’s account of the

poisonous plants of Germany. With the exception of the Fungi, the

cryptogamic plants noticed as possessing deleterious qualities are

confined to one or two species of Hquisetum and Lycopodium. The

poisonous fungi are admirably described, with remarkably full syn-

onyms, and of many of the more common ones there are excellent

figures, with a very correct analysis. ‘There is a very complete ac-

count of Ergot beautifully illustrated. We recommend the work

very highly to the notice of such as wish to become acquainted with

dangerous Fungi, and to the general cryptogamic student. The price

is very reasonable.

Fauna Coleopterorum Helvetica, auctore Oswaldo Heer. Pars I,

Fasc. I. Turici.—The present first fasciculus contains the Carabide

and the commencement of the Dytiscide.

We are glad to learn that-the Rev. Dr. Pye Smith’s Congrega-

tional Lecture on the Relation between the Holy Scriptures and some

parts of Geological Science is in the press.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

August 26.—J. E. Gray, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Secretaries :—Mr. E. Forbes and Mr. Patterson.

The first paper read was by Mr. Lankester, on the Formation of

Woody Tissue, the conclusions in which were opposed to the views,

supported in this country by Dr. Lindley, of the formation of fibrous

tissue by descent from the buds and leaves, and contained some in-

Zoological Society. 47

teresting observations on what have been termed by Dutrochet

‘Embryo Buds.’

A notice, by Mr. Forbes and Mr. Goodsir, of Zoological Re-

searches in Orkney and Shetland, the result of a journey made in

June last, in which twenty-three new species were described, chiefly

Mollusea, Radiata and Zoophytes, and many new facts stated in re-

gard to some of the rarer British marine animals.

A notice, by Dr. Wilde, on Peruvian Mummies ;—and on the

preservation of Fish.

A paper on the same subject, by Mr. Lankester, who exhibited

specimens, well preserved by a very ready and expeditious method.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

November 13, 1838.—Professor Owen, in the Chair.

A letter from Alexander Gordon, Esq. was read, begging the

Society's acceptance of the animal described by Mr. Waterhouse

under the name of Myrmecobius fasciatus, and also the Perameles la-

gotis. Both of these animals, Mr. Gordon stated, were from Swan

River and not from Van Diemen’s Land as had been supposed.

A paper entitled ‘‘ Observations on certain modifications observed

in the dentition of the Flying Opossums (the genus Petaurus of

authors), was communicated by Mr. G. R. Waterhouse.

«In the ‘ Dents des Mammiferes’ of M. F. Cuvier, the dentition

of the Flying Opossums and that of the Phalangers is described

under the two heads ‘ Petaurus’ and‘ Phalangers proprement dits.’

Both the groups termed Petaurus and Phalangers by M. F. Cuvier

contain certain species of Flying Opossums, and likewise species of

Phalangers. Those species, however, which have the flank-membrane

extended from limb to limb, enabling them to sail in the air like a

parachute, are now with universal consent separated from the Phalan-

gers (Phalangista), and arranged under the generic title Petaurus or

Petaurista.

“In grouping the Phalangers and Petaurists as above mentioned,

M. F. Cuvier was guided only by the characters offered by the den-

tition; that of Petaurus Taguanoides certainly bearing a very close

resemblance to that of Phalangista Cookiit. The teeth of Petaurus

sciureus, however, do not bear so close a resemblance to those of

Phalangista vulpina and P. maculata, although the three animals

mentioned are placed in the same division by the author alluded to.

Regarding the Petauri as a distinct genus from the Phalangers, I

will proceed to describe their dentition as I find it in the skulls before

me, which I may observe consist of two specimens of each of the

48 Zoological Society.

following species :—P. taguanoides, P. flaviventer, P. sciureus, and

P. pygmeus, and one skull of a new species hereafter described.

‘* In these crania three distinct modifications in the dentition are

observable ; and as they are combined with certain differences in the

skulls and in the external characters of the animals to which they be-

long, they may be regarded as forming three subordinate sections, to

which for convenience I shall apply the names, Petaurus, Belideus, and

Acrobata. Two of these names will be found in the ‘ Mammologie,

by M. Desmarest. The dentition observable in the species of

the first of these sections (Petaurus) is as follows :—Incisors- >;

canines = false molars =; true molars —. I am induced +

call the two first teeth following the incisors canines, since they re-

present those which are evidently canines in the two next sections.

The incisors of the upper jaw are arranged laterally, the three on

either side being placed close together; the two foremost are sepa-

rated from one another by a space about equal to their diameter ;

they are narrow at the base, and expanded and somewhat compressed

above the base. The next incisor on each side is larger than the

last or posterior one, and about half the height of the first, narrow

at the base, and wide and truncated at the apex. The third incisor

is small and but slightly wider at the tip than at the base. The

canine is very small, being in size about equal to the posterior inci-

sor ; its tip is rounded, and it springs from the maxilla a little behind

the intermaxillary suture ; the space between it and the canine being’

about equal to twice its diameter or more; for there is a difference in

this respect in the specimens before me. The first false molar is

minute and conical, separated by a considerable space from the

canine and also from the following molars. The next two molars

on each side I have called false molars, because they do not possess

the inner tubercles which are observed in those behind ; theyare broad

at the base and compressed at the tip; the foremost presents an an-

terior larger, and a posterior small compressed tubercle; the third is

divided at the tip into three compressed points. The true molars are

nearly square, but rather longer than broad ; the crown of each, with

the exception of the last, presents four tubercles, with sharp cutting

edges, and very much resemble those of a Ruminant animal. Inthe

last molar there are but three of these tubercles, two in front and one

behind. ‘The incisors of the lower jaw are large, nearly cylindrical

at the base; beyond this they are somewhat dilated, flattened,

pointed, and have two sharp edges. There are no minute detached

false molars in the lower jaw. The single false molar on each side

is placed close to the true molars, compressed in front and expanded

Zoological Society. 49

behind ; a small anterior tubercle is separated from the body of the

tooth by a sli ht transverse incision. The true molars resemble

those of the upper jaw, excepting that they are narrower, and the

last molar has four tubercles instead of three.

** The above description is taken from P. Taguanoides. The cra-

nium differs from that of the species of the second section (Belideus),

in being proportionately smaller, more contracted, and deeply con-

cave between the orbits; the cranial cavity is smaller, the zygoma-

tic arches deeper, and the bony palate is deeply emarginated poste-

riorly ; in fact, the palatine portion of the palatine bone is wanting.

The dense woolly fur on the outer side of the ears will serve to dis-

tinguish the animal externally from either of the species of the next

subgenus. P. macrourus I suspect belongs also to this section. In

M. F. Cuvier’s ‘ Dents des Mammiféres,’ it is stated, that besides the

false molars described by me there are two others on each side,

which are small ;—these I have not seen, nor are they shown in the

plate of the work quoted. Perhaps they are shed at an early pe-

riod, or perhaps M. Cuvier may have described the dentition of

Phalangista Cookii and figured that of Petaurus Taguanoides.

. . e,e . 6 . 1—1

*‘ Section 2. Belideus.—Dentition: Incisors, g3 canines, 5; false

~ 4—4 ° « °

molars true molars, —,=40. The anterior incisors of the

Sere

upper jaw are large, somewhat suddenly dilated immediately above

their insertion in the intermaxillaries, and assuming a triangular

form. In P. flaviventer they are broader than in either P. sciureus or

the new species here described under the specific name of breviceps,

where these incisors are proportionately shorter, and perhaps a little

broader than in P. sciureus. The next incisor on each side is smaller

than the posterior one, narrow at the base, and broad at the apex.

The third incisor is broad, and has a sharp incurved cutting edge.

The canine is tolerably large, and has its origin close behind the in-

termaxillary suture; in fact, is in the usual situation of the canine.

It is separated by a small space on either side from the false molars

and the incisors, compressed and pointed, and its anterior and posterior

edges are sharp. The apex projects beyond the level of either of

the molars. The first false molar on each side is rather large, broad,

compressed and pointed, has a very faint indication of an anterior

and posterior lobe, and two distinct fangs (which is not the case in

the small and cylindrical corresponding tooth in Petaurus Tagua-

noides). ‘The second false molar is small, short, and compressed,

and has a minute anterior lobe. This tooth is separated by a con-

siderable space from the first false molar, and by a narrow space from

the third. The latter touches the first true molar, is narrow in

50 Zoological Society.

front, and consists chiefly of one triangular and pointed tubercle.

The first true molar on each side is considerably larger than the fol-

lowing molars, each of which is smaller than the preceding, so that

the last is not equal in bulk to one half of the first. With the ex-

ception of the last, all the true molars possess four somewhat blunt

and rounded tubercles, and in general appearance very much resem-

ble the corresponding teeth of a Squirrel. The last molar has but

three tubercles, two in front and one behind.

‘* The incisors of the lower jaw are long, compressed, and pointed,

and have the upper and lower edges sharp; they are almost horizon-

tal in their direction, being but slightly curved upwards. Next

follows a series of four small teeth on each side, which I have called

false molars, though possibly the last only is properly so called, that

having two fangs, whereas the others appear to have but one. The

true molars nearly resemble those of the upper jaw, though they

are narrower and longer. ‘The first has a large irregular anterior

lobe, which is higher than the posterior portion of the tooth, which

is divided into two tubercles. The three posterior molars have each

four tubercles.

** Besides the points of distinction already alluded to between the

species of the present section and the preceding, there are other

characters which cannot be considered unimportant. ‘The space

occupied by the grinding teeth of the upper jaw, compared with the

space between the last incisor and the first true molar in the species of

Belideus, is much less than in Petaurus. In Belideus the molars oc-

cupy a space equal to rather more than two-thirds of that between the

incisors and first true molar; whereas in Petaurus, the four last

molars occupy more space than that which extends from them to

the incisors. There is a corresponding difference in the lower jaw.

In Petaurus the molars are very nearly equal in size, whereas in Beli-

deus they decrease considerably from the first molar to the last. In

Petaurus, again, there are five molars on each side of the lower jaw

opposed to six in the upper jaw, all of which are fitted for the masti-

cation of the food; whilst in Belideus the molar corresponding to

the first on either side of each jaw in Petaurus is so small, and its

crown is so low, that it cannot be used in mastication. The com-

paratively large size of the canines, and the series of small teeth in

front of the molars, will also serve to distinguish the species of the

present section from the preceding, where the upper murgin of the

ramus of the lower jaw somewhat suddenly descends in front of the

molars, and the coronoid process is comparatively broad.

«« Petaurus sciureus may be regarded as the type of the section Be-

lideus, which will also contain P. flaviventer and P. breviceps.

Zoological Society. 51

marest, the incisors are 3 ; canines, —; ; false molars, =; true mo-

lars, ae 36. ‘The incisors resemble those of Belideus; the canines

are well-developed, long, pointed, and recurved, placed close to the

-_ intermaxillary suture, and even encroaching slightly on the intermax-

illary bone. The three false molars of the upper jaw have each two

fangs, they are compressed, sharply pointed, and viewed laterally, of

a triangular form. The first and second are about equal in size, and

larger than the third, the apex of which projects beyond the level

of the crowns of the true molars. Between the first and second false

molars on each side there is a narrow space; the third is placed

close to the true molars; these as well as those of the under jaw

resemble the true molars of Belideus; there is however one less on

each side of both jaws. ‘The incisors of the lower jaw also resemble

those in Belideus. Behind these incisors there are two minute teeth

on each side, which are followed by two sharply pointed false molars,

the foremost of which is the larger, and the apex of the second is

raised above the plane of the true molars.

“The difference in the form of the false molar teeth pointed out,

together with the reduced number of true molars, the slenderness

the zygomatic arch, and the incurved angle of the lower jaw,

combined with the imperfect state of the palate, will serve to distin-

guish the species of the present section from the preceding. Exter-

nally, the P. pygmeus (which is the type of M. Desmarest’s sub-

genus) may be distinguished by its distichous tail.

Petaurus srevicers. P. cinerea, lined dorsali longitudinali

membrandque laterali supra nigrescentibus, hac ad latera albd 3

corpore subtus sordidé et pallidé cinereo: caudd gracili, ad

apicem fuliginosd ; auribus mediocribus.

unc. lin.

Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caude basin.... 6 6

ON NPS eS. 7%

arst digitorumque oc sews asses. kod

eRe See + sia heian phe obeniasies 0 9

Habitat New South Wales.

“This species very much resembles the P. sciureus in colouring ;

the under parts, however, have a distinct grayish tint: the dark

mark which extends from the tip of the nose along the back is in-

distinct. It is of a much smaller size than P. sciureus, the tail is

much more slender, and occasionally has a white tip. Theskullis

proportionately broader and shorter than that of P.sciureus, as will be

seen in the following dimensions.”

52 Zoological Society.

P. breviceps. P. sciureus.

in. lin. in. lin.

Total length of skull ........ 1 34 ...... 1 10

Length of nasal bones........ 0: Shi ee O 74

Length of frontal. 24... 794 00 “Oh: ic eee

teneth of palate |). tae Os cee O38

Wadth of skull «3. vs sages BOs ie Rea

Mr. Waterhouse then proceeded to point out some peculiarities

in the skull and dentition of the American Badger (Meles Labra-

doria). ‘Three skulls of this species, belonging to individuals of

different ages, were exhibited to the Meeting. ‘‘ The most striking

peculiarity in the skull of the American Badger,” observes Mr. Wa-

terhouse, “‘ consists in the great expanse of the occipital region; the.

width of the occiput being equal to that of the skull measured from

the outer surface of the zygomaticarches. ‘The general form of the

skull is almost conical ; viewed laterally, the outline of the upper

surface is most elevated at, or very near the occiput; thence it runs

downwards with a slightly convex curve to the nasal bones. The

interorbital portion is considerably contracted, and is narrowest pos-

teriorly. The occipital crest is well-developed, but the sagittal crest

is very slightly elevated; in this respect differing from the corre-

sponding ridge in the Meles vulgaris.

“The auditory bulle are very large and convex. The articulating

surface of the temporal bone, or glenoid cavity, like that of the Com-

mon Badger, has its anterior and posterior process ; these processes, —

however, merely serve to prevent the protrusion or retraction of the

lower jaw, and not to enclose and lock the condyle as in that animal.

_Comparing the lower jaw with that of the Common Badger, the most

striking difference consists in the form of the coronoid process. The

anterior margin of this process is less oblique than in the last-men-

tioned animal ; its apex is somewhat pointed, whereas in the Common

Badger it is rounded: the posterior margin is formed of two lines,

an upper one, running backwards and downwards from the apex of

the coronoid process, and a lower one, which is perpendicular, and

forms an obtuse angle with the first. In this form of the coronoid

process we perceive a similarity between the American Badger and

the Otter.”

Dentition.—‘‘ In the number of the teeth the present animal agrees

with the Common Badger, excepting that in the skulls now before

me, and which belong to animals of different ages, I do not find the

molar corresponding to the small first false molar of the lower jaw

of that animal. In the relative size and form of the teeth there is

much difference. The incisors of the upper jaw are arranged in an

sie

——e;-

te. ae re ee LS <n i a el Se a» we = ws

Agee SEES: Se Sherk oo Je Mees Fae Air aie. ; Vb em ahs Nas Wis: : ’ ” F , : ila

Zoological Society. 53

_ arch, but form together a segment of a larger circle than those of

Meles vulgaris ; they are proportionately smaller and shorter. In the

canines there is but little difference ; the posterior cutting edge ob-

served in the Badger is here almost obliterated. The false molars

likewise scarcely differ. In the ‘ carnassiére’ and true molar, however,

there is much difference, the former being of great size and equal to

the last molar. It is nearly in the form of a right-angled triangle,

the cutting edge is much raised, and there is a large tubercle on the

inner lobe of this tooth, which has no analogue in the Badger. The

true molar is also nearly triangular; the tubercles with which it is

furnished are but slightly raised, and are much less developed than

in the corresponding grinding molar of the Badger. The principal

differences observable in the teeth of the lower jaw, consist in the

smaller size of the incisors, the larger size of the last false molar,

and its being furnished with two distinct tubercles at its apex ; that

of the Common Badger being simply pointed: the smaller size of

the ‘ carnassiére,’ which is not distinctly dilated posteriorly, as in the

Badger, and the cutting edge being higher; the true molar is

‘smaller.

*« The ‘carnassiére’ of the lower jaw may be dividedintotwo portions,

that which is opposed to the ‘carnassitre’ of the upper jaw, and which

is the cutting portion, having high sharp cusps; and that which is

opposed to the true molar, which is the grinding portion. Now in

the Common Badger (Meles vulgaris) the latter portion decidedly

exceeds the former in bulk, whereas in the American Badger the

reverse is the case, arising from the comparatively large size of the

‘carnassiere’ of the upper jaw, and smaller size of the true molar.”

Mr. Waterhouse also pointed out other distinctions between the

American Badger and the European species. Independent of the

differences observable in the colouring and markings, the former

may be distinguished by its muzzle being hairy at the tip, the fore

limbs stouter, and the claws larger and stronger.

The peculiar form of the skull in the present animal, and the mo-

difications in the dentition are such, as, in Mr. Waterhouse’s opinion,

would indicate a subgeneric rather than a specific distinction ; and

should his views be borne out by the discovery of other species

agreeing essentially with the above animal, he suggested that the

name Taxidea might be an appropriate title for the group.

November 27, 1838.—Lieut.-Colonel W. H. Sykes in the Chair.

Dr. Horsfield laid before the Meeting a series of Mammalia and

Birds collected in India by John M‘Clelland, Esq., Assistant Sur-

54 Zoological Society.

geon E.I.C.S., and proceeded to point out the characters of some

which were undescribed. ‘

A paper on the Fishes of the Deccan, illustrated with numerous:

coloured drawings, was read by Colonel Sykes.

** In submitting to the Society an account of the fishes of Dukhun,”

observes Colonel Sykes, “it will scarcely excite surprise, that out —

of 46 species described no less than 42 are new to science, since they

are from a hitherto untrodden field, and from peculiar localities, on

the great plateau of the Dukhun (Deccan), none of them coming from

a less elevation than 1500 feet above the sea; many from near 2000

feet, and others from yet higher situations. ‘The chief features in

the collection are the paucity of orders to which the collection be-

longs, and the remarkable prevalence of the members of the families

of Siluride and Cyprinide. There is but one apodal Malacopterygian,

but 4 Acanthopterygit, and the whole of the rest of the fish belong

to the order Abdominal Malacopterygians. Of the families there

are only eight: Percide, Scombride, ‘Pharyngiens Labyrinthiformes,”

Gobiade, Siluride, Cyprinide, Esocide, and Murenide, comprising

15 genera and 9 subgenera, including one subgenus, which I have

been compelled to add to the Cyprinide. An attempt has been made

to methodize and distinguish the multitudinous members of the fa-

milies of Siluride and Cyprinide. ‘The fact is, the continued inos-

culation in the character of the teeth, of the cirri, of the spines (ser-

rated or not) of the fins, the armature of the head, and the position —

of the fins in the Stluride; and the number of cirri, and form and

position of the fins in the Cyprinide, together with the character of

the mouth, produce such approximations in species to each other, and

in individuals of one genus to another, that not only is there infinite

difficulty in determining the genera of the fishes of these families, but.

their identity as species is occasionally not less difficult. Some of

my Siluride do not exactly correspond with the generic characters

of the genera of this family as now constituted, and I might have

added to the number of genera; but to this I have an objection,

unless as an evidently necessary measure. In the Cyprinide, how-

ever, I was obliged to set aside my repugnance, for three species were

not referrible to any one even of the numerous subgenera which

Buchanan Hamilton wished to establish. It only remains to state

that the whole of my fishes were drawn from absolute measurement,

and have a scale of size attached to each figure; they were caught

in the various rivers on whose banks I encamped, as individuals

were required; so that my draftsman, who worked constantly under

my own eye, never had to finish his drawings from shriveled and-

Ambassis, Agass.

fa Zoological Society. 55

discoloured specimens. I have to a great extent adopted the names by

which the fishes are called by the Mahrattas as specific names, so that

naturalists who travel the country can always obtain them.

Ord. ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Fam. Percide.

Amb. Barlovi, Sykes. An Ambassis with the two back fins united,

with the first ray indented on the edge, and containing 7

spines, and the second 14 spines; all the spines longer

than the membrane, with 18 rays longer than the membrane

in the anal fin, and with a short vertically compressed dia-

phanous body.

Closely allied to Changa Ranga of Hamilton. ‘Fishes of the

Ganges.’ ‘This fish is dedicated to our Secretary.

Fam. Scombride.

Mastacembelus, Gron.

Mast. armatus, Sykes. A Mastacembelus with the fins of the tail,

back, and vent united, with thirty-nine to forty short sharp

bony spines along the back, and two behind the vent.

This fish has not the exact generic characters of Macrognathus,

Mastacembelus, or Notacanthus, and might probably consti-

tute a genus between the two last.

Fam. ‘ Pharyngiens Labyrinthiformes,’ Cuv.

Ophicephalus, Bloch.

Oph. leucopunctatus, Sykes. An Ophicephalus with from 51 to

53 rays in the dorsal, and 6 in.each ventral fin, and with the

rays of the dorsal and anal fins undivided; the pectoral fins

ending in a central point, and the fish covered with white

dots.

I have never known this remarkably fine fish crawl on shore or

in the grass, as some species of the genus are said to do. It

is excellent eating.

Fam. Gobiade.

Gobius, Linn.

Gob. Kurpah, Sykes. A Gobius with 7 rays in the first dorsal

fin, 11 in the second, which is of similar size with the anal

fin; 19 in the pectoral, and 10 in the anal fin.

In different individuals of this species I have found the number

of rays in the fins slightly differ. Of a sweet flavour.

Ord. Matacortreryei1r ABDOMINALES.

Fam. Cyprinide.

Cyprinus, Linn.

Cyp. Abramioides, Sykes. A Cyprinus with 20 rays in the dorsal,

8 in the anal, and 18 in the pectoral fins, without tendrils,

with tuberculated nose, red edged fins, and with a red lunule

on each scale.

This very fine fish is called Tambra by the natives, from the

56 Zoological Society.

general prevalence of a copper colour over it. Attains the

length of 21 inches and more; height 7 inches. Is excellent

eating.

Cyp. Potail, Sykes.

A Cyprinus proper, deep and fleshy, slightly compressed, with-

out tendrils, with the dorsal fin of 13 rays, pectoral of 14,

and anal of 9. Scales large and silvery; length 10 or more

inches; height 33 inches.

Cyp. Nukta, Sykes.

A Cyprinus with two tendrils on the under jaw, and with two

short horns or bosses on the space between the eyes, which

together with the deflected upper lip are tuberculated; large

scales.

In the judgement of my friend Mr. Yarrell, to which I subscribe,

this very singular fish is considered a monstrosity of Cyp. au-

ratus. Dr. Riippell, who did me the favour to look over my

drawings, expresses the same opinion. Found very abun-_

dantly in the Inderanee river 18 miles north of Poona. It is

called Nukta (or nob) by the Mahratta fishermen.

Varicorhinus, Riippell.

Var. Bobree, Sykes. A Varicorhinus with tuberculated nose,

without tendrils; with 17 rays in the dorsal, and 8 in the

anal fin; with the form of a tench.

It may be a question whether this is not a real Labeo of Cuvier,

with long dorsal, no spines or cirri, and thick fleshy lips fre-

quently crenated; size 6 inches by 14% high.

Barbus, Cuv.

Barb. Mussullah, Sykes. A Barbus with 12 rays in the dorsal,

8 in the anal, and 16 in the pectoral fins, with the mouth

furnished with 4 very short cirri, and tuberculated nose;

sometimes 3 feet and more long, and a foot high, and weigh-

ing 42 pounds.

Found in the Goreh river.

Barb. Khudree, Sykes. A Barbus with 4 cirri, blood-stained fins,

large hexagonal scales, elongated body, and with 14 rays in

the dorsal, 14 in the pectoral, and 7 in the anal fins.

Found in the Mota Mola river, 8 miles east of Poona.

Barb. Kolus, Sykes. A Barbus with 13 rays in the dorsal fin,

8 in the anal, and 10 in the ventral; with moderate-sized

scales; with callous tubercles on the head, and a short cirrus

at each corner of the mouth.

This fish shows the difficulty of drawing up generic characters

to embrace all the species of a genus. Having only 2 cirri,

it should not be a Barbel; but having cirri at all, it does not

belong to the next genus Gobio ;—moreover, it has a spine in

the dorsal.

Chondrostoma, Agassiz, the first division of the genus Leuciscus of

Klein. Dorsal fin in the centre of the back.

eae

Zoological Society. 57

Chond. Kawrus, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, without lateral line,

tubercles, or cirri, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 8 in the anal,

and 16 in the pectoral fins.

A sub-cylindrical fish found in the Beema river; grows to a foot

in length, but is usually smaller. Proportion of length to

height in one specimen, 6 inches by 14%, inch.

Chond. Fulungee, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, with dorsal fin of

10 rays, anal 6, and pectoral of 10; of an elongated, not

much compressed shape. Length about a foot; height 4

inches.

Chond. Boggut, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, without tendrils or

tubercles on the nose, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 15 in the

pectoral, and 8 in the anal fin; body of an elongated form.

Length from 7 to 11 inches; height 1 to 2 inches.

Chond. Mullya, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, with a short, obtuse

head, without tubercles or tendrils; sub-cylindrical body,

with 11 rays in the dorsal, 14 to 16 in the pectoral, and 8

in the anal fins; a red process or protuberance on the snout

between the nostrils. Length 5 to 6 inches; 14 to 2 in

diameter.

Chond. Wattanah, Sykes. A Chondrostoma of an elongated form,

without tubercles or tendrils, with the dorsal fin high, and

having 11 rays: and 9 or 10 in the ventral, and 8 in the anal

fin; subcylindrical form. asked 41 inches, height = of an

inch.

Found in the Beema river.

Chela, Buchanan Hamilton. A sub-genus of Leuciscus, with the

dorsal fin very far behind over the anal; straight back, and

nose on the level of the line of the back.

Chel. Balookee, Sykes. A Chela of the size of a minnow;

back straight; body elongated; dorsal fin situated far back,

and having 8 rays, 14 rays in the anal, and 12 in the pectoral

fins. Length 3 inches.

Very sweet eating, the bones as well as other parts. Common

in all the rivers.

Chel. Oweni, Sykes. A Chela,with straight back, elongated and

Ke vertically compressed body; dorsal fin situated far back,

FY with 11 rays, 12 in the pectoral, and 19 in the anal fins,

with scales so minute as to be scarcely discoverable. Length

5 inches; greatest size 7 inches.

Found in most of the rivers. The Cyprinus Cultratus of Bloch

would appear to be the type of the sub-genus.

I have dedicated this fish to my friend Mr. Owen, the distin-

guished naturalist.

Chel. Jorah, Sykes. A Chela, with straight back, convex belly,

dorsal fin far behind; size of a large minnow; with 10 rays

: Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.21. Sept. 1839. F

58 Zoological Society.

in the dorsal, 12 in the pectoral, and 8 rays in the anal fin.

Length about 4 inches, height +%ths of aninch. __

Excellent eating. Found abundantly in the Beema river near

Pairgaon.

Chel. Teekanee, Sykes. A small Chela, with nearly straight .

back; snout on the continuation of the line of the back;

belly arched; with 10 rays in the dorsal, 12 in the pectoral,

and 14 in the anal fins. Length 24 inches, height 2 inch.

Found in the Beema.

Chel. Alkootee, Sykes. An elongated, silver-white, slightly

compressed, minute Chela, with the dorsal fin of about 8

rays, very far back; ventral of about 7, and anal of about 10

rays, with burnished silver gill covers and black orbits;

rarely more than an inch long, and not much thicker than

a good-sized crow quill.

This very beautiful fish has a sweet flavour.

Leuciscus, Klein. First division. The dorsal situated a little behind

the centre of the back, above the space between the ventral

and anal fins.

Leuc. Morar, Cyprinus Morar, Buchanan Hamilton. A Leu-

ciscus allied to Chela, but with the dorsal fin a little behind

the centre of the back, with 8 rays in each ventral fin, 12 in

* the anal, and 10 in the dorsal, and with the edge of the

belly smooth. Length 43 inches; height ,'y.

Differs slightly from Buchanan Hamilton’s L. Morar.

Leuc. Sandkhol, Sykes. A Leuciscus, with nearly cylindrical

body ; dorsal fin of 12 rays, pectoral of 14, and ventral of 10

rays; gibbous head; 8 to 10 inches long by 14 to 2 inches

high; eyes with whitish narrow irides. The dorsal in this

fish is situated a little before the centre of the back.

Found in the Goreh river at Kullumb.

Leuc. Chitul, Sykes. A Leuciscus, with 14 rays in the dorsal,

14 in the pectoral, and 8 in the anal fins; of a reddish grey

colour, and rounded head. Sub-cylindrical. Length about 5

inches, height 14 inch.

Found in the Inderanee river near Chakun.

It being found impracticable to arrange, in any of the sub-genera

described, the following fishes of the Carp family, it is proposed to

place them in a new sub-genus, which I will call by the native

Mahratta name of Rohtee.

RonutTex, nov. genus.

Carps with a lozenge-shaped body, rather long dorsal and anal

fins, the former seated on the angle of the back, with the

first complete ray serrated posteriorly ; scales minute.

Rohtee Ogilbii, Sykes.. A Rohtee, with 12 rays in the dorsal,

9 in the ventral, and 17 in the anal fins; the body very

compressed, and very high, with the back sloping to each

Be. oe

Zoological Society. 59

end from the centre; head sharpish ; pectoral fins, narrow

acuminated. First complete dorsal ray, a strong bone, ser-

rated behind. Length, 44 inches, height 1; inch. A bony

fish.

Found in the Beema river near Pairgaon. This fish is dedicated

to my friend Mr. Ogilby, a distinguished member of the

Society.

Roht. Vigorsii, Sykes. A Rohtee, with armed dorsal fin of 11

rays, ventral of 10, and anal of 28 rays; compressed body ;

high in the middle, and sloping to each end; head slightly

recurved; eyes very large. Length, 6 inches; height, 12%

inches; greatest length, 8 inches.

Found abundantly in the Beema river at Pairgaon. I have

dedicated this fish to my friend Mr. Vigors.

Roht. Pangut, Sykes. A Rohtee, compressed, deep, angular-

backed, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 14 or 15 in the pectoral,

and 8 in the anal fins, and with the first 3 or 4 rays of the

dorsal fin black at their tips; scales larger than in the pre-

ceding species. Length, 5 inches; height, 14 inch.

Found in the Baum and Beema rivers.

Roht. Ticto ;Cyprinus Ticto of Buchanan Hamilton. A Rohtee,

1+ inch long, with 4 to 6 black spots on the body; the 2nd

ray of the dorsal toothed behind with sharp incurved teeth ?

with 10 rays in the dorsal, 8 in the anal, and 8 in the ventral

fins ; pectoral fins narrow, acuminate.

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona. ‘This fish differs slightly

from Dr. Buchanan Hamilton’s Cyprinus Ticto.

Cobitis, Lin.

Cob. Rupelli, Sykes. A nearly cylindrical scaleless Cobitis, not

much thicker than a large goose-quill; from 2 to 3 inches

long, with 6 cirri; the lateral line marked with short brown

bars, and the rays of the dorsal and anal fins similarly

barred ; dorsal fin of 13 rays, pectoral of 12, and ventral of

8 rays.

This fish is much esteemed for food. Found in the Beema river

at Taimbournee and Mota Mola near Poona. I have dedi-

cated this beautiful little fish to Riippell, who did me the

favour to look over my drawings, and at the same time gave

me his opinion respecting the genera of the fishes.

Cob. Mooreh, Sykes. Differs from the preceding only in being

of a smaller size, in having 12 rays in the dorsal, and 7 in

the anal fin; the head is more obtusely pointed, and there

are more dark blotches on it; the bars on the lateral line

are differently arranged.

Cob. Maya, Sykes. Differs from the first species in having a

spine under each eye, and in having a blunter head; 9 rays

in the dorsal, 7 in the ventral fins.

F 2

60 Zoological Society.

Fam. Esocide.

Belone, Cuv. -

Bel. Graii, Sykes. A Belone with the fin of the tail rounded

and emarginate, with both jaws elongated into a quadrangular

beak; with very minute scales; dorsal of 16 rays and anal

of 16 rays: closely allied to the Hsov Cancila of Buchanan

Hamilton.

I have dedicated this fish to a gentleman well known for his

contributions in natural history.

Fam. Siluride.

Schilbe, Cuv.

Sch. Pabo; Silurus Pabo, Buchanan Hamilton. A Schilbe, with

the tail divided into 2 unequal lobes, both pointing down-

wards; with 4 cirri, 2 shorter than the head, and with from

68 to 70 rays in the anal fin. Length from 12 to 15 inches,

height 2} to 3 inches.

Found in most of the rivers. Differs slightly from Buchanan

Hamilton’s Silurus Pabo. No second dorsal.

Sch. Boalis, Silurus Boalis, Buchanan Hamilton. A Schilbe,

with the fin of the tail divided into 2 unequal lobes; with

4 cirri, of which 2 extend to the middle of the fish; all the

fins unarmed; dorsal of 5 rays, pectoral of 15; ventral fins

very small, of 9 rays; anal fin of 84 rays. Attains the length

of 3 feet, and the weight of 8 Ibs.

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona. Differs slightly from the

Silurus Boalis of Buchanan Hamilton. No second dorsal.

Hypophthalmus, Spix.

Hyp. Goongwaree, Sykes. An Hypophthalmus, with 8 cirri,

all longer than the head, but not extending to the middle of

the fish; with 7 rays in the dorsal, and 52 in the anal fin,

with an extremely minute second dorsal; first ray in the

pectoral, and first in the dorsal, spinose and serrated behind.

Greatest length, 28 inches: body vertically compressed.

Found in the Mota Mola near Poona.

Hyp. Taakree, Sykes. An Hypophthalmus, with 8 cirri, 2 of

which reach to the ventral fins, 2 very minute near the nos-

trils, and 4 on the chin, nearly as long as the head; with

the first dorsal and pectoral rays serrated on the posterior

edge, with 8 rays in the dorsal and 50 in the anal fin.

Length, 9 inches; height, 2 inches.

Bagrus, Cuvier.

Bagr. Yarreili, Sykes. A Bagrus, with the first rays of the

pectoral and+dorsal fins terminating in long fleshy tendrils

and serrated behind; with 8 cirri, two of which are as long

as the head, thick, fleshy, and being lateral elongations of

the upper lip; other cirri very short; head broad, covered

with a granulated bony plate; the fish olive brown, marked

with black blotches like a Dalmatian dog; 2nd dorsal fleshy,

Zoological Society. 61

triangular. Length, 18 inches, but attains to a very great

size; body not vertically compressed.

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona.

Bagr.

Lonah, Sykes. A Bagrus, with 8 small cirri; flat, granulated

head; first dorsal fin of 7 rays, and pectoral of 10 rays, the

first ray of which is furnished on the posterior edge with

long sharp teeth; anal fin of 10 rays; 2nd dorsal of a trian-

gular form and fleshy: something resembling the preceding

in colour.

Platystoma, Agassiz.

Plat. Seenghala, Sykes. A Platystoma, with the tail fin

crescent-shaped, lobes unequal; with 8 cirri, two of which

only are longer than the head, reaching to two-thirds of the

length of the fish; the first ray of the pectoral and ventral

fins serrated behind; head long, flat, spatulate, covered

with a granulated bony plate. Dorsal fin of 8 rays; high,

ventral fins, very far back, of 6 rays. Grows to a great

size; flesh heating and soft.

Phractocephalus, Agassiz. Pirarara of Spix.

Phract. Kuturnee, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 6 cirri, 2

of which only are longer than the head; the first pec-

toral spine serrated on both edges; the Ist dorsal spine on

the posterior edge only; these two spines terminating in a

filament: the shoulder-bone elongated into a point behind.

Greatest length, 6 inches; dorsal fin of 7 rays; pectoral of

9 rays; ventral fin small, of 7 rays; second dorsal replaced

by a small adipose fin.

Phract. Itchkeea, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 8 cirri, 2 of

which from the upper lip, extend to the end of the pectoral

fins; the other 2 very minute, with the 4 on the chin nearly

as long as the head ; with the lst ray in the pectoral fins only

serrated; with 8 rays in the dorsal, and 12 in the anal fins ;

with a sharp prolongation of the scapula. Fish handsomely

marked on the back with dark colours. Length, 2 inches.

This fish presents some slight deviations from the generic

characters.

Phract. Gogra, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 4 shortish

cirri; the plates of the shoulder elongated into acute, an-

gular, broad spines, with a dorsal fin of 8 rays; first ray a

bone serrated behind; pectoral fins of 10 rays, the first ray

a broad compressed bone serrated on both edges; head flat

and broad; second dorsal small, fleshy. Size 6 inches, but

grows larger.

Pimelodus, Lacepéde.

Pimelodus Seengtee, Sykes. A Pimelodus, with the caudal fin

divided into 2 unequal sharpish lobes, and having 8 cirri, 2

of which reach to the tail fin, and 4 to the end of the head,

and 2 are shorter than the head; the dorsal fin high and

62 Zoological Society.

without spine, of 9 rays; 12 rays in the anal fin; the second

dorsal adipose, and extending from the termination of the

first dorsal to near the tail. Length of fish, 6 inches. ©

Ageneiosus, Lacepéde. é

Ageneiosus Childreni, Sykes. An Ageneiosus, without cirri,

with the first ray of the dorsal and pectoral fins serrated on

the anterior edge only; with 8 rays in the dorsal, and 42 in

the anal fin; with two sharp lobes to the tail, the upper being

somewhat the smallest. Length of fish, 18 inches; height,

4: inches, but grows to a larger size. Second dorsal adipose,

minute.

Fam. Clupeide.

Mystus, Buchanan Hamilton; Notopterus, La Cepede.

Mystus Badgee, Sykes. A Mystus, with not less than 105 rays

in the anal fin, 7 or 8 in the dorsal, and in the pectoral from

13 to 16, all unarmed; without apparent ventral fins, and

with a single small dorsal; the anal and caudal fins uniting,

and terminating in a point at the end of the body; posterior

edge of the last gill plate crenated; scales minute. This

remarkable fish belongs to the genus Mystus of Buchanan

Hamilton, but not to the genus Mystus of Cuvier. Fish

vertically compressed. Length, 11 inches; height, 3 inches.

Ord. Aropgs.

Fam. Murenide.

Anguilla, Cuv.

Ang. Elphinstoneit, Sykes. An Anguilla, with the lower jaw

the longest ; with the back, tail, and anal fins united, and

with a broadish, flat head; body dark green, blotched with

black ; with 2 short tubular processes, one on each side of

the upper jaw. Attains the length of 3 feet, and diameter

of 3 inches.

I have dedicated this fine fish to the Honourable Mountstewart

Elphinstone. .

In concluding my characters of the fishes of Dukhun (Deccan),

I may be allowed to state, that I have found the number of cirri,

whether in the Siluride or Cyprinide, insufficient as a generic cha-

racter; different species of the same genus varying in the number

of their cirri.”

December 11, 1838.—Dr. Bostock in the Chair.

A Wasp’s Nest, of very large size, was also exhibited to the Mem-

bers present. This nest was sent from Ceylon by the Governor of

that island, and was accompanied by the following letter from Lieut.

W. Williams, R.A.

Colombo, 27th May, 1838.

**The specimen of the Social Wasp’s nest, now on board the

barque ‘Morning Star,’ was found by me in a talipot tree near

Colombo in Ceylon: its apex was secured at the junction of two of

Zoological Society. G63

the smallest leaves of this magnificent tree, and the bottom of the

nest was about seventy feet from the ground, at which elevation the

leaves began to shoot.

** It had been abandoned by the wasps, and its exterior walls were

much injured by the monsoon rains and storms, which left the ter-

races unprotected and unsupported, except by their interior pillars :

and the natives were in consequence unable to lower it from such a

height without destroying some of the lower terraces.

*‘]T shall not attempt to enter further on this subject, a structure

so well known to naturalists. The appearance of the nest, as it

hung upwards of seventy feet from the ground, the shaft to it per-

fectly bare; and the larger leaves (used by the natives as umbrellas

and tents) waving over it, presented a very singular appearance : and

I hope its remains may reach England in a state of preservation

sufficient to satisfy the inspection of the curious.

** W. Witurams, Lieut. R. Artillery.”

January 8th, 1839.—Professor Owen in the Chair.

Dr. Harlan read a paper entitled, ‘‘ Description of a new species ~

of Meriones inhabiting the United States of North America.”

**A male and female specimen of the species which it is now

proposed to add to the Fauna of the United States, were taken

some time during 1836, on the farm of Mr. Beck, in Philadelphia

County, a few miles north-east of the city. The female at the

moment of her capture carried several young, which adhered to the

teats firmly, notwithstanding the violent efforts and leaps of the pa-

rent.

“In the descriptive details which follow, the usual allowance

must be made when such are drawn from impaled skins.”

MERIOVES MIcROCEPHALUS. Mer. superné nigro flavoque miztis, flavo

apud latera prevalente ornatus ; corpore subtis albescente, flavido

lavato ; auribus mediocribus, pilis flavis et nigris intermiztis,

intis atque extis instructis.

“Male. Length of the body, three inches ; of the tail, four inches ;

total length of the hind leg, one inch four-eighths; of the thigh,

three-eighths ; of the leg, five eighths ; of the foot, four-eighths. Five

toes behind; four before; with a rudimentary nailed thumb; all the

toes sparsely hairy, and terminating in strong, sharp claws.

** Colour above, plumbeous, interspersed with reddish fawn; be-

low, white, similarly interspersed in a less degree, a lateral longi-

tudinal band of reddish fawn colour separating the sides from the

abdomen ; tail, sparsely hairy, dark coloured above, white beneath,

64 Zoological Society.

with a pencil of hairs at the extremity; this member being propor-

tionably longer, and the head much smaller and more elongated than

in G. Canadensis. The last-named species has been figured by the

late Professor B. T. Barton, in the Transactions of the American

Philosophical Society, also in the Encyclopédie Méthodique, but

was for the first time adequately described from living specimens in

the ‘ Fauna Americana,’ p. 156, when specimens were deposited in

the cabinet of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia.

“The subjects of the present memoir were placed in my hands

for description by Mr. Chaloner, a Member of the Academy. The

female is larger than the male, and of purer white beneath.”

The specimens of Gerbillus microcephalus above referred to, were

presented by Dr. Harlan to the Society; and also a species of Sper-

mophilus, which Dr. Harlan exhibited to the Meeting. The last-

mentioned animal very closely resembles the S. Franklinii; but

being of a much smaller size, Dr. Harlan was anxious that it should

be submitted to examination, and should be carefully compared with

that animal upon some future occasion.

Several specimens of the Bean Goose (Anser segetum), the Gray-

Lag Goose (Anser cinereus), the White-fronted Goose, (Anser albi-

frons), and of another species allied to these, were exhibited by Mr.

A. D. Bartlett, in order to illustrate a paper which he communicated

to the Meeting, “On a new British species of the genus Anser, with

remarks on the nearly-allied species.”’

“It may be necessary, before describing the new species,” says

Mr. Bartlett, ‘‘ to notice the three birds most nearly allied, in order

more clearly to point out the distinctions existing between them; I

do this in consequence of the imperfect descriptions given by au-

thors, from which it is almost impossible to distinguish the species.

I shall commence with that which is the most common.

** Anser segetum, Meyer. Bean Goose. Entire length, 33 inches ;

extent, 64; from the carpal joint to the end of wing, 19 inches.

The head and neck are brown, tinged with grey: back and scapulars,

darker brown, slightly tinged with grey, each feather being mar-

gined with greyish white; primaries, dark brown, tinged with grey ;

shoulders of wings and secondary quill-feathers, greyish brown ;

rump, blackish brown; upper tail-coverts, white; tail, dark brown,

deeply edged with greyish white; breast and belly, dirty white ;

abdomen and under tail-coverts, pure white; bill, 24 inches long,

rather slender, flattened and narrow towards the tip; the base, sides

and nail, black; immediately above the nail commences a yellowish

orange mark, extending a little beyond the anterior margin of the

Zoological Society. 65

nostrils in front, and passing under and beyond the termination of

them at the sides, but seldom reaching the corner of the mouth,

except in very old individuals, in which this mark extends under

and behind the nostrils, crosses the base of the bill next the fore-

head, leaving only the central part of the bill (between the nostrils)

and the nail black; which latter part is sometimes, though rarely,

white; legs and feet, reddish orange; wings, when closed, reaching

2 inches beyond the tail. The young of this species are darker,

and the markings less distinct ; the bill is shorter, the mark upon it

narrower, and of a deep red colour; the legs and feet, pale orange.

«« Anser cinereus, Meyer. Grey Lag Goose. Entire length, 35

inches ; extent, 64; from the carpal joint to end of wing, 174 inches.

The plumage more cinereous than in the last-described species ; the

shoulders and rump, light grey; breast and belly, white, sometimes

spotted with black; the bill, 23 inches long; more robust, deeper,

broader, and the lamine much more developed than in the Bean

Goose, and of a dull yellow, inclining to flesh colour towards the

nail, which is white; in summer the bill assumes a redder tint; legs

and feet, pale flesh colour ; wings, when closed, even with the end

of the tail. The young of this species are darker than the adults,

but the grey upon the shoulders and rump, the form of the bill, and

colour of the legs and feet, will always distinguish them from the

young of any of the other species.

** Anser albifrons, Bechstein. White-fronted Goose. Entire

length, 26 inches ; extent, 52; from the carpal joint to end of wing,

164 inches. The adult of this species may be distinguished from

others of the genus by the conspicuous white mark upon the fore-

head and sides of the bill, and the irregular patches of black and

white upon the breast and belly; the bill, 13 of an inch long, of a

reddish flesh colour; the nail, white; legs and feet, bright orange ;

wings, when closed, reaching 14 inch beyond the tail. The young

of this species are much darker than the adult; the forehead and

sides of the bill, nearly black; the breast and belly, dirty white,

spotted with brown; bill, brown, inclining to flesh colour; nail,

dark brown ; legs and feet, pale orange.

** Anser phenicopus, Bartlett. Pink-footed Goose. Entire length,

28 inches; extent, 60; from carpal joint to end of wing, 174 inches.

Top of the head and back of the neck, dark brown; sides of the

face, forepart of the neck, and upper part of the breast, light brown ;

back and scapulars, dark brown, tinged with grey; each feather

deeply margined with greyish white; shoulders of wings and rump,

greyish ash; primaries, brown, tinged with grey; tail, brownish

66 Linnean Society.

ash, deeply edged with white; lower part of belly, upper and under

tail-coverts, pure white; legs and feet, of a reddish flesh colour or

pink; the hind toe closely united by the membrane that runs along

the edge of the inner toe; the feet, remarkably thick and fleshy ;

bill, 13 of an inch, long, narrow, and much contracted towards the

tip; the base, sides and nail, black; the space between the nail and

the nostrils, reddish flesh colour or pink ; wings, when closed, reach-

ing 14 inch beyond the tail.

‘* Having thus noticed the three nearly-allied species, and described

the new one, I will endeavour to point out more particularly the

distinctions between this new species and the Bean Goose, to which

it bears the nearest resemblance. First, the great difference in the

size; the average size of the Bean Goose is 33 inches in length,

and 64 inches in extent; while the average size of the new species

is 28 inches in length, and 60 inches in extent. Secondly, the bill

is much smaller, shorter, more contracted towards the tip, and of a

different colour. Thirdly, the difference in colour and in form of

the legs and feet, and in the fleshy character of the foot, and the hind

toe being more closely united by its membrane, has consequently,

less freedom of motion. Fourthly, the plumage on the rump and

shoulders being more inclined to grey. And lastly, in the form of

the sternum, which differs from that of the Bean Goose in shape

and bears a more close resemblance to that of the White-fronted

Goose. In conclusion, I may remark that I have examined, in all,

twelve specimens of this new species, four of which were alive; one

of them is now living in the garden of the Zoological Society, where

it has been, I am told, eight years, without exhibiting any per-

ceptible alteration in its plumage, or in the colour of its legs and

feet. |

«The Grey Lag Goose is by far the most rare of the four species

here referred to.”’ :

Professor Owen commenced the reading of a paper, “On the

Classification and Affinities of the Marsupial Animals.”

LINNZAN SOCIETY.

June 18, 1839.—Mr. Foster, V.P., in the Chair.

The Secretary read a letter addressed to him by the President no-

minating the four following Members of the Council to be Vice-Pre-

sidents for the year ensuing, commencing the 24th of last month, viz.

Robert Brown, Esq.; Edward Forster, Esq.; Thomas Horsfield,

M.D.; Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq.

Linnean Society. 67

The V. P., in the chair, read a notice, addressed to the Society

from Upsal, announcing the death of Louisa von Linné, the third and

last surviving daughter of Linnzus, which took place at Upsal, on

the 21st of March last, at the very advanced age of 90.

Read ‘‘ A Biographical Sketch of Ferdinand Bauer, Natural Hi-

story Painter to the Expedition under Capt. Flinders.” By Dr. John

Lhotsky. Communicated by the Secretary.

Ferdinand Bauer, the celebrated Natural History Painter and Tra-

veller, was born in the year 1760, at Feldsberg in Austria, where

his father held the appointment of Painter to Prince Lichtenstein.

In the year 1775 we find him employed by the Rev. Norbert

Boccius, of the same place, to make miniature paintings of plants

from nature. |

In 1784, while still in the same employment, he was through the

recommendation of the elder Jacquin engaged by Dr. Sibthorp to

accompany him in his first Journey to Greece, and on his return he

was for several years occupied in finishing the numerous drawings

of plants made in that journey, and which prove him to have been,

even at that period, a very accurate observer, as well as a highly ac-

complished artist.

_In 1801 he was selected by Sir Joseph Banks as the Natural Hi-

story Painter in the voyage of Capt. Flinders. From this expedition

he returned to Europe in 1805, bringing with him no less than 1600

finished sketches of plants, besides numerous drawings of animals,

of equal merit, and for several years was engaged in finishing a se-

lection of his drawings of plants, which are deposited at the Admi-

ralty, the board by which he was employed.

After the Investigator was condemned as unfit for the prosecution

of the voyage, and Capt. Flinders had left New Holland to return to

Europe, Mr. Bauer, along with Mr. Brown, remained in New South

Wales, chiefly at Port Jackson ; but ‘he also visited and remained a

considerable time in Norfolk Island, where he diligently collected and

made drawings of all the plants of that remarkable island, and from

his matérials Dr. Endlicher has lately published his very interesting

‘ Flora Insule Norfolkiz.’

In 1813 Mr. Bauer commenced the publication of a work entitled

‘Tllustrationes Flore Nove Hollandiz,’ which did not extend beyond

three numbers, and of these the last was finished at Vienna, where

he had returned in 1814. This work met with very little encou-

ragement, either in this country or in his own.

In the vicinity of Vienna he continued to reside, employing him-

self in drawing the more remarkable plants that flowered in the im-

68 Linnean Society.

perial gardens of that capital, and even in making occasional bota-

nical excursions into the Austrian and Styrian Alps. Besides the

works already noticed, during his stay in England he prepared the

greater part of the drawings of the first volume of Mr. Lambert’s

work on the genus Pinus, and the plates of that work were chiefly

coloured by him. He also prepared a series of drawings of the spe-

cies of Digitalis, which have since been published by Dr. Lindley, in

his ‘ Digitalium Monographia.’

Mr. Bauer was seized with a severe illness in 1825, which termi-

nated in his death on the 17th of March 1826, having attained the

age of 66.

Read, ‘‘ A Notice of a Plant which produces perfect Seeds with-

out any apparent action of Pollen on the Stigma.’ By Mr. John

Smith, A.L.S.

The subject of the present notice belongs to the natural family of

Euphorbiacee, and has been cultivated for several years in the Royal

Botanic Garden at Kew, under the name of Sapium aquifolium. It

is a native of Moreton Bay, on the east coast of New Holland, where

it was discovered by Mr. Allan Cunningham, who sent three plants

of it to Kew in 1829. A short time after their introduction the

plants flowered, and they proving to be all females, they were na-

turally passed over as belonging to a dicecious plant, until Mr.

Smith’s attention was particularly drawn to them by the fact of their

producing perfect seeds. ‘They have annually flowered and matured |

their seeds since, and notwithstanding the most diligent search and

constant attention no male flowers or any pollen-bearing organs have

been detected. Young plants have been raised at different times

from the seeds, and they bear so close a resemblance to their parents

that it is scarcely possible even to suspect the access of pollen from

any other plant.

Mr. Smith considers the plant as the type of a new genus, which

he names Celebogyne. It forms an irregularly branched, rigid, ever-

green shrub, of about three feet in height, with alternate, petiolate,

elliptical, mucronate, coriaceous leaves, having three large spinous

teeth on each side, and furnished with two small subulate persistent

stipules. The paper was accompanied bya young plant raised from

seed produced at Kew, and by a beautiful drawing of the parts of

fructification from the pencil of Mr. Francis Bauer.

Read also, ‘‘ Descriptions of newly discovered Spiders.” By John

Blackwall, Esq., F.L.S.

This paper comprises descriptions of new species of Spiders, re-

cently discovered, and principally by the author himself, in the north

Miscellaneous. 69

of England and Wales, and it must be confessed that the success

which has attended his labours in this department is greater than

could have been anticipated, no fewer than fifty-three species having

been added by him to the catalogue. Much of this success is to be

attributed to the fact of his attention having been chiefly directed

to those snecies which, on account of their diminutive size, require

the aid of optical instruments, of a high magnifying power, for their

accurate examination.

The genera to which the species chiefly belong are Drassus, Clu-

biona, Lycosa, Agelena, Theridium, Walckenaera, Neriene and Liny-

phia.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ON THE PLACE OF SCARABZUS LONGIMANUS IN THE SYSTEM.

M. Klug read before the Academy of Sciences of Berlin a paper

upon the place of Scarabeus longimanus in the system. Its affinity

to Geotrupes, Fabr. (Scarabeus, Latr.), among which it has been

placed in modern systems, consists only in its considerable size. It

is most decidedly removed from this genus by its very small and

simply formed anterior half of the body, or head and prothorax, com-

pared to the elytra or posterior portion, which, as is never the case

in the Scarabei, are completely defenceless; by the quadrate cly-

peus, which is deeper in the middle, but on the contrary is sharply

edged anteriorly and at the sides; by the clearly visible, perpendi-

cularly descending lip with a projecting tuft of hair, as in Lucanus ;

by the similar lancet-formed mandibles, which lie concealed as in

Ateuchus and Copris, Trichius and Cetonia; by the triangular hinder

part of the body which projects over the elytra, as in Melolontha;

lastly, as in the latter, by the curved ‘claws armed in the centre with

a strong curved tooth. It appears possible from the last-mentioned

character, as well as from the form of the clypeus and the exceed-

ingly similar form of the body, to reckon the Sc. longimanus amongst

the true Melolonthide, yet the formation of the mandibles does not

allow this, and it rather requires to be placed at some distance from

Scarabeus and even after Cyclocephala, yet before Melolontha. The

genus has been determined, and is according to Hope Eucheirus of

Kirby. The Scarabeus mucronatus, Pall. would form a second spe-

cies, which, under the name of Propomacrus Arbaces, has been de-

scribed over again and delineated as new by Newman in the fourth

number of the Entomological Magazine for the year 1837. Thus

GO Miscellaneous.

the Scarabeus longimanus forms a distinct genus in a separate small

group: Hucheirus, Kirby, Hope; Propomacrus, Newman. ‘The ge-

nus contains two species, HL. longimanus (Scarabeus longimanus, L.

Fabr.) and H. bimucronatus (Scarabeus bimucronatus, Pall., Propo-

macrus Arbaces, Newman).

IDENTITY OF THE SHANNON WITH THE LOUGH NEAGH COREGONUS.

The examination of more specimens of the fish described as Core-

gonus clupeoides, Nills.? in the ‘ Annals,’ vol. ii. pp. 266 and 421,

pl. 16, has proved its identity with the Cor. Pollan. Different as the

figures and descriptions.of these Coregoni may appear, I have now

seen individuals (so liable are they to variation) exhibiting all the

intermediate characters.—W. THomrson.

PREVENTIVE AGAINST MADNESS IN ELEPHANTS. BY CARL FREIHERR

VON HUGEL.

The announcement in the Berlin papers of the tragical end of

M. Tourniaire’s Elephant*, certainly renders it desirable to know

some means of preventing similar misfortunes, which have already

occurred so frequently in Europe. The state of the Elephant which

drives it to madness is termed by the Indians Mos, literally, in-

toxicated by sexual stimulus or by spirituous liquors, and as soon

as the keeper of the Elephants observes the symptoms of the mosti

coming on, he has a never-failing means of restoring the animal con-

fided to his care immediately to his senses. He places before it a

vessel with three seers (a seer is somewhat more than a pound) of

fluid butter, called Ghie, which the Elephant swallows and again be-

comes sober. When on great festivals Elephants are intoxicated

with brandy for the purpose of fighting them, they are rendered sober

as soon as desired by the same means. Ghie has moreover the same

effect on Dromedaries and Camels when they are mosti. A portion

of Ghie poured down their throats soon restores them to their usual

state.—Wiegmann’s Archiv.

ARE THE CLOSTERIZ ANIMALS OR PLANTS ?

Ehrenberg enumerates the following reasons for considering the

Closterig as belonging to the Animal Kingdom. They enjoy volun-

tary motion, they have apertures at their extremities, they have

* Poisoned with hydrocyanic acid. Our readers will also remember the

fate of Mr. Cross’s Elephant, which it became necessary to shoot from the

same cause.

Meteorological Observations. ee

projecting permanent organs near the apertures, which are con-

stantly in motion, and they increase by horizontal spontaneous divi-

sion. Dr. Meyen, who is of the opposite opinion, mentions as the most

important observations in favour of their vegetable nature, that their

structure is exactly similar to that of the Conferve ; their formation of

seed and the development of this seed is like that of the Conferve.

The occurrence moreover of amylum in the interior of the Closterie

with which they are frequently nearly filled, is a striking proof of

their being plants ; they have no feet,—what Ehrenberg regards as

such are molecules having a spontaneous motion, which occur in

great number in Clos. Trabecula, and quite fill a canal the whole

length of the plant. Their function is difficult to determine, but they

also occur in very many Conferve, and may perhaps be compared

with the Spermotazoa of plants.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JULY, 1839.

Chiswick.—July 1—3. Fine. 4,5. Very fine. 6. Sultry. 7. Hot: thunder

and much lightning at night, accompanied with unusually little rain. 8. Very

fine. 9—I11. Fine. 12. Cloudy: slight rain. 13. Very fine. 14. Very fine:

rain. 15,16. Fine. 17. Slightly overcast: thunder and heavy rain at night.

18. Showery: windy. 19, 20. Very boisterous. 21,22. Fine. 23. Showery.

24. Rain: fine. 25. Overcast. 26. Very heavy rain, 27. Heavy thunder

showers. 28. Cloudy. 29. Fine. 30, 31. Rain.

Boston.—July 1. Cloudy. 2. Cloudy: raina.m. 93. Cloudy. 4. Fine.

5. Cloudy. 6. Fine. 7. Cloudy. 8. Fine: rain, with thunder and lightning

A.M.: raine.M. 9. Fine: rain, with thunder and lightning p.m. 10,11. Fine.

12. Fine: rainr.m. 13. Fine. 14. Fine; raine.m., 15—17. Fine. 18.

-Cloudy: stormy, with rainr.m. 19. Stormy. 20—23. Cloudy. 24. Cloudy:

rain early a.m. 25. Cloudy. 26. Cloudy: rainr.m. 27. Rain: rain early

A.m.: thunder and lightning p.m. 28. Fine: rain early a.m. 29. Fine: rain

pM. 30. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rainr.m. $1. Cloudy: rain early a.m.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.—July 1,2. Very fine summer days: clear

sky. 3. Very hot. 4. Warm, but with a pleasant breeze. 5. The same: get-

ting cloudy r.m. 6. Slight showers all day. 7. Rain. 8. Slight showers

4.M.: cleared and was fine. 9. Showery. 10. Wet and stormy nearly all day.

11. Warm but cloudy: very wet p.m. 12. Heavy rain during night: showery :

flood. 13. Fine bracing air. 14. Showery a.m.: cleared up noon: cloudy

P.M. 15. Showery a.m.: cleared, and was fine. 16. Remarkably fine day.

17. Cloudy and threatening, and electrical. 18. Frequent heavy showers and

high wind. 19. Stormy day: rain nearly throughout. 20. Slight showers

allday: flood. 21. Pleasant bracing air: getting cloudy p.m. 22. The

same: a very slight shower. 23. Showery all day. 24, Showery a.m.:

cleared up p.m. 25. Very fine day: air warm and genial. 26. The same:

sultry p.m.: thunder. 27. Cooler: wind northerly: cloudy p.m. 28, Remark-

ably fine day. 29. Showery all day: distant thunder. 30. Fair and pleasant.

31. Slight shower a.m.

Sun 25 days. Rain 17 days. Thunder 2 days.

Wind southerly 23 days. Northerly 5 days. Westerly 1 day. Easterly 2

days.

Calm 14 days. Moderate 7 days. Brisk 4 days. Strong breeze 3 days,

Boisterous $ days.

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ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY,

San Se

—_

IX.—On the Discoid Piths of Plants. By Cu. Morren,

Professor of Botany in the University of Li¢ge, Member of

the Royal Academy of Sciences of Brussels, &c.*

Tue immortal Grew could not dissect the wood of the walnut

tree (Juglans regia, L.) without being struck with the very

singular form of its pith, which is formed of lenticular empty

discs and of transversal membranous septat. Hill, in 1770,

who also investigated the structure of woods, observed the

same fact, and saw that this form originated exteriorly from a

continuous ordinary pith {. Much later (in 1815) M. Mirbel

made known a similar organization in the Nyssa aquatica, L.

(Nyssa biflora, Mx.) and in Phytolacca decandra§. In 1827

M. DeCandolle the elder attempted to explain this fact by a

rupture, asserting that the pith to assume this form must

either have great cells or a tissue not susceptible of extension.

The elongation of the young shoots-then tore the pith across

at the end of the first year, and thence arose both the discoidal

cavities, and the transversal discs. This physiologist men-

tioned, in addition to the walnut tree, the Jasminum officinale,

as presenting the same structure ||. In 1835 Treviranus ap-

pears to adopt the explication of Hill, that the cavities and

the dises are derived from a compact pith, and in that Trevi-

ranus is perfectly right ; he does not mention any other plant

in which this structure might be found §. These remarkable

organizations seem to have escaped the scrupulous attention

of M. Meyen, who does not notice them in his ‘ Physio-

logy **,?

* A translation of the MS. original communicated by the Author.

+ Grew. Anat. Plantarum, 1682. Pl. 19. f. 4.

{ Hill. The Construction of Timber from its early growth explained by

the Microscope. London,1770. Tab. X. fig. 1—4.

§ Mirbel. Elémens de Physiologie Végétale, 1815, vol. i. p. 112.

|| DeCandolle. Organographie, vol. i. p. 167.

q Treviranus. Physiologie der Gewachse, 1835, vol.i. p. 252.

** Meyen. Physiologie der Pflanzen, 1837, vol. i. p. 377.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 22. Oct. 1839. G

74 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

It is highly probable that this structure is much more com-

mon than is generally supposed, since by counting the Begonia

among those plants which present it to us, as we have ob-

served, we find that the discoid piths exist in the families of

the Santalacee, Juglandee, Phytolaccee, Jasminee, and Bego-

niacee, which have no similarity with each other. This in-

duces me to suppose that further inquiries will prove the ex-

istence of this form in many more plants. 1 should however

remark that species of the same genus may in this respect

completely differ. Thus Begonia argyrostigma presents a dis-

coid pith, whilst Begonia undulata, B. semperflorens, B. pa-

pillosa, B. dichotoma, have a continuous pith*. Thus the

Phytolacca decandra is furnished with a discoid pith, whilst

that of the Phytolacca dioica, Ph. stricta, is contmuous, &c.

Some similar examples might also be taken from the genus

Jasminum, the genus Nyssa, &c. This structure therefore de-

pends upon some circumstance wholly specific, which neither

extends to the genus nor to the family, and which consequently

could never become of any importance in methodical distri-

butions.

Observation however has taught us that the physiology of

the pith of dicotyledons would receive useful and remarkable

improvements from the careful study of the formation of

these medullary discs, for it is known that to few parts have

been assigned so many different uses as to the pith. It was

considered by some as the nervous system of the plant, even

as the brain of this system; by others, and that not long ago,

as the apparatus of the ascension of the stem; for, said they,

if the brain is placed in the head, the organ which is placed

in front in the progression of animals, the pith is placed in the

stalk, the organ which progresses upwardly in a plant. Then

* In vegetable physiology great attention has been paid to the secretions

of the pith and consequently to its colour: it is correctly said to be green at

its origin and white or brown at a later period and when it is dead. But

the Begonia papillosa exhibits the phenomenon of a beautiful red pith when

it arrives at maturity. The red is as bright as that of the beet-root, and

this colour is caused by a red liquor without globules, which fills the prismen-

chymatous cells of this pith, so that there is no difference between the kind

of coloration of this part, which occupies the interior axis of the plant, and

that of the most peripherical organs, such for instance as the derm, the pe-

tals. This fact corroborates the opinion that in this phenomenon the work

is all cellular, that is to say, it resides in the cell itself and proceeds from it.

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. 15

the pith was said to be an organ which nourished the stem in

its youth in order to aérate it subsequently (Hales) ; or it was

that which formed the pistil, the supposed centre of the

flower (Linnzus). Now it is taken for an apparatus which

nourishes the fruit, as milk nourishes the young animal,

the fruit of the mother (Magnol) ;—now the pith becomes

an attracting pump, which draws water from the soil by the

vacuum it causes in the branch (Borelli). With one (Mal-

pighi) it is a conductor of the sap; with another (Plenck) it

is a reservoir for the moisture which the young branch makes

use of in dry weather. A celebrated physiologist (DeCandolle)

sees in it a cotyledon of the bud, that is to say an organ which

nourishes the bud, as the cotyledon nourishes the plumula

which germinates. Another philosopher, whose views we

must confess are very ingenious (Du Petit Thouars), supposes

it to be the substitute for the cotyledons ; for where these do

not exist (Lecythis) the pith is in excess.

Now in the midst of these differences of opinion one fact

remains certain, which is that the bud has need of pith to be

developed, it is its necessary sustentaculum. Raspail knew

very well that the evolution of the bud is in reality a germina-

tion under other forms. But, if this is become a settled truth,

it must be acknowledged that a number of circumstances have

remained unknown, and it is precisely the study of discoid

piths which will reveal to us some of the most curious. This

has induced me to publish at present the results of my ob-

servations on these piths, the more so as these remarks have

convinced me that if the explanation given by M. DeCandolle

of their formation is correct, it must be understood in a cer-

tain manner, and a restricted sense must be given to the word

rupture; for were we to suppose that a rupture was a rent, a dis-

solution of continuity effected with violence and with laceration

of cells or of vessels, we should be quite wrong. In the same

manner that a fruit opens by a predisposition of the tissues

destined to break, that is to say to divide, so a pith perforated

with transversal cavities is also thus pierced by a predisposition

in the organic elements which lose their continuity by means

of a structure appropriated to this purpose. If the text of

adopted physiologies were taken literally, we should say that

76 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

it is the mode in which the elongation of the branch takes

place which fears the pith regularly into discs, whilst obser-

vation and the anatomy of the organs prove that these discs

are the result of a condition of existence of the pith itself and

not of the ligneous apparatus surrounding it. Such is the first

conclusion I have come to in this investigation. It will subse-

quently serve to prove that this phenomenon of the separation

of the pith into discoid plates is attended with several remark-

able changes in the cells of this apparatus, and these changes

are in fact the strongest proofs that can be brought to show

effectually that the pith is a species of mamilla for the bud; that

the modifications which take place in the alimentary cells are

the same as those which take place in a cotyledon during ger-

mination, but still with conditions often quite different and

even inverse. The modifying operation takes place in fact

altogether in the cell, to the detriment, in the first place, of

its contents, and afterwards of its envelope also.

These results, and others in addition, which had not been

thought of till now, will come out clearly from this investiga-

tion; and the better to convince the reader, I will go into the

details themselves,—the analysis of the facts.

I will first keep to the investigation of Begonia argyrostig- —

ma, which suits this kind of inquiry extremely well.

If we take a young stem of this plant, fresh and quite healthy,

the diameter of which at the bottom would be a centimetre and

more, and diminishing by degrees from the bottom to the top by

internodes of 8,7, 3, 1, 4 centimetres in length, and we examine

its pith, it is found to be of such a size that it occupies ;4ths of

the stalk. Moreover this pith (Pl. II. fig. 1.) forms a column

channeled by three deep grooves (A, B, C, fig. 1.), and by

three slighter grooves alternating with the first (a, 0, ¢, fig.1.).

When the internode is 10 or 9 millimetres in diameter we ob-

serve that the pith begins to be perforated with discoid cavi-

ties tolerably equidistant, but separated by rather large masses

of compact pith (e, f, fig. 2.). But if an internode of 6 or 7

millimetres in diameter is taken, we find a pith quite conti-

nuous, compact, similar to that of a great number of plants.

This change takes place suddenly; for two successive inter-

nodes, the one of 7 millimetres in diameter, the other of 9,

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. i

exhibited a continuous pith in the first and an interrupted pith

in the second.

On the section of an internode where the lenticular cavities

are formed we see first the derm (a, fig. 2.), then the cellular

envelope (é, fig. 2.), after which comes the ligneous sheath

(c, fig. 2.), which at the nodes abuts on diaphragms that are

also ligneous but not formed of fibres (d, fig. 2.). In the

centre appears the pith (e, fig. 2.) and its cavities (f, fig. 2.).

These cavities do not in their first state extend to the exterior

limits of the pith, and their first appearance is that of a sim-

ple transversal slit. These slits are separated by portions of

compact pith, which are of six, eight, or ten times the extent

of the slits.

_ These slits, are they lacerations of tissue? So we should

believe, according to the assertion of M.DeCandolle. But see-

ing their evenness, the outline of their separation broken off all

at once, and the smooth and polished surface of their sides,

this became very improbable. Where there are rents of tissue

there is raggedness, irregular indentations, and jagged frag-

ments; here there are none of these. I presumed there-

fore that this was rather a separation of tissue, and a sepa-

ration brought about by a particular disposition of the ele-

mentary parts. Examination with a microscope proves to me

in fact that nature had so contrived it.

Figure 4. explains this structure. The pith is formed by

cells of 8-sided prisms, the sections of which are hexagons,

but these hexagons are elongated and ail laid transversely,

so that the pith is definitely formed by Jayers of horizontally

elongated cells.

Now the slits are simple separations of these layers, with-

out the cells themselves being in any way affected (J, m, fig. 4.).

I am well aware, that on examination of piths cut longitu-

dinally for the purpose of seeing these slits, open cells will

be found, but these arise from the dissection; the others are

all perfectly closed, but simply separated one from another.

Here then is a first fact established, that if the pith is

broken or slit, this interruption of continuity arises from a dis-

location of the layers of cells, and that these cells are, in order

73 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

to be thus separated, laid flat one upon another in horizontal

planes.

We have seen that the slits do not extend to the circum-

ference of the pith. There in fact the prismatic cells are no

longer elongated, but as broad as they are high (d, fig. 4.).

Nearer the exterior also the cells are again elongated, but in an.

inverse direction; there they are perpendicular, that is to say

parallel to the igneous vessels on one side and to the axis of

the stem on the other (0, ¢, fig. 4.). At the same time they

become narrower, and it is these which represent the pith it-

self in very old branches; they are never divided by horizon-

tal slits; their longitudinal elongation is opposed to this.

But what is most curious is the change which takes place

in the contents of these cells, whether they be taken in the

slit parts or in the circumference of the pith. In the cells

longitudinally elongated and in those which are of equal dia-

meter in every direction there is a great agglomeration of

grains of fecule (c', d, fig. 4.). These granules are spheroidal,

white, and vary greatly in diameter. More towards the

centre some cells show these feculaceous grains, smaller and

less frequent, and here and there octohedral crystals (f, fig.4.);

m the slit pith we see, though but seldom, cells with a nu-

cleus en couronne (g, fig. 4.), but most frequently the cell is

destitute of any internal body with the exception of its water

of vegetation, which is transparent, without globules, and

fills all its cavities, rendering them true aquiferous vessels.

Such is the composition of this pith in its early stage.

Now let us take an old stalk of Begonia argyrostigma. Here

things have taken quite a different aspect. A derm which

has become brown (4, fig. 3), a cellular envelope solidified by a

ligneous deposition (4, fig. 3.), a system of white wood (c, fig.3.)

clearly distinct from the nodal, ligneous and very hard dia-

phragms (d, fig. 3.), and a pith singularly formed of exceed-

ingly numerous, transverse, very thin discs, leaving between

them lenticular cavities (f, fig. 3.), but generally formed by

two discs with separate roots, discs which join at their

centre, so that their double roots leave a fresh space empty

between them (4g, fig. 3.). It is just as if the pith had slit or

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. 79

rather separated into as many discs as possible, in order that

each one might touch its neighbour, and that there might be

the greater number of lenticular cavities between them. What

is most astonishing is the regularity of this arrangement, as

may be seen in figure 3. )

It now became a subject of interest to examine the intimate

structure of these discs. And at first, upon taking them off

the stalk, in the form of membranes of a shining reddish-

brown and very dry, I was struck with the great number of

brilliant points which were detached from their surface and

powdered the stage of the microscope. These brilliant points

were in fact a vast quantity of octohedral crystals (f, fig. 5.)

similar to those I had so clearly seen scattered in the young

pith, but much more voluminous; and others were dodeca-

hedrai crystals, some of which having their tops truncated,

thus presented fourteen facets (e, fig. 5.). These crystals

lined, principally the surfaces of the pith, all along the stem,

rather than the transverse discs.

The latter were formed of cells two or three times larger

than those of the young pith, and nevertheless the stalk upon

which my observations were made, only measured twelve mil-

lemetres in diameter, that is to say, two millemetres more than

the stem where the pith, still young, was not yet formed of

dises ;—a proof that it is not the augmentation of the stem

which by pulling the cells had caused their increase in diame-

ter ; a proof, moreover, that this development of the cells has

its origin in the cells themselves, and in the changes which

they undergo.

What characterized these cells was the numerous folds of

their membrane (figs. 5. and 6.); which generally proceeded

from central points whence they radiated (fig. 6.). The water

of vegetation had disappeared, some few globules (fig. 5 ¢,

fig. 6 6) still remained here and there, but in general the or-

ganic utricular element was dry and empty; it was dead and

withered.

In resuming these observations on the discoid pith of

the Begonia argyrostigma, we find that the formation of the

discs is attended with a phenomenon which takes place in

the cellular tissue itself, and which is connected with the me-

80 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

tamorphoses which the cell undergoes by the exercise of the

vegetable nutrition. In fact the following phases are seen in

this pith :-—

First period.—The pith is continuous, full, compact, with-

out interruption of continuity. It is composed of cells which

have been spherical and which are become prismatic by their

mutual compression. These cells lengthen by degrees trans-

versely, and end by being disposed thus in horizontal planes.

At this period the cell is filled with a liquid and fecule; it

overflows with nutritive substance; its pith appears green,

like the germinating cotyledon of a plant.

Second period.—The pith is become more extended by the

development of the branch ; the fecule changes into aliment-

ary juice; it dissolves by the operation of nutrition (does it

become gum?), first disappearing from the central cells of

the pith, where the nuclei are formed at the same time with

some granules of chlorophylle. By the loss of this nutritive

substance, such inorganic substances as salts, obey the forces

of the inorganic world, and crystallize by degrees ; the crystals

being formed in the cells.

The intracellular liquid, or the elaborated fluid which ori-

ginates in the descending sap, and which has been transmitted

to the pith by the medullary rays, is absorbed to the gain of

the bud. The diminution which results from this absorption

begins to dry up the cells which separate from one another

horizontally. Then the slit is formed. We might say that

the force of suction, wrought by the bud, took place in the

axis of the stalk; it is in fact in this axis that the slit is first

formed. ‘These slits are at first at great distances from one

another.

Third period.—The same facts continuing, results accumulate

on results. The circumference alone of the pith still contains

any fecule, but this nutritive substance has completely dis-

appeared from the remainder of the pith. The water of ve-

getation, the elaborated fluid of the sap, is more and more sub-

tracted ; towards the bud, the pith dries more and more, the

slits are multiplied and grow so large as to be true lenticular

cavities, which leave between them medullary discs. The

latter then are formed by layers of cells nicely separated one

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. 81

from another, out of a mass primitively common, but without

laceration of the partitions; these, at first double for the con-

tiguous cells, are now become isolated.

At the same time the pith loses its green colour and be-

comes of a clear yellow, by the drying up of the membranes

of the cells, and brilliant points are formed ; these are nume-

rous crystals which originate from the diminution of the liquid

in which their elements were originally dissolved.

It is so true that these changes take place in this manner,

that if we cut a stalk of Begonia argyrostigma longitudinally,

when it is fresh and the pith only slit, at the end of two days

we see the slits become lenticular cavities and the medullary

discs are formed at the same time that the pith drying up

passes from green to yellow, and the crystals make their ap-

pearance. In fact the sap is lost by evaporation, as in the

plant it disappears by the suction of the bud; but it is lost,

and the same causes bring about the same results.

Fourth period.—The bud being developed and the branch

formed, the pith is become useless. It is deprived of all its

juice ; its cellular tissue, whose cells are become large, is dried

up completely ; the desiccation has separated all the layers of

cells, and a considerable number of discs have been formed ;

brown dry discs formed by the empty cells, without and within

which the salts have crystallized in different forms. This is

the period of death.

What we have just proved in the case of the Begonia, we

are able to see going on, with some few modifications, in

Juglans regia, which offers several facts worthy of remark, and

of which we shall speak briefly.

_ The greater part of the buds of this tree are supported on

short branches ; in this case the pith which is compact and

without cavities is also very short, so that that which is formed

of discs rises very high in the branch (fig. 6.). But it is by no

means necessary to stop till the end of the first year, as M.

DeCandolle has said, to see this compact pith converted into

disciferous pith: it happens in the first year, and that at a

very early period. The dissection, fig. 6 dis, clearly shows

that the pith in the vicinity of the buds is quite full of juices,

and that its separation into discs begins in the middle en

82 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

cone, as if the removal of the nutritive matter first took place

there.

The compact pith in the walnut tree is composed of a num-

ber of small cells nearly in the form of cubes, all equal to one

another, white, transparent, having very few globules, but

containing at a very early period masses of small crystals, or

true muriform calculi, which occupy the centre of the cells.

At a later period, when the pith separates into discs, and dies,

the cells undergo very few modifications.

I sought on a walnut tree a branch whose young shoot was

very long. The terminal bud was separated from the last leaf

but one by an internode of nine centimetres in length. Then

came a leaf at five centimetres distance, and another eleven

centimetres lower down. On this branch the pith was full

at twelve centimetres lower than the terminal bud; but at

each leaf bearing a bud in its axil, the pith was perforated by

some lenticular cavities, as may be seen at A. fig. 7. Here

the action of the bud in emptying the pith is fully evident,

anda better proof could not be brought that it is really to the

absorbing action of the bud that we owe the division of the

pith into discs.

I cut this long branch into two and dried it. The next day

the compact pith had lost its liquid to so great a degree that

the stem was hollowed into a gutter; the slits were greatly

increased, but the membrane formed by the pith was also seen

dried up and covering the bottom of the gutter formed by the

half of the stem slit longitudinally ; this membrane was also

raised by as many hollow vesicules as there would have been

lenticular cavities if the stalk had remained entire: here is a

manifest proof that there is in the constitution of the pith a

predisposition to separate thus into discs, and this predispo-

sition consists in nothing more than the manner in which

the layers of the cells are placed.

Figure 8. shows what happens when the pith is regularly

exhausted by the suction of the bud. Then such regular dises

form with two or three (or even more) roots and intermediate

discoid cavities (e, 7, fig. 8.). A part of the pith adheres to

the ligneous tube and does not split (d, fig. 8.).

I examined the discs formed by this old, dry, dead pith.

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. 83

The cells (fig. 9.) remain the same, cubic, somewhat transpa-

rent, and forming two or three layers in the centre with a

massive root (A, fig. 9.) either surrounding the disc or di-

vided. Some cells have their crystalline calculi also in the

centre, but the greater part of such crystals are scattered

outside the cells and fall off when the branch of the walnut

tree is opened.

We know that this tree diffuses a powerful odour, owing to

the evaporation of a very subtle volatile matter, which has a

deleterious effect upon some persons, who suffer from head-

ache when they sleep under the tree or handle any part of it.

In the numerous dissections which I have made of the plant

in my study I have felt this effect myself. All the parts of

the plant are full of this empyreumatic matter. We know

that in Circassia the tree is bored in the spring to draw off a

liquid matter which coagulates and which the Circassians use

in debilitant diseases and in affections of the lungs*.

I was very much surprised to find a resinous substance in

the old pith of this tree, which accumulates on the discs,

and there forms very singular tear-shaped masses (fig. 9. c.).

These yellow masses have a multitude of different peculiar

figures, but in general they are tuberosities supported by feet,

the parts of which radiate in order to place and attach them-

selves on the medullary discs. On the tuberosities there are

projections of tissue also radiating, and all the tissue itself of

these masses is as it were granulated with a tendency to irradi-

ation. This is explained at fig. 9. in c, where I have drawn

one of these masses with two feet.

The existence of this substance in this place would lead us

to think that in the exhaustion of the pith by the bud all the

substances are not equally absorbed, and that some of them

remain in the exhausted pith, which would then become not

only an alimentary organ of the bud, a reservoir of air, but

also a place of deposit, or, if we choose, a species of cloaca

where substances henceforward useless accumulate. I know

not whether pith has as yet been considered in this latter

point of view, but the inorganic crystals accumulated in some

* See the excellent work of Dr. Lindley, Flora Medica. London, 1838,

p. 808.

84 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

of them, and the deposition of the resinous matter, which we

have seen exists in the pith of walnut trees, authorizes us to

think thus.

I said above that nothing was more unequal than the dis-

tribution of the discoid piths in the different species of the

same genus. If the examples which I have quoted are not

sufficient, I will take the genus Jasminum, where Jasminum

azoricum, L., offers a dense continuous pith filled with juice,

and Jasminum officinale a discoid pith. That of the last spe-

cies being sufficiently known, I have preferred, for multiply-

ing examples and consequently our knowledge, to investigate

the Jasminum fruticans, L., whose beautiful little pith offers

the most delicate diaphragms that can be seen: we might

suppose it to be a section of some vein with valves, when it is

cut across; but this pith is one of the most interesting for ex-

hibiting the real object which nature had in emptying the

piths in favour of the bud; for here the phenomena of nutri-

tion are so capable of appreciation, that it is one of the best

examples to give in a course of vegetable physiology.

I stop then to examine the Jasminum fruticans.

If we take the top of the flowering stalk of this species, we

find a continuous pith, the nearly cubic cells of which present

a great quantity of little granules. If tincture of iodine is

passed over a section of this stalk all the pith and cellular en-

velope instantly become blue. ‘The fact is that both are filled

with fecule, these granules being nothing else. At that time

the two reservoirs of fecule, stained blue by iodine, are dis-

tinctly separated by the fibres of the ligneous system, which

do not become blue.

If a subjacent internode is taken where the medullary discs

are already formed, and if the preparation is passed through

tincture of iodine, we first see the cellular envelope become

blue, then two blue lines within the fibrous system ending at

the discs of the pith, which are of a paler blue. At this period

the fecule in fact still exists throughout the cellular system,

but in a smaller quantity in the centre of the pith, where it

has been absorbed to the advantage of the buds.

Lastly, if we take an older internode, the iodine only co-

lours the exterior system, and two lines of the pith, those of

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants. 85

its circumference ; in a vertical section of the stalk the discs

remain without colour, but their roots become blue. Figure

10. represents this. The cells a. contain some fecule 0. at-

tached to their partition; the cells c, d. have their fecule in a

mass in the centre of their cavity ; and the cells of the discs

e, f, g- have no longer any fecule at all. Here we may per-

ceive, and there is no better way, the absorption of this nu-

tritive substance, after which the pith dries up and separates

its layers of cellules.

In fact, in Jasminum fruticans, where the pith is like a lace-

net, the discs are extremely fine ; which arises from their being

formed by a single plane of very small cells. There is then not

the slightest occasion, as has been supposed, for the cells to

be great in order for the pith to slit into discs. Here they

are of the smallest size.

In Jasminum officinale the discs are also so minute that

the cells sometimes separate, and thus leave real holes by

which the cavities communicate with one another. This dis-

position allows the pith of this plant to be injected, especially

with wax made red with cinnabar, and when cold it is one of

the most beautiful preparations of vegetable anatomy. I have

some stems thus preserved in the museum at Liége.

The Phytolacca decandra presents enormous lenticular

cavities, as figure 12. shows (e.), the intermediate discs of

which are also very thick. The tissue which forms them is

a prismenchyma with very large cells, which is the opposite

of the jessamine, and proves that the size of these bodies has

nothing to do with the separation of the pith into discs.

These cells have numerous clusters of acicular crystals be-

tween them (d, fig. 13.), and in the cells themselves very small

globules are seen. The membranes are very full of folds, but

here also, when we dissect with care, we find no broken cells

nor a true rent.

It is proved then, by these numerous examples, that a dis-

organization of tissue does not exist in the formation of these

cells. The pith is exhausted by furnishing the bud with its fe-

cule, as does the cotyledon ; but if this then changes into a leaf

in the epigeous plants, by turning its diachyma green, the pith

on the contrary from being green becomes blanched and com-

86 Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

pletely exhausted, and remains a vehicle for air and reservoir of

excreted substances, henceforward of no use for vegetable life.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.

Fig. 1. Transverse section of the stem of a young Begonia argyrostigma.

A, B, C.

a, b, ¢.

Great grooves of the pith.

Small grooves of the pith.

Fig. 2. Vertical section of a similar stem.

es VS ewe at

. Node.

. Upper internode.

. Lower internode.

Derm.

. Mesophlceum.

. Ligneous system.

. Nodal diaphragm.

. Pith.

Slit of the pith.

Fig. 3. Vertical cut of an old stalk of the same plant.

Moers OWE

. Node.

Upper internode.

. Lower internode.

Derm.

. Reticulated mesophlceum.

Ligneous system, very much developed,

. Nodal diaphragm.

e. Medullary discs.

Medullary cavities.

Roots of the discs. <

Fig. 4. Young pith very much enlarged.

Vessels of the medullary sheath.

Vertical cells with fecule.

c. Shorter feculiferous cells.

Prismatic cells with fecule.

c'—d', Fecule.

é.

Cells where the fecule disappears.

Crystals.

g. Nucleus.

Septa of very minute cells.

Cells of the discs.

Angle of the cavity.

Cavity.

Fig. 5. Old disc cut.

Dry cells folded.

c. Rare globules.

e,f.

Folds.

Crystals.

Prof. C. Morren on the discoid Piths of Plants.

Fig. 6. Cells seen from the top of the disc in Begonia argyrostigma.

a. Folds.

b. Globules.

Fig. 6 bis. Bud of Juglans regia cut open longitudinally.

- Derm.

Mesophlceum.

. Ligneous system.

Medullary discs.

. Compact pith.

Pith of the terminal bud.

. Scar of the leaf.

Fig. 7. Branch of Juglans with very compact pith.

A. Bud corresponding to the

a. Medullary cavities.

b. Other medullary cavities.

ec. Compact pith.

Fig. 8. Old dead branch of Juglans regia.

Derm.

Mesophleeum.

Ligneous system.

- Medullary discs.

e. Roots of these discs.

f- Medullary cavities.

Fig. 9. Isolated disc, much enlarged, taken from an old branch.

A. Root of the disc.

B. Disc.

a. Empty cells.

b. Crystalliferous cells.

c. Mass of resinous matter.

Fig. 10. Discs of Jasminum fruticans.

a. Cells which are void.

b. Fecule

ce, d. Cells still replete with fecule.

e, f, g. Discs with empty cells.

Fig. 11. Branch of Jasminum fruticans.

Fig. 12. Section of the stalk of Phytolacca decandra.

a. Derm.

b. Mesophlceum.

e. Wood.

d. Medullary discs.

e. Empty spaces.

Fig. 13. Cells of the discs.

a. Cells.

b. Folds.

c. Globules.

d, Clusters of crystals.

Sys Rus SS

No 8

88 Dr. Philippi on two new Species of Euplocamus.

X.—Zoological Notices. By Dr. A. Paiuippi*.

[ With a Plate. ]

1. On two new species of Huplocamus.

Two new species, which appear to be rare in the Neapolitan

sea, are added to my genus Huplocamus, which stands between

Doris and Tritonia, and with only two species of which I was

previously acquainted, E. croceus from the Sicilian sea, and

E. claviger (Doris claviger, O. F. Miller). They were disco-

vered by M. Arcangelo Scacchi, who is the best acquainted with

the Conchylia of this neighbourhood, and has rendered some

services of no slight value to the cause of science by several

papers published on this subject, which appear to be entirely

unknown out of Italy +. Since he has for some time devoted

his attention exclusively to the study of mineralogy he has

allowed me to make known his discoveries to the public, and

I commence with the present notices; at the same time I may

observe that not only has he kindly committed to my care his

drawings made from life for this purpose, but also the animals

in spirit for my use. The one species I call

Euplocamus frondosus ; corpore croceo, verruculoso, branchiis ana-

libus 5, bipinnatis; lateralibus utrinque 6, anticisque 4, arbo-

rescenti divisis. Plate III. fig. 1.

The specimen preserved in spirits is greatly contracted ; its

length amounts to 13”, its breadth 8!", its thickness 6"; it is

quite colourless and only exhibits a small grayish space arising

from confluent points. The drawing represents an animal 28!"

long and 11" broad, truncate in front, behind narrower and

somewhat tapering. Otherwise the animal is nearly quadrate,

the upper lateral margins unite posteriorly before the apex, at

the same time losing somewhat in distinctness, and each car-

ries six branchie. The front and upper margin carries four

of them, which are somewhat smaller than the side branchie,

* Translated from Wiegmann’s ‘ Archiv.’ Part 2, 1839,

+ Lettero di Arcangelo Scacchi su vari testacei napoletani al Signor D.

Carlo Tarentino. Napoli 1832.—Osservazioni zoologiche di A. Scacchi.

Napoli 1833.—Notizie intorno alle Conchiglie ed a zoofiti fossili che si tro-

vano nelle vicinanze di Gravina in Puglia di Arcangelo Scacchi. Articolo

estratto de XII. a XIII. fascicolo degli anali civili, Napoli 1836.—Cata-

logus Conchyliorum Regni Neapolitani que usque adhuc reperit A. Scacchi.

Neapoli 1836.

Dr. Philippi on two new Species of Euplocamus. 89

but are otherwise perfectly similar. Both are arborescently

ramified. The anal branchie are situated nearly in the same

line with the penultimate side branchiz, are five in number,

the odd one bent forwards and bipinnate. They appear

not to be retractile. The anus stands directly behind them

in the form of a small tube. The mouth is situated on the

front side inferiorly, and exhibits in the specimen preserved

in spirits a perpendicular fissure and several cross folds. At

some distance in front of this is situated on each side an oval

epidermal fold, which in an expanded state must form mode-

rately long inferior tentacula. The dorsal tentacula are 5"

long in the drawing, and consist as in Doris of a cylindrical

stem and a pointed foliaceous club ; they are also in like man-

ner retractile into cavities, as proved by the specimen in spi-

rits, where only two curved apertures are to be seen in their

place. The orifice for the organs of generation is on the right

side, somewhat before the third branchia. The colour is

- orange-yellow, with some scarlet-red points. The small warts

represented in the drawing cannot be distinguished on the

preserved specimen. Huplocamus croceus approaches by its

colour and other characters near to the present species; but it

is certainly distinguished, 1. by smaller size and especially far

less breadth; 2. the lateral branchie are proportionally much

longer, and only ramified once; 3. the anal branchiz are al-

most simple, and only furnished with a pair of short filaments

towards the clavate extremity.

Euplocamus cirriger ; sordide roseus, branchiis lateralibus utrinque

5, anticisque 4, filiformibus, branchiis analibus 9, filiformibus,

ciliatis branchiis? succedaneis filiformibus in dorso quinque.

Plate III. fig. 2.

The specimen in spirits, appearing but slightly contracted,

measures 8’ in length, 3! in breadth, 23! in height; the

drawing is 18" long and 6" broad. The form of the body is

again parallelopiped, truncate in front, narrower posteriorly ;

the foot however projects further out than in the other spe-

cies, and terminates posteriorly with a subulate filament, which

is not represented in the drawing. The upper border or the

margin of the cloak also projects in the form of a narrow epi-

dermal fringe. On each lateral margin are five long filiform

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.22. Oct. 1839. I

90 Dr. Philippi on the animal of Pileopsis Garnoti.

branchiz (in the preserved specimen they still measure 23/"),

of which the two last are furcately divided, the front margin

has four similar merely somewhat shorter filaments, but be-

sides these there are five similar, only somewhat still smaller

filaments on the back, between the dorsal tentacula and the

anal branchiz, viz. three in the central line and one on each

side before the latter. The anal branchie amount to nine,

are filiform, directed with the exception of the single one ante-

riorly and furcate, simple, all ciliated on both sides. The anus

is situated in the centre. The dorsal tentacula stand im a line

with the first lateral branchize and are very long; as it appears

they are not retractile. The frondose club is very long im

them. The mouthis situated on the front margin close above

the foot, and I do not find in them the ¢entacula labialia

mentioned in the preceding species ; the parts however are too

much contracted to admit of my denying their presence. The

sexual orifice is situated on the right side between the first

and second lateral branchie.

Prate III. Fig. 1. Euplocamus frondosus, after a drawing of M. Scacchi.

Fig. 2. Euplocamus cirriger, after a drawing of M. Scacchi.

2. On the animal of Pileopsis Garnoti, Payr.; Patella Garnoti,

Phil. Enum. Moll. Sicilia. Plate III. fig. 3.

That Pileopsis Garnoti, Payr., is not placed in its correct

genus, was evident to me when occupied with my ‘ Enume-

ratio,’ but I was not more fortunate than Payrandeau, in re-

ferring it to Patella. The impression of the muscle compared

with the whorl ought to have taught me that the vertex stands

posteriorly and not in front as in Patella; however I may

mention in excuse that the correct recognition of the impres-

sion of the muscle is very difficult with the strong lustre of

the inner side. I lately had an opportunity of finding the

living animals on a mass of Cladocora calycularis, Ehrenb.

(Caryophyllia calycularis, Lamk.). It differs essentially from

Patella. Instead of the round head with the two filiform ten-

tacula, the head is flat, foliaceously expanded in front, deeply

excavated in the centre where the mouth lies, and no tentacula

exist; perhaps, however, it may also be said that the dorsal

tentacula cohere with the ventral into a broad mass, for the

Dr. Philippi on the animal of Pileopsis Garnoti. 91

front and inferior part is easily distinguished from the upper

thicker part. yes are distinct on the outside of the head.

The perfect mantle surrounds the whole shell, presents no

incision, no siphon, and between it and the oval foot there is

not a single organ te be found. A specimen thrown into spi-

rits gave more information respecting the internal structure

as the intestines shine through the thin peritoneum. The en-

tire hinder space of the body was occupied by the brown liver,

as also a part of the right side; the ramified processes of the

liver could be plainly distinguished on it. To the right was

situated a reddish organ, probably the ovarium. Above the

liver, posteriorly and to the left, is situated the intestinal canal

with a convexity directed backwards and bending anteriorly

and to the right, it disappears before the right end of the

muscle which fastens the animal to the shell; in front of the

liver is moreover situated a white organ, the functions of which

I do not venture to indicate; and in front of this, occupying

nearly half the space, appears a cavity, in which an organ with

a form closely resembling a folded ruff proceeds nearly par-

allel with the intestinal canal, and above is adherent to the

peritoneum and is evidently the branchia. I now also suc-

ceeded in passing a hair through this hole exteriorly, which

even appears in front on the right side before the anal aper-

ture in the rather thick border of the mantle, where on more

accurate examination I found a small black point. On ac-

count of the minuteness of the animal no separate anal aper-

ture and branchial aperture can be perceived externally. I

could not discover an orifice for the sexual apparatus. After

I had found this out it was easy for me to notice on the

few shells at my disposal that they are somewhat: promi-

nent in the vicinity of the branchial aperture. From the

irregularity of the shell it requires great attention to discover

it. But to what genus does the animal belong? This is a

question which, from the entire want in this place of literary

auxiliary means, I am not able to answer. The first thought

is on Siphonaria, but as far as I can recollect, the horseshoe-

like impression of the muscle is interrupted in this genus by

the siphon ; in the present species the right arm of the horse-

shoe is merely shorter than the left. Moreover the animal is

H 2

92 Dr. Philippi on the animal of Galeomma. |

said to be dlind (Cfr. Rang, ‘ Manuel de Malacologie,’ p. 141.),

Does it belong to Eschholtz’s genus Acm@a? or must it form

a distinct one, as M. Scacchi thinks, who calls it Clypeus mm

his ¢ Catalogus,’ p. 17, without however saying more of the

animal than “ incola ut in Siphonaria, sed testa non canalicu-

lata?” Iwilladd in conclusion, that the following statement

of Rang, |. c. p. 142. “ nous avons vu de jeunes Patelles avoir

le caractére des Siphonaires et en conserver des traces dans wr

dge plus avancé,” probably relates to species of this genus, and

not to young Patella. |

Puate III. Fig. 3. Pileopsis Garnoti, Payr.

a, The animal after the removal of the shell, magnified four times.

The horse-shoe-form ligamentary muscle, the liver, the ova-

rium, the end of the intestinal canal, and in front the respiratory

cavity with the branchiz.

b. The animal with the shell, magnified three times, to show the

form of the head and the eyes.

3. On the Animal of Galeomma.. Plate III. fig. 4..

This very remarkable Acephalous genus was established by

Turton in 1825 in the ‘ Zoological Journal,’ and thus charac-

terized from the shell: shell bivalve, equivalve, equilateral,

transverse ; with a large oval gape at the front margin. Hinge »

without teeth. Ligament internal. ‘T'wo very small distant

muscular impressions ; impression of the mantle simple. So

also Deshayes in Lamarck’s ‘ Hist. Nat. d. Anim. sans Ver-

tébres,’ (2nd edit. vi. p. 179.) Animal unknown. M. Costa

also found the shell and has described it somewhere in the

* Annales des Sciences Naturelles,’ (in the absence of M. Costa

I cannot state more accurately where, as the entire series of

this Journal does not exist in Naples) under the curious name

of Hiatella Poliana, which escaped M. Deshayes. M. Delle

Chiaje has thought to correct his countryman by naming the

questionable animal Hiaéella striata in the tables to the 5th

volume of his ‘ Memorie,’ which will never see the light. M.

Scacchi has described the animal very accurately, carefully, and

well under the name of Parthenope formosa in his * Observa-

zioni Zoologiche,’ p. 8 and p.19. I have also been so fortu-

nate as to observe for some days several living specimens. It

occurs between the roots of Zostera or Cavolinia oceanica, but

_ Dr. Philippi on the Oculina ramea of Ehrenberg. 93

appears to be rare. The animal is entirely white, semi-trans-

parent. The manile is split in its whole anterior half for the

exsertion of the foot, the margin is entire; behind there is a

small aperture for the exit of the water and the excrements.

Where the mantle quits the margin of the shell there are on

each side eight or nine short cirri or rather warts. Between

the vertex and the aperture of the foot there is also one, and

between the vertex and the posterior aperture three warts.

The epidermis is highly remarkable; it easily frees itself from

the shell which is quite enveloped by it, and hangs to the

mantle (a in fig. 4 d.) ; it appears therefore to retain constantly

its organization, while in most bivalves it very rapidly dies,

yet I would not with M. Scacchi call the shell interior. The

foot is nearly cylindrical and can be stretched out to a great

length,but it never produces jumping motions, but crawls with

its white under surface quite after the manner of the Gaste-

ropods, even up the smooth perpendicular side of a glass,

which by the bye I have also seen done by Lucina commutata.

Thrown into spirits the animal exhibits at the base of the foot

a cavity surrounded by a circular prominence, which I sus-

pected to be an organ for the secretion of a byssus, but not a

trace of byssus was to be seen either on the reots of the Zos-

tera or on the glass. When the mantle is cut open in the

centre an almost globular body makes its appearance, which

is divided posteriorly by a shallow groove, and on each side are

seen two large equal branchie terminating free posteriorly.

On each side in front are two oval moderately large appen-

dices buccales. The two adductors are not evident when the

animal lies on its back, but are distinctly recognised when in

the reverse position; the hinder one is roundish, nearer to

the margin, and somewhat larger than the front oval one.

The shell has been elsewhere sufficiently described, but I

would hardly call the hinge callous, and the ligament appears

to me to be quite internal. A second external one occupies

the whole margin of the hinge. The two magnified figures

sufficiently show the form and sculpture.

4. Oculina ramea, Ehrenberg; Caryophyllia ramea, Lamk.

Few persons have seen the animal of this common coral, nor

94 Dr. Philippi on a new Species of wood-boring Crustacea.

have I succeeded in obtaining it in a fresh state. M. Scacchi.

however has been so fortunate and has kindly lent me the

drawing, which IJ shall subsequently publish if I find it im-

possible to sketch one myself from the living animal. The

animal according to this drawing has not the least similarity

to the false one of Donati, nor even with that of Shaw. Its

colour is of a dirty yellow falling slightly into orange yellow,

and it presents about thirty tentacula standing apparently

in two series. Each one is 3} long, nearly 1!" thick at the

base, and gradually tapering towards the apex, which is not

clavately thickened. -At some distance downwards from the

tentacula, and extending about 3" to 4!" in breadth, is the some-

what thick and fleshy body which exhibits numerous oblique

furrows and as many strong longitudinal furrows as there are

tentacula in one row, and then suddenly gives place on the

drawing to the thin membrane which covers the coral stem.

The mouth projects very considerably, nearly 5! between the

tentacula, but it can also be greatly retracted. It measures 34!"

in diameter, and is surrounded by numerous longitudinal folds.

5. Chelura terebrans, anew Amphipod Genus. Fig. 5.

- On the 17th of May I found at Trieste near the Lazaretio

Vecchio several planks just drawn from the sea, which were

eaten through and through, so that they nearly wore the

aspect of asponge. The holes were of two kinds; the larger

ones of at least 2 in diameter, in which were a quantity of

oviferous Teredo navalis, and the smaller of about ?!” in dia-

meter, in which I found the little crustacean, which will pre-

sently be described, in such immense numbers that I could

not doubt for a moment that these holes and galleries had ori-

ginated from their devouring. Now if it was already inter-

esting to me to find a second example of a wood-boring crus-

tacean, my joy at this discovery was greatly increased from

its not belonging, like Limnoria, to the Isopodes, but being

an Amphipode, and moreover strikingly distinguished from all

others by its antennez and more especially by its remarkable

tail. A great number of specimens have reached Cassel in

safety, and I only brought two accidentally with me to Naples,

from which I have drawn out preliminarily the following de-

Dr. Philippi on a new Species of wood-boring Crustacea. 95

scription. The animal, including the antenne and caudal ap-

pendages, is 42!" long, and without them 23", and about 3"

broad. The head is narrowest, and as long as the two follow-

ing segments, the body becomes gradually broader from the

head, without however departing considerably from the linear

form. The eyes are small and round, the superior antennz of

moderate length, setaceous, and with seven articulations. The

inferior antennz are one and a half times as long and consist

of six articulations, the two first are very short, the remainder

gradually increase in length, become flatter, and the last are

densely beset with cilia, so that they appear rather to be an

organ for swimming than for feeling. ‘The pectoral segments

are of equal length and have their lateral parts only slightly

developed. The tail or abdomen consists of five segments :

the two first resemble the pectoral segments ; the third seg-

ment bears on the centre of the back a long curved horn

which exactly resembles that of the Sphinx caterpillar, and on

each side two small tubercles. The fourth segment is one and

a half times as long as broad, beneath somewhat flat, above

concave, covered with small protuberances and ciliated on the

lateral margins. They are especially distinguished by two small

hooks in the centre of the hinder margin. This segment bears

on each side two pairs of curious appendages which are arti-

culated on to its base. The front appendages are perpendicu-

larly directed and consist of three longish rounded flaps which

are all thickly beset with long hair, and of which the front

one is the largest, the hinder one the smallest. ‘The lateral

pair of appendages perfectly corresponds to one of the caudal

appendages of the Gammari, and consists of a stalk which

supports two small acute lamine. The fifth segment is very

short, exhibits superiorly in a fissure the anus, above in the

centre, and inserted at its base (or to the hinder margin of the

fourth segment) an oval lamina, and at its extremity an enor-

mous pair of pincers, which are nearly twice as long as the two

last caudal segments. Their two lamine are compressed,

somewhat diverging, attenuated towards the apex, and bent

in the form of a hook, and they have serrated margins. The

Jourteen feet increase posteriorly in length, but not consider-

ably. The two front ones have at their extremity a curved

96 Account of a Journey across the

claw, and the tarsus is broad with a diverging tooth. The

first pair of feet is much broader than the second. The fol-

lowing feet terminate with a long straight claw but slightly

curved in the form of a hook at the apex only, the three pos-

terior have merely a small foliaceous appendiculated member.

I did not see the branchie at their base, but very distinctly

the three pairs of pseudo-abdominal feet, which consist of a

securiform, lamellar basal joint, and two articulated and ci-

liated spines ; so that there can be no doubt to which order

of Crustacea this animal belongs. The cibarian apparatus

seemed to me to consist of a marginated upper lip, a pair of

mandibuleze provided with biarticulated palpi, three (2) or four (?)

pairs of lamellaceous maxille, and two sex-articulated foot-

jaws.

Prats III. Fig. 5. Chelura terebrans.

a. The animal lying on its side, magnified four times.

6. The fourth and fifth caudal segment from above, as it appears

when it is magnified fifteen times.

c. The same from below. The third pair of false abdominal fect

is evident at the basis.

d. The first foot seen magnified twenty-five times.

e. One of the posterior feet with the same power.

[To be continued. ]

X1.—Extracts from a few rough Notes of a Journey across

the Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman, in 1835. . By

JAMES TWEEDIE, Esq., addressed to Sir W. J. Hooker.

[Continued from p.15.]

Tuis morning, the 26th, we regained the post-road which we

had left at Pergamena, at 3 leagues beyond the post house of

Cabeza del Tigere, 320 miles N.W. of Buenos Ayres. Here the

tract turns more to the west, keeping along the east bank of the

Rio Corcouneon, a most delightful tract to behold, being finely

interspersed with woods of A/garoba and Chafeos, the river gli-

ding on at the rate of about a mile in the hour, in a deep ravine

whose sides are nearly perpendicular for 30 or 40 feet, espe-

cially the east bank where the sun is so powerful as to dry up

much of the vegetation, while on the west and north-west,

where it is shaded from the midday rays, the crooked course

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 97

of the river is tracked as far as the eye can reach by the

abundance of willows that line the banks. There are, how-

ever, no beautiful slopes and rich holms here, such as grace

the shores of the Clyde. We halted this day at the deserted

_ posthouse of Lobaton, where I found the vegetation bearing

a striking similarity to that which prevails around Bahia

Blanca, distant more than 1100 miles.

27th. We crossed the little river called Salado de Ruiz Diaz,

whose flat sides, white with a saline incrustation which crushes

like frost under the foot, are denuded of vegetation for at least

a hundred yards on either side the stream. At this place we

had entered the province of Cordova for 20 miles, and after

passing the river pursued a constantly rising road till we came

to a posthouse bearing the same name as the river and situated

at a considerable elevation. The land all around is very bare

of herbage and dry, but gay with a species of Ovalis and the

beautiful little Nierembergia gracilis. 1 also found the Eupa-

torium affine, a charming dwarf perennial. The well was the

deepest I had seen on the road, 21 feet, but the water was ex-

cellent. We passed through a dry and thinly inhabited coun-

try, but looking agreeable from its natural clumps of Algaro-

bas, &c. The Rio Corcouiieon with its row of willow trees

lay on our right, its windings marked by these trees ; and our

road being straight, sometimes it was close to us, at other times

far distant. We saw several deserted houses and unoccupied

land, though the latter was of good quality; and passed

through the town of Fraile Muerto, situated close to the river,

where there were some spots of fine maize, pompions, French

beans and tomatos, the latter an indispensable article here.

30th. Having pursued our journey up the river and gene-

rally almost parallel to its course for nearly 100 miles, we

crossed it at Esquina del Ahogada, where its name changes

from Corcouiieon to Rio Terzero, it being the third river from

Cordova going to Buenos Ayres. Here commenced a strange

change in the face of the country, a dense forest prevailing for

a vast distance, chiefly consisting of Algyarobas, of which there

were several beautiful varieties. The tops of these trees are

often charmingly adorned with the purple flowers of a species

of mistletoe, whose blossoms are frequently more than an inch

98 Account of a Journey across the

long; there are many species of this kind of climber, some

with clusters of white and others of green flowers, all of them

finely scented ; and where there was a free opening to the air

we observed many trees quite covered and killed with loads

of different kinds of Tillandsia. The road through these an-

cient forests is often so circuitous that we would be going to-

wards all the different points of the compass in the course of

one day: frequently again it would become so narrow that

there was scarcely room for one cart to pass along, and where

its high lumbering body, swinging from side to side, was com-

pletely stopped ; so that it was needful to cut away some of

the branches before it could proceed. Our great line of ve-

hicles, with the feet of the numerous cattle, raised such a tre-

mendous cloud of dust, that often one cart was indiscernible

at the distance of another, and there was not a breath of air

in these dense forests to carry off the dust.

On the afternoon of the third day after crossing the river our

mules all left us on a sudden at full gallop; they had scented

the water of a large lake 6 miles distant ; but much as we were

all in want of this necessary of life, nothing but absolute need

could compel us to use it, the quality was so bad. I had

gathered, when passing the Rio Terzero, several varieties of

the Zinnia, an annual in English gardens; the Goodenia tu-

berosa, and some agreeably scented kinds of Cynanchum : little

worthy of notice occurred in the dense woods, except 2 or 3

species of Cactus. |

4th April. We came to the village of Los Ranchos, an-

other poor place, containing apparently about 800 inhabit-

ants; the houses are all constructed of unburnt bricks, the

church partly of this material and partly of burnt bricks: op-

posite to this building is a large market square, but I saw

nothing offered for sale except a cart load of beef and a few

pompions. This place is considered half-way between Buenos

Ayres and Tucuman. At sunset we crossed the Rio Secundo

or second river from Cordova, and finding good grass stopped

all night in a field of Melissa (?) sp. 6—8 feet high, here called

Boldo, and in great use for dyeing, and by the addition of

other substances it produces various shades of brown. ‘This

Rio Secundo was, at the time we now crossed, 200 yards

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 99

broad, of a regular depth of 4 feet all across, and gliding

slowly north-east at about a mile an hour; on our return it

was quite dried up, and in place of water we found nothing

but white drifting sand and gravel, brought down from the

mountains of Cordova. Two more days and nights travelling

brought us to the Rio de Cordova, a fine stream of the clear-

est water that can be seen in any of these provinces. The

bottom is stony and gravelly, the stones having been brought

down from the mountains, 30 miles distant, by the current ;

for throughout these extensive plains not a vestige of stone or

metal can be found.

6th. We rested at the passage of the river for most of the

day, repairing carts, &c. The town of Cordova is in view, 26

miles on our left, and appears charmingly situated at the foot

of a ridge of hills, stretching north-west. While travelling

through the woods I noticed a Passiflora, and saw several

species of strong-growing Cactus; and on the steep and dry

banks many of the largest Alyarobas were completely killed

with loads of air-plants, of which great masses hung from

every branch.

8th. After passing this river, the road rises considerably,

proceeding more to the north; its former direction was north-

west, and is now north-north-west ; the tract over which we

passed was miserable, dry, and barren in the extreme; a few

stunted shrubs of Chaneos, Algarobas, and some other species

of Mimosa were all that could be seen. One of the latter pro-

duces a quantity of clear amber gum which distils from its

beautifully green bark. At the posthouses we obtained water

at from 12 to 15 feet from the surface, and in one instance the

cattle were served with it at the rate of a Spanish dollar for

100 beasts, the water being raised by a horse in a sheep’s

hide from a well 5 yards deep. In this dry tract we passed

over 18 miles, which having been set on fire accidentally by

a camp, had been left a naked plain of black ashes, with the

bare stems of the shrubs remaining erect like blackened rods.

These extensive conflagrations are common in these districts,

making a splendid appearance by night. With the first shower

that falls on the scorched ground a lovely crop springs up,

consisting of Ovalis, red, yellow, and rose-coloured, mingled

100 Account of a Journey across the

with different kinds of Amaryllis, which spread a carpet of

bloom resembling a richly stocked flower-garden.

14th. We came to the little chapel of San Juan, where,

though the village consists of but 3 Ranchos, there is a pul-

peria or tippling dram-shop. A day was passed in repairing

the carts, all of which had become loose and rickety from the

long drought. No iron is used in the construction of these

vehicles ; even the wheels are unshod, the trams being made

of hard Algaroba wood, which lasts a long time, often several

years, on the stoneless roads of this country.

This place was the last post house in the province of Cor-

dova going north-west, and here, as we were on the ridge of a

mountain, we found the vegetation much more varied than of

late ; the Cactus tribe were especially numerous and varied;

one specimen of the broad-branched kind struck me particu-

larly, its white strong spines measuring from 6 to 9 inches in

length; and the tree itself, of a conical shape (the cone re-

versed), with its huge body of bushy and numerous flat

branches, could not be of less weight than 10 to 12 tons.

There are also several Mimosas of different species; that

which is called from its hooked thorn Garro-Vato (Grip the

Goat) abounds ; varying much, but always preserving a slender

mode of growth and fine short pinnated leaves: unfortunately

none of these were in flower. I also observed the Jormiliio, a

slender. ever-flowering shrub, with small gummy leaves; the

whole plant has a dry brown singy appearance ; and a curious

frutescent Solanum, whose long, oval, scarlet fruit is generally

as empty as a bladder. Here also I found a beautiful shrub

much resembling an apricot, its fruit; which is small and yel-

low, the natives assure me, when ripe, is not inferior to a good

plum ; but as the season was passed, I only picked up a few

dry kernels, which also bore a great similarity to those of the

apricot; at the lowest part of the bush was a small branch in

flower: it is called here Patéa. .

In this neighbourhood I noticed the effects of the earth-

quake which had taken place while I was travelling in August

of last year: pits, of various forms and depths, had opened,

some only 4 feet deep, while of others we could not find the

bottom ; also a large deep rent or ravine, crossing our road,

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 101

but since nearly filled up with mud: the wells, from the same

cause, now only afford muddy water, and the natives are con-

tent to use what they can obtain from a pool, which occupy-

ing the centre of a field and receiving all the washing of the

neighbourhood, tastes far too strong of cattle to be palateable.

Yet these indolent people make no attempt to obtain a better

supply of this needful element. For the same reason they

neglect to cultivate the native trees, many of which, such as

peaches, growing here fine and healthy by the road sides,

would prove highly valuable with little trouble; but a few

pompions and maize are all that they care to rear.

In the afternoon of the 15th we arrived at the Post Del

Carmen, and entered the province San Jago del Esterro, lying

at the north-west point of the Cordova mountains. Here the

road for a short distance was of a fine hard gravel, the first

I had trodden in any of the Argentine Provinces.

The Algaroba, hitherto so abundant, now gave place to se-

veral other kinds of large trees, as the Quebra Halcha, Colo-

rada or Blanca: this names signifies the Hatchet-breaker, as

the wood is so hard that a large tree of this sort is rarely

felled without breaking the hatchet; the Colorada was covered

with large tufts of red seed, much like the sycamore; while

the Blanca is distinguished by its small myrtle-like foliage

and long pendent slender boughs, which give the whole tree

the appearance of a weeping willow; its seed is a flat pap-like

substance, inclosed in large flat white pods hanging in twos,

threes, and fours at the tips of the slender branches like the

pendulum ofa clock. This tree always grows quite erect till

it attains the height of 20 to 30 feet, and has a singularly

majestic appearance.

We now came to a thickly wooded, but deserted country,

and travelled for 50 miles without meeting with a single in-

habitant, though we saw numbers of old Ranchos and the

ruins of what had been good dwellings. The immense num-

ber of tigers which infest this district and destroy all the

cattle, has caused the people to remove and leave to these

voracious animals the exclusive possession of these extensive

forests. While our beasts were feeding I took a cautious stroll

into the woods and came upon what had been an Indian vil-

102 Account of a Journey across the

lage, consisting of a few straggling huts, formed of four-forked

posts, on which were laid unpruned branches which were

again covered with sods and loose earth, thus merely afford-

ing a protection from the sun, but none from the cold, these

huts being entirely open at the sides. Not a human being

could be seen, though it would appear that this encampment

was but recently deserted, from the vegetables, pompions, to-

matos, capsicums, and maize, which now covered the ground,

as wild and promiscuous as if natives of the soil. In this

wilderness I observed several of the small silver grey fox and

a large species of hare, with a broad tail like that of the Cape

sheep. Parrots and paroquets were in vast number, but no

other birds. Here were some curious Cacti, of large erect

growth, and 16 angles to the stem, some of the naked pole-

like branches being upwards of 30 feet high, beset with spines

2 to 4 inches long. The fruit is very small in proportion to

the size of the species, some single plants sending out more

than a hundred of these naked pole-like branches, most of

which were from 6 to 8 inches through, and generally thicker

at the top than bottom.

17th. At mid-day we reached the river Saladillo de Gus-

man, and here we were kept waiting 15 days for its decrease,

the season being that of its greatest fulness, in consequence

of the melting of the early fallen snow on the Cordilleras. It

may seem an extraordinary circumstance, that when travelling

through a country where man and beast often suffer the ut-

most distress for want of water, the party should at the very

same time be arrested by a river whose margins were flooded

for half a mile on either side beyond the ordinary channel;

but such was nevertheless the case here, as in other tropical

countries ; the greater the heat and drought, the more swollen

are the streams, which diminish in proportion as the weather

becomes cold and wet. After waiting for two weeks in vain,

we discovered a place, a considerable way further down, where

the height of the banks had much contracted the river, and

with much labour, and after cutting down many trees, our

carts were dragged to the water’s edge. Another Tropa, con-

sisting of 11 similar vehicles, having joined us on the one side,

while another of 13 was drawn up on the opposite bank,

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 103

where a little village of Indian Ranchos or huts was situated

close to the stream, the assemblages of drivers, passengers,

and large quantities of cattle gave the place the appearance

for a few days of a Highland fair. Commodities of various

kinds were brought for sale, among them excellent bread, made

from the flour of Algaroba pods, no way inferior to wheaten

flour in taste, being sweet-flavoured, but yellow-coloured and

slightly purgative at first to those who are unaccustomed to

it. The husks after passing through the mill are steeped in

water, which is then fermented and greedily drunk by the

natives, though to strangers it is a disagreeable dirty mess. The

remaining husks and sediment are afterwards dried and sold

in small quantities for chewing, being somewhat sweet-tasted,

though hardly so good as pea pods would be. These people

thus lose nothing of their favourite Algaroba, which they

gather from every tree with the greatest care, and store it up

on the tops of posts, that it may be secure from the attacks of

mice, &c. On observing to a native that the Algaroda districts

of Cordova and San Jago were a most barren plain, he re-

plied it was true, but as God had given them a dry sterile soil

he had blessed them with abundance of Algarobas. In ex-

change for beef we obtained boiled sweet batatoes and chocklos

or heads of Indian corn, both boiled and roasted; also some

milk of goats, for no cattle are kept here.

The task of crossing this river was truly extraordinary : the

waggons being unloaded, the largest hides with which they

were covered were taken off, and each, kept outstretched with

branches of trees and its four corners tied together, formed

a kind of oblong box, something like a rough canoe, in which

were then deposited as many goods as it could hold. An old

Indian woman having contracted to take over our cargo at 20

reals or Zds of a Spanish dollar, she alone waited upon the

loading of each hide, which was done by our drivers, while

the dame ordered the mode in which the several articles should

be placed, paying particular attention to see that the cargo

should be evenly distributed.and the hide set fairly on the water.

This done, a young girl was employed to swim and drag it be-

hind her by means of a small rope fixed to one of the canoes

over her right shoulder, while she held and dragged by her

104 Account of a Journey across the Pampas.

teeth. Each hide carries from 3 to 4 cwt. according to its size.

The river is here about 100 yards wide. To me the task ap-

peared a very luckless job ; and when my turn came to go with

my chest, boxes, and a fellow passenger, all launched into an

ordinary bull’s hide, with a girl, none of the strongest, to drag

us, I felt considerable doubts of our safety. However no-

thing went wrong in crossing, either with us or a tropa of 11

carts, 28 in all, which were thus got over. The men, paid by

the old woman, of whom there were 11, were occupied in

dragging our empty waggons across, in which were fixed

crates of earthenware, some heavy boilers, and other articles

too large for the hide boat. The passage of the waggons was

a still more troublesome business; 3 men swam across with

a long rope of hide, and these men remained at certain dis-

tances with the rope over their shoulders to keep the water

from having too great an impression upon it. When over, it

was fixed to 6 bullocks, and the cart then tossed into the river

from the opposite side, when it unavoidably disappeared, and

on arriving at the other bank it was generally found to have

upset under water; when it was no easy task to set it once

more upon its wheels. One cart, in particular, occupied most

of a day. Seven days were again consumed in reloading, &c., —

during which time I made several excursions among the

woods by the river bank; but from the dryness of the season

which had clad everything in its autumn or winter garb, very

little could be found ; I saw some memorable varieties of the

Cactus family, of all shapes and sizes. There were two spe-

cies, or rather perhaps vars., of Passiflora; Mimosas were also

very numerous, among which was one allied to the Algaroda,

with spines from 4 to 8 inches long; this is called in the coun-

try Bonilla or Vanill; its leaves are applied by the natives to

cure a dim eyesight. This river flows from the south Andes

in a north-east direction towards the Porana, and having

traversed a saline tract, becomes so salt that even the cattle

refused to drink it. We however obtained good and sweet

water only 4 feet from the surface.

[To be continued. ]

105

Route from Lima by the Quebrada of San Mateo.

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Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 22. Oct. 1839.

106 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

XII1.—Flore Insularum Nove Zelandie Precursor; or a Spe-

cimen of the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. By

ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, Esq.

{Continued from p. 26.]

PITTOSPOREX, R. Br.

I. Pirrosporum, Banks and Sof.

612. P. crassifolium, foliis obovatis obtusis basi angustatis admodum co-

riaceis, supra convexiusculis glabris nitidis venosis, subtus ramulisque cano-

villosis, pedunculis terminalibus unifloris solitariis, capsulis crassis 3-valvibus.

Banks and Sot. Ms.

Tarata, indigenis. BR. Cunn.

New Zealand (Northern Island)}.—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. On Flat Island,

one of the Cavallos, and at Matauri on the east coast, opposite those islands,

&c.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Frutex orgyalis. Rami? stricti, fastigiati, glabri, ramulis cinereis foliatis.

Folia alterna distincta, vel conferto-verticillata, crassa, valde rigido-coriacea.

Pedunculus (uncialis) ex apice ramuli inter folia solitarius. Calyx 5-sepalus,

cinereo-villosus. Petala 5 longitudine sepalorum. Stamine 5 hypogyna,

petalis breviora. Anthere adnate biloculares. Stylus terminalis, simplex,

staminibus parum brevior. Ovarium villosissimum. Capsula nucis Avel-

lane magnitudine, plerumque trivalvis, valvis obovatis lignosis resinosis. Se-

mina plurima.

613. P. umbellatum ; foliis obovatis obtusis retusisve interdum apiculatis

utrinque glabris subtus pallidioribus reticulato-venosis, pedunculis termina-

libus umbellatis, pedicellis unifloris calycibusque ferrugineo-tomentosis, cap-

sulis 4-lobis 2-valvibus, caule arboreo. Banks and Sol. Mss. Gert. Fr. i. p-

286. DC. Prodr. i. p.347.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Shores of the

Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham. In woods around Onawero Bay,

Wangaroa.—1833, R. Cunningham. —

Arbor 20—26 pedalis, formosa, habitu omnino Enkianthi, ramis teretibus

glabris. Folia in ramulis alterna vel conferta subtus pulchre reticulata, pe-

tiolata. Petiolus subuncialis lucido-coloratus. Flores terminales, rubri, um-

bellatim dispositi. Calyx 5-sepalus, sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis extus pi-

losis. Petala 5, oblonga, obtusa, nervosa, sepalis longiora apice revoluta.

Stamina longitudine styli petalis breviora. Capsula globosa, magnitudine

Cerasi.

614. P. engeinoides, omnino glabrum, foliis ellipticis (biuncialibus) acutis

petiolatis venosis undulatis pellucidis, pedunculis terminalibus brachiato-

ramosis, pedicellis umbellate-eorymbosis multifloris, eapsulis (minimis) el-

lipticis acuminatis bivalvibus, stigmate obtuso.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Shores of Onawero Bay, Wangaroa.—

3833, R. Cunningham.

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 107

Frutex major. Arbuscula speciosa, aspectu fere facie Eugenie. Rami

ramulique teretes, graciles, cortice purpurascente. Folia sparsa, alterna v.

verticillato-conferta. Flores nondum vidi. Capsula gran! Piperis mole,

bivalvis, glabra, elliptica, acuta, minutissime tuberculata, stylo terminata.

615. P. tenuifolium, foliis ovatis ovato-oblongisve (1—14 uncialibus) acu-

tiusculis v. obtusis, adultis utrinque glabris nitidis, marginibus undulatis

seepeque convolutis crassiusculis, floribus solitariis axillaribus brevipedicel-

latis, pedicellis fructibusque junioribus, capsulis 3—4 valvibus. Banks and

Sol. Mss. DC. Prodr. i. p.347. Roem. et Sch. Syst. Veg. v. p.432. Gaertn.

Sem. i. p. 286. t. 59. f. 7.—Trichilia monophylla. 4. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel.

p. 306. t. 34 bis.

_Mapauriki, indig. R. Cunn.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Margins of

forests on the immediate shores of the Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunning-

ham. At Wangaroa, on the skirts of salt-water inlets.—1833, R. Cunning-

ham.

_ Arbor gracilis ornata, 20 pedum altitudine. Rami virgati, erecti, foliosi,

cortice lzvi, atro-brunnei. Jolia alterna, petiolata, (instar Thee) translu-

centia, venulosa. Fores axillares, plerumque solitarii. Pedicellus petiolum

zequans. Calyx laciniis ovato-lanceolatis ciliatis, corolla plus duplo brevi-

oribus. Petala atropurpurea, oblonga, apice reflexa, decidua. Ovarium 3-

vy. 4-lobatum subpyriforme, densissime villosum, stylo terminatum. Stigma

depresso-capitatum, minute papillosum.

Judging from the figure and description given by M. A. Richard of

a plant which was gathered in fruit onthe coast of New Zealand by

Capt. D. D’Urville in 1827, and which he has referred to the genus

Trichilia as above cited, it does appear evident that it is none other

than this species of Pittosporum, which is everywhere abundant on

the coasts of the Northern Island, and where it was originally disco-

vered by the naturalists who accompanied our great circumnavigator

in his first voyage! M. Endlicher designs in a forthcoming disser-

tation on the Order Meliacee, to refer T. monophylla of Richard, to a

genus which he has proposed to name Schoutensia.

616. P. cornifolium, foliis (1—3 uncialibus) oppositis ellipticis obtusis v.

ovato-lanceolatis acutis glabris summis verticillatis, pedunculis terminalibus

aggregatis villosis unifloris, capsulis 2-valvibus acuminatis extus villosis, ra-

mulis quandoque pilis cinereis conspersis. 4. Cunn. in Bot. Mag. t. 3161.

—Pittosporoides verticillata. Banks and Sol. Mss. in Bibl. Banks.—. foliis

angusto-oblongis acutis verticillatis sparsisve.

_ New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. A shrub grow-

ing as an Epiphyte on trees, especially on the lofty trunks of the Kaikatea,

(Dacrydium excelsum, Don.) in humid woods on the banks of the Kana-

Kana, and other rivers, Bay of Islands, &c.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Frutex virgatus, glaber ramis dichotomis, summis subverticillatis, omnino

supra arborum excelsiorum truncos vivos, inter Astelias epiphyticus. Folia

108 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

varia. Pedunculi graciles, 1-flori, 2—6 ad apices ramulorum aggregati un-

ciales, pilis minutis patulis instructi. Calyx 5-phyllus, foliolis subulato-lan- -

ceolatis patentibus ciliatis. Corolla 5-petala, petalis lineari-lanceolatis acutis

apice reflexis, deciduis. Stam. hypogyna. Filamenta tubi petalorum sty-

lique longitudine. Ovarium ovato-lanceolatum dense villosum. Stigma

spheerico-capitatum.

617. P. reflecum (R. C. Mss.) fruticosum, ramosum, ramulis villosiusculis

(pilis cinereis} szepe verticillatis, foliis linearibus confertis glaberrimis apiculo

sphacelato, super concavis, modice divaricatis arcuato-reflexisve, junioribus

parce ciliatis, capsulis solitariis terminalibus acuminatis bivalvibus cinereo-

pilosis. .

New Zealand (Northern Island). Thickets om the slopes of hills at Wan-

garoa, &c.—1833, A. Cunningham.

Flores nondum vidi. R. C.

618. P. pimeleoides (R. C. Mss.) fruticosum ramulis verticillatis, foliis

modice patentibus angusto-lanceolatis linearibusve acuminatis, apiculo ob-

tuso, super concaviusculis glabris subter venosis, marginibus janiorum revo-

lutis plus minus ciliatis, capsulis solitariis aggregatisve axillaribus v. termi-

nalibus acuminatis 2-valvibus, pilis patentibus cinereis conspersis. _

New Zealand (Northern Island). Dry woods on the shores of the Bay of

Islands, Wangaroa, &c.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Frutex 2—3 pedalis, duplo major quam in precedenti, atque folia longiora,

latiora, et quamlibet patentia non deflexa, capsulis porro crebre aggregatis.

Nihilominus an species distincta?

619. P. radicans (R. C. Mss.) caule fruticoso simpliciter ramoso subra-

dicante, ramulis virgatis cinereo-villosis, foliis (uncialiabus) angusto-linea-

ribus concaviusculis acuminatis erecto-patentibus rectis faleatisve, pagina

superiore margineque pilis raris instructis, capsulis terminalibus solitariis

pilosis. &. C. Mss.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Growing about the roots of the Kauré

(Dammara australis) principally in a forest near the head of the Kana-Kana

river, Bay of Islands,—1833, R. Cunningham.

This very distinct species, like the two preceding, has only been

observed bearing fruit, which is described in the note that accom-

panied the specimen, as being very similar to that of P. reflerum,

but inserted on a somewhat longer pedicle. The habit and leaves

are however somewhat different®.

* In herbario meo sequentes sunt pulchre species hujus generis, que in

Australasia jampridem lecte erant, hucusque indescripte, vel minus cog-

nite.

P. rubiginosum ; foliis oblongo-lanceolatis lanceolatisve acuminatis ve-

nosis sparsis verticillatisve, basi subattenuatis undulato-auriculzeformibus,

adultis superne glabriusculis, inferne ferrugineo-tomentosis pedunculo ter-

minali multifloro bracteato ramulisque dense rubiginoso-crinitis, floribus

umbellatis pedicellatis stigmate obtuso late membranaceo, caule fruticoso

gracili.

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 109

DROSERACEX, DC.

Drosera, L. 4

620. D. propingua (R. C. Mss.) foliis radicalibus oblongo-spathulatis

Hab. In ora equinoctiali Nove Cambrie Australis: ad latus Montis

Cook, prope fluvium Endeavour dictum.-- 1820, 4. Cunningham.

P. linifolium ; foliis elliptico-oblongis obtusis acuminatisve petiolatis sub-

-revolutis leviter undulatis adultis super glabris nitidis, subter parce tomen-

tosis reticulato-venosis floribus paniculato-umbellatis, pedunculis fusco-to-

mentosis, stigmate obtuso depresso lobate ovarioque dense piloso, capsulis

bivalvibus, caule arboreo gracili.

Hab. In ora orientali inter tropicam : ad fluvium Endeavour dict., in locis

saxosis humidis necnen ad ripas fluvii a littore remotis—1819, 4. Cunning-

ham.

Obs. Differs from P. undulatum, Andr., that species having ovate-lan-

ceolate attenuated leaves, which are smooth on both sides and altogether

larger aggregate peduncled flowers. :

P. phillyreoides, foliis (1—14 uncialibus) oblongis ovato-lanceolatisve

mucronatis coriaceis planis utrinque glabris subtus discoloribus obscure ve-

nulosis, pedicellis lateralibus unifleris solitariis geminisve petiolo duplo lon-

gioribus. DC. Prodr. i. p. 347.—P. oleifolium, 4. Cunn. Mss. (1822).

Hab. In ora occidentali, in arenosis aridis Insule Dirk Hartog, 1802,

Lechenault.—1822, A. Cunningham.

Frutex robustus, erectus, ramosus, sexpedalis, habitu fere facie Olee.

tp —. Capsula aurantia, elliptica, compressa, bivalvis, extus glabra, ru-

gulosa.

P. bicolor ; foliis lanceolatis coriaceis nervosis obtusiusculis acuminatisve

marginibus refractis, breviter petiolatis super glabris convexiusculis, subter

tomentosis, pedunculis unifloris, petalis 4—5ies longioribus terminalibus

axillaribusve, ramulis tomentosis. Hook. Journ. Bot. i. p, 249.—P. ledifolia.

A. Cunn, Ms. (1819).

Hab. In insula Van Diemen, in sylvis umbrosis valde humidis, inter Da-

erydia (Heronensia, Nobis) ad sinum Macquarie Harbor dictum, ubi in

mense Januario floret.—1819, 4. Cunningham.—1831, Ron. Gunn, R. Gul.

Lawrance.

Frutex gracilis, concinnus, 5—6 pedum altitudine, ramis valde virgatis

ferrugineo-tomentosis foliatis. Folia sparsa v. verticillato-conferta subtus

cinereo- vel fulvo-tomentosa, pilis adpressis. Pedunculus ferrugineo-pilosus.

Calyx 5-phyllus patens, villosus, coleratus. Petala 5 purpurea, oblonga,

apice reflexa, sepalis plus duplo longiora. Stamina 5, tubo corollz longiora.

Anthere oblonge, obtuse, adnate, anticz, biloculares. Stylus longitudine

staminum. Stigma lobatum. Ovarium densissime pilosum.

P. acacioides (A. C. Mss. 1817) foliis (3—4 uncialibus) angusto-lanceo-

latis basi valde attenuatis petiolatis mucronatis planis aveniis utrinque gla-

bris concoloribus, pedunculis axillaribus solitariis geminisve petiolo duplo

ae ramulis glaberrimis.—P. angustifolia, Lodd. Bot. Cat. t. 1859.

Hab. In ora meridionali—1802, R. Brown, necnon in interiore, in de-

sertis prope flumen Lachlan.—1817, 4. Cunningham.

Arbuscula Deserti; 6—20 pedalis, admodum ornata, maxime gracilis, et

omnino glaberrima. Rami attenuati debiles, plus minus dependentes. Folia

alterna, sparsa, versus basin sensim in petiolum vix pollicarem desinentia.

Flores pedunculati, 1—2 axillares, flavi, Sepalis calycis membranaceis,

ovalibus, obtusis, tenuissime ciliatis, tubo petalorum ter brevioribus. Petala

110 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

scapo (3—4 unciali) tereti 3—4-floro multoties brevioribus, calyee glaber-

rima.

New Zealand (Northern Island). In boggy grounds, in the vicinity of

the Keri-Keri river, Bay of Islands.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Obs. D. spathulate, Labill. maxime affinis, que tamen differt, scapo

compresso, sex- ad duodecim-floro, atque calyce glanduloso.

621. D. intermedia (R. C. Ms.), foliis longe petiolatis profunde bipartitis,

lobis linearibus, petiolo compresso, duplo brevioribus, scapo compressiusculo

(sesquipedali) foliis triplo longiore 12—20-fioro, floribus racemosis filiformi-

pedicellatis.

New Zealand (Northern Island). In bogs in the country interjacent to

the Keri-Keri and Waimaté rivers, Bay of Islands.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Obs. Inter D. binatam et pedatam, proxima priori, que petiolo semitereti,

foliis duplo ad quadruplum longiore, scapoque tereti vix spithamzeo, race-

moque 3—6-floro, facile distinguenda, atque in D. pedata, foliis pedatim di-

chotomis petiolis paulo brevioribus, scapo (pedali) foliis vix duplo longiore,

et floribus omnino majoribus, corymbosis, distincta videtur. |

VIOLARIEA, DC.

Erretion, DC. in Herb. Lamb.

Calycis sepalis inzequalia, omnia plus minus deorsum in appendices auri-

culiformes producta. Petala inequalia estivatione convolutiva, inferius

basi concavum in calear non productum. Stamina 5 approximata, nee

coalita, ad apicem dentium tori pentagoni inserta. Filamenta basi di-

latata oblonga, antheras demissius gerentia, lobis antherarum distinctis

basi subdivergentes, Stamina 2 anteriora dorso appendices subulatas

nectariferas in calcar intrantes gerentia. Ovarium superum. Stigma

inconspicuum. Capsula trigona, 3-valvis, polysperma. Semina hori-

zontalia, manifeste carunculata, ovoidea et nitida.

622. E. spathulatum, stoloniferum foliis longe petiolatis obovato-rotun-

apice reflexa, obtusa. Stamina e fauce parum exserta, stylum equantia.

Stigma capitatum glanduloso-tuberculatum. Ovarium pilis cinereis laxis

tenuiter instructum. Capsula aurantia, lato-elliptica, compressa, bivalvis,

glabra, extus corrugata.

P. ligustrifolium ; foliis (1—2 uncialibus) angusto-lanceolatis subspathu-

latisve basi attenuatis petiolatis mucronatis concavis aveniis adultis utrinque

glabris, subtus pallidioribus, pedunculis 1-floris axillaribus terminalibusve

petiolos zquantibus, ramulis incano-tomentosis.

Hab. In littoribus aridis Insule Rottnest, adversum ostium amnis Swan,

ore occidentalis. —1822, 4. Cunningham.

Arbuscula altitudine 20 pedum, ramis gracilibus divaricatis, ramulis flex-

uoso-patentibus propensis foliatis canescentibus. olia sparsa confertaque,

lanceolata, parum attenuata, glabra, mucrone uncinato, juniora super pilis

cinereis raris instructa, ores non nobis cogniti. Capsula sordido-flava,

obelliptica, compressa, bivalvis, stylo brevi terminata. Stigma capitatum,

lobatum, levigatum.

Bibliographical Notices. 111

datis dentato-repandis glabris, petiolis asperis, pedunculis filiformibus, flori-

bus nutantibus, calcare brevissimo. G. Don, Syst. Gard. i. p. 334.—Viola

Sieberiana, Spreng. Syst. Veg. App. p. 68. /

New Zealand (Northern Island). Among fern, near the Mission House

on the Keri-Keri river, Bay of Islands.—1833, R. Cunningham.

[To be continued. }

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Principles of General and Comparative Piysiology, intended as an in-

troduction to the study of Human Physiology, and as a Guide to the

Philosophical Pursuit of Natural History. By William B. Car-

penter, M.R.C.S., late President of the Royal Medical and Royal

Physical Societies of Edinburgh, &c. &c. With 240 Figures on

Copper and Wood. London, 1839.

Few errors in the mode of pursuing science are more common than

to commence the study of some particular branch without that pre-

liminary knowledge which is most likely to render it interesting and

profitable. ‘This is especially the case in the sciences of natural hi-

story and physiology. How frequently we observe young persons

zealously devoting themselves to some department of botany,—the

collection of the Phanerogamia of Great Britain for example,—with-

out thinking it worth while to make themselves acquainted with

aught beyond their simple external characters, and thus losing the

pleasure which the contemplation of the structure of these plants, and

of the analogies of their organs with those of the Cryptogamia on

the one hand and of animals on the other, cannot fail to afford to

those who properly seek for it, besides foregoing many opportunities

of contributing something to the common stock of knowledge!

Scarcely less common is it to meet with those who imagine them-

selves to be diligent zoologists, when their endeavours are solely di-

rected to the acquisition of the most complete collection of shells,

of whose inhabitants they know nothing, or of the most perfect se-

ries of butterflies or beetles, whose wonderful transformations and

beautiful internal structure are regarded by them with indifference.

The mere collector has little idea how much enjoyment he loses by

not carrying his inquiries further, that is to say, if he have a soul

capable of such enjoyment, and not entirely engrossed with the

amor habendi, Even among those who possess a truly scientific

knowledge of individual branches of natural history it is but too

common to discover but a superficial acquaintance with others, such

112 Bibliographical Notices.

as is calculated rather tomislead than to guidethem in their researches.

And among physiologists it is but recently that the great truth has

been generally recognised, that the study of the structure and func-

tions of the inferior classes of organized beings is capable of afford-

ing the most important assistance in the solution of the many difficul-

ties which attend the investigation of the phenomena of life in man.

The object of the volume before us is to supply the means of at-

taining such knowledge within moderate limits ; and, by presenting

a comprehensive survey of the whole organized creation, to afford

the best preparation for the successful pursuit of any line of inquiry

that may suit the taste and opportunities of the student of nature.

The author has not contented himself with a superficial view, how-

ever, as from its brevity it might be supposed to be, but has endea-

voured to introduce his readers to the highest departments of phy-

siology and natural history, by a simple exposition of such general

laws as have been discovered to preside over their varied phenomena,

and, by a judicious selection of facts, to make the application of these

laws and the path to be followed im search of others fully intelligible.

Among the leading features of the work are the rank given to vege-

table physiology, and the original manner in which this subject is

treated. We are not acquainted with any treatise on this depart-

ment of science in which the Cryptogamia receive a due share ofatten- .

tion. By British writers they have been especially neglected, the

structure and functions of the flowering plants alone being treated

of in any detail. In this work, however, we find not only a general

survey of the whole vegetable kingdom, in which its principal natu-

ral groups are all delineated on the same scale, but a detailed view

of each system of organs, which is traced from its first appearance

in the lower members of the series up to its perfect evolution in

the highest. We are thus led to perceive the gradual specialization

of each function by the restriction of it to some portion of the or-

ganism particularly adapted to perform it, and this is shown to

take place also during the evolution of the embryo of any one of the

highest tribes of vegetables. We believe then that Mr. Carpenter may

fairly claim the credit of having applied to the vegetable kingdom

the general law based by Von Baer upon his examination of the ani-

mal world, that, both in the ascending scale of creation and in the

development of any single being, ‘‘ a heterogeneous or special struc-

ture arises out of one more homogeneous or general, and this by

a gradual change.”’ We shall illustrate this position by giving an

abridgement of the section which treats of the absorbent system in

plants, and this will afford us an opportunity of explaining another

Bibliographical Notices. 113

law, propounded by our author himself,which may be regarded as a

‘sort of corollary to the former.

In the lowest cellular plants every part of the syrface appears

equally concerned in the function of absorption. ‘This is most evi-

dent in those simple protophytes usually classed among the Alge,

which consist of an aggregation of insulated vesicles, each of which

may almost be regarded as a distinct individual. Thus the surface of

one of the cells of the Protococcus nivalis may be regarded as all root.

In the higher genera of this group the separate vesicles no longer

maintain their individuality, but form part of one definite structure.

Still the whole surface appears to be endowed with the power of ab-

sorption in nearly an equal degree ; and though the semblance of a

stem and roots occasionally presents itself, these appear to have no

other function than to give attachment to the frondose expansion.

There is no transmission of fluid from one part to another, each cell

deriving from the surrounding medium, or from the surcharged cells

in its immediate neighbourhood, the fluid essential to its existence.

It is in the Lichens that we find the first specialization of the absorb-

ent function, by the restriction of it to the side least exposed to the

sun and air, whilst the reproductive function, which in the Alg@ was

common to nearly the whole frond, is here confined to the other sur-

face. In some lichens we find radical filaments developed from the

absorbent surface, the first indication of special organs for the pur-

pose. In the Fungi the separation between the nutrient and repro-

ductive organs is generally still more complete, and in the highest

groups of this order a stem with very definite roots is developed.

These are yet more complete in the mosses, but still nutrition may

be performed by the general surface independently of them. And

even where these filamentous processes of the Cryptogamia bear the

greatest resemblance to roots, there is reason to believe that they ab-

sorb by their whole surface, and not by their points alone. In the

vascular plants we find the function of absorption attaining its high-

est degree of specialization, being as it were concentrated in the

growing points of the roots, which are known as the spongioles, and

the function is more actively performed by them in proportion to the

small amount of surface they expose.

Still, however, it is found that the general surface, even of a

vascular plant, is concerned in this function, and that in many in-

stances it is even capable of entirely performing it when the roots

are from any cause unable to act. This is a very beautiful example

of the second law to which we have alluded, and which we shall

state in the author’s words. ‘‘ In cases where the different functions

114 Bibliographical Netices.

are highly specialized, the general structure retains, more or less, the

primitive community of function which originally characterized it.”

We have seen that in the simplest or most homogeneous beings the

entire surface participates equally in the function of absorption, and

we now perceive that even in the highest and most heterogeneous,

where the number of distinct organs is greatest and their respective

functions most completely restricted to them, some traces of this

primitive community remain. Weshall conclude our illustration by

quoting the account given by Mr. Carpenter of the development of

the same system in the embryo of a vascular plant, in which he in-

geniously shows its conformity to the same laws. ‘‘ In tracing the

gradual evolution of the special absorbent system of the more per-

fect plants, we may observe many interesting relations between the

progressive stages of its development and the permanent forms of the

system in the lower orders. Thus the embryo at its first appearance

within the ovule is nothing but a single cell, like that of the Proto-

coccus, in the midst of the store of semi-fluid nutriment prepared by

its parent, which it gradually absorbs by its whole surface, just as

do the simplest cellular plants. At the time of the ripening of the

seed we mark the rudiment of the future root, which is developed

during germination ; but in the early stages of this process the radi-

cle simply prolongs itself into the ground, and appears to be equally

capable of imbibing moisture through its whole length, like that of

the fungi or mosses. It is not until the true leaves are evolved that

the root begins to extend itself by ramification, then first protruding

perfect fibrils composed of woody fibre and vessels and terminated

by spongioles.”

We need scarcely point out the additional interest which is given to

the facts of science when they thus become subservient to the esta-.

blishment of those generalizations in which true science consists.

Again, to quote our author’s language; ‘‘ At every successive step

we are led to comprehend new relations between facts that pre-

viously seemed confused and insulated ; new objects for what at first

seemed destitute of utility ; and in the same proportion will the con-

templative spirit be led to appreciate the vastness of that Designing

Mind, which, in originally ordaining the laws of the animated world,

could produce such harmony and adaptation amongst their innume-

rable results.”

Having thus endeavoured to communicate to our readers an idea

of the objects and spirit of this treatise, we shall briefly indicate its

contents. It is divided into two books, the first of which is devoted

to general physiology, the second to special physiology. These,

Bibliographical Notices. - 115

however, are preceded by an introduction of considerable length, de-

signed to present to those who stand in need of such preliminary

information a general view of the organized creation. The charac-

teristics of organized structures are first pointed out,/and the ele-

mentary tissues of plants and animals described. Here will be found

various novel and interesting analogies, especially in regard to the

variations which the type of the spiral vessel presents. An outline

view is then given of the characters of each of the principal groups

of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, in which the links of transi-

tion and their respective analogies are specially pointed out.

Under the head of General Physiology are discussed the nature

and causes of vital actions ; the dependence of life upon external sti-

muli; heat, light, electricity, &c.; and the laws of organic develop-

ment. These are succeeded by a connected view of the functions

performed by organized beings, in which their mutual relations are

shown, and the distinctions between plants and animals definitely

pointed out,

In the second book, comprising Special Physiology, each function

is considered in detail. ‘The evolution of its particular organ in the

ascending scale of being is described, firstas regards the vegetable king-

dom (in the manner we have already instanced), and then the animal

kingdom, and its correspondence with the development of the same

organs in the embryo of higher beings is displayed. Under this

head are introduced explanations of various interesting malformations

or monstrosities which result from arrest of development ; these are

most frequently presented in the circulating system of animals.

The advantage which the physiologist derives from bringing into

comparison the facts derived from an extensive variety of sources is

perhaps nowhere more evident than in regard to the reproductive

system of vegetables. It has been so much the habit of botanists to

separate instead of approximating, that analogies are often obscured

by the multiplication of terms; so that the inexperienced cryptoga-

mist is bewildered by the different appellations which the same or-

gans receive in distinct groups and by the want of any indication of

their similarity beyond what he may discover by his own inquiries.

Mr. Carpenter appears to us to have extremely simplified this diffi-

cult subject by showing the fundamental correspondence between

the reproductive organs in all the tribes of Cryptogamia, and he has

brought forward strong evidence to show that this may be traced

even into the Phanerogamia, which differ from the others only in the

addition of new organs, and not in the alteration of the character of

the original ones. Without pronouncing a decided opinion upon this

116 Bibliographical Notices.

question, we may recommend his views to the attentive consideration

of our botanical readers. We understand that they have been pre-

sented in more detail to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, and

that they have been mentioned with high approbation by Professor

Graham in his late retrospective address. On some points they cor-

respond in a remarkable manner with the researches of M. Schleiden,

which were nct published at the time when the author first made

known the general result of his inquiries*.

After what we have said of the character of this work it is almost

needless to add our strong recommendation of it to our readers as

one which can scarcely fail to be of service to them, in whatever de-

partment of natural history they may be engaged, Although spe-

cially designed for the medical student the author has taken much

pains to adapt it to the general reader, and we trust that he may

meet with his reward in the advancement of that philosophical spirit

of inquiry which it is his aim to promote.

Memoirs ‘of the Wernerian Natural History Society for the Years

1837-88. Part I. Vol. VIII. 8vo. 1839.

The Memoirs of this Society have hitherto been published in 8vo

volumes at very distant intervals, thereby losing much of their in-

terest on account of the long period which elapsed between the

reading and publication of the papers, and often forcing gentlemen

who had important information to communicate to lay it before some

other Association which was more regular in the issue of their Trans-

actions; we are happy therefore to see the present Part, and trust

that at the end of each session at least, the more valuable commu-

nications which have been read at its meetings may be published

and illustrated. We may remark that the price, 6s., is rather be-

yond that of the periodicals of the time, while the workmanship is

not superior. The papers contained in this part are,

I. ‘‘ Observations on the Distinctions, History, and Hunting of

Seals in the Shetland Islands.” By Lawrence Edmonstone, M.D.

Dr. Edmonstone is of opinion that two species only frequent and are

permanent natives of the Shetland isles, which he places under the

names of Phoca vitulina and barbata ; the supposed existence of any

other large seal being perhaps attributable to the great difference in

form between the males and females of his P. barbata or Half-fish. A

* See ‘ British and Foreign Medical Review,’ vol. iv. p. 561. Transla-

tions of Dr. Schleiden’s papers have appeared in the ‘ Lond. and Edin. Phil.

Mag.’, vol. xii., and ‘ Taylor’s Scientific Memoirs’, Part VI.

Bibliographical Notices. 117

specimen of Phoca Grenlandica was killed in 1830, but is supposed to

have fallen overboard from one of the returning Greenland ships. Of

P. annellata and leporina he states, ‘‘ I am much inclined to suspect

that further observations will prove them to be merely varieties of

the vitulina.” A specimen of the Walrus was killed near the island

of Fetlar in the summer of 1815, and another was seen in 1828 for a

few days in Balta Sound. In this paper a great deal will be found

to interest relative to the manners and habits of the Shetland seals,

and Dr. Edmonstone would be conferring a favour on zoologists if he

could send the skins and skeletons of the most marked varieties either

to Edinburgh or London, where they could be compared with other

species, and any disputed points finally settled.

Il. ‘* On the last changes in the Relative Levels of the Land and

Sea in the British Islands.” By James Smith, Esq., of Jordan Hill.

A paper of much local interest, and illustrated by two plates of new

recent shells from the firth of Clyde.

: III. ‘On the Asteriade of the Irish Sea.” By Edward Forbes,

sq.

IV. “‘ Meteorological Journal for the year 1838, kept at the Manse

of the parish of Abbey of St. Bathons, Berwickshire.” By the Rev.

John Wollow.

V. ‘‘On the Geognosy of the Isle of Eigg.” By R. J. Hay

Cunningham, Esq.

Scandinaviens Fiskar, malade of W. v. Wright, med text of B.

Fries och C. U. Eckstroém, 4 et 5 Hiftet. Stockholm.

The fourth part of this excellent work contains splendid drawings

of Gadus Aiglefinus, Pollachius ; Raniceps niger (with text), Cullio-

nymus Lyra g and 9, C. maculatus, besides descriptions of Cypri-

nus Grislagine, rutilus, erythrophthalmus, Gadus minutus and mer-

langus. The fifth part contains drawings of Centronotus gunellus,

Clinus maculatus, Fries; Cyprinus Ballerus, Pleuronectes Liman-

doides, Myxine glutinosa, Scomber scombrus, and Squalus cornubicus.

From the accuracy of the drawings, and the completeness of the de-

scriptions, this work will always remain the most important source

for the determination of those species established by Linnzus and

the Swedish naturalists.

Verzeichniss der Conchylien in der Sammlung von E. Anton. Halle.

This Catalogue contains 3410 species, of which 348 are new, and are

here described.

118 ~ Zoological Society.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

January 22, 1839.—The Rev. F. W. Hope in the chair.

At the request of the chairman, Mr. Garnett exhibited a living

Jerboa (apparently the Dipus A’gyptiacus), which had been sent to

him from the Cape of Good Hope, but Mr. Garnett stated that he

was not aware whether it had been captured in that part of Africa.

Professor Owen concluded his paper entitled, ‘“‘ Outlines of a

Classification of the Marsupialia.” ‘‘'The rich stores of the Mena-

gerie and Museum of the Zoological Society,” observes Mr. Owen,

‘** having afforded me frequent opportunities of examining the ana-

tomy of various and rare species of the Marsupial order; the endea-

vour to express in general propositions the more important facts

relative to their organization ; to state in which particulars so many

agreed or differed; has naturally compelled me to acquire certain

ideas respecting their Zoological distribution.”

In the first part of the paper, Professor Owen defines the general

characters of the Marsupialia; he then proceeds to consider their

mutual affinities; and, as closely connected with this subject, com-

mences with some observations on their size, their geographical dis-

tribution, and their habits.

The carnivorous Marsupial animals belonging to the genera Thyla-

cinus and Dasyurus are compared to the Carnivora in the placental

series; and the Bandicoots (Perameles), and Myrmecobians are re-

presented as typifying, or playing corresponding parts with those

allotted to the placental Insectivora. Those Marsupials which have

an omnivorous diet, live in trees, are provided with a prehensile

tail, and have a thumb on the hinder extremities, are said to typify

the Quadrumana, and the tailless Koala is compared to the arboreal

Sun-Bears of the Indian Archipelago.

_ © Another genus of Marsupialia, the Wombat,” says Mr. Owen,

‘* presents the dentition which characterizes the placental Rodentia ;

and the Petaurists, like the Flying Squirrels, have a parachute

formed by broad duplications of the skin extending laterally be-

tween the fore and hind legs.

‘«The Kangaroos are the true herbivorous Marsupialia, and many

interesting physiological conditions present themselves to the mind

in contemplating the singular construction and proportions of these

animals. It would appear that the peculiarities of their gestation

rendered indispensably necessary the possession of a certain prehen-

Zoological Society. 119

sile faculty of the anterior extremities, with a free movement of the

digits and a rotatory power of the fore-arm, in relation to the mani-

pulations of the pouch and of the embryo developed therein. At

the same time a herbivorous quadruped must possess great powers

of locomotion in order to pass from pasture to pasture and to avoid

its enemies by flight. ‘These powers, as is well known, are secured

to the herbivorous species of the placental Mammalia, by an ungu-

late structure of four pretty equally developed members. Such a

structure, however, would have been incompatible with the pro-

creative ceconomy of the Kangaroo. It is therefore organized for

rapid locomotion by an excessive development of the hinder extre-

mities ; and these alone serve as the instruments of flight, which is

performed by a succession of extensive bounds. The tail also is

of great power and length, and in the stationary position, the body

is supported erect on the tripod formed by the tail and hind legs ;

while in easy progression the tail serves as a crutch upon which

and the fore feet the body is sustained while the hind legs are swung

forwards.

** As the Australasian continent, the great metropolis of the Mar-

supial quadrupeds, still remains but very partially explored ; and as

new species and even genera of Marsupials continue at each expe-

dition to reward the researches of the scientific traveller; and as

moreover the recovery of two lost but distinct genera from the ruins

of a former world makes it reasonable to suppose that other types

of Marsupials remain still hidden in the crust of the earth; it can

hardly be expected that the zoologist should be able to arrange in

a natural series, with easy transitions according to the order of their

affinities, the few and diversified forms of this implacental subclass

which are at present known. The greatest number of correspond-

encies, as it appears to me, will be expressed by taking the modi-

_ fications of the digestive system as the guide to the formation of

the primary groups of the Marsupialia.

*« The continent, however, in which the Marsupials ‘ most do con-

gregate” is characterized by the paucity of organized matter upon

its surface, and few of them, consequently, are nourished by a very

well-defined diet. No large carnivorous quadruped could in fact

have existed in the wilds of Australia prior to the introduction of

civilized man and his attendant herds: and we find, in fact, that

the native genera which are the most decidedly carnivorous, do not

include species larger than the dog: we can only reckon among

these strictly carnivorous species the Thylacines and the Dasyures ;

and, on the other hand, not more than two or three Marsupial

120 Zoological Society.

genera feed exclusively on vegetable substances. The rest of them

derive a promiscuous nutriment from dead or decayed animal and

vegetable matter, crustacea, and the refuse of the sea-shore, insects

in their perfect and larva states, live birds, young and succulent

sprouts, leaves, fruits, &c. The terms, therefore, which will be

given to the different primary subdivisions in the present classifica-

tion of the Marsupialia must not be understood to indicate strictly

or exclusively the nature of the food of the species severally in-

cluded in these groups, but rather their general tendency to select

for their support the substances implied by those designations.”

Tribe I. SARCOPHAGA.

The genera in this tribe are the most decidedly carnivorous of all

the Marsupialia, and are characterized by an important anatomical

condition, viz. the absence of an intestinum cecum.

Genus 1. Thylacinus.

Incisors — canines = ; premolares <3 molares = = 46.

The incisors are of equal length, and regularly arranged in the

segment of a circle with an interspace in the middle of the series

of both jaws. The external incisor on each side is the strongest.

The laniary or canine teeth are long, strong, curved, and pointed,

like those of the dog tribe.

The spurious molares are of a simple, blunt, conical form, each

with two roots; the last with a small additional posterior cusp.

The true molares in the upper jaw are unequally triangular with

three tubercles. ‘Those in the lower jaw are compressed, tricus-

pidate, the middle cusp being the longest, especially in the two last

molares, which resemble closely the sectorial teeth (dens carnassiérs)

of the Dog and Cat. The fore feet are 5-digitate, the hind feet

4-digitate.

On the fore foot the middle digit is the longest, the internal one

or pollex the shortest, but the difference is slight. On the hind

foot the two middle toes are of nearly equal length and longer than

the two lateral toes, which are equal. All the toes are armed with

strong, blunt, and almost straight claws. The only known species

of this genus, the Thylacine (Thylacinus Harrisii, Didelphys Cyno-

cephalus, Harris), is a native of Van Diemen’s Land, and is called

by the colonists the ‘ Hyzena.’

Genus Dasyurus.

bd 4—4 pS bd 1—] . 2—2 . 4-4 a

Incisors 3—,; canines =— ; premolares [-,; molares 7): = 42.

The eight incisors of the upper jaw are of the same length and

7A. Py

Zoological Society. 121

simple structure, and are arranged in a regular semicircle without

any middle interval. The six incisors of the lower jaw are simi-

larly arranged but have thicker crowns than the upper ones; the

canines present the same or even a greater relative development

than in the Thylacine. In an extinct species of Dasyurus they

present the same form and relative properties as in the Leopard.

The spurious molares have two fangs and a pointed compressed

triangular crown with a rudimental tubercle at the anterior and

posterior part of its base. The grinding surface cf the true molares

in the upper jaw is triangular; the first presents four sharp cusps,

the second and third each five, the fourth, which is the smallest,

only three. In the lower jaw the last molar is nearly of equal size

with the penultimate one, and is bristled with four cusps, the ex-

ternal one being the longest; the second and third molares have

five cusps, three on the inner and two on the outer side; the first

molar has four cusps: these are all sharply pointed in the young

animal, in which the tubercle of the posterior molar of the lower jaw

is divided into two small cusps.

The carnivorous character of the previous dentition is most

‘strongly marked in the Ursine Dasyure, or Devil of the Tasmanian

colonists, the largest existing species of the genus, and a most

pestilent animal in the poultry yard or larder.

Genus Phascogale.

Incisors = SE canines ;—; : ; premolares =e ‘

In the present denta] formula may be discerned a step in the

transition from the Dasyures to the Opossums, not only in the in-

creased number of spurious molares, but also in shape and pro-

portions of the incisors. In the upper jaw the two middle in-

cisors are longer than the rest, and separated from them by a

brief interval; they are more curved and project more forward.

The three lateral incisors diminish in size to the outermost. The

middle incisors of the lower jaw also exceed the lateral ones in

size, and project beyond them but not in the same degree, nor are

they separated from them by an interval as in the upper jaw. The

canines are relatively smaller than in the Dasyures. The spurious

molares present a similar form, but the third is much smaller and sim-

pler than the two preceding ones. ‘The true molares resemble in

their structure those of the Dasyures. The general character of

the dentition of these small Marsupials approximates to the insecti-

vorous type in the Shrew, Hedgehog, &c., among the placental

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.22. Oct. 1839. K

reer

molares per 46.

122 Zoological Society.

Mammalia; and corresponds with the food and habits of the species

which thus lead from the Zoophagous to the Entomophagous tribe.

Other links which once bound these tribes more closely together

are now lost, and are indicated only by the few fossil remains

which have rendered the Stonesfield oolite so celebrated. One of

these extinct genera, which I have called Phascolotherium, presents

the same numerical formula, apparently, as in the Thylacinus

and Phascogale; but, if another incisor existed in each ramus of

the lower jaw, as seems to be indicated by the fossil, then the den-

tition will agree with that of the genus Didelphis.

= Sind 2—? ,

Incisors ? e353 canines — Ti? premolares mas

?—?

molares — ae

4am

The incisors and canines are separated by vacant interspaces,

and occupy a large proportion of the dental series: the true mo-

lares.resemble those of Thylacinus.

Tribe II. ENTOMOPHAGA.

This is the most extensive and varied of the primary groups of

the Marsupial order. In the system of Cuvier, the species of this

tribe are united with those of the preceding to form a single group

characterized by the presence of long canines and small incisors in

both jaws; but in most of the Entomophagous genera of the pre-

sent classification, the canines present a marked inferiority of de-

velopment, and the species are consequently unable to cope with

animals of their own size and grade of organization, but prey upon the

smaller and weaker classes of invertebrate animals. Their intestinal

canal is complicated by a moderately long and large cecum; and,

while in the Sarcophaga, the feet are organized, as in the ordinary

placental Digitigrades, they present in the present tribe a variety

of well-marked modifications, according to which the species may

be arranged into ambulatory, saltatory, and scansorial groups.

AMBULATORIA.

The only known existing representative of this family is the

animal described by Mr. Waterhouse, which constitutes the type of

his genus Myrmecobius, of which the following is the remarkable

dental oye:

1-1

Incisors 4= anne 5 canines 5 E premolares 3 = 3 molares °—° 66 * so: G2.

From which it will be seen, that the number of molares, sixteen

in the upper and eighteen in the lower jaw, exceeds that of any

other known existing Marsupial, and approaches that which charac-

terizes some of the insectivorous armadilloes. ‘The resemblance to

Zoological Society. 123

Dasypus is further carried out in the small size of the molares, their

separation from each other by slight interspaces, and their implanta-

tion in sockets which are not formed by a well-developed alveolar

ridge. The molares, however, present a distinct tuberculate struc-

ture; and both the true and false ones possess two separate fangs

as in their Marsupial congeners: they are, however, the least pro-

duced of any Marsupials; only the triturating tubercles appearing

above the gum.

The false molares present the usual compressed triangular form,

with the apex slightly recurved, and the base more or less obscurely

notched before and behind. ‘The canines are very little longer than

the false molares; the incisors are minute, slightly compressed and

pointed; they are separated from each other and the canines by

wide intervals.

The Myrmecobians are insectivorous, and shelter themselves in

the hollows of trees, frequenting most, it is said, those situations

where the Port Jackson Willow abounds. In the structure and

proportions of the hinder feet, Myrmecobius resembles the Dasyurine

family ; and in the slightly developed canines, the smooth external

surface of the skull, the breadth between the zygomata, and the

absence of the interparietal ridges, as well as in the general exter-

nal form and bushy tail, it offers an especial approximation to the

genus Phascogale.

Intermediate however to Myrmecobius and Phascogale would

seem to be the station held by the interesting extinct genera

above alluded to. In Phascolotherium the affinity is manifested in

the simple form, small size, and straggling disposition of the inci-

sors and canines: in the other genus, Thylacotherium, it is dis-

played in the size and number of its molares.

This, one of the most ancient mammiferous genera hitherto dis-

covered, presents eleven molares on each side of the lower jaw, which

resemble in structure and close arrangement those of Phascogale

and Didelphis, while they are intermediate in their proportional

size to these and Myrmecobius. The exact condition of the incisors

and canines of the Thylacotherium has not yet been displayed in

the fossil jaws which have been discovered.

SALTATORIA.

Genus Perameles (Bandicoots).

incisors <=; canines —e premolares 3 molares = : == 48.

This dental formula characterizes a number of Rat-like Insectivora

commonly known in Australia by the name of Bandicoots ; the hind

K 2

124 Zoological Society.

legs are longer and stronger than the fore, and exhibit in a well-

marked manner the feeble and slender condition of the second and

third digits counting from the inside, and the sudden increase in

length and strength of the third and fourth digits, which are chiefly

subservient to locomotion: the mode of progression in the Bandi- —

coots is by bounds; the hind and fore feet being moved alternately

as in the Hare and Rabbit; and the crupper raised higher than the

fore quarter. The teeth which offer the greatest range of variation

in the present genus are the external or posterior incisors and the

canines: the molares, also, which originally are quinque-cuspi-

date, have their points worn away, and present a smooth and oblique

grinding surface in some species sooner than in others.

The Bandicoots which approach nearest to the Myrmecobius in

the condition of the incisive and canine teeth are the Perameles

obesula and P. radiata. There is a slight imterval between the

first and second incisor, and the outer or fifth incisor of the upper

jaw is separated from the rest by an interspace equal to twice its

own breadth, and moreover presents the triangular, pointed, canine-

like crown which characterizes all the incisors of Myrmecobius ; but

the four anterior incisors are closely arranged together and have

compressed, quadrate, true incisive crowns. From these incisors the

canine is very remote, the interspace being equally divided by the

fifth pointed incisor, which the canine very slightly exceeds in

size. In Peram. nasuta the incisor presents the same general con-

dition, but the canines are relatively larger. :

The marsupial pouch in the Bandicoots, at least in the full-grown

females of Per. nasuta, Per. obesula, and Per. lagotis, has its

orifice directed downwards or towards the cloaca, contrariwise to

its ordinary disposition in the Marsupials: this direction evidently

relates to the position of the trunk when supported on the short

fore and long hind legs. In the stomach and intestines of a Pera-

meles obesula, I found only the remains of insects; and in the ex-

amination of the alimentary canal of a Per. nasuta, Dr. Grant ob-

tained the same results, :

Genus Cheropus.

The singular animal on which this genus is founded is briefly

noticed and figured in Major Mitchell’s Australia, (vol. ii. pl. 38.

p. 131.) and the individual described is preserved in the Colonial

Museum, at Sydney, N. 8. Wales, (No. 35. of Mr. George Bennett’s

Catalogue). It would appear that the two outer toes of the fore-

foot, which are always very small in the true Bandicoots, are en-

Zoological Society. 125

tirely deficient in the Cheropus, unless some rudiments should exist

beneath the skin; at all events only two toes are apparent extern-

ally, but they are so armed and developed as to be serviceable for

burrowing or progression. The inner toe is wanting on the hind

foot. Dental formula:

Incisors aed canines 3 premolares 3 3 molares <—* = 46.

All the teeth are of small size ; the canines resemble the ae ae:

molares in size and shape, and these are separated at intervals as

in Myrmecobius. The marsupium opens downwards in the Cheropus,

as in the true Bandicoots. The species described has no tail. The

genus would seem by its dentition to rank between Myrmecobius and

Perameles. Its digital characters are anomalous and unique among

the Marsupialia.

ScANSORIA.

Didelphide, Opossums.

These Marsupials are now exclusively confined to the American

Continents, although the fossil remains of a small species attest the

former existence of the genus Didelphis in Europe contemporaneously

with the Paleothere, Anoplothere, and other extinct Pachyderms

whose fossil remains characterize the Eocene strata of the Paris

Basin. The dental formula of the genus Didelphis is,

Incisors 33 ; canines iG i ; pramolares 55 ; molares tr = 50.

The Opossums resemble in their dentition the Bandicoots more

than the Dasyures, except in the structure of the molares.

_ The two middle incisors of the upper jaw are more produced than

the others, from which they are separated by a short interspace.

The canines are well developed, the upper being always stronger

than the lower. The false molares are simply conical; the true

ones beset with sharp points, which wear down into tubercles as the

animal advances in age.

In the type of the subgenus Cheironectes, besides being web-

footed, the anterior extremities present an unusual development

of the pisiform bone, which supports a fold of the skin, like a

sixth digit; it has indeed been described, as such, by M. Tem-

minck; this process has not of course any nail. The dentition

of the Yapock resembles that of the ordinary Didelphis. All the

Opossums have the inner digit of the hind foot converted by its

position and development into a thumb, but without a claw. The

hinder hand is associated in almost all the species with a scaly

prehensile tail.

In some of the smaller Opossums the subabdominal tegumentary

folds merely serve to conceal the nipples, and are not developed into

126 Zoological Society.

a pouch ; the young in these adhere to the mother by entwining

their little prehensile tails around hers, and cling to the fur of the

back ; hence the term dorsigera applied to one of these Opossums*.

Tribe III, CARPOPHAGA.

Stomach simple; cecum very long.

In this family, the teeth, especially those at the anterior part of

the mouth, present considerable deviations from the previously de-

scribed formule ; the chief of which is a predominating size of the

two anterior incisors, both in the upper and lower jaw. Hitherto

we have seen that the dentition in every genus has participated more

or less of a carnivorous character; henceforth it will manifest a

tendency to the Rodent type.

The Phalangers, so called from the phalanges’ of the second and

third digits of the hinder extremities being inclosed in a common

sheath of integument, have the innermost digit modified, to answer the

purposes of a thumb ; and the hinder hand being associated in many

of the species with a prehensile tail, they evidently, of all Frugivora,

come nearest the arboreal species of the preceding section. Inasy-

stem frained on locomotive characters they would rank in the same

section with the Opossums. We have seen, however, that they dif-

fer from those Entomophagous Marsupials greatly in the condition

of the intestinal tube. Let us examine to what extent the dental

characters deviate from those of the Opossums.

In the skull of a Phalangista Cookii, now before me, there are both

in the upper and lower jaw four true molares on each side, each beset

with four three-sided pyramidal sharp-pointed cusps; thus these

essential and most constant teeth correspond in number with those

of the Opossum: but in the upper jaw they differ in the absence of

the internal cusp, which gives a triangular figure to the grinding sur-

face of the molares in the Opossum ; and the anterior single cusp is

wanting in the true molares of the lower jaw.

Anterior to the grinders in the Phalanger, there are two spurious

-molares, of similar shape and proportions to those in the Opossum ;

then a third spurious molar, too small to be of any functional im-

* Few facts would be more interesting in the present branch of zoology

than the condition of the new-born young, and their degree and mode of

uterine development in these Opossums. Since the marsupial bones serve

not, as is usually described, to support a pouch, but to aid in the function

of the mammary glands and testes, they of course are present in the skeleton

of these small pouchless Opossums, as in the more typical Marsupials.

Zoological Society. 127

portance, separated also, like the corresponding anterior false molar

in the Opossum, by a short interval from those behind.

The canine tooth but slightly exceeds in size the above false

molar, and consequently here occurs the first great difference be-

tween the Phalangers and Opossums ; it is however, only a difference

in degree of development; and in the Ursine and other Phalangers,

as well as in the Petaurists, the corresponding tooth presents more

of the proportions and form of a true canine.

The incisors, which we have seen to be most variable in number

in the carnivorous section, are here three instead of five on each side,

in the upper jaw, but their size, especially that of the first, compen-

sates for their fewness.

In the lower jaw, there is the same number of true molares and of

functional false molares, whichformacontinuous and tolerably equable

series, as in the Opossums, on each side ; then two very minute and

rudimental teeth on each side represent the small spurious molar,

and small canine of the upper jaw; and anterior to these, there is one

very small and one very large and procumbent incisor on each side.

The constant teeth in this group are the —* true molares, and the

= incisors. The canines = are constant in regard to their pre-

sence, but variable in size; they are always minute in the lower jaw.

With respect to the spurious molares, —, they are always in contact

with the true grinders, and their crowns reach to the same grinding

level ; sometimes a second spurious molar is similarly developed as in

the Phal. Cookii, and as in all the flying Phalangers, or Petaurists, but

it is commonly absent or replaced by a very minute tooth, shaped

like a canine: so that between the posterior spurious grinder and

the incisors we may find three teeth, of which the posterior is the

largest, as in Phal. Cookii, or the smallest, as in Phal. cavifrons ;

or there may be only two teeth, as in Phal. ursina and Phal.

vulpina, and the species, whatever that may be, which Fr. Cuvier

has selected as the type of the dentition of this Genus.

In the lower jaw similar varieties occur in these small and unim-

portant teeth; e. g. there may be between the procumbent incisors

and the posterior false molar, either four teeth, as in Phal. Cookii ; or

three, as in Phal. cavifrons ; or two, as in Phal. ursina, Phal. ma-

culata, Phal. chrysorrhoos ; or lastly, one, as in Phal. vulpina, and

Phal. fuliginosa.

The most important modification is presented by the little Phal.

gliriformis of Bell, which has only three true molares on each side of

each jaw.

128 Zoological Society.

Genus Pefaurus.

There are many species of Marsupials limited to Australia, and

closely resembling or identical with the true Phalangers in their

dental characters and the structure of the feet. I allude to the Pe-

taurists or Flying Opossums; these, however, present an external

character so easily recognizable, and influencing so materially the lo-

comotive faculties, as to claim for it more consideration than the mo-

difications of the digits or spurious molares, which we have just been

considering in the Phalangista. A fold of the skin is extended on

each side of the body between the fore and hind legs, which, when

outstretched, forms a lateral wing or parachute, but which, when

the legs are in the position for ordinary support or progression, is

drawn close to the side of the animal by the elasticity of the subcu-

taneous cellular membrane, and then forms a mere tegumentary

ridge. These delicate and beautiful Marsupials have been separated

generically from the other Marsupials under the name of Petaurus* :

they further differ from the Phalangers in wanting the prehensile

character of the tail, which in some species of Petaurus has a general

clothing of long and soft hairs, whilst in others the hairs are arranged

in two lateral series.

Now in the Petaurists there is as little constancy in the exact

formula of the dentition as among the Phalangers. The largest

species of Petaurus, Pet. Taguanoides, e. g., is almost identical in

this respect with the Phalangista Cookwi, which M. Fr. Cuvier has

therefore classed with the Petaurt. 'Those teeth of Pet. Taguanoides,

which are sufficiently developed, and so equal in length, as to exercise

the function of grinders, or in other words, the functional series of

molares, include six teeth on each side of the upper jaw, and five

teeth on each side of the lower jaw. The four posterior molares in

each row are true, and bear four pyramidal cusps, excepting the last

tooth in the upper jaw, which, as in Phai. Cookii, has only three

cusps. In the upper jaw, the space between the functional false

molares and the incisors is occupied by two simple rudimentary teeth,

the anterior representing the canine, but being relatively smaller

than in Phal. Cookit. The crowns of the two anterior incisors are

relatively larger. In the lower jaw the sloping alveolar surface be-

tween the functional molares and large procumbent incisors is occu-

pied, according to M. Fr. Cuvier, by two rudimentary minute teeth :

I have not found any trace of these in the two skulls of Pet. Ta-

quanoides examined by me. In Phal. Cookii there are three minute

* First by Dr. Shaw in the Naturalist’s Mtecellany.

Zoological Society. 129

teeth in the corresponding space, but these differences would not be

sufficient ground to separate generically the two species if they were

unaccompanied by modifications of other parts of the body. In

Petaurus sciureus and Petaurus flaviventer the dentition more nearly

resembles that of Phalangista vulpina. In the upper jaw the func-

tional molar series consists of five teeth on each side, the four hinder

ones being, as in Pet. Taguanoides, true tuberculate molares, but di-

minishing more rapidly in size, as they are placed further back in the

jaw: the hinder tooth has three tubercles, the rest four; their apices

seem to be naturally blunter than in Pet. Taguanoides. Between

the functional false molar and the incisors there are three teeth, of

which the representative of the canine is relatively much larger than

in the Pet. Taguanoides ; the first false molar is also larger, and has

two roots; the second, which is functional in Pet. Taguanoides, is

here very small ; the first incisor is relatively larger and is more pro-

duced. In the lower jaw the functional series of grinders consists

of the four true tuberculate molares only, of which the last is rela-

tively smaller, and the first of a more triangular form than in Pet.

Taguanoides. ‘The space between the tuberculate molares and the

procumbent incisor is occupied by four small teeth, of which the one

immediately anterior to the molares has two roots, the remaining

three are rudimentary and have a single fang: Among ee Species

exhibiting ae dental formula, viz., incisors = = a; canines }—! > ; ; pree-

molares 5-3 3-4; molares =: =40; are Pet. sciureus, Pet. flaviventer,

and Pet. macrurus.

The Pigmy Petaurist differs from the preceding and larger species

in having the hairs of the tail distichous or arranged in two lateral

series like the barbs of a feather ; and in having the spurious molares

large and sharply pointed; and the true molares bristled each with four

acute cusps. ‘This tendency in the dentition to the insectivorous

character, with the modification of the tail, induced M. Desmarest to

separate the Pigmy Petaurist from the rest of the species, and con-

stitute a new subgenus under the name of Acrodata.

Tn four adult specimens, and two of which had young in me Aen

I find wae following dental formula to be One een 5 —incisors [= ; Ca-

nines | ar] ; ; preemolares — 4 molares = ; = 36.

The three quadricuspidate grinders of f the upper jaw are preceded by

three large spurious molares, each of which has two fangs, and a com-

pressed, triangular, sharp-pointed crown, slightly but progressively

increasing in length, as they are placed forwards. An interspace

oceurs between these and the canine, which is long, slender, sharp-

pointed, and recurved. The first incisor is longer than the two be-

130 Zoological Society.

hind, but is much shorter than the canine. In the lower jaw the

true molares are preceded by two functional false ones, similar in

size and shape to the three above; the anterior false molar and the

canine are represented by minute, rudimental, simple teeth; the single

incisor is long and procumbent, asin the other Petaurists.

Genus Phascolarctus.

The absence of anomalous spurious molares and of inferior canines

appears to be constant in the only known species of this genus. The

dental formula in three of this species, (Phasc. fuscus Desm.,) is:

Incisors a : canines (= ; premolares 3 molares =: =30.

The true molares are larger in proportion than in the Phalangers ;

each is beset with four three-sided pyramids, the cusps of which wear

down in age; the outer series in the upper teeth being the first to

give way; those of the lower jaw are narrower than those of the

upper. The spurious molares are compressed, and terminate in a

cutting edge; in those of the upper jaw there is a small parallel

ridge along the inner side of the base. The canines slightly exceed

in size the posterior incisors; they terminate in an oblique cutting

edge rather than a point, their fang is closed at the extremity ; they

are situated as in the Phalangers close to the intermaxillary suture.

The lateral incisors of the upper jaw are small and obtuse, the two

middle incisors are of twice the size, conical, subcompressed, beveled

off obliquely to aa anterior cutting edge, but differing essentially

from the dentes scalprarii of the Rodentia, in being closed at the

extremity of the fang. The two incisors of the lower jaw resemble

those of the upper, but are longer and more compressed: they are

also formed by a temporary pulp, and its absorption is accompanied

by a closure of the aperture of the pulp cavity, as in the upper in-

cisors. The Koala therefore, in regard to the number, kind, and con-

formation of its teeth, closely resembles the Phalangers, with which

it agrees in its long cecum, but the stomach has a cardiac gland as

in the Wombat. The extremities of the Koala are organized for

prehension ; each is terminated by five digits; the hind feet are pro-

vided with a large thumb, and have the two contiguous digits enve-

loped in the same tegumentary fold; the anterior digits are divided

into two groups, the thumb and index being opposed to the other

three fingers. The fore-paws have a similar structure in some of

the small Phalangers ; it is very conspicuous in some of the Petau-

rists. ‘The Koala, however, differs from the Phalangers and Petau-

rists in the extreme shortness of its tail and in its more compact and

heavy general form. Itis known to feed on the buds and leaves of

the trees in which it habitually resides.

Zoological Society. 131

Tribe IV. POEPHAGA.

The present tribe includes the most strictly vegetable feeders ; all

the species have a complex sacculated stomach and a long simple

cecum.

Guided by the modifications of the teeth we pass from the Koala

to the Kangaroo family (Macropodide),—animals of widely different

general form. ‘The Potoroos, however, in this group, present abso-

lutely the same dentition as the Koala, some slight modifications in

the form of certain teeth excepted. The spurious molares, in their

longitudinal extent, compressed form, and cutting edge, would chiefly

distinguish the dentition of the Potoroo, but the Koala evidently

offers the transitional structure between the Phalangers and Potoroos

in the condition of these teeth, of which one only is retained on each

side of each jaw, in both Phascolarctus and Hypsiprymnus.

The — formula oF the genus Hypsiprymnus is: incisors —~

canines — = . ; premolares j 3 mol. — =: ==30.

The two anterior incisors are liceirdr ae more curved, the lateral

incisors relatively smaller than in the Koala. The pulps of the an-

terior incisors are persistent.

The canines are larger than in the Koala; they always project

from the line of the intermaxillary suture ; and while the fang is

lodged in the maxillary bone, the crown projects almost wholly from

the intermaxillary. In the large Hypsiprymaus ursinus the canines

are relatively smaller than in the other Potoroos, a structure which

indicates the transition from the Potoroo to the Kangaroo genus. In

the skeleton of this species in the Leyden Museum the canines pre-

sent a longitudinal groove on the outer side.

The characteristic form of the trenchant spurious molar has just

been alluded to; its maximum of development is attained in the ar-

boreal Potoroos of New Guinea (Hypsiprymaus ursinus, and Hyps.

dorsocephalus) ; in the latter of which its antero-posterior extent,

nearly equals that of the three succeeding molar teeth.

In all the Potoroos the trenchant spurious molar is sculptured,

especially on the outer side, and in young teeth by many small verti-

cal grogves. The true molares each present four three-sided pyrami-

dal cusps, but the internal angles of the two opposite cusps are con-

* tinued into each other across the tooth, forming two concave trans-

verse ridges. In the old animal these cusps and ridges disappear,

and the grinding surface is worn quite flat.

In the genus Macropus the normal Jeger rs of the permanent

teeth indy. be expressed as follows :—incisors = ~ ~; canines at ; pree-

—J 44

molares ==; molares =z: =28.

3—3

T—1>

132 Zoological Society.

The main difference, as compared with Hypsiprymnus, lies in the

absence of the upper canines; yet I have seen them present, but of

very small size, and concealed by the gum, in a small species of

Kangaroo (Macropus rufiventer, Ogilby.). This, however, is a rare

exception; while the constant presence and conspicuous size of the

canines will always serve to distinguish the Potoroo from the Kan-

garoo. But besides this, there are other differences in the form and

proportions of certain teeth.

The upper incisors of the Macropi have their cutting margins on

the same line, the anterior ones not being produced beyond that line

as in the Hypsiprymni; the third or external incisor is also broader

in the Kangaroos, and is grooved and complicated by one or two

folds of the enamel continued from the outer side of the tooth

obliquely forwards and inwards, into the substance of the tooth. In

most species the anterior fold is represented by a simple groove; the

relative size of the outer incisor, the extent and position of the

posterior fold of enamel, and consequently the proportions of the

part of the tooth in front or behind it, vary more or less in every

species of Macropus : there are two folds of enamel near the anterior

part of the tooth in Macr. major; the posterior portion is of the

greatest extent, and the entire crown of the tooth is relatively

broadest in this species. The middle incisor is here also complicated

with a posterior notch and an external groove. These modifications of

the external incisors have been pointed out in detail by M. Jourdan ;

and subgeneric distinctions have been subsequently based upon

them; but they possess neither sufficient constancy nor physio-

logical consequence, to justify such an application. M. Fr. Cuvier

has proposed a binary division of the Kangaroos founded on the

absence of permanent spurious molares and a supposed difference

in the mode of succession of the permanent molares in the Kan-

garoos, combined with modifications of the muzzle or upper lip, and

of the tail.

The dental formula which I have assigned to the genus Macropus

is restricted by that naturalist in its application to some small species

of Kangaroo, grouped together under the term Halmaturus, origin-

ally applied by Illiger to the Kangaroos generally. The rest of the

Kangaroos, under the generic term Macropus, are characterized by

the following dental formula :—incisors S; mol, —: ==24,

The truth, however, is, that both the Halmaturi and Macropi of Fr.

Cuvier have their teeth developed in precisely the same number and

manner; they only differ in the length of time during which certain

of them are retained. In the great Kangaroo, for example, the per-

<_<

Zoological Society. 133

manent spurious molar which succeeds the corresponding deciduous

one in the vertical direction, is pushed out of place and shed by the

time the last true molar has cut the gum: the succeeding true molar

is soon afterwards extruded; and I have seen a skull of an old Ma--

cropus major inthe Museum at Leyden, in which the grinders were

reduced to two on each side of each jaw by this yielding of the an-

terior ones to the vis a tergo of their successors.

Tribe V. RHIZOPHAGA.

The characters of this tribe are taken from the stomach, which is

simple in outward form, but complicated within by a large cardiac

gland; and from the cecum, which is short and wide, with a vermi-

form appendage. .

Genus Phascolomys.

In its heavy shapeless proportions, large trunk, and short equably

developed legs, the Wombat offers as great a contrast to the Kan-

garoos as does the Koala, which it most nearly resembles in its ge-

neral outward form and want of tail. But in the more important

_ characters afforded by the teeth and intestinal canal the Wombat

differs more from the Koala than this does from either the Phalan-

gers or Kangaroos. The dental system presents the extreme de-

gree of that degradation of the teeth intermediate between the

front incisors and true molares which we have been tracing from

the Opossum to the Kangaroos: not only have the functionless

spurious molares and canines now totally disappeared, but also the

posterior incisors of the upper jaw, which we have seen in the Po-

toroos to exhibit a feeble degree of development as compared with

the anterior pair; these in fact are alone retained in the denti-

tion of the present group, which possesses the fewest teeth of any

Marsupial animal. The dental formula of the Wombat is thus re-

duced both in number and kind to that of the true Rodentia :

Incisors 3 canines 33 premolares a: molares an = 24,

The incisors, moreover, are true dentes scalprarii, with persistent

pulps, but are inferior, especially in the lower jaw, in their relative

length, and curvature, to those of the placental Glires: they present

a subtrihedral figure, and are traversed by a shallow groove on their

inner surfaces.

The spurious molares present no trace of that compressed struc-

ture which characterizes them in the Koala and Kangaroos ; but have

a wide, oval, transverse section ; those of the upper jaw being tra-

versed on the inner side with a slight longitudinal groove. The

true molares have double the size of the spurious ones : the superior

134 Zoological Society.

ones are also traversed by an internal longitudinal groove, but

this is so deep and wide, that it divides the whole tooth into two

prismatic portions, with one of the angles directed inwards. The

inferior molares are in like manner divided into two trihedral portions,

but the intervening groove is here external, and one of the faces of

each prism is turned inwards. All the grinders are curved, and de-

scribe about a quarter of a circle; in the upper jaw the concavity

of the curve is directed outwards, in the lower jaw inwards. The

false and true molares like the incisors have persistent pulps, and are

consequently devoid of true fangs: in which respect the Wombat

differs from all other Marsupials, and resembles the extinct Tozodon,

the dentigerous Brutu, and herbivorous Rodentia. |

Although none of the Marsupialia possess teeth composed of an

intermixture of layers of ivory, cement and enamel through the body

of the crown; yet the layer of cement which covers the enameled

crown is thickest in the vegetable-feeding Marsupials, and is re-

markably distinct in the Wombat. .

I may add that the Wombat deviates from the other Marsupials

in the number of its ribs: as these are very constant in the rest of

the order, the difference in the Wombat, which has 15 pairs, in-

stead of 13 or 12, is the more deserving of notice. ‘The Koala, like

the Phalangers and Kangaroos, has 13 pairs of ribs.

Professor Owen next proceeds to compare the classification of the

Marsupialia here proposed with that of Cuvier, given in the second

edition of the Regne Animal, and states the reasons which haye led

him to devise a new arrangement.

The following is a tabular view of Professor Owen’s classifica-

tion.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE MARSUPIALIA.

Tribes. Families. Genera. Subgenera.

SARCOPHAGA.

Three kinds of teeth;

canines long in both Thylacinus.

jaws; a simple sto- Dasyuride. . 4 Dasyurus.

mach; no intestinum Phascogale.

cecum.

: rye Phascoletherium. .

Extincttransitional forms . . ; 1 phelanahertee } Fossil :

ENTOMOPHAGA,.

Three kinds of teeth in

both jaws; a simple

stomach ; amoderately

long intestinum c@cum.

Ambulatoria, . Myrmecobius.

Cheeropus.

Perameles.

Scansoria. . Didelphis. ... Cheironectes.

Saliatoria. .

British Association. 135

Tribes. Families. Genera. Subgenera.

CARPOPHAGA.

Anterior incisors large

and longin both jaws; Phalangistide. .

Cuscus.

Phalangista. . . 4 Pseudocheirus.

canines inconstant; a

Petaurus. Tapoa.

simple stomach ; avery Acrobata.

long intestinum cecum.

Phascolarctide.. Phascolarctus.

PoEPHAGA. Hyps} Halmat

Anterior incisors large Macropodide. eke prymnus. a maturus.

and long in both jaws ; Macropus. acropus.

canines present in the

upper jaw only, or

wanting. A complex

stomach; along inées-

tinum cecum.

RHIZOPHAGA.

Two scalpriform incisors

in both jaws; no ca-

nines. Stomach with . Phascolomys. :

aspecialgland;ewcum 7 "aseolomyida { Diprotodon, } _—

short, wide, with a ver-

miform appendage.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE,—NINTH

MEETING, HELD AT BIRMINGHAM.*

Section of Zoology and Botany.

August 27.—J. E. Gray, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Secretaries :—Mr. E. Forbes and Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Goodsir read a paper, ‘ On the Follicular Stage of Dentition

in the Ruminants, with some remarks on that process in the other

orders of Mammalia.’ The paper concluded with a recapitulation of

the principal facts contained init. 1. In all the mammalia examined

(pig, rab-bit, cow, and sheep, &c.), the follicular stage of dentition

was observed. 2. The pulps and sacs of all the permanent teeth of

the cow and sheep, with the exception of the fourth molar, are formed

from the minor surfaces of cavities of reserve. 3. The depending

folds of the sacs of composite teeth, are formed by the folding in of

the edges of the follicle towards the base of the contained pulp, the

granular body assisting in the formation of these folds. 4. The

cow and sheep (and probably all the other ruminants,) possess the

germs of canines and superior incisives, at an early period of their

embryonic existence.—‘ On the preparation of Fish,’ by Mr. Wilde.

—‘ On the Ciliograda of the British Seas,’ by Edward Forbes and

John Goodsir.—‘ On some new Species of Entozoa, discovered by

Dr. Bellingham,’ by Mr. Wilde.—‘ On the Acceleration of the Growth

of Wheat,’ by G. Webb Hall.

Aug. 28.—‘ On an Experiment in the Growth of Silk at Notting-

ham, made this year,’ by Mr. Felkin.—The Secretary read a paper

* Monday’s proceedings will be found at p. 46.

136 Botanical Society of London.

by Mr. Brand, ‘ On the Statistics of British Botany.’—‘ Some Obser-

vations on Whales, in connexion with the account of the Remains

of a Whale recently discovered at Durham,’ by Mr. George T. Fox.

Aug. 29.—Dr. Pritchard read a paper ‘ On the Extinction of the

Human Races.’ He expressed his regret that so little attention was

given to Ethnography, or the natural history of the human race,

while the opportunities for observation are every day passing away.

—<‘A Report on the Distribution of the Pulmoniferous Mollusca in

Britain, and the causes influencing it.’ Drawn up at the request of

the Association, by Mr. E. Forbes.—Mr. J. E. Bowman exhibited

specimens of a species of Dodder (Cuscuta epilinum), first found in

Britain, two years ago, by himself, and again in a new locality with-

in the present month. He believes it is to be found exclusively upon

flax, and has been overlooked for C. Huropea.—‘ On the Cultivation

of the Cotton of Commerce.’ By Major-Gen. Briggs.

Aug. 31.—Some remarks were made on the introduction of a

species of Auchenia into Britain, for the purpose of obtaining wool,

by Mr. W. Danson.—Prof. Jones made some observations on an ap-

paratus for observing Fish (especially of the family Salmonide) in

confinement. Mr. Charles C. Babington made a verbal communi-

cation concerning some recent additions to the English Flora.—

A letter was read from Mr. Garner, on the Beroe pileus, stating that

he had not seen in this animal true luminosity, but only a peculiar

luminosity in the dark. The external rows of cilia he believed

might produce it. —

[We have not thought it desirable to fill our pages with imperfect

abstracts of the papers read in the Section of Botany and Zoology,

hoping, with regard to the most important, to be enabled, as last

year to give them entire.—Enir. ] ;

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

December 7, 1838.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President,

in the Chair.

Dr. H. A. Meeson read a paper ‘On the advantages to be de-

rived by the Medical Profession from the study of Botany.’

Mr. John Green communicated some ‘ Observations on the seve-

rity of last winter on Vegetation in connexion with Meteorology.’

December 21, 1838.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President,

in the Chair.

A donation of some British Algze was announced, presented by

Mr. Adam White.

Botanical Society of London. 137

_ Mr. Joseph Freeman read a paper ‘ On the Geographical Distri-

bution of Plants.’ | :

A paper was also read from Mr. Adam White, being ‘Note on

Peloria,’ and a Pelorian variety of Pinguicula vulgaris was exhi-

bited, found by Mr. White on Royden Fenn, near Diss, Norfolk, in

1835.

January 4, 1839.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President,

in the Chair.

Mr. Daniel Cooper, A.L..S., Curator, read a paper, being ‘ Re-

marks on the Dispersion of Plants in the environs of London, and the

formation of plans exhibiting the distribution of species over locali-

ties,’ which led to some discussion.

January 18, 1839.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President,

in the Chair.

Mr. G. E. Dennas, F.L.S., exhibited specimens of Aspidium rigi-

dum, sent to him by the Rev. W. T’. Bree, and cultivated from a root

brought by him from Ingleborough, Yorkshire, in 1815.

Mr. Daniel Cooper, A.L.S., exhibited a Shirt from Sweden, made

from the liber of Linden.

A paper was read from M. I. J. Sidney, Esq., ‘ On the Botany of

Morpeth, Northumberland,’ and containing a list of the Plants to be

found in that district.

The Curator also continued his paper ‘On the dispersion of

Plants in the environs of London, and the formation of plans exhi-

biting the distribution of species over localities.’

February 1, 1839.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President,

in the Chair.

A paper was read from Dr. H. A. Meeson, “ On the Formation of

Leaves.” He began by observing that leaves cannot be expansions

of the epidermis, because if so they must then of necessity be com-

posed entirely of cellular tissue, whereas they are known to abound

in vascular tissue. If leaves be expansions of the bark it must ne-

cessarily follow that all modifications of them must be the same, there-

fore petals, sepals, stamina and pistils must be expansions of this

substance. But these organs exist in endogens, a. class of plants

manifestly without bark, and in exogens their texture is so com-

pletely different from that of the bark that it would be absurd to com-

pare them. Dr. M. cunsidered leaves to be the essential part of a

plant ; they exist in the embryo, and by expanding and unfolding

themselves suck up sap through the radicle, and having exposed it

Ann. Nat, Hist. Vol.4. No. 22. Oct. 1839. L

138 Wernerian Natural History Society.

to the action of the air and light, convert a portion of it into proper

juice. A plant is nothing more than a multitude of buds or fixed

embryos, which send their roots downwards to form their bark and

wood. ‘The leaf should be considered the most essential part of the

plant, from which all its other parts are either directly or indirectly

formed, as it is not an expansion of anything, but a very important

organ, having as it were a distinct existence of its own.

A discussion ensued, in which Dr. Maereight, Dr. Willshire, and

other Members joined.

WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

The Wernerian Natural History Society, in a notice dated Edin-

burgh, 20th April 1839, offers Honorary Premiums, value 10/. each,

open unconditionally to all scientific naturalists. It is understood

that the successful Essays on the subjects proposed, and such Draw-

ings and Specimens as accompany them, becomg the property of the

Society ; and that, in the event of the Society not publishing the

Essays, the authors may be allowed to publish them on their own

account.

Hydrography.—1. On the temperature, magnitude, chemical com-

position, and geological relations of the Springs of Scotland. 2. On

the temperature, colour, chemical composition, mechanical admix~-

ture, magnitude, velocity, and alluvial formations of any one of the

following Rivers in Scotland, viz. the Tweed, Tay, Dee in Aberdeen-

shire, or Spey.

Geology.—3. On the erratic blocks or boulders of Scotland and its

Islands ; their mineralogical and paleontological characters, and phy-

sical and geographical distribution ; with illustrative maps.—4. On

the mineralogical constitution and chemical composition of the Trap-

Rocks of Scotland ; with specimens.—5. On the chemical composi-

tion of the altered or metamorphic rocks met with in granite, por-

-phyry, serpentine and trap districts; with specimens.—6. On the

fossil organic remains found in the transition strata and carboniferous

systems of Scotland; with drawings of new species and specimens re-

quired.—7. On the so-called Raised Sea- Beaches met with inScotland,

its Islands, and elsewhere. Specimens of the shells, &c. required.

Zoology.—8. On the entomology of the Three Lothians, and the

river district of the Forth ; with specimens.—9. Drawings and De-

scriptions of the microscopic animals inhabiting the waters of any of

the following arms of the sea and lakes, viz. Firth of Forth, Firth of

Clyde or Loch Fyne; or of Loch Lomond or Loch Tay.—10, On

the natural history and comparative anatomy of the land and water

Miscellaneous. 139

molluscous animals of the Firth of Forth district; with drawings,

and, if possible, preparations.—11. On the anatomy and physiology

of the respiratory and digestive ergans of birds, from actual observa-

tion, with a special reference to the habits and manners, and the

natural arrangement of families and genera; with characteristic spe-

cimens.

Botany.—12. On the botany of the mountains of Scotland, in

connexion with their geological structure ; with specimens and a

map of the distribution. The range of elevation, and the northern

and southern limits of species should be attended to, and any facts

illustrating the geographical distribution of plants recorded. It

would also add greatly to the interest of the communication if it

were accompanied with a coloured geognostical map of the districts.

The Essays to be written in English, French, or German.

[The subjects are rather numerous; and perhaps a fewer, with

higher premiums, for some at least, might have been better. The

preparations and drawings to illustrate some of them could not be

made for double the amount of the premium: and many would be

willing to compete for an honorary distinction who would not like

to give up their collections. —Eb. |

Atlin

MISCELLANEOUS.

NOTICE OF AN UNCOMMONLY TAME AND SENSIBLE PINE MARTEN

(MUSTELA MARTES). BY ST. K. VON SIEMUSZOVA-PIETRUSKI,

In June 1836 I obtained a very young Pine Marten, which in a short

space of time became so domestic that he truly deserved the admi-

ration of all who had an opportunity of seeing him. This pretty

little animal went about freely through all the rooms of the house

without doing harm to any one, played in the court-yard with my

Danish dogs, often sprang upon their backs, and rode frequently

upon the good patient beasts after the manner of monkeys in avery

comical style for a good distance. The dogs too were very fond of

the Marten, and never showed signs of their inherited hatred of such

animals. In time he became so much attached to my person that

he followed me everywhere, even into the neighbouring villages,

just as only a dog or badger would do (see my remarks upon the

badger in Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1837, Part II.). In these walks it was

very interesting to observe how he was able to overcome his natural

innate propensity for climbing up trees; for it very frequently

happened that the desire of climbing up a tree seized him; yet as

L 2

140 Miscellaneous.

soon as he perceived that I had gone on, the little animal hastened

after me directly. Even upon long excursions to the old forests of

the Carpathian mountains, at a distance of three and four (German)

miles, the Marten was my faithful companion; he swam through

rivers and brooks with perfect ease like an otter: but the most re-

markable thing besides was, that he never went very far from me ;

only once do I remember having lost him for some hours. This

happened in the following manner. :

On the 50th of August the gentle Marten followed me, as he al-

ways did on an excursion, into the part of the Carpathians which is

called the Potoninen. I was busied in collecting the beautiful Ca-

rabus Sacheri in an enchanting spot, and quite forgot my Marten,

who had found a nest with young blackbirds (Merula montana,

Brehm.) just by, and was quietly devouring them. After a fortu-

nate booty of Coleoptera I then wished to climb a lofty hill called

Paraska, but I missed the Marten and continued my way without

him. How great was my joy, upon my return, after eight long hours,

to find the sensible animal again in the very meadow where I had

lost him !

If I was absent from home this Marten would take no food the

whole day long; and when I returned showed his joy by merry

leaps and caresses.

He ate everything that came to table, bread, fruit, cheese, milk,

but he was fondest of raw flesh; he drank wine with great relish,

and plentifully. This even hastened his death, for once he drank so

much, that on the following day he was found dead on the house

floor.—Wiegmann’s Archiv fiir 1839, 3tes Heft.

CLANGULA BARROVIT, A NATIVE OF ICELAND,

On my last visit to Iceland, in the summer of 1837, I arrived there

by way of Copenhagen on the 22nd of June, and landed at a place

called Ociford, situate on the north side of the island. I immediately

commenced making excursions into the interior for the purpose of

procuring specimens and observing the habits of those birds which

we are little acquainted with in Britain. I met with eleven species

of ducks breeding there, and was fortunate in procuring the eggs of

each, viz. Anas mollissima, A. glacialis, A. Marila, A. Strepera, A.

Boschas, A. acuta, A. Crecca, A. Penelope, A. nigra, A. histrionica.

The whole of the above visit Britain in the winter season, some re-

maining to breed, while others retire to higher latitudes ; others again

we are only acquainted with as rare and uncertain visitants to our

shores.

Miscellaneous. 141

But what I principally wish to call the attention of the ornitholo-

gist to, is the fact of my having met with a species of Golden Eye,

not, as far as my observation goes, the same with that which visits

the British coast. It answers to the description of the Rocky moun-

tain Garrot, Clangula Barrovii, Richardson, although Faber and

other naturalists who have visited Iceland have applied to it the

name of the Common Golden Eye (Anas Clangula.). I met with this

species in both my visits, but never with 4. Clangula: therefore I

am inclined to think that the latter does not inhabit that island, but

its place is supplied by its near allied species Clangula Barrovit.

This latter species may always be known from Clangula vulgaris by

its superior size and the large crescent-shaped patch before each eye,

which in C. Barrovit springs from below the gape, stretching along

the base of the bill to the forehead: the bill of the latter, which is

broader at the base, has also the nail on the upper mandible much

broader. The weight of the male bird of C. Barrovii is about 2

pounds ; the length from tip of bill to end of tail 20 inches ; breadth

when the wings are extended 28 inches. Weight of female 13 lb.;

length 184 inches; breadth 264 inches. It breeds in June, forming

its nest by the margin of the freshwater ponds, generally among

the willows, but sometimes placing it on the bare ground amidst the

loose stones. ‘The nest is composed of a few stems of grass loosely

put together, lined with down from the breast of the female; the

eggs vary in number from 6 to 10, and are of a whitish-green, si-

milar in colour to those of the Common Wild Duck, and larger than

those of Clangula vulgaris—W. Procror, Durham, 20th August,

1839.

ON THE MOULTING PROCESS IN THE CRAY FISH,

We have extracted the following interesting notice from the ele-

gant and valuable work of Prof. Rymer Jones*, which we had occasion

to notice in one of our preceding numbers. ‘The phenomena which

attend the renovation of the external skeleton are so unimaginable

that it is really extraordinary how little is accurately known con-

cerning the nature of the operation. The first question which pre-

sents itself is, how are the limbs liberated from their confinement ?

for, wonderful as it may appear, the joints even of the massive chele

of the lobster do not separate from each other, but notwithstanding

the great size of some of the segments of the claw, and the slender

dimensions of the joints that connect the different pieces, the cast-

off skeleton of the limb presents exactly the same appearance as if

* General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, Part VII. September 1839.

142 Miscellaneous.

it still encased the living member. The only way of explaining the

circumstance, is to suppose that the individual pieces of the skeleton,

as well as the soft articulations connecting them, split in a longitu-

dinal direction, and that, after the abstraction of the limb, the fis-

sured parts close again with so much accuracy that even the traces

of the division are imperceptible. But this is not the only part of

the process which is calculated to excite our astonishment: the in-

ternal calcareous septa from which the muscles derive their origins,

and the tendons whereby they are inserted into the moveable por-

tions of the outer shell, are likewise stated to be found attached to

the exuvie; even the singular dental apparatus situated in the sto-

mach, of which we shall speak hereafter, is cast off and re-formed !

And yet, how is all this accomplished ? how do such parts become

detached? how are they renewed? We apprehend that more

puzzling questions than these can scarcely be propounded to the

physiologist, nor could more interesting subjects of inquiry be

pointed out to those whose opportunities enable them to prosecute

researches connected with their elucidation.”

In a note annexed to this paragraph he describes the appearances

of an Astacus fluviatilis, which he had obtained soon after casting its

shell, and of its newly cast-off covering. ‘‘ All the pieces of the ex-

uvium are connected together by the old articulations, and accu-

rately represent the external form of the complete animal; the cara-

pace, or dorsal shield of the cephalo-thorax alone being detached,

having been thrown off in one piece. The pedicles of the eyes and

external corneze, as well as the antennze, remain in situ, the corre-

sponding parts having been drawn out from them as the finger from

a glove, and no fissure of the shell or rupture of the ligaments con-

necting the joints is anywhere visible in these portions of the ske-

leton. The ordinary tubercles, and the membrane stretched over

the orifice of the ear, occupy the same position as in the living cray-

fish. The jaws, foot-jaws, and ambulatory feet retain their original

connections, with the exception of the right chela, which had been

thrown of before the moult began; and the segments of the abdo-

men, false feet, and tail-fin exactly resembled those of the perfect

creature ;—even the internal processes derived from the thoracic

segments (apodemata) rather seemed to have had the flesh most care-

fully picked out from among them than to have been cast away from

a living animal: but perhaps the most curious circumstance obser-

vable was, that attached to the base of each leg was the skin which

had formerly covered the branchial tufts, and which, when floated in

water, spread out into accurate representations of those exquisitely

Metcorological Observations. 143

delicate organs. No fissure was perceptible in any of the articula-

tions of the small claws, but in the chela each segment was split in

the neighbourhood of the joints and the articulated ligaments rup-

tured. ‘The lining membrane of the stomach was found in the tho-

rax, having the stomachal teeth connected with it ; from its position

it would seem that the animal had dropped it into the place where it

lay before the extrication of its limbs was quite accomplished. The

internal tendons were all attached to the moveable joint. of each pair

of forceps, both in the chela and in the two anterior pairs of smaller

ambulatory legs.

«« On examining the animal, which had extricated itself from the

exuvium described above, the shell was found soft and flexible, but

contained a sufficiency of calcareous matter to give it some firmness,

especially in the claws. The tendons of the forceps were still per-

fectly membranous, presenting a very decided contrast when com-

pared with the old ones affixed to the discarded shell. The stump

of the lost chela had not as yet begun to sprout, and the extremity

was covered by a soft black membrane. The jaws were quite hard

and calcified, as likewise were the teeth contained in the stomach.”

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR AUGUST, 1839.

Chiswick.— Aug. 1. Fine. 2,3. Hot. 4—6. Very fine. 7. Rain, with

thunder atnight. 8. Overcast and fine. 9—14, Very fine. 15. Hazy:

drizzly. 16. Very fine: cloudy: rain at night. 17, Rain. 18. Very fine:

heavy rain at night. 19. Rain. 20. Hazy: fine. 21. Clear and fine.

22—26. Very fine. 27. Overcast: slight rain. 28. Hazy. 29. Cloudy: rain

at night. 30. Rain: fine. $1. Cloudy: rain.

Boston.— Aug. 1. Fine: rainearly a.m. 2,3. Fine. 4. Cloudy: rain p.m.

5,6. Fine. 7. Rain. 8,9. Fine. 10. Fine: rainr.m. 11. Rain. 12,

Cloudy. 13. Fine. 14. Rain. 15. Fine. 16. Cloudy: rain early a.m.:

rain, thunder and lightning p.m. 17. Fine: rain a.M.andrm. 18. Fine.

19. Rain: extraordinary rain early a.m. 20, Cloudy: rain a.m. and p.m. 21,

22. Fine. 23. Cloudy. 24. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 25. Fine. 26.:Cloudy.

27. Fine: rain early a.m. 28. Cloudy: rainr.m. 29. Cloudy. 30, Cloudy:

rain early a.M.andr.m. $1. Rain: rain early a.m. and p.m.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.— Aug. 1. Pleasant day : getting cloudy r.m.

2. Rain nearly all day. 3. Calm and temperate: cloudy p.m. 4, Fine clear

day. 5. Fine: at noon sultry: air electrical. 6. Wet all day. 7. Occasional

showers. 8. Fine: pleasant breeze: sky clear, 9. Slight rain a.m.: cleared

up. 10. High wind: dry a.m.: showery p.m. 11. Fair and fine a.m.: showery

pM. 12. Dull, but fair. 13. Clear and calm all day. 14. Very wet from 11

aM. 15. Damp and drooping all day. 16. Occasional drizzling all day,

17. Dry and partially clear. 18. Warm and close: showery rm. 19. Drop-

ping day. 20. Chill morning: fair: showery p.m. 21. Fair throughout: hoar

frost a.m. 22. Fine day: heavy dew a.m. 23. Rain at noon and continued all

day. 24. Droppingday. 25. Fair till afternoon: cloudy and close, 26. Fair

throughout. 27. Beautiful harvest day. 28. Fair a.m. : came on heavy rain

pM. 29. Heavy rain: flood in the river. 30, Fine day: occasionally slight

drizzle. $1. Very wet till 5 p.x., when it cleared.

Sun 27 days. Rain 18 days.

Wind southerly 18 days. Northerly 8 days. Westerly 4 days. Easterly

1 day.

Calm 15 days. Moderate 8 days. Brisk 4 days. Strong breeze 2 days.

Boisterous 2 days.

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ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ida

XIV.—Description of Animal Life in Nova merivtae By

K. EK. von BAER.*

Nor only the total want of trees, but also of every kind of

shrub that would be large enough to attract the eye without

being looked for, gives to the polar landscapes a peculiar and

deeply impressive character.

In the first place all power of measurement is lost to the

eye. From the want of the usual objects of known dimen-

sions, trees and buildings, distances appear much less than

they are, and for the same reason also the mountains are

thought lower. This observation has often been made before

- and was not unknown to me, yet I found the deception, for

which I was prepared, much more complete than I had ex-

pected. I knew indeed that on this very account an expedi-

tion which King Frederick the Second of Denmark fitted out

for Greenland failed in its object.

Mogens Heinson, who at that time was considered an able

seaman, commanded the ship: he came within sight of the

coast of Greenland, and steered with a favourable wind to-

wards it; but after sailing several hours in the same direction

it appeared to him that he came no nigher to the shore. An

apprehension seized him that some hidden force at the bottom

of the sea held him fast; he turned the ship about and went

back to Denmark, with the account that he had not been able

to reach the coast- of Greenland, having been enchained by a

magnetic rock. With this experience and with the naive de-

claration of Martens concerning Spitzbergen, “ The distances

seem quite near, but when they are to be walked over in

the country it is quite another matter, and one soon becomes

very weary,” I was well acquainted, and yet I found the de-

lusion much greater than I could have supposed, and to my

* Translated from Wiegmann’s Archiv, part 2. 1839.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 23. Nov. 1839. M

146 K. E. von Baer’s description of

eye so perfect that no consideration could rid me of it. I am

also convinced that it does not depend upon the want of the

accustomed objects alone, but likewise on a peculiar transpa-

rency of the air, for it is never so complete on cloudy as on

bright days, and not so striking in level as in mountainous

regions. In days or hours which are quite clear the air ap-

pears to be almost without colour, and as the heights in sight

are partly covered with snow, and constituted in part of a dark

stone, which appears darker by the contrast, so the small de-

gree of colour which the air may possess cannot be perceived.

The mountains therefore apparently advance quite near to the

eye, and this perhaps in a greater degree to one who has been

accustomed to see hills through a different aérial perspective.

Another effect of the want of trees and even of a vigorous

growth of grass is the sensation of loneliness, which seizes not

only on persons of reflection but even upon the roughest

sailor. It is by no means a sensation of fear, but rather a so-

lemn and elevating one, and can only be compared with the

mighty impression which a visit to alpine regions always

leaves behind.

The once-conceived idea that the morning of creation was

dawning for the first time, and that life was yet to follow I

found it impossible to repress. Nevertheless an animal is now

and then seen to stirin Nova Zembla. Sometimes a great sea

gull (Larus glaucus) is seen to hover in the air at some di-

stance from the coast, or a swift lemming runs along’ the

ground. ‘These however are not sufficient to give life to the

landscape. In calm weather a want of sounds and motion

is felt, if, as in our case, an expedition be made into the inte-

rior, after the departure of the numerous geese which pass

their moulting season on the sea shore. Besides, even the

few land birds in Nova Zembla are mute, and the insect tribe,

proportionally much scantier, is also noiseless. Even the

polar fox is only heard at night. This total want of sounds,

which especially prevails on serene days, reminds one of the

stillness of the grave; and the lemmings, which coming forth

from the earth, glide along in straight lines, and then again

quickly vanish into it, appear like spectres. From the little

motion one sees, in spite of these signs of animal life, it seems

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 147

to be wanting. In other regions the leaves of tall plants and

trees usually make even a gentle breeze perceptible to us, but

a slight wind does not ruffle these lowly plants of the high

north; one might take them to be painted. A very few in-

sects only are busy seeking to satisfy their little wants upon

them. Of the numerous family of beetles only one individual

has been found, a Chrysomela, which is perhaps a new species.

On sunny days and in warm spots for instance, about the

small projecting points of rock, a humble-bee is seen flying

about, but it hardly hums, as is the case with us in moist

weather. Flies and gnats are rather more numerous; but

even these are so rare, so peaceful and languid, that in order

to see them they must be sought for. I do not recollect ha-

ving heard that any one of us had been bitten by a gnat, and

one may truly long for the bite of a Lapland gnat, merely for

the sake of perceiving life in nature. The most manifest proof

of the rarity of insects in this country appears from the fol-

lowing circumstance, that we neither found the least trace of

insect larvee in a dead Walrus which had lain above fourteen

days on the sea shore, nor in the bones of animals which had

been killed in former years, even though they were not with-

out dried flesh on some parts. The common saying in our

funeral service, that man becomes a prey to worms, is not

true with respect to the extreme north, and whoever dreads

this lot has only to be buried in Nova Zembla or Spitzbergen,

where even the universal decomposing forces of nature will

act upon him but very slowly *.

The abundance or scarcity of insects is, next to the vege-

table kingdom, the surest measure for the climate of a country.

Both need for their subsistence a certain quantity and a cer-

tain duration of warmth. This never fails in the torrid zone,

but as we approach the north it does so in an increasing

degree. Insects are however less easily transplanted than

plants. That we know of no true insects from Spitzbergen

may well be ascribed to this cause. M. Lehmann neverthe-

less observed ten species in Nova Zembla, and of these seven

which are not parasitic. Fabricius described many more spe-

* At some depth the bodies remain frozen, but even above the earth they

decay remarkably slowly.

M 2

148 K. E. von Baer’s description of

cies from Greenland, and amongst these even several butter-

flies, and Scoresby has added to them some few new species

from East Greenland. But West Greenland, which in com-

mon life has been considered as the type of all northernmost

countries, from its having already been known for a longer

time through the Moravian missionaries, must, especially in

its southern districts, be a more highly favoured country, for

it has (even if we pay no attention to the old fabulous ac-

counts) at the present time, under 61° N. latitude, birch trees

from 12 to 18 feet high, and of the thickness of a man’s

thigh, and among these mountain ash. (Egede, Account of

the Greenland Mission, p.78.) Egede found the corn, which

he had sown as an experiment under the 64° of latitude, not

only in ear but already with small grains on the 13th of

September (Jdid, p.106 and 112). Things therefore wear a

very different appearance from those in Nova Zembla, and the

meteorological observations show sufficiently that it is much

‘warmer there. But even regions which enjoy a much lower

mean yearly temperature than Nova Zembla are much richer

in animal life, if the summer do but develope more heat. To

select a less known example I will refer to Nyshne-Kolymsk,

with a mean temperature of 10°C. According to Wrangell’s

observations the boundary of the lofty woods is not far off, and

perhaps they would extend to this place were it not for the

nearness of the coast, for at Nyshne-Kolymsk there are stunted

Siberian cedars and bushesin plenty. During the short sum-

mer there the gnats are an intolerable plague. |

The coast of Nova Zembla is rendered far more lively than

the interior of the country by the sea-birds which make their

nests there. ‘Their number and variety is indeed not so great

as upon the Norwegian coast or some isles and cliffs of Iceland,

but even here one finds the coast thickly filled with them in

some spots, and they receive any one who approaches with

loud cries. Above all, the Foolish Guillemot (Uria Troile), which |

is perhaps as numerous as all the other birds put together,

dwells in such colonies, sitting in thick troops and in many

rows one above another upon the scarcely perceptible shelves

of perpendicular rocks: they rouse themselves when any one ap-

proaches, and cause the sides of the dark rock to appear spotted

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 149

with their uplifted white bellies. The Russians call such a

‘brooding place a bazaar. Thus this Persian word has been

transplanted by Russian Walrus-fishers to the rocks of the

frozen ocean and applied to birds in default of human inha~-

bitants. Upon the points of isolated cliffs, and enduring no

other birds near it, lives the large grey sea gull (Larus glaucus),

which the Dutch whale-fishers, I know not why, whether from

respect or a want of it, have named the Burgomaster. It

seems to feel itself the lord of this creation, for before a whole

company of fishermen it is bold enough to pick and choose

from the fish that have been thrown upon the shore.

These birds are the best proofs that there is more to be had

from the bottom of the sea than on land. In fact here the

chief sum of animal life is sunk under the surface of the ocean.

Small Crustacea are particularly numerous here, and above all

the Gammari, which gather as thickly around a piece of flesh

thrown into the water as do the gnats in Lapland about a

warm-blooded animal. With a sieve one may take them up by

thousands. When wethrew hnes in Matotschkin-Schar, the

Walrus-fishers, who never took this trouble assured us that it

would be quite in vain, for in the first place there were hardly

any fish there, and moreover the Kapschaki (thus they call the

Gammari) completely consume within a few hours sometimes

the bait and sometimes the fish as soon as itis dead. In fact

we seldom drew up anything but our empty lines.

Scanty as is the vegetation, it yet feeds a quantity of lem-

mings. Gentle declivities are frequently burrowed through

in every direction by them. But the number of animals is

not near so great as might be supposed from the quantity of

burrows ; for by far the greater part are empty, which one may

soon be convinced of by tracking them with dogs, but never-

theless their number is so considerable as to force us to ask

how so many lemmings can find support upon such a vegeta~

tion. But it is also not impossible that the vegetation ap-

pears so small to the observer because the lemmings make a

considerable portion of it invisible. If they devoured the roots

not much of the vegetable kingdom of Nova Zembla could long

remain, and the lemmings themselves would soon perish from

want of nourishment. But those captured by us could in no

150 K. E. von Baer’s description of

way be brought to eat the smallest root. Since, therefore,

when they are at large they certainly devour the flowers only

and green parts, and since the plants of this country are all

perennial, in the following year they again put forth a stem.

I was still more surprised that when suffering the greatest

hunger they would touch no Cryptogamia. It is a pity that

the small number of ferns which have been found did not allow

us to make trial whether these practical vegetable physiolo-

gists direct themselves according to the presence of spiral ves-

sels or follow the divisions of the Linnzan system. There are

two kinds of them; one seems to be Mus grenlandicus,

Traill, or Mus hudsonius, Auct. They quite agree with the

description which Richardson gives in the ‘ Fauna Boreali-

Americana ;’ less with that of Pallas. The other species like-

wise appears to me distinct from the Scandinavian lemming ;

in the colour the difference is truly striking. Pallas, who how-

ever seems only to have seen young animals, has enumerated

it as a Russian variety of the Scandinavian lemming. The

first 1s particularly distinguished by its tameness, for, four-

and-twenty hours after it had been caught, it hardly made any

attempt to escape when held free upon the hand, and one never

sees two individuals of this species quarrelling together. The

second, yellowish-brown species is much more ready to fight.

Next to the lemmings the polar foxes are also tolerably nu-

merous. They find in the lemmings, in young birds, and in the

sea-animals which are thrown up on the shore, a plentiful sus-

tenance.

On the contrary, polar bears are seldom seen in summer,

either because they avoid the places where they scent men,

or because they only collect together on those parts of the

coast where there is ice. The rein-deer also appear to have

become rare, on the western coast at least, from the numerous

winterings of late years of the seal-fishers. Not only were

very few killed during our residence, but one of the companies

which had passed the winter before in Nova Zembla, and had

been advised to procure a provision of flesh by hunting the

rein-deer, had not been able to obtain any. Wolves and com-

mon foxes, which, at least in the southern part of Nova Zem-

bla, also sometimes occur, appear never to have been nume-

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 151

rouseven there. With this enumeration the list of land Mam-

malia would be complete, if MM. Pachtussow and Ziwolka

_ had not, during their winter stay, seen a little white animal

within their hut, which they in their journal call a mouse.

As the animal seen, according to M. Ziwolka’s testimony,

must have been larger than a common domestic mouse, and

therefore could not be an individual of the white variety of

this animal brought by chance in some ship, I am doubtful

as to what it can be. On one hand it is stated that the North

American lemmings become white in winter, but yet not so

eompletely white as the animals of the weazel genus; on the

other hand it might also be possible that the little animal no-

ticed was a weazel. In Spitzbergen also a little white mammal

has been observed, whose systematic determination is uncer-

tain.

The sea Mammalia are of more importance, and expensive

expeditions are yearly fitted out for the purpose of catching

them by the inhabitants of the coast of the White Sea; but

unhappily the booty is so uncertain that they may be com-

pared to a game at hazard. If the sea is unusually free from

ice the losses are very great. One day however may repay the

loss of awhole year. For this reason these undertakings have

always been renewed for centuries, even though they some-

times entirely fail. The result of a fortunate year is usually

this, that in the following one too many ships go to Nova

Zembla, and either destroy to too great an extent these

mostly gregarious animals, or at least scare them away.

Thus in the year 1834 some expeditions were very fortunate,

after a previous cessation; in the year 1835 about 80 ships

went to Nova Zembla, for which may be reckoned at least 1000

men. In the year 1836 the number of the ships diminished

to one half. In the current year there were hardly more than

20 ships ; but only one, which entered the sea of Kara, made

a great profit: one or two captured nearly enough to pay the

cost of their fitting out, and of the rest the greater part lost

far more than a half.

The most important animal for this chase is the Walrus, and

after the Walrus the Dolphin (Delphinus Leucas), known un-

der the name of the white whale, but which is here called

152 K. E. von Baer’s description of

Bjelucha or Bjeluga. Among the seals the sea-hare (Mor-

skoi sajaz), Phoca leporina, Lep, Ph. albigena, Pall., but pro-

bably not distinct from the Phoca barbata of Fabricius, gives

the richest produce, both as regards its size and quantity of

fat, as well as its thick skin. Phoca grenlandica bears among

the Russians very different names, according to age and

sex: the old full-coloured male is called Luisan or Luisun;

the female, Utjalga; the not yet full-coloured animals, of a

year old, they call Sjarunok and Sjarka, and the young ones,

according to their different colours, Pljichanko, Choch-

lutschka, Bjika. But they are not quite accurate in the ap-

plication of these names to the young animals, for they also

apply them to the young of a third species of seal which occurs

here, and which when full-grown is called Nerpa. This seal,

occurring everywhere singly on the coast, is probably Fabri-

cius’s Phoca hispida.

A fourth species of seal which belongs to these seas, though

not to the coast of Nova Zembla itself, but to the Timanic

coast and to the entrance of the White Sea, and even there

is not frequently seen, the Tewjak, is said to cover its face with

acap: itis therefore probably the Klappmiits of the Dutch, or

Phoca cristata, Erxl., Cystophora borealis, Nilsson.

Of Cetacea this sea contains in the first place a species of

whale of the subdivision of fin-fish (Balenoptera), with very

short whiskers, which I saw in Archangel. They rarely ap-

pear in the vicinity of Nova Zembla, and one never hears of

their being stranded on this coast. Nearer to the north coast

of Lapland, where they are almost yearly thrown on shore in

the Motowsker bay, they are so frequent that I much wonder

why the earlier attempts for the regular pursuit of this animal,

difficult it is true to slay, have not been renewed and perse-

veringly carried on. It is worthy of remark that the Green-

land whale never appears to stray into the district of Nova

Zembla. For this reason we must believe that the whale-

fishery which the Northmen carried on, according to Ohthere’s

testimony*, in the ninth century, in the neighbourhood of the

North Cape, was for this very fin-fish. Far more rare is the

* See King Alfred’s Translation of Orosius, ed. Barrington, p. 241, For-

ster’s note at the end.

Animal Life in Nova Zambla. 153

Narwal (Monodon Monoceros), and only in the neighbour-

hood of ice. Of Dolphins, this sea contains, besides Delphi-

nus Leucas, Delphinus Orca (Kossatka), and a small species

which the Russians call Morskaja Swinja; but I have not been

able to learn whether this is Delphinus Delphis, or Delph.

Phocena.

The sea mammalia in Nova Zembla would therefore be ex-

actly the same as those known in the Spitzbergen-Greenland

sea, if the Greenland whale reached as far.

On the other hand, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla are stri-

kingly different in their winged inhabitants. The latter coun-

try indicates by its birds the vicinity of the continent. It is

richer in species, but less interesting to the naturalist; for

many of these species are none other than those which yearly

pass through our country, and indeed in part remain with us ;

whilst another part of them go as far as Nova Zembla in order

to devote themselves to the business of brooding where they

may be undisturbed. Of land birds we found the Snowy Owl

(Stryx Nyctea), which indeed passes the winter there; the

Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), Strepsilas collaris,

Tringa maritima, and a Falcon,. which was not very rare in

Kostin-Schar, but which could not-be shot and more closely

examined. Larlier accounts also make mention of an Eagle,

but the Walrus-catchers whom I questioned said they knew

nothing of it. Perhaps however itis the same as the Falcon.

Among the web-footed birds which pass the season here

the Saatgans are so common, at least in the southern island,

that the collecting their fallen wing-feathers is an object of

profit; the Ice-duck (Anas glacialis) is frequent, and the

Singing Swan (Cygnus musicus) not rare.

According to the assertions of the Walrus-catchers, only one

species of goose comes to Nova Zembla, and we in fact got sight

of no other than the Saatgans and the Brent Bernicle (Anser

torquatus), which latter however does not pass for a goose

among the Russians. The Eider duck or Eider goose is also

not rare. The web-footed herbivorous birds however collect

in much greater numbers upon the island of Kolgujew, which

is described as covered with swans and geese, than in Nova

Zembla, where the vegetation is too scanty. On this ac-

154 Description of Animal Life in Nova Zembla.

count expeditions are sometimes sent hither to kill and salt

these birds. A merchant of Archangel told me. that once

15,000 geese were killed here in two hunts.

To the web-footed birds of Nova Zembla belong moreover

Uria Troile (in unspeakable numbers), Uria Grylle, Colymbus

septentrionalis, Sterna Hirundo, Larus glaucus, Larus canus,

Larus tridactylus, Lestris catarractes, a Procellaria, which we

however could not procure. Somateria spectabilis and Larus

eburneus are stated to occur only on the northern coast.

There also, according to the descriptions we heard, is probably

found Mormon Fratercula and Mergulus Alle. It appeared

very singular to me that no one had seen, south of Kostin-

Schar, a bird of the family of Alcade, as Alca Pica does not

belong to the most northern birds, and even Mormon Frater-

cula occurs on the Norwegian coast.

There is no trace of the whole class of Amphibia in Nine

Zembla. ‘The Batrachia and Sauria evidently cannot exist for

want of insects. Of fish, the extreme north, even where very

rich in individuals, contains generally but very few species,

and partly for this reason, because the fresh water does not

possess its peculiar forms so numerous in warmer regions, but

only the fish that ascend from the sea at certain periods. —

Thus Scoresby says of Spitzbergen and of the neighbouring

sea, that it has but four kinds of fish. My catalogue of the fish

of Nova Zembla contains ten, all of which, with the exception

of the Omul (Salmo Omal, Pall.), which is said to occur on the

east coast, we have ourselves seen. Among these the most

important is the Alpine trout (Golez—Salmo alpinus, Fabr.),

which ascends in autumn into the mountain lakes, and in

many years is caught in immense quantities and exported to

distant countries. All the other fish are inconsiderable or of

no value for commerce, and even in the ceconomy of nature

only Gadus Saida, Sep., and Cyclopterus Liparis are of any im-

portance.

On the fructification of Lycoperdon, &c. 155

XV.—On the Fructification of Lycoperdon, Phallus, and their

allied Genera.—By the Rev. M. J. Berxeuey, M.A.,

F.L.S.

[ With a Plate.]

A GREAT step has been taken towards a more satisfactory ar-

rangement of Fungi by the discovery of the real structure of

the fruit-bearing organs in Hymenomycetes. The species of

the group Tremellini have not yet been sufficiently studied,

and it is possible that fresh light may be thrown upon the

Sclerotiacei, but, since the separation of Discomycetes, the

other Fungi of the class agree admirably in structure. It is

probable however that two groups of considerable importance,

though not abounding in species, are still to be added to Hy-

menomycetes. ‘The structure of Trichogastres and Phalloidet

is confessedly very imperfectly understood. ‘This has arisen

partly from the extreme difficulty of ascertaining it with the

older microscopes, but more especially from the plants having

been seldom examined in a sufficiently early stage of growth.

Till Klotzsch* gave under the name of Hymenangium an ana-

lysis of Rhizopogon virens, which indeed is not arranged by

Fries amongst the 7richogastres, nothing at all was known of

the manner in which the reproductive organs are developed.

The learned mycologist does not seem to have suspected its

relation to the Trichogastres. He informs us that Dr. Wal-

roth has found in Grunewald a genus allied to it, and that

Gautiera of Vittadini belongs also to Hymenomycetes. Both

are probably subterraneous Lycoperdons.

If a young plant of Lycoperdon celatum or L. gemmatum

be cut through and examined with a common pocket lens it

will be found to consist of a fleshy mass perforated in every

direction with minute elongated reticulato-anastomosing laby-

rinthiform cavities. The resemblance of these to the tubes of

certain Bole/i in an early stage of growth first led me to suspect

that there must be some very close connexion between them.

If avery thin slice now be taken, while the mass is yet firm,

and before there is the slightest indication of a change of co-

lour, the outer stratum of the walls of these cavities is found

* Dietrich’s Flora Regni Borussici, vol. vi. t. 382. Berlin, 1838,

156 Rey. M. J. Berkeley on the fructification

to consist of pellucid obtuse cells placed parallel to each other

like the pile of velvet, exactly as in the young hymenium of

an Agaric or Boletus, but without any trace of those processes

which have been considered by some authors as male organs,

Occasionally one or two filaments cross from one wall to the

other, and once I have seen these anastomose. At a more

advanced stage of growth four little spicules are developed at

the tips of the sporophores, all of which, as far as I have been

able to observe, are fertile and of equal height*, and on each

of these spicules a globose spore is seated. It is clear that we

have here a structure identical with that of true Hymenomy-

cetes, a circumstance which accords well with the fleshy habit

and mode of growth.

There is some difficulty in ascertaining the exact structure

of the species just noticed, as the fruit-bearing cells or sporo-

phores are very small, and when the spicules are developed

the substance becomes so flaccid that it is difficult to cut a

proper slice even with the sharpest lancet. I have however

satisfied myself as to the true structure by repeated observa-

tions. But should any difficulty arise in verifying it in the

species in question, there will be none in doing so in Lyco-

perdon giganteum, Batsch, which more properly belongs to the

genus Bovista.

In this species the fructifying mass consists of the same

sinuous cavities, which are however smaller, so that the sub-

stance is more compact, and_I have not seen them traversed

by any filaments. In an early stage of growth, the surface of

the hymenium, that is of the walls of the cavities, consists of

short threads composed of two or three articulations which

are slightly constricted at the joints, from which, especially

from the last, spring short branchlets often consisting of a

single cell. Sometimes two or more branchlets spring from

the same point. Occasionally the threads are constricted

without any dissepiments. The terminal articulations are ob-

tuse and soon swell very much, so as greatly to exceed in dia-

* M. Klotzsch figures however in his Hymenangium virens the sporophores

as scattered and projecting beyond the surface of the hymenium, and he re-

presents also what he calls anthers, ‘This latter circumstance is confirmed

by Corda inthe Algemeine Botan. Zeitung, though he differs from M. Klotzsch

as to their form.

of Lycoperdon, Phallus, and allied Genera. 157

meter those on which they are seated. When arrived at their

full growth they are somewhat obovate and produce four spi-

cules which at length are surmounted each with a globose

spore. When the spores are fully developed the sporophores

wither, and if a solution of iodine be applied, which changes

the spores to a rich brown, they will be seen still adhering by

their spicules to the faded sporophores. The spores soon be-

come free, but the spicule often still adheres to them as

figured by Dr. Greville, ‘Sc. Crypt. Fl.’ t. 336, but they are

not attached to the intermingled filaments. In Bovista plum-

bea the spores have very long peduncles. I regret that I have

not been able to meet with a specimen in a fit stage of growth

_ to show them adhering to their sporophores. Up to the time

when the sporophores have nearly arrived at their full growth,

the structure is essentially the same as in Lyc. giganteum, as

will be seen from the subjoined figures.

_ Young specimens of Geastrum show the same anastomosing

cavities as Lycoperdon and Bovista; I have not however at

present been able to meet with a specimen sufficiently young

to show the development of the spores. The only species

which occurs abundantly in this neighbourhood is G. Bryantii,

and in this species the fruit-bearing cells are already withered

in extremely small specimens long before the volva is rup-

tured.

I regret not to have had an opportunity of examining Scle-

roderma and Elaphomyces in a sufliciently early stage of

growth, but as M. Klotzsch has demonstrated the existence

of true subterranean Hymenomycetes it is probable that they

will be found to agree in structure. With respect to Batarrea

Tulostoma, Cauloglossum and Podazon, they are so evidently

allied to Lycoperdon that there can be no doubt that they

also are Hymenomycetes. Polysaccum according to Corda has

spores furnished with an hilum, and seated upon short distinct

cells springing from the flocci. It is probably therefore an

ally of Lycoperdon. This however, and the genera not named

above, referred to Trichogastres, require due examination.

I now come to the consideration of the genus Phallus, and

I have here to regret that my observations are confined to

Phallus caninus, but as far as that goes the proof is satisfac-

158 Rev. M. J. Berkeley on the fructification

tory that it belongs to the class Hymenomycetes. The diffi-

culty of examination is here again considerable and the struc-

ture can be ascertained in young individuals only, in which

the stem is confined to the pileus, and the fructifying mass

still spread over its apex. I shall here quote a passage from

Brongniart’s ‘ Essai dune classification naturelle des Cham-

pignons,’ p. 24, who it is to be observed places the Clath-

roidées amongst his “ champignons proprement dits.” Speak-

ing of the fructifying mass he says, “ Cette couche est formée

de cellules membraneuses trés minces, aux parois desquelles

les sporules paraissent fixées. Mais comment ces sporules

sont elles enveloppées? Sont elles nues et libres dans ces cel-

lules, ou sont-ce des sporidies ou méme des théques fixées a

leurs parois? C’est ce que nous ignorons.” This I believe

is the sum of our knowledge on the subject up to the present

time. I have not at least met with anything additional, but

there are several German journals to which I have not access.

As in Lycoperdon, the fructifying mass consists of a highly

sinuated hymenium. The walls are composed of elongated

somewhat spathulate cells surmounted with from four to six

spicules, each of which bears an oblong spore. The sporo-

phores here again appear to be all fertile and of nearly the

same height, but I cannot speak so positively on this point

from the extreme difficulty of cutting a clean slice from amass

which at all times is very flaccid. It will be observed that

when the number exceeds four the additional spicule is seated

between two, which form one side of a square (+, ~ ) and that

if a sixth is present it is placed opposite to the fifth (-? -).

Here again then we have an Hymenomycetous fungus, and

there can be no doubt that the same structure will be found

in all the Phallvidei. Nor is there any reason why they should

not follow directly after the Trichogastres through Batarrea,

the only difference being that the filaments which form the

trama, that is the substance between the two surfaces of the

hymenium, in the one case become rigid, in the other deli-

quescent. We have already seen that the sporophores in L.

giganteum become flaccid and collapse, and it is probably in

consequence of this that the mass becomes pulpy, a cireum-

stance noticed by Fries as analogous to the deliquescence in

of Lycoperdon, Phallus, and allied Genera. 159

Phalloidet ; and the deliquescence of Coprini and other agarics

shows that the matter is not of very great importance.

It is to be wished that some one favourably situated and

with more leisure than I have to devote to such researches

would follow up the present observations in genera which

have not been examined. When this is done the affinities of

the two groups we have been considering may perhaps be

satisfactorily explained. A previous problem however, and

unfortunately one of some difficulty, remains to be solved,

namely, the structure of Mywzogastres in an early stage of

growth. At present I have not been able to ascertain this,

but the difficulties are perhaps not insuperable. It is probable

that Ptychogaster ‘ Cord. Ic.’ 2. fig. 90 will prove the key to

_ the affinities of Trichogastres and Myzxogastres.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

Fig. 1. Portion of fleshy mass of Lyc. celatum.

2. Three sporophores with their spicules and spores.

3. Do. showing their mode of attachment to the filaments of the trama.

This however is not constant.

. Filament occasionally found amongst the sporophore.

5. Sporophores seen from above with their four spicules.

. Abortive sporophores of the cavities of the stem or base of the fungus.

These it is to be observed are much larger than those which are fertile,

7, 8. Filaments which at length produce ihe sporophores in Lye. gigan-

teum.

_ 9. Sporophores. In two the spicules are just developed.

10,11, 12. Do. in various stages of growth.

13. Do. become flaccid. The portion examined was treated with iodine.

14. Spores.

15, 16, 17. Filaments which produce the sporophores in Bovista plumbea.

In 17 there are no dissepiments.

18, Sporophores not yet perfected.

19. Young plant of Phallus caninus cut vertically. Nat. size.

20. Filaments of which the jelly of the volva is composed. Occasionally

they contain as at (a) a row of globules, and some are terminated

with a globule as at (0).

21. A vertical slice from the apex of the rudimental stem, showing the

manner in which its substance is continuous with the trama.

22. A horizontal slice.

23. A vertical slice from the outside of the pileus.

24, 25. Sporophores with their spicules and spores.

26. A single spore.

All the figures are more or less highly magnified with the exception of 19.

or)

160 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

XVI.—Hore Zoologice. By Sir W. Jarvine, Bart.

“« Donec ergo meliora innotuerint, hisce utere, lector optime, quorum finis

est, ei Scientia parare viam, qua nulla utilior, nulla nobilior.”

Ir is proposed to bring together in a series of short papers

the zoological information which may from time to time come

into the possession of the author. Many curious forms con-

tinually present themselves which are left unnoticed, because

their descriptions alone would not be of sufficient extent to

form a “ paper” for our periodicals. It will be his endeavour

to illustrate these as often as possible, so that their descrip-

tions may serve as a mark for others, from which to note those

points in their history which are unknown, or which from the

outward form only may be supposed or hinted at. There is

much important information gained in correspondence with

naturalists in foreign countries, which can scarcely be commu-

nicated except in detached portions. The notes which ac-

company collections from abroad are in some instances so ex-

tensive as to be useful in forming skeleton lists for some de-

partinents of the Fauna of particular districts and become ex-

tremely interesting in connexion with the geographical distri-

bution of species;—and the examination of specimens received —

in spirits will furnish many subjects for illustration, which

may tend to increase our knowledge of the structure of genera,

the proper station of which in our systems is scarcely yet de-

termined.

No. I.—On the History and Habits of Crotophaga.

For some time past we have annually received considerable

collections of birds from the island of Tobago by the attention

and exertions of Mr. James Kirk, who since 1825 has super-

intended the management of various estates there. The spe-

cimens which have been received will enable us soon to give

a synopsis of the birds inhabiting the above-mentioned island,

which will show a much more extensive list than what might

be expected within such limited bounds, and will be found to

contain several birds interesting both on account of their form

and their hitherto supposed comparative rarity. But the col-

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 161

lections are still more enhanced in value by the notes which

Mr. Kirk has now commenced to send to us, and which are

the result of observations made during leisure time since he

resided in Tobago ; and it is now our object to communicate a

part of these, without delaying for the completion of our pro-

posed synopsis.

Crotophaga is a genus belonging to the new world, evidently

composed of comparatively few species, one of those remark-

able small groups where the distinctions rest on minute vari-

ations of the markings and proportions, while the general form

keeps extremely similar, and one distribution of colour and of

general tint prevails in all the members. At this time the

specific distinctions are not well understood, and it will be

extremely difficult for even an experienced ornithologist to

separate the species without the possession of an extensive

series from various localities. Mr. Swainson has described

four species in addition to the greater and lesser Ani (C. Ani

and major, of Systems), considering that mentioned by Les-

son and Quoy and Gaimard as identical with one of them *.

The characters are taken from the form of the bill and the

markings and rugosities, or the want of them, on its surface ;

but, without wishing to throw any doubt on the claim these

have to species, we would remark that the changes which the

_ bill may undergo from youth to maturity, both in regard to

its outline and markings, have scarcely been ascertained. By

most writers and travellers the Crotophage have been described

as gregarious, noisy }, often familiar, frequenting Savannas and

pastures, feeding on insects as well as seeds and grains, fre-

* Animals in Menageries, p. 321.

+ “ They live chiefly upon ticks and other small vermin, and may be fre-

quently seen upon the cows and oxen in the fields; they are often observed

to fly on their backs, unless they lie down for them, which if much troubled

with ticks they generally do when they see the birds about them, but if the

beast be heedless they hop once or twice round it, looking very earnestly in

the face every time they pass, as if they seemed to know that it was only

necessary to be seen to be indulged. They are very nvisy birds, and are of

the most common sorts in all the pastures of Jamaica ; their flight is low and

short.”—Brown’s Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, p.474. Fol. edit. 1756.

“In Jamaica it haunts the woods on the edges of the Savannahs, and is

very common, making a loud noise upon the sight of mankind—Directs the

planters in search of their runaway slaves.”—Sloane’s Jamaica, ii. p. 298.

Fol. edit. 1725.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 23. Nov. 1839. N

162 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

quently alighting on the backs of the flocks in search of the

vermin with which they are infested, breeding in a community,

and sometimes using a common nest, in which several toge-

ther deposit and hatch their eggs, the nest being placed upon

trees, bushes, or upon the ground*. In reading over Mr.

Kirk’s remarks upon the Tobago species it will be found that

they generally agree with the notes we have given from various

travellers, &c. But we find no trace of their ever building

upon the ground, or of using a common nest +; the latter fact, if

it ever takes place at all, being probably confined to some other

species. In the system which Mr. Swainson has so success-

fully wrought out, Crotophaga is placed among the Cuculide

to form a connexion with the Rasores, and among that order

of birds only do we find a few species which incubate in a

common nest. In other parts of their manners and structure,

* “ Crotophaga for instance resembles the Rasores; both have such a

weak flight that they seldom proceed far upon the wing ; both habitually live

and build their nests upon the ground, and both associate in flocks. Among

hundreds of the common Ani which we have seen in South America we

never beheld one perch upon anything higher than a bush, and this was but

seldom, as they are habitually terrestrial birds, totally differing in ceconomy

and habits from the European or American cookoos.”’—Lardner’s Cabinet

Cyclopedia, ‘ Birds,’ ii. p. 161.

‘Tl en est de méme (se laisse facilement approcher) des nichées d’anis,

qui, vivant en famille, s’expose a la file sur un méme branche aux coups du

chasseur.”—Quoy et Gaimard, Voy. de Freycinet, p.19.

“‘ At Bahia, or rather its vicinity, the chattering crows (Crotophaga) are

looked upon superstitiously, and their bills are reckoned a good antidote

against poison.”—Dampier’s Voy., iii. p. 50. 8vo edit. 1729.

+ ‘‘ Hujus speciei aves amplissimos in sepibus nidos construunt et quinqua~

ginta simul in uno eodemque nido ova ponunt et incubant.”— Brisson, Synop.

Method. ii. p. 92.

The author of the article ‘Ani’ in the ‘ Dictionaire Classique d’ His-

toire Naturelle’ gives the summary of our previous notes, but is more minute

on the subject of nidification: ‘Un seul et méme nid, dont 1]’étendue est

augmentée selon les besoins, recoit ordinairement toutes les couveuses de la

troupe. Ce nid est construit solidement entre de larges bifurcations d’un

buisson épais ou d’un arbre touffu; il se compose de branches séches et

dherbes fines entrelacées; ses bords sont assez relevés, et son diamétre est

quelquefois d’un pied et demi. I] arrive presque toujours que, pendant l’in-

cubation, les ceufs se mélent; alors les couveuses en rassemblent indifférem-

ment sous leur aile vivifiante autant qu’elle peut en couvrir, et dés que ces

ceufs sont éclos, les parens, hors d’état de reconnaitre leur véritable progéni-

ture, donnent chacun a leur tour la becquée a tous ceux qui se présentent.”

—i. p. 367. Art. Ani.

We regret being unable to quote the description of Azara ; our copy of

that work is unfortunately deficient in the last volume, and the Edinburgh -

libraries do not possess it.

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 163

particularly their activity on the ground and propensity to hide

from danger, we are reminded also of the Grallatores ; many

members of both orders run with great swiftness and thread

their way with ease through thick herbage and tangled reeds.

The Rallide among the latter show much activity, and natu-

rally live in places rank with vegetation, and the knife-like bill

of Crotophaga, the superciliar bristles, and the strong shafts

to the feathers of the forehead, all bear analogy to the defences

upon the bill and head of the rails and their allies. The inter-

nal structure of the bird, which we shall notice hereafter, ex-

hibits little affinity to either of these orders, Mr. Kirk has

thus described their manners in a letter received from him

during the last winter :—

“ This bird, with his grotesque bill, is only of recent appear-

ance in this island. Iam informed that the first pair seen

here was in the years 1822 or 1823: at that period however

there were few individuals here who devoted the smallest por-

tion of their leisure to the pursuit of natural history, and hence

a strange bird might for a short time have evaded the observa-

tion of those who took no interest in such matters. But when

we look to the noisy and obtrusive habits of the bird itself,

combined with its singular whistling note and very singularly

shaped bill, and seeing its haunts are strictly confined within

the limits of our cultivation, and more especially to low lands

in the vicinity of what we call clear pastures or low shrubberies,

swamps, &c., we are constrained to believe that a single pair

could scarcely have located themselves for any length of time

in any quarter of the island without exciting the curiosity and

arresting the attention of some individual.

“ On my arrival here, in January 1825, there were only a

very few specimens to be met with, and those few were shy,

an attribute which seems to desert them as they increase in

numbers, for the general impression entertained by any calm

observer (en passant) would be that they could kill at any hour

or any day at least five or six at a single shot, and that that

may sometimes be done I will admit while they cluster upon

the tops of dry shrubs morning and evening pluming and ad-

justing their feathers, for it is to trees or shrubs containing

the least foliage that they chiefly resort for this purpose.

N 2

164 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

Before I commenced this memorandum regarding the habits

of the Crotophaga I entertained a very different opinion as to

the facility of procuring them from what I do at this moment;

and it may be worth relating here for your information, that,

with the view of complying with your request, I went out on

two successive days to procure perfect specimens to send home

in spirits; but, strange as it may appear, out of fourteen birds

which I shot I could only lift three, and those so much de-

stroyed, as to render them useless for the purposes for which

they were intended. From this I wish to convey that if the

bird is not actually shot dead, its propensity to hide is such,

that if there is a cane-piece, a vine, or grass plot within reach,

the last expiring effort is to hide its head, and you will the

more readily conceive our difficulty by this information, that

what we call comparatively clear pastures may nevertheless

(from the rapidity of the vegetation, where we can only per-

haps afford to clear them once yearly) be covered with prickly

creeping vines of all descriptions, three or four feet high ; and

it often happens, that in consequence of the hurry to procure

the specimens just shot, the ornithological sportsman finds

himself lacerated from the foot to the face, being lanced with

a thousand hooked prickles at the same moment; it was in

such a situation that I found myself on the 26th of September

last, under the oppressive heat of a vertical sun.

“The young also evince great dexterity in hopping from

branch to branch; for long ere they are able for flight they

leave the nests, and may frequently be seen perched on the

top of a shrub or thicket of vines with a congregation of adult

birds; but as the parents retire from the intruder by flight,

the young birds prepare by long and rapid leaps to get to the

ground, and in such a situation suffice it to say that you might

ealculate with as much certainty upon the capture of a rat in

full possession of all its faculties as upon that of the young Cro-

tophaga. Only two days ago, in a comparatively clear pasture,

where there was nothing but grass about twelve inches long, I

handed one to my servant, who by some means or other let it

slip through his fingers in my presence, and notwithstanding

our united exertions and that of a third party the bird made

its escape. Since, another has been procured and the man-

Sir W. Jardine on the Habiis of Crotophaga. 165

ners attentively watched. It is exceedingly wild and bites

wickedly, and frequently draws blood with its claws. It rea-

dily devours grasshoppers (if alive), these constituting their

principal food. In a wild state I have known them devour

- tadpoles with avidity in dry weather, and I have often been

informed that they have been seen to pick the ticks from the

stock in the pastures: this I will not contradict, but never saw ;

I watched them for upwards of an hour yesterday, and the re-

sult was, that three of these birds took their station around an

ox, within three or four feet distance, sitting on the alert,

hopping gradually forward with every motion of the ox as he

browsed along, and springing on every insect that started be-

fore him.

“On looking at this curious bird a question naturally presents

itself to the beholder, What can be the use of such a singularly

sharp rigid bill? and although at first sight we are apt to pro-

nounce this bill grotesque and deformed, we shall find on more

mature consideration that the superintending care and provi-

dence of an all-wise Creator is manifest here as in all his

works, for no other conformation could have suited his pur-

poses so well. As they have been destined like other species

to labour for their food, and as it has more particularly been

their lot to search for it upon the ground and in a climate

where the foliage is thick and luxuriant, the manifestation of

the supreme wisdom is apparent when he views with what

ease the Crotophaga can pounce upon his prey through the

thickest foliage: by lowering the head the knife-ridged bill is

so brought in contact with the grass, &c., as to throw the

herbage to each side, enabling the bird to poe the insect

without the slightest resistance.

“ They are in no ways anxious to be exalted, for they seldom

choose a high tree when there is a suitable shrub in the vici-

nity; and although there are great numbers now in every

estate where cultivation has been extended, yet they seldom

fly in flocks of more than twenty, and even to that extent they

may scarcely be called flocks, like the Rooks of Europe, or the

Yellow-tail (Cassicus cristatus) of Tobago; but seem rather to

follow each other in short flights from shrub to shrub, sound-

ing their note as they proceed, which is a whistle of two syl-

166 ~— Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

lables, shorter but not unsimilar to the first note of the Cur-

lew while soaring aloft, the latter part of the note of the Keel-

bills being in a sharper key and ending with the letter p, or

somewhat like the syllables whoorip. They are very often

come upon by surprise while searching for their food amongst

vines and long grass ; on such occasions a single bird evinces

the greatest distress by violent efforts of wing and elaborate

and frequent irregular repetition of its usual note; while on

the contrary to see them descend from an eminence, a tree,

or shrub, &c., nothing can exceed the ease and gracefulness

of their movements as they glide through the air without a _

motion of wings except a slight alternate raising and depress-

ing of these members, with a gently elevated tail.

“ T have heard it observed that these birds make one general

nest, and that numbers of them contribute in adding to the

stock of eggs; this I cannot contradict, but do not credit.

On this point I am not sufficiently informed, for although I

have been in search after their nests for several years and of-

fered rewards for procuring them, yet where there are hun-

dreds of the birds,—and they are apparently increasing with

rapidity,—our stock-keepers have never succeeded in finding

me one nest. I however fortunately fell in with one last year,

in the beginning of October (1837). It was built in the fork

of a lime tree, covered with a thicket of misseltoe vine, and

situate within fifteen feet of the dwelling-house door of one

of our labourers. His description went to say that towards

evening and morning a flock of the birds used to assemble

upon the tree and in its vicinity, where they kept up a consi-

derable noise. I made it my study to watch them on several

occasions, but was unable to gather anything of importance.

I robbed the nest of one egg daily to the amount of nine,

and on my tenth visit found the nest with two broken eggs

lying at the root of the tree. It was rudely constructed of

coarse materials, chiefly small sticks, with the more pliable

portions placed inside, but was totally destitute of any soft

substance as. a lining. Another nest was discovered towards

the end of the same month constructed in a similar man-

ner, but placed on this occasion on a pretty high tree, also

covered with a creeping vine; this being left undisturbed

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 167

five eggs were laid, from which two young birds were pro-

_duced*, From what I have observed on those two instances

I am inclined to believe that the report of their uniting in the

construction of the nest and their hatching in concert is erro-

neous, but I shall endeavour ere long to procure more in-

formation when I shall again address you.”

On the 22nd of March last Mr. Kirk again wrote to me, af-

ter having still further attended to some of the disputed points

of the habits of Crotophaga. “In some of my former letters

I mentioned that I should advance nothing on hearsay as au-

thentic, and to that I have steadily adhered. Since my ac-

count of the Crotophaga’s manner of breeding, as reported in

my last, I have had an opportunity of further corroboration

by the examination of another nest with seven eggs, taken

from a thicket of shrubs and vines about six feet from the

ground. The nest, as I have already observed, is of such

rude manufacture, that I could not forward it without enclo-

sure in a parcel to prevent the falling asunder; by an exami-

nation of it however I am convinced that you would require

no further evidence to bring you to the conviction that the

Crotophaga of Tobago builds on shrubs, nay even on a tree

at times, and never on the ground.” In regard to the na-

ture of its food and manner of seizing it, Mr. Kirk also re-

marks, “I have watched the bird eagerly for the last six

months, I may say every day, and although I have been told

by some of my neighbours, on whose integrity I can depend,

that they have seen them picking ticks from the legs and belly

of our oxen in the pasture, it has never yet fallen to my lot to

witness it, nor did I ever find one tick in their stomach. I

have however seen one lately upon a sheep’s back while lying

in the pasture, but I have seen the magpie of Europe in the

same position. I do not attempt to deny the probability of

their eating ticks, but I maintain that grasshoppers form their

chief food, and that these are principally obtained by at-

tendance upon the stock while browsing through the foliage.

They are also in dry weather close attendants about small ri-

vulets, principally in the morning and evening, where they

* The eggs are white or greenish white ; the longitudinal diameter from

13 inch to 14 inch and a half.

168 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

feed upon tadpoles, and may be descried, if the grass be not

too long, huddled together in a flock of from twenty to thirty,

and so close as to resemble an old coat or cloak at a little di-

stance.”

From the near alliance which the species of Crotophaga

present to each other it may be necessary to describe the To-

bago birds as minutely as possible, which we are enabled to

do by the possession of skins and specimens in spirits, for-

warded to us by our active and intelligent correspondent.

From the form and markings of the bill exhibited in the an-

nexed wood-cut we feel inclined to refer it to the C. rugirostra

of Swainson, though from the manner in which the dimen-

sions are given in that ornithologist’s ‘Two Centenaries’ we

are not so sure that our birds agree in the latter point.

C. rugirostra, Sw.? Wrinkled-billed Keel-bill ; Mabie

in Tobago, “ Old Wife.”

Entirely black, glossed with violet reflexions on the wings

and. tail ; feathers of the head, neck and body with conspicu-

ous glossy margins ; bill wrinkled transversely downwards ; total

length from 13 to 15 inches.

The specimens received vary in total length from 13 to rather

more than 15 inches, in one of about 144 inches in length ; the

depth of the bill is 1 inch; the length to the extremity of the

rictus 14; length of the wing from the shoulder to the end

of the fourth or longest quill 6 inches, of the tail from its in-

sertion 7#; from beyond the wings 4}; expanse of the wings

163; of the tarsus 13; the centre toe, including the claw,

nearly the same. In the specimens received in spirits the bill

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 169

is of a grayish-black, at the base of the maxilla inclining to

bluish-black; it varies in the elevation or development as

seen in the cut. No.1, drawn from a bird fully 15 inches in

length, being much arched. No. 2, considerably Jess deve-

loped, belonging to a smaller specimen (133 inches) either in

the moult or scarcely having attained full plumage. The man--

dible in both is wrinkled transversely downwards. The eye

is protected by strong superciliary bristles, but the space be-

tween it and the rictus is nearly bare of feathers, a few scat-

tered bristly plumes only covering it. The ridge of the bill

enters among the plumes of the forehead, which run down in

a narrow point on each side towards the nostrils, and at this

part and above the eyes they show strong rather elongated

shafts, somewhat similar to what we perceive in some of the

Rallide, and are without doubt intended to protect the face

while they seek for their prey among the thick herbage. This

structure in a less degree extends also over the head, cheeks,

throat and sides of the neck, the feathers being there rigid and

somewhat lanceolate inform. The ground tint of the plumage

of the body is a dull black, each feather being margined with

a glossy band of a yellowish metallic lustre on the head and

neck, on the back and lower parts-of steel-blue and violet.

These bands, on the vent, flanks, and under tail-covers are

wanting. The wings and tail are of a shade of black deeper

than that of the body, and are richly tinted with violet re-

flexions ; the secondaries, greater covers, and tail in some lights

showing darker narrow transverse bars; the tail is rounded

and very ample ; the feathers broadening towards the tips, and

in its whole appearance reminding us of that member in seve-

ral of the Rasorial genera; in all our specimens it consisted

only of eight feathers ; the legs and feet are black, the tarsus

and middle toe very nearly of equal length, the claws slightly

hooked. The exterior toe is subversatile, but the structure of

the foot is in other respects ambulatorial. Mr. Kirk states

that the eyes are “very dark, apparently blue, except in sun-

light, when they assume a very dark hazel-like colour.”

When the Crotophaga is skinned the first impression is that

of a general weakness of the muscular parts, and it is so with

170 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

the exception of the greater pectoral muscle, which is wide and

thick, and covers broadly a sternum comparatively weak and

with the keel slightly developed, causing the breast to appear

as possessing great power. ‘The principal muscles which are

employed in moving the wings are weak, those of the limbs

proportionally fuller and stronger, and from the knee down-

wards tendinous and as if much used. The trachea is simple

along its whole length, and the tongue is rather large and re-

sembles that of the Corvine. The cesophagus on leaving the

mouth is widened, but immediately contracts to a simple tube,

again widening into a narrow proventriculus interiorly striated

with longitudinal rugze, until within half an inch of the true

stomach, where it exhibits a glandular slightly papillose inner

‘surface. The true stomach when distended with food is nearly

circular, flattened on the sides, and on the outside appears

muscular and strong; on laying it open however the walls are

found tobe extremely thin, almost membranaceous, and scarcely

exceed in thickness any other part of the canal. ‘The intes-

tine is terminated by a wide cloaca, and is furnished at the di-

stance of two inches from the extremity with two oval czca,

14 inch in length, joined to the tube by a narrow constriction,

but widening at the ends to double the width of the common

canal. In the whole of the internal structure, so far as our

-knowledge of that of Cuculide extends, the Crotophage will

resemble them, and will bear out Mr. Swainson’s views of

their position. The intestinal canal approaches nearest after-

wards to the conformation of that of some of the Fissirostres ;

but with the exception of largely developed czeca, which how-

ever to a great extent prevail among the Jnsessores, we see

no approach to either the Rasores or Grallatores. In the let-

ter which accompanied the specimens in spirits Mr. Kirk states

“« As the Crotophage now sent have been principally secured

‘while attending on the herds of cattle and sheep, it might

justly be expected that their stomachs will contain ticks, but

I could prognosticate that you will find them on examination

to contain principally large grasshoppers, and I found one exa-

mined lately to contain a few seeds of the Guava fruit.” The

stomachs when opened were found to contain principally

Account of a Journey across the Pampas. 171

Grylli and Cimices, mixed with the small hard stones of a

red berry or red pulpy fruit; in some instances the latter

formed almost the exclusive contents, but in none have we

been able to discover any of the parasites which infest sheep

or cattle.

[To be continued. ]

XVI.—Evtracts Srom a few rough Notes of a Journey across

the Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman, in 1835. By

James TweepiE£, Esq., addressed to Sir W. J. Hooker.

[Concluded from p. 104.]

May 8th. In the afternoon left this our dreary 3 weeks’

abode, and the cattle being in good condition, travelled all

night through a dark dense forest, where the road or rather

path was so narrow that 2 carts must wait, should they chance

to meet, until the trees have been felled so as to permit of a

passage. ‘The numerous feet and wheel tracks raised such a

dust as hung over us in heavy clouds all the way, a perfect

calm prevailing in the air, and the travellers, carts, and cattle

were all of one colour, enveloped or buried in a covering of

dry dust. In the morning, about daylight, my driver falling

asleep, the bullocks deviated a little from the path and upset

my waggon. Fortunately, though I fell from a considerable

height and some heavy bales of cloth tumbled upon me, I

escaped with only a slight bruise on one of my legs. Next

day travelled through a saline country where there was no

water and only salt shrubs for the poor animals to eat, and

arrived in the evening at the little village of Atamisco, so

named from a finely scented shrub, which grows in great

abundance about it. Scarcely any vegetable was seen ex-

cept some coarse herbage, upon which flocks of goats were

browsing.

10th. In the morning we arrived at the Rio Pitambella,

where we were again occupied 2 days crossing it in 2 canoes

fixed together by poles tied across them, by which means each

load was carried over at one time. The empty carts were

drawn across by bullocks as at the Rio Saladillo. At this

pass, having once more time to botanize for 3 days, I found

172 Account of a Journey across the

several species that were new to me, especially of grass, some

strong plants of Goodenia tuberosa, Barba del muerto, 2 sp.,

and many things I did not know. While here, I entered my

60th year, and falling into a sort of melancholy fit, at remem-

bering that I was now 9000 miles distant from my native

country, and at the present time surrounded with a class of

people more barbarous than the worst tribes of savages, men

who rejoice in the difficulties and dangers of others, nothing

affording them more delight than seeing a person fall from his

horse or attacked by an infuriated bull, events which here

very frequently happen ;—these being, I say, the prevailing

sentiments of my mind on the anniversary of my birth, my

fellow-traveller, a Dr. Mernoz, recommended as a cordial to

the spirits, a drop of wine; so extracting the cork of, alas!

my last bottle of Madeira, he and I sat down to enjoy it,

and soon drained the flask.

13th. Having now completed crossing our last difficult

river in the way to Tucuman, a more pleasant tract of coun-

try opened upon wus, consisting of gently undulated ground

with some fine varieties of trees and shrubs, principally of Mz-

mosas. For 2 days, however, we travelled through a parched

district, where neither food nor water for the beast could be —

procured. No cattle were to be seen between the Rio Pitam-

bella and San Jago, a distance of 26 leagues, except a few

goats, the kids of which we bought at about sixpence each.

17th. At sunset halted on the summit of an elevated ridge,

about 1 league from San Jago, intending to enter the town

before the morning ; but a cloud of hail with a strong gale of

wind passing over us in the night, the cattle were so much

scattered by it among the dry forests in search of food, that

we could not collect them till sunset. On looking out of my

dusty den in the cart at sunrise, the air having been beauti-

fully cleared by the gale of the night, I beheld one of the most

sublimely grand sights that could be imagined ; the towering

summits of the snow-covered Andes, their sharp peaks of va-

rious forms, heights, and sizes, stretching up among the long

lines of light clouds that lazily hung in the atmosphere; their

backs romantically variegated with black and white, the thin-

ner snowy mantle having been melted by the sun from the

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 173

projecting points, while the valleys still lay dark and dense in

frozen shade. This view of those alpine regions was most

gratifying to me, and my ever-busy memory presently recalled

to me a similar scene, when, in my youthful years, I had

stood upon the hills of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, and

with my face turned towards north-west, gazed on the moun-

tains of Argyleshire and the Western Highlands, where, in

the spring, the snow, melting from the exposed parts of the

rocks, leaves alternate streaks of black and white. This ridge

of the Cordilleras lies in the province of Catam, distant, at

the time, upwards of 50 miles in a straight line on our left

hand, and in a direction W.N.W.

18th. Halted about a mile and half from San Jago, having

adopted another road, by which we should avoid going through

the town, but sent 2 waggons thither with goods, which being

obliged to cross the river San Jago, did not return to us till

noon of the second day, 5 hours being required to pass the

river. In this district vegetation varied considerably: in

all other places of the woods, the plains were covered with a

yellow-berried suffruticose plant, which gave the ground at a

distance much the appearance of the holms of Clyde when gay

with rag-weed ; but though this shrub abounded so much,

almost to the exclusion of other vegetation, neither bird nor

beast appeared to touch its foliage or fruit. Here I found a

strong broad-leaved Asclepias, on the edge of the river several

smaller perennial species ; but the most attractive tree here is

the Mistol, a large branching tree something like a big pear

tree of the Tollo family of Buenos Ayres; the fruit much re-

sembling a Kentish cherry, and which the natives gather care-

fully and dry as they would do figs: when these fruits are

used they are steeped in warm water and then worked up into

a dough of maize meal, kernels and all, and rolled into balls

about 4 oz. weight, which are ‘eaten, baked and prepared in

various ways, being the principal food on which the natives

depend, except a few goats; for the dearth of water and pas-

ture, with the prevalence of dense forests and salinos, prevent

the rearing of cattle. Except a few spots near the town,

where maize and pompions are grown, I saw hardly any cul-

tivated ground for many leagues around San Jago.

174 Account of a Journey across the

Being now only 40 leagues from the town of Tucuman and

my patience quite exhausted, I quitted the tropa, and accom-

panying the owner of 32 mules which were going to the mines

of Peru, I started with him on the 20th. It proved no easy

job for the 4 men and the proprietor to drive these animals,

they strayed so much into the thorny brushwood ; and though

the driver was faced from top to toe with a hide protector, he

had much difficulty in making his way through the woods,

especially where the Chaneos abounded. These delays how-

ever allowed me to botanize and to gather a few seeds, for of

flowering specimens there were none. About 9 o’clock we

halted in the woods and kindled a fire to prepare our asado

for supper, but the night proved so extremely cold that we

could not sleep, so we started at about 3 in the morning and

travelled till sunrise, when we arrived at the site of a few

ranchos. Here we tied our horses to trees, entered the most

decent looking dwelling, which proved to be the principal inn,

as I suppose, of the country, for few were the habitations of

any kind that we had seen, and called for something for break- ~

fast. The morning being very chilly we were ushered into

the principal apartment, which was nothmg more than a

roughly finished hut, covered with a sort of long grass, its ©

sides not even plastered with mud, only stuffed with straw

and sticks between the posts; in the centre was a large fire

of sticks, a welcome sight for our cold persons ; this fire-place

was a circle of large coarse stones, 6 feet in diameter, placed

in the centre of the room, and holding as many ashes as seemed

a twelvemonth’s accumulation.’ Four women, 6 naked child-

ren, and a lot of dogs, cats, and poultry surrounded the fire,

all contending which should get the largest share of an over-

plus of boiled pompions which had been left from last night’s

supper. One old woman was busy scraping the outer skin

from more pompions for the family’s breakfast, while the»

others sat idly looking on. The mode of preparing the pom-

pions for food was to slit the largest in halves, and then put-

ting them into the hottest part of this enormous fire, to fill

the hollow or concave side with hot charred wood. While

they they were thus roasting the landlord desired that the —

cow should be brought in and milked, which was done’ ac- —

Gar AD tae St oe Reb ue cg eo Te) CR a een reas ee ee

Rei

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 175

cordingly, the black boy who performed the operation using

the only utensil apparently in the house to receive the milk,

namely, the huge pot or boiler from which the dogs had been

licking the relics of pompions, some of which still adhered to

its sides: this was set on the fire; and by the time the milk

was, boiled the pompions were sufficiently roasted, when scra-

ping off with difficulty the black and ashy skin, I put some

of the pulp into the milk and managed to make a tolerable

breakfast. This is the way in which people live in this coun-

try ; nothing better or more cleanly is to be procured for fare ;

we all gathered round the pot of hot milk which was set on

the ground, when also the roasted pompions were laid at our

feet, all covered with black wood ashes ; for plates and spoons

we had horns, halved and a little bent ; for seats, the skulls of

horses; and for a table, the clay floor of the hut. There was

no choice: we paid about sixpence each for our meal and set

off again. After travelling till mid-day, the weather being hot

and dry, we stopped for 2 hours at noon, turning the cattle

out to feed and lying down ourselves to sleep, and pursued

our way in the afternoon, the country being so open and level

that we drove the mules before us almost at a gallop. The

owner of these animals had left us in the morning, accom-

panied by his servant, preferring another route to Tucuman,

and I remained with the driver, that I might have the more

time tobotanize. At night we stopped at a posthouse called

Vinora, 19 leagues from Tucuman, where we rested till the

afternoon of the next day ; during which time I examined the

productions of the neighbourhood. I saw some fine trees of

the great fan palm, a strange species of Cestrum, with very

large yellow flowers, and a Solanum, apparently brownish, with

white fruit of the size and appearance of hens’ eggs ; the latter

was generally growing in open grass fields, where the plant,

about 3 feet high, very thorny, and loaded with this singular

looking fruit, was a striking object. Also a suffruticose Bud-

diea, which the natives call sage, and use as such.

23rd. Quitting Vinora after mid-day, we reached in the

evening a farm, where many goats were feeding and where we

purchased a fine fat kid for about one shilling, and obtained

permission to turn our horses and mules into an inclosure,

176 Account of a Journey across the

after which we kindled a good fire at the gate and roasted our

kid for supper. We were accompanied for some time by a

young couple on their way to be married at Tucuman, no

clergyman living nearer to perform the ceremony, for which

they had to travel 57 miles. However there was a saving of

trouble in this case, as the double object was answered of

getting their child baptized, a fine boy nearly 2 years old.

24th. Started very early this morning, having been refresh-

ed by a comfortable night’s rest, for we had slept by the side

of our large wood fire, sheltered on the weather side by long

clean grass waving above us. Our cattle too were recruited

by the fine grass they had eaten during the night, and we

took to the road in high spirits at the prospect of soon finish-

ing our long and arduous journey, a hope which was realized

about 4 in the afternoon, when we entered Tucuman. The

2 last days’ journey was the most pleasing and interesting of

all; the noble Andes lay on our left hand, thick fog covering

part of their sides, above which their snowy summits soared

bright and clear; often we approached within a few miles di-

stance of the mountains. The vegetation too became more

varied as we advanced into the warm and more humid cli- —

mate which Tucuman enjoys, so as to be quite interesting. —

Having reached the farm-house belonging to the owner of our

carts, who had arrived only the day before, he welcomed us

kindly to his dwelling: the first thing offered to a stranger here

is a cigar, then matte; after which we visited his orangery,

where I saw some trees of almost incredible magnitude and

with equally incredibly enormous crops of fruit, whether con-

sidered as to number, size, or quality. Some of these trees

could not be less than 40 feet high, with tops high in pro-

portion, the points of the lower branches resting on the ground;

and the oranges of an uniformly large size, equally inter-

spersed all over and among the whole trees. The beautiful

hue of the fruit, which was generally ripe, added to the inter-

esting appearance of these trees. He had no other garden,

but noble fields of sugar cane and some rice grounds: a mill

for cleaning the latter article was also on the farm. At night

this kind person sent one of his servants to conduct us to the

only coffee-house in the town of Tucuman, with orders to re-

Pampas of Buenos Ayres to Tucuman. 177

quest that the owner would treat me as a friend of his ; but no

such recommendation was needful, for I found both the master

and mistress of the house most worthy and agreeable people,

as were indeed the mass of the population in this fine country,

where the inhabitants are generally as friendly as their coun-

try is pleasant.

25th. Having arrived yesterday, I had the opportunity this

morning, as I anticipated, of seeing what I supposed would

be a grand military show, it being the anniversary of the free-

dom of this country from the Spanish yoke, an event which

is celebrated with rejoicings throughout the Argentine pro-

vinces, especially at Tucuman, where independence was first

proclaimed, and where a brick pillar still marks the exact

spot of this proclamation. I consequently supposed that the

military would sport their best uniforms-on the occasion, and

that something very grand should be exhibited: but at about

8 in the morning 200 men assembled in the Gran Plaz of the

town, these being the militia of the country, as there is now

no standing army ; their uniform was rags, of all colours, how-

ever, and most of them were bare-footed; the other had old

shoes or torn slippers, with hats much like the fragments of

bee-skeps, the crown being generally covered with coarse un-

cut wool, undyed and in the state in which it comes from the

sheep’s back. Clothes they had none, but rough pouchos,

loosely hanging over the body, a tattered dirty shirt beneath,

but no jacket or trousers. They fired a feu de joie and di-

spersed. At night the town was illuminated with lumps of

tallow, put into square thick pieces of Agave leaves, a hollow

being made in them, and filled with the grease. These chan-

deliers were set on the window sills in place of lamps or lan-

terns. (For a further description of Tucuman, with its fine

scenery, &c. see the pamphlet of Alvardi published in 1834.)

APPENDIX.

Our return to Buenos Ayres was somewhat different from

our former route, the course being first more southerly and

then more to the north. Two miles after leaving Tucuman,

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 23. Nov. 1839. )

178 Account of a Journey across the Pampas.

one of our carts having overset in a Bocacha pit, a day’s tra-

velling was lost, and the next morning, when crossing the Rio

de Tucuman, 5 miles only from the town, the fracture of an

axle caused a similar delay. Three days after we recrossed the

same stream near Vinora, and it may be needful to remark

that we had to pass over it at four different places, at all of

which it bears different names. Thus, its first appellation is

Rio de San Magill, this being the name of the ridge of the

Cordilleras where it rises, and indeed the proper name of the

town of 'Tucuman itself, which is situated close to that moun-

tain pass. At San Jago the river is called the same: and

again, at the village of Pitambola, the Rio de Pitambola, while

further down the number of willows that clothe its banks give

it the appellation of Rio Saucio, under which name it enters

the Parafia near Santa Fé. Having crossed it at Vinora, we

entered upon a fine road, lately cleared by the government of

San Jago, the first and only benefit I ever heard of their ren-

dering to the country. Immediately after leaving this forest

we enter the town of San Jago, a most miserable place, nothing

growing about it but some bare trees, on the branches of which

the goats were browsing. Two miles after quitting it I ob-

served a red cloud rising in the 8.W.; it was an immense flight

of red locusts, which passing over us made the sun appear like —

blood. Next day the wind having shifted, these insects were

driven again on our line of road, where they were mostly rest-

ing on the tops of the trees, which looked as if studded with

red blossoms. Nothing else worthy of notice occurred till we

came to the Rio Secunda: when we were going to Tucuman

this was a river 4 feet deep and nearly 200 yards wide, but

now presented only a bed of drifting white sand.

Near Cruz Alta we observed the smoking ruins of some

Ranchos which the Indians had burnt the preceding day, and

therefore took a more northerly direction to keep out of their

way.

Crossing Rio Carcaufon, one of the shaft bullocks got loose;

and the other having all the weight of the great cart and load

thrown upon him, one of his horns with part of the skull was

dashed in and the poor animal drowned. This was an un-

lucky day, another bullock having suddenly dropped down

a I aa i Te ek ce

Se TA a ee ee ee tr eee ee

2 <7 TON a RORIRESE pe irest Mids

Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus. 179

and died, and in lassoing one to fill the place of the latter, one

of its legs was broken; so that three beasts were lost.

On reaching Ponto Morgues, 21 miles from Buenos Ayres,

I took a horse and left the Tropa, which did not get to town

till 5 days afters so bad are the roads close to the great metro-

polis of the Argentine Republic. I made my way home that

very night that I left the carts, 7 months after setting out, and

so much was I disfigured with the effects of weather and sun,

to say nothing of dirty and tattered garments, that several of

my old acquaintances did not know me.

Thus I have given a detail of my pleasure trip across the

vast plains of Buenos Ayres, a journey during which I may

say that I have travelled on my own feet nearly 2000 miles,

viz. from the Rio Segero on the N.E. to the foot of the Cor-

dillera on the N.W., and seen, said, and done many things,

with which it would be superfluous and impertinent to trouble

you.

XVIII.—On the Laurus Cassia of Linneus, and the Plants

producing the Cassia Bark of Commerce. By Rosert

Wieut, M.D.*

My attention was first directed to this subject by a commu-

nication from Government, in which I am requested to en-

deavour to ascertain “whether the common Cassia Bark of the

markets of the world is a thicker and coarser portion of the

bark of the genuine cinnamon plant or tree, or whether it is

the bark of a plant not analogous to the cinnamon plant or

tree.”

Before it was possible to return a satisfactory answer to this

question, it seemed incumbent on me to ascertain what plant

Linnzus meant to designate under the name of Laurus Cassia,

and whether it was probable the plant so called could supply

all the bark passing under that name in the markets of the

world. This primary, but most difficult inquiry was rendered

indispensable by the, generally supposed, ridiculous assertion

of Mr. Marshall, that the leaves, and the bark of the trunk and

branches of the Laurus Cassia of Linnzus, so far from being

* From the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 1839. No. 22.

Oo 2

180 Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus.

aromatic and spicy like cinnamon, are bitter and have in a

slight degree the taste and odour of myrrh. This assertion,

wide as it may appear of the truth, is yet founded in fact, and

what may appear still more extraordinary, has led to a disco-

very, which, without such aid as he has given, would not pro-

bably have soon been made by a professed botanist, a title to

which I believe Mr. Marshall does not aspire. He appears

to have been led to the discovery, that the Laurus Cassia of

Linnzus did not produce aromatic bark, simply through the

native name, and wonders how it could have received from

him the name of Cassia, and had qualities attributed to its

bark which it does not in the slightest degree possess. I think

I can now answer the question, and explain the mystery which

has so long hung over this species, and been hitherto ren-

dered only more obscure by each attempt to bring it to light.

It is well known to modern botanists, that many of their

earlier predecessors were but indifferent describers of plants,

and often very loose in their quotations of figures as syno-

nyms, a sin of which Linnzus was often about as guilty as

any of his cotemporaries. He seemed to have had an idea,

that their figures were generally at best but approximations

to the truth, and that ifa figure exhibited even a remote simi-

larity to a plant before him, especially if from the same coun-—

try, he might with safety quote it as asynonym. Bearing this

in mind, we can easily account for a number of errors to which

his incorrect synonyms have given rise. The present instance

affords an excellent example of what I have here stated, and

one which, but for the discovery of Mr. Marshall, might have

long remained undetected.

In Herman’s herbarium of Ceylon plants, he (Linnzus)

found one bearing the native names of “ Dawalkurundu, Ni-

kadawala,” under which it is referred to, or described in Her-

man’s ‘ Museum Zeylanicum.” This he considered a species

of Laurus, apparently from habit alone, and in his usual brief

precise style, calls it, “Laurus foliis lanceolatis trinerviis,

nervis supra basin unitis ;” having previously called the true

cinnamon, “ Laurus foliis ovato-oblongis trinerviis basi nervos

unientibus.” The difference between the two, as indicated by

the names, seems very slight, merely depending on the one

Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus. 181

having lanceolate leaves with the nerves united above the base;

while in the other the leaves are said to be ovate-oblong with

the nerves distinct to the base—differences small indeed, and

such as could never be found of much avail in distinguishing

the one plant from the other, since they are both constantly

met with in different leaves on the same tree. Such being the

case, it is not much to be wondered at that botanists should

_ have been surprised by the boldness of Mr. Marshall’s an-

nouncement, that two trees, believed to be of the same ge-

nus, and so nearly alike in their external forms, should yet

differ so very widely in their properties. But so it is, and

nothing can be more certain than that the fact is as he states

it. :

In proceeding to trace the history of the two species, aided

by the light Mr. Marshall has thrown on them, our difficulties

vanish like mist before the noon-day sun, though Mr. Mar-

shall himself has found it “ difficult to conceive how the Da-

walkurundu obtained the appellation of Laurus Cassia from

Linneus.” It was because Linneus’s specimen of Dawalku-

rundu was neither in flower nor in fruit. Had it been so, he

was too acute an observer ever to have confounded it with the

plants with which he has associated it in his synonyms. This

explanation, it may be answered, is mere assumption on my

part—it certainly is so, but supported by so strong circum-

stantial evidence, as not to leave a doubt of its correctness.

Linneus has in his ‘ Flora Zeylanica’ given a short descrip-

tion of each of these species: his description of the cinnamon

is principally confined to the flower, and is most precise. In

his description of the other, the flower is not once alluded to.

Here he declares, that he knows not by what mark to distin-

guish it from the ‘ camphorifera Japonensium, which in its

foliage it greatly resembles, but nothing can be more distinct

than its inflorescence; that of the camphor tree being a pa-

nicle, having a stalk as long as the leaves ; while in Dawalku-

rundu it may be described as a subsessile capitulum, that is,

5 or 6 sessile flowers congested on the apex of a very short

peduncle, and surrounded by an involucrum of 4 or 5 leaves ;

several of which capitula usually form verticels round the

naked parts of the branches where the leaves have fallen. He

182 Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus.

begins his description of Laurus Cassia* by stating that he

at first considered it a variety of the antecedent (cinnamon) ;

but now that he knows not by what mark to distinguish it from

‘camphorifera Japonensium,’ for the leaves are thinner than

those of cinnamon, the nerves uniting above the base as in

camphorifera, and are sprinkled beneath with a greyish dew

(subtus rore cesio illinita) as in the camphor tree, and are at

the same time lanceolate and of a thinner texture than the pre-

ceding (cinnamon). The whole of his description in short

agrees most exactly with Mr. Marshall’s description of the

Cingalese Dawalkurundu, and leaves not a doubt that both

had the same plant in view, and consequently that Mr. Mar-

shall is so far correct in saying that the bark of the Laurus

Cassia of Linnzeus possessed none of the qualities attributed

to it. So far all is clear ; but now the chapter of errors begins.

Had Linnzus been permitted to exercise his own unbiassed

judgement in this case, it is not improbable he would have

avoided the error of assigning to a plant which, with all his

acuteness, he knew not how to distinguish from the camphor

tree, the credit of producing Cassia, or at all events would not

have done so without some expression of doubt, so as still to

leave the question an open one. But, upon consulting other —

authorities, he found in Burman’s ‘ Thesaurus Zeylanicus’ the

figure of a species of Cinnamomum or Laurus as he called the

genus, to which Burman had given the name of Cinnamomum

perpetuo florens, &c. and assigned the native name of Dawal-

kurundu, not as it appears from the specimen itself having

been so named, but because being different from the true cin-

namon of which he had seen specimens and figures, he thought

it an inferior, wild or jungle sort, which must of necessity be

the plant that Herman had described in his ‘ Museum Zey-

lanicum,’ though the inflorescence differed much from the

description, (a very essential point, which Burman remarked

and endeavours to explain away,) and therefore gave it the

* “Hane speciem olim pro antecedentis varietate habui, nune vero, qua

nota hance a camphorifera Japonensium distinguam, non novi; Folia enim

Cinnamomo tenuiora, nervis ante basin coeuntibus ut in camphorifera; sub-

tus rore cesio illinita, ut Camphora, et simul lanceolata ac tenuiori substantia

quam precedentis.”—Linn. Flor. Zeylanica, p. 62.

a j

Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus. 183

same Cingalese name. Linnzeus’s specimen not being in flower,

and the resemblance between the specimen and figure being

in other respects considerable, he had not the means of detect-

ing the discrepancy, and unsuspectingly adopted Burman’s

figure and name as a synonym to his plant. In Rheede’s

‘Hortus Malabaricus,’ (1 tab. 57) he found the figure of an- |

other cinnamon, even more closely resembling his plant in its

general aspect than Burman’s figure: this he also associated

as a synonym; and Rheede’s plant being lauded on account of

the aromatic properties of its bark and leaves, which resem-

ble the true cinnamon, though it is not the genuine cinnamon

tree, he seems to have considered himself quite safe in asso-

ciating this also, and called the three species, this tria juncto

in uno plant, Laurus Cassia, and assigned it as the source of

the officinal “‘ Cassia Lignea cortex.’

After this exposition of the origin of the species Laurus

Cassia, it can scarcely be a matter of surprise that no two bo-

_ tanists have ever agreed as to the plant which ought to bear

the name ; nor, that not one of them should ever have sur-

mised what plant Linnzeus had constituted the type of his

species. It is not my intention on the present occasion to

extend these remarks, by tracing the various conjectures that

have been promulgated on the subject; suffice it to say that

no one, so far as I am aware, has taken a similar view as that

now explained. It only further remains for me to give some

account of the three species thus erroneously associated.

The first mentioned, Dawalkurundu, Linnzeus’s own plant

and the type of the species, is, I believe, the Laurus involu-

craia of Vahl, and of Lamarck in the ‘ Encyclopédie Méthodi-

que,’ and has in Professor Nees’s Monograph of the Indian

Laurine (Wall. Plant. As. rariores), received the name of Te-

tradenia Zeylanica, but is the Litsea Zeylanica of a former

work of his, a name which I presume must be restored, owing

to the other being preoccupied. The slight difference of struc-

ture does not seem to render a new genus necessary.

The second and third have both been referred, by the same

eminent botanist, to his variety of the true cinnamon, the Cin-

namomum Zeylanicum, a decision to which I cannot subscribe,

as I cannot perceive that either of these figures are referable

184 Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linnaeus.

to any form of that species, and they besides differ specifically

from each other. |

The Cinnamomum perpetuo florens appears to me a perfectly

distinct species, very nearly allied to, if not actually identical

with, Nees’s own species C. sulphuratum, of which I have now

got specimens from Ceylon. This I infer from the appearance

of the plant as represented in the figure, for if any dependence

is to be placed on the description, it is impossible to admit it

into the genus. On this however, I do not feel disposed to

place much reliance, as it was not the practice a century ago,

when the description was written, to examine the structure of

flowers with the same care that is now bestowed. Should it

be objected, that the species I quote as the C. perpetuo florens

is clothed with yellowish pubescence, which is not mentioned

by Burman, then I have another from the same country (Cey-

lon) perfectly glabrous, agreeing in the form of its leaves, but

differing in having more numerous and smaller flowers, which

may be substituted, and that I do not think, more than the

other, a variety of the genuine cinnamon tree.

The Malabar plant Carua (Hort. Mal. 1. tab. 57), on the

other hand, I consider a very passable figure of a plant, in my

herbarium named, by Nees himself, Cinnamomum iners; but, —

whether or not I am right in the species to which I have re-

ferred it, I can have no hesitation in giving it as my opinion

that it is not referable to any form of the C. Zeylanicum ;

neither can I agree with him in thinking the plant figured

under the name of Laurus Cassia in the ‘ Botanical Maga-

zine,’ No. 1636, is referable to the Ceylon species, but is I

think very like the Malabar one, the only species of the genus

to which the name Cassia should be applied, if that name is

still to be retained in botanical nomenclature, as being the

only one of the three associated species known to produce that

drug. To another plate of the ‘Botanical Magazine’ (Laurus

Cinnamomum, No. 2028) I also refer here, and feel greatly at a

loss to account for its introduction into that work under a dif-

ferent name from the preceding. Theplant which Nees formerly

considered the Laurus Cassia, but now calls Cinnamomum

aromaticum, from China, is a very nearly allied species, but

‘is distinct, and furnishes much of the bark sold in the Euro-

Dr. R. Wight on the Laurus Cassia of Linneus. 185

pean markets under the name of Cassia, though it has nothing

whatever to do with the Laurus Cassia of Linnzus, which,

from the preceding history appears strictly confined to Ceylon

and India proper, and that name, not being referable to any

one species, ought unquestionably to be expunged from bota-

nical nomenclature, its longer continuance there only tending

to create confusion and uncertainty. This brings me to the

next question—namely, what plant or plants yield the Cassia

bark of commerce ?

The foregoing explanation, in the course of which two

plants are referred to as yielding Cassia, greatly simplifies the

answer to this one. The first of these is the Malabar Carua

figured by Rheede, the second Nees’s Cinnamomum aromati-

cum. The list, however, of Cassia-producing plants is not li-

mited to these two, but I firmly believe extends to nearly every

species of the genus. A set of specimens, submitted for my

examination, of the trees furnishing Cassia on the Malabar

Coast, presented no fewer than four distinct species; inclu-

ding among them the genuine cinnamon plant, the bark of the

older branches of which, it would appear, is exported from that

coast as Cassia. Three or four more species are natives of

Ceylon, exclusive of the cinnamon proper, all of which greatly

resemble the cinnamon plant, and in the woods might easily

be mistaken for it and peeled, though the produce might be

inferior. Thus we have from Western India and Ceylon alone,

probably not less than six plants producing Cassia; add to

these nearly twice as many more species of Cinnamomum, the

produce of the more Eastern States of Asia and the Islands of

the Eastern Archipelago, all remarkable for their striking fa-

mily likeness, all I believe endowed with aromatic properties,

and probably the greater part if not the whole contributing

something towards the general result, and we at once see the

impossibility of awarding to any one individual species the

credit of being the source whence the Cassia lignea of com-

merce is derived ; and equally the impropriety of applying to

any one of them the comprehensive specific appellation of

Cassia, since all sorts of cinnamon-like plants, yielding bark

of a quality unfit to bear the designation of cinnamon in the

market, are passed off as Cassia.

186 Mr. C, Lyell on the discovery of Fossil Teeth

XIX.—On the discovery of Fossil Teeth of a Leopard, Bear,

and other animals in a Crag Pit at Newbourn in Suffolk.

By Cuarues LYELL, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., &c.

Durine a late tour in Suffolk (June 1839,) Mr. Wm. Col-

chester of Ipswich pointed out to me in his collection of fossil

teeth from the Red Crag of Newbourn near Woodbridge, one

tooth which differed greatly from the rest, and which we, both

of us, suspected to belong to a carnivorous mammifer.

On submitting the tooth to the inspection of Mr. Owen of

the College of Surgeons, he found on comparison that it agreed

precisely in size and shape with the posterior grinder of

lower jaw (left side) of the Leopard, Felis leopardus, Linn.

“This tooth,” says Mr. Owen, “ is so exactly similar in size

and shape to the corresponding tooth in the Leopard, that

even its specific identity could not be denied. At the same

time the dental formula of the genus Felis maintains so close

a correspondence in everything but size throughout the known

species, that the identity of the fossil with any existing spe-

cies could not be affirmed on the evidence of a tooth alone.

The characteristic fragment from Newbourn affords however

decisive evidence that a feline animal as large as a Leopard

existed at the geological epoch indicated by the formation in

which it was found.”

The molar in question is imperfect ; the crown and upper

portion, so far as the enamel Fig. 1. .

extends, is well preserved, but

the base has lost the fangs,

and has the appearance of

having been worn and polish-

ed after the fangs had been Poser mol: Ce side of Leoar

broken short off. The two b. View of the same from the outside.

cusps on the crown still retain their points. (See fig. 1.)

This fossil resembles in colour that of many of the accom-

panying teeth of fishes, most of which belong to different spe-

cies of the shark family, with which the palatal bones of the

Myliobates, a kind of Skate, are intermixed. It is deserving

of remark that in a great portion of the shark’s teeth the softer

or bony portion at the base has been worn away more or less

Bem oes A,

Sees

of a Leopard, Bear, and other Animals. 187

entirely as if by attrition, while the upper part, or that co-

_yered by enamel, has suffered but slightly. In a word they

seem to have been subjected to the same mechanical action

as the tooth of the Leopard.

Newbourn is a village on the west side of the estuary of

the Deben, and about six miles §.W. from Woodbridge. In

the large pit of red crag at the northern extremity of the vil-

lage (Mr. Wolton’s pit) the crag presents its ordinary cha-

racter of a purely marine deposit, containing the usual shells,

in great part comminuted. But the horizontal strata are tra-

versed to the depth of about thirty feet by numerous fissures,

which are from a few inches to a foot or more in width, and

are filled principally with the detritus of red crag in which

numerous fragments of shells are still preserved. Some of

these rents terminate downwards, coming to a point, with no

signs of fracture below. As at present our information sim-

ply extends to the fact that the Leopard’s tooth was picked

up together with those of fishes in this pit, it might be sug-

gested that the mammalian relic was possibly derived from the

contents of one of the fissures, the filling of which was an

event certainly posterior and perhaps long subsequent to the

zera of the deposition of the crag.

It is well known that teeth of the cave hyzena were found

near Maidstone, in Kent, in a rent traversing the limestone

called Kentish Rag, and it was not till many years afterwards

that any other teeth or bones of quadrupeds were discovered

in the superficial deposits of the same district.

Mr. Searles Wood, to whom I communicated the result of

Mr. Owen’s examination of the Newbourn fossil, lost no time

in carefully examining a large collection of fossil teeth from

Newbourn, belonging to the Rev. Edward Moore, of Bealings,

near Woodbridge. ‘They belong chiefly to the fishes usually

found in the Red Crag, but Mr. Wood selected from among

them some which he supposed to be mammalian. Mr. Owen,

after an attentive comparison of these, has been able to refer

them to a Bear, Hog, and a large Ruminant of the size of the

red deer.

The following are the notes on these specimens with which

I have been favoured by Mr. Owen :—

188 Mr. Lyell on Fossil Teeth in the Suffolk Crag.

“1. Bear.—The crown of the tooth of a species of Ursus.

It is the antepenultimate molar, right side, upper jaw. The fos-

sil indicates a species about the size of the common European

bear, but not identical with that or any other existing species.

It is smaller than the two large species of bear from the Ger-

man bone caverns. I have not the means of comparing it

with the smaller extinct species described by Goldfuss.

“2. Hog.—The external incisor of a young Hog: the tooth

Fig. 2.

Recent. Fossil.

Incisor of Hog.

aa. View of tooth from the inside. 5b. View of tooth from the outside.

belongs to the lower jaw, right side, and very closely resem-

bles the corresponding tooth of a young wild boar. (See fig. 2.)

“3. Ruminant.—Fragments of a fractured molar of a Ru-

minant as large as the red-deer.”

The fossil teeth above described, like the tooth of the leo-

pard, are all of them more or less broken and worn. We

know not whether they were procured from the fissures or

the regular strata of the large Newbourn pit, but I confess

that, judging from their appearance, I incline to the opinion

that they are all of the age of the red crag. They seem to have

undergone precisely the same process of trituration, and to have

been impregnated with the same colouring matter, as some of

the associated bones and teeth of fishes which we know to have

been derived from the regular strata of red crag. Had these

mammalian remains been simply washed into fissures formed

subsequently, we might have expected them to be in a differ-

ent state from the crag fossils. It is true that in the forma-

tion last mentioned, throughout its range in the counties of

Suffolk and Essex, no vestige of a terrestrial quadruped had

previously been met with; but I may remind the reader that

Mr. Wood found in the red crag of Butley, about seven miles

north-east of Newbourn, a single specimen of a freshwater

CL a Vea

A Meee

5 be ten

Mr. Lyell on Fossil Mammalia from the Suffolk Crag. 189

shell, a variety of the Planorbdis marginatus, and in the red

crag of other places three individuals of an estuary species,

Auricula myosotis. The same river which conveyed these

shells, but especially the Planorbis, into the open sea, may also

have carried down the carcasses or bones of land animals.

XX.—On the occurrence of Fossil Quadrumanous, Marsupial,

and other Mammalia in the London Clay, near Woodbridge,

in Suffolk. By Cuarxes LYELL, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.GS., &c.

In the summer of 1838 I was informed by Mr. Wm. Col-

chester of Ipswich, that he had obtained in the spring of the

preceding year, from Kyson (or Kingston), near Woodbridge,

in Suffolk, a tooth which he supposed to belong to a mam-

miferous quadruped, and that it was derived from a bed of

sand which he conceived to belong to the London clay forma-

tion. In the following year, after having seen the tooth in

question and recognized it as decidedly mammiferous, I re-

quested him to take me to the spot, which is situated near the

village of Martlesham, on the borders of the estuary of the

Deben, about 14 mile from Woodbridge, and at the distance

of about 6 miles from the village of Newbourn mentioned in

the preceding notice. I found the deposit at Kyson to con-

sist of brown clay laid open to the depth of 12 feet, and be-

low this sand in layers, yellow and white, which has been

pierced to the depth of 12 feet without reaching the bottom.

The clay and sand here are dug for making bricks ; in the up-

permost bed of this sand, precisely at the point where it is

in contact with the overlying clay, I found numerous teeth of

fishes of the Shark family, similar to others which Mr. Col-

chester had previously met with associated with the mamma-

lian tooth.

As the clay at Kyson is covered by red crag at a short di-

stance from the pits, and as I had seen clay of the same co-

lour beneath the crag in the neighbouring cliffs of Bawdsey,

and also at Felixstow and Harwich, containing Septaria, and

as at Harwich the imbedded shells, fruits, and bones of Turtle,

are such as characterize the London clay, I entertained no

doubt that the Kyson formation belonged to the Eocene period.

190 Mr. Lyell on Fossil Mammalia.

On showing the fossil tooth to Mr. Owen, he at once af-

firmed that it was the grinder of some one of the mixed feed-

ers, rather than either a purely carnivorous or herbivorous

quadruped. His first comparison led him to suppose that it

was one of the molars of the lower jaw of an Opossum, about

the size of the Didelphys virginiana of North America, to

which it in fact bears so great an affinity that it is only di-

stinguishable when we observe with care the more quadran-

gular form of the molars of the quadrumanes as contrasted

with those of the Opossums, in which the anterior and ex-

ternal angle of the grinder is cut off as it were vertically.

When subsequently Mr. Owen instituted a more minute

and extensive comparison, with a view of giving an anatomical

description of the tooth above-mentioned, he discovered clearly

that it was not a Didelphys, but the molar of a Monkey of the

genus Macacus, thus constituting at once the first terrestrial

mammifer which had been found in the London clay, and the

first quadrumanous animal hitherto discovered in any country

in tertiary strata as old as the Eocene period.

Soon after my visit to Kyson, Mr. Searles Wood, having

learnt from me that Mr. Owen had determined the tooth above-

mentioned to be mammiferous, visited the spot, and prevailed

on Mr. Colchester to search in the sand previously thrown

aside from the bed containing the numerous teeth of fish.

The result of his examination was the discovery of a lower

jaw, referred by Mr. Owen to the genus Macacus, abo

one molar tooth and the alveolus of another*.

Pursuing his researches Mr. Colchester afterwards met “ae

another jaw, which is figured in the subjoined notice (see figs.

2 a, 2b, 2c, pp. 192, 193), which Mr. Charlesworth has since

described as the jaw of an Opossum, a genus to which it will

be seen that Mr. Owen also considers it to be in all probability

allied. Lastly, in September, 1839, two grinders referred by

Mr. Owen to insectivorous bats were also obtained by Mr. Col-

chester from the same pit at Kyson. (See fig. 3. p. 194.)

* See papers by Messrs. Wood and Owen, Mag. of Nat. Hist., Sept. 1839.

+ Ibid. p. 450.

Mr. Owen on Mammalian Remains. 191

XXI.— Description of the Mammalian Remains found at Kyson

in Suffolk, mentioned in the preceding Notice. By RicHARD

Owen, Esq., F.R.S., &c.

1. Molar of a Macacus. (Fig. 1.)

Tus tooth was one of the first of the mammiferous remains

from the London clay formation at Kyson which was sub-

mitted to my examination by Mr. Lyell, and the one which

after a cursory comparison I observed to present a consider-

able resemblance with the molar of an opossum. I should not

however have presumed to have published a statement of its

affinity to, much less its identity with, the genus Didelphys,

without testing the fossil by a more extended and rigorous

comparison.

This I have lately undertaken with a view to the present

communication, and the result has been to identify the tooth

as a second molar, left side, lower jaw of a Macacus (the tooth

which corresponds with the second ‘ bicuspis’ in Human Ana-

tomy.) (See fig.1.) The crown pre- Fig. 1.

sents four tubercles, arranged in two

transverse pairs, the anterior pair be- Om

ing the most distinctly developed, and a b

rising the highest (fig. a.) ; there 18 also a very small ridge or

rudimental talon at the anterior and another at the posterior

side of the crown; the latter is placed between and connects

together the two posterior tubercles. The fangs are two,

strong and divergent; the anterior one has been broken off.

The grinding surface of the tooth presents two depressions,

a small one in front of the anterior pair of tubercles, and a

larger one between the two pairs of tubercles. (Fig. 1, 0.)

The tooth has evidently belonged to an old individual, for the

tubercles are worn and the posterior concavity is smoothed

and deepened by attrition. It differs from the corresponding

tooth of a recent Macacus of the same size in having a slight

ridge along the base of the anterior part of the crown, and in

being a little narrower from side to side, and the same cha-

racters distinguish the posterior molar of the fossil Macacus

described by me in the September number of the ‘ Magazine

of Natural History’ (1839). As, moreover, the present fossil

192 Mr. Owen on the Mammalian Remains,

molar bears exactly the same proportion to the above-mentioned

fossil posterior molar, which obtains in the corresponding

teeth of the recent Macaci, I have no doubt that the two fossil

teeth belong to the same extinct species of Macacus.

The inferior molars in the genus Didelphys differ from the

tooth in question in having the anterior and external angle cut

off as it were vertically. |

2. A portion of Jaw with one of the False Molars of a Mam-

miferous Species, probably allied to the Genus Didelphys.

(Fig. 2.)

There is no tooth so little characteristic, or upon which a

determination of the genus could be less safely founded, than

one of the false molars of the smaller carnivorous and omnivo-

rous Fere and Marsupialia. <A large, laterally compressed,

sharp-pointed middle cone or cusp, with a small posterior, and

sometimes also a small anterior talon, more or less distinctly

developed, is the form common to these teeth in many genera

of the above orders. It is on this account, and because the

tooth of the fossil in question (fig. 2a.) dif- Fig. 2a.

fers in the shape of the middle and size of

the accessory cusps from that of any known

species of Didelphys, that I regard its refer-

ence to that genus as premature, and the affi-

nities of the species to which it belongs as Outside, nat. size.

awaiting further evidence before they can be determined be-

yond the reach of doubt. Mr. Charlesworth, by whom the

present fossil was first described and figured*, has accurately

specified the differences above alluded to in the shape of the

crown of the tooth as compared with the false molars of the

true Opossums: they are seen in the more equilateral or sym-

metrical shape of the middle cusp, the greater development of

the posterior talon, and the presence of the anterior talon at

the base of the middle cusp: the grounds on which his de-

termination of the fossil was founded are not stated.

I agree, however, with Mr. Charlesworth, so far as to con-

sider the fossil in question as bearing so close a resemblance

* Mag. of Nat. Hist., September 1839.

found at Kyson in Suffolk. 193

to the corresponding part of the Opossums as to warrant the

expectation that subsequent discoveries may prove the differ-

ences above-mentioned to be merely specific. The crown of

the spurious molars of the placental Ferze which present the

same general form as the fossil, are thicker from side to side

in proportion to their breadth; the spurious molars of the

Dasyurus Thylacinus and Phascogale differ in like manner

from the fossil. It is in the marsupial genera Didelphys and

Perameles that the false molars present the same laterally

compressed shape as in the fossil. Now besides the Fig.2,».

perfect tooth, the fossil includes the empty sockets of

two other teeth (fig. 2, 4); and the relative position of

these sockets places the Perameles out of the pale of

comparison. On the hypothesis that the present

fossil represents a species of Didelphys, the tooth in Nat. size.

situ unquestionably corresponds with the second or middle

false molar, right side, lower jaw. This is proved by the size

and position of the anterior alveolus. Had the tooth in situ

been the one immediately preceding the true molars, the

socket anterior to it should have been at least of equal size,

and in juxta-position with the one containing the tooth. The

anterior socket, however, is little more than half the size of

the one in which the tooth is lodged: it is also separated from

that socket by an interspace equal to that Fig. 2,c.

which separates the first from the second false

molar in the Didelphys Virginiana. This is

well shown in the inside view (fig. 2, c.). In the

placental mammalia, in which the first small

false molar is similarly separated by a dia- Inside. Nat. size.

stema from the second, the first false molar has only a single

fang. In the present fossil the empty socket of the first false

molar proves that that tooth had two fangs as in the marsupial

Fere and Insectivora. There is nothing in the size or form of

the socket posterior to the implanted tooth of the fossil to

forbid the supposition that it contained a spurious molar re-

sembling the one in place; had it been the socket of a true

molar, as Mr. Charlesworth conjectures, then the fossil could

not have belonged to Didelphys or to any other known marsupial

genus, because no known marsupial animal which presents the

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.23. Nov. 1839. P

194 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

posterior false molar of a similar form and in like juxta-posi-

tion with the true molars, as the tooth in the present fossil,

(on the supposition that it immediately preceded the true

molars) has the next false molar so small as it must have been

in the fossil on that supposition.

3. Two molars of a small Mammal most nearly resembling

those of the Insectivorous Bats. (Fig. 3.)

One of these small grinders (fig. 3, a) has its crown com-

posed of four triangular prisms, placed in two transverse rows,

with an angle turned outwards and a side or flat surface in-

wards, the summits being sharp-pointed. The exterior prisms

are the largest. The crown swells out «a. = Figs. 2.

abruptly above the fangs, defending

them, as it were, by an overhanging i

ridge. There is a small transverse emi-

nence or talon at the anterior part of | — Twicenat. size.

the crown; and a very small tubercle is placed between the

bases of the two external prisms.

The second molar (fig. 3, 6) differs from the preceding in

having the two posterior prisms suppressed, and replaced by a

flattened triangular surface. ‘he anterior prisms are present,

and their apices project far beyond the level of the posterior sur-

face. There is a small ridge at the anterior part of the tooth.

These teeth agree more nearly with the antepenultimate

and last molars of the larger Insectivorous Bats than with any

other teeth with which I have as yet compared them: they

differ chiefly in the presence of the small tubercle at the basal

interspace of the exterior prisms.

XXII.—Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

Mr. Schomburgk’s recent Expedition in Guiana. -

In our first volume, p. 68, we communicated the accounts which

we had received from Mr. Schomburgk up to the autumn of 1837,

informing us of his intention to prosecute his researches to the east-

ward and towards the sources of the Orinoko. We shall now have

the satisfaction, from his arrival in this country, to present our readers,

in the present and subsequent Numbers, with the narrative of his

proceedings up to the time of his return to Georgetown, the capital

of British Guiana.

ah Re ale ek a AE “ ted

EF gy eS a ee INLETS GSC pm ae oe eee

Bese es er

ied he othe

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 195

The great object of the expedition determined upon during the

favourable season of 1838-39 was to connect my researches with

those of the celebrated Humboldt at Esmeralda, on the Upper Ori-

noco. This was a task not without its dangers, but such that, should

I be able to reach my aim, the success would prove its own reward,

and another chasm in the geography of South America would be

filled up. _ I succeeded, and reached Esmeralda from the east on Fe-

bruary 22d, 1839, after a period of nearly five months from the

time of our departure from the Brazilian boundary Fort San Joaquim,

and after enduring the greatest hardships and deprivations. But while

the details and geographical discoveries made during this expedition,

will doubtless appear in the Journal of the Royal Geographical So-

ciety, under whose auspices I travelled, I may here give a general

view of the natural productions which distinguished the regions over

which our steps, and canoes carried us.

San Joaquim do Rio Branco is situated at the junction of the river

Takutu with the river Parima of the natives, or Branco of the Portu-

guese. We may almost consider it, as being situated in the middle

of those extensive savannahs, bounded by the Carawaimi, Canucu,

- Pacaraima, and Parima mountains, no doubt once the basin, and the

origin of the tradition of that mysterious lake which figured for cen-

turies on our maps, and which even the extensive geographical re-

searches of a Humboldt, and his proofs of its present non-existence,

have not been able to erase entirely from some recent maps.

These savannahs are covered with Graminee, and Cyperacee,

chiefly of the tribes Panisee, Chloridee, Agrostidee, interspersed

with the genera Cyperus, Carex, Scirpus, &c. And while the former

afford food to numerous herds of cattle, the sedges give the appear-

ance of herbage to regions which otherwise would appear waste, and

barren. ‘The savannahs consist of undulating ground; this is just

as we might expect, admitting the opinion, that they formed once

the bed of a vast inland lake. Many parts are marshy; even the

lower declivities of those gradually rising hills, exhibit frequently a

greater moisture than the parched appearance of the environs would

warrant, and to the explanation of which the severe dews, the cha-

racteristic meteorological phenomenon under the tropics, and the

mechanical process of percolation, give a clue. These moist places

are distinguished by a livelier vegetation, consisting chiefly of spe-

cies of the genera Utricularia, Eriocaulon, Xyris, Pontederia, Drosera,

Marica, &c., high above which the majestic Mauritia fleruosa towers

its fan-shaped leaves, and gives that peculiar aspect to the landscape,

which stamps it at once with undeniable features as tropical. Accord.

196 Information respecting Botanical Travellers. —

ing as the moisture is more or less prevailing, or the thin stratum

of mould is mixed with sand, we may trace individuals of the ge-

nera Crotolaria*, Lisianthus, Coutoubea, Hibiscus, Shultesia, Zornia,

Stylosanthes, Elephantopus, Mimosa, Eupatorium, Latreillea, Unzia,

| Wulffia, Centrosema, Phaseolus, Indigofera, Tephrosia, Porophyllum,

Hyptis, Gerardia, Lippia, Cryptocalyx}, Camara, Aegiphila, Amaso-

nia, Irlbachia, Bacopa, Buchnera, Beyrichia, &c. A few stunted trees

of the Curatella americana, the rough leaves of which are so useful

to the Indian for polishing his arrows and war clubs; some Mal-

pighie, the bark of which the Brazilians use for tanning, are di-

spersed over the savannahs, and in consequence of their almost equal

size, do not contribute to lessen the monotonous aspect of these plains

——nor do they afford shade to the weary traveller, as their inconsider-

able size and thinly scattered foliage, does not lessen the effects of

the solar rays upon him, who should seek shelter under their branches.

Coppices of wood rise sometimes like oases out of these savannahs.

and are marked by trees of considerable size. On approaching such

a desirable refuge from the heat of the sun, the transition from the

vegetation of the savannah to that of the forest, is highly remark-

able. The solitary trees of the Curatella become more numerous ;

they are interspersed with arborescent shrubs, chiefly belonging to

the natural orders of Rubiacee and Composite, and it appears still

undecided, whether forest or savannah is to have the predominance.

We approach the wood, girt by species of the genera Helicteris, Mi-

mosa, Bauhinia, Apeiba, Solanum, &c., satisfied with but little nou-

rishment, and inured to the full action of the sun. In their vicinity

we may observe the Agave, and several erect and angular Cacti, some

of the latter in form of huge Candelabras, or overtopping in height

the surrounding trees}, perhaps adorned with flowers remarkable for

their beauty,—alas ! of short duration—or inviting by their purple-

coloured fruits. Divers species of Inga, several Cassiee, Combretacee,

Lecythidee, and Myrtaceae, distinguish the interior of the small forest,

which is seldom more than two miles in circumference. Occasionally

tracts of huge blocks of syenite traverse the savannahs, or shelves

of granite just rise above the earth, and extend to a considerable

* For a detailed account of the plants collected during my expeditions in

the interior of Guiana, see Enumeration of plants collected by Mr. Schom-

burgk in British Guiana, by George Bentham, Esq., Annals of Natural Hi-

story, Numbers VIII. XII. XIX. and XX. Mr. Bentham’s kind intentions

are to continue their systematic description in future numbers, while divers

sets of these plants, of about 900 species each, remain to be disposed of.

+ Annals of Natural History, No. XII. p. 446.

t I have observed in the vicinity of Pirara in one of these coppices a Ce-

reus, the height of which I estimated at from 50 to 60 feet.

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 197

breadth and length. They possess their own Flora; Rhewie and

_Melastome, form perhaps the striking feature, as their large and

purple flowers are discerned at a great distance amid these verdant

isles; but on approaching many plants of that interesting tribe the

Orchide@ may be discovered, where one would have thought it im-

possible that they could derive nourishment. The most common on

these piles of syenite, or on the Jess elevated rocky shelves, are Cyr-

topodium (Andersonii), two new species of Epidendrum, Schomburgkia

marginata and crispa, chiefly the former species. It was in a similar

situation, where I found a Melocactus, the first which I discovered in

Guiana; Euphorbie, Peperomie ; and if water gush from these rocks,

Gesnerie, Tillandsie, Bromelie, &c. are very common. Many of

these plains are bathed by rills of limpid water, lined by Mauritia

palms, and their banks adorned by Rhevie Hibiscus, Oenothere, Jus-

siee and a Phuseolus with large yellow flowers. AHeliconie, se-

veral individuals of Cannee, and among them a gigantic Thalia, are

to be found at the decided marshy situations. Before we leave

however, the vegetable productions of the savannahs, I have yet to

mention three species of Cyrtopodium, which appear to be unde-

scribed. They are terrestrial, and the most common among them.

recommends itself by its fragrance, and the long period which it re-

mains in flower. The second species has a panicled scape with nu-

merous yellow flowers, spotted with brown, and the third appears

merely a variety of the former, from which it differs only in the

darker colouring of its flowers. The Indians when travelling over

the savannahs are in the practice of setting the grass on fire, and if

the weather has been dry, the conflagration spreads to a great ex-

tent, and not only the grass, but likewise the foliage of the trees

which cover the savannahs, is destroyed by the fiery element; our

Cyrtopodia survive however the ordeal, and it appears as if they

wanted an impetus to call forth their florescence. If rain follows the

conflagration, the raceme soon after makes its appearance from below

the pseudo-bulb, and is in full blossom before the plant pushes forth

a leaf. The pseudo-bulbs, having been injured by the fire, perish ;

and if I except a few instances, I have not seen during my repeated

travels over the savannahs many bulbs which bore leaves on their

apex, or plants which possessed leaves, and blossoms at the same

time. The fragrance of the Cyrtopodium, or Paulista, as it is called

by the Brazilians, reminds me of another plant, which with regard to

its odour might vie with the former. It is a Neurocarpum, and

its beautiful ccerulean flowers, with yellowish disc, sometimes an

inch and a half to two inches long, and which appear generally in

pairs, diffuse a fragrance which resembles that of our carnation,

198 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

I have already alluded to the circumstance that wild cattle are

dispersed over those savannahs with a general outline of the vegeta-

ble production of which, we have just become acquainted. ‘Two pri-

vate individuals, towards the end of the last century, founded cattle-

farms in the vicinity of Fort San Joaquim ; and having involved them-

selves, the Government made pecuniary advances which they could

not return, and their property fell ultimately in the hands of Govern-

ment. Many of the cattle have since strayed, and have been re-

claimed by nature, roaming in their wild state over the savannahs,

and would no doubt rapidly increase if their number were not ma-

terially thinned by the attacks of man and tigers. The Brazilian

government order annually an expedition against them, the object

of which is to capture such as may become reconciled to the domes-

tic state, and to kill the untractable for the sake of their hides and

flesh, the latter of which is slightly salted and dried in the sun on

the spot, and sent to Manaos, at the mouth of the Rio Negro. As

an account of the manner of attack and capture may prove of interest,

I relate what I have seen during my presence at one of these expe-

ditions, coupled with the information which I received from the

administrator of these farms.

A place having been selected in the vicinity of water, the huts of

the party are soon erected and the necessary preparations concluded.

The men go out in pairs on horseback, each being provided with the

lasso, a rope plaited of narrow thongs, and about twelve fathoms

long. One end of it is firmly fixed to the girth of the saddle, gene-

rally on the right side, and at the other end is a running noose. As

soon as a herd of cattle is observed, the horsemen approach gently,

but their object of remaining unobserved is generally frustrated, as

the cattle begin to run as soon as the horsemen come near them.

The animal which is to be chased having been meanwhile selected, and

pointed out, the horsemen follow, and as the horses are the swifter,

they manage in a short time to get nearly in a parallel line with the

animal. The well-taught steed, as if aware which had been selected

for the chase, takes care to keep up with it, until its rider finds op-

portunity to prepare for the cast of the lasso. This is taken in the

right hand, so that the noose may be opposite that part of the circle

which he keeps firm in his hand, the other parts of the lasso hanging

loosely in coils on the fingers of the left hand. Rising in his stirrups,

he gives the noose an impetus by swinging it several times round

his head, and discharges it, when he thinks he is most sure in his aim :

it carries off the remainder of the string from his left, and, circling

in the air, it descends over the horns of the animal, and drawing close

around the crown of its head, its swift course is stayed. This is the

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 199

moment, when the well-trained horse, although in full speed, stops

still, and turning round, uses all its power to pull against the en-

raged animal. We have supposed that the animal was secured while

trying to escape by flight, but sometimes the cattle stand and furi-

ously attack the horsemen, and then great coolness and address are

necessary, to avoid their ferocious efforts to gore the horse and its

rider. If the horses be lively and well-trained, a great deal of the

danger is avoided, as the wary steed watches the motions of the

animal, and dexterously avoids its attack, when it suddenly darts upon

it. The herd meanwhile pursue their flight, leaving the bulls to guard

their retreat, and as it is not usual that they wheel to repeat

their attack, if they have once missed their aim, the danger is much

lessened, and the horsemen soon succeed in riding off one of the

bulls from the rest of the herd and pursue until he stands at bay.

The horsemen now keep going round and round the animal, the one

endeavouring to engage his attention by making nearer approaches,

while the other draws sufficiently near from the opposite side to war-

rant success, if he should throw his lasso. If the bull make a dart

upon either of them, they turn sharp off to the right or left, and the

animal passes on straight forward, and makes soon after another

stand, until one or the other of the horsemen succeeds in entangling

him with the running noose. The ensnared animal makes ferocious

efforts to gore the horse, but the latter, aware of the danger by which

it is threatened, keeps the rope always-on a stretch. If the captured

animal pursues too swiftly or makes an unexpected attack, the horse-

man turns suddenly, stretching by this manceuvre the line at full

speed, and counteracting forcibly the animal’s advance forwards ; it

seldom fails of throwing it down, and sometimes with such force as

to break its neck or limbs. Convinced at last, that its efforts to gore

its capturer are fruitless, it becomes sullen, and allows itself to be

dragged forward to the temporary pen which has been erected at the

camp. Here they are kept without food or water for three days ; they

are then turned out, and allowed to graze and drink water, flanked

on all sides by horsemen with lances, who manceuvre round the herd

to drive back any which might venture to escape; andin the even-

ing they are driven back to the pen. If any should succeed in

making their escape the horsemen are ready to pursue them, and to

bring back the fugitives in a similar manner as related; but it hap-

pens frequently that they become so stubborn as to defy every at-

tempt to induce them to move forward, and such as are so refrac-

tory are therefore butchered with the knife.

[To be continued. |

200 Bibliographical Notices.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Pracht-Flora Europaeischer Schimmelbildungen. A.C. J. Corda.

Leipzic and Dresden, 1839. Folio.

It may seem quite ridiculous to publish a Sertum Mucedinum in

the same magnificent style as the Sertum Orchideum of Professor

Lindley, but if any be inclined to think so, we have only to refer

them to the present most splendid and interesting work. The forms

illustrated therein are so beautiful and extraordinary, that at first

sight one would be almost inclined to think them recollections of

dreams rather than representations of realities and those the offspring

of corruption. ‘T'wenty-six species, selected for singularity or ele-

gance, are figured, not, as in the generality of works on mycology, by

mere scraps, but in all their beauty. Of these nine only have been

figured before, and on most of these new light is thrown. Nothing

can well be more perfect than the figure of Syzigytes megalocarpus,

which is one of the most wonderful of vegetable productions, not

yielding in interest to Zygnema or Closteria ; and notwithstanding

the admirable memoir of Ehrenberg, under the auspices of the author

it presents new attractions. Some of the new forms represented are

most wonderful; amongst them is a new Echinobotryum, which we

have ourselves lately detected of dead stems of Dahlia. It appears

that the species of the genus are parasites on the stems of other

moulds. :

We cannot always agree with the author in his systematic views,

but with so much novelty before us we may be content to pardon

one or two errors. ‘The plant for instance figured under the name

of Dactylium belongs clearly to quite another series, and is in fact

closely allied to Helminthosporium. We strongly recommend the

work not only to the mycologist but to the lover of nature, to whom

the wonders displayed by these lowly productions must prove a rich

repast. In conclusion we cannot refrain from quoting the motto

prefixed to the work: ‘‘ Quelle admirable structure, quelle sagesse,

quelle Tout-puissance dans le moindre objet sorti des mains du

Créateur !”

In the press.

Dr. Johnston is preparing for the press a ‘ History of the British

Sponges and Corallines,’ to be printed and illustrated in the same

style as his History of the British Zoophytes, to which this new

work may be considered as a Supplement, and as completing his ori-

Bibliographical Notices. 201

ginal design. It will contain a very full account of all that has been

hitherto written on the subject; and an original figure of every spe-

cies and remarkable variety will be given. Dr. Johnston intends at

the same time to avail himself of this opportunity of adding many

new figures of zoophytes contributed by his friends, and acquired by

himself, since the volume on British Zoophytes was published.

Corpus Florarum Provincialium Suecie.—]. Floram Scanicam

_scripsit E. Fries, Upsalie, 1835. 8vo.

This is the first of a series of Floras of the different parts of

Sweden, comprising that of Schenen. Our object in noticing it here

is to give a sketch of the learned Professor’s latest views on the ar-

rangement of Fungi, which we are enabled to do not only by the

help of the work itself, but from a letter from the Professor himself,

dated October 4th, 1838. As the work (though, like the ‘ Novitize

Flore Suecice’ lately noticed, it is of great utility) is not probably

in many hands, we think it cannot fail to be acceptable.

a. Agaricinei. 06. Polyporei. ec. I i. d. Au-

1. HymMenomycereEs. { 8 ee yP 5 Hydnei Au

ricularinei. e. Clavariei. jf. Tremellinei.

" Helvellei (Morchella, Helvetla, Rhizina, Peziza,

&c.) = Pez. ceraceze.

v Bulgariei (Leotia, Bulgaria, &c.) = Pez. gelati-

2. DiscomycerTEs.

Discus excipulo satu- nose.

ratior. ce. Dermei (Vibrissea, Ditiola, Dermea, &c.)=Pez.

tuberosze.

Discus ut in sequenti- \ d. Patellariei (Sarea, Patellaria, Cenangium, &c.)

bus excipulo dilutior.

e. Phacidiacei (Glonium, Actidium, Hysterium,

Phacidium, Rhytisma, Leptostroma, &c.)

f. Stictidei.

Genera e prorsus no incipi . “a-

Sa { sig P $ novo principio ultra 50, natura

issima.

ra. Spheciei. Ostiolo prominulo, sive eustomi, quale

etiam Sp. fusce, &c.

6. Dothiorei. Ostiolo impresso, sive cryptostomi.

(¢. Dicheenei. Ostiolo rimoso, sive rhegmostomi.

{d. Perisporiei. Ostiolo poroso, sive porostomi, Ana-

logicum Gasteromycetibus.

e. Apiosporei. Astomi nec sponte dehiscentes (h.

1, Antennaria, Myxothecium, Vermicularia.)

f. Cytisporei. Coniomycetes in nucleum redacti,

tangunt stilbosporeos,

202 Zoological Society.

4. GASTEROMYCETES.

a. Phallodei. Analogi cum Hymenomycetibus.

| b. Tuberacei. Analogi cum Discomycetibus.

Sporidia fixa. c. Nidularacei. Analogi cum Pyrenomycetibus.

{ d. Lycoperdinei.

e. Trichodermacei. Hyphomycetes perfectius evo-

Sporidia pulveracea< luti.

laxa. | f. Myxogastres. Hypodermiis eximie analogi v. c.

Perichena strobilina = Peridermium, Lk.

(Obs. nune limites non e substantia floccosa, sed in

morphosi pono.) '

a. Isariei sive Hymenomycetes elementares.

b. Stilbini sive Discomycetes elementares.

e. Mucorini sive Pyrenomycetes.

d. Mucedines sive Gasteromycetes elementares cum

Trichodermaceis confluentes.

Dematiei.

jf. Sporodermei sive Coniomycetes in floccos conca-

tenati.

5. Hyruomycertss. {

a. Sclerotiacei sive Hymenomycetes elementares.

b. ‘Tubercularei sive Discomycetes elementares.

i Ouigh ih ieee y C. Stilbosporei sive Pyrenomycetes elementares.

d. Il\losporei sive Gasteromycetes elementares.

e. Sepedoniei sive Hyphomycetes elementares.

Lf. Hypodermiei.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 12, 1839.—Thomas Bell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

A paper from Mr. Schomburgk, entitled ‘“‘ Remarks on the Greater

Ant-bear (Myrmecophaga jubata),” was read. This paper commences

with some general observations on the Kdentata and Monotremata :

the author then proceeds to give a detailed description of the animal

under consideration. The following is an abstract of the remaining

portion of the paper, or that which relates to the habits of the animal.

Mr. Schomburgk observes, that at a distance the Ant-bear appears

to be a much taller animal than it really is, owing to the elongated

and nearly erect hair of the mane, and also the erect manner in which

it carries its large bushy tail.

the fore foot is applied to the ground, and the long claws are then

doubled inwards. It runs with a peculiar trot, and is not, as has

been represented, slow in its movements and easily overtaken ; for

when chased it will keep a horse in canter, and does not tire readily.

When walking, the outer portion of

ETE NER SO ANS Ng fl i a Dos

RPGR E SE eM areme a r

Zoological Society. 203

White Ants or Termites constitute its chief food. When the Ant-

bear meets with one of the tumuli constructed by the White Ants,

it immediately pulls the fabric down by means of its large strong

claws, and when the Ants are thus exposed its long slender tongue

is thrust out to collect them. ‘The movements of the tongue, alter-

nately protruded and retracted, are so rapid, says Dr. Schomburgk,

that it is no longer surprising how so large an animal can satiate

its appetite with such minute insects. With the Termites he swal-

lows a considerable quantity of the material of which the Ants’

nest is constructed. Of this fact Mr. Schomburgk assured himself by

dissection, and he is of opinion that the substance of the nest serves

as a corrector.

«It has been generally thought,” says Mr. Gepoabiness “ that the

Ant-bear lives exclusively on Ants; this, however, is not the case.

In one which I dissected a year ago, a species of Judus was found ;

and an adult one now in my possession swallows with avidity fresh

meat hashed up for it.

«The Ant-bear makes neither nest nor burrow, its ample tail ser-

ving it as sole protection against the inclemency of the weather. One

of its favourite positions when at rest, is to tuck up its feet under its

belly, and to unite the two extremities almost close together; in which

position the tail covers the whole animal: at other times it cowers

itself up like a dog when asleep, and the tail covers only the snout

and part of the body. The female Ant-bear possesses two pectoral

teats, and produces only one young at a time; and as soon as this

has received sufficient strength the mother carries it with her on her

back, where it keeps itself firmly attached. ‘The young animal re-

mains with its mother for the space of a year, and as this is the pe-

riod when she brings forth again, itis then obliged to shift for itself.

“‘If the mother be attacked, she defends herself valiantly : raising

herself upon her haunches, she strikes with her sharp claws at the

enemy ; this is chiefly done with the right foot, while the left rests

on the ground; but she quickly changes their respective positions

when the attack is carried to the other side: the young one remains

all the while clinging to her. If the danger increase, she throws

herself upon her back, and strikes with both claws at her enemy.

“«T have been assured by a highly-credible person, that the Jaguar

finds it difficult to conquer the Ant-bear, and the fight which en-

sues was described to me as characteristic. It happens frequently

that both combatants remain dead upon the spot, or that one does

not survive the other many hours. The force which the Ant-bear

possesses in its fore feet is astonishing, and I have no doubt that it

204 Zoological Society.

is well able to rip open the belly of its assailant; nevertheless, I

should scarcely have supposed that the Ant-bear proved formidable

to the fiercest of American animals.

‘“« A young one, estimated about four weeks old, was presented to

me by Dom Pedro Ayres. While riding on horseback over the sa-

vannahs, he discovered the parent with the young, and immediately

gave chase. After she had kept the horse in full canter for half an

hour, she found herself so closely pressed that she put herself in de-

fence: my friend was ready with the lasso, and having thrown it

dexterously over her, she was secured. To the last moment the

young one had clung to the mother.

‘** The young one measured over the forehead along the back, from

the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail, twenty-two and a half

inches; the tail was twelve and a half inches, and it stood nine and

three quarter inches high. In lieu of the yellowish white of the legs,

and the bands of the same colour, which give such a remarkable ap-

pearance to the adult, there were in the young animal gray hairs,

tinged with white: in all other respects it resembled its mother in

colouring.

“The young Ant-bear was quite wild at first, and sought for some

dark corner in the room in which it was confined, in order to hide

itself. When we approached it, it put itself immediately in defence

like the adult ones, and struck out with its right paw, uttering at the

same time a growl like that of an incensed puppy. After a few

days, however, it became accustomed to its situation, and an In-

dian woman took upon her to feed it with milk and Cassada, and

sometimes with White Ants. It soon showed great attachment to

her, and followed her like a dog.

** It appeared to be of a very cold nature ; not only the extremities,

but the whole body felt cold to the touch, although we kept it

wrapped up in a blanket. It preferred, however, to be nestled, and

to be taken up, and on putting it down it uttered a whining but

not unpleasant sound; when it did not succeed in attracting atten-

tion, and was not taken up again, the whining sound was raised to

a harsh and grating noise. In following a person, it directed its

course more by the smell than by sight, and carried its snout

close to the ground. If it found itself at fault, it wheeled round

at right angles upon the hind legs, and snuffed the air in all

directions, until it found the right scent again. Of the dimness

of its sight we had various proofs; it hurt itself frequently against

objects that stood in its way, not observing them until it came in

contact with them. Its power of smelling was exquisite, and it could

Zoological Society. 205

discover its nurse, or any person to whom it had taken a liking, at a

considerable distance. Upon these occasions it would immediately

commence the whining sound so peculiar to this animal. It was an

expert climber; it happened that I was one of its favourites, and

whilst writing on my table it used to come softly behind me, and as

soon as it was sure it had found me out, it climbed up my legs

with great dexterity. It showed its attachment by licking, and was

very gentle and even sportive; we all prized it highly. It slept a

great deal. We had it for nearly two months, and as it began to

feed itself we had great hopes of rearing it; unfortunately we were

unable to procure milk, and whether in consequence of the change

of food, or some other cause, it gradually declined. I found it some-

times as cold as ice, and stiff, and although I recovered it repeatedly,

it died one day during my absence.

“Its place had been meanwhile supplied by an adult specimen,

likewise a female. I shall never forget the interesting sight which

this individual presented. Some of the Indians belonging to my

_ party, whom I had despatched in quest of game, met it on the sa-

vannahs, and wisely attempted to drive it towards San Joaquim

without wounding it. My attention was first attracted by an im-

mense hue and cry from the persons about the fort, and upon step-

ping out the first object which struck me was the Ant-bear, running

in a kind of dog gallop towards the houses, and flanked on both

sides by the red-skinned Indians, whe were furnished with bows and

arrows, which they were ready to discharge, should the animal break

through their lines. Having arrived at the walls of the fort, it re-

treated into one of the corners which a bastion formed, and attempted

to climb up by thrusting its nails into some of the larger interstices

between the freestone of which the walls are built; it did not, how-

ever, succeed, and we managed to throw a lasso over it. The

animal defended itself valiantly, and as the surrounding persons

appeared to be afraid of it, it ran a fair chance of slipping the

noose; some of the men more courageous than the rest threw it,

however, on the ground, and another noose being fixed to one of its

legs, it was secured, and safely lodged in the yard attached to our

quarters. In its endeavours to get rid of the rope, which passed

round the rump, it chafed itself considerably, and we found it ne-

cessary to make a roomy pen, to which it was conveyed. It be-

gan to feed on the third day: we gave it Ants and farina; the

latter, a preparation of Cassada root, it never refused. The Ants’

nests in the neighbourhood of the fort were soon exhausted, and

more in way of experiment than out of persuasion that the animal

206 Zoological Society.

would eat it, some small pieces of fresh beef were placed before it;

to cur greatest astonishment it ate the meat with avidity, and has

since been chiefly fed on fresh beef and fish.

‘«‘ By kind treatment it soon became domesticated, and fed out of

our hands. When not asleep, (in which state it used the same

position as already related,) it rested entirely on its haunches, and

stretching its long snout through the palings of its pen, it surveyed

the surrounding objects, and snuffed the air.

«It even raised itself frequently, and without difficulty, to nearly

an erect posture, and remained thus for some minutes; sometimes

it sat with its fore feet crossed. In feeding, it kneeled as sheep

and goats do. It attempted frequently to take up objects with its

paws; in this manceuvre its long claws assisted wonderfully. In

_ rising from its resting posture it used first to get upon its knees.

““ When some meat was thrown before it, it expanded the lateral

apertures of the nostrils, and seemed, by moving its flexible upper

lip, as if it intended to seek out the most delicate morsels.

‘“‘] have already remarked how fond the young one was of climb- .

ing, and have no doubt that, if circumstances should require it, they

climb trees in their wild state with the same agility.

“It secretes a liquid substance, transparent like water, which

drops down almost constantly out of its nostrils and mouth; this is

the more remarkable, as it used very little water. The Llama, with-

out using much water, possesses likewise a superabundant quantity

of saliva. I recollect, before the pen was finished, when lying in the

sun, it perspired so profusely that its hair could not have been more

wet had the animal been in the water. It is remarkable that the

four individuals, and the young one which we secured at Fort San

Joaquim, were all females; in no instance have we observed a male.

What, then, is the natural question, becomes of the males? I can

give no other answer than that the males are unproportioned to the

number of females, and are, no doubt, much more shy. Those which

we secured were caught during day ; it issues, perhaps, from the dense

forests only by night. A similar instance offers itself in the genus

Auchenia, of which the males do not quit their pastures in quest of

the females, and herds exclusively of females and males are met

with; it is only during the rutting season that they mix, when the

males combat for the females.

«Tf it could be substantiated that the number of males is consi-

derably smaller than that of the females, in that circumstance would

rest an additional ground for supposing that the extinction of its

species, like those of the Edentata in general, is determined upon.

<a ee Ce, en eo ee

4p 4\ ager a)

ee ath elt ee gs

PERT

~ Zoological Society. 207

_ “The flesh of the Ant-bear is eaten by many of the native tribes,

and also by the negroes, who consider its skin a great delicacy.”

February 26, 1839.—The Rev. F. W. Hope in the chair.

A communication from the Bishop of Down and Connor was read.

-__In this communication (which was forwarded to the Society through

w. Thomson, Esq., Vice-President of the Belfast Natural History

_ Society) his Lordship gives an interesting account of a Philantomba

Antelope (Antilope Philantomba, Ogilby) which his Lordship had

had in his possession for a considerable time. The animal was

brought from Sierra Leone by Frederick Wood Mant, Esq., who

has lately presented it to the Society. It is said to bea native of a

part of the country one or two hundred miles further inland. He

is considered to be very rare even in that part of the world, so that

little could be learned about him from the inhabitants, by whom,

however, he appears to be known by the name of Phillantombo or

Phillytombo.

** He was landed in England in May 1837, and was thence brought

to Down and Connor House, Belfast, Ireland, where he has lived

till this present November 1838. ‘The chief change noticed in him

has been the loss of his teeth, which took place about Midsummer

1837, and again in 1838, somewhat later in the season; but neither

time did he seem to suffer any inconvenience, except for about a

fortnight, when he appeared to require softer food than beans and

biscuit. He also lost the rough sheath which covered his horns, by

rubbing them against trees and posts, of which exercise he is very

fond; as he is also of rubbing his cheeks against anything that will

assist in removing the glutinous substance which exudes from the

orifices under his eyes: for this purpose he is pleased with having

his face rubbed by the hand, and he also seems to be gratified by a

similar application between his horns. It should be added, that the

points of his horns are extremely sharp, as has been experienced by

those who have been standing near him when he has been in a play-

ful mood, or who have had occasion to catch him in order to remove

him to his night quarters; for although extremely gentle, and free

from vice, he is at times too frolicksome to submit willingly to con-

finement, and is impatient of being taken up in the arms, when he

utters a cry like a petted child. It has been remarked, in the case

of any wound being inflicted by his horns, that it has never been

followed by inflammation, and has soon healed.

‘His food has been various; slices of raw potatoes at first, when

he came, was his favourite food; but since he has been tried with

208 Zoological Society.

wheat, and rick beans, and with green branches of any tree, or

withered leaves of any kind, he has not eaten of the potatoes at all.

Every fruit he readily devours as well as flowers, such as china roses

and tulips, or any other gay ornament of the parterre. He has been

sometimes observed to dibble in the earth with his sharp hoof, and

eat voraciously of the mould; and once, having got access toa plum

tree, he swallowed so much of the fruit, stones and all, as to occa-

sion considerable alarm for his safety. He is very fond of hard biscuit,

and drinks often of fresh water.”

An account of the habits of the Chimpanzee was communicated by

Lieut. Henry K. Sayers. ‘‘ Bamboo, the Chimpanzee, now in the

Zoological Society’s Gardens, Regent’s Park, and the subject of this

sketch,” says Lieut. Sayers, ‘‘ was purchased, about eight months

since, from a Mandingo, at Sierra Leone, who related that he had

captured him in the Bullom country, having first shot the mother,

on which occasions the young ones never fail to remain by their

wounded parents. On becoming mine, he was delivered over to a black

boy, my servant, and in a few days became so attached to him as to

be exceedingly troublesome, screaming and throwing himself into

the most violent passion if he attempted to leave him for a moment.

He evinced also a most strange affection for clothes, never omitting

an opportunity of possessing himself of the first garment he came

across, whenever he had the means of entering my apartment, which

he carried immediately to the Piazza, where invariably he seated

himself on it with a self-satisfied grunt, nor would he resign it

without a hard fight, and, on being worsted, exhibited every sym-

ptom of the greatest anger. Observing this strange fancy I procured

him a piece of cotton cloth, which, much to the amusement of all

who saw him, he was never without, carrying it with him wherever

he went, nor could any temptation induce him to resign it even for

amoment. Totally unacquainted with their mode of living in the

wild state, I adopted the following method of feeding him, which

has appeared to succeed admirably. —In the morning, at eight

o'clock, he received a piece of bread about the size of a halfpenny

loaf, steeped in water or milk and water; about two, a couple of

bananas or plantains ; and before he retired for the night, a banana,

orange, or slice of pine apple. ‘The banana appeared to be his fa-

vourite fruit; for it he would forsake all other viands, and if not

gratified, would exhibit the utmost petulance. On one occasion I

deemed it necessary to refuse him one, considering that he had al-

ready eaten a sufficiency, upon which he threw himself into the most

violent passion, and uttering a piercing cry, knocked his head with

Zoological Society. 209

such violence against the wall as to throw him on his back, then as-

cending a chest which was near, wildly threw his arms into the air

and precipitated himself from it. These actions so alarmed me for

his safety that I gave up the contest, and on doing so he evinced the

greatest satisfaction at his victory, uttering, for several minutes, the

most expressive grunts and cries; in short, he exhibited on all oc-

casions where his will was opposed, the impatient temper of a spoilt

child; but even in the height of passion I never observed any dispo-

sition to bite or otherwise ill treat his keeper or myself.

«Although he would never object to be caressed or nursed by

even a stranger, yet I never saw him evince the slightest disposition

to make the acquaintance of any other animal. At the time he

came into my possession I had two Patas Monkeys, and thinking

they might become acquainted, I placed Mr. Bamboo in the same

apartment, where he resided for five months, yet I never saw the

least desire on his part to become even friendly ; on the contrary, he

showed evident anger and dislike at their approach. This strange

attachment to the human race and manifest dislike to all others, I

_ have always considered one of the most extraordinary features of

this genus. His cunning was also remarkable. On all occasions

where he thought he was unobserved, he would not fail to steal

everything within his reach, for no other apparent purpose than to

gratify a propensity for thieving: did he, however, even think you

were looking at him, he would wait his opportunity with the great-

est patience before he commenced depredations. In his habits, un-

like the monkey tribe, he was exceedingly cleanly, never soiling his

bed or any place near it; and even on board ship (during the warm

weather) he never failed to seek the deck, unassisted, whenever the

calls of nature required it. On being left by himself in his piazza he

would invariably seat himself on the window-sill, which was the

highest point he could attain, and commanded a view of the barrack

yard as wellas the interior of my bed-room; but at sun-set he would

descend, enter a washing-tub, which he had of his own accord chosen

as a sleeping-place, and remain there all night: as soon, however,

as the sun rose, he would never fail to occupy his favourite position

on the window-ledge. From this I should say, that trees are as-

cended by the Chimpanzees merely for observation or food, and that

they live principally on the ground. Bamboo, at the time of pur-

chase, appeared to be about fourteen months old, and from what I

could learn from the natives, they do not reach their full growth till

between nine and ten years of age, which, if true, brings them ex-

tremely near the human species, as the boy or girl of West Africa,

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4, No. 23. Nov. 1839. Q

210 | Zoological Society.

at thirteen or fourteen years old, is quite as much a man or woman

as those of nineteen or twenty in our more northern clime. ‘Their

height, when full-grown, is said to be between four and five feet :

indeed I was credibly informed, that a male Chimpanzee, which

had been shot in the neighbourhood and brought into Free Town,

measured four feet five inches in length, and was so heavy as to form

a very fair load for two men, who carried him on a pole between

them. The natives say that in their wild state their strength is

enormous, and that they have seen them snap boughs off the trees

with the greatest apparent ease, which the united strength of two

men could scarcely bend. The Chimpanzee is, without doubt, to

be found in all the countries from the banks of the Gambia in the

north, to the kingdom of Congo in the south, as the natives of all

the intermediate parts seem to be perfectly acquainted with them.

From my own experience I can state that the low shores of the Bul-

lom country, situated on the northern shores of the river Sierra

Leone, are infested by them in numbers quite equal to the commonest

species of monkey. I consider these animals to be gregarious, for

when visiting the rice farms of the Chief Dalla Mohammadoo, on

the Bullom shore, their cries plainly indicated the vicinity of a troop,

as the noise heard could not have been produced by less than eight

or ten of them. The zatives also affirmed, that they always travel

in strong bodies, armed with sticks, which they use with much dex-

terity. ‘They are exceedingly watchful, and the first one who discovers

the approach of a stranger utters a protracted cry, much resembling

that of a human being in the greatest distress. The difficulty of

procuring live specimens of this genus arises principally, I should

say, from the superstitions of the natives concerning them, who be-

lieve they possess the power of ‘ witching.’

‘«« There are authors who have, I believe, affirmed that some of the

natives on the western coast term these animals in their language

‘Pongos;’ but I observed that all the natives in the neighbourhood of

Sierra Leone, when speaking of this animal, invariably called him

‘Baboo,’ a corruption, I should suppose, of our term Baboon.”

At the request of the Chairman, Mr. Ogilby proceeded to make

some observations upon a new species of Monkey, now living at the

Society’s Menagerie, which he characterized as follows :—

Pario Metranotus. P. cinereo-brunneus ; capite, dorso, lumbis-

que sub-nigris ; caudd brevissimd, nuda; facie, auriculisque

pallidis.

The specimen from which this description is taken is a young

male, said to have been brought from Madras. It has at first sight a

Botanical Society of London. 211

considerable resemblance to the common Barbary species (Papio

_ sylvanus) both in general colour and in physiognomy, but differs

materially in the blackish brown shade which covers all the upper

parts of the head, neck, shoulders, and back. ‘The face and ears

are of a pale flesh colour, not unlike the shade which distinguishes

extreme age in the human species; the naked part of the paws is

dirty brown, and the temples are slightly tinged with a shade of

scarlet, which the keeper informs me spreads and deepens when the

animal is feeding. The tail is about an inch long, very slender, and

perfectly naked; but whether the last circumstance be not accidental

I shall not take on me to say; it appears, however, to be the

natural condition of the organ. The general colour of the sides,

under parts of the body, and extremities, is that pale olive brown so

common among other species of this genus, such as the Bhunder (P.

Rhesus), the Maimon (P. Nemestrinus), &c., and the hairs are

equally without annulations. The individual has all the liveliness,

good-nature, and grimace of the young Magot (P. Inuus and Syl-

vanus); but, like that species, it will probably become morose and

saturnine as it advances in age and physical development; qualities

which, indeed, are common to all the Papios, and pre-eminently di-

stinguish them from the Cercopithecs, Colobs, and Semnopithecs.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

February 15, 1839.—Dr. D. C. Macreight, V.P., F.L.S., in the

Chair.

Dr. W. H. Willshire read a paper ‘“‘On the structure of the

Woody Fibre in the tribe Gymzospermie.”

_ March 1, 1839.—John Reynolds, Esq., Treasurer, in the Chair.

A paper was read from Mr. Robert M. Stark «‘ On the Muscology

of Cirencester, Gloucestershire,” (communicated by the Curator, ) in

which he stated that he had observed the following Mosses in that

district.

Phascum subulatum. Grimmia pulvinata.

cuspidatum. Dicranum bryoides.

Gymnostomum ovatum. adiantoides.

truncatulum. laxifolium.

conicum. scoparium,

Encalypta vulgaris. Tortula enervis.

Weissia curvirostra. muralis.

Grimmia apocarpa. ruralis.

212 Botanical Society of London.

Tortula unguiculata. Hypnum trichomanoides.

fallax. complanatum.

Polytrichum undulatum. serpens.

Funaria hygrometrica. populeum.

Orthotrichum anomalum. purum,

affine. sericeum.

diaphanum. albicans.

striatum. dendroides.

crispum. curvatum.

Bryum argenteum. proliferum.

cespititium. rutabulum.

ligulatum. velutinum.

rostratum. cordifolium.

Neckera pumila. triquetrum.

Anomodon viticulosum. cupressiforme.

Daltonia heteromalla. molluscum.

Mr. Daniel Cooper read a paper “ On a new Structure in Roots

or Stems of Dicotyledonous Plants, in which a Deviation from the

Concentric circles of Wood to the Spiral had occurred.” He also

exhibited specimens of the Spiral Arrangement which he had been

given to understand were procured from the Burdock.

Mr. J. T. Cooper, Jun., exhibited numerous figures of Mosses

and Ferns produced by the Photogenic process of Mr. Talbot.

March 15, 1839.—John Edward Gray, Esq., F.R.S., President, in

the Chair.

A paper was read from Edwin Lees, Esq., F.L.S., being ‘* Obser-

vations on the species of Tilia natives of England, with Notices of

some individual remarkable and aged Trees.” The author stated that

he considered the Lime indigenous to Worcestershire, the borders of

Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire and South Wales.

At Hainford, four miles north of Worcester, on the banks of the

Severn ; about the western base of the Berrow Hill, near Martley ; on

Ankerdine Hill, near Knightsford Bridge; on the Teme; as well as

amongst the rocky glens about Pont Nedd Vechan, Glamorganshire ;

many very remarkable old Limes occur in spots evidently under the

wild keeping of nature. Mr. Lees had also observed the Lime grow-

ing profusely on a steep precipice overhanging the Teme, called

Rosebury Rock, and forming woods on the old Red Sandstone banks

above Knightsford Bridge, as well as covering in particular nearly the

whole of a large natural wood of 500 acres in extent at Shrawley,

eight miles north of Worcester, where for many years it has regu-

larly been cut down at intervals as underwood, and the pollarded

stumps are moss-covered and evidently of great age. It is also ap-

parently wild near Ledbury, Herefordshire, at Broomsberrow in

Miscellaneous. 213

Gloucestershire, and in Monmouthshire. Near Broomsberrow, where

- some very curious old Limes of the broad-leaved kind present them-

selves, is a place called Linteredge, no doubt from the Linden trees

there, which is in fact the more common and proper appellation ; and

a parish called Linwood in Lincolnshire, where the small-leaved Lin-

den is said to grow, is very likely derived from a similar fact. The

paper was accompanied by six splendid drawings of old Limes ob-

served in different places (from the pencil of Mr. Lees) who also

sent the Society numerous species of the Tilia.

MISCELLANEOUS.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BRITISH BIRDS.

Mr. Fellows, who has recently pubiished a very interesting Journal

of a tour he made last year in Asia Minor*, has communicated to us

a list of the birds which he observed and shot during his tour, and a

short notice of those which occur in the British Islands may not be

unacceptable as an addition to our information regarding their geo-

graphical range.

Neophron percnopterus, Sw. Falco rufipes, Bechst. The most

common Hawk in Asia Minor, building its nest under the roofs and

sometimes even in the interior of houses.—Accipiter fringillarius,

Will. Killed on the Highlands near Altius Tash.—Noctua passerina,

Selby+. Shot at Ephesus in the Theatre, found commonly through

Asia Minor and Greece.—Lanius rufus, L.Collurio, Saxicola GEnanthe,

Sturnus vulgaris, Upupa Epops,—Sitta europea. The name in Turk-

ish signifies ‘‘ Nut-Borer.”’—Cuculus canorus. Seen on the mountains

during the month of April and at no other time.—Coracias garrula.

Common throughout the south and west parts of the country where-

ever the Magpie was not found, and never seen in the same district

with that bird: falls through the air like a Tumbler Pigeon.—Me-

rops Apiaster. Found in the south and west parts of the county ;

they utter a rich warbling “ Chirp” when on the wing and generally

fly rapidly and high in the air; they are often found among the tur-

pentine firs, from which bees collect much honey, and are sometimes

attracted to the valleys by the numerous apiaries of the peasantry.—

* This work has excited considerable attention from the discovery by Mr.

Fellows of the extensive remains of many Greek towns, highly interesting

to the antiquarian and the scholar.

t N. passerina of Selby, and most modern ornithologists, is Ot. nudipes,

Nilsson, easily distinguished from the only British bird with which it can be

confounded, the Noctua Tengmalmi, Selby, by its bare or thinly plumed

toes. The true NV. passerina has not yet been added to the British list. —Ep.

214 Miscellaneous.

Columba Turtur, Charadrius Hiaticula, Totanus hypoleucos, Glareola

pratincola, shot at Xanthus, the ‘‘ Partridge Snipe” of the Turks.

—Larus argentatus, Tadorna rutila. These specimens are placed

in the Museum of the Natural History Society at Nottingham.

ON THE GENERA GILOPS AND TRITICUM.

From the extreme resemblance of the fruit of Agilops with the

grains of cultivated wheat, some botanists have supposed that the

latter was merely an AZgilops modified by cultivation. M. Esprit

Fabre having found some plants of 4gilops triticoides last year, in

the environs of Agde, sowed the fruits of them in his garden, and

obtained a plant in which the characters of Avgilops almost entirely

disappeared to give place to those of Triticum. It is not yet quite

a Triticum, nor is it an dgilops. Next year M. Fabre intends to

sow the grains he gathered this year, and to continue the observa-

tions he has begun.— Comptes Rendus, August 1839. No. 7.

ON THE ANIMAL NATURE OF THE OSCILLATORIA,

In a late Number of the ‘ Annals,’ p. 70, we drew the attention

of our readers to the problematical nature of the Oscillatoria; since

then we have received the April number of the ‘ Annales des Sciences

Naturelles,’ in which Dr. Unger, in communicating the description

of a new Spirillum, makes the following observation on the nature

of these curious and interesting forms. I did not propose, says the

learned Doctor, in making this communication to enter into a compa-

rative examination of the Oscillatoria, but to combat a system, ac-

cording to which the forms at present known ought to be necessarily

referred to some vegetable genus, composed of elements certainly

very heterogeneous. When Agardh, speaking of some Oscillatoria*

which move with the greatest ease, states that they have an arti-

culated head which they move after the manner of a beak, he cer-

tainly by this points to an animal nature. The characters assigned

by Agardh to the Oscillatoria animalis of Karlsbad are far more

striking : according to his expressions, it does not oscillate ; it has

not the pendulum-like movement; but it crawls like a worm, and

turns itself in every direction. It is also able to move itself freely

in the water, differing thus from the others, which are only able to

do this when they rest on the common substratum. Jt moves the

head, which is linguiform, as the mollusca move their tentacula; ina

word, animal movement cannot be denied them. Moreover, if we

* Ueber die gegen meine Ansichten in der Physiologie der Algen ge-

machten Einwiirfe.x—Nova Acta Nat. Curios. vol. xiv. part II, p. 756.

Meteorological Observations. 215

refer to his own opinion (1. c. p. 8.) which he expresses when de-

scribing the Oscillatoria of Karlsbad, that their characters depend

chiefly on their mode of life, we shall be so much the more induced

to consider these productions rather as animal than vegetable. It is

only to be regretted that we know so little of the history of the life

and development of these beings, for we refuse to characterize some

forms as animal on the sole ground that we do not find in them that

movement which is the property of animal nature.

NEW SPECIRS OF FROG FOUND IN AMBER.

The ‘Annales des Sciences Naturelles’ for June mentions, as a pa-

leontological curiosity, a Frog contained in a fragment of yellow

amber, and preserving all its external characters, in the possession

of the Baron Bulow Rieth, of Stettin; and certainly not inclosed by

artificial means, as it differs specifically from all frogs now existing.

M. Schmidt thinks it nearest to Rana temporaria in the colour of the

skin and spots on the legs.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR SEPT., 1839.

Chiswick.—Sept. 1. Cloudy: boisterous. 2 Showery. 3. Fine: rain: fine

at night, with splendid Aurora borealis. 4. Very fine: rain. 5. Rain. 6.

Very fine: rain, 7. Fine: cloudy: very boisterous: almost a hurricane at

night. 8. Fine. 9. Hazy: very fine. 10. Foggy: fine. 11, 12. Overcast.

13. Clear and fine. 14. Heavy rain. 15. Showery. 16. Rain. 17. Very

heavyrain. 18. Showery. 19. Overcast: clear. 20. Very fine. 21. Rain:

cloudy: rain atnight. 23. Foggy. 24. Cloudy. 25. Showery. 26. Very

fine. 27. Cloudy and fine: slight rain. 28. Drizzly. 29. Heavy dew: fine.

30. Fine.

The quantity ‘of rain which fell in this month, amounting to little short of 4

inches, may be reckoned as double an average quantity.

Boston.—Sept. 1. Stormy: raina.m. 2. Fine: rain a.m. 9%. Cloudy: rain

A.M.andr.mM. 4. Fine. 5. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rainp.m. 6, Fine.

7. Stormy: raine.m. 8. Stormy: rainearly am. 9. Cloudy. 10. Fine.

11. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 12. Cloudy: raina.m. 13. Fine: rain p.m.

14. Cloudy: rainearly a.m. 15,16. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rain p.m. 17;

18. Fine: rainearly a.m. 19. Fine: rainearlyem. 20. Fines 21—923.

Misty. 24,25. Cloudy. 26,27. Fine. 28. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: rain p.m.

29, 30. Fine.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.—Sept. 1. Heavy showers all day. 2. Occa-

sional showers, 3. Warm and close. 4. Occasional showers, with gleams of

sunshine. 5. Unceasing rain. 6. Dull but fair: shower in evening. 7. Al-

most constant rain: flood. 8. Rain began at noon: all day. 9. Rain greater

part of the day. 10. Very fine day: pleasant breeze. 11. Fine day, but

cloudy. 12. Fair till noon, when it rained. 13. Showery. 14. Stormy:

wind and rain all day. 15. Moderate, with frequent showers, 16. Fair till af-

ternoon, when it rained. 17. Showery, with intervals fair. 18. Showery all

day. 19, 20, Fine a.m.: showery p.m. 21. Fair and calm: distant thunder.

22. Fine harvest day: slight shower r-m, 23. Thesame: norain. 24. Fine

A.M.: rainp.M. 25, Heavy rain morning: cleared up. 26. Frequent showers.

27, 28. Continued succession of heavy showers. 29, Fine harvest day: one

slight shower. 30. Calm: dry and sunny.

Sun 25 days, Rain 24days. Thunder 1 day.

Wind south 11 days. South-east 5 days. South-west 31 days. West 5 days.

West north-west 1 day. East $ days. North 4 dey. Variable 1 day.

Calm 8 days, Moderate 11 days. Brisk 3 days. Variable 1 day Strong

breeze 5 days. Boisterous 2 days.

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‘ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

——_

XXIII.—On a Shell-bank in the Irish Sea, considered Zoolo-

gically and Geologically. By Enywarp Forsss, Esq.

FOR the last seven years I have been in the habit of dred-

ging on a scallop bank which lies about five miles off the coast

of Ballaugh on the north-western side of the Isle of Man. My

observations have generally been made in autumn, and have

been regularly recorded as soon as the contents of the dredge

had undergone examination. The number of species and the

number of specimens, dead and living, were duly noted down ;

always of the mollusca, and generally of the zoophytes and

radiata. The want of a sufficient acquaintance with the

crustacea and annelides has prevented my keeping any me-

morial of the numbers caught: the specimens were however

generally preserved. From this bank I have obtained many

new and rare animals, descriptions of some of which have been

published. The observing of such, however, was not the only

object in view, but also the observing the manner in which

the various species there living are associated together, and

the changes which their habitat undergoes from time to time,—

points in zoology especially useful to the geologist. The re-

sults, so far, of my researches in this interesting locality, I

propose in this paper briefly to communicate.

The bank, properly so called, is about twenty fathoms be-

low the surface of the sea, and is thickly covered with scal-

lops (Pecten opercularis), among which the common Oyster,

the Pecten maximus and P. varius, and many other shells are

found in smaller numbers. The ground at the edge of the

bank is gravelly, with few scallops, but many univalve shells,

such as Murex erinaceus, Trochus zizyphinus, and Natica AI-

deri. Between the bank and the shore, but nearer the latter,

is a great tract of fifteen fathoms and under in depth, where

great quantities of Laminaria and other marite plants grow,

and which is covered with stones of considerable size, similar

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 24. Dec. 1839. R

218 Mr. E. Forbes on a Shell-bank in the Irish Sea,

to those which lie at low water on the shore, rolled masses of

porphyry, syenite, granite, slate, and limestone. The neigh-

bouring coast is sandy and marly, being in fact the edge, sea-

wards, of a great tract of Pleistocene strata, forming the

northern part of the island. The testaceous mollusca always

abundant on the bank and on its edge are the following:

Pecten opercularis. Buccinum undatum.

distortus. Trochus zizyphinus.

Modiola vulgaris. tumidus.

Hiatella rugosa. Nassa macula.

Chiton cinereus. Emarginula fissura.

Lottia pulchella.

All the above are constantly taken alive in great numbers, and

dead specimens of them are also plentiful. The Buccinum un-

datum is generally of a large size, and almost always the va-

riety called striatum by Pennant. Almost equally common

now with Emarginula fissura is Fissurella greca, but this was

not the case five years ago. They appeared suddenly on the

bank in considerable numbers and of a good size. I have

never taken but one young specimen (in which state it is Pa-

tella apertura of Montagu) though continually on the look out

for them.

Oy the neighbouring shore I have observed a similar case ©

of a species appearing, which was not found there formerly.

Four years ago I picked up two specimens, very much sea-

worn, of Lottia testudinalis, on the shore at Ballaugh. At

that time no living specimens of the species were to be found

on our coast. Last year, however, to my surprise I found

great numbers of very young Loftie under stones at low

water. The year before I had taken a single full-grown ex-

ample at a low spring tide, the first Manx living specimen I

had ever found. This year (1839) the species is abundant;

three or four under every stone at low water mark, well-grown,

but not so large as the specimens common in Arran and the

Hebrides. What is the cause of this sudden appearance of a

species? Are the tides, or storms, or the locomotive powers

of the molluscs themselves the means of transportation? Mol-

lusca are much more active animals than is commonly sup-

posed; and the smallest testacea, both bivalve and univalve,

considered Zoologically and Geologically.~ 219

delight in swimming. The naked mollusca of the genus

Eolida swim with considerable rapidity, and are continually

moving about when in their native element. Those who judge

of these animals from seeing them on or under a stone at low

water can form but a slight idea either of their beauty or ha-

bits. There is another instance of the variable appearance of

a molluse which I would mention. The spines of Spatangus

purpureus (abundant on the bank) are some years covered

with the parasitic Montacuta substriata, and at other seasons

quite clear.

The following species are always found on the bank, and

occasionally in considerable numbers :

Fusus antiquus. Venus cassina.

corneus. fasciata.

Bamfius. virginea.

Nucula margaritacea. Kellia suborbicularis.

Pectunculus pilosus. Velutina levigata.

The Fusus antiquus is the small form of that shell called

_ Fusus norvegicus by some authors. It seems confined to cer-

tain spots on the bank. Most univalve shells of the siphono-

stomatous tribes are gregarious and plentiful in confined lo-

calities. Most of the above-mentioned species are gregarious,

both univalve and bivalve. It is remarkable that young spe-

-eimens of Venus cassina and fasciata rarely occur, and when

found are almost always dead shells, whilst of Venus virginea

the only living specimens taken are young ones. In the lat-

ter case it may be accounted for by supposing that Venus vir-

ginea, being a borer in mud, buries itself deeper when full-

grown than when young. Kellia suborbicularis lives in little

families of all ages in the mud-filled cavities of dead Venus

virginea. Along with it is occasionally associated Amphidesma

tenue.

Always found on the bank, though never in great numbers,

are the following :

Ostreea edulis. Murex erinaceus.

Pecten maximus. Capulus hungaricus.

Lima fragilis. Natica Alderi.

Pecten obsoletus. Venus exoleta.

Cardium levigatum. ovata,

Psammobia tellinella. Mya truncata.

220 Mr. E. Forbes on a Shell-bank in the Irish Sea,

The oysters are few, very large, muscular, and thick-shelled.

I have rarely seen a half-grown oyster on this bank, and never

a very young one. They seem to be the aged survivors of

some former colony. Many of the shells are dead. Those

of the living are generally perforated by that singular zoophyte

the Cliona. Oyster shells, when they die, do not generally

separate valve from valve: Venuses also remain in general

with the hinge perfect: but Tellin and Psammobie, as well

as Pectens, go to pieces. Cardium levigatum is often found

double, fresh-looking, of a large size, but always dead. The

one or two young specimens (Cardium serratum of British au-

thors) I have taken have been alive. Cardium elongatum and

nodosum occasionally occur, but also dead, and these two spe-

cies rarely remain double after death. Venus exoleta is rarely

taken alive here, but the specimens are fine, large, and double.

Young shells very rarely occur. Venus lineata is occasionally

found: on the opposite coast of the island it abounds. Venus

ovata is generally living. Mya truncata is found only dead

and old; the valves generally separate. I feel sure the Mya

Swainsoni is only the young of this species, and not of Mya

arenaria as some have supposed. Wherever Mya truncata

is found, there Mya Swainsoni is found; and all gradations of

form may be observed from Mya Swainsoni to Mya truncata,

passing through the Mya ovata of Turton, which is the half-

grown shell. Look on the beak of a Mya truncata, and you

will find a little Mya Swainsoni included. The beak of bivalves

tells many tales against supposititious species, and is not yet

attended to as it ought to be.

Occasionally taken, and on the whole not uncommon, are

Fusus muricatus. Chiton levis.

Trochus Montacuti. Pecten varius.

Mactra elliptica. Solen ensis.

Tellina crassa. Amphidesma tenue.

Lucina undata and Radula.

Mactra elliptica is generally dead, double and perforated :

Tellina crassa and Solen ensis always dead ; the former never

double. Pecten varius occurs in considerable plenty some

years, and at other times I do not find a single specimen.

considered Zoologically and Geologically. 221

‘The Chitons are never taken dead, probably falling to pieces

after the animal’s death. The Lucine are always dead.

Rare, but taken oftener than once, are

Trochus tenuis. Chiton fuscatus.

Fusus linearis. Lima inflata.

Natica Montagui. tenera.

Rissoa reticulata. Modiola marmorata.

Dentalium entalis. Astarte scotica.

Chiton fascicularis. danmoniensis.

Modiola discors.

All these species are taken alive. The Lima inflata is al-

ways found in a very singular situation, imbedded in a mass

of coralline fibres, broken shells and fragments of millepora.

On breaking open the mass we find the Lima alive in the

centre, in a neatly constructed nest, the sides regularly

smoothed, somewhat resembling the bed of the Modiola im-

pacta of the South seas. I am not aware that this very re-

markable habit has ever been noticed. Neither Lima fragilis

nor Lima tenera are found in similar nests. The two species

of Astarte are found of nearly equal size, the characters of the

margin distinct in each. I regard the thickening of the mar-

gin in many species of this genus as specific in the full-grown

shell.

The following species have occurred only once. Inp* the

case of the three first, two specimens were taken of each, of

the others one only.

Eulima Donovani. Pecten levis.

Pleurotoma purpurea. Criopus anomalus.

Arca tetragona. Psammobia strigillata.

The two Arce were taken together, imbedded in the mud

filling the cavity of a large dead Modiola. They were alive.

The Pecten was attached to the stalk of a coralline. The

Psammobia was a dead valve.

Naked mollusca are not uncommon on the bank, as might

be expected, seeing that it is very fertile in specimens of An-

tennularia antennina, the favourite habitat of the smaller deep-

water Nudibranchia. The most common is Melibwa fragilis.

Formerly Tritonia Hombergi abounded of a very large size,

222 Mr. E. Forbes on a Shell-bank in the Irish Sea,

but during the last three years I have only taken as many

specimens. |

Animals of the class Echinodermata are abundant. Star-

fish of the family Asteriz abound on the bank, those of the

family Ophiure on its edge. Among gravel Echinus suban-

gularis is common: among the scallops Echinus esculentus.

Spatangus cordatus is very rare, while Sp. purpureus is very

common, as also Echinocyamus pusillus. Holothurie are ex-

tremely scarce, two species only having been found, and but

one specimen of each,

Among the zoophytes, of late Plaadivis myriophyllum has

become common; and this year I have taken twenty speci-

mens of the rare Thuiaria articulata, which I never observed

in our sea before. Every dredging excursion I make I add to

our local list of zoophytes and naked mollusca, but seldom

now find a testaceous mollusk new to the district. The inha-

bitants of this bank belonging to the classes Mollusca, Echi-

nodermata and Zoophytes, may be summed up as follows:

MOLLUSCA.;. . is: Univalve Testacea ........ 27

Bivalve Testacea.......... 44

Nudibranchia ........+.. 9

Naked Acephala .. ... 34.4 4

—— 84

EcuHinopermata ..Asteriade . ........... 14

Echinidee oo tf A See 5

Holothuriade ............ 2

‘ pL

GOOPHYTES, ....,.Fiydroiada ......:44; ont

Asteroida... . ds axeas o* wwijeal

Helianthoidai i662 .4o0 08 2

Asedioida os. 6s aera 14

——28

I shall now, before concluding, notice a few points wherein

this review of the Ballaugh scallop-bank may be made to

bear on Geology.

Supposing the bank converted into a fossil bed similar to

the shell-marls of the Pleistocene or newer Pliocene era, let us

see what effect such change would have on the Fauna.

1. We should be able to form a pretty accurate idea of the

testaceous mollusca inhabiting it, but not of the naked mol-

lusca, as the latter would wholly disappear.

Sarma vier ay pes? gale Se Pena here enie ES OTHE E Me

considered Zooloyically and Geologically. 223

_ 2, The relative proportions of univalve and bivalve testacea

met with would depend on the part of the bed examined,

whether its centre or its edge.

3. The Chitons would scarcely be met with in consequence

of their fragility and disorganization after death, though abun-

dant on the bed in a living state.

4. It is probable that a greater number of species would be

met with in the fossil than in the recent bed, since the rarity

of certain species would seem rather to depend on the paucity

of individuals than on other causes; and as the probability of

meeting such would depend on the extent of surface examined,

the inspection of a bed of shells high and dry would be more

likely to reward our researches than an examination con-

ducted in the deep sea by means of the dredge, which must

always be partial.

5. Of the Echinodermata we should probably find the re-

_ mains of sea urchins only ; and as they generally fall in pieces

like the Chitons, we should be obliged to determine the spe-

cies from fragments. I may mention that I find good specific

characters in the spines alone of our native living species, and

no doubt such is also the case with the fossil.

6. Of Zoophytes we should find only the remains of a few

species (having calcareous polypidoms) belonging to the order

Ascidioidea. The greater number would probably altogether

disappear.

7. The larger Crustacea being very few, and the smaller

very small and fragile, or else unpreservable in such circum-

stances, though very numerous living, we should find but few

traces of the presence of the tribe.

8. The testaceous Annelides would remain, the soft tribes

altogether disappearing.

I have drawn up these observations chiefly in the hope of

inducing others to present us with similar reviews of the shell-

banks of our coast. Geology and zoology will gain as much

by inquiring how our marine animals are associated together

as by investigating genera and species, though the former sub-

ject has as yet been but little attended to in comparison witk

the latter.

294 Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides.

XXIV.—Miscellanea Zoologica. By Grorce JoHnNsToN,

M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edin-

burgh. With Plates VI. and VII.

Tue Britisu NEREIDES.

{Continued from vol. iii. p. 295. ]

2. PuyLuopoce*, Savigny.

Cuar. Body linear-clongate, with numerous segments: head

distinct: proboscis thick, clavate, the orifice encircled with

papillary tentacula: no jaws: antenne frontal, small, four

or rarely five: eyes two: tentacular cirri four on each side,

unequal, setaceous: feet uniramous, overlapped with a leaf-

like veined cirrus: bristles setaceous, slender, jointed: no

branchie: posterior extremity terminated with a pair of short

fleshy styles.

Observations. The Phyllodoces are the most beautiful

worms t+ among the Nereides, and are readily distinguished by

the series of compressed foliaceous lamellz, originating imme-

diately above the insertions of the feet, which garnish the

sides of the body. The peculiar office of these organs is con-

jectured to be respiratory {, but they also aid the animal in

its progress through the water, for, following the motions

of the feet and capable of being partially altered from a hori-

zontal to a perpendicular position, they act as a bank of oars,

and must be especially useful when the worm glides from a

solid surface, and finds itself unsupported in the water. Hence

the species are quick and lively, and swim with considerable —

ease§. We have found them buried occasionally m light sand

between tide’ marks; but they principally reside in deeper

* The name of a sea-nymph, of the train of Cyrene.—Virg. Georg. iv.

336. It is synonymous with the Nereiphylle of Blainville, but not with the

Phyllodoce of Ranzani. A genus of plants has been named Philodice, and

to those who think it against the canon to give the same name to any sub-

jects of Fauna and Flora, this might be a reason to prefer the nomenclature

of Blainville. :

+ “ Virgines pulcherrime inter Nereides.’’—Otho Fabricius.

t Cuv. Reg. Anim. iii. p.202. It would be wrong to overlook their re-

semblance to the branchiz in the larvee of the Ephemerides: see Reaumur,

Hist. des Insect. vi. p. 468, pl. 45, fig. 2.

§ “ Currit egregie; natare etiam valet lamellis suis retroversis oblique

sursum erectis.”—Fabr. Faun. Greenl. p. 298.

iota

sacs ley tbe ope! Ss

Ne) See ‘ yah - :

et 5 Ge ee

Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides. 2°

water amid the roots of corallines and the shells of mollusca —

and sedentary annelidans *. The body is much elongated and

proportionably slender, composed of a numerous succession

of similar segments, narrowed gradually towards each extre-

mity, more especially towards the posterior, which is termi-

nated by two short fleshy styles. From the mouth is pro-

truded at will a large proboscis, divided into two rings by a"

fold sometimes scarcely visible (Plate VI. fig. 3.); the under

half on the whole roughened with fleshy papille arranged in

rows, while a series of larger papillz encircles the orifice.

There seem to be two eyes only+, occipital in position and

larger than in the allied genera. The front of the head is

armed with four small simple antennz ; and on each side of

the post-occipital ring there are two pairs of unequal tentacu-

lar cirri, jointed at the base, and usually kept retroverted when

the creature is at rest. The feet are rather small, uniramous,

furnished with a single spine and a brush of very elegant, slen-

der bristles, divided by a joint near the middle into two por-

tions, of which the terminal one is as sharp as the finest needle.

(Plate VI. fig. 6.)

In the Phyllodoces the blood is not red as in the great ma-

jority of the Annelides, but yellowish or colourless {.

1. Ph. lamelligera, of a dusky-olive or sometimes oil-green ;

the colour often confined to the margins of the segments.

(Plate VI. fig. 1—6.)

Nereis lamelligera, Turt. Gmel. iv. p.90. Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 135.

Penn, Brit. Zool. iv. p.96. Bosc, Vers, i. p.173. Jameson in Wern.

Mem. i. p.557.—Phyllodoce gigantea, Johnston in Zool. Journ. iv. p.

53.

Hab. Sometimes found at low-water mark, but more common among the

refuse brought up on the lines of the fishermen. Deep water in the Frith

of Forth, brought up by the oyster-dredges, Dr. Neill. Common in Berwick

Bay.

Desc. Body 14 inches long, linear-elongate, somewhat com-

pressed, tapered at the tail, smooth, dusky with blueish and

greenish shades reflecting a metallic lustre, the branchial leaf-

* Audouin and M. Edwards, Litt. de la France, i. p. 237.

+ According to Lamarck four, “ mais les postérieurs sont peu apparens.”’

—Anim. s. Vert. 2de édit. v. p. 556.

{ Lam. Anim. s. Vert. 2de édit. v. p.556. Ann. des Sc. Nat. n. s, x.

p: 197.

226 Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides.

lets generally clouded in the centre with a dark undefined

spot. Head quadrangular ; the proboscis covered, on its lower

half, with fleshy papillz arranged in about twelve rows ; eyes

black; antenne very short, conical. Segments very numerous,

the post-occipital not larger than thefollowing, bearing on each

side four rather short setaceous tentacular cirri, of which the

two anterior are shorter than the posterior pairs, and under

these there is a concealed rudimentary cirrus: fee? all alike,

the superior cirrus forming an obliquely heart-shaped shortly

stalked leaflet, veined, entire, smooth; the inferior cirrus is

similar in structure and nearly so in figure, but it is about two-

thirds less: between them is the proper foot, not very protu-

berant, armed with a brush of bristles disposed in a somewhat

semicircular manner, having a single straw-coloured spine in |

their middle: the dristles are slender, pellucid, jointed, the

joint being cleft for the reception of the needle-like point: pos-

terior extremity terminated with two very short fleshy styles.

This species is said to attain sometimes a size considerably

greater than that of the specimen just described, but on this

part of the coast one of 14 inches length is rare, while exam-

ples varying from 4 to 8 inches are not uncommon. It is li-

able to much difference in the tints of its colour, and the green

often predominates, while in young individuals the colour is

not diffused over the segments, but confined to their margins,

which are dusky, while the centre may be a pale yellow. In

these also the spots in the centre of the branchial leaflets are

usually well-marked. These are liable to be slightly. affected

in their form by the motion and contractions of the worm ;

and near the tail they always incline more to the oval than the

heart-shape.. The proboscis is either clavate or cylindrical,

according to its degree of protrusion. The worm tints the

spirits in which it is preserved with a greenish colour: the

body becomes blueish- or greenish-grey, and the lamelle a

uniform olive.

Plate VI. fig. 1. Phyllodoce lamelligera, of the natural size. Fig. 2.

The head and proboscis, as this appears when half extruded, magnified.

Fig. 3. The proboscis fully protruded. Fig. 4. Two segments magnified.

Fig. 5. A lateral view of the foot reversed. Fig.6. The setigerous papilla

with its bristles and spine.

Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides. 937

_ 2. Ph. maculata, the body marked with dark-brown spots

in three rows; branchial leaflets somewhat heart-shaped.

Plate VIL.* fig. 1—3.

Nereis maculata, Linn. Syst. 1086. Mull, Zool. Dan. prod. p.217. Bosc,

Vers, i. p. 171.—Phyllodoce pulchra, Johnston in Zool. Journ. iv. p. 54.

—The figure of Baster (Opusc. Subs. i. p. 14. tab. iv. fig. 1.) may pos-

sibly be intended for a representation of this species.

Hab. The shore at and within tide marks. Frequent on the coast of Ber-

wickshire.

Desc. Worm sometimes 4 inches long, slender, depressed,

tapered a little towards each extremity, yellowish, with a row

of dark-brown spots along the back, and the sides spotted

with the same colour; ventral surface paler, with a median

row of small rather distant spots, and a series of larger ones

on each side at the base of the feet. Head bluntly pointed,

armed in front with four white conical antenne.; eyes black.

Post-occipital segment with four pairs of setaceous tentacular

cirri, of which the two anterior are the shortest : on each side

of the other segments there is an oval or somewhat heart-

shaped branchial lamella, with a brown spot.in its centre, and

supported on a very short spotted stalk: beneath them are

the feet, each foot consisting of two papillary processes, the

superior furnished with a brush of retractile bristles of the

usual character. Anal segment terminated with two short co-

nical styles.

3. Ph. bilineata, slender, pale greenish-yellow, with a con-

tinuous dark line drawn down each side at the insertions of

the feet. Plate VI. fig. 7—10.

Nereis maculata? Fabr. Faun. Grenl. p.298. Turt. Gmel. iv. p. 88.

Hab, On oysters from Preston-pans in the Firth of Forth. Berwick Bay,

rare.

Desc. From 2 to 3 inches long, very slender, serpentine,

somewhat narrowed in front, more so towards the tail, of a

pale greenish-yellow colour, with a dark continuous line along

each side, rendered sinuous by the emarginations at the junc-

tion of the segments, which are numerous and quadrangular.

Head ovoid; eyes two, placed backwards; antenne four, un-

equal, placed in a stellate fashion round the orifice of the

mouth: ¢fentacular cirri rather short, unequal: branchial la-

* Pl. VII. will be given in the Supplement to the present volume.

228 Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides.

melle ovate or elliptical, smooth, veined; the inferior cirrus

short and papillary, not extending beyond the apex of the foot,

which is slightly emarginate and armed as usual with a brush

of slender jointed bristles and a single spine.

Prate VI. fig. 7. Ph. bilineata, natural size. Fig. 8. The head. Fig.9.

The middle segments; and Fig. 10. The caudal extremity :—magnified.

4, Ph. viridis, body roundish, of a uniform grass-green co-

lour ; branchial leaflets lanceolate; antennez five. Plate VII.

fig. 11—15.

Nereis viridis, Linn. Syst. 1086. Mull. Zool. Dan. prod. 217, no. 2636.

Fabric. Faun. Greenl, 297. Turt. Gmel. iv. 38. Turt. Brit. Faun.

135. Adams in Linn. Trans. v. 8. Bosc, Vers, i.171. Pen. Brit.

Zool. edit. 1812, iv. 94.—Phyllodoce clavigera, dud. et Edw. Hist. Nat.

du Litt. de la France, it. 226. pl. 5a. fig. 9—13.

Hab. Found on Fucus pinnatifidus, near Tenby (Pembrokeshire), 4dams.

Berwick Bay abundantly, and I believe it to be common on most parts of

the British coast.

Desc. Worm from 2 to 3 inches long, elongate and narrow,

slightly tapered towards the head, more so at the tail, of a

uniform duck-green colour, paler on the ventral aspect. Head

small, narrowest in front, but not pointed, the apex armed

with four short conical antenne, and a smaller antenna is less

perceptible on the vertex: eyes two*, occipital, dark brown:

mouth with a large clavate prodoscis, greenish, rough under

the magnifier, with minute papilla, edentulous: post-occipital

segment with four ¢entacular cirri on each side, twice the

length of the branchiz, the anterior pair one half shorter than

the others, conical, simple: segments very numerous, often

defined by a line of deeper green, shorter than their breadth,

smooth, convex dorsally: branchial leaflets (or superior cirri)

lanceolate, slightly compressed, retroflexed, longer than the

foot, which is furnished with a bundle of very slender retract-

ile acicular bristles and with a single spine: fail terminated

with two fleshy styles, similar to the leaflets, but rather larger.

P. viridis lives under stones, or in the crevices of slaty

rocks, between tide marks; but it abounds most near low-water

mark, nor is it uncommon among the corallines and shells

that are never left uncovered by the tide. It is an active spe-

* Audouin and Edwards say four, disposed in a transverse line, and very

small, but their figure shows two only.

Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides. 229

cies in water, moving forwards principally by the oared leaf-

lets that extend from the sides; but on dry ground its move-

ment is slow, and the leaflets are kept applied to the sides

and brought somewhat under the body. When kept ina

vessel of sea-water, deprived of food, the green colour becomes

less intense, and allows us to trace a darker intestine down

the centre of the body. When specimens are put into spirits

they give out a copious green liquor and tinge the spirit

deeply. Immersed in fresh water the worm is evidently pained,

but is not killed so instantaneously as some other marine

worms are, and in dying does not separate and break in pieces.

I have not hesitated to refer this species to the Phy. clavi-

gera of Audouin and Edwards, although some slight differ-

ences may be traced in our figures; for some experience has

brought me to believe that, in comparing figures which have

been made under the magnifier, we are not to look for an ex-

act resemblance between them. I have seen figures drawn

by the same individual and from the same objects at some-

what distant periods, but with every desire to be accurate,

between which the discrepancy was greater than could -have

been at first imagined. So also I have not expressed any

doubt of their species being identical with the Nereis vi-

_ridis of Otho Fabricius, for the only distinction pointed out

by Audouin and Edwards between them is the absence of the

odd antenna in the latter, and this is only inferred to be the

ease from the silence of the Greenland naturalist. But it is

no imputation on the acknowledged accuracy of Fabricius to

believe that this organ may have escaped his notice ; for, even

after having been made aware of its existence, I have some-

times found that it was no easy matter to bring it into view

and make it perceptible to others.

Prats VI. fig. 11. P. viridis, of the natural size. Fig. 12. The head and

anterior segments, magnified. Fig. 13. The head and proboscis extruded.

Fig. 14. The middle segments seen from below. Fig. 15. The caudal ex-

tremity.

3. PsaMATHE, Johnston.

Cuar. Body scolopendriform: head small: eyes four, in

pairs: antenne four, short, unequal, biarticulate: proboscis

thick and cylindrical, its aperture encircled with a series of

230 Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides.

papillary tentacula, edentulous: tentacular cirri four on each

side, unequal : feet uniramous, bifid at the apex; the dorsal

cirrus elongate, filiform, jointed ; the ventral one short: tail

with two filiform styles.

Obs. This genus, which I have named in honour of the

daughter of Nereus and Doris, will take rank, as it appears to

me, between Scyllis and Hesione. It differs from the first in

the number and structure of the antennz, in the form of the

head, and in the arrangement of the eyes ; and from the latter

in the form of the body (which in this family is an important

character), and in the structure of the proboscis, which in He-

sione is very long and destitute of oral tentacula.

1. Ps. fusca. Plate VII. fig. 4.

Psamathe fusca, Johnston in Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 15. fig. 1.

Hab. The sea-shore within and between tide-marks. Berwick Bay oc-

casionally.

Dzsc. Worm scolopendriform, about an inch in length,

slightly narrowed in front, tapered towards the tail, of a yel-

lowish-brown or fuscous colour, and in the paler specimens a

series of obscure spots may be observed down each side above

the feet. Head small, square, entire in front: eyes four*,

very distinct, occipital, placed in pairs: antenne four, short,

biarticulate, frontal, the superior pair thicker and shorter than

the inferior : mouth furnished with a thick cylindrical prodoscis,

whose aperture is encircled with a close fringe of papulous

tentacula: tentacular cirri four on each side, the inferior pairs

shortest, filiform, jointed, and issuing from a bulged base:

segments numerous, the anterior shorter and smaller than the

others, which are nearly of the same length and breadth:

feet much developed and prominent, all alike, conic, the apex

emarginate or divided into two obtuse lobes, between which

the bristles are protruded: superior cirrus elongate, filiform,

jointed like a Conferva, scarcely moniliform, and arising from

a swollen basilar joint: ventral cirrus short, not extending be-

yond the foot, neither is it jointed: bristles retractile, strong,

jointed near the top, the apical piece fixed on in a bayonet

fashion ; they are collected into two small but unequal fasci-

* I have seen specimens in which there were only two eyes: from their

size a pair seemed to have coalesced.

Dr. Johnston on the British Nereides. 231

cles, having a rather small spine in the middle of each: anal

segment truncate and terminated with two long styles similar

to the tentacular cirri.

This little worm is occasionally met with in Berwick Bay,

lurking amid the roots of Conferve, corallines, and sponges.

It advances through the water with considerable velocity and

in a wriggling manner, pushing out and alternately withdraw-

ing the bristles of its feet, and moving its long cirri in every

direction. When the creature is active and first taken, the

cirri haye a somewhat moniliform appearance under the micro-

scope, but as its energy declines this appearance becomes

fainter ; they then appear jointed like a common Conferva, and

after death even these joints fade away and the whole organ

assumes a homogeneous structure.

Prarte VIL. fig. 4. Ps. fusca, magnified. The line expresses the length of

the specimen.

4. lo1pa*, Johnston.

Cuar. Body linear-elongate: head small: eyes two, large:

antenne three, cranial, filiform, submoniliform: fentacular

cirri none: proboscis ? segments numerous : feet

undivided, each with a dorsal moniliform cirrus and two bun-

dles of bristles, one of which is very long: branchie none :

styles ?

Obs. This new genus is allied to Scylis, from which it dif-

fers in the number of eyes, in the absence of tentacular cirri,

and in the appendages to the feet,—the Scyllis having two

cirri to each and a single bundle of bristles,—while the Joida

has one cirrus and two bundles of bristles.

1. I. macrophthalma. Plate VII. fig. 5.

Hab. Amongst corallines in deep water. Coast of Berwickshire.

Desc. Worm about an inch long and a line in breadth, of

a dark blue or purple colour, unspotted, linear-elongate, de-

pressed, smooth. Head small but very distinct, pale, rounded

in front, entire: eyes two, very large, lateral and nearly mar-

* From ‘Io<sd%¢, blue or violet-coloured. The name is given by Drayton

to one of his Naiades :—

“‘ Toida, which preserves the azure violets.”

Polyolbion, song 20.

232 Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites.

ginal, prominent, dark brown : antenne three, frontal, filiform,

rather short, equal in size and equally distanced, porrect,

faintly annular. Segments twenty-five in the specimen exa-

mined, distinct, broader than long, the post-occipital and anal

considerably less than the others and with proportionably

small appendages: feet papillary, uniramous, each armed with

a dorsal cirrus twice as long as the foot, obscurely moniliform,

colourless, and with two bundles of bristles, the superior bun-

dles consisting of short stout retractile bristles, jomted near

the top, and with a spine in their middle ; the inferior bundles

of very long setaceous unjointed hairs, which the worm has

no power of withdrawing. The first pair of feet is destitute

of this inferior bundle. The anal extremity was wanting in

the only specimen I have yet met with, but from the repara-

tion which had begun I believe it to be terminated by two

styles similar to the dorsal cirrus.

[To be continued. ]

XXV.—Descriptions of British Chalcidites. By FRANCIS

Wa.ker, F.L.S.

[Concluded from p. 32. ]

Genus Preromatus, Swederus.

Fem. P, disco proximus: corpus breve, convexum, parum nitens, scitis-

sime squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve, thorace latius ;

vertex latus; frons abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres, non extentes : an-

tennz subclavate, thorace longiores ; articulus 1" gracilis, sublinearis; 2"°

longus, basi ad apicem latescens ; 3" et 4"° minimi; 5"* et sequentes breves,

approximati, usque ad 10¥™ curtantes; clava longiovata, articulo 10° duplo

longior : thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis

scutum longitudine paullo latius; parapsidum suture vix conspicue; scu-

tellum conicum: metathorax transversus, mediocris, declivis, postice an-

gustior: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen nitens, leve, latitudine paullo lon-

gius, supra planum, subtus carinatum, thorace multo brevius paullo latius :

pedes simplices, subzquales: alz angustz; nervus humeralis ulnari fere

duplo longior, radialis ulnari paullo brevior cubitali longior; stigma mi-

nutum.

Sp. 1. Pter. Promulus, Fem. Viridi-cyaneus, abdomen purpureo-cupreum,

antenne fusce, pedes flavo-fulvi, femora viridi-picea, ale fusce.

Viridi-cyaneus: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne fusce ; articulus 1" et 2"

Mr. Walker on the British Chaicidites. 233

fulyi; abdomen viride; discus purpureo-cupreus: pedes fulvi; cox cya-

neo-virides; femora viridi-picea; genua flava; meso- et metatarsi flavi,

apice fusci: ale fuscee ; squamule picez ; nervi proalis fusci, metalis flavi.

(Corp. long. lin. 1 ; alar. lin. 14.)

Found near Edinburgh, by Dr. Greville.

Mas. P. Favorino proximus: corpus longum, sublineare, convexum, pa-

rum nitens, scitissime squameum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, breve,

thorace paullo latius; vertex latus; frons abrupte declivis, vix impressa :

oculi mediocres, non extantes: antenne graciles, filiformes, thorace malto

longiores; articulus 1" gracilis, sublinearis; 2" subrotundus; 3"s et 4"

minimi; 5"* et sequentes longi, lineares, usque ad 10¥™ curtantes; clava

longifusiformis, articulo 10° plus duplo longior : thorax longiovatus : protho-

rax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine vix latius ;

parapsidum suture vix conspicue; scutellum prominens, fere conicum : me-

tathorax transversus, sat magnus, declivis, postice angustior : petiolus bre-

vissimus: abdomen depressum, lve, nitens, basi ad apicem latescens, tho-

race paullo longius et angustius: pedes graciles, simplices, subeequales: alz

mediocres ; nervus humeralis ulnari fere duplo longior, radialis ulnari multo

longior, cubitalis radiali multo brevior ; stigma minutum.

Sp. 2. Pter. Varro, Mas. Cyaneo-viridis, abdomen cupreo purpureum

fulvo-maculatum, antenne nigra, pedes lutei fusco-cincti, ale limpide.

Cyaneo-viridis: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre; articuli 1"* et 2"

virides: abdomen cupreo-purpureum, ante medium fulvo obsolete macula-

tum: pedes lutei; coxz virides; femora fusca, apice flava; tarsi apice

fusci; mesotibize fusco cincte ; metatibize fusce ; protarsi fulvi: ale lim-

pidee ; squamulee pice ; nervi proalis fusci, metalis flavi. (Corp. long. lin.

15; alar. lin. 24.)

Found near Edinburgh, by Dr. Greville.

Genus Encyrtus, Dalman.

Mas. E. clavicorni proximus: corpus breve, crassum, latum, convexum,

scitissime squameum, rude punctatum, parum nitens, parce pubescens: ca-

put transversum, breve, thorace non latius ; vertex latus; frons abrupte de-

clivis, non impressa: oculi mediocres, non extantes: antenne clavate,

crassz, ad os insertz, thorace longiores; articulus 1"° basi ad apicem lates-

-cens; 2"* longicyathiformis; 3" et sequentes breves, usque ad 8"¥™ Jates-

eentes; clava longiconica, articulo 8° multo latior et triplo longior: thorax

sublinearis, latitudine duplo longior: prothorax transversus, brevissimus:

mesothoracis scutum longitudine multo latius; parapsides scuto in unum

confuse ; paraptera fere inter scutum et scutellum convenientia; scutellum

‘magnum, longiobconicum: metathorax transversus, parvus : abdomen obco-

nicum, planum, nitens, leve, fere glabrum, quasi sessile, thorace multo bre-

vius vix angustius ; segmentum 1¥™ maximum, 2¥™ et sequentia brevissima :

pedes validi ; mesopedum tibiz longe apice crassz et spinigere, tarsi lati :

alz mediocres ; nervus humeralis costz dimidio brevior, cubitalis sat longus,

ulnaris et radialis nulli.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 24. Dee. 1839. S

234 Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites.

Sp. 1. Enc. Nicippe, Mas. Viridi-eneus cyaneo-varius, abdomen cupre-

um, antenne nigre, pedes fulvi, ale limpide.

Viridi-zeneus: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre; articulus 1° fulvus,

2"* fuscus: mesothoracis scutum cyaneo-viride: abdomen cupreum: pedes

fulvi; coxze znez; ungues et pulvilli fusci: ale limpide ; squamule picee ;

nervi fulvi. (Corp. long. lin. 1; alar. lin. 14.)

September, Northumberland, found by Dr. Greville.

Genus Tuysanus, Walker.

‘Corpus elongatum. Antenne quasi 3-articulate articulo 3 lineari-elon-

gato. Alz longe ciliate. Nervus subcostalis abrupte terminatus apice non

deflexus. Tarsi medii longissimi.

“‘ Corpus lineare subdepressum. Caput oblatum. Antenne prope os in-

sertze (6 articuiatee ?) (9 articulate?) articulus 1" linearis radicula gracili ; 2"*

brevior, obconicus, sequentes tres brevissime annuliformes vix conspicui; 3%

(ex analogia trium locum implens) preecedentibus conjunctim longior, mari

duplo longior, linearis compressus subnudus. Collare antrorsum attenua-

tum. Suture parapsidum inconspicue. Scutellum obtusum. Abdomen

subsessile oblongum dorso deplanatum (plica elevata acuminata per basin

protracta); segmentis subzequalibus ; fem. longius, apice acuminatum ; sub-

tus carinatum, rima infera ad 4 longitudinis protracta. Terebra recondita.

Alz plumato-ciliatz, ulna crassiuscula coste medium superante et abrupta.

Pedes tarsis longis tenuibus, mediis longissimis.

“Sp. 1. Th. ater.

“ Niger nitidus verticis margine, fronteq. media rufis ; verticis macula albi-

cante prope utrumque oculum. Antenne ochracez articulus 1° 2° obscu-

rioribus. Pedes ochreo-fusci, geniculis tarsisque pallidioribus. Ale hya-

linze nervo fusco, fascia media effusa infumata. (Corp. long. lin. $; alar.

lin. $.)”—Haliday.

Genus Evtopuus, Geoffroy.

“ Eulophus alce, Mas. Obscure viridi-zeneus, scutello cupreo, abdomine

nigro-viridi basi zenescente. Antennz fusce, scapo nigro-viridi, articulis

3° 4° 5° basi ramum validum pectinatum emittentibus : ramus interior illis

articulis conjunctim equalis: articuli sequentes coarctati clavam lanceolatam,

articulos 4"°™ et 5"™ conjunctim longitudine zquiparantem, sed multo cras-

siorem, fingentes; 6"° hujus clave dimidium occupat, 8"* apice spinula par-

va. Metathorax longitudine et latitudine subzqualibus, apice parum atte-

nuatus ; reticulato-riigulosus, carinula media levi, lateralibus nullis. Peti-

olus brevis validus, obscure zneus, sublzevis, 4 coxarum posticarum equi-

parans. Pedes validi: antici flavi tarsis subfuscis: posteriores flavi, tibia-

rum et tarsorum apice late, femoribus mediis medio, posticis basi demta

fuscis. Cox nigro-virides. Tarsi breves. Tibiz posteriores subsinuate.

Ale obscure hyalinz, nervis dilute fuscis; radio pallidiore, breviusculo,

subarcuato, angulum acutissimum fingente. Long. vix 1 lin.

“Clifden, July, 1839.” —Haliday.

mea Te

eae te? Ve

“Mr. Walker on the British Chalcidites. 935

Genus Entepon, Dalman.

Mas. E. Cydoni proximus: corpus convexum, nitens, scitissime squa-

meum, parce hirtum: caput transversum, brevissimum, vix thoracis lati-

tudine; vertex latus; frons impressa, abrupte declivis: oculi mediocres,

non extantes: ocellus medius perparum antepositus: antennz filiformes,

graciles, thorace longiores ; articulus 1"* longifusiformis ; 2°° cyathiformis ;

3"8, 45, et 5" lineares, discreti ; clava gracilis, attenuata, acuminata, arti-

culo 5° longior et angustior: thorax ovatus: prothorax brevissimus, supra

vix conspicuus, antice angustus: mesothoracis scutum longitudine multo

latius ; parapsidum suture bene determinate ; scutellum subovatum: meta-

thorax mediocris, transversus: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen sublineare,

planum, lve, thorace muito brevius et angustius ; segmentum 1*™ maxi-

mum ; 2%™ et sequentia brevissima: pedes graciles, simplices, subeequales :

ale late; nervus ulnaris humerali multo longior, radialis brevis, cubitalis

adhuc brevior.

Sp. 1. Ent. Hersilia, Mas. Viridis cyaneo-cupreo et purpureo varius,

antenne nigra, pedes fulvo-flavi, femora viridia, ale limpide.

_ Viridis : caput aureo-viride: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne nigre ; arti-

cenli 1"* et 2" virides: abdomen cupreum, basi aureo-viride: pedes flavi;

coxee virides; trochanteres fusci; femora viridia, apice flava; “tarsi fulvi;

protarsi fusci; ale limpide; squamule pice; nervi proalis picei, metalis

fusci. (Corp. long. lin. 3—#; alar. lin. 14—11.)

Var. @.—Thorax cyaneo-viridis: mesothoracis scutellum cupreum : tibize

fulvze ;_ tarsi obscuriores.

Var. y.—Mesothoracis scutellum purpureo-cupreum : abdomen basi cy-

aneum : tibie fulve.

Found by Dr. Greville near Edinburgh, and during September in North-

umberland.

“ Entedon rutilans, Mas. Rubro-aureus. Abdomen convexius, dimidio

anteriore albida, basi summa fusco-zeneo. Antenne 8-art. moniliformes, ar-

ticulis 1°, 2° fuscis, reliquis fusco ferrugineis pilosis ; 2"* major 3°. Stemma-

ticum valde elevatum. Genz pone oculos villose late. Metathorax apice,

pone carinam transversam bis-arcuatam producto-attenuatus, petioli insertio-

nem amplectens. Pedes flavidi, coxis cyaneo-viridibus, unguibus fuscis.

* Entedon gemmeus, Mas. Purpurascenti-ruber. Abdominis segmentum

24™ macula media albida. Antenne 7-articulate fusce, 2° et 3° subzequa-

libus, annello interjecto: 6° et 7° subconnatis. Genz angustiores. Meta-

thorax apice, sub carina transversa gibbula, breviter deflexus in petioli in-

sertionem. Pedes albidi, coxis fusco-zneis, tarsis posterioribus apice fuscis.

“ Variat, femoribus posticis basi fusco-lineatis.’’— Haliday.

| Genus Cirrospitus, Westwood.

Fem. C. Verieni proximus: corpus sublineare, convexum, nitens, leve,

fere glabrum : caput transversum, brevissimum, thorace angustius ; vertex

latus ; frons impressa, abrupte deelivis : oculi mediocres, extantes : antennz

subclavate, graciles, medio frontis inserte; articulus 1"* gracilis, subline-

236 Dr. Schleiden on the Anatomico-physiological

aris ; 2"* basi ad apicem latescens; 3" et sequentes lineares ; 4"° 3° brevior,

5° longior ; clava fusiformis, articulo 5° paullo latior et duplo longior : tho-

rax ovatus: prothorax transversus, brevissimus: mesothoracis scutum uni-

sulcatum, fere planum, longitudine paullo latius; parapsidum suture re-

mote, optime determinate; scutellum subrotundum, bisuleatam: meta-

thorax transversus, brevis: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen ovatum, supra

planum, subtus carinatum, apice acuminatum, thorace paullo longius et la-

tius : pedes graciles, simplices, subzequales: alz late ; nervus ulnaris hu-

merali duplo longior, radialis nullus, cubitalis sat longus ; stigma minutum.

Sp.1. Cirr. Teride, Fem. Nigro-cupreus, antenne picee, pedes fusco-

fulvi, femora nigro-cuprea, ale limpide.

Nigro-cupreus: oculi et ocelli rufi: antenne picez ; articuli 1° et 2** ni-

gri; pedes nigro-cuprei; trochanteres picei; genua flava; metatibize apice

fulvze ; mesotibiz fulve, fuseo cincte; propedum tibiz fulvee, tarsi fusci;

meso- et metatarsi fusci, basi fulvi: ale limpide; squamule picee ; nervi

proalis fulvi, metalis flavi. (Corp. long. lin. 1; alar. lin. 23.)

Found by Dr. Greville, near Edinburgh.

fem. C. Sotadi affinis? corpus angustum, convexum, obscurum, scitissime

Squameum parce hirtum : caput transversum, breve, thorace paullo latius ;

vertex latus; frons abrupte declivis: antenne graciles, extrorsum cras-

siores, thorace paullo longiores; articulus 1" sublinearis ; 2" Jongicyathi-

formis ; 3", 4"', et 5"S lineares, subeequales; clava longifusiformis, acumi-

nata, articulo 5° plus duplo longior: thorax ovatus: prothorax transversus,

brevis : mesothoracis scutum longitudine paullo latius; parapsidum suture

optime determinate; scutellum subrotundum: metathorax transversus,

mediocris: petiolus brevissimus: abdomen fusiforme, lzve, nitens, supra

depressum, subtus carinatum, apice attenuatum et acuminatum, thorace an-

gustius et muJto longius ; latera subcompressa : pedes simplices, subzequales :

alze mediocres; nervus ulnaris humerali multo longior, radialis nullus, cu-

bitalis brevis. 7

Sp. 2. Cirr. Brunchus, Fem. ter, abdomen nigro-cupreum, antenne

picee, pedes flavi, femora nigra, ale limpide.

Ater: oculi et ocelli rufi: antennz picee, basi nigre: abdomen nigro-

cupreum: pedes flavi; coxe nigre; trochanteres picei; femora nigra;

tarsi apice fusci: ale limpide ; squamule picez ; nervi proalis fusci, me-

talis flavi. (Corp. long. lin. $; alar. lin. 14.)

Found by Dr. Greville, near Edinburgh.

XXVI.—Hints on the Anatomico-Physiological Differences in

the Organization of Stems. By Dr. M. J. ScuLerDEN.*

I HAVE been constantly surprised in reading the numerous

controversies on the differences between monocotyledonous

and dicotyledonous stems, to find that, in general, they con-

* Translated from Wiegmann’s Archiv, part,3, 1839.

differences in the Structure of Stems. 237

tain only comparisons between the so-called woody trunks of

palms, and those of the dicotyledonous forest trees of our

zone, the consideration being for the most part overlooked,

that things wholly dissimilar, and which will not admit of

comparison, are thus compared. The palm-stems, for ex-

ample, originate from the undeveloped interfoliar parts, but

our dicotyledonous woody stems from the developed parts ;

and this distinction is so very essential for plants with nu-

merous series of woody bundles, that the stalk of a pink, and

a culm of grass, do not differ so much as the latter and the

stalk of abulb. It appears to me, that even if the most cor-

rect, certainly not the shortest expression, has yet been found

for the distinction between the two great divisions of the

Phanerogamia, with reference to the structure of their stems,

notwithstanding all the researches of the most eminent na-

turalists. In stems in general the following differences occur,

which rest on the development, number and arrangement,

direction and structure of the vascular (woody) bundles.

1. The vascular bundles, whose development always proceeds

from the interior to the exterior, are either limited or unlimited

in their growth. Commonly every vascular bundle consists

of three different physiological parts, namely of an extremely

delicate, rapidly developing tissue, of most tender texture, in

which new cells are continually generated; these are depo-

sited in various configurations, in two different directions, viz.

towards the exterior, in the shape of a peculiar, very thick-

walled cellular, more or less elongated tissue (liber); and to

the imterior, in gradual succession (subjected to the gradual

expansion in length of the part), in the form of annular, spi-

ral, reticulate, and porous vessels ; and of ligneous cells, the

latter either uniform, or differing from each other, forming the

wood, properly so called. Up toa certain period the deve-

lopment of the vascular system in the Monocotyledons and

Dicotyledons proceeds uniformly ; but then, in Monocoty-

ledons the active formative cellular tissue, with delicate

walls, suddenly changes ; the partitions of the cells become

thicker, their generating power ceases, and, when all the

surrounding cells are fully developed, they also assume a

form entirely peculiar, and cease to convey gum, mu-

238 Dr. Schleiden on the Anatomico-physiological

cus, &c., in short all thick formative saps. At the period

when the development of these cells ceases, they are called

by Mohl vasa propria. From this cause all further deve-

lopment of these vascular bundles is rendered impossible,

and therefore I call them terminated, or “ limited.” In Dico-

tyledons, on the contrary, this tissue, which is then termed

cambium, Auct., couche régénératrice, Mirb., retains, durmg

the whole lifetime of the parts of the plant, its vital forma-

tive power ; it continues to develope new cells, and by means

of them increases the mass, as they go on adding partly

to the exterior portion (liber), and partly to the interior

(wood), to infinity. This happens according to the climate

and nature of the plant, either pretty continuously, as for

instance in the Cactee*, or by strong periodical advances

alternating with almost entire cessations, as in our forest trees. —

In the latter, one may be convinced by perseverance and

delicate manipulation, that the stem forms a continuous tis-

sue, from the pith to the bark, in all periods of its life, and

that the bark is never separated from the stem; what has

been so considered is only a rent produced by manipulation

of the delicate formative tissue, which is in a great measure:

present, even during the winter, constituting the foundation.

of the new annual zones, although compressed, and filled

with gum, starch, &c. In the spring, being expanded and

swollen by the new current of sap, it is deprived of its con-

tents by their solution. In all cases we may convince ourselves

that the new cellular tissue is always formed within that

already existing, and, in fact, in primitive cells, by means of

cytoblasts, in the same manner as I have already previously de-

monstrated with regard to other cells. Indeed, the young cells

are constantly formed on the upper ov lower (I regret that I

have not yet paid sufficient attention to this point,) end of the

elongated primitive cells, and by means of their expansion

lengthwise grow through them, and their contact with the

other end of the cell appears to call into existence a new cell

* For this reason the observation of the whole process is most easy in the

Cactuses. In general they have also remissions of growth, which do not

altogether correspond with the annual impulses, although they produce

similar appearances. ‘The cause is yet wholly unknown.

_ differences in the Structure of Stems. 239

at the corresponding place in the next succeeding cell. It is

_ only since the autumn of 1837 that I have submitted this pro-

_ cess to a proper radical research, and must beg to correct every-

thing that I formerly said in ‘ Miiller’s Archiv, 1838* (Con-

tributions to Phytogenesis,) in accordance with my views at

that time respecting the origin of cambium, although in the

explanation I have there given of the function of woody stems

no essential alteration is requisite.

This difference between limited and unlimited vascular

bundles affords the only universal distinction between Mono-

cotyledons and Dicotyledons. In the annual Dicotyledons

the vascular bundle, checked in its further development by

the death of the plant, has, it is true, in so far some similarity

to the Monocotyledons; yet, with close research, the difference

is distinctly apparent, for the formative layer constantly re-

tains to the last moment its generating power; and upon

this, in fact, is founded the lignification of annual plants,

arising from a consequent prevention of the flowering, e. g.,

in Reseda odorata and Cheiranthus annuus. For those who

find an advancement of science solely and wholly in the em-

ployment of new terms, and who are tired of the good old

division into Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons+, I propose,

instead of the nonsensical division into Endogens and Exogens,

the denomination of Teleophytes for Monocotyledons, and

Synechophyies for Dicotyledons, founded on the preceding

observations.

2. The second distinction among the various organiza-

tions of stems, is founded on the number and arrange-

ment of the vascular bundles, namely, whether only one

simple circle, or several concentric circles, are present. In

the first case they generally approach sooner or later close to

each other, and thus form a hollow closed cylinder, which is

only traversed by greater or smaller bands of the compressed

parenchyma, from within outwards: these bands are called

* A translation of this Memoir appeared in the 6th Part of Taylor’s Scien-

tific Memoirs, selected from foreign transactions, &c. Enprr.

+ This division, nevertheless, remains the only correct one, because it

depends on the development; and its value is not even lessened by some of

the Conifere, since the essential character consists not in the number, but in

the verticillation of the cotyledons.

240 Dr. Schleiden on the Anatomico-phystological

medullary rays. This closing together does not always take

place in annual stems, and consequently there exists no differ-

ence except the nature of the vessels between the woody frame-

work, for example, of Tropeolum majus (unlimited vascular

bundles), and the creeping stem of Polypodium ramosum, (li-

mited vascular bundles). Only where a defined boundary is

produced by a single circle of nearly approximating bundles,

can there be any question of bark and pith. There is, ori-

ginally, present everywhere only a uniform parenchyma, and

it is only after the development of a part of this into vascular

bundles, that the diversity arises, of inclosed substance (pith),

and external substance (bark); while the medullary rays,

which may be traced through all gradations, from narrow la-

mine to a continuous communicating parenchymatous mass,

traversed merely by some threads of vascular bundles, still

preserve the connexion. The dispute about bark, or no bark,

in Monocotyledons, is therefore quite foolish, either an empty

contention about words, or grounded on the assertion of some-

thing decidedly false. Meanwhile, that which has by many

people been called the bark of the Monocotyledons, is very

different in its origin, structure, and physiological import-

ance, from the bark of the Dicotyledons.

The case of a simple circle of closed vascular bundles only

occurs, so far as I know, in the stems of Dicotyledons. In

Monocotyledons, on the contrary, it is, I believe, the aici

structure of the roots.

The other case, of several concentric circles of vascular

bundles, exists throughout the Monocotyledons, and is to be

found among the Dicotyledons in the Piperacee, Nyctaginee,

Amaranthacee, Chenopodee, and perhaps in many others, the

structure and formation of whose stems are not at present

well known. Meanwhile the chief distinction between Mo-

nocotyledons, namely that of the closed or unclosed vascular

bundles, comes here into action, and gives rise to an en-

tirely peculiar woody structure in the before-named Dicotyle-

dons. Dr. Robert Brown first drew my attention. to this in

the stem of a Pisonia, (unknown Burmese tree, in Lindley’s

‘Introduction to Botany’, p. 80, fig.40.). Now, as all these

vascular bundles, arranged in various circles, continue to be

differences in the Structure of Stems. 241

developed until at last they almost form a continuous mass,

the parenchyma which previously separated them is thereby

compressed into some small insulated patches, that appear

scattered through the completely formed wood in little narrow

vertical bands, which, in regard to their origin, may rightly

be termed vertical medullary rays. On the outside of these

cords are found in the wood very frequently spiroide still un-

altered, forming the commencements of the outer vascular

bundles. I have pursued the entire development of this pecu-

liar structure in two species of Pisonia, in Amaranthus viridis,

Beta Cicla, Atriplex hortensis, Chenopodium Quinoa, &c. Many

other plants of the families mentioned, such as the Piperacee,

which I could only examine under certain circumstances,

prove, by their structure, that this peculiarity is quite general

in those families.

A curious form of wood probably belongs here, (and per-

haps the whole family of the Crassulacee), but I had no op-

portunity of following up the history of their development*.

In the old stem of an undetermined Hcheveria I found, for

instance, an entire uniform mass of wood, formed of prosen-

chymatous cells without vessels, and scattered therein small

vertical cords of a very delicate-walled parenchyma, in the

midst of which ran spiral vessels, most of which might still be

unrolled.

3. A third point of importance, arising from the essential

differences of stems, is the relation of the axis to the parts

given off from its periphery, the leaves and buds. Hereto be-

long a multiplicity of phenomena.

A. A phenomenon common to all Dicotyledons, is the

formation of nodes. A lateral organ in fact originates uni-

versally among Dicotyledons only from the nodes ; the part so

ealled in botanical descriptions is not here intended (for that

is mostly a crude conception of a somewhat isolated form of

* I beg here expressly to observe that the earlicr stages were not at my

disposal, and protest solemnly against the reproach of having overlooked

anything, if the development should give any other result. I should not no-

tice this if Meyen (in his Annual Report for 1838, p. 44) had not so ground-

lessly charged me with error, though I had explicitly declared that I had

been unable to examine the earlier stages, and where, moreover, the history

of the development shows that my supposition on the signification of the

questionable formation was correct.

242 Dr. Schleiden on the Anatomico-physiological

appearance), but a peculiar arrangement of the vascular

system which may always be demonstrated by anatomy. For

there is formed from two or more vascular bundles by sim-

ple superposition on one another, or by anastomotic ramifica-

tions, a loop, ansa, and only from this plexus do the peripheri-

cal organs receive their vascular bundles. From this relation,

then, in connexion with the formation of the horizontal me-

dullary rays, results infinite variety in the woody body. This

ansa is, at the same time, especially destined to place the

parenchyma of the lateral organs in connexion with the pith

(or, rather, the living parenchyma) of the axis. The size of

the noose is therefore essentially dependent on the thickness

of the base of the leaves or lateral buds, (or, rather, the re-

verse).

In the Monocotyledons this formation of true nodes is

probably far more rare, if indeed it occurs at all; for I am yet in

doubt whether a real anastomosis of the vascular system takes

place in the so-called nodes of the grasses, for the purpose of

giving off bundles to the lateral parts. Thus much at least

is certain, that in Monocotyledons the anastomosis of the

vascular system decidedly takes place more rarely than in

Dicotyledons. If it could be ascertained that the above cha-

racteristic formation of nodes nowhere occurred amongst the

Monocotyledons, this would certainly afford a primary and

general distinction between them.

In Acotyledons the decided dicotyledonous formation again

occurs; and many unnecessary words would have been spared

on the pretended difference in the stems of Ferns if the forma-

tion from which it is said to deviate (viz. the dicotyledo-

nous stem) had been studied, not in a limited consideration

of the Oak or the Lime, but in the various types of the differ-

ent families. I believe it would not be very difficult for me

to demonstrate all the modifications of the woody tissue of

ferns, which do not depend on the closing up of the vascular

bundles, but only on number, situation and mutual combina-

tion, as occurring in all essential points in the Huphorbiacee

or the Cactee. |

B. In every case where vascular bundles go off to a peri-

pherical organ, they must decussate with the subsequently

differences in the Structure of Stems. 243

_ originated parts, which are formed exteriorly to the point of

departure. This is already evident without any examination,

and is so far from being a peculiarity of growth of the Mono-

cotyledons, that from this alone one might already have ven-

tured with security to conclude the non-existence of the pre-

tended Endogeneity. But it is most strikingly to be observed

in the separated closed vascular bundles of the Monocotyle-

dons; although exceedingly well also in other cases, as for in-

stance in old Melocacti, Echinocacti, and Mammillarie.

C. But here the most important circumstance is whether

the interfoliar parts are longitudinally developed or not. In

the first case all the new parts originating on the surface

(whether it be new vascular bundles or the continued develop-

ment of old ones) serve naturally to add to the thickness of the

whole stem, without its length being in any way increased by

these new parts. It is otherwise when the interfoliar parts

remain undeveloped. Here, as far as I have hitherto been

able to observe, this circumstance constantly occurs, that from

the germinating plant, or the node in the act of formation, the

impulse of growth, being unable to extend lengthwise, expands

every following internode more and more in breadth until a

certain period, so that every subsequent one projects somewhat

beyond the earlier one, and thus converts the original lateral

surface into an under surface. As the best example, I may here

mention the development of bulbs, and of the Melocacti.. This

augmentation of the internodes continues only to a certain pe-

riod, namely, till the plant has in this manner formed for it-

self a sufficiently broad basis. From this time the new inter-

node no longer expands itself beyond the old; andastem gra-

dually increasing in height, but usually not increasing any

further in thickness, originates through the continued deposi-

tion of the interfoliar parts, resembling hollow cones, on one

another. A repetition of the gradual expansion of the inter-

nodes just described occurs as an exception in the tumid forms

of the palm stems. For the study of this form of stem in the

Monccotyledons, I would recommend to those who have not

palms at hand the Allium strictum and senescens, &c, as they

are in reality palm stems in miniature.

From this mode of formation there naturally follows in those

244 Dr. Schleiden on the Anatomico-physiological

plants with closed vascular bundles the arch-formed course

peculiar to the vascular bundles of the peripherical parts, which

is easily made evident by a

a diagram of the construc-

tion of such a stem, as

in the annexed Figure,

where the dotted lines re-

present the limits of the

mass (the hollow cone) be-

longing to each interfolial

part, and the arrow de-

notes the direction which

does not exactly corre-

spond to thedirection from

within outwards in a deve-

loped stem, but combines

this and the other direc- -

tion from above downwards, each cone being at the same

time a newly deposited part directed outwardly and a new

internode added superiorly. Now every leaf (a) has originally

its position on the apex (#) of the hollow cone, which ori-

ginated contemporaneously with it, and in which those vas-_

cular bundles belonging to the leaves naturally proceed ob-

liquely from the periphery inwards and upwards to the leaf, and

consequently to the axis of the stem (x). From this position

the leaf is now in consequence of the continued formation gra-

dually pushed towards the periphery, which course its vascular

bundles must follow, as they perforate all the succeeding cones

just as a branch of one of our forest trees breaks through the

subsequent annual zones; whence it results that the second

portion of the arc is formed from within obliquely outwards

and upwards. Now whether the arc is longer or shorter, or

what is the same thing, more or less curved, depends princi-

pally on the shape of the recently superposed cone, i. e. on

the terminal shoot. The more acute the terminal bud the

longer the curve, as in most of the Palms; and the flatter it is

the shorter and more curved is the arc, as in most Monoco-

tyledonous Rhizomes.

It is, however, evident that we dare not make use of the

differences in the Structure of Stems. 245

curved course of the vascular bundles as a primary distinction

‘between the Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, for this is de-

pendent on two other relations, that of the closed vascular

bundles and the undeveloped internodes; consequently it

would on the one hand be present in the Dicotyledons if they

had closed-vascular bundles, and on the other would not be-

long generally to the monocotyledonous stem, but only to that

with undeveloped internodes.

D. Now from a combination of the circumstances related

under A. and C. there originates in the simple closed circle

of vascular bundles and proportionally large leaf-bases, for the

closed vascular bundles, the form of the Fern-stem, and for the

unclosed that of the Cactean stem:, the latter repeats nearly

all the relations of the Fern-stem,only always above the earth.

_ 4, In the dicotyledonous structure of stems many diversities

still result from the hypertrophy of the pith, the bark, or both,

as for instance in the Euphorbie, Cactee, many tubers, e. g. So-

lanum tuberosum, and particularly also the Cycadee, the struc-

ture of whose stem has only the most superficial resemblance

to that of the Palms, and is certainly more nearly allied to that

of the Fern stems, but differs essentially from them by the

unlimited vascular bundles, and.approaches far more to the

-Cactee.

5. Lastly, the modification of the cells composing the

woody bundles, whether originally or at a subsequent stage of

development, differs extremely, much more indeed than hi-

therto believed. The light wood of the Avicennie consists al-

most wholly of porous vessels; the equally light and soft wood

of Bomba pentandra consists almost entirely of parenchyma,

spiral, circular and reticulate vessels, and rarely of prosen-

chyma occurring in the exterior part of the annual rings.

The wood of the Melocacti, Mammillarie and Echinocacti

consists entirely of peculiar short broad thin-walled cells,

terminating above and below in an obtuse conical form, with

very thick annular or spiral fibrous cells (deposited on their

narrow margin), like those which Meyen has represented in

his ‘ Phytotomie’ of Opuntia cylindrica, where they occur, as

in most of the Opuntie, though in less abundance, at the co-

arctations of the joints. It is well known that in the Conifere

246 Mr. H. O. Stephens on the Fungi

and Cycadee the cells which form the wood develope uni

formly, and not as in many other kinds of wood separating into

prosenchyma and vessels. In many plants the earliest spiral

vessels of the medullary sheath, in consequence of the great

longitudinal expansion of the cells, become changed into an-

nular vessels, in which form they remain ; in other plants the

spiral vessels do not show this tendency, notwithstanding the

great extension they have to undergo ; they are then frequently

elongated with their cell to such a degree that they appear

only like a thread lying in an intercellular passage, and they

are very frequently entirely reabsorbed. This may be beauti-

fully observed in Opuntia monacantha, cylindrica, Mammil-

laria simplex, Helleborus fotidus, &c. May not this be the

reason why we in many cases no longer find genuine spiroides

in the developed stem, even in the corona medullaris ?

The study of the organization of stems is still a boundless

field for careful research; so far as I know no one has yet

given a true explanation of that frequent formation in the fa-

mily of the Sapindacee, where in one stem we meet with se-

veral centra for the formation of wood, only one of which oc-

cupies the axis of the stem. Likewise very little that is satis-

factory is known of the peculiar structure of the stem of the

Phytocrene (Wall.), or of the analogous forms frequently oc-

curring in the family of the Bignoniacee,—forms which can-

not be described. by words, for which reason I cursorily refer

to Lindley, ‘Introduction to Botany,’ p. 79, fig. 36, where a

similar structure, stated to be from a Passiflora, is repre-

sented.

————

XXVII.—On the Mycology of the neighbourhood of Bristol.

By Mr. Henry Oxuey STEPHENS.

To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History.

GENTLEMEN,

I po not know whether you will consider the following My-

cological Notices of sufficient importance as to give them a

of the Neighbourhood of Bristol. 247

place in your Journal; but as the difficulties of this branch

of botanical science are acknowledged by all, and the labourers

are comparatively few, the smallest contributions may not be

without value. I am not aware that any botanist has de-

scribed the mycology of the neighbourhood of Bristol: at

least Mr. Berkeley appears to have received no communica-

tions from this quarter, as no mention is made of any in his

portion of the ‘ English Flora.’ I have only mentioned spe-

cies which appear to be most interesting, and some which I

consider undescribed ; although in the latter particular I may

be mistaken, as I have never seen the Systema Mycologica of

Fries.

Agaricus phalloides, vaginatus, rubescens. Common in all the woods

about Bristol.

Ag. Cossus, Sow. Stapleton Grove, most abundant; growing in

dense masses. The larger plants are four to six inches across.

The odour is always strong.

Ag. fulvus, Retz. Under birch trees, Leigh Wood, Sept. 1839.

Ag. torminosus, Schaffn. Pileus of a beautiful strawberry colour,

Leigh Wood.

Ag. acris, Bolton. Leigh Wood, Sept. 1837.

Ag. uvidus, Fries. Stapleton Grove. Ag. Lysginus, Fr. Ditto.

Ag. blennius, Fr. Woods; not uncommon.

Ag. rufus, Scop. Leigh Wood, under birch trees. My specimens

agree with the descriptions of Withering and Persoon in having

a zoned pileus.

Ag. flecuosus, Pers. Amongst bushes, Stapleton.

Ag. infundibuliformis, Bull. 6. major. Stapleton Woods, &c. One

of the latest autumnal Fungi, continuing to spring up until cut

off by the frosts.

Ag. giganteus, Sow. Not nearly so common as the preceding, and

growing in more open situations, Leigh Wood.

Ag. nebularis, Batsch. I am surprised at the confusion which existed

with regard to this most distinct plant. Withering described it

with sufficient exactness, and Bolton’s figure and account are

distinct enough, although I have never seen the colour so pale as -

he has represented it. Grows on commons among furze-bushes.

Ag. odorus, Bull. Leigh Wood, amongst moss in Sept. and Oct.

The pileus is often of a whitish colour, the pale specimens fully

as fragrant as the green ones.

Ag. grammopodius, Bull. Grows in pastures in large rings. It is

248 Mr. H. O. Stephens on the Fungi

one of the earliest Fungi, appearing in June. Felton and Clifton

Down.

Ag. pelianthenus, Fr. Stapleton Grove, June 1838. My plant is

exactly represented by Bolton, tab. 4. fig. 1. with the exception

of the processes on the gills, which are like those of Ae § balani-

nus, Berkeley, in Mag. of Zool. and Botany.

Ag. fusco-purpureus, Pers. In ditches, among fallen beech leaves,

Stapleton.

Ag. tuberosus, Bull. Amongst moss without the tuber, Leigh

Wood.

Ag. Clavus, Bull. On dead grass stems, Stapleton.

Ag. parasiticus. On the pileus of decaying Agarics, Leigh Wood.

Ag. caulicinalis. On the roots of grass ; not uncommon.

Ag. rondas, Fr. On dead bramble sticks. Stapleton Wood.

Ag. Campanella, Batsch. (3. badipus. On the ground under fir trees,

Durdham Down. Found during the whole year from spring to

Christmas.

Ag. fragrans, Sow. Amongst moss in most of the woods about

Bristol. One of the latest of the autumnal Fungi. It is some-

times scentless.

Ag. myxacius species nova? Pleuropus. Pileus dimidiate and lobed

olive brown, very slimy, paler towards the margin, extreme

edge revolute and downy, substance fleshy, flesh white. Gills

close, white, rather narrow, decurrent or acute behind, very irre-

gular in length, forked, separating from the substance of the

pileus like the tubes of Boleti. Stem solid, white, truly lateral.

Smell like Polyp. squamosus. The pileus varies from one to one

and a half inch across. ‘Two specimens grew close together

on the turf, Durdham Down, July 1839, after a fortnight of

very wet weather.

Ag. rhodopolius. Shady woods, Nightingale Valley.

Ag. repandus, Bull. Durdham Down. The pileus is sometimes of

the deepest indigo, the plant differing in nothing else.

Ag. phlebophorus, Ditm. In the hollow of an old hazel tree, Leigh

Wood.

Ag. griseo-cyaneus, Fr. Down and upland pastures, very abundant.

The stem is frequently eccentric when young, and the odour

powerfully aromatic, exactly like Melissa officinalis.

Ag. chalybeus and columbarius. Abundant on every dry common in

the autumn months.—Ag. pascuus. Common, but not so plentiful

as the foregoing.—Ag. Sowerbii. A most abundant species;

our downs and dry pastures are completely strewed with it in

of the neighbourhood of Bristol. 249

the autumn. A most distinct and interesting species: the

strong mousy odour and bright verdigris green stripe at once

distinguish it.

Ag. torvus. Stapleton Grove ; perhaps not uncommon.

Ag. violaceus, Linn. In several places in the parish of Stapleton.

Ag. radicosus, Bull. Leigh Wood. Smell exactly like cherry laurel

water.

Ag. adiposus, Batsch. Very rare. On an old ash, Redland.

Ag. squarrosus, Mull. On trunks of various trees. Very com-

mon.

Ag. mutabilis. Ona bank where a willow tree had been cut down.

April.

Ag. fastibilis. In clusters on an old ash tree, with a distinct veil.

I should not have at first recognised this plant as a variety of Ag.

fastibilis for the smell resembled Ag. melleus and the taste was plea-

sant; but on keeping the specimens a few days, as the sporules

ripened, the characteristic odour of 4g. fastibilis appeared; the

sporules, too, exactly accorded in colour and figure.

Ag. obscurus, Pers. Synop. p. 347. No. 163. Albertini and Schwein,

| Consp. p. 174. No. 504. It is singular this Agaric has not

been described as British, as it is a very common species with

us, growing on the naked soil in all the woods about Bristol.

It is in many respects a remarkable plant, the odour is strong

but pleasant, and when bruised thé stem and pileus instantly

turn a bright brick red. :

Ag. hirtus, species nova? Inocyba. Pileus white, with a shade of

cinnamon towards the centre, about one inch in diameter, co-

vered with hairy scales of a light cinnamon brown. Gills pure

white, not numerous, adnexed of different lengths and rather

broad. Stem about two inches high, attenuated upwards, tumid

downwards, and again contracted towards the base, perfectly

solid, striated, crooked, one eighth of an inch thick at the most

swollen part, densely covered all over with beautiful cinnamon

scales, which stand out in a squarrose manner, giving to the

plant a hispid feeling. Flesh of the stem and pileus white,

tough and elastic, sporules ? odour none, taste pleasant.

Nearly allied to dg. plumosus, Bott., but differs in colour and

habit. Grew under oak trees, amongst moss, Leigh Wood,

Sept. 6, 1838.

Ag. Loveianus, Berk. Is not this species described by Mr. Knapp

Journal of a Naturalist, as Ag. surrectus, cum icone lignea?

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 24. Dec. 1839. T

250 Mr H.O. Stephens on the Fungi

Ag. medius, Schum.* Meadows in September, always after stormy

weather.

Cantharellus tubeformis, Bull. On stumps, Leigh Wood.

Cantharellus? confluens, species nova? Densely crowded, so that

the pilei frequently become confluent. Pileus repand and lobed,

quarter to half an inch in diameter. Stem half an inch in height,

one-eighth in thickness, solid. Hymenium pruinose, with a few

obsolete veins. The whole plant of a pale clay-coloured brown,

scarcely varying in any part, with the exception of the margin of

the pileus, which is paler. Grew in dense clusters under beech

trees. Stapleton Grove, Sept. 6, 1839.

Polyporus adustus, Willd. Stapleton Grove. Effused in large masses

over fallen leaves as well as on stumps.

Polyp. suaveolens. On willows, in the parish of Stapleton; very

abundant. It has a zoneless villous white pileus and brownish

pores ; smells like aniseeds.

Polyp. dryadeus, Pers. On old oaks, in most woods about Bristol,

always growing near the base of the trunks.

Polyp. medulla panis, Jacq. Inside a hollow ash. Precisely like a

mass of the crumb of bread.

Boletus luteus. It is singular, that although Mr. Berkeley marks

this species as exceedingly common, I have never found it in this

neighbourhood ; the common species here being B. Grevellei.

B. granulatus, Linn. Common, often growing to a great size.

B. subtomentosus. Ditto.

Radulum orbiculare, Fr. On fallen birch sticks, Leigh Wood. Hy-

menium waxy. My specimens do not exactly accord with Dr.

Greville’s figure, but they are not very perfect.

Thelephora amorpha, Pers. A. & S. Conspect. p. 329, No. 982.

Descriptio bona. On dead bramble or dog-rose sticks. Cook's

Folly Woods, June, 1839.

Th. incrustans. Woods: common. Th. epidermea. On fallen twigs

in woods. Th. nuda. Ditto.

Th. corrugata, Fr. On sticks in a wet hedge. Redland, April,

1839. Hymenium much cracked and papillose, with red-brown

bristles. A golden yellow-brown woolly parasitic fangus grows

upon it.

Th. (Merisma) fastidiosum. Pers. Mycolog. Europ. vol. i. p. 155.

* Ag. medius, Schum., should be 4g. pusillus, Pers. The error in Englisk

Flora has been corrected in Mr. Berkeley’s British Fungi and in our Journal.

—Ep.

of the neighbourhood of Bristol. 251

No.1. In woods, glueing fallen leaves together in masses.

Stercoris humani olet.

Clavana pistillaris, Linn. Very rare. Nightingale Valley.

Cl. amethystina, Bull. In a copse opposite the Black Horse on the

road to Aust Passage. A very large specimen.

Geoglossum glabrum, Pers. This present autumn. Dardham Down.

Helvella crispa and lacunosa. Stapleton Grove.

H. elastica, Bull. Under trees. Stapleton, autumn.

Peziza reticulata, Grev. On the ground in various woods about

Bristol; by no means rare with us. It is one of the earliest

fungi, appearing in February. The odour resembles that of

chlorine. Before Mr. Berkeley’s invaluable portion of the

‘ English Flora’ was published I had considered this to be a non-

descript species ; subsequently I have seen Dr. Greville’s figure,

than which nothing can be more excellent.

Pez. acetabulum, Linn. On a clay bank, Stapleton, May.

Pez. vesiculosa, Bull. There is what I consider to be a form of this

plant grows on the naked soil in woods; it is much smaller, of

a more regular figure and less juicy consistency than the dung-

hill plants, otherwise I do not know how to distinguish it.

Pez. macropus, Pers. Under beech trees, Stapleton, September.

Growing in company with Helvella elastica. Mr. Berkeley

remarks that some forms of these plants resemble each other,

which they do very strongly, and Fries seems to consider them

as identical, an opinion which I presume to doubt.

Pez. humosa, Fr. On the naked soil, Leigh Wood, Sept. 4, 1839.

Colour deep blood red internally, externally with greenish cast,

when wounded bleeding a whey-like juice.

Pez. scuteliata, Linn. On clay in wet ditch banks, Stapleton.

Densely gregarious, the largest plants were the size of six-

pences. The usual habitat for Pez. scutellata appears to be rot-

ten wood. Perhaps my plant is Pez. umbrosa, as Mr. Berkeley

suspects, but the latter plant is not mentioned in the Mycolog.

Eur.

Pez. calycina and Laricis. Abundant on larch sticks in the spring.

Stapleton.

Tremella fimbriata, Pers. On stumps, Redland. It immediately

gives a dark tincture to water.

Spherobolus stellatus, Tode. On sticks, Stapleton Wood.

Sph. entomorrhiza, Dicks. I am aware how unwarrantable it is to

alter a well-known specific name, especially when imposed by

such a revered botanist as Dickson, but this specific name has

252 On the Fungi of the neighbourhood of Bristol.

ceased to be distinctive, as other Spherie growing from the larvee

of insects have been discovered ; indeed I have seen gigantic

specimens from New Zealand on caterpillars. There appear to be

two very distinct forms, or rather two species, described under

Sph. entomorrhiza, one with a slender stem and exserted ostiola,

and the other with a more robust stem and perithecia entirely

immersed. .

Mr. Berkeley says, Dickson’s plant is evidently altered from the

larve having been buried in the ground ; but there is no evidence

of this either from the figure or description, and I humbly conceive

the exserted ostiola render it specifically distinct*. I would propose

to call the original plant Sph. Dicksoni, and the variety described in

the ‘ English Flora’ by Mr. Berkeley, Sph. Berkelei, in compliment

to that profound mycologist. I possess a single specimen of the last

plant or variety gathered at Stockwood, Somerset, April 1836; it

precisely accords with Mr. Berkeley’s description; the roots embrace

as it were the caterpillar, which is hardened, as if filled with the

matter of which the fungus is composed.

Sph. lanciformis, Sow. On birch bark. Not uncommon.

Sph. leiphemia, Fr, On dead oak branches. Very common.

Sph. incana, species nova? Section villose. Perithecia densely

crowded, globose, covered with white mealy down. Ostiola pa-

pillary, black, shining. Growing on low dung in dense patches.

Stapleton Wood, August 24, 1839.

An‘exceedingly neat Spheria : the ostiola and a little of the upper

portion of the perithecia are bare. I can find no description appli-

cable to this plant.

Sph. strobilina, Holl. and Schum. Oncones of Scotch fir, Stapleton.

Sph. atrovirens, A.andS. y Rusci.. On dead Ruseus aculeatus.

Not uncommon.

Sph. setacea, Pers. On dead leaves of the Pyrus Aria, Redland.

Sph. vagans lamiocola, Berk. Fung. Exsiccat. On L. album, every-

where. This, or a nearly allied species, occurred on the leaves

of Lychnis diurna.

Geaster rufescens, Pers. In woods ona clay soil; not uncommon

withus. There is a nearly allied species, occasionally found on

open downs, with the outer peridium rose-coloured.

Diderma cyanescens, Fr. On dead oak leaves, Nightingale Valley.

Didymium hemisphericum, Bull. On twigs, ina ditch, Ashby, April.

Trichia fallax, On rotten wood, Stapleton.

* The degree of exsertion of the spherules in Spheria militans is ex-

tremely variable, therefore a safe character can scarcely be drawn from this

circumstance.—Ep.

Mr. C. C. Babington on Arctium Lappa and Bardana. 253

Sepedonium roseum, Fr. Overrunning all the plants of Ag. rubescens,

Stapleton Wood, July 1839. Sporidia much resembling those

of the pedicellate Uredines.

Puccinia tumida. On Bunium fleruosum, Brandon Hill, May 1838.

P. Circee, Pers. On C. Lutetiana, Leigh Wood, September, 1839.

The handsomest species with which I am acquainted.

P. Ulmaria, Dec. On Spirea Ulmaria, Stockwood. Associated

with Uredo Potentillarum.

Ocidium Primule, Dec. On primrose, Nightingale Valley. Sporidia

yellow orange.

O. Ari, Berk. On A. maculatum, Leigh Wood, May.

O. leucospermum, Dec. On Anemone nemorosa, Redland, May.

Uredo Scillarum, Grev. The sporidia grow from a thickened kind

of sabiculum, which is very apparent in the dried specimens.

Leigh Wood, May.

U. Primule, Dec. On P. vulgaris, Nightingale Valley. Sori some-

times in rings.

U. crustacea, Berk. On Campanula rotundifolia, Wick Rocks, Glou-

__ cestershire, August. {

U. Petroselini. On Smyrnium Olusatrum, St. Vincent’s Rocks.

U. pompholygodes, Berk. Fung. Exsiccat. On Anemone nemorosa,

Redland.

U. Umbellatarum, Johnst. On Conium maculatum and Athusa Cyna-

ptum.

U. Hypericorum, Dec. On Hyp. Androsemum, Leigh Wood, June..

U. confluens, Dec. On Mercurialis perennis, Clifton. Sporidia dull

yellow.

U. Lint. On L. catharticum. Common.

Henry Oxtey STEPHENS.

North Street, Bristol, Sept. 21, 1839.

XXVIII.—On the Arctium Lappa and Bardana of Sir J. E.

Smith. By Cuarues C. Basineton, M.A., F.LS.,

F.G.S., &c.

Ir must have appeared a remarkable circumstance to most

practical botanists that the plants described by Sir J. E. Smith

under the names of Arctium Lappa and A. Bardana, should

be considered as truly distinct species by many authors of

celebrity, and that others whose opinions were deserving of

equal attention should as decidedly declare them to be only

varieties of one plant: indeed some botanists have gone so

254 Mr. C.C. Babington on Arctium Lappa and Bardana.

far as to say that they are not even distinguishable as varieties.

It appears to me that part of this difference of opinion may be

referred to the unsatisfactory manner in which they have been

figured in English Botany, neither of the plates. numbered re-

spectively 1228 and 2478, representing either of the plants in

the state in which I find them in nature. Tab. 1228, which

is named A. Lappa, has the habit, protruded flowers and smalk

heads of A. Bardana, but it wants the woolly involucrum, and

has the leaves too much waved at their margins for that plant.

Tab. 2478, denominated A. Bardana, has the habit and large

green heads of A. Lappa, but its involucrum is clothed with

wool, its flowers are protruded, and its leaves want the wavy

margin and numerous prickles of that species. From this

confusion of characters I cannot avoid suspecting that some

mistake has occurred, and am not surprised that any botanist,

on a cursory view of the figures in comparison with speci-

mens, should have believed the plants to be very variable. I

had myself come to that conclusion, and should not probably

soon have detected my mistake, had not an eminent practical

botanist informed me that he had always been accustomed to

distinguish two Burdocks in the earlier years of his life (be-

fore the publication of those figures), but that latterly he had

failed in determining them by their technical characters. Iam

now become convinced that two plants of different habit, and

possessing distinctive characters, which are very permanent,

exist in England, and propose describing them as follows :

1. Arctium Lappa, Linn. Capitulis subcorymbosis, involucri

glabriusculi squamis interioribus concoloribus lineari-lanceolatis

in mucronulum sensim attenuatis margine scariosis flosculos

superantibus.

A. Lappa, Linn. Sp. Pl. ii. 1143. Sm. Eng. Fl. iit. 380.

A. majus, Schkuhr. iii. 49. Wim. et Grab. Fl. Silec. iii. 105. Le-

deb, Fl. Alt. iv. 37.

Lappa major, Gaertn. ii. 379, t.162. DC. Prod. vi. 660. Koch.

Syn. 404. Peterm. Fl. Lips. 600.

L. officinalis, ‘‘ All.”’ Spenn. Fl. l’rib. 491.

In this plant the involucrum is longer than the florets, the

scales are all yellowish-green, rigid, subulate and hooked, with

the exception of a very few of the innermost ones, which are

linear-lanceolate, contracting gradually into a slightly curved

Mr. C. C. Babington on Arctium Lappa and Bardana. 255

rigid point ; all of them in their lower part and some of the

‘innermost throughout their whole length, are furnished with

a very narrow scarious white minutely ciliated not serrulated

margin. The leaves are cordate, their margins nearly flat, and

fringed with numerous rigid prickles formed by the excurrent

points of the nerves.

The most apparent characters of this plant are its large size,

large corymbose heads, and glabrous pale green involucrum.

2. A. Bardana, Willd. Capitulis racemosis involucri arachnoideo-

lanati squamis interioribus coleratis lineari-lanceolatis abrupte

mucronatis flosculis brevioribus.

Arctium Bardana, Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. 1632. Sm. Engl. FI. iii. 381.

A. tomentosum, Schik. iii. 49. Fl. Sil. iii. 104. Fl. Alt. iv. 37.

Lappa tomentosa, Lam., Dict. i. 377. DC. Prod. vi. 660. Koch,

405. Spenn. Fl. Friburg. 490. Peterm. Fl. Lips. 601.

Here the involucrum is shorter than the florets, the scales

are often nearly all purple-coloured, and although most of

them are rigid, subulate, and hooked, yet the inner ones,

which are linear-lanceolate and contract rather suddenly into

an almost straight rigid point, are more numerous in propor-

tion than they are in A. Lappo. Here the outer scales are

fringed as in the former plant, but the inner ones, which are

always coloured purple, are minutely serrulated throughout.

The leaves are much smailer, less wavy at their margins, and

fewer of the nerves appear to be excurrent, although I have

seen them quite as numerous as in A. Lappa.

This species is distinguished at a glance by its smaller size,

small racemed heads, and more or less ote and coloured in-

volucrum.

I do not pretend to say that these plants are really distinct

species, but am certainly inclined to consider them as deser-

ving of that rank :—for although I have looked carefully for

them, yet intermediate states have not come under my notice

since I have been familiar with the living plants: my wish is

to call the attention of English botanists to a neglected genus

in our native Flora. It is probable that both plants are com-

mon throughout the country, but es Bardana appears to be

rather the more frequent.

St. John’s Coll. Cambridge, Oct. 12, 1839.

256 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

XXIX.—Flore Insularum Nove Zelandie Precursor; or 4

Specimen of the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. By

ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, Esq.

[Concluded from p. 26.] ~

FLACOURTIANEA, Rich. in Mém. du Mus. DC.

Meuicytus, Forst.

Flores dioici y. polygami. Mas. Cal. monosepalus, 5-dentatus, dentibus

brevibus persistentibus. Petala 5 calyce duplo longiora, discohypogyno

basi coalita.” Filamenta 5 clavata cyathiformia antherifera petalis al-

terna, Anthere erecte, adnate, quadrato-cordate, biloculares introste,

loculis appositis longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Fam. Calyx et petala ut

in masc. Discus e squamis 5, petalis oppositis glandulosis. Ovarium

liberum sessile, stigmate depresso, 2—5-lobo, terminatum. Fructus

baccatus, 1-locularis, indehiscens polyspermus, calyce persistente nec

aucto basi cinctus. Semina parietalia inzequalia angulata, latere exte-

riore convexa, testa minutissime scrobiculata.—Arbusculz glabra. Folia

alterna, petiolata, exstipulata, oblonga, acuminata, calloso-dentata,

membranacea, penninervia, venosa. Flores parvi albi axillares fascicu-

lati, pedicellati, pedicellis basi bracteolatis. ,

623. M. ramiflorus, dioicus, foliis obovato-oblongis, fasciculis subsexfloris,

petalis ovali-lanceolatis acuminatis, fructu sphzeroideo, stigmate 4—5 lobato.

Forst, Prod. n. 371. Gen. Char. t.62. DC. Prodr.i. p. 257. A. Rich. Fl.

Nov. Zel. p. 313.

Mahéé, indigenis. R. C.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. On the skirts

of forests and banks of rivulets, Bay of Islands &c.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Middle Island.—1773, G. Forster.—1827, D’ Urville.

624. M. macrophyllus, polygamus, foliis ovato-oblongis versus petiolum

angustatis, fasciculis 8—10-floris, petalis oblongis obtusis, fructu obovato,

stigmate 2—3-lobato.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Shady forests in the country between

the Bay of Islands and Hokianga river.—1826, 4. Cunningham.—1833, R.

Cunningham.

CRUCIFER, Juss.

1. Nasturtium, R. Br. in Hort. Kew.

625. N. sylvestre. Br.in Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v.iv. p. 110. DC. Prodr, n. i.

p. 137. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 309.— Sisymbrium sylvestre. L. £. Bot.

t, 2324.

Chiqui ab incolis vulgo dicitur. D’Urville. *

New Zealand (Middle Island). On barren spots, Cook’s Strait,—1827,

D Urville.

2. Carpamine, L.

626. C. debilis, (Banks and Sol. Ms.) foliis petiolatis glabris pinnatisectis,

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 957

segmentis petiolulatis ovatis subsinuatis subbijugis cum impari reniformi

eaule debili, siliquis erectis. DC. Prodr. i. p. 153.—Sisymbrium hetero-

phyllum. Forst. Prodr.n.250. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p.310. Willd. Sp.

Pi. iii. p. 505.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. In humid

woods among ferns on the Kana-Kana river, Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cun-

ningham.

38. Atyssum, DC., L.

627. A. maritimum, caulibus basi suffruticosis procumbentibus, foliis

lineari-lanceolatis acutis subincanis, siliquis ovalibus glabris stylo brevi api-

culatis. DC. Prodr. i. p. 164. Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. p. 459.—A. halamifolium.

L, Curtis Mag. 101.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Sandy shores of the Bay of Islands.—

1833, 4. Cunningham.

An species indigena?

4. Lerivivm, #. Br., DC.

628. L. oleraceum, siliculis ovatis acutiusculis, foliis glabris elliptico-ob-

longis profunde serratis, superioribus integris apice subserratis. DC. Prodr.

. p. 207. Forst. Prodr. n. 248. Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. p.487. A. Rich. Fl. Nov.

Zel, p. 310. t. 35.

Eketara, indig. D’Urville.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Shores of the

‘Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham. (Middle Island), shores of Queen

Charlotte's Sound.—1773, G. Forster.

Brassica sativa (rather oleracea, L.) and Raphanus sativus, L. are

enumerated by M. Ach. Richard in his ‘ Essai d’une Flore de la

Nouvelle Zélande,’ although he admits them not to be indigenous,

but originally introduced by European visitors, and like the potato,

had become generally wild on the Northern Island, as well in the

drier woods as in the waste grounds in the environs of native villages.

MAGNOLIACES, DC.

Drimys, Forst., D.C.

629. D. axillaris, foliis oblongis utrinque acuminatis, pedicellis unifloris.

DC. Prodr. i. p. 78. Forst. Gen. Char. t.42. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p.

290.—Wintera axillaris. Forst. Prodr.n. 229. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii. p.1240.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Damp shady

forests on the Kana-Kana and Hokianga Rivers.—1826, 4. Cunningham.—

1833, R. Cunningham. Fovwk. €e- Ke a FOG :

RANUNCULACEA, Juss.

1. Ranuncuuus, L.

630. R. rivularis, foliis glabris longe petiolatis 3-partitis, partitionibus

cuneiformibus apice incisis, caule natanti-reptante, pedunculis oppositifoliis

unifloris, petalis lanceolatis remotis unguiculatis. DC. Prodr.i. p. 34. Banks

et Sol. Ms. in Bibl. Banks.

258 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

New Zealand (Middle Island). In the channels of rivulets at Totara-nui

near Queen Charlotte’s Sound.—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. On the Kana-Kana

and Hokianga Rivers, Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham. f

Herba tenella, glabra; caules graciles, reptantes s, nutantes. Folia (fere

Trifolit suffocati) 3-partita, lobis cuneatis apice in lobulos 2—3 divaricatos

incisis. ores parvi, pallido-flavi, petala lanceolata, remota, elongata un-

guiculata, unguibus limbos petalorum zequantibus. Stam. 8—12. Ovaria

6—12. Carpella totidem obovata, subcompressa, leevia, stylo rectiusculo

filiformi aristata, in capitulum spheroideum basi villis nonnullis cinctum ag-

gregata. :

631. #. acaulis, foliis glabris, radicalibus longe petiolatis 3- partitis, lobis

ovalibus integerrimis, scapo unifloro nudo petiolis breviore, calyce patente,

petalis lanceolatis remotis erectis. DC. Prodr. i. p. 34. Banks and Sol. Ms.

New Zealand (Northern Island). In muddy water-courses and wet

grounds on the shores of Mercury Bay (Opuragi).—1769, Sir os. Banks.

Herba glabra, tenella (fere facie Trifolii uniflori.). Folia omnia radicalia,

petioli graciles 2—3 poll. longi, limbi 3-partiti, lobis obtusis integerrimis

lateralibus ovalibus, medio obovato paulo majore. Scapus vix 2-pollicaris

nudus I-florus. Petula longe unguiculata, erecta, angusta, acuta (pallide

flava v. alba?) staminibus paucis longiora.

632. £2. acris, foliis pubescentibus subglabrisve palmato-partitis, lobis: in-

ciso-dentatis acutis, summis linearibus, caule erecto multifloro subpubescente

pedunculis teretibus, calyce subvilloso, carpellis mucrone subrecto terminatis.

DC. Prodr.i. p. 36. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 289. E. Bot. t. 652.

Ponkou-Ponkou, s. Ponkook«o incolarum. D’ Urville.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Shores of the Bay of Islands. 1827,

D' Urville.

633. R. plebeius, caule erectiusculo dichotomo basi petiolisque patentim

pilosissimo apice subglabro, foliis trisectis villosis, segmentis petiolulatis

ovatis inciso-dentatis, summis linearibus integris, caule subreflexo. DC.

Prodr. i. p.39. R. Br. Ms. ined.

New Zealand (Northern Island), Banks of the Kahio River, Weoseia

and elsewhere in moist places in the vicinity of that harbour.—1826, 4.

Cunningham.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Caulis suberectus, pedalis sesquipedalisve, apice dichotomo-ramosus, valde

hispidus, pilis rigidulis patentibus longis, apice pilis raris adpressis pubes-

cens. Folia radicalia et caulina longe petiolata, trisecta, segmentis’ petio-

lulatis ovato-cuneatis, inciso-lobatis utrinque villosis ; floralia summa linearia

parva, integra, pauca. Pedunculi graciles, elongati, uniflori. Flores lutei

vix magnitudine R. arvensis. Calyx hirsutus, primum patens dein reflexus,

petalis obovatis brevior. Carpella compressa lzvia, stylo uncinato terminata,

in capitulum subrotundum aggregata.

The specimens from the above-mentioned localities accord so per-

fectly with M. DeCandolle’s character of Brown’s plant, originally

found in New South Wales, as to leave no doubt of the identity of»

the species. The nearest affinities of our plant appear to be with

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. 259

R. Cappaceus (Sm.) and R. pimpinelloides (Hooker, Journ. Bot. i.

p. 243.) : from the former, however, it differs in its smaller solitary

flowers, and from the latter in its leaves being uniformly ternate and

each segment deeply incised.

634. R. hirtus, caule erecto dichotomo petiolis pedunculisque pilosissimis,

foliis caulinis petiolatis inferioribus trisectis, segmentis petiolulatis ovatis

dentatis, mediis trilobatis, summis ovali-oblongis, calycibus retroflexis. DC.

Prodr. i. p. 39. Banks and Sol. Ms. :

New Zealand (Northern Island). Shores of Mercury Bay, also at Howa-

_ Howa Bay (Tolaga) in grassy places.—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Near Tauraki

on the Hokianga River.—1833, R. Cunningham.

Species antecedenti proxima. Caules 2—3 erecti ad apicem iisque pilis

patentibus rigidis hispidi, dichotomi. ~/olia radicalia et caulina longe pe-

tiolata, petiolis hispidis, segmentis grosse dentatis pilosis. Flores minimi

longe pedunculati, lutei calyces retroflexi, carpella compressa lzvia stylo

brevissimo recto apiculata, et in capitulum ovatum aggregata.

2. Cirematis, L., DC.

635. C. indivisa, floribus paniculatis, foliis ternatim sectis, segmentis pe-

tiolatis ovalibus obtusis integerrimis mucronatis coriaceis adultis utrinque

glabris, foliolis perianthii 6—8 elongato-oblongis obtusis utrinque lanugi-

nosis, staminibus duplo longioribus, antheris submuticis ramulis peduncu-

lisque tomentosis. Willd. Sp. Pl. ii.p.1291. DC. Prodr.i. p.5. A. Rich.

Fl. Nov. Zel. p. 288.—C. integrifolia. Forst. Prodr. n. 231. non Linn. ./ce 43 oes Ma,

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. Margins of ALB 28:

woods on the shores of the Bay of Islands, and on the Hokianga River,

where it was detected flowering in September.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Scandens, ramis vetustioribus glabris. Petioli cirrhiformes. Foliola ob-

tusa, cum mucronulo vel emarginata, coriacea integerrima basi rotundata,

aut subcordata interdum obliqua. Panicule axillares, versus extremitatem

ramulorum foliis longiores, ramis oppositis unifloris bracteatis, tomentosis.

Foliola perianthii plerumque sena, oblonga, obtusa, nervosa, lana crispa

dense tecta, nervis anastomozantibus. [i/amenta complanata sepalorum di-

midium zquantia. Ovaria numerosa in caudas barbato-plumosas abeuntia.

636. C. parviflora, floribus racemoso-paniculatis axillaribus hexasepalis,

foliis ternatim sectis, segmentis elliptico-cordatis acuminatis membranaceis

venosis integerrimis vel grosse serratis lobatisve, subtus pedunculisque fer-

rugineo-tomentosis, sepalis oblongo-lanceolatis acuminatis, intus glabris

extus pilosis, staminibus paulo longioribus, antheris ovatis apiculo brevi ob-

tuso terminatis.

New Zealand (Northern Island). Thickets on the skirts of forests, Wan-

garoa.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Frutex scandens, ramis elongatis striatis glabris, ramulis sulcatis, pilis raris

conspersis. Petiolé cirrhiformes. Foliola ovali-cordata integra vel inciso-

serrata, petiolo duplo longiora. Panicule lax, axillares, folia equantia,

petiolisque tomentose. lores hexasepali, sepalis lanceolatis extus ferru-

260 Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand.

gineo-pilosis. Stamina numerosa, sepala vix equantia. Pericarpia ovata,

compressa, villosa, in caudas pilosas attenuatas desinentia, pilis longis sim-

plicibus patentibus. |

Closely allied to the following species, but differs in having leaflets

of a much thinner texture and uniformly tomentose on their under-

side ; its flowers also are in loose racemes, much smaller and herma-

phrodite.

637. C. hexasepala, floribus paniculatis dioicis hexasepalis, foliis ternatim

sectis, segmentis ovato-cordatis late crenatis reticulatim venosis glabris co-

riaceis, sepalis oblongis staminibus triplo longioribus. DC. Prodr. i. p.5.—

C. hexapetala. Sorst. Prodr. n. 230. Ic. in Bibl. Banks, ined. t. 170.—

C. odorata. Banks et Sol. Mss.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos Banks. (Middle Island.)

Queen Charlotte’s Sound.—1773, G. Forster.

Frutex scandens, ramis teretibus substriatis. Folzola ovato-cordata, crenis

latis obtusissimis subincisa, petiolata, glaberrima, obsolete trinervia. Pedun-

culi pluries dichotomi, pedicelli elongati foliis triplo longiores v. equales.

Flores patentes, 6-sepali sepalis oblongis albido-flavescentibus (in sicco).

Stamina sepalis ter breviora. Pericarpia ovalia, compressa, pubescentia, vix

apice attenuata, in caudam barbatam producta*.

GENERA INCERTE SEDIS,

vel

quoad Ordines dubia.

1. Corynocarpus, Forst.

Calyx inferus pentaphyllus, foliolis oblongis concavis deciduis. Petala 5,

subrotunda. Nectarium (stamina sterilia) e foliolis 5 erectis petali-

formibus, cum petalis alternantibus, basi glandula globosa. Stamina 5

e basi petalorum. Anthere erecte oblong. Stylus brevis, stigmate

obtuso. Drupa (nux) turbinato-clavata oblonga, 1-sperma.

638. C.levigata. Forst. Prodr.n. 114. Gen. Char. t. 16. Willd. Sp.

* Nova satis distincta species est :

C. cocculifolia, floribus paniculatis dicicis 4-sepalis, foliis indivisis longe

petiolatis orbiculato-ovalibus obtusis membranaceis 5-nerviis integerrimis

glabris, basi szepius cordatis, sepalis oblongis margine lanatis, antheris ovatis

obtuse apiculatis. Crescit in locis apricis preesertim in marginibus sylyarum

ceduarum Insule Norfolk, ubi Augusto Septembrique floret.

Caulis scandens, uti relique partes, glaberrimus, sulcatus. Petioli elongati

seepe cirrhiformes. Jolia opposita, petiolata, orbiculata, obtusa, integerrima,

basi simplicia rotundata crebre cordata. Flores parvi paniculati dioici. Pe-

rianthium 4-sepalum, sepalis oblongis ovato-lanceolatisve nervosis intus

glabris, extus villosis, marginibusque lanigeris, staminibus paulo longioribus.

Stamina numerosa, filamentis basi complanatis. Anthere ovate (post an-

thesin lineares) apiculate, apiculo obtuso. Pericarpia ovalia, compressa,

villosa, in caudas barbato-plumosas desinentia, apicibus nudis. 4. Cun-

ningham.

Specimen of the Botany of New Zealand. —.26 1

Pl.i. p.1178. Reem. et Sch. Syst. Veg. v. p.345. A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel.

p. 365.—Merretia lucida. Sol. Mss. in Bibl. Banks. — 73 th May

Karaka ab incolis vocatur.

New Zealand (Northern Island).—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. In moist shady

woods on the shores of the Bay of Islands.—1826, 4. Cunningham.

Arbor spectabilis (facie Ardisie) 40-pedalis et altior, ramosa, ramis tere-

tibus patentibus, glabriusculis apice foliosis, cortice cinereo-brunneo vestitis.

Folia alterna, petiolata, sesquipalmaria (spe 3-pollices lata) obovata v.

ovato-oblonga, obtusa, integerrima, glaberrima, levia. Panicula terminalis,

simplicissima, racemosa. ores parvi albi pedicellati. Petala 5 erecta,

zequalia, concava, calyce paulo majora, ungue angusto. Nectarium (sta-

mina sterilia), foliola 5 adscendentia, oblonga, acuta, petalis paulo minora et

cum eis alternantia, et singula aucta corpusculo glanduliformi globoso, fere

ovarii magnitudine. Ovarium superum globosum. Stylus brevis filiformis.

Stigma obtusum. Drupa, ;

Obs. An Myrsineis affine?

This tree, upon which the eye of the traveller rests with pleasure,

by reason of its rich dark glossy leaves and highly ornamental growth,

furnishes a plum-like fruit, of which the drupaceous coat being when

fully ripened of a sweetish taste, is eaten by the natives. The nut

or kernel also, upon being deprived (by steaming and maceration in

salt water) of the poisonous property which it is said to possess, is

held in considerable estimation by the New Zealanders, who collect

and store it for food in seasons of dearth. If eaten without this ne-

cessary preparation, the body of the.person becomes seized with se-

vere spasmodic pains and convulsions, from which the sufferer in

some cases does not recover, but has been observed to die in great

agony in a few hours. The timber is not used for any other purpose

than as fire wood, being of short fibre and very soft.

2. GriseLines, Forst., Prodr.

Flores polygami dioici. Herm. Calyx superus 5-dentatus. Corolla 5-

petala. Stamina 5. Styli 3, cylindrici brevissimi, stigmatibus simpli-

cibus. Ovarium 3-loculare? loculis l-ovulatis. Mase. Calyx 5-den-

tatus. Corolla 5-petala. Stamina5. Anthere subrotunde.

639. G. lucida. Forst. Prodr.n. 401. Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. p. 1128. Roem.

et Sch. Syst. Veg. vi. p. 641. Spreng. Pugil. i. p. 63.—Scopolia lucida.

Forst. Char. Gen. t. 70.

New Zealand (Northern Island). On the shores of Mercury and Howa-

Howa Bays, upon the east coast.—1769, Sir Jos. Banks. (Middle Island.)

—1773, G. Forster.

Arbuscula, ramis erectiusculis, ramulis divaricatis sulcatis, cortice fusco-

olivaceo tectis. Folia alterna, petiolata, oblonga, coriacea, basi inzequalia,

hinc attenuata, inde rotundata, integerrima, obtusa, utrinque glabra, supra

nitida, subtus opaea venosa, fere spithamza, palmam lata. Panicula termi-

7 4979.

262 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

nalis aphylla: rami divergentes bractea suffulti, pedunculis subtrifidis, Flores

masculi feemineis interpositi, illorum calyx pentaphyllus rotatus, stamina

calyce parum longiora. Anthere 4-loculares. Faemineus: calyx 5-dentatus,

styli 3 lanceolati. Fructus trigonus trispermus videtur. Hine potius ad

Cl. xxi. releganda inter Z’ricocca, Crotonopsin inter et Polychroam.—Spr.

loc. cit..

Forsan ad Luphorbiaceas pertinet ?

Quid Cliffortioides cordata, Sol. Mss. ex Forst. p.n. 660. absq. descr. vel

C. oblongata, Sol. Mss. in Bibl. Banks. ?

Frutices Nove Zelandiz : ad sylvas juxta Totara rivi, prope littora Freti

Cook, incolunt, 1769. Jllustr. Banks.

XX X.—Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

Mr. Schomburgk’s recent Expedition in Guiana.

[Continued from p. 199.]

On our march over the savannahs we discovered them frequently

grazing in groups, some of the older bulls keeping the outposts.

As soon as danger is approaching they give the signal by loudly

bellowing, and the whole herd is immediately on the alert; they

stand gazing, and snuff the air as if they intended to ascertain by

smell the extent of danger. On nearer approach, the bulls which stood

guard are seen to show their dissatisfaction of the interruption ; they

stamp with their feet and bow to the ground with their head, tossing

up the sand and grass high in the air. If the assailants are nume-

rous and continue their approach, the bull retreats for a short di-

stance, but turns and repeats the former manceuvre; and if this does

not intimidate the enemy, they then consider it time to follow

speedily the retreating herd.

I consider the number of wild cattle scattered over the savannahs

at about 4000, but I doubt whether they are on the increase, as man

and jaguars commit fearful ravages among them. ‘To judge from

what I have seen I should say the number of bulls amounts to about

a third. The general colour of the wild cattle is brown or black,

and there are very few spotted among them. Their most deadly

enemy is the greater jaguar, Felis onca, Linn., which hovers in such

quantities about Fort San Joaquim, that during the month of June

1838, twelve individuals were killed by the cattle-drivers. They

are very daring, and sometimes kill cattle within a few yards of

houses that are inhabited. ‘They care very little for the fires which

are made to prevent their encroachments. If one or a pair of these

animals should take up their quarters in the vicinity of a cattle farm,

eas.

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 263

scarcely a night passes in which they do not commit ravages. They

do not eat much of any they kill, perhaps ten or twelve pounds, and

principally of the breast; but they prefer killing fresh every time

they are hungry. When out of the reach of cattle farms or the wild

herds on the savannahs, they subsist on Peccaris, Capabyras, Tapirs,

and Deer*,

Not less destructive is the Turtle-tiger, a species or variety of the

former. They are of the same strong build as the greater jaguar,

and very much resemble it both in form, colour, and disposition of

its spots}, but they are about a third less in size. In the vicinity of

human habitations they commit great ravages among domestic ani-

mals; Hogs, Sheep, Goats, &c. are alike exposed to their attacks,

but I never heard of an authenticated instance of their attacking

man, although they will come boldly to his habitation, and even enter

the houses and carry away the dogs from the fireside.

I fear much that by relating the following instances of boldness I

run the risk of being accused of exaggeration; but as I was not the

only witness of the singular feats of one of that species I hesitate the

less, as it is characteristic of its mischievousness. At my return, in

February 1837, from a pedestrian tour in search of the sources of the

Essequibo, two of the gentlemen belonging to the expedition, who

had been awaiting me at Curassawaka, a settlement of Caribis at the

Rupununi, complained much that they as well as the Indians had

been lately much annoyed by a jaguar, or tiger as it is vulgarly

called, which prowled almost nightly about the settlement, and had

carried away a young puppy from below the Indian hut. They ob-

served, that one of my dogs, which I had lately bought, appeared to be

the only one which, although he did not attack the unwelcome guest,

at least kept him at bay. My tent was pitched that night several

yards distant from the Indian huts, and before I went into my ham-

mock I placed another, which had just been returned to me after.

* It has been stated that the larger jaguar does not attack man when

unannoyed. I know of several instances contradictory to this belief, and

the most striking example is one of the Indians who have accompanied me

to London, and who offers the evidence of the attack on his body. When a

boy,of eight or nine years of age, he was accompanying his grandmother to

the provision field, and loitered a short distance behind, when a jaguar

rushed from the bush and seized him. His grandmother had however

presence of mind enough to attack the jaguar with a cutlass which she had

in her hand, and obliged it to drop its prey. Four large scars in the vicinity

of the clavicle will attest to his last day the fierceness of the jaguar.

- + [have not seen the representation which Major Hamilton Smith has

given of the lesser jaguar, but from his description I have little doubt that

it is identical with the above.

264 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

it had been washed, on a trunk that stood near the place where my

hammock was slung. The newly washed one was missed next morn-

ing: my suspicion of its having been stolen fell upon some Wapi-

sana Indians, who were to depart next day ; and although it was a

new feature in the character of the Indian not contaminated by

the vices prevailing at the coast regions, I had no other alternative

to account for the absence of the hammock, which I was positive of

having placed the preceding evening on the trunk in my tent. As

to the observation of I-rai-i, the chieftain of the settlement, that the

tiger most likely had carried the hammock away, I gave so little

credit to it that I insisted now on searching the Indian huts, but

without success. The party of Wapisanas departed next day, and

supposing they might have hid the hammock at a convenient spot to

take in their canoe when passing by, I sent a quick-pulling corial

after them to search the canoe once more, when they might have

considered themselves secure from further search: but no vestige of

the hammock was to be discovered, and they departed, very likely:

not well satisfied with the mistrust I had shown as to their ho-

nesty. The small size of the tent, which did not afford sufficient.

protection in case of rain, induced me to take possession of an unin-

habited hut, at some distance from the other huts. I was equally

annoyed with the others at the frequent visits which the tiger con-

tinued to pay us during dark nights, and the chase which ensued

with my dog, who though not trained for hunting the tiger, was.

nevertheless able to molest him and to prevent his entering the huts ;

but the noise of the barking dog and the growls of the incensed

tiger, who in spite of his springs could not get at his wary anta-

gonist, was indescribable, and lasted generally for several hours.

Our attempts at securing the disturber of our rest had proved

hitherto fruitless, and we began to consider it as an unavoidable evil.

The other three Europeans who belonged to my party had taken

possession of the chieftain’s hut, and Mr. Le Breton complained one

morning after the departure of the Wapisanas, that having found his

blanket too warm for him during the night and put it under his

hammock, no trace of it was to be discovered next morning. These

strange thefts, for which we could not account, as we put implicit

faith in the honesty of I-rai-i’s people, became more frequent ; sauce-

pans, spoons, a table-cloth, which had been left about the hut, va-

nished one after the other. It was about this time that after an abs-

ence of six months I was anxious to communicate with the colony,

and as no time was to be lost and I had a great deal of writing to

get through, I was generally sitting up until after midnight. Al-

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 265

though my hut, merely an open shed, was at some distance from the

settlement, and a servant, besides myself, its only inhabitants, we

had been no otherwise disturbed by the jaguar than from the noise

of the dog when our unwelcome guest prowled in the neighbourhood

of the huts. I was thus one night sitting up at my desk, and had just

put my loaded pistols which had been lying on the désk on a box at

my left hand, thinking it too late to expect a visit from the tiger. A

short while after my eyes were directed to the outside of the shed,

when I discovered an object, the real nature of which I could not

make out from my hammock being in the way: holding forward the

light I discovered to my great astonishment the jaguar standing not

four paces from me, and looking steadfastly at my proceedings.

How long he had been there I know not, but before I had put down

the candle and seized the pistol, he had walked off slowly into the

bush, and although I fired after him I naturally missed him. A few

nights after | was awakened by something crawling under my ham-

mock, and supposing it to be a dog which had been in quest of some

pieces of biscuit which I had left on a plate, I gave the disturber of

my rest a slap with the hand, when lo! the animal cleared with one

spring the chests and trunks which stood in its way, and rushed in

the bush, displaying the spotted skin of the jaguar. I freely con-

fess that at this discovery the blood chilled in my veins. The marks ,

of the jaguar’s paws left next morning no doubt as to the visitor,

and we began to consider not so improbable, the report of the Indians

as to who might have been the purloiner of the things which we had

missed. A search was begun in the neighbouring wood: pieces of

wool torn from the blanket when dragged through the bush pointed

out the probable direction which the jaguar had taken with its

booty, and soon after the blanket itself was found, apparently no

further injured than the rents which it might have got in being

dragged along. ‘The hammock was found in a quite different direc-

tion, and also the other missing objects with the exception of the

table-cloth. What could now be the object of the animal in carry-

ing them off? Shall we compare it to the thievish magpie? or was

it merely playfulness? Sometimes we were astonished by his feats

of strength. One evening the Indians who had been out fishing re-

turned with a large Arapaima or Piraruco (Sudis Gigas), which they

had succeeded in capturing for us, their superstition forbidding them

to taste of its flesh. As it was late and the fish weighed not less than

two hundred pounds, we deferred conveying it on land until next

morning. When morning came no fish was to be found in the canoe,

but there were sufficient traces to show that it had been dragged

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 24. Dec. 1839. U

266 Bibliographical Notices.

by the jaguar into the wood, where we found it minus its tail part,

which to a third of the fish’s length had been eaten off. It may be

conceived what strength was necessary to get it out of the canoe,

and I am almost inclined to suppose that it had been assisted by

another jaguar. Our endeavours to rid ourselves of this unwelcome

visitor proved all fruitless, and there were some among us who began

to think like the Indians that its life was enchanted.

Mr. Vieth, who formed one of our party during the two last ex-

peditions into the interior, and who during a long stay in Guiana

has attentively observed the habits of the native cats, told me that

he went to sleep in an Indian hut where there were altogether

seven hammocks hanging occupied by Indians, and each having a

fire underneath it; nevertheless at about nine o’clock at night, a

jaguar of that species entered a hut, and in spite of the screaming of

the Indians carried away a dog which was lying near one of the

fires.

[To be continued. ]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Nouveau Recueil de Planches Coloriées d’ Oiseaux, pour servir de suite

et de complément aux Planches Enluminées de Buffon. Par C. J.

Temminck et Meiffren Laugier Baron de Chartrouse. Livr. 98—

102. Paris, 1839.

These “‘ Livraisons”’ bring a work to a conclusion, which, com-

mencing at a time when there existed few periodicals devoted to

ornithology, was hailed with much interest. During nearly twenty

years it has been conducted with great regularity, having only when

near its conclusion occasionally failed in its monthly appearance,

while it has maintained an equality in execution alike creditable to

the authors and the artists employed by them. The original design

of the work was to continue modern discovery in a series of figures

of birds not contained in the ‘ Planches Enluminées,’ and it now ex-

tends to a collection of 600 plates, on which are represented about

800 species, delineated in almost every instance with a correctness

which will allow of little mistake, and coloured with great clearness ;

at the same time the plates bear the peculiar character of foreign

art, which is not in many instances in accordance with the taste of

the British ornithological draftsman. This collection is especially

rich in figures of many of the species inhabiting the Dutch posses-

sions in the islands of the East, where the valuable and beautiful

productions became first appreciated and in part described in the

Bibliographical Notices. 267

works of Raffles and Horsfield, and whose interior recesses have sup-

plied many splendid species to the researches of the naturalists

who have been lately employed to explore them. ‘The residence of

Sieboldt in Japan has also furnished many subjects which are not to

be found elsewhere. The descriptive part is concisely written, but

there is little added to our knowledge of habits or affinities, and the

greatest blemish to the work is the passing over the discoveries of

contemporary writers, with whose works M. Temminck should have

been conversant ; thus from the commencement of the series many

birds are given under new denominations which had previously been

described by other naturalists. A difference of opinion may have

existed, but prior and contemporary labourers in the same field

could scarcely all be unworthy of notice; even in the concluding

Livraisons this is apparent.

The parts which we have now reccived contain some very inter-

esting and remarkable birds which may be worthy of a short notice.

Uria Wumizusume, Temm., pl. 579, is a remarkable bird from the

coasts of Corea and Japan, furnished with a lanceolate frontal crest

in the breeding season ; it was indicated by Pallas and Latham, and

designated undér a separate generic title by Brandt. So far as we

can judge from the figure now given it will differ in many respects

from the true Guillemots, and we do not think that the specific name

given by M. Temminck is any improvement upon that of “ antigua’

given by its first describers.—Picus Awokera, Temm., pl. 585, a

Japanese bird very closely resembling P. viridis, but considered to

be distinct, and if so presenting another instance of the close alliance

which the members of this genus (Brachylophus, Sw.) hold with

each other.—Dacelo Buccoides, Temm., pl. 586. We question much

that this is a distinct species, though we wish to give every deference

to the high authority which the author’s experience will carry with

it.—Fringilla Kawarahiba, Temm.., pl. 588. (coccothraustes or belong-

ing to Chloris, Sw.) is a beautiful Japanese species, but Fringilla

rutilans, Temm. (Passer) represented on the same plate, and also

found in Japan, seems nearly allied to P. Indica, Orn. Illust. pl. 118.

The head of the Japanese bird is more chestnut-coloured, and the

black patch beneath is confined to the throat only.—Allotrius flavis-

capis, Temm., pl. 589. is given as the type of anew genus. Itisa

Japanese and Sumatran bird, and will stand very near if it does not

enter Pteruthius, Sw. figured in Mr. Gould’s Himalayan Century.—

Timalia Trichorrhos, Temm., pl. 594. This bird will enter the ge-

nus Macronous of the ‘ Ornithological Illustrations,’ pl. 150, which

Mr. Swainson considers an aberrant Brachypteryx. It seems closely

u 2

268 Bibliographical Notices.

allied to the bird alluded to, but will differ slightly in the markings

of the cheeks and throat, and seems to have the lengthened plumes

springing from the axillz only, whereas in the other they arise from

the whole lower part of the back. If we are right in this bird being

distinct, a second species will tend to confirm the separation of the

form to a subgenus ; for independent of the remarkable development

of the dorsal and axillary plumes, there are other differences which

would warrant a removal when a few species exhibited similar cha-

racters. It is probable also that Timala maculata, Temm., pl. 593,

where the plumage exhibits an inclination to lengthen and become

disunited, would also range with them.—Timalia nigricollis, pl. 594,

said to be found in Borneo and not hitherto discovered in Java or

Sumatra, we have received from both of the latter islands and also

from the Malayan Peninsula.—Eurylavinus psittacinus, pl. 598. The

only difference which we can perceive in this figure from that of a

beautiful species from continental India, is in the tail being more

lengthened and coloured entirely of an ultramarine tint. The bird

we allude to is that named #. Dalhousii in the ‘ Edinb. New Phil.

Journ.’ for 1829, figured by Mr. Royle in his Botany, &c. of the

“Himalayan Mountains, beautifully represented by Mr. Gould in his

‘Icones Avium,’ under the subgeneric title of Crossodera, and lastly

indicated by Mr. Swainson in his ‘ Classification of Birds,’ as psa-

risomus. At present we consider the two birds identical, and that

reference to the descriptions alluded to if they are not so would have

tended to illustrate the subject. The specimens which have reached

Britain have we believe been all received from continental India,

principally from the Himalayan and Nipal districts, while M. Tem-

minck’s birds have been found in the mountain forests of the inte-

rior of Sumatra. ‘‘ La découverte en est due & M. Muller.” The

concluding Livraison contains a copious “‘ Tableau Méthodique” and

the title pages, besides a few supplementary observations upon some

of the descriptions published in the course of the work.

Flora Lipsiensis Excursoria, Auctore G. L. Petermann. Lipsie, 1838.

J. A. Barth.

This excellent little work has just reached us, and we rejoice in

introducing it to the notice of English botanists. The book contains

full generic and specific characters of 1316 flowering plants which

grow in the neighbourhood of Leipsic, and these not merely com-

piled from other works, as is unfortunately often the case in local

Floras, but drawn up with great care from the examination of the

plants themselves. The arrangement is Linnzan, with the omission ©

eh hes ree

Bibliographical Notices. 269

of the classes Dodecandria, Monecia, Diewcia, and Polygamia. Seve

ral new species are given, namely :

1. Carex Lipsiensis separated from C. Oederi by its ascending, not

erect growth, shorter rostrum, narrower leaves, and ovate not ovate-

oblong bracteas. We suspect that this cannot be considered as more

than a variety, even if C. Oederi is distinct from C. flava.

2. Arrhenatherum biaristatum, distinguished by having both its

florets furnished with kneed awns.

3. Campanula cordata, differing from C. Trachelium by having all

its leaves cordate and stalked, flowers separate (singuli), calyx hispid,

with ovate-suboblong segments.

4. Stellaria flaccida, “ debilitate insignis, viridis ; flores fere S.

glauce, habitus S. graminee ; caulis levis, glaber, ramosissimus, ra-

mis 9—12 pollicaribus, filiformibus ; folia angustissima, glabra, levia,

corymbus axillaris, et sub anthesi caule ipso brevior; pedicelluli

elongati, filiformes; bracteole scariose, herbaceo-uninervie, una

alterave serratura instructe, glabre.”

5. Betonica recurvidens, separated from B. officinalis by its ovate-

lanceolate strongly serrated cauline leaves, the serratures patent and

“‘ apice subrecurvis.”

6. Hypericum medium. This plant is an intermediate form be-

tween H. perforatum and tetrapterum; from the latter it is distin-

guished by its terete scarcely 2-edged stem, and sessile not amplex-

icaul leaves, of which the lower are without pellucid dots; from

the former its differences appear to be very slight, depending upon

its shorter leaves, the lower of which are not punctured, smaller

corolla, which is but little longer than the calyx, and never ‘‘ dorso

nigro punctata,”

7. Hypericum decumbens. This appears to be the variety of H. hu-

mifusum with pointed and glandularly serrated sepals, and we think

ought not to be separated from that plant.

8. Leontodon validus, said to be a much stronger, taller, and more

branched plant than L. autumnalis, but we do not see how it is to be

distinguished unless it is by its longer style.

We have not space to give any further extracts from this valuable

contribution to European descriptive botany, which we trust will

soon be in the hands of all working botanists. We must however

protest against the extensive introduction of new terms, both names

of parts and descriptive, with which the book abounds, even more

than most of the modern German Floras. We know of no good at-

tending this practice, and are quite certain that it is a very trouble-

some and puzzling one, not only to young botanists, but also to those

who are much more advanced in the study of the science. .

270 Botanical Society of London.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

5th April, 1839.—Dr. D. C. Macreight, V.P. in the Chair.

The continuation of Mr. Edwin Lees’s paper ‘‘ On the species of

Tilia natives of England,” was read.

After noticing where the author considered the Ti/ia indigenous,

he mentions that the Tilia parvifolia (Ehr.) is undoubtedly the

most common in Britain whatever may be the case on the continent.

Ray records it as frequent in Essex and Sussex as well as in Lin-

colnshire. According to Mr. Bicheno, in Smith’s ‘ English Flora,’ it

grows plentifully in Stokenchurch Woods, Oxfordshire, and the

author found it abundantly in the western parts of Worcestershire,

forming in some spots the principal part of the coppice wood, as well

as about the wild ravines of the vale of Neath, Glamorganshire,

beautifully overhanging the waterfalls of that romantic region. The

author saw no reason to doubt its indigenousness. Many singularly

grotesque old trees of this species occur about the bases of all the

Silurian Hills from Malvern to Ludlow, drawings of which were ex-

hibited.

Dr. Bromfield states, in Watson’s ‘ Botanist’s Guide,’ that he was

informed ‘‘ that there are entire woods of this species”’ at Buckland

near Ashburton, Devonshire. It is singular that Mr. Watson him-

self considers the fact of there being woods of this species as leading

o ‘ the presumption of the trees being planted and zot indigenous.”

But surely the converse of this must appear to the majority of re-

flecting botanists ; and strangely;enough, on this principle, Tilia gran-

difolia, which is only found in scattered trees or groups, would have

a stronger claim than the far more common T%lia parvifolia. Besides,

we surely consider the occurrence of a wood or coppice of any parti-

cular tree, say the hazel, the alder, or the holly, as indicating a greater

adaptitude of the soil or locality to the nourishment of that parti-

cular species, which has thus established its home or head quarters

at the spot; and on this principle botanists find it advantageous to

attend to the habitats of plants.

19th April.—Dr. William H. Willshire, in the Chair.

A paper was read from Mr. Arthur Wallis “ On the Orchidee of

Essex.” The northern parts of Essex are characterized by chalky

deposits, extending from Cambridgeshire and Herts, occasionally in-

terspersed with loamy sand, and on the high ground alluvial clay.

Travelling southward the soil still consists of heavy loam, and in

Loological Society. 271

some districts extensive fields of gravel. On reaching the central

parts of the county (in which the author included the neighbourhood

for several miles round Chelmsford), there is a rich black mould, with

here and there spots of clay and gravel, but no chalk. The extreme

west consists, in addition to many fertile spots, of gravel as well as

alluvial.clay, and in those parts bordering on the Thames, as Pur-

fleet, Thurrock, &c., the chalk predominates. Though it is well known

that the Orchis tribe more especially delight in a calcareous soil, yet

Mr. W. found them in all the varied habitats which the county pre-

sents, from the light rich soil to the loam and chalk. The author had

found the following: Orchis moris, Orchis mascula, Orchis pyrami-

dalis, Orchis ustulata, and Orchis latifolia.

A paper was read from Mr. W. H. White* ‘“ On the genus Poten-

tilla and Tormentilla.”

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 26, 1839.—The Rev. F. W. Hope in the Chair.

A paper, entitled ‘“Spicilegium Serpentium Indicorum,” was

communicated by Dr. Theodore Cantor. This paper contains the

following descriptions of

A. Venomous Serpents +.

Genus TriconocerHatus, Oppel.

TRIGONOCEPHALUS ERYTHRURUS.~ Tri. supra leteé viridis, squamis

ovatis carinatis subimbricatis, caudd cinnamomed, squamis levibus

rhomboidalibus tecta; abdomine flavo-viridescenti lined nigrd

serrata utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 167.

Scutella subcaudalia 68.

Habitat. Delta Gangeticum.

Bright green above, with ovate keeled slightly imbricate scales ;

the tail cinnamon-red, with smooth rhomboidal scales ; the abdominal

surface greenish-yellow, inclosed on both sides by a black serrated

line.

TrigonocePHatus mucrosquamatus. T'ri. superné griseo-brun-

nescens, annulis nigris albo marginatis, squamis ovalibus, semi-

carinatis mucronatis, imbricatim tectus ; subtus albidus, nigro

punctatus.

Scuta abdominalia 218.

Scutella subcaudalia 91.

Habitat. Naga Hills, Assam.

Brownish grey above, with black white-edged rings, covered with

oval, half-keeled, pointed, imbricate scales; whitish beneath, dotted

with black.

* See in p. 283 of the present Number a Note relative to Mr. W. H.

White and Dr. Westendorp.

+ Dr. Cantor’s original specimens, drawings, and descriptions are in the

possession of the Radcliffe Library, Oxford.

272 Zoological Society.

Genus Bunearvs, Daudin.

Bunearus Livipus. Bung. superné lividus, subtus albo-flavescens.

Scuta abdominalia 221.

Scuta subcaudalia 56.

Habitat. Asam.

Blackish-blue above, yellowish-white beneath.

Genus Hamapryas*, Cantor.

Hamapryas opHiopHacus. Ham. superné olivaceo-viridis, stris

sagittalibus nigris cinctus, abdomine glauco nigro marmorato.

Scuta abdominalia a 215 ad 245.

Scuta subcaudaha a 13 ad 32.

Scutella subcaudalia a 63 ad 71.

Habitat. Bengal.

Hindustanee name: Sunkr-Choar.

Olive-green above, with arrow-shaped black stripes; beneath,

glaucous marbled with black.

Genus Naga, Laurenti.

Nasa tarvaTa. Na. supra brunnea, stris subflavis transversali-

bus variegata ; disco annulo albo, larve haud impari, ornato,

pone quem (a tribus ad quinque) annult albi ;—inferioris super-

jiciet pars anterior annulis albis, nigro-ceerulescentibus alternis

circumdata, pars posterior glauco tridescens.

Habitat. Bombay, Calcutta, Asam.

Bengalee name: Doollah-Kewtiah Nag.

Brownish, with numerous faint yellow transverse stripes; the

hood marked with a white ring, not unlike the form of a mask, be-

hind which there are from three to five white rings ;—the anterior

part of the lower surface with alternate white and bluish-black rings ;

the posterior part iridescent-glaucous.

A young specimen of this serpent, lives at present in the Society’s

Gardens in Regent’s Park. The artificial temperature, 62° Fahr.,

in which it is kept appears to agree very well with the serpent,

which in one respect offers a striking difference from the habits of

this genus when kept in captivity in India, for the keeper informs

me that it feeds occasionally upon living frogs and earth-worms,

and that it drinks milk; while those in Dr. Russell’s and in my

own possession in India, when deprived of liberty invariably refused

to take any kind of food.

Genus Exaps, Schneider.

Exars suncaroipes}. El. superné lividus, striis sagittalibus albis

cinctus ; infra albus alterné lividus.

Scuta abdominalia 237.

. Scutella subcaudalia 46.

Halitat. Chirra Punji.

Black-blue above, with white arrow-shaped stripes; beneath,

alternately white and black-blue.

* Vide Proceedings of the Zoological Society, No. Ixvi. p. 73.

+ From its resemblance to Busgarus ceruleus, Daudin.

Ae Reta ea ees

ed be aes f

Bea Sates tol ate. ees

TALIA ONT

Zoological Society. 273

Exars Fiavicers. El. capite flavo, dorso nigro vittd serrata

alba ceeruleo pallide nitente utrinque circumdatio, cauda flavé

lined nigra media divisd ;—abdomine flavo lined nigra utrinque

incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 275.

Scutella subcaudalia 45.

Habitat. Malacca.

The head yellow, the back with a serrate band on each side,

shining with a pale sky-blue colour; the tail yellow, divided in the

middle by a black dorsal line; the abdominal surface yellow, in-

closed on each side by a black line.

On my late visit to Copenhagen, Professor Reinhard pointed out

an undescribed species of Bungarus from Java, preserved in the Royal

Museum of Natural History (MSS. Cat., No. 128), which exhibits

the same distribution of colours as the Hlaps flaviceps, viz. the head

and tail of a light yellow, the back bluish-black, the abdominal

surface light yellow, the scuta marked with a short Hack transverse

band or check on each side.

Exvars nigromacutatus. El. superné pallidé iano obese,

maculis nigris albo-marginatis, lineis nigris junctis ;—cauda

fasctis duabus nigris albo- -marginatis cincld ; abdomine flavo

albescenti, alterne livido, lined nigra serrata utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 238.

Scuta subcaudalia 24.

Habitat. Sincapore.

Pale reddish brown above, with black white-edged spots, united

by black lines; on the- tail two black bands with white margins ;—

the abdominal surface whitish yellow, alternately blue-black, in-

closed on both sides by a black serrated line.

Exars rurcatus*, Schneider, Var. EJ. superné pallide brunneo-

rubescens, lined dorsali subflavd nigro serratim marginatd, caudd

Jascns tribus nigris cincta, abdomine flavo albescenti, lined nigra

utringue incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 238.

Scutella subcaudalia 24.

Habitat. Sincapore.

Pale reddish brown, above with a light yellow dorsal line, with

black serrated margins; on the tail three black bands; the abdo-

minal surface whitish yellow, inclosed on each side by a black line.

B. Innocuous Serpents.

Genus CaLtamarRia, Linné.

Cavamaria sacirrarta, Cal. partim cinerea, partim ferruginea,

serie dorsalt punctorum nigrorum, nuchd capiteque albicantibus,

imagine sagiite nigre ornatis ; corpore squamis levibus imbri-

Lntin tecto ; abdomine citrino, punctis lateralibus nigris, villa

lividd utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 224.

Scutella subcaudalia 69.

Habitat. Bengal, Tirhoot.

* Russell, II., No. xix..

274 Zoological Society.

Partly ash-coloured, partly rusty-brown, with a series of black

dots along the back; the head and neck whitish, with an arrow-

shaped black mark; covered with smooth rhomboidal imbricate

scales; the stomach of a citrine colour, with lateral black dots, and

a blue black band on either side.

Vernacular name, Ddblee.

Catamaria monticoLa. Cal. olivaceo-fusca, collari leté flavo,

lined dorsali albicante, abdomine citrino.

Scuta abdominalia 125.

Scutella subcaudalia 44.

Habitat. Naga Hills in Asam.

Dark olive-brown, with a bright yellow collar and a whitish dor-

sal line ; beneath of a citrine colour.

Genus CoronE.ta, Boie.

CoronELLA ALBocINCTA. Cor. viridé-canescens, fasciis transver-

salibus albis nigro marginatis, quorum intervalla nigro punc-

tata ; scutis abdominalibus albo-flavescentibus, alterne fuscis.

Scuta abdominalia 181.

Scutella subcaudalia 65.

Habitat. Chirra Pinji, Asam.

Greyish-green, with white transverse bands, edged with black,

the intervals dotted with black; the abdominal scuta alternately

yellowish-white and deep brown. ;

Asamese name, Patdei-hee.

CoronELLA vioLacea. Cor. violaceo-rubescens, squamis albo-

marginatis, sublus margaritacets.

Scuta abdominalia 196.

Scutella subcaudalha 38. -

Habitat. Rungpore.

Reddish violet; the scales edged with white; beneath pearl-

coloured.

CoronELLA cycLura. Cor. viride-canescens striis nigris obliquis

interruptis, abdomine margaritaceo, vittd triste cinered utrinque

incluso.

~ Scuta abdominalia 179.

Scutella subecaudalia 43.

Greyish-green, with black oblique interrupted stripes; the ab-

dominal surface pearl-coloured, with a deep ashy-grey band on

either side.

Vernacular name, Tukkr-Bora.

Genus Lycopon, Boie.

Lycopon aTro-purpurevs. Ly. atro-purpureus albo nigroque

marmoratus, abdomine margaritaceo.

Scuta abdominalia 257.

Scutella subcaudalia 91.

Habitat. Mergui, Tenasserim.

Deep purple, marbled with white and black; beneath pearl-

coloured.

Lycopon susruscus. Ly. subfuscus, abdomine albo flavescenti.

Zoological Society. 275

Scuta abdominalia 245.

Scutella subcaudalia 78.

Habitat. Bengal.

Light brown; yellowish white beneath.

Vernacular name, Chittee.

Genus CoxivuseEr, Boie.

Cotvser Duumna. Col. olivaceo-viridis, squamis nigro-mar-

ginatis, abdomine margaritaceo, scutis scutellisque nigro-cla-

vatis.

Scuta abdominalia 187.

Scutella subcaudalia 119.

Habitat. Carnatic, Orissa, Bengal, Nepal, Asim, Arracan, Tenas-

serim. ,

Olive-green ; the scales edged with black; the stomach pearl-

coloured, edged with black.

Vernacular name, Dhumna or Dhameen.

Cotuser porpHyraceus. Col. leté porphyraceus, lineis nigris

transversalibus albo-marginatis, pone quas linee due nigre

dorsales, equidistantes ; subtus lete flavus.

Scuta abdominalia 2138.

Scutella subcaudalia 64.

Habitat. Mishmee Hills, Asim.

Bright porphyry-red, with black transverse lines edged with

white, the posterior portion of the body with two black parallel ©

dorsal lines ; beneath light yellow.

Couper quaprirasciatus. Col. superné leté brunneo-virides-

cens fasciis dorsalibus iv. nigris, albo interruptis ; infra flavus.

Scuta abdominalia 248.

Scutella subcaudalia 82.

Habitat. Asim.

Above light greenish-brown, with 4 black dorsal bands interrupted

with white ; beneath yellow.

Co.uBer curvirostris. Col. supra partim leté olivaceo-viridis,

punctis et lineis obliquis albis nigrisque, partum eneus ; abdomine

subfusco.

Scuta abdominalia 220.

Scutella subcaudalia 85.

Habitat. Bengal.

Above bright olive-green, with white and black dots, and oblique

bronze-coloured lines ; beneath light yellow.

Vernacular name, Tukkr-Bora.

CoLuBer RETICULARIS. Col. superné brunneo-nigrescens, annulis

albidis reticulatis, contiguis et lineis ejusdem coloris transversa-

libus ornatus, caudéd brunned nigrescenti, alterné griseo-flaves-

centi; mfra griseo-flavescens nigro-maculatus.

Scuta abdominalia 229.

Scutella subcaudalia 75.

Habitat. Chirra Piinji.

Blackish-brown, with whitish confluent netted rings and trans-

276 Zoological Society.

verse lines of the same colour ; the tail alternately blackish-brown

and yellowish-grey ; beneath yellowish-grey spotted with black.

Co.user pipuncratus. Col. supra tristé vinoso-purpureus squa-

mis albo bipunctatis, subtus albo-ccerulescens.

Scuta abdominalia 181.

Scutella subcaudaha 52.

Habitat. Bengal, Asim,

Deep claret-purple above; each scale with two white dots; be-

neath bluish-white.

CoLuBEeR monvicotus. Hodgson. Col. superné luteo-rubescens

fasciis transversalibus nigris, scutis abdominalibus albo-flaves-

centibus nigro marginatis.

Habitat. Nepal.

Reddish dun-coloured above, with black transverse bands; the

abdominal scuta yellowish-white, with black margins.

Subgen. Hurriau, Daudin.

HURRIAH SANGUIVENTER, (COLUBER SANGUIVENTER, Hodgson.)

Hur. superné vinoso-purpureus ceneo nitens, abdomine sangui-

neo.

Scuta abdominalia 207.

Scuta subcaudalia 14.

Scutella subcaudalia 85.

Habitat. Nepal.

Above claret-purple, with metallic lustre ; beneath blood-coloured.

Genus Herpetopryas, Boie.

Herprropryas prionotus. Her. supra fusco flavescens, nigro-

punctatus, fascidque dorsali serraté nigricante ; abdomine flavo,

fascid serraté nigricante utrinque incluso.

Seuta abdominalia 153.

Scutella subcaudalia 65.

Habitat. Malacca.

Above yellowish-brown, dotted with black, and with a serrated

blackish dorsal band ; the abdominal surface yellow, with a blackish

serrated band on either side.

Genus Psammopruis, Boie.

PSAMMOPHIS CERASOGASTER. Psam. fulvus aureo pallidé nitens,

squamis hexagonis rhomboidalibus summis carinatis, ceteris

levibus tectus ; abdomine ceriseo, lined lete flavd utrinque in-

cluso.

Scuta abdominalia 149.

Scutella subcaudalia 60.

Habitat. Bengal, Asdm.

Yellowish-brown, shining with a pale gold colour, with hexagonal

rhomboidal scales, the uppermost of which are keeled, the rest

smooth; the abdominal surface cherry-coloured, with a bright yellow

line on either side.

Vernacular name, LAl Mitallee.

PsaAMMOPHIS NIGROFASCIATUS. Psam. superné subflavo-rubescens

Jasciis latis transversalibus nigris, lineisque duabus barbatis

—

Zoological Society. O77

dorsalibus ejusdem coloris, interstitium quarum nigro partim

punctatum ; abdomine albido.

Scuta abdominalia 245.

Seutella subcaudalia 75.

Habitat. Sincapore.

Light reddish-yellow above, with broad transversal black bands,

and with two barbed dorsal lines of the same colour; the interval

between these dorsal lines dotted with black; the abdominal sur-

face whitish.

Genus Denpropuis, Boie.

_ Denproputs Bou.* Den, superné nigro-brunnescens, vittd dorsali

subfuscd, abdomine albo-flavescents vittd ejusdem coloris utrin-

que incluso, rostro subobtuso. .

Scuta abdominalia 186.

Scutella subcaudalia 129.

Habitat. Bengal, Ceylon.

Brownish black, with a light brown dorsal band; the abdominal

surface yellowish white, with a band of the same colour on either

side; the rostrum subobtuse. ©

Vernacular name, Kalla Lawrynca or Nawdinga.

Genus Dipsas, Boie.

Dirsas Ferrveinea. Dip. supra ferrugineo-brunnea, nigro albo-

que raré maculata; abdomine ferrugineo-flavo, albo nigroque

maculato.

Scuta abdominalia 171.

Scutella subcaudalia 57.

Habitat. Asim.

Rusty-brown, with a few black and white spots; the abdominal

surface rusty-yellow, dotted with white and black.

Dirsas monticota. Dip. superné tristé fusca, striis aliquot ni-

gris obliquis ; infra flavo-brunnescens.

Scuta abdominala 193.

Scutella subcaudalia 82.

Habitat. Naga Hills (Asam).

Dull dark brown above, with a few black oblique stripes; be-

neath brownish-yellow.

Genus Troriponortvus, Kuhl.

Tropiponotus Quinaue. Tro. superné griseo-brunnescens, nuchd

numero Quinque (v.) nigro inscriptd, fasciisque duabus nigris

dorsalibus, albo punctatis; abdomine flavo-albescenti, fascia

nigra utringue incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 259.

Scutella subcaudalia 97.

Habitat. Mergui. ’

Brownish-grey above, with the cypher V in black on the neck,

and with two dorsal black bands dotted with white; the abdominal

surface whitish-yellow, with a black band on either side.

* Chrysopelea Boii, Dr. Andrew Smith.

278 Zoological Society.

Tropipoxotus mastus. Tro. supern? triste olivaceo-nigrians

sublus flavus.

Scuta abdominalia 138.

Scutella subcaudalia 77.

Habitat. Bengal.

Dull blackish olive-colour above; yellow beneath.

Vernacular name, Kalla Mittdllee.

Troriponotus surGens. Tro. leté olivaceo-viridis, abdom'ne

flavo linea nigra serrata utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 148.

Scutella subeaudala 23.

Habitat. Bengal.

Bright greenish-olive ; the abdominal surface with a black ser-

rated line on either side.

Vernacular name, Bahr.

Troprponotus pLumBicotor. 770. supra plumbeus, fascid sagit-

tata occipitali nigrd et albd fasctisque nigris serratis trans-

versalibus, squamis alté carinalis tectus, mento albo, abdomine

plumbeo.

Scuta abdominalia 162.

Scutella subcaudalia 51.

Habitat. Malwa (Saugor).

Lead-coloured above, with an occipital arrow-shaped black and

white band, and with black serrated transversal bands, covered with

sharply-keeled scales; the chin white; the abdominal surface lead-

coloured.

Genus CrersBerus, Cuvier.

Cerberus cinEREUS. Cerb. superné cinereus fasciis nigris trans-

versalibus, subtus albicans fascia nigrdé undulata.

Scuta abdominalia 143.

Scutella subcaudalia 59.

Habitat. Bengal.

Ash-coloured above, with black transverse bands ; beneath whitish,

with a black undulated band.

Vernacular name, J4l Ginthéa.

Genus Homatopsis, Kuhl.

Homatopsis outivaceus. Hom. superné olivaceus lineis nigris

inter squamas variegatus, abdomine albicante, lined medid nigrd

diviso, vittd albo-virescenti utringue incluso. ;

Scuta abdominalia 167.

Scutella subcaudalia 71.

Habitat. Bengal.

Olive-coloured above, variegated with black lines between the

scales ; the abdominal surface whitish, divided in the middle by a

black line, and with a greenish-white band on either side.

Vernacular name, Metillee.

«The descriptions and figures of these serpents were made in India

in 1835, 1836, and 1837. For the specimens from Asam I am in-

debted to the kindness of the eminent botanist Mr. William Griffith ;

2 rN

eee

cass MP

Linnean Society. 279

for those from Chirra Punji, to the friendship of Mr. J. W. Grant, of

Calcutta. I have also to acknowledge the liberality of Mr. Hodg-

son, the Hon. Company’s Resident at the court of Nepal, who

allowed me to publish the undescribed specimens in his collection of

Nepalese serpents.”

LINNZAN SOCIETY.

Noy. 5, 1839.—Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The Rev. William Wood, B.D., F.L.S., exhibited specimens of a

variety of Typha angustifolia, remarkable for its small size, and the

shortness of its female catkins, collected by himself in the extensive

marshes situate between Sandwich and Deal.

_ Read, “ Descriptions of some new Insects collected in Assam, by

William Griffith, Esq., Assistant Surgeon in the Madras Medical

Service.” By the Rev. F. W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S. & L.S.

The insects described in this paper, some of which are remarkable

for their size and splendid colours, were mostly collected in Assam

by Mr. Griffith, during the stay of the late Scientific Mission from

Calcutta, to which he was attached. They chieliy belong to the

longicorn beetles, and to the family of Lamiade. The following are

the characters of the new genera and species:

LAMIA.

1. L. Horsfieldii.

Long. lin. 26; lat. lin. 83.

Corpus cinereum; antennis corpore longioribus, elytrisque flavo-creta-

ceis maculisque ornatis, antennz articulis tribus primis subscabris.

This species, which has been named in complimentto Dr. Hors-

field, is the largest of the family, and is nearly related to L. catenata

of De Haan from Japan.

G. N. EUOPLIA.

Corpus subdepressum. Antenne lamizformes, feré ut in Omacantha.

Thorax utrinque spinosus, dorso punctulatus. /ytra depressa, api-

cibus 2-spinosis, spina suturali minore, lateralibus majoribus. In re-

liquis Lamia convenit.

1. C. polyspila.

Besides the one enumerated, the author possesses five other species,

all natives of India, and which are still undescribed.

G. N. OPLOPHORA.

Caput feré quadratum. Mandibule falciformes. Antenne corpore paulld

longiores, articulis basi pallidis. Thorax utrinque armatus, dorso for-

titér rugoso, tuberculo in medio disci posito. L£lytra thorace 4-pld lon-

giora, basi sinuata, subscabra, gradatim e humeris ad apicem magnis

tudine decrescentia, apicibus rotundatis. Corpus infra annulis abdo-

280 Linnean Society.

minis ad apicem sensim attenuatis. Pectus valdé eonvexum, mucrone

armatum. Pedes difformes et robusti.

1. O. Sollii.

This splendid species is dedicated to Richard Horsman Solly,

Esq., F.R.S. & L.S., in whose cabinet the chief part of the insects

described in this paper is contained. To the same genus belong

Lamia punctata of Fabricius, and two undescribed Indian species.

G. N. ANOPLOPHORA.

Caput quadratum. Antenne corpore dupld longiores, ultimo articulo

valdé elongato. Thorax utrinque spinosus, medio depressus. Llytra

anticé et posticé feré equalia, apicibus rotundatis. Corpus infra squa-

mosum, pectore inermi. Pedes difformes et robusti.

1. A. Stanleyana.

This insect, distinguished for its brilliant colours, which rival those

of some of the more splendid Lepidoptera, has been named in honour

of the Lord Bishop of Norwich, President of the Linnean Society.

CALLICHROMA, Lair.

1. C. Cantori.

Long. lin, 21; lat. lin. 5.

Viride, nitidum; antennis violaceis, femoribus tibiisque leté cyaneis tar-

sisque aureo-ornatis.

This species is named in compliment to Dr. Cantor, a distinguished

zoologist in the service of the East India Company, and whose va-

luable collection of Indian Reptilia and drawings are deposited in the

Radcliffe Library at Oxford.

2. C. Griffithii.

Long. lin. 203; lat. lin. 8.

Obscuré atrum ; antennis tarsisque luteis, elytris nigris et flavo-fasciatis.

This species is dedicated to its discoverer, an acute and enter-

prising botanist, and author of two valuable memoirs on the deve-

lopment of the ovulum of Santalum and Loranthus, printed in the

18th Volume of the Society’s Transactions.

MONOCHAMUS, Megerle.

1. M. ruber.

Long. lin. 11; lat. lin. 43.

Ruber ; antennis corpore duplo longioribus, thorace elytrisque nigro-ma-

culatis, pedibus concoloribus.

Read also, ‘‘ On Cuscuta epilinum and halophyta.” By Charles C.

Babington, Esq., M.A., F.L.S.

The first of these species has been recently added to the British

Flora by J. E. Bowman, Esq., F.L.S., having been found by him

growing abundantly on flax, near Trelydan Hall, Montgomeryshire,

Linnean Society. 281

in August last. The other species, which occurs on the coast of

Norway, growing upon Chenopodee, has not been hitherto observed

in this country. The author gives the following characters of the

two plants :— «

1. C. epilinum (Weihe), florum glomerulis bracteatis sessilibus, squamis

palmati-subsexfidis tubo corolle semper ventricoso adpressis, sepalis

caynosis basi deltoideis coroll4 vix brevioribus.

2. halophyta (Fries), ‘ florum glomerulis subbracteatis” sessilibus, squa-

mis bifidis tubo corolla ventricoso adpressis: segmentis bifidis, calyce

corolla multd breviori.

Noy. 19.—Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

Read, ‘‘ A Monograph of the genus Disporum.” By D. Don, Esq.,

Libr. L.S., Prof. Bot. King’s College.

This genus was first suggested by Mr. Brown, in his ‘ Prodromus

Flore Nove Hollandiz’; and the name of Disporum was subsequently

given to it by Salisbury in the first volume of the Transactions of

the Horticultural Society of London. It remained, however, unde-

scribed, and almost unnoticed, until the publication of the author’s

work on the plants of Nepal, in which a detailed description of the

genus, and the characters of two additional species were given.

The characters of the genus consist in its campanulate perianthium,

with the sepals produced into a pouch or spur at the base, in the

cells of its ovarium bearing two ovula, in its baccate pericarpium,

and in its umbellate inflorescence. These distinctions will be found

to be common to all the Asiatic species hitherto referred by most

botanists to Uvularia. We subjoin the characters of the species

described in this paper.

1. D. calearatum, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis lanceolatis

acutiusculis basi longé calcaratis, antheris filamentis stigmatibusque

stylo triplé longioribus, foliis ovato-lanceolatis sessilibus.

Uvularia calearata. Wall. Cat. n. 5087.

2. D. Wallichii, umbellis subsessilibus sub-5-floris, sepalis lanceolatis

acuminatis, calcaribus rectis abbreviatis, antheris filamentis 4-plé bre-

vioribus, stylo stigmatibus longiore, foliis ovato-lanceolatis subpetio-

latis.

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, B. et C. Wail. Cat. n. 5088.

3. D. Hamiltonianum, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis lanceo-

latis acutis, calearibus abbreviatis recurvis, antheris filamentorum longi-

tudine, stylo stigmatibus subzequali, foliis ovato-lanceolatis subpetio-

latis.

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, A. Wall. Cat. n. 5088.

U. Betua. Ham. MSS. 7

4. D. Horsfieldii, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis spathulatis

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 24. Dec. 1839. x

282 Linnean Society.

mucronatis puberulis, antheris filamentis duplo brevioribus, stylo stig-

matibus dupl6 longiore, foliis ovato-lanceolatis subpetiolatis.

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, §. Wall. Cat. n. 5088.

5. D. Leschenaultianum, umbellis sessilibus 3—5-floris, sepalis ovato-

lanceolatis acutis basi gibbosis, antheris filamentis vix duplé breviori-

bus, stylo stigmatibus ter longiore, foliis ovatis subpetiolatis.

Uvularia Leschenaultiana. Wall. Cat. n. 5089.

6. D. Pitsutum (Don, Prodr. p.50.), umbellis pedunculatis 7—9-floris

sepalis cuneato-lanceolatis obtusiusculis basi gibbosis, antheris fila-

mentis ter brevioribus, stylo stigmatibus duplé longiore, foliis lanceo-

latis subpetiolatis.

7. D. parvifiorum (Don, Prodr. p. 50.), umbellis subsessilibus 2—7-floris,

sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis basi gibbosis, antheris filamentis dupldo

brevioribus, stigmatibus stylo ter brevioribus, foliis lanceolatis subpeti-

olatis.

8. D. fuluum (Salisb. in Hort. Trans. i. p. 330.), umbellis sessilibus sub

4-floris, sepalis lanceolatis acutis basi breviter calcaratis, antheris fila-

mentis vix brevioribus, stigmatibus styli longitudine, foliis lanceolatis

subpetiolatis.

The author concludes his paper with the description of a new and

nearly-related genus, founded upon a plant which was introduced

from New South Wales into the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, in

1823, and which is remarkable for its unenclosed embryo, and for

the singular appendages, similar to those of Parnassia, which are

seated at the inner base of the sepals. The following is the descrip-

tion of this interesting genus :—

TRIPLADENIA.

Perianthium 6-phyllum, petaloideum, patens, zequale, deciduum : foliolis

wstivatione involutis, basi biappendiculatis! sessilibus. Stamina 6,

toro, nec basi sepalorum inserta. dnthere@ erecte, extrorse, bilocu-

lares, duplici rima longitudinali dehiscentes. Ovarium liberum, trilo-

culare : loculis biovulatis: ovulis campylotropis, collateralibus, erectis.

Stigmata 3, recurvata. Pericarpium subbaccatum, 3-loculare, 3-valve,

loculicido-dehiscens : Joculis 1—2-spermis. Semina sub-orbiculata, hince

convexa, inde angulata, v. concaviuscula, glabra, nitida, colore suc-

cinea, hilo maximé fungoso-strophiolato, chalaza orbiculaté concava

fusca, raphide dimidio seminis vix breviori, elevataé: testd tenui, mem-

branaceé: albumen copiosum, corneum, album. Embryo oblongus,

albus, hinc convexus, inde planiusculus, more Graminum extra albumen

locatus, eodemque facie plana applicatus, funiculo maximé strophiolato

solummod6 obtectus ! extremitate radiculari (cauliculari) paulld latiori.

Herba (Nove Hollandiz) perennis, rhizomate multicepite, caulibus subsim-

plicibus multangulis, foliis amplexicaulibus ovato-lanceolatis, pedunculis

axillaribus solitaris unifloris infra medium articulatis involucelloque

3-phyllo munitis.

1. 7. Cunninghamii.

Miscellaneous. 983

MISCELLANEOUS.

NOTE RELATIVE TO DR. WESTENDORP’S MEMOIR ON A NEW SPECIES OF

_ EPILOBIUM, ERRONEOUSLY PUBLISHED AS MR. W. H. WHITE'S.

From what we have just learnt with regard to this paper, it is our

unwelcome duty immediately to make the following statement. A

translation of it was published in our Ist volume, p. 208, as an ori-

ginal paper by Mr. W. H. White, read before the Botanical Society

of London on March 2nd, 1838, and communicated to us from the

Secretary of the Society. It is, however, we are informed, merely

a verbal translation of Dr. Westendorp’s memoir, which appearedin |

the Bulletin of the Brussels Royal Academy of Sciences for Novem-

ber 1836. As this fact has been publicly denounced in the Bulletin

for March last, and severely reprobated in a publication by Dr. Wes-

tendorp, a regard to justice, as well as to the reputation of our Journal,

calls on us to state all that has come to our knowledge, and to inquire

what explanation can be given.

Should this have happened through any mistake, we still must

think that Mr. W. H. White ought, in justice to Dr. Westendorp,

to the Botanical Society, and to ourselves, to have warned us of the

error as soon as possible after it had occurred.

BLOOD CORPUSCLES IN. THE MAMMALIA.

Mr. Gulliver has been lately occupied in some observations on the

blood disks of mammalia, of which the following are some of the re-

sults :

In five Australasian animals the corpuscles have the form and size

most common in mammals, their diameters varying from z,/,5th to

000th ‘of an inch. These Australasian animals are the Perameles

lagotis, Petaurus Sciurus, Macropus Bennettii, Dasyurus Ursinus, and

D. Viverrinus.

In reference to the interesting discovery by M. Mandl of the oval

blood corpuscles of the Dromedary, Mr. Gulliver has found the blood-

disks of the Auchenia Vicugna, A. Paco, and A. Glama, also very di-

stinctly elliptical. In the Vicugna they are rather smaller than in

the other species.

In the Musk Deer (Tragalus Javanicus). Mr. Gulliver observes

that the blood disks are smaller than those, hitherto described, of

any other mammal whatever. In the T’ragalus, the disks, though very

distinct in form, measure on an average +g} pth of an inch only;

but many variations in size are to be seen, from 34,5 th to ggypth

of aninch in diameter.

284 Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON IRISH BIRDS.

Quait, Perdix Coturniz, Lath. This species, considered migra-

tory in England with the exception of some few individuals that

winter in the south*, has of late years remained permanently in the

north of Ireland, and during winter occurs in considerable numbers.

Throughout this season, quails are daily exposed for sale in the town

of Belfast, and several brace often exhibited together in a single

shop. In stating the following particulars respecting the number of

these birds shot by a sporting relative during part of one winter, all

that were obtained by him within that period are not enumerated,

but merely those on the days mentioned, with the ‘“ returns” of

which I was favoured. On November 11th, 1834, my friend shot

two and a half brace, and on the 13th two brace of Quails, and on

the latter day saw altogether about seven or eight brace; on the 19th -

he obtained three brace. On December 10th he killed four and a

half, and saw altogether about ten brace; on the 15th he bagged

three birds. These were all obtained in their summer haunts in the

county of Down, within six miles of Belfast. ‘The same gentleman

about the Ist of January 1835, shot four brace of Quails in one day

near Larne in the county of Antrim, and saw many more: he te-

marks, that he never met with more of these birds when partridge

shooting early in the season or in September than he has done

throughout the month of December 1834 ; they were however con- |

sidered by him to be rather more numerous than usual that winter.

It must be added, that in no instance above mentioned did my friend

go purposely in pursuit of these birds; he was snipe-shooting, and

merely when walking from one bog to another, the Quails occurred.

In the winter of 1836-37, a person of my acquaintance in one day

shot ten brace of Quails in stubble-fields bordering Belfast Bay, to

the north of Carrickfergus. During the winter of 1831-32, and

subsequently, they have chiefly attracted the attention of my friend

and myself.

Piamy Curutew, Tringa subarquata, Temm. This pretty species,

characterized in the latest works of authority as a “rare visitant” to

Great Britain, is one of our regular autumnal migrants to the north

of Ireland. It first attracted notice here\gearly twenty years ago,

when an acute observer, the late John Montgomery, Esq. of Locust

Lodge, distinguished the species from its congeners, and called Mr.

Templeton’s attention to it. Since that period, the Pigmy Curlew

may be set down from observation as a regular bird of passage,

chiefly occurring in the months of September and October. I have

never known it to be so plentiful in Belfast Bay as during the Sep-

* Montagu and Selby.

Miscellaneous. 285

tember of this present year, when it appeared in considerable flocks

—but few are generally seen together, and not rarely it is met with

singly.

Mr. H. H. Dombrain, of Dublin, informs me that he saw a few

individuals of this species, and shot one at Lurgan Green, near Dun-

dalk, at the beginning. of November 1837. .To the bay of Dublin

the Pigmy Curlew resorts, as it does to the north-east of Ireland.

The Lirrtz Srivt, Tringa minuta, Leisl..—which in reference to

Great Britain is regarded only as a rare and occasional visitant, may,

like the T. subarquata, be called a regular bird of passage in the

north of Ireland. About the year 1823, Mr. John Montgomery saw

a bird either of this species or of the allied Tringa Temminckii when

out shooting on the extensive sands of Dundrum, in the county of

Down, but from its shyness sought in vain to procure it. On Sept.

6, 1831, the first Tr. minuta known to me as obtained upon our

coast was shot in Belfast Bay, and came into the possession of Dr. J.

_D. Marshall; others were subsequently killed here in the same season.

My attention having since that time been particularly directed to such

subjects, I find by reference to notes, that every autumn from 1831

to 1839 inclusive, with the single exception of 1835, when I was abs-

ent from home, this bird appeared in Belfast Bay, though in every

instance in very small numbers. Early in September, 1837, a flock

consisting of nine individuals were-seen in the bay, and although

very wild, were so perseveringly followed, that within a fortnight

they had all fallen victims to the gun. So early as the end of July

they have been met with here.

By Thomas W. Warren, Esq., of Dublin, I was favoured with a

specimen of this bird, which he shot in Dublin Bay about the Ist of

‘November, 1831.

Rurr, Tringa pugnaz, Linn. Although I have not at present suf-

ficient data to enable me to designate this species as a regular au-

tumnal bird of passage to the north-east of Ireland, it may be set

down as a frequent visitant at this period, when its sojourn is but of

short continuance. So early as the end of August, 1828, when the

first migration of snipes for the season arrived in the neighbourhood

of Belfast, a few Ruffs were found associating with them—within

the succeeding two months they have not unfrequently occurred.

In spring too Ruffs arrayed in their nuptial garb have on a few oc-

casions been obtained in different parts of Ireland.

Ample details on the four species here noticed are reserved for

their proper place in my series of papers on the Birds of Ireland, but

such facts as those brought forward seemed to call for special an-

nouncement.—W. Tuompson, Belfast, Oct. 1839.

286 Mistellaneous.

ON THE REMARKABLE DIFFUSION OF CORALLINE ANIMALCULES FROM

THE USE OF CHALK IN THE ARTS OF LIFE, AS OBSERVED BY EHREN-

BERG.

An examination of the finest powdered sorts of chalk which are

used in trade has afforded Professor Ehrenberg the following result,

that even in this finest condition not merely the inorganic part of

the chalk is become separated, but that it remains mixed with a

great number of well-preserved forms of the minute shells of Coral

Animalcules. As powdered chalk is used for paper-hangings, Pro-

fessor Ehrenberg also examined these as well as the walls of his

chambers which were simply washed with lime, and even a kind

of glazed vellum paper called visiting cards, and obtained the very

visible result,—demonstrating the minuteness of division of inde-

pendent organic life,—that those walls and paper-hangings, and so

doubtless all similar walls of rooms, houses, and churches, and even

glazed visiting cards prepared in the above-mentioned manner (of

which cards, many however, are made with pure white lead, without

any addition of chalk) present, when magnified 300 diameters, and

penetrated with Canada balsam, a delicate mosaic of elegant coral-

line animalcules, invisible to the naked eye, but, if sufficiently mag-

nified, more beautiful than any painting that covers them.—Pogg.

Ann. 1839. No. 9.

NOTE ON PELORIA. BY MR. ADAM WHITE.*

Linnzus, in the ‘ Ameenitates Academice’ for 1749 (i. p. 282. tab.

3.) described and figured the Peloria as a distinct genus of plants,

which he however subsequently in his ‘ Species Plantarum,’ (ii. p.

859. ed. 2.) included with the Antirrhinum Linaria (Linaria vul-

garis, DC.) of which he considered it a monstrosity (“nature prodi-

gium’’) caused by the corolla of the plant becoming regular, that is

being furnished with 5 lobes to the lip, 5 basal spurs and pentandrous

flowers: even in 1763 Linnzus thought it might form a —

genus, “‘ nist fructus semper abortiret.”

Since that time this kind of variation has been observed in many

other plants, as for example by M. Mirbel in the Teucrium campanu-

latum and many other Labiata (‘ Elémens de Physiologie Végétale,’

&c. p#* i, p. 221. note.).

M. Bosc alludes to its occurrence in the genera Rhinanthus and

Dracocephalum (‘ Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.’ xxv. p.146.).

M. Guillemin observed it in Sideritis (‘ Dict. Ch. d’Hist. Nat.’ xiii.

p- 164.).

M. DeCandolle has found it in several species of Linaria, An-

* Read before the Botanical Society of London, 21st Dec. 1838.

acco gt opesomeouiaail

+ igs L eS

ees 23

Me ee Ree ee ee ee ere en ee ee

Meteorological Observations. 287

tirrhinum, Digitalis, Sesamum, Galeopsis, Viola, Orchis, and hence be-

lieves that it is a phenomenon common to all irregular flowers (‘ Or-

ganographie Végétale,’ i. pp. 518. and 519. ed. 1827.). The last-

mentioned author figures the Viola hirta in various states of pelori-

zation ; and Guillemin, in the work above-quoted, mentions that he

has frequently found the Linaria spuria, DC., in the same state, some

specimens with 5 spurs, others with 4, 3, or 2. I am indebted toa

friend for the sight of a pelorian variety of a species of Tropeolum,

and have also much pleasure in showing the Society an imperfectly

developed pelorian variety of the pretty Pinguicula vulgaris, which

I gathered on Roydon Fen, near Diss in Norfolk, in the summer of

1835. This is perhaps interesting, inasmuch as it still further cor-

roborates the inference drawn by M. DeCandolle, and because, as far

as I am aware, the occurrence of such a monstrosity has not been

before observed in the order Lentibularie.

Linneus attributed the production of peloria to the fecundation of

the Linaria by the pollen of another plant ; other authors think it is

caused by the puncturing of insects, which produces a deviation in

the flow of the sap.

M. DeCandolle attributes it to ‘‘ the phenomenon of a glandular,

thread-shaped body being developed into a true stamen,”’ (Organogr.

u. 8.) when the other parts of the flower return to symmetrical ar-

rangement. Apam WuirTE.

December 7, 1838.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR OCT., 1839.

Chiswick.—Oct. 1. Foggy: very fine. 2. Foggy: rain. 3. Very fine. 4.

Rain : stormy with rain at night. 5. Boisterous: clear. 6. Fine. 7. Cloudy: -

fine. 8. Hazy: very fine. 9. Very fine: heavyrain at night. 10. Showery :

sultry at intervals. 11. Very fine. 12. Fine: rainat night. 13. Foggy: fine.

14, Fine. 15,16. Slight fog: fine. 17. Foggy. 18. Drizzly. 19,20, Foggy:

fine. 21, 22. Hazy: fine. 23, 24. Rain. 25. Overvast: fine. 26, 27. Clear

and fine. 28. Stormy: showers ofrain. 29,30. Hazy and cold. 31. Rain.

Boston.—Oct. 1. Fine. 2. Cloudy: rain p.m. 3. Fine. 4. Rain: rain early

a.m, 5. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 6. Cloudy. 7,8. Fine, 9. Cloudy. 10.

Rain. 11, Fine. 12. Cloudy. 13. Cloudy: rainearlya.m. 14,15. Cloudy.

16. Fine. 17, Cloudy. 18. Cloudy: raina.m. 19, Fine. 20, 21. Foggy.

22,23. Cloudy. 24. Rain. 25. Cloudy. 26. Fine: rain early a.m. 27. Fine:

rainer.M. 28. Rain: rain early a.m. 29. Cloudy: rain: stormy night. 30.

Stormy. 31. Cloudy.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire—Oct. 1. Wet throughout. 2. Very wet

morning: cleared at noon. 38. Fair till 11 a.m., when began to rain. 4. Fair

allday. 5. Finecalm day: hoar frost morning and ice. 6. The same : hoar

frost still stronger. 7. A very good harvest day: getting cloudy p.m. 8. Driz-

zling allday. 9. Thesame. 10. The same a.m.: fair p.m. 11. Fair through-

out. 12. The same. 13. The same: overcast in the evening. 14. Drizzling

allday. 15. Dull, cloudy, and damp: rain r.m. 16. Sunshine and showers

alternately. 17. Very fine day: hoar frost early a.m. 18, 19. The same: ice

on the ponds. 20. Very fine day. 21. Fair; but dull and foggy. 22. Fair till

noon, when rain came on. 23. Rainall day. 24. Rain all day though slight.

25, 26. Fair throughout. 27. Clear and temperate. 28. Fine October day.

29. One slight shower, when it cleared. 30. Fair: air very keen. $1. The

same: keen and cold like a day in March.

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ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

XXXI.—On Allium Porrum and A. Ampeloprasum. By

Cuar.es C. Basineron, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.

In my ‘ Primitie Flore Sarnice,’ p. 95, I have mentioned

the great difficulty which exists in distinguishing between 4.

Porrum and Ampeloprasum, and am induced to communicate

the following attempt at their discrimination to the ‘ Annals

of Natural History,’ in the hope that it may assist other bo-

tanists in determining the plants. Unfortunately the root is

not usually to be found upon specimens of such large size as

these leeks, for when that is present there can be no difficulty

in distinguishing the species; the root of 4. Porrum (the

true leek,) being formed of numerous concentric coats like

that of an onion, producing no offsets whatever, and there-

fore its duration being not more than biennial; whilst that of A.

Ampeloprasum consists of a few concentric coats, including

from two to four large offsets, and thereby somewhat resem-

bling, in its transverse section, the bulb of a hyacinth, but

having much larger offsets in proportion to the concentric

coats. Happily the structure of the flowers, which at the first

view appears similar in both plants, will supply us with ex-

cellent characters when examined with care. I have endea-

voured in the wood cuts which accompany this short commu-

nication, to give some idea of the form of the germen, and of

the form and proportions of the perigone and stamens in each

plant. It will be seen that in both of them the germen is

constricted at about the middle, but that in A. Porrum the

constricted part is continued upwards, and in A. Ampelopra-

- sum it is continued downwards ; this is best seen at the time

of flowering, as the enlargement of the fruit often nearly ob-

literates it, but will not be always found so strongly marked

as in my figures. In the former the segments of the perigone

are shorter than the common filament ef the 3--pointed

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 25, Jan. 1840. Y

290 Mr.C.C. Babington on A. Porrum and A. Ampeloprasum.

stamen, and the anther-bearing point is only half the length

of either the common filament or of the barren points; but

in the latter the segments of the perigone are longer than

the common filament, to which the anther-bearing point is

equal, but at the same time only one-third of the length of

the barren points.

In Gaudin’s Fl. Helv. v. ii. t. 11. the perigone ‘of A, Ampe-

loprasum is figured as longer than the stamens, and thus not

at all agreeing with our plant, which more resembles his figure

of A. rotundum, t. 10, in which he represents (and at p. 482

describes) the stamens as longer than the perigone, differing

in this from all other writers who have described A. rotun-

dum, quoting Clusius, Hist. v. i. p. 196. (for 190.) for A. ro-

tundum instead of A. Ampeloprasum, to which it is usually, and,

as it appears to me, correctly referred, and omitting A. Ampe-

loprasum, Wald. and. Kit. t. 82. which is generally considered

as a good figure of A. rotundum. He has not given a repre-

sentation of the root of A. rotundum, but those of A. Porrum

and Ampeloprasum are pretty characteristic. I am not satisfied

with his figures of the fruit. |

1. A. Porrum. 2. 4. Ampeloprasum.

It is remarkable that all the writers to whom I have referred

describe the heads of both these species as bearing cap-

sules and not bulbs; for I find that some individuals of the

former produce bulbs on the head, amongst the flowers, in

cultivation, and that the same is the case with the latter in a

wild state in Guernsey.

I propose the following specific characters for these plants,

both of which are distinguished from A. rotundum by their

exserted stamens.

1. A. Porrum (Linn.). Caule ad medium folioso, foliis planis,

The Rev. M. J. Berkeley on some new Funyi. 29%

umbella globosa capsulifera bulbiferave, filamentis 3 interioribus

3-cuspidatis perigonio paulo longioribus, cuspide antherifera

filamento ipso cuspidibusque sterilibus duplo breviore, bulbis

simplicibus. Pars superior germinis contracta et dorsum utri-

usque segmenti appendiculo transversali ascendente instruc-

tum.

2. A. Ampeloprasum (Linn.). Caule ad medium folioso, foliis

planis, spatha elongata, umbella globosa capsulifera bulbiferave,

filamentis 3 interioribus tricuspidatis perigonio paulo longiori-

bus, cuspide antherifera filamentum ipsum subzquante cuspidi-

bus sterilibus triplo breviore, bulbo e bulbulis paucis in tunica

nidulantibus formato. Pars inferior germinis contracta et dor-

sum utriusque segmenti appendiculo transversali descendente

instructum.

St. John’s Coll., Cambridge, Nov. 1, 1839.

XXXII.—Notice of some Fungi collected by C. Darwin, Esq.,

during the Expedition of H. M. Ship Beagle. By the Rev.

M. J. Berxe.ey, M.A., F.L.S.

{With Plates, No. VIII. and IX.}

Tue Fungi here noticed were placed in my hands some time

since by Prof. Henslow. I am not certain whether they are

all that were collected by Mr. Darwin, though it is probable,

from the great mass of other matter upon his hands, that such

is the case. Though the number is small, two of them at least

are quite new, and the Dedalea is one of the most beautiful

of its race.

1. Polyporus sanguineus, Meyer (No. 464).

Rio Janeiro. May.

2. Stilbum lateritium, n.s. Gregarious, bursting from be-

neath the bark, solitary or subfasciculate, pale brick-red ;

stems about 1 line high, thickest at the base and dusky; often

confluent and flattened, pruinose from the presence of short

curved obtuse flocci. Capitula ovate or subhemispherical,

minutely setulose. Sporidia oblong.

Rio Janeiro. May. With the last. -This is certainly very

near to Stilbum cinnabarinum, Montagne, ‘ Ann. d. Sc. Nat.?

n. 8. vol, vill. p. 360, a species found in Cuba, of which I have

¥ 2

292 The Rev. M. J. Berkeley on some Fungi

received a specimen accompanied by a sketch, from the learned

author, who most liberally sent me half of the only specimen

he possessed. The habit is very different. There is a variety

of St. lateritium from St. Vincent’s in Sir W. J. Hooker’s col-

lection with a smooth stem. A third species, S. awrantiacum,

approaching very near to either, has been lately discovered in

Leicestershire by Churchill Babington, Esq. It is probable

that at some future time it may be thought right to separate

the three species from Stilbum. The structure of the capitula

is distinctly filamentous, and the sporidia, in Mr. Babington’s

plant at least, originate from the tips of the flocci.

3. Thelephora lobata, Kz. Fr. in Linnea, (No. 599.)

Rio Janeiro. May.

4. Polyporus pinsitus, Fr. El. (No. 599.)

Rio Janeiro. May.

5. Polyporus australis, Fr. (No. 600.)

Rio Janeiro. June.

6. Polyporus versicolor, Fr. (No. 1345.)

Falkland Islands on the underside of timber. Entirely

resupinate. | |

7. Sporidesmium adscendens, n. s. Flocci bent at the base

and filiform, flexuous, above abruptly incrassated ; apex at-

tenuated, truncate. Forming elongated black patches on the

pileus of Polyporus versicolor. Allied to Sporidesmium hor-

miscioides, but in that species the threads have no distinct

thickened portion above as in the present Species. The arti-

culations contain a large globule. |

With the last. Falkland Islands.

8. Dedalea erubescens, n. s. Czespitose, confluent. Pileus

41 inches broad, coriaceous, depressed in the centre with the

margin broadly deflexed, minutely velvety and silky, zoned,

fulvous-cinnamon, nearly even, with the exception of one or

two well-marked ridges; margin irregular, slightly fringed.

Gills broad, unequal, distinct, rigid, much jagged, tinged with

pink towards the margin, running down to the very base of

the stem, on which they anastomose, and are clothed with a

beautiful velvety pile. Stem central, 2 inches high, 4 of an

inch thick, solid, dilated upwards into the pileus, velvety

marked with oblong reticulations from the decurrent gills,

Naa een a oo teates ne a RENT ee heer e eae ek Seen ee Sg ita eh Sersee pa

collected in the expedition of the Beagle. 293

falvous-cinnamon, growing out of a thick spongy mycelium,

which is attached to wood and leaves.

It is matter of doubt whether this species should be placed

in Dedalea or Lentinus, though the habit is rather that of the

former genus. The gills are not the least sinuous, and do

not anastomose at all above; their colour is nearly that of

deep tinted specimens of D. diennis. The pileus resembles

somewhat that of Polyporus perennis, and in young plants

is probably infundibuliform. The sporidia appear to have

fallen out entirely, as is in general the case with exotic Hyme-

nomycetes, and the cells of the surface of the hymenium have

grown since the plant was gathered, so that the form of the

sporophores (dasidia, Decaisne) cannot be detected. This is

frequently the case in the coriaceous fungi, and can only be

prevented by very prompt drying, care being taken to place

the specimen when laid to dry in its natural position. No

number being attached to this species, I am not able to say

where it was gathered, but probably at Rio Janeiro.

. Two other species are in the same collection which I am

unable to determine; one a byssoid production, of doubtful

affinity, from Terra del Fuego, No. 496; the other an imper-

fect Thamnomyces (probably T. chordalis) from Rio Janeiro,

No. 575.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII.

Fig. 1. a. Sporidesmium adscendens on resupinate Polyporus versicolor, na~

tural size.

: b, ec, d. Filaments, more or less magnified.

Fig. 2. a. Stilbum lateritium on bark, natural size.

b. The same, magnified.

. Two individuals more highly magnified.

Flocci, of which the capitula are composed.

e. Sporidia.

PLATE IX.*

Dedalea erubescens.

* Plate LX. will be given next month in the Supplement Number.

294 Dr. Philippi on Pandorina coruscans.

XXXIII.—Zoological Notices. By Dr. A. Puruippr*. —

Plates III. and IV. 3

[ Continued from p. 96.] f

6. Pandorina coruscans, Scacchi. Plate IV. fig. 1—4.

Sr. ArcANGELO Scaccur has described this remarkable

genus in his ‘ Osservazioni Zoologiche, p. 14 (May 1833), in

the following words: “Testa bivalvi, transversim oblonga,

alba; latere antico (i. e. anali) productiore, truncato, hiante;

postico (i. e. orali) rotundato ; valvis inzequalibus, fragilissimis,

subpellucidis, intus margaritarum nitore coruscantibus, ex-

terius ad ambitum tenuissimo epidermide obductis, longitu-

dinaliter striatis, ad umbones leviusculis; striis transversis

obsoletis ; valva dextra (i. e. sinistra) majore, umbone ac limbo

superiore (i. e. ventrali) sinistram superante ; valva sinistra

(i. e. dextra, si animal incedens inspicitur) inferius ad latus an-

ticum (i. e. posticum) super dextram producta; membrana

pretenui ad latera umbonum valvas revinciente ; cardine eden-

tulo ; linea prominula obliqua pro ligamenti insertione ; liga~

mento tantum interno oblongo; ultra pollicem lata, altitu-

dine 5 lin.” To this description I have only the following

remarks to add. The longitudinal strie are extremely deli-

cate, elevated, and every fourth is as it were beset with small

points, which proceed from the epidermis. ‘The membrane,

which unites posteriorly the dorsal margin of the shells, I

would without hesitation call an eternal ligament. An area

and a dunula may be distinguished, which are rather sharply

defined, and are smoother than the rest of the shell: both are

narrow and asymmetrical ; the Junula is broader on the left

shell, the area on the right. The muscular impressions are

tolerably near to the margin; the anterior one is longitudi-

nally oval, the posterior one more quadrate and far nearer to

the margin on the left shell than on the right, which corre-

sponds to the line defining the area. The impression of the

mantle has a very slight incurvation, which forms nearly a

right angle with the part of the shell parallel to its ventral

margin. This indicates two very short tubes, which the ani-

ma! actually possesses. The hinge is quite toothless; never-

* Translated from Wiegmann’s ‘ Archiv,’ Part 2. 1839.—The Plates will

be given next month, in the Supplement.

ee nn eC eye ot Oa Le ey ea

RE TE ONIN Eitan Hee

Dr. Philippi on Pandorina coruscans. 295

theless the margin projects directly before the vertex of the

right shell in the form of a little tooth (see fig. 3.). The ca-

vity for the ligament runs very obliquely backwards and is

perfectly linear. To my great surprise, I found in my three

young specimens, instead of the ligament, a done, as in Osteo-

desma and others, of an elongated nearly pentagonal form,

with the apex directed anteriorly, the slightly hollowed basis

posteriorly, and moderately gibbous on the ventral side*.

The animal of Pandorina has, according to a drawing com-

municated to me by Sr. Scacchi, two short slightly project-

ing siphons, with fringes at the margin, and a long compressed

and narrow foot, the situation of which proves that at least a

third part of the mantle anteriorly is split.

I had found this shell in a fossil state in Sicily, and named

it Pandora? equivalvis in my ‘ Enumeratio Molluscorum Sici-

liz,’ and I also noticed the resemblance and difference be-

tween it and Pandora as far as they were to be seen on the

fossil specimens. The principal differences in the shell are as

follows: 1. The right half is perfectly flat in Pandora, in Pan-

dorina only a little less vaulted. 2. Pandora has teeth on

the hinge. Lamarck’s statement in ‘ Hist. Nat. des Anim.

sans Vert.’ is not good; on the contrary, that of Deshayes in

the second edition of the same work is excellent : they consist,

on the left shell, in a front tooth (which in those Pandore that

I have at hand to compare is perfectly flat), and a deep cavity’

between it and the ligament, into which fits a tooth of the

right flat shell. In Pandorina every trace of a tooth has dis-

appeared on the left shell, and on the right one only an ex-

ceedingly slight analogue to it exists in the projection of the

margin. 3. Pandora has quite simply an internal ligament.

I must however remark, that Pandora appears to me to pos-

sess also a second ligament, namely, immediately at the mar-'

gin, fig. 5 a; fig. 6. is the usual one. 4. Pandora has a per-’

fectly simple muscular impression, whilst in Pandorina only a:

* Sr. Scacchi remarks, ‘Enum.,’ p. 6. Note on Thracia, “in utraque

specie reperimus ossiculum mobile ad cardinem, quum specimina juniora

observavimus ; at in adultioribus seu majoribus etiam cum mollusco perqui-

sitis, illud nunquam invenimus. Miramur sane ossiculum illud adolescente

conchylio evanescere; sed sic observatio pluries repetita nos cogit opinari,

neque inspectio testarum suspicari permittit, specimina majora diversas con-

stituere species.” May not this also be the case with Pandorina? :

296 Dr. Philippi on Pandorina coruscans.

slight incurvation of the mantle can be recognised. Front

this it appears that Pandorina* is certainly the most nearly

allied to Pandora; but on aecount of the internal bone of the

ligament, the absence of teeth to the hinge, the gaping of the

posterior side, this genus also joins on to Thracia, which (at

present I can only compare Thr. phaseolina or Tellina papy-

racea, Poli) is distinguished by a short external ligament rest-

ing on distinct nymphe, by a far more decided incision be-

neath the apex and a deeper incurvation of the mantle ; here

too the left shell is the more convex, as in Corbula, not the

right one, as in Pandora and Pandorina. But Pandorina is

distinguished from both these by the longitudinal strie, which,

as far as I am acquainted, do not occur in them or even in

the whole family of the Mye and Corbule.

From this last circumstance, the complete absence of hinge

teeth, the double ligament, the brittleness of the shell, and lastly

from the thinness of the epidermis which covers the whole

shell, Pandorina brings to mind the singular genus Galeomma,

which is truly very different at first sight, from the equality

of the shells and the wide gaping of the ventral side, as also

from the existence of only one tube, or if we choose the second

obliterated, as in Solenomya+ ; nevertheless, I believe that Ga-

leomma is more nearly allied to this genus than to any other.

M. Deshayes, who was only acquainted with the mere shell,

classes it with Glycymeris, which genus however differs very

considerably by its very thick epidermis, rather reminding us

of Solenomya, its strong prominent nymphe, its small foot,

its slightly slit mantle, and the long thick cohering siphons.

There are at present therefore six genera with a little bone

in the ligament: Anatina, Lamarck, Desh.; Periploma, Schum.;

Osteodesma, Desh.; Thracia, Leach; Pandorina, Scacchi, which

all belong to the family of the Myacee, to which Deshayes

with good reason unites the Corbulacee; and Cleidotherus,

Sow., which is allied to the Chama.

* See note in the following article, p. 305.

+ On the outside of Solenomya where we expect to find the anal tube, it

presents a circle of papillz, which is however not perforated, as is very accu-

rately stated by Sr. Scacchi. This explains why M. Deshayes has ascribed

two siphons to the Solenomya, I on the contrary only one. We both saw

correctly, but not accurately enough,

Dr. Philippi on the Animal of Astarte incrassata. 297

Prats IV. Fig. 1. Phadévina coruscans, Scac., a small specimen, lying upon

the left, more strongly vaulted, shell.

Fig. 2. The same lying on the ventral side in order to show the area

and lunula.

Fig. 3. The same opened and twice magnified.

a. The little bone in the ligament.

b. The cavity into which the bone fits.

c. The external ligament.

Fig. 4. The animal of Pandorina after a drawing of Sr. Scacchi.

Fig. 5. A shell of Pandora rostrata for comparison.

' @. An external ligament?

b. The internal ligament.

ce. The hinge tooth,

7. On the Animal of Astarte incrassata, De la Jonk.

Plate IV. fig. 6.

I obtained two specimens of this rare animal which were

still alive, but as they would not open their shells I was com-

pelled to use force. The animal was therefore seen in a half

contracted state: the mantle is almost entirely split: a nar-

_.row band separates posteriorly a small roundish aperture,

which supplies the place of the anal and branchial tubes, as

was to be expected from the analogy of the shell with that of

the genus Venus. At the margin of this aperture, as well as

at the margin of the hinder portion of the front aperture, the

mantle is of a dark brown colour and beset with very delicate

white filiform cirri. More anteriorly these cirri become smaller

and take in some degree the shape of white folds. The foot is

securiform, acute behind and in front, therefore constricted,

and in this way distinctly separated from the mass of the in-

testines ; it is of a scarlet red colour. The branchie are dissi-

milar; the interior one is nearly triangular, and exhibits a

dorsal, a ventral, and a front side. It is connected by the

dorsal side to the outer branchia, which is only about half the

size, not projecting so far anteriorly, and is rounded where the

inner one exhibits the strongly projecting angle. Both the

branchiz are fastened by their common apex to the narrow

connexion of the two lobes of the mantle between its anterior

and posterior aperture, yet so slightly, that they are easily

separated. The appendices buccales are two in number on each

side, small and oblong.

Sr. Scacchi observed this animal some years ago, and gave

298 Dr. Philippi on the Animal of Astarte incrassata.

a short description of it in his ‘ Osservazioni Zoologiche,’

(No. II. May 1833, p. 15.) which are but little known. His

statements perfectly agree with my observations, with this one

exception, that I cannot find the large reddish brown spot

which he saw on the mantle in the region of the umbones. I

must also fully subscribe to his views upon the systematic

classification of the animal which he adds to his description.

The description proves that the animal of Astarte has no re-

semblance to that of Venus, as was supposed from the consti-

tution of the shell by Cuvier, ‘ Régne Animal,’ edit. 2. vol. ii.

p- 150, and Rang, ‘ Manuel de Malacol.’ p. 314, and Deshayes

in Lamarck, ‘ Hist. d. Anim. sans Vert.’ edit. 2. vol. vi. p. 256,

but on the contrary it quite agrees with Cardita.

I cannot help remarking on this occasion, how frequently

the laws of analogy which we expect to find between animal

and shell fail in the Molluscs. Whilst in the vertebrate ani-

mals, almost without exception, a similar osseous skeleton, and

even some similar bones, necessarily belong to animals which

are also similarly formed in their other systems, we find that

in very many cases this is not so in the molluscs. To quite

similarly formed shells belong animals of decidedly different

structure. I only refer to Vermetus and Serpula, Sigaretus

or Coriocella, and Cryptostoma* and Buccinum, Lamk., where

B. undatum is hardly distinguishable from Fusus antiquus by

anything but its black spots, whilst B. Linnei and B. macu-

losum agree with Purpura, Columbella and Mitra; and many

other species, as B. mutabile, greatly differ from both men-

tioned forms ; lastly, Fusws and Pleurotoma. On the con-

trary,a very similar animal often inhabits very dissimilar shells.

I will mention for example Achatina and Carocolla, Mitra and

Purpura, Cerithium and Rostellaria pes pelecani, Cardita and

Astarte, &c.

I have still one correction to add concerning the synonyms

of Astarte incrassata. 1 formerly added to this the Venus Dan-

moniensis and V. sulcata of English authors ; but my friend

M. Koch has pointed out to me that the English species is

decidedly distinct. M. Deshayes also in his second edition

of Lamarck, represents the Astarte incrassata (Venus incras-

* See note in the following article, p. 307.

> ie parkas ia

— eee) ee ee ee

Dr. Philippi on the Animal of Pleurotoma Bertrandi. 299

sata, Brocchi,) and A. fusca (Tellina fusca, Poli,) as two di-

stinct species (p. 257.), but I must persist in my view, that

they are identical. I have at this moment twelve perfect in-

dividuals before me; in which I find every transition, from a

perfectly smooth shell, only obliquely grooved at the apices,

to one which is covered as far as the margin with great regu-

lar grooves. Moreover, the shell is sometimes flat, sometimes

strongly vaulted.

Fig. 6. Astarte incrassata, de la Jonk. One and a half times magnified.

The upper mantle lobe is thrown back in some degree, in order to

show the form of the foot and the two branchiz.

8. On the Animal of Pleurotoma Bertrandi, Payr. Plate IV.

fig. 7.

I have ‘also now seen the living animals of two species of

Pleurotoma; Pl. Bertrandi was very frequent. That which

greatly distinguishes the animals from Fusus is, that they are

quite without operculum. The foot when stretched out is some-

what longer than the last whorl of the shell, rather narrow,

truncated anteriorly, and slightly emarginate, with an oblique

groove ; narrowed gradually posteriorly, and at last emargi-

nate. The branchial tube projects tolerably far out of the

canal. The head is small; the ¢entacula are short, filiform and

obtuse, thickened half-way up, where they carry the eyes exter-

nally ; they do not unite in an acute angle, as is the case in

Fusus, Murex, Mitra, but the head forms a slightly rounded

projection, just such a one as is seen in the species of Trito-

nium. ‘The colour is transparent, marbled with yellowish-white,

sometimes with reddish-white opake points upon the. siphon,

' The other species, either Pl. gracile* or a new nearly allied

species, is distinguished, with regard to the animal, from the

present species solely by the foot being posteriorly acute, and

the siphon being decidedly spotted with red.

Fig. 7. Pleurotoma Bertrandi, Payr. Magnified four times.

9. On the Eggs of Vermetus gigas, Bivona. Plate IV. fig. 8.

During October and November I found Vermetus gigas

almost always with eggs in different stages of development.

They are inclosed in oval, flatly compressed cases, which have

* This is Murex attenuatus, Mont. Test. Brit.—J. E. G.

300 Dr. Philippi on the Hersilia apodiformis.

at one end a point with an aperture, the membrane forming

the envelope being contracted intoa narrow chord. The less

developed smaller cases are nearly 2!” long and 1" broad, and

contain about twenty to thirty yellow eggs, which appear to

be kidney-shaped when slightly magnified, but when more

strongly magnified they already show 1 to 14 whorls of a

shell. The larger egg cases are nearly twice the size, and the

embryos may be very plainly seen. We recognise a regular

shell of two whorls wound to the right, and two black eyes

behind, which have between them a blackish stripe, the intes-

tinal canal; the aperture of the shell is extended beneath,

as in Proto, Defrance. I did not succeed in examining the

embryo more accurately. The young shell did not dissolve in

vinegar, and from this appears to,be of a horny nature. In try-

ing to lay bare the little animal by compression, it was com-

pletely crushed every time.

Fig. 8. Eggs of Vermetus gigas, Biv.

a. A mass of eggs but little developed.

b, One more developed, in which the embryos are already furnished

with one whorl and a half of the shell; both of the natural size.

. An embryo strongly magnified, with two perfect whorls of the shell.

The eyes and the alimentary canal are seen through.

is)

10. Hersilia* apodiformis, a new Genus of Entomosiraca.

Plate IV. figs. 9, 10, 11.

On the second of November I found in some sea water two

small Crustacea, which at first sight appeared to be similar to

Apus, with a long tail and swimming about very briskly. A

closer examination proved that they were two pairs in the act

of coitus, which I was able to place under the microscope

without their separating; one pair even held together after

death ; the tail was the male. They differed in colour; in one

pair the female was perfectly transparent, the male on the

contrary coloured with large purplish red moveable points ; in

the other pair it was the reverse, the female was so coloured

and the male colourless. From this I suppose that the co-

lour is only in consequence of the food taken.

* This name will require to be changed, having been used by Savigny for

a genus of Spiders,

ee ee ae ae ee)

oe ©

Dr. Philippi on the Hersilia apodiformis. 301

The female, without the tail bristles, is rds of a line long,

and oval; the male not quite half so long, and narrower.

The body was quite covered by a quadriarticulated shield;

the first segment occupies nearly the half of its length, the

last a fourth, the second and third each an eighth part ; the

first three segments have a point on each side at the end.

On the first segment I saw in front two round points at a

moderate distance from each other, which I am inclined to

take for eyes. Under the shield anteriorly only the two

great antennz appear, posteriorly the tail and the extre-

mities of the posterior legs. The antennz are only two

in number, inserted beneath the shield, near to the anterior

margin. They attain to half the length of the body, and ap-

pear to consist of five articulations. The basal joint is very

short, concealed beneath the shield; the second articulation

is longest of all, then the fifth; the fourth is the shortest

after the first. Perhaps the fifth consists of several arti-

- culations: I was however unable to assure myself of this.

Anteriorly all these joints are ciliated with long stiff bristles,

posteriorly there is only one bristle at the end of every joint.

There are four pairs of distinct feet ; one to each segment of

the shield. The three first pairs are quite similarly formed,

and consist of a biarticulated stalk, which bears two ramifica-

tions. The stalk has posteriorly a long bristle on the first

joint, a shorter one on the front end of the second. The front

ramification consists of three articulations, of which the third

is as long as the two first together; it has upon its anterior

side three strong bristles, and posteriorly five longer but weaker

ones, whilst the two first articulations have only a short bristle

at the anterior end. The hinder ramification is just as long

and has also three articulations, but these are alike and densely

beset with cilia on the posterior side. The fourth pair is

simple, biarticulated ; the first articulation is very short, the

second rather long and armed with four bristles. The tail is

about the third part of the whole length of the animal, but

only half of it projects from beneath the shield. It is not di-

stinctly articulated, tapering towards the end, and terminates

in two obtuse small projections, each of which bears five long

bristles. The inner bristles are the longest, in the male more

than half as long as the body, in the female considerably

302 Dr. Philippi on the Hersilia apodiformis.

shorter. In the tail on each side is the orifice for the female

sexual apparatus.

What I could observe of the cibarian apparatus is as fol-

lows: Behind the tentacula are two diverging mandibles,

which are of the form of an obtuse-angled quadrant, and upon

the posterior side of the second joint it is beset with long and

thick cilia. Between their insertion is a triangular space with

the apex directed posteriorly, perhaps the mouth. Beneath

the cilia, on each side, are three maxilla, which terminate in

a forked bristle, and consequently remotely remind us of the

pincers of Limulus. In both sexes between these parts and

the first pair of feet is situated a foot jaw on each side. It is

nearly quadrate, and terminates at the anterior and inner angle

in a long acute tooth: on the front side it also carries a small

appendage of a vesicular form, and exteriorly a biarticulated

flagelliform palpus. I could not distinctly recognise the sexual

apparatus of the male from the minuteness of the animal. Two

large almost clavate organs which were inserted in the vulva of

the female are situated on both sides of the mouth, besides

which there are two antenniform setigerous organs, which take

their origin close behind the true antenne. At first sight the

animal reminds us of Apus by its great shield, but it is more ©

nearly allied to Cyclops by its tail and the biramified legs, It

is still more nearly allied to the genus Sapphirina of Thom-

son, with which I am acquainted only from Lamarck’s £ Hist.

Nat.’ (2nd edit. &c. vol. v. p. 171.), which also has a flat com-

pressed shield-like body, biramified legs, and only two tenta-

cula, but is distinguished from it by a shield of nine seg-

ments and four pairs of biramified legs. The essential cha-

racters are briefly contained in the following description :

Corpus clypeo magno e, segmentis quatuor formato obtectum.

Antenne dux magne, filiformes, 5-articulate. Pedum paria

quatuor, tria pinna bifida, quartum simplex. Cauda apice

bifida et setigera.

Fig. 9. Hersilia apodiformis, mihi. A female lying on its back. Sixty times

magnified.

i. The eyes.

a. The mandibule ?

b. The maxille.

c. The foot jaw with its biarticulated flagelliform palpus.

d. The three pairs of biramified legs.

Dr. Philippi on a new genus of Entomostraca. 303

é. The pair of simple legs.

f. The vulva.

Fig. 10. The male in the act of coitus hanging to the tail of the female, mag-

nified with the same power.

g. The posterior antenne ?

h. The two penes.

Fig. 11. A female of Hersilia apodiformis. Natural size.

11. Peltidium purpureum, a new genus of Entomostraca.

. Plate IV. fig. 12 and 13.

I have only one specimen of this little animal, which is

scarcely }! in size. The body is expanded in a shield of seven

segments, which in its general contour is ovate. The first

segment is nearly as large as the following segments together,

and has in some degree the form of a trapezium whose base is

turned backwards, and is bounded by a concave line. Ante-

riorly it has a truncated protuberance, on which two small

round points appear, and probably are the eyes. The following

five segments are of a narrow crescent form ; the last and small-

est is again in the form of a trapezium. Behind this projects

the very short two-pointed tail; each of its points is furnished

with four bristles, of which the inner one is the longest. The

antennz are two in number; they proceed from the angles

which the first segment forms with its appendage, attain nearly

a third part of the length of the animal, and consist of six

short articulations, the two last of which are very small. On

the front side, and especially at the apex, they are provided

with long bristles. I find six pairs of legs. The first pair,

which appear to be inserted after the first segment, is simple,

and seems to consist of three articulations only. (Fig. 13, c.)

The second articulation, somewhat thickened at its base, has

a tooth towards the end of the hinder side; the third articu-

lation is a narrow moderately curved claw. The following

four pairs of feet are biramified, and have this character in

common, that the hinder or inner branch originates at a mo-

derate distance from the apex of the stalk. (See fig. 13. d, e, f°)

Both the outer and inner branches of the second pair have two

articulations, and the first branch is twice as long as the second.

Its second articulation is the longest, and ends with three

short bristles, two of which are bent in the form of a hook. (d.)

The third pair (e.) is distinguished from the two following

304 Dr. Philippi on a new genus of Entomostraca.

by its inner branch being triarticulated, whilst the latter have

only two joints. The outward branch is in them also triarticu-

lated ; the first and second have at the end in front a thick

bristle, and posteriorly a similar one in the centre; the last joint,

which is twice as long as the preceding, has in front four short

strong bristles, and behind five longer weaker bristles. The

last pair of feet is again simple, biarticulated ? the last joint

longish, slightly curved, and has three spines exteriorly, four at

the apex, and one behind. (g.) From the small size of the

animal, and as I had only one specimen, I could but very im-

perfectly distinguish the cibarian apparatus. Nevertheless I

plainly saw, in the first place, behind the antenne, a mandible,

consisting of two linear joints of equal length and breadth,

the first of which bears posteriorly in the centre a four-

branched bristle, and the last one several simple bristles at the

end (see fig. 13. a.), manifestly the same organ which appears

in a slightly differing form in Hersilia ; in the second place, a

foot jaw? likewise consisting of two equally long joints ; the

second of these is very narrow, and bears at the apex a short

unguis or some very short bristles. (0.)

The colour of the animal was a dark purplish-red; the an-

tenne, tail, and legs pale red; the fore margin of the cephalic

appendage colourless.

This genus stands between Hersilia and Sapphirina, and is

distinguished from both of them by the different number of

thoracic segments and of the feet, as well as by the structure

of the first pair of feet. It may be thus briefly characterized :

Corpus clypeo magno, e segmentis septem formato obtectum ;

segmento primo maximo. Antenne duz magne sexarticu-

late. Pedum paria sex; par primum simplex, ungue longo

terminatum ; paria secundum, tertium, quartum et quintum

ramos duos gerentia; par sextum simplex. Cauda apice bi-

fida et setigera.

Fig. 12. Peltidum purpureum mihi, natural size.

Fig. 13. The same lying on its belly, magnified sixty times.

a. The mandibles.

b. The foot jaw ?

c. A foot of the first pair,

. A foot of the second, e. of the third, f. of the fourth or fifth, g. of

the sixth pair,

Mr. J. E. Gray on Philippi’s Zoological Notices. 305

XXXIV.—WNotes on Dr. Philippi’s Zoological Notices in the

preceding Article. By J. EK. Gray, Esq.

Pileopsis Garnoti, Payraudeau.

In Dr. Philippi’s account of the animal of this shell, (No. 22.

p- 90,) he does not appear to be aware that I established a ge-

nus for it under the name of Gadinia in the Philosophical Ma-

gazine for April 1824, where I showed the difference between

it and Siphonaria. It certainly is not Acmea of Esschholtz,

which is synonymous with my genus Lottia (Phil. Trans. 1833)

and Quoy and Gaymard’s Patelloides. —

Mr. G. Sowerby, in consequence of some confusion, has in

the Proceedings of the Zoological Society described two or

three other species of the genus Gadinia under the name of

Mouretia, erroneously considering it as my name for the ge-

nus, so that the synonyma of this genus will run thus :—

Gadinia, Gray, 1824, from Gadin of Adanson.

Mouretia, Sowerby, not Gray.

Clypeus, Scacchi.

Patella, Philippi.

Pileopsis, Payraudeau.

Pandorina, p. 296.

This shell has been long described, although many authors,

in common with Sr. Scacchi and M. Philippi, have considered

it as a newspecies. On comparing a Neapolitan specimen which

I have received under Scacchi’s name, it appears to have the

following synonyma :—

1. Mya Nitida, O. Fab. Naturforscher, iv. 44. t. 10. f. 10.

2. Mya Norvegica, Chemnitz, x. f. 1647.48. Turton, Syst. Nat.

iv. 170. Turton, Dict. f. 100.

3. Anatina truncata, Lam. Hist. not Sow.

4. Amphidesma corbuloides, Lam. Hist.

Osteodesma corbuloides, Deshayes.

5. Mya striata, Montagu, Linn. Trans. xi. t. 18. f.1. Turton,

Dict. f. 99.

Lyonsia striata, Turton, Bivalves, t. 3. f. 67.

Magdala striata, Brown, Brit. Shells, t. 11. f. 2.

Myatella ———_——., Brown, Man.

6. Mya pellucida, Brown, Wern. Trans. t. 24. f. 1.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 25. Jan. 1840. Z

306 Mr. J. E. Gray on Philippi’s Zoological Notices.

7. Pandora striata, Dict. Hist. Nat. xxv. .

8. Pandorina? equivalvis Philippi, Sicul. xviii. t. 1. f. 11. a. b.¢.

Pandorina coruscans, Scacchi, Sp. Zool. 14. Costa.

There is a second species very nearly allied to it, but which

differs in being much narrower and longer in proportion. Ly-

onsia is the oldest published name for the genus; Magdala

was the name that Dr. Leach first gave to it in his MSS., but

he afterwards used Lyonsia. Brown, not satisfied with adopt-

ing Dr. Leach’s earlier manuscript name, instead of Lyonsia,

has also added a new one, viz. Myatella. The shelly plate

which is found in the hinge of this genus in the most perfect

state of development, was, I believe, first described and figured

by Mr. Wood in his Conchology. This plate is peculiar to a

group of genera, which I think for several reasons, especially

on account of the general structure of the animals, should be

formed into a family separate from the Myade. ‘This family

contains the following genera :—

Anatina=Auriscalpium, Schum.

Cochlodesma= Anatina, §. 2. Turton.

Periploma, Schum.=Osteodesma (part) Desh.

Thracia=Odoncinetus, Costa.

Lyonsia = Magdala and Myatella, Brown = Osteodesma (part) «

Desh.=Pandorina, Scacchi.

Myadora, Gray.=Pandora (species) Sowerby.=Anatina, Stutch-

bury, for Pandora brevis, Sow.

Chamostrea, Roissy. = Cleidotherus Stutchbury, not Sowerby, as

quoted by Dr. Philippi.

Myochama, Stutchbury, and probably Cardilia, Desh.=Hemicy-

clonosta, Desh.

I described the animal of this genus in the first number of

my ‘ Spicilegia Zoologica,’ when describing Lyonsia cuneata.

The species of the different genera of Anatinide pass very gra-

dually into each other, and I do not think that Lyonsia has

any affinity to either Pandora, Solenomya or Galeomma, the

latter having many characters in common with Gastrochena.

Lyonsia has the piece in the hinge both in the young and

adult state; and it may be remarked, that all bivalve shells,

Pandora as well as the rest, have both a ligament and a car-

tilage, which is often called a double ligament.

Mr. E. Forbes on the Botany near Trieste. 307

Cryptostoma, p. 298.

There must be some mistake here. Neither the shell nor

the animal of Cryptostoma in the least resembles either Corio-.

cella or Buccinum ; but is closely allied to Natica, and passes

by means of Natica melanostoma into the typical form of that

genus. The reason why the animals of various species of

Lamarckian Buccina differ so considerably from each other, is

that he has confounded in that genus many shells belong-

ing to other genera. Thus, of the species noticed above,

Bucc. Linnei is a Columbella; Buce. mutabile a Nassa; and

Bucc. maculosum a Pollia, or subgenus of Triton, Lam. On

the other hand, Cardita is by no means so very different from

Astarte, into which it readily passes by means of Venericar-

dia. Indeed, two fossil Astartes have been described by La-

marck as species of Cypricardia, which is the next genus to

Cardita.

XXXV.—Notices of Botanical Excursions in the Neighbour-

hood of Trieste. By Epwarp TOnREE M.W.S., For. Sec.

B.S., &c.*

I vtsitep Trieste in the month of June 1838, and spent five

most delightful weeks in the neighbourhood, making the

town my head-quarters. No locality could afford greater plea-

sure to the botanist, Illyria being famous for the peculiarities

of its Flora; and I was especially fortunate in finding two of

the most distinguished Italian botanists resident in Trieste,

M. Tommasini and M. Biasaletto, to whose guidance and to

whose company I chiefly owe the profit and the pleasure I

reaped during my stay. Trieste is beautifully situated on the

Adriatic at the base of Monte Spaccato, one of the border ele-

vations of that great and singular calcareous plain the Karst.

On the south-east side of the town the country bordering the

sea is somewhat flat as far as the boundary of Istria, a few

miles distant, and presents us with the salt marshes of Zaule ;

on the north-west the bounding precipices of the Karst rise

directly from the sea. The excursions which I shall notice in

* Read before the Botanical Society, Nov. 14, 1839.

308 Mr. E. Forbes on the Botany of the

this paper are, 1st, the immediate neighbourhood of the town ;

2nd, Zaule and its neighbourhood ; 3rd, Monte Spaccato and

Lipizza on the Karst; and 4th, Contobello on the coast.

These four excursions present a pretty good picture of the

vegetation of the Triestine territory.

I. In the immediate neighbourhood of the town, in fact

forming one extremity of it, is a little wood called the Bos-

chetto, the favourite promenade of the inhabitants, which it

well may be, since there alone you find anything like a col-

lection of trees, the country of Illyria being exceedingly bare,

and trees are great treasures in such a warm climate. This

grove is laid out in pleasant walks, and there are one or two

coffee-houses where the Triestine gentlemen breakfast in the

open air at a very early hour of the morning, and where the

Triestine ladies sip coffee towards dusk. In the evening it

presents a very gay scene, and the botanist, resting there after

his day’s labour, finds himself greatly refreshed by the change

from pretty flowers to pretty faces. In the Boschetto abound

several rare and very interesting plants, such,as Chrysanthe-

mum montanum, Chrysanthemum corymbosum, Thesium diwvari-

catum, Inula hirta, Tragopogon floccosum, Potentilla pedata,

and Polygala comosa. Also some critical species of much in- |

terest to the British botanist, as Lotus ciliatus, Tenore, a south-

ern form of Lotus corniculatus, Ononis antiquorum, and the

Lathyrus sepium of Scopoli.

II. The salt marshes of Zaule are about four miles from

Trieste, and abound in rare and interesting plants. The road to

them is rather level and uninteresting; by the wayside how-

ever I gathered undoubted specimens of the Ranunculus ver-

rucosus* of Sternberg, this being the original locality. Also

in corn-fields Bupleurum obovatum, Polygonum Bellardi, and

Bifora radians. On the hedges near Zaule I found two rare

and beautiful plants, Clematis viticella and Aristolochia ro-

tunda. \n the meadows at Zaule grow Holoschenus australis,

Veronica latifolia, Brokhousia hispida, Gladiolus illyricus,

Plantago altissima, Scorzonera laciniata, Scabiosa hybrida,

Asparagus marinus, and Ornithogalum narbonense, &c. The

* Perhaps not distinct from Ranunculus Philonotis.

a ae a ean

Neighbourhood of Trieste. 309

ditches were filled with Gratiola officinalis. Several British

plants abounded, such as Scadiosa arvensis and Rhinanthus

crista-galli and major, here accompanied by Rhinanthus hir-

sutus*, a plant which possibly may be found in similar si-

tuations in our own country. The marshes of Zaule are

famous for Orchidee. Of that tribe I observed Orchis pyra-

midalis, O. acuminata? O. laxiflora, Epipactis palustris, Gym-

nadenia conopsea, and Serapias oxyglottis, certainly identical

with the Serapias longipetala, as here were flowers of each

species to be seen on one plant. ‘The plant I have noted as

Orchis acuminata exactly accords with Reichenbach’s descrip-

tion of Defontaine’s species; nevertheless M. Tommasini in-

formed me that he sent it to Reichenbach as such, who sent it

back as Orchis variegata, identical with the German species.

Ascending the hills of Istria, above Zaule, we found Sca-

biosa integrifolia and hybrida growing together—certainly

only one species. Trifolium patens and that beautiful shrub

the Colutea arborescens were common. On the hills them-

selves we found Athamanta Matthioli, Marrubium candidis-

simum, Drypis spinosa, and Silene saxifraga ; and by the road

side on our return to Trieste we gathered Oenanthe gymnor-

rhiza and Rubus tomeniosus.

Ill. The excursion to Monte Spaccato and the Karst is

probably the most characteristic of this singular country. To

any one but a botanist the Karst is a place to be avoided, or

passed over as quickly as possible. It is thus described by

an English writer: “ It is a table land of bare limestone rock,

believed by geologists to correspond in age with the chalk se-

parating Carniola from the coast land, or Littorale. It is a-

waste like no other; not a tree within sight, scarce a shrub or

even a blade of grass to relieve the painful glare of the white

shattered stones which strew the surface. To use the words

of a German traveller, the landscape might be painted with

ashes and chalk.” Horrid however as the Karst thus ap-

pears to be to the ordinary traveller, to the botanist it is a

paradise blooming with rare and beautiful flowers, for every

crevice on its bare surface presents him with plants which

* The seed of the Zaule plant does not however answer to Reichenbach’s

character of being “ exalatus.”

310 Mr. E. Forbes on the Botany of the

grow nowhere else, and every little oasis in its barren desert

is radiant with flowers of exquisite loveliness, and odorous with

fragrance of sweetest herbs. In ascending Monte Spaccato

from Trieste, we pass over two different geological formations,

the lower part being composed of conglomerate and the upper

of limestone, each presenting a different Flora. The latter

rock especially abounds with rare and local plants. The hill

is a natural botanic garden ; it is so covered with various spe-

cies, which greeted us in such quick succession, that it was as

much as I could do to carry away a few examples of each for

myself without taking duplicates. Our progress upwards was

first hailed by Polygala comosa, which abounds alike on lime

and sandstone. Andropogon Gryllus and Festuca glauca are

likewise frequent on the latter rock. The sides of the hill are

covered by Ostrya carpinifolia, Quercus pubescens, Pistacia

Terebinthus, Rubus discolor, Cytisus capitatus, and Genista syl-

vestris. Amidst these I picked a beautiful specimen of the

splendid Limodorum abortivum. As we ascended to the cal-

careous strata many species quite new to me appeared,

often of great beauty, such as Berinia andryaloides, Convol-

volus Cantabrica, Euphorbia fragifera and Onosma stellula-

ta, and plants past flowering of Peonia peregrina were not

rare. But the summit surpassed the sides: there were con-

centrated the more beautiful plants we had passed, accom-

panied by Gen?sta sericea, Linum perenne? and narbonense,

Veronica austriaca, Arenaria laricifolia, Euphorbia (nov. spe-

cies near Gerardiana, Thomas,) Genista diffusa, Arenaria

verna (the true plant, not the British), Astragalus vesicarius,

Silene Pseud-otites, Orobus versicolor, Hieracium peleterianum,

Dictamnus fraxinella, (which with Clematis erecta also adorned

the sides), Centaurea variegata and a hundred others, “ too

numerous to mention.” Of great interest to the botanist, on

the highest point, grew Spartium radiatum, first found here by

Mr. Bentham last year, and refound by myself. Among the

plants past flowering I remarked Gentiana angulosa, Scorzo-

nera austriaca, Mercurialis ovata and Cineraria arachnoidea,

while Centaurea splendens and a host of Dianthi, as yet in bud,

gave evidence of a harvest in a month or two as rich and as

varied as that present. The view from the summit of the hill

Neighbourhood of Trieste. 311

- was very magnificent, stretching over Frioul, Carniola and

Istria, bounded on three sides by the snow-topped chains of

the Alps, on the fourth by the blue Adriatic. At our feet lay

Trieste.

Among the green spots on the Karst the most remarkable

is Lipizza. Lipizza is truly an oasis in a desert: it is a wood

about seven miles from Trieste, where the emperor breeds

horses for his stud. Many of the most beautiful and rare

plants of Illyria are found there, and some of its flowery de-

nizens grow nowhere else. From Lipizza I obtained Lilium

carniolicum and bulbiferum, Delphinium fissum (rariss.), Me-

dicago Karstiana, Potentilla recta, Potentilla inclinata (not

distinct from P. canescens), Hieracium bracteatum, sabinum

and obscurum, Scorzonera villosa and glastifolia, Loranthus

europeus, Quercus cerris, Ornithogalum comosum, Lactuca per-

ennis, Dianthus atrorubens and virgineus, Vicia sordida, Rosa

rubrifolia, Iris graminea, Coronilla montana, Centaurea ado-

nidifolia and Cerinthe maculata. At Lipizza and other places

on the Karst the localities richest in plants are singular basin-

shaped depressions of the surface.

IV. The excursion to Contobello, though not so rich as that

to Monte Spaccato or Zaule, is interesting as exhibiting the

sea cliff vegetation of this part of the shores of the Adriatic.

On the way side between Contobello and Trieste grows the

rare and beautiful Rosa sempervirens. On the sea-coast I

gathered Lathyrus Nissolia, Chlora serotina, Dorycnium pen-

taphyllum, Ruta divaricata, Lonicera etrusca, Palinurus spi-

nosus, Rhamnus alpinus, Ethionema saxatilis, Teucrium mon-

tanum, Trifolium angustifolium, Smilax aspera, Coronilla Eme-

rus, Quercus Ilex, Verbascum nigro-austriacum, Salvia offici-

nalis, Rubia peregrina, Phillyrea media, Ligustrum vulgare,

and last, not least, the loved plant of lady and poet, Myritus

communis, on its native rocks in full bloom, as fair and

sweet there wild, as when petted and caressed in the finest

garden.

312 Mr. Cunningham on the Habits of the Apteryx Australis.

XXXVI.—On the Habits of the Apteryx Australis, a Bird

of New Zealand, closely allied to the Struthionide, and

named by the native Inhabitants Kiwi. By the late ALLAN

CuNNINGHAM, Esq.*

Turs most remarkable bird inhabits the densest and darkest forests.

In those near the Kerikeri and Waimate missionary stations, a few

miles from the shores of the Bay of Islands, it was formerly frequently

observed and taken, as it is still to be found in the woods of the

Hokianga river. It is however by no means confined to any par-

ticular district, for it is to be met with in all the wooded parts of the

northern island. In these humid forests it reposes during the day,

either beneath the tufts of long sedgy grass, a species of Carex every-

where abounding in the woods, or it hides itself, shunning the light,

in the hollows at the base of the ‘‘ Rata” tree, (Metrosideros robusta

A. C.—y.s.f) In these situations it constructs a very simple nest,

laying, as all agree, but a solitary egg, which is about the size of a

duck’s, or as some natives assert, nearly as large as that of a goose,

with which bird they are now familiar, the missionaries and other

Europeans having some time since introduced it to their poultry-

yards. Its period of incubation could not be ascertained from the

natives. No sooner are its native woods darkened by the presence

of night, than it ranges about in quest of food, which (as all ac-

counts inform us) is exclusively worms, procured by burrowing with

its feet, and perforating slightly the soft humid subsoil with its at-

tenuated bill; and doubtless it is directed in the night by powerful

instinct to the spots where these abound ; for its eyes are very small,

and its upper mandible, with the nasal orifices at its extremity or tip,

possesses doubtless an acute sense of smelling.

It is not gregarious, and but very seldom indeed to be seen in

small numbers: generally they are in pairs (a male and female) ;

and in the larger forests, less frequented by the natives, these pairs

may be met with at distances of about a quarter of a mile.

The cry of the Kiwi at night is similar to the whistling made by

* Read before the Zoological Society, May 14, 1839. The communica-

tion was entitled ‘‘ Rough Notes collected from the New Zealanders (by aid

of the Missionaries), on the habits of the Apteryx australis,” dated Sydney,

N.S. Wales, 26th Nov. 1838, and accompanied the skin of an Apteryx, and

also the body, preserved for dissection, which Mr. Cunningham had procured

during a visit to New Zealand.—Our readers will learn with deep regret the

loss which science has sustained by the death of Mr. Cunningham, who has

so greatly contributed to our knowledge of the Natural History of Australia

and New Zealand; and those valuable Flora of the latter country has just

been completed in our pages.—Ep.

+ Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. iii. 112.

a ee

Mr. Cunningham on the Habits of the Apteryx Australis. 313

boys by the help of the fingers placed in the mouth,—a whistle with

a hiss; and it is by imitating this sound that the natives decoy

them, and either catch them by the help of dogs, or having induced

the bird to approach near to them by the whistle, they suddenly

surprise it by the glare of a lighted torch, which they have with them,

concealed under their mats, when they seize it by the neck, and thus

capture it alive.

In this manner the bird, the skin and body of which are now sent

to England, was taken and brought to me alive. It may here be

observed, that the natives, when they proceed to the forest to cap-

ture these birds, choose the darkest night: and as the Kiwies

usually wander about in pairs, the New Zealander, readily distin-

guishing, by some difference of voice, the sexes, endeavours to se-

cure the female first, since the male will always linger about the spot

to protect its mate, and will thus give the natives a fair opportunity

to capture it also.

When alarmed in the forest, the Kiwi retires precipitately into

its darker recesses, running with considerable swiftness; although

its Jegs appear, from their shortness and strength, more fitted for

burrowing than fleet movements.

The legs afford the bird a means of formidable defence; for,

when hunted and overtaken by the small dogs and the natives, it

uses its feet effectively: and it is said the dogs unskilled in the

mode of seizing their prey have been greatly injured by its kick.

Formerly, when the natives, wearing solely their loose, airy,

mat-dresses, were altogether more hardy than they are in the pre-

sent day, in which every man is rolled up in a thick, heavy double-

blanket of our introduction among them, and has thus become, com-

paratively speaking, effeminate and inert ;—formerly the natives were

skilful ‘‘ Kiwi hunters,” delighting in the pursuit ; and many a group

would they form to go and pass a dark tempestuous night in the

forest to decoy and catch these birds, the flesh of which, although

said to be hard and sinewy, they greatly esteem. The feathers also

were in request for making or decorating mats, by sewing them upon

a groundwork of their native flax. Thus by their frequent night-

prowlings in the woods, the natives have extirpated the Kiwi in

some districts where it once abounded: and although it is still an

inhabitant of timbered regions less disturbed by the natives, it is

rarely to be obtained, because these people have become less ener-

getic and enterprizing, and certainly less hardy by their adoption of

the habits of civilized man than formerly, and therefore cannot often

be induced, by a promise of reward however considerable, to spend

314 Professor Lindley on four new Cape Orchidacez.

a gloomy night in the forest, in search of the bird; and without the

aid of the New Zealander it cannot be obtained.

The skin now sent home, the natives said, was of a male bird,

and certain it is that whilst living it had a very strong and highly

offensive smell. Some natives of the country at East Cape, on the

coast, south of the Bay of Islands, who are residing with the church

missionaries at Paihia, on its southern shore, observed that the

Kiwies of their forests are much larger and more powerful birds than

my specimen taken on the Hokianga river. Might not those south-

ern birds be of a distinct species ? A. C.

XXX VII.—Characters of Four New Cape Orchidaceze. By

Professor LINDLEY.

Liparis Capensis ; foliis binis ovato-oblongis obtusiusculis,

caule erecto foliis longiore, racemo multifloro, bracteis her-

baceis linearibus acuminatis pedicellis ovariorum longiori-

bus, sepalis lateralibus oblongis obliquis labello zquali-

bus quam petala linearia brevioribus, labello subrepando

basi cucullato, apice obtusissimo emarginato apiculo in-

terjecto.

Hab. ad Cap. B. Spei, inter Zandplaat et Komga, Drége.

HasBenaria Dregeana (A. § 1. xx. c.); foliis radicalibus bi-

nis orbicularibus ; caulinis lineari-lanceolatis setaceo-acu-

minatis imbricatis, racemo densissimo cylindraceo obtuso,

bracteis floribus zqualibus, petalorum lacinia anteriori

glabra posteriori ciliata duplo breviore, labelli tripartiti

laciniis carnosis acuminatis intermedia longiore et obtu-

siore, calcare pendulo obtuso labello longiore.

Hab. ad Cap. B. Spei, inter Basche et Omtata, Drége.

Hasenaria Cciliosa (A. § 2. 6.); caule folioso, foliis erectis

lanceolatis canaliculatis imbricatis margine pubescenti-

bus, bracteis foliaceis lanceolatis acuminatis margine et

costa ciliatis floribus longioribus, racemo denso cylindra-

ceo, sepalis ciliatis, petalis obtusis glabris, labelli tripar-

titi laciniis filiformibus intermedia longiore, calcare pen-

dulo clavato ovarii longitudine.

Hab. ad Cap. B. Spei, inter Basche et Omtata, Drége.

Mr. A. Strickland on Squalus spinosus. 315

- Hapenarta levigata (A. § 2. 6.) ; glaberrima, levigata, caule

folioso, foliis lanceolatis canaliculatis acuminatis erectis

imbricatis, bracteis foliaceis acuminatis subspiralibus flo-

ribus longioribus, labelli tripartiti laciniis filiformibus ob-

tusis verruculosis ovario brevioribus intermedia longiore,

calcare filiformi longissimo.

Hab. ad Cap. B. Spei, inter Basche et Omtata, Drége.

XXXVIII.—On the Occurrence of Squalus spinosus, Linn.,

on the Coast of Yorkshire. By ARTHUR STRICKLAND, Esq.

On the 11th of August 1838, a large fish was brought on

shore at Burlington Quay, differing from any I had seen be-

fore, which had been caught that morning in a trawl net; its

characters evidently bespoke it to belong to the shark tribe,

but differing in many respects from any of those usually met

with. Its whole length was 7} feet; its girth in the largest

part (just behind the pectoral fin) was 3 feet 8 inches; its whole

surface was covered with a skin strikingly different from the

rough file-like surface of most of the shark tribe, being very

smooth and slimy ; but the upper part of the back was studded

over with sharp white spines hooking backwards, the largest

not above } of an inch long, but varying greatly in size. Each

spine was set upon a thin hard circular base about the size of

a fourpenny piece. In some instances two, and in a few, three

spines were clustered together, but were usually separate

about one inch asunder. I could not perceive that they were

placed in any order or pattern. These spines continued less

abundantly down the sides, and seemed to cease altogether as

they approached the belly, but were abundant upon all the

fins. A distinct lateral line commenced above the insertion

of the pectoral fin where it was slightly bent, and from thence

ran in a straight line to the tail, where it bent upwards, and

followed its course nearly to the extremity. The top of the

head was quite flat, ending in a blunt round snout, the space

between the eyes being somewhat more than that between the

eye and the end of the nose ; the eyes were large, and placed

in the projecting edge that overhung the mouth : nearly half-

way between the eye and the end of the nose were placed the

316 Mr. A. Strickland on Squalus spinosus

nostrils, about 1} in extent the longest way ; they were par-_

tially divided in the middle by two valves, the posterior one

short and blunt, the anterior longer and pointed. The di-

stance from the end of the nose to the mouth was 6 inches;

the whole of this space between the nose and mouth was co-

vered with numerous small open pores, probably the glands for

the secretion of the mucus that covered the whole surface of

the body. The mouth was furnished with three rows of teeth,

with the commencement of a fourth row imperfectly formed.

The outer or larger row was set upon an edge, but evidently

movable, as some of these were doubled backwards; the rest

were set behind these in lines, each tooth diminishing in size

to the last. The teeth were thin and sharp, about half an

inch broad, and a quarter of an inch high: the posterior edge

was formed into two longish points, the upper one pointing

partly upwards; the anterior side was formed into two much

smaller points, pointing in different directions. There was no

tongue, nor any appearance of one, the bottom of the mouth

being smooth and hard. Seven inches from the mouth com-

menced the brachial openings, which were five in number, all

placed in front of the pectoral fin ; the first was 3 inches long,

each increasing in size to the last, which was 6 inches. Im-

mediately behind the centre of these commenced the pectoral

fin, which was 11 inches in length, very thick and fleshy in

substance, particularly at the base, the posterior edge thin

and flexible ; but as in all the fins except the tail, there were no

perceptible fin rays or membrane, all being smooth and fleshy.

This fin opened perfectly horizontally, or at right angles to the

sides of the fish. Eighteen inches behind these commenced

the ventral fins, which were equally thick and fleshy, 14 inches

long and 11 inches broad, cut nearly square ; between the pos-

terior base of these fins was placed the vent. The space from

that to the lower end of the tail was only 17 inches; from this

point to the upper extremity of the tail was 23 inches, in one

unbroken line, there being no distinct lobes of the tail as in

most of the shark tribe. ‘The edge of the tail was composed

of indistinct fleshy rays covered with smooth membrane. A

little behind a perpendicular line above the anterior base of

the ventral fin was placed the first dorsal fin, which was 6

inches long, upon a base of the same length; 4 inches behind

Sound on the coast of Yorkshire. $17

this was placed a second fin, similar in all respects, except

_ perhaps being cut a little more square at the end. From the

front of the first of these fins to the end of the nose was a

space of about 5 feet, without any other fin or projection ex-

cept the small spines before mentioned. The colour of the

fish was when I saw it, a few hours after it was caught, a nearly

uniform reddish slate-colour, somewhat lighter on the lower

parts; but it was described by the fisherman who caught it as

having been more of a red cast, with blotches of a lighter co-

lour, before it died.

The peculiar characters of this fish consist in the smooth

slimy spinous skin (resembling in this respect some of the

Ray tribe), the thick fleshy fins with the five brachial open-

ings all placed in front of the pectoral fins, in having no cen-

tral dorsal fin, no temporal orifices, no anal fins. In these re-

spects it differs from any fish hitherto described as a British spe-

cies. Nor does it agree with any I have been able to discover

in any work I have yet had an opportunity of referring to.

| ARTHUR STRICKLAND.

Burlington Quay.

This species is the Echinorhinus obesus of Smith, who

says in reference to it, “ This shark is comparatively rare

at the Cape of Good Hope. It is described by the fisher-

men as sluggish and unwieldy in its movements, and but sel-

dom to be observed towards the surface of the water. When

they obtain specimens it is generally at a time when they are

fishing in deep water, and when the bait with which the hooks

are armed is nearto the bottom. In this respect it resembles

the Scyllus or Ground Shark. If we were to regard only its

internal organization we should be disposed to consider it as

closely allied to that genus.”—Jdlustrations of the Zoology of

South Africa, by Andrew Smith, M.D., Part I. Pisces, pl. 1.

After an attentive examination of the particulars on this

subject published in the Supplement to Mr. Yarrell’s History

of our British Fishes, Part I]. p. 54, I have no doubt that

all the specimens, and the various synonyms employed,

refer but to one and the same species at different periods of

its existence.—A. S.

318 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

Note.—Since the receipt of Mr. Arthur Strickland’s com-

munication, the second portion of a systematic arrangement

and description of sharks by Drs. Miiller and Henle, published

at Berlin, has been received in this country, a reference to

which appears to confirm the opinion given by our friend that

the various published accounts of a spiny shark refer but to

one species. The fcllowing are extracts from this valuable

German work, p. 91 :—

Second Family. Scymnr.

Second Genus. Echinorhinus, Blainv.—Goniodus, Agassiz.

Species 1. Echinorhinus spinosus, Bonap.

Le Bouclé, Brouss. p. 672. 21.

Sq. spinosus, Linn. Gm. 1500. 27.

Squale bouclé, Lacep.i.p.30.tab.3.f. 2. Cop. Encyc. p.11.n. 22.

Sq. spinosus, Bl. Schn. 136.

Squale bouclé, Risso. Ichth. 42.

Scymnus spinosus, Risso. Hist. 136. Cuv. 393.

Leich bouclé, Dict. des Sc. Nat. pl. 28. f. 2.

Echinorhinus spinosus, Bonap. 13.

Sq. (Echinorhinus) spinosus, Blainv. Faun. Frane. p. 66.

Goniodus, Agassiz, vol. ili. tab. E. f. 13. (Teeth).

Hab. Mediterranean sea and the ocean.

Examples stated to have been seen by the authors of the

work :—One in the Museum at Leyden; one from the Cape

by Dr. Smith.

The coloured figure of this shark sent us by Mr. Strick-

land, so closely resembles Dr. Smith’s figure, as to make a

second illustration unnecessary.—Epir.

XXXIX.—Hore Zoologice. By Sir W. Jarpine, Bart.

No. II. The History and Habits of Crotophaga continued

from page 171, by the Notes of Mr. Schomburgk on the

Manners of the Birds in Guiana.

In a lately published number of the Annals we commenced a

series of papers with the view of giving information as it oc-

curred, and in the hope of calling attention and eliciting addi-

tional facts relative to the subjects which were treated of. It

is highly satisfactory for us to think that our anticipations have

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 319

been so soon replied to. Mr. Schomburgk, in a recent visit,

communicated many interesting traits in the manners of the

birds of Guiana; and upon submitting to him the proof sheets

of the preceding paper, p. 160, which had been just received,

he kindly offered to write out for our “ Hore” the notes which

he had collected upon the habits of the Crotophage in the dif-

ferent localities where he had met with them. These notes in

general agree with those of our Tobago correspondent; and,

in the breeding of the birds particularly, confirm what was

stated regarding the incubation of C. rugirostra, identical with

the smaller Guiana species. They leave however the curious

question of some species at least (C. major) using a common

nest in a manner undecided; though we must confess that

information gathered in a proper way from natives has been

generally found to be correct in its most important parts. The

facts mentioned of their feeding, proved them as observed

to be nearly omnivorous; but ‘we still consider insects and

fruits to be their principal food. We should also be prepared

to find them occasionally eating carrion; but it may be a

question worthy of notice whether the birds observed by Mr.

Schomburgk on the dead sheep were employed in eating the

flesh, or in collecting insects or. larve which in a warm cli-

mate might be very soon attracted to, or engendered in animal

matter*. Their resemblance in manners to the Corvine is also

strikingly related; this may be one of-analogy only, both the

external form of the members and the internal structure ap-

pearing to lead to other groups; at the same time, as our facts

accumulate, it may be found that the Crotophage may be

more correctly placed among the “ Rasorial Crows,” the Glau-

copine of Sw. exhibiting in the form of the foot the scansorial

deviation.

‘| have perused with great pleasure your notes on the Hi-

story and Habits of Crotophaga; and as this genus, by the pe-

* Mr. Schomburgk informs us that “ without further proofs to warrant a be-

lief of their being carnivorous, he should rather think they were feeding on the

larvee. The distance was too great to determine whether they were tearing

at the carrion or merely regaling themselves on the insects. In either case

it would seem that they are not over nice in the selection of their food, and

that the smell of putrefaction is not repulsive to them.”’—Eb.

320 Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga.

culiar form of its beak, and its curious manners, is so well

qualified to attract the attention of the most careless observer,

it may be naturally supposed that it did not escape me.

“ You observe very justly, that at this time the specific di-

stinctions of this genus are not well understood ; and that only

with the possession of an extensive series from various local-

ities, the value of these distinctions will be ascertained. The

bird which you consider allied or identical with Mr. Swain-

son’s C. rugirostra appears to be the most common and the

most widely distributed species. I have now a specimen be-

fore me which so accurately agrees with your description of

that from Tobago, that there is not the slightest deviation in

the dimensions or markings. My specimen was shot in the

neighbourhood of Fort San Joaquim on Rio Branco, in lat.

3° 1! N. The same species inhabits also the Virgin Islands,

where they are known under the name of ‘ Black Witches?

“The account of your correspondent, Mr. Kirk, of their ha-

bits is graphic, and does not materially deviate from my own

observations; but he has forgotten to note that they prove

very destructive to pigeon-peas (Cytisus cajan), and their so-

journ in the negroes’ provision-field is by no means cherished

by them. Mr. Kirk alludes to the circumstance of having

found Guava seeds (Psidium pyriferum) in their stomach ; and

I have to add, that they are partial to this fruit. I recollect

that on riding one day from Cruxbay towards the eastern part

of the island of St. John’s, I saw in the vicinity of the estate

Biverhoutberg a flock of Crotophage on the carcase of a sheep,

on which they were feeding. I was astonished at the circum-

stance, but not so my companion, who told me he had noted

their carnivorous habits before. They resemble in that re-

gard the Corvide ; indeed there are several points from which

we might trace an affinity to that group. You have noted,

p- 170, the resemblance of the tongue of the Crotophaga to

that of the Corvine, and the intestinal canal which approaches

to that of some of the Fissirostres. But there are other resem-

blances in their characters and habits which are perhaps more

striking. They live in numerous bands, are omnivorous, build

their nest in the manner of the Corvide, are clamorous, bold, ad-

vance on the ground by hopping, and like our raven and mag-

Piso tn

7 aere

Sir W. Jardine on the Habits of Crotophaga. 321

pie, have at all times been objects of superstition to the com-

‘mon people.

“ Setting aside the peculiar shape of its beak, the Crotophaga

resembles the Corvide further in some points of its outer ap-

pearance. Its form and graceful motions when gliding through

between the branches of the trees and shrubs or when on the

wing remind us of the genera Pica and Garrulus ; at the base

of the bill we observe setaceous feathers, a character of the

Corvine ; the fourth quill is the longest, colour entirely black,

glossed with violet reflexions like the genus Corvus. The flesh

has a disagreeable odour ; nevertheless I have been informed

that this does not deter some of the negroes from eating them ;

and I have been more than once told, that they are used as

substitutes for pigeons or rooks in pies.

“ T aoree perfectly with Mr. Kirk that they do not build their

nest on the ground ; it is generally built in the fork of trees:

but although the construction of the nest resembles that of the

Corvide, it is built at a less height from the ground. I can-

not substantiate by ocular evidence that they breed in com-

munity, but I have heard it always asserted of the larger spe-

cies (C. major). The Indians have told me on inquiry, that

in the nest of the smaller species, which you call C. rugirostra,

they find only from five to seven eggs; but in those of the

larger they are so numerous that they fill a whole calabash.

The Indians, at least the Warraus and Arawaks, eat these

eges; and their evidence that they take such a large number

of eggs from the nests of C. major, confirms the belief that

they use a common nest. Sororeng, one of the Indians who

has accompanied me to London, and who served me as inter-

preter during the last expedition, assures me that he has seen

three birds of the larger species (C. major) which they call

Woworima, sitting in one nest; and on asking him how many

eggs he saw in the nest, he designated the number by pointing

to the number of his fingers and his toes.

“| have noted both species (C. major and Ani ruyirostra ?)

along the rivers of Guiana ; they are therefore not peculiar to

savannahs. When ascending the rivers Essequibo, Parima,

Rio Branco, Orinoco, &c. we observed them frequently along

the woody banks of these rivers : disturbed by the noise of our

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No, 25. Jan. 1840. 2A

322 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

canoes, they sounded their shrill notes, and followed in short

flights from shrub to shrub. The Indian is no friend to the

Crotophaga; he has an idea that this bird cannot bear the

human whistle, and flies as soon as it is sounded. Our Indian .

guides amused themselves therefore frequently in breaking out

on a sudden in a shrill whistle; and were highly delighted

when the startled birds took to their wings. I subjoin the

Indian names for the lesser Crotophaga (C. rugirostra). It

is called in the Lingua Geral which is spoken in the province

Para Ano Curauca, in the Arawak Cunuba, in the Macusi

Owowi, in the Wapeshana Houwi. C. major is called Wowo-

rima by the Macasis, and Cosac by the Warraus.”

[To be continued. ]

XL.—Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

Mr. Schomburgk’s recent Expedition in Guiana.

[ Continued from p. 266. ]

Ture are contradictory accounts among the Indians of a species

of a cat, which in size and spotting resembles the Cheta (Felis ju-

bata). Its ground colour is yellowish-fawn, and the spots are of a

uniform colour and full and complete. Such appeared the cat to me ~

which I saw watching me as related above*; and although I have

doubted the evidence of my eyes, the existence of such a species has

gained additional strength by the circumstance, that, on visiting the

British Museum with the three Indians who accompanied me from

Guiana to England, they took the Cheta to be a specimen of that

species which is indigenous to Guiana, and identical with the one

which annoyed us so much.

In the Supplement to Buffon’s ‘ Histoire Naturelle,’ tome iii.

planche 38 +, the figure of a cat is given which agrees with the one

which I saw at Curassawaka, and it would be remarkable if, after all

* See p. 265.

+ Nous donnons ici la figure d’un animal de l’espéce des léopards ou des

jaguars. Le dessin nous en a été envoyé par feu M. Colinson, mais sans

nom, et sans aucune autre notice. Et comme nous ignorons, s'il appartient

a l’ancien ou au nouveau continent, et qu’en méme temps, il différe de

l’once et du leopard, par la forme des taches et plus encore du jaguar et de

l’ocelot, nous ne pouvons décider auquel de ces animaux on doit le rap-

porter; seulement il nous paroit qu'il a un peu plus de rapport avec le ja-

guar, qu’avec le léopard.—J6id. p. 218.

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 323

traces of the animal which that figure represents appear to have been

lost, it should be found to be a native of Guiana.

I mention another species from the reports of the Indians, and

which the Arawaks call Waracabba Arowa or Trumpeter Tiger *.

They are equal in size to the former, and are said to go in small

packs of six or eight, following their prey as well by scent as by

sight. The Indians describe them as very ferocious, and say they

will attack man and all the larger quadrupeds which range through

the forest. They shun human habitations, and are only to be met

with in the thickest forest. They are called Waracabba Arowa from

having a bluish breast, resembling that of the gold-breasted trum-

peter (Psophia crepitans), otherwise they are described to be yellow

and spotted ; whether contiguous or ringed I could not ascertain.

The Abouya Arawa or Peccary Cat of the Arawaks is a powerful

animal for its size. It measures about 4 feet in length, and the tail

from 16 to 18 inches: its colour is a yellowish-brown, not near so

yellow as that of the jaguar (Felis onca). The lower parts are white,

and the forehead is marked by four or five bands, which run trans-

_ versely from the eyes towards the muzzle. The spots on the back

are formed in oblong stripes, running from the neck to the tail, and

each having a spot in the middle. The two lateral bands extend to

the fore limbs ; the rest of the body is covered with irregular blotches,

which in the vicinity of the neck and the breast assume the form of

small spots. Its tail is much shorter in proportion than any of the

other species ; its head is large, the neck thick, with great strength

in its fore quarters. It frequents the habitations of man, and com-

mits great destruction among sheep and hogs. In case of necessity

it does not despise poultry. I conceive this species to be the Felis

macrourus of Prince Maximilian of Neuwied.

The Labba Cat.—As I have not myself seen that species, I add

Mr. Vieth’s account. ‘‘ This species is about the size of a wild cat.

The spots are larger in proportion than on the other species, and are

ona light brown ground; indeed the blotches resemble those of the

jaguar, and are more frequent on the legs. They are very destructive

to poultry, and enter the fowl-houses without fear. I have stuffed

several of them; one, which was brought by one of my huntsmen,

was sticking all over full of the prickles of the porcupine, which ani-

mal I have no doubt it had been attacking.”

Labba is the Arawak name for the spotted cavia, on which they

prey as well as on other small animals. The subject which Mr.

* | repeat again that the name of Tiger is bestowed generally by the co-

lonists on these cats.

PAD

324 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

Vieth described to me appears identical with Wilson’s Felis Par-

dalis.

There is a variety of that species which the Indians call the Agurt

or Aguti-cat ; it is of the same colour as the foregoing, but the spots

are small, and very thickly spread over the whole body. They are

somewhat larger than a domestic cat, and are equally destructive

to the feathered stock as the former. They frequent the plantations,

as the sugar-cane fields afford them always a safe retreat. ‘They

have received their name from the Aguti (Dasyprocta Aguti). It

forms no doubt one of the varieties of Felis pardalis.

The following two spotted species are considerably smaller than

the foregoing, and are named by colonists ‘ tiger cats.’ The Rart-

TicER of the Arawak Indians is beautifully marked. The ground

colour of the skin is of a fawn colour, marked with black oblong

spots on the head and shoulder, and with circular patches, which

surround spots of a redder colour along the back and sides; the

thighs are surrounded with black bands, assuming a lighter tint in-

side : the tail is alternately ringed white and black. They are not so

large as the former species, and vary from 2 feet to 2 feet 4 inches,

of which the tail alone measures from 8 to 9inches. I think it may

be identified with Linnzeus’s Felts tigrina.

The second variety is less than a domestic cat, and has large spots

on a bright yellow ground; its fore paws are remarkably strong in

proportion to its size, and it frequents chiefly thick woods, where it

preys upon birds.

I shall now give a short description of the spotless cats which in-

habit Guiana, of which the first that engages our attention is the

black cat (Felis nigra?) or tiger as it is called par excellence by the

Brazilian of the Rio Negro. During our expedition in the interior

of Guiana, we were not so fortunate as to fall in with a specimen of

this cat; although we were told by the Indians that it existed in

British Guiana, and frequently committed great ravages among the

herds of wild cattle in the savannahs of the rivers Takutu and Branco,

and was not unfrequent on the Upper Orinoco and the Rio Negro.

Its geographical distribution extends therefore from the coast regions

of Guiana beyond the equator. Mr. Vieth had been told by the

Waccawais, that they had killed specimens from time to time above

the great cataract of the Demerara river ; and there can be no doubt

of it, as those tribes who inhabit Guiana possess names for it. They

are called Marpuri-ticer, either from their colour, which resembles

that animal (Tapir americanus) and perhaps, and more likely, from their

preying on the Tapir, as it is a common custom among the Arawaks,

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 325

if we except one or two instances, to name those cats generally

after the game on which they prey. I have seen a fine skin of that

species, the back of which was of a shining black, lightening to a

mouse colour on the belly; the paws were black, and its claws

larger than those of the jaguar; the whiskers strong ; and a tawny-

coloured spot above each eye must give to that organ a peculiar ap-

pearance when the creature is alive. The tail is longer in propor-

tion to the size of the animal, if compared with that of the jaguar ;

and in its head and form it resembles much more the Wawula (felis

concolor), than the Arichibana (Felis onca). It is said to be more

ferocious than the latter, and attacks man more frequently. The

skin measured from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail

3 feet 7 inches, the tail 164 inches, or the whole skin almost 5 feet ;

but if the accounts of the Brazilians on the Rio Negro are to be be-

lieved, it surpasses in size the largest jaguar. I could not judge

whether it was a young or a full-grown animal. The Indians told

us, that they subsist upon the Tapir, the Capybara (Hydrocherus capy-

bara), the Peccary (Dicotyles subniger), the different species of deer

which frequent the forest and savannahs, which they surprise by

stealth. The Indians appear to have a great dread of them.

The Indian distinguishes two species of the Puma, the Wawvra

or Deer Tiger and the Soasoaranna. The latter appears to be more

restricted to the open savannahs of the Orinoco, the former frequents

as well the coast regions as the savannahs. I have recognised in the

two specimens which the Museum of the Zoological Society pos-

sesses, the Puma of the Orinoco; and although they are generally

not known in British Guiana, I have seen a skin of one which had

been killed above 40 miles up the Demerara river. The head seemed

to be small in proportion to its size, the body was long, and the

fore feet very stout ; its tail, as far as I can remember, more than

half the length of the body, and ending in a tuft of black hair.

I am enabled to give a more detailed account of the second spe-

cies, the Wawvuta Arowa of the Arawaks, or Deer Tiger of the

colonists. In colour they are of a reddish-brown which lightens

on the outside of the limbs, and assumes a white colour on the belly.

Of a similar colour is the breast, and the reddish-brown which is

the prevailing colour of the body is of a lighter tint at the muzzle

and chin. It is covered with thick fur, which relates likewise to the

tail, which, as in the Puma of the Orinoco, is black on the tips. The

eyes are of a brown colour. ‘The head is small; higher in propor-

tion than any of the spotted kinds, strongly built before and light

behind. Its proportion will become apparent from the following

326 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

measurement of a subject which was killed at the savannahs of the

Rio Branco, and which is now in my possession. It stood behind

2 feet, and before 1 foot 10 inches; and its whole length from the

nose to the tip of the tail was 6 feet 2 inches.

ft. in.

Length from back of skull bone to insertion of tail ...... + Be &

Lenpth of tail ss .6 p65 chs 2 pee sie 9k oo ee 2 4

Length from point of shoulder to malleolus of fore foot .. 1 5

Girth of, fore leg below point of shoulder .............. 0 84

Girth of fore leg immediately below the knee .......... - 0 5%

Length of the knee joint to malleolus..............-..-. 0 10.

Length of the sole of the hind foot,...............44.- 0 4

Breadth of ditto: 2 ois cb cece aden see deen ss Se

Girth’ of the middle of the belly... 2.0... <</¢ ss «sists: 99 ae

Girth of the body near the shoulder .................4. 1 10

Length from tip of snout to posterior extremity of the skull O 9

Space between the base of the ears....,.........-246 . OD 4

Length of the ears... 55). saeins us whe ots ou 0 33

Space from eye-to nostril. . i... hess baal eae em O 24

Hind leg from hip joint to sole of foot ................ | ee:

Hind lew from knee joint to ditto .. 0). 1.46 vices dem ee 0 5

Length of fore claws .

itil as ok Wind cine \ middle-clawW soy. <3.2 sce sass ee

It is very destructive to the cattle farms, and it is so powerful an

animal, that I have been told by an eye witness, that it killed a

mule and dragged it across a trench to the opposite side, although

the trench was not quite full of water, and the Puma had to drag it

a few feet up hill, after it landed with its prey on the other side. My

informant, who had watched its proceedings, had meanwhile sent

for his gun, and shot him while attempting to pull the mule into the

wood. ‘They seem to be particularly partial to dogs, and a great

number of those which are kept by the settlers for the purpose of

hunting, are killed and eaten by them. They follow in the woods

the herds of Peccaries, and watch their motion in order to seize upon

the stragglers, being well aware that if they attacked the flock, they

would be overpowered and torn to pieces. They hunt as well by

day as in the night, and feed also on deer and the smaller domestic

animals. They give birth to two young ones, seldom three, which

have spots of a darker hue, more or less visible, according as the

lights fall upon them, and which I have been told they lose after

the first year.

Cuvier doubts that the cats just described form two different spe-

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 327

cies. I do not venture to combat his opinion, as I saw only a skin

of the Puma of the Orinoco, which was similar to the specimens at

the Museum of the Zoological Society, and agrees with Mr. Bennett’s

description, while the second, and of which I possess a specimen,

resembles Wilson’s figure of the Felis concolor.

The Wiuurs1ssir1 Arowa is likewise un unspotted cat, and is

exceedingly rare in Guiana. It is ofa light gray colour, approaching

to white on the belly; its snout is of a reddish-brown and has a

white spot on the breast; its tail is of the same thickness through-

out, and it does not possess the black tip of the Puma. It is about

2 feet 6 inches long, and stands high in proportion to its size, .

strongly built before with stout neck and small head. Mr. Vieth

gave me the following note on this cat: ‘‘I have had two of these

animals ; one was killed by a negro at Mr. Patterson’s at the Deme-

rara river, while in the act of killing a turkey, the other in the same

neighbourhood while swimming across a river. I had them both at

the same time, and showed them to Mr. Brandes, famed as a great

huntsman, and who has killed of almost every species of animal in

- our colony, but who appeared to be unacquainted with that species

of cat. However the Waccawai Indians who inhabit the upper De-

merara river, and some of whom I had in my employ, did not seem

to think it a rarity, and told me they had seen and killed them from

time to time.”’ It has received its Arawak name Willibissiri Arowa,

from the smallest species of deer which Guiana possesses, which this

cat resembles in colour and on which it preys. I conceive it to be

the Felis jaguarondi, or rather that variety which Dr. Traill describes

as Felis unicolor.

The Hacca Arowa is the last species of cat that I have met with

or heard of during my expeditions in Guiana. It resembles the pre-

ceding in size and form, but differs in colour; the adults being of a

deep shining black, the belly dark mouse, with a tawny-coloured

spot over each eye: the tail is without rings. Although not very

common in Guiana, they are by no means rare, and the Indians use

the skins for manufacturing caps, shot pouches, &c. They prey

upon small animals, as Pacas, Agutis, and are also destructive to the

feathered game. It appears to agree with Temminck’s variety of

the Felis jaguarondi, which he saw in the Paris Museum.

From the above description it will be observed, that eight spotted,

and five spotless cats are named, all of which the Indian distinguishes

by different names; but while the naturalist would hesitate to adopt

his distinctions as specific, and considers the greater number mere

varieties, we must confess that we know but little how far their

328 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

structure diverges, and might warrant us to adopt them, in addition

to the difference in spotting and colouring, as specific characters. I

have had but little opportunity to extend my investigations to any-

thing further than to the observations which a skin, sometimes muti-

lated, afforded ; but it is evident that Guiana possesses two very di-

stinct forms, of which the J aguar (Felis onca) and the Puma (Felis

concolor) offer the typical forms. The jaguar is the strongest, and most

powerful of the Feline, and to what astonishing size it reaches, may

be concluded from the circumstance, that Mr. Vieth found during

our last expedition, on a savannah on the banks of the river Padauiri,

a tributary to the Rio Negro, a skeleton of a tiger which measured

nine feet. It had been much mutilated by the vultures, but Mr.

Vieth carried the skull, which was perfect, and which is now among

my collections. The spotted kinds all bear a striking resemblance

to each other: their heads are broad, the fore quarters remarkably

strong and full of muscles ; the chest broad, and their tails shorter

in proportion than those of the spotless cats. Not less remarkable

is the likeness of the unspotted species; their heads are small, the

neck nearly the same thickness, the fore legs very strong and power-

ful, the hind legs taller in proportion, and the tail long, furry, and

brush-like. These two forms are evident to every common ob-

server, but it will want more knowledge of their anatomical struc-

ture to form the subordinate sections. In their habits they are all —

voracious, and prey upon animals much larger than themselves.

They hunt chiefly by night, but when pressed by hunger destroy and

carry away their prey in the open day. The larger species of the

spotted kind are all excellent swimmers, and cross over rivers, or visit

the islands where the Capybaras are generally found, and which

seldom escape the fatal bound. Although there are several in-

stances, yet comparatively speaking they seldom attack man; but

they do not seem to fear him, as they enter the huts of Indians, and

carry away their dogs, while they leave their owners undisturbed

in their hammocks. Their claws are the chief instruments of attack

and defence, and they are for that purpose strongly hooked, and

capable of being retracted whilst not in use. Their canine teeth are

strong, two in each jaw, cutting teeth small, and grinders shaped.

like an arrow-head.

Bibliographical Notices. 329

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Histoire Naturelle des Poissons d’eau douce de l'Europe Centrale.

Par L’. Agassiz. 1° Livraison, contenant les Salmones. Oblong

folio. Neuchatel, 1839.

Natural History and Illustrations of the British Salmonide. By Sir

William Jardine, Bart. Part First. Elephant Folio. Edinburgh,

1839.

On the Growth of the Salmon in Freshwater. By William Yarrell,

F.L.S., V.P.Z.S., with Six coloured Illustrations of the Fish of

the Natural Size. Oblong Folio. Van Voorst. London, 1839.

The titles of the works which we have placed at the head of this

notice will show that the interest which the Natural History of the

Salmonide has of late excited, has in no way decreased either in this

country or on the Continent, and we sincerely trust that the indivi-

duals who are now devoting their talents to the elucidation of the

habits and structure of this family of fishes, of much importance

commercially and possessing great scientific interest, may be enabled

to carry on their investigations until the complete history of the

subject is attained.

At the commencement of the present century, the history of the

British fishes composing this family had for a considerable period

remained stationary. But then, various experiments began to be

tried, with the view of ascertaining the time required by the fry or

smelts to attain a certain weight after leaving the rivers, which was

very satisfactorily established, showing a remarkably rapid increase

in weight and size. This fact, previously surmised, had given rise to

the conclusion, that the young on hatching from the ova increased

with equal rapidity, while the history of a little fish provincially

known in Scotland as the Parr, created much discussion, and no little

difference of opinion, whether it was a young state of the Salmon

or a full-grown and perfect fish. The immense decrease of the Salmon

fisheries also called for investigation ; and although the habits of the

species which composed the chief staple of the fisheries were prac-

tically known to the Taxmen, the proprietors or their factors were

not sufficiently conversant with their growth, migration, or breeding,

either to impose salutary restrictions in the leases, or to check the in-

discriminate and over-killing of the fish, which was almost the sole

cause of the decrease ; the latter caused the appointment of various

Parliamentary Committees, which published reports containing an

330 Bibliographical Notices.

immense but undigested mass of information, and which might have

elicited much more had the members of them given some attention

to the obscure points in the history of the family before examining

the witnesses. The difficulty of investigating the subject is we ac-

knowledge great, and when we know that it has been undergoing

strict research by persons well qualified for the task for several years

without complete information being obtained, we feel even more

anxious to understand the mystery which involves the * lives and

loves’’ of these very valuable inhabitants of our rivers and oceans.

Mr. Yarrell, Sir W. Jardine, Dr. Parnell, and Mr. Shaw of Drum-

lanrig are all either now, or have been very lately working on this

subject, and the fruits of their researches will eventually leave little

to be accomplished. Sir Francis Mackenzie of Garloch is about to

form extensive stews for the breeding of salmon, and to re-perform

some of Mr. Shaw’s experiments. The experiments of the latter ob-

server detailed to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and published in

Professor Jameson’s Journal, are of the greatest importance; they

have been conducted with great care, and so far as they have been

prosecuted have been accompanied by results as satisfactory perhaps

as we could expect from the whole difficulty of the subject. The sum

of our knowledge at the present time, so far as regards the common

Salmon, is, that we have hitherto been in error in considering its

growth to be rapid during the first stages of its existence, and that it

does not migrate until at least one year’s residence in the fresh waters.

On reaching the sea however the increase in size becomes very great,

exceeding one pound in weight monthly. It has been further proved

incontestably we think by Mr. Shaw, that the great proportion of

the small fish called Parrs, or in the English rivers Pinks*, are the

first state of the young Salmon previous to its assuming the migratory

dress; but the additional proposition that the Parr does not exist

at all as a distinct fish, is extremely questionable, and still requires

investigation. At present the opinions of all our best ichthyologists

are in favour of its distinctness, andthe minute and careful differences

detailed by Dr. Parnell in his “Fishes of the Frith of Forth,” go

very far to prove everything that is wanting. The history of the other

migratory fish remains nearly in the same state in which it has been

for the last thirty years, though the works before us have commenced

their elucidation, and some experiments are now in progress. ‘The

geographical distribution of the species has not been at all at-

* See Mr. Yarrell’s figures in the work we have placed at the head of this

notice.

Bibliographical Notices. 331

tempted, and the facts which relate or bear upon it are few in num-

ber.

The publication of the History of the Freshwater Fishes of Central

Europe by M. Agassiz has been looked forward to with interest by

British ichthyologists. Some of the plates for it were engraved so

far back as 1832, and the long time which it has been known to be in

preparation, with the high scientific character of its author, raised

the expectations of those who were studying the same subjecf€. The

first livraison of plates has now reached this country, accompanied

only with simple explanations, so that we do not yet receive the

views of M. Agassiz upon many of the obscure points, but can only

guess at what may be his probable conclusions. The mode of publi-

cation is however otherwise excellent, each livraison being intended

to contain complete illustrations of a family or group, so that the

whole is brought under review at once, and is not scattered about as

so commonly occurs in works which appear in numbers. The de-

scriptive letter-press to this part is promised with the plates of the

second, which are to illustrate the Coregoni.

The plates are lithographic, are minutely executed, and those de-

voted to the details of the fins, scaling, and magnified figures are

very useful. A plate of details is given with each species. The

others represent the fish in its various states incident to age and

season. ‘The first series show the Salmon, M. and F., in its breed-

ing dress, and a female in the state of summer or high condition

after having newly entered ariver. These figures lead us to believe,

what we have long suspected, that the Salmon of many of the

continental rivers differed or was not: identical with the common

British fish. They are reduced from specimens upwards of three feet

in length ; at this age and size the tail in both sexes of the latter

would be completely square, and the scale represented fig. 3. tab. la.

is fully two-thirds less. The markings in tab. 2. also differ much. Six

plates are devoted to the illustration of S. fario. Some of the figures

are of importance as showing what is to be understood by the S. mar-

moratus, Cuv., and the S. sylvaticus of Shrank: but with the En-

glish synonyms we cannot agree, they are given, ‘“‘the rout, the

common Trout, the river Trout, the Gillaroo, the Parr (a young

Trout).”” Now the Gillaroo of Ireland still requires investigation,

and we have reason to believe that it will form a distinct species.

The Parr of Scotland has no connexion with S. fario*, and the

* For distinctive characters between the Scotch Parr and common S. fario

see Sir W. Jardine in Proceedings of Berwickshire Club. For characters

separating it from the young of the Salmon and migratory Trout, see Mr.

Yarrell’s British Fishes; and Dr. Parnell, Fishes of the Frith of Forth.

332 Bibliographical Notices.

figure given as the supposed “‘ Parr or young Trout” has been un-

doubtedly designed from a young specimen of true S. fario. We may

also remark that all the examples figured are from specimens agree-

ing with a very marked but not. uncommon variety of the Scottish

S. fario found in the smaller alpine streams. On tab. III 8. are

given representations of the head of a deformed Trout, similar to

that represented by Mr. Yarrell, and which we know to occur in se-

veral lochs in Wales and in Scotland, and to be not uncommon in the

localities where it is found. The malformation is extremely uni-

form or similar in all the specimens or representations of it which

we have seen, but the cause has not yet been noticed, nor has it been

attempted to be accounted for. Is the race continued by breeding?

Seven plates illustrate two species of migratory Trout which are

given under the names of S. trutta and lacustris, Linn.*. In these

we think we recognise the two British fishes which have been con-

founded under the provincial name of “Sea Trout.’”” They are very

distinct in some of their states, and the form of the tail distinguishes

them, together with the colours during the breeding season, but we

should have preferred to have seen figures of these species when in

high condition; residence in a lake may in various ways influence

the form. The young of these fish constitutes the S. albus of Fleming.

Should the S. trutta of this work not stand as S. eriow of Willughb. ?

The Char are all placed under S. umbla, Linn., and the ‘‘ Welsh

Char” is given as an English synonym. Although we know the Char

to vary very considerably, we are inclined to refer the British fish to

two species, chiefly distinguished by the great difference in the scaling.

Those figured by M. Agassiz seem all referable to the ‘‘ Northern

Char” of modern British writers.

S. hucho of the Danube, unknown in the British waters, is repre-

sented in the young and adult states, and the last plates delineate the

Thymallus vevillifer, Agass., or Common Grayling, found only by

the British ichthyologist in certain districts in England.

In looking at the list of the Salmon of Britain and Central Europe

comparatively, we are prepared for a close resemblance of species ;

but from the work before us we perceive one species, S. hucho of

the Danube, which does not occur in Britain or Ireland, while we

find omitted the Bull Trout of the river Tweed, (the S. eriox of some

authors, but not of Willughby,) and the great Trout of the Scotch,

Irish, and North of England lakes. These we have no doubt in being

distinct species, and it appears to us remarkable that the latter should

* We are presuming that the S. Jacustris here given is a migratory

species, and if so we think the name objectionable.

Bibliographical Notices. 333

be wanting to the Swiss lakes. Among the common Trout, S. fario,

we feel inclined to adopt more species than those of the Swiss ich-

thyologist, but as the specimens now figured are chiefly river varie-

ties, and certainly all one species, we are not so able to judge how

the varieties in the lakes of Central Europe agree with those from

the lochs of Scotland and Ireland, or how the characters which we

think entitle them to separation are kept up in other localities. We

shall look anxiously for the appearance of the Second Livraison and

the letter-press, when we shall endeavour to enter more fully upon

this curious subject; in the mean time we would wish that encou-

ragement to the work in this country which is due to the persever-

ing zeal of its author.

The History of the British Salmonide, by Sir W. Jardine, which

stands next upon our list, is a work which has also been some time

in preparation, and of which the first Fasciculus of six plates is now

published*. The figures are here drawn as near the size of life as

that of the paper will admit of, and are engraved with the view of

giving the effect of the newly taken fish ; all the details of anatomy,

scaling, and outward structure, which require most minute execu-

tion, being reserved for the volume which will contain the descrip-

tive letter-press, and which will appear with the last fasciculus of the

plates. The sketches for the colouring we know to have been nearly

all made at the water’s edge from the fish when newly caught; thus

endeavouring to preserve an imitation of the rich tints which so

quickly fade, and are lost in preserved specimens; and the depart-

ment itself has been entrusted to, and performed with much credit

by Mr. Bayfield of London. It is expected that the whole species

found in the waters of Britain and Ireland will be illustrated in six

fasciculi, or upon from thirty-six to forty plates.

On the two first plates before us are figured the Gilse or state of

S. salar before having spawned, the second being named with a? and

considered to represent the same state of the second species of Bri-

tish Salmon, whose history has scarcely yet been noticed by our

ichthyologists. Plate 3. represents S. albus of Fleming, given under

that name to identify without doubt the fish alluded to in the “ Bri-

tish Animals,” and so often referred to by our modern writers. This

is now known to be the young of our migratory species confused

together, and in this state extremely difficult to separate. 4. isa

variety of the large S. feror, which we noticed M. Agassiz does not

include in his list of the fishes of Central Europe; the specimen is

* See Prospectus published in Annals of Nat. History, vol. ii. p. 138,

334 Bibliographical Notices.

remarkable for the close and numerous spottings over the whole

body: 5. are-two beautiful lacustrine varieties of S. fario, and 6.

exhibits figures of the Lochmaben Coregonus, C. Willughbeii, Jard.

The second fasciculus, which is in preparation, will contain, 1. S.sa-

lar, adult male in the dress of the spawning season; 2. S. salar in

avery young state; 3. 8S. trutta, adult; 4. S. trutta in the dress

of spawning season; 5. S. fario river varieties ; and 6. S. fario in

the spawning dress.

The work of Mr. Yarrell forms another interesting addition to our

knowledge of the Natural History of the Salmon. The young of the

Salmon (in the district where the experiments were made called

Pinks) were put into an artificial lake on the property of Thomas

Upton, Esq. of Ingmire Hall, having no outlet or feeder by which

other fish could gain admittance. These were afterwards taken at

intervals of from eleven to twenty-seven months, and Mr. Yarrell’s

description and plates detail and exhibit the changes and appearance

of the fish when taken from the lake. The experiments of Mr. Up-

ton and Mr. Parker corroborate in general what Mr. Shaw has so

successfully proved in Scotland, and are interesting as showing

the change in colouring undergone by the Pinks at the period when

the clear and silvery scaling is assumed ; but beyond the time when

the migratory change takes place we cannot depend upon the in-

crease of weight or size. Any one accustomed to see many Salmon

in different states fresh from their native rivers, and to compare them

with fish kept artificially, could at once say that Nos. 4, 5, and 6 had

been kept in fresh water ; this is particularly evident in the form of

Nos. 4 and 5, and we would account for the comparatively fine con-

dition of No. 6 by the lake being newly completed, and unstocked

(we presume) with other fish. It is well known how much common

Trout are influenced in their condition by being placed in a newly

formed pond or lake. The drawings by Mr. C. Curtis illustrating

Mr. Yarrell’s paper were exhibited to the British Association at

Newcastle, and were then much admired. The coloured engravings

from these now published, are executed with great minuteness and

delicacy.

Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa during the years

1836 and 1837, from the Cape of Good Hope through the Terri-

tories of the Chief Moselekatse to the tropic of Capricorn. By

Captain W. C. Harris. 8vo. Bombay, 1838. Murray, London.

(Reprinted) 1839.

This volume may perhaps be thought by some scarcely to come

Bibliographical Notices. 335

under the range of works which should be noticed in the ‘ Annals,’

_ but as the author tells us that ‘‘ both from education and taste,’’ he

“ possessed an ardent desire to contribute his mite to the geography

and natural history of the countries” he ‘‘ was about to explore ;”’ and

that there are interspersed through the work anecdotes of several

rare animals, which though not written for the naturalist are ex-

tremely interesting to him ; we have thought it worth while to bring

it under the notice of our readers. Capt. Harris seems to have been

born a sportsman, possessing the bump of destructiveness in its fullest

development. Ata very early age (16) he received a commission in

_ the army in India, where he was “entered” at the Lion and Tiger

of the East: but not satisfied with the gorgeous scenery and abun-

dant game which this continent produced ; hankering after the tales

of travellers in the plains of Southern Africa, and considering that

country as the “fairy land of sport,” the ‘‘hunter’s paradise,” he

took advantage of a banishment to the Cape of Good Hope by the

Medical Board, to project a realization of his young dreams of the

interior; and, having found a brother sportsman, they set out upon

their expedition with a retinue of horses, oxen, wagons, and Hot-

tentots for Graham’s Town, travel by Kuruman or New Litakoo

to the residence of Moselekatse the Matabili chief, penetrate still

northward to the river Limpopo, and return again to the colony

by the route of the Vaal river. The volume is pleasantly written, and

carries on both the sportsman and naturalist. Some of the descrip-

tions of scenery are beautifully sketched ; and if some of the hunting

scenes seem as if coloured with a sportsman’s licence, and the rifle is

used with Kentucky precision, we can excuse the enthusiasm which

prompted the tale, and knowing the feelings which excite the com-

paratively puny European sportsman, who has hooked and mas-

tered his first twenty-five or thirty pound Salmon, or sees his first

red Deer fall in the glens of Athol or the wild forests of Ross, we

can join with the ‘‘ tingling excitement” experienced when gallop-

ing side by side with the ‘‘ Swan-necked Giraffe,” and the “ burst-

ing exultation’’ when looking down on the first noble prize he had

won.

To the naturalist the volume is interesting as detailing different

traits in the habits of several of the rarer Antelopes. It confirms

the remarkable manner in which many of the species are restricted,

as it were almost by a line, within certain boundaries, and the

incredible troops in which they migrate and are spread over the in-

terior, where the arrows and pitfalls or traps of the natives, and

the ravages of the larger Feline are as nothing compared with the

336 Bibliographical Notices.

increase. All these animals are said by Capt. Harris to be easily

overtaken by a good and well-conditioned horse, their very speed

being their destruction, frantic terror at such novel enemies causing

them to spend their strength in the exertions of a few miles. The.

speed of the Camelopard is extraordinary, but ‘“ our best horses

were able to close with him in about two miles.” }

The great fault of Capt. Harris’s book is a constant attempt to

assume a scientific character, which every page contradicts. ‘There

is no precise information on the subject either of zoology or geogra-

phy, the two branches which the author particularly boasts of his

desire to investigate ; he does not appear to have made a single ob-

servation to ascertain either the latitude, longitude, or elevation of

the places he visited, nor to have carried any instruments for that

purpose ; and this is the more to be regretted, as he visited a part of

the country very seldom penetrated by Europeans. The positions

on his map are consequently laid down at least 20° wrong in lati-

tude, and their longitude of course must have been taken at random.

Though not a practised zoologist, Capt. Harris’s hints on habits and

localities are often valuable, and they are given but as incidental

to the great thread of his discourse, which is a lively narrative of a

shooting excursion and nothing more; but this very character de-

prives them of suspicion. To the end of the volume is added a de-

scriptive Catalogue of the Mammalia of Southern Africa, but which

contains little that was not previously known: it is in fact chiefly

copied (though without acknowledgement) from Dr. Andrew Smith’s

*«« African Zoology,” a small work printed at Cape Town about eight

or ten years since, and we believe never published, though freely cir-

culated among the friends of the amiable and talented author.

We have thus attempted to give a fair and impartial account of

Capt. Harris’s volume. It is written in the lively dashing spirit of

a soldier and a sportsman: no one can read it without amusement,

and few without some instruction ; and if truth has obliged us to

mingle some slight censure with our general praise of the perform-

ance, it is because the pretensions which the author makes to sci-

entific knowledge create expectations which are disappointed in the

perusal.

Deutschlands Lebermoose in getrockneten Exemplaren. Herausgege-

ben von Dr. J. W. P. Hubener und C. F. E. Genth. 8vo. Mainz.

Florian Kupferberg, 1836—1839. Nos. 1 to 5.

To such of our readers as are students or collectors of Crypto-

gamic plants, and we hope and believe that this class of botanists has

Bibliographical Notices. 33

greatly increased of late in this country, we strongly recommend

this collection of specimens of the Hepatice of Germany. Each

number contains 25 specimens, with the names and localities, but

unaccompanied with descriptions. As might be expected, the great

majority of the plants given belong to the genus Jungermannia, but

specimens referred to the genera Riccia, Marchantia, Anthoceros,

and others recently separated from these are also given, so that the

collection may ultimately include, as far as possible, all the species

of Hepatice found in Germany. The specimens are good, and very

well preserved.

A. Bertolonii Flora Italica, sistens Plantas in Italia et in Insulis cir-

cumstantibus sponte nascentes. Bononiz, 1833-39. 8vo.

We have recently received the first Fasciculus of the 4th volume

of the above work, which we must crave the pardon of our botanical

readers for not having sooner introduced to their notice. It is quite

unnecessary for us to say anything in praise of the high botanical

attainments of Prof. Bertoloni, since they are universally allowed to

have raised him into the first rank of modern botanists; a character

fully supported by the work before us. It is the author’s intention

to describe all the plants indigenous to Italy and the adjacent islands,

and this he has now done (in the first three volumes), as far as the

end of Pentandria, in a more complete manner, with fuller descrip-

tions, more numerous synonyms, and with a greater number of cri-

tical and explanatory observations than we have met with in any

other Flora. In the part commencing the fourth volume, which is

now more particularly under our notice, the class Hexandria is com-

menced ; and in order to convey some idea of the extent of the Flora,

and the space devoted to the several species, we append a list of the

genera described in this fasciculus of 128 octavo pages, and mark

by the numbers following each name, the number of species included

in each genus :—Galanthus 2, Leucojum 5, Narcissus 12, Pancra-

tium 2, Sternbergia 2, Allium 31, Lilium 5, Fritillaria 83, Erythro-

nium 1, Tulipa 8, Ornithogalum 12, Scilla 12, Asphodelus 5, Anthe-

ricum 4. In Sir J. E. Smith’s ‘English Flora’ the corresponding

genera occupy only 22 pages and include 24 species; in Bertoloni’s

work they occupy 128 pages, and include 114 species.

We cannot too highly recommend this work to the notice of Bri-

tish botanists, more especially from its including (as far as at pre-

sent published) nearly all the native plants of our own country, and

placing them in juxtaposition with the numerous allied species

which are found in the south of Europe.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 25. Jan. 1840. 2B

338 Bibliographical Notices.

Verzeichniss der in Jahre 1832 im dstlichen Theile der Altai-gebirges

gesammelien Pflanzen. Ein Supplement zur Flora Altaica, von Al.

v. Bunge. 8vo. St. Petersburg, 1836.

This Supplement to the Flora Altaica is quite essential to all those

who possess that excellent work. It is extracted from the Mémoires

de l’Académie de St. Pétersbourg, and contains a catalogue, with nu-

merous descriptions and observations, of the plants collected by M.

Bunge in the eastern part of the Altai Mountains in 1832, and not-

withstanding its German title, is wholly written in Latin. Many new

plants are described, and fuller accounts given of species incom-

pletely noticed in the Flora Altaica.

Fungorum et Byssorum LIllustrationes, §c. By F. Fulg. Chevallier.

Fasc. I. With 52 coloured Plates. Lipsiz, Strasburgi et Parisiis,

1837.

This work contains many beautifully drawn and well-executed

plates, especially of the larger Fungi. The illustrations of the more

minute species we think far less happy, and they are extremely poor

in anatomical details. We find, too, more than one well-known spe-

cies published as new.

Pterodinia nivea is clearly Isaria intricata, var. subsimplex, Schum.

Fusisporium palustre has long since been published by Desmaziére,

under the name of Psilonia Arundinis, and it is described in the third

volume of Fries.

Psilonia Buxi, already placed by Fries in the genus Fusisporium, has

a new specific name given to it.

If we mistake not, A’thalium melanum is a state of Licea cylindrica,

figured by Nees under the name of Dermodium fallaz.

A few other points of less importance might be noticed.

With these exceptions the work may be pronounced as a beautiful

contribution to the stock of Mycological illustrations, though it does

not make any important addition to our knowledge of Fungi.

Linnea. Vol. XIII. Part 3. 1839.

On the development of the spores in Anthoceros levis; by Prof.

Mohl. With a Plate.-—Appendix to observations on the hairs in the

air-tubes of Limnanthemum and Villarsia ; by Dr. S. F. Hoffmann.—

Observations on American Bauhinie; by Dr. Vogel.—Synopsis of

Scandinavian Drabe; by Al. Ed. Lindblom.—Notice of the con-

tinuation of Bartling and Hampe’s Vegetabilia Cellularia by Hampe

alone.

PRE: SEs

£:

Linnean Society. 338

British Coleoptera delineated, consisting of Figures of all the Genera

_ of British Beetles drawn in outline. By W. Spry, M.E.S., edited

by W. E. Shuckard, Lib. R.S. Nos. 1—6. To be continued

Monthly, each Number eile: Six Plates and Illustrating

nearly fifty Genera.

This work, of which six numbers have regularly appeared, is adapted

to serve as an illustration to the different works on the subject pub-

lished without plates. The figures of the insects are faithfully and

correctly drawn, considering at the same time the low price at which

they are published, scarcely three farthings a genus. ‘They are not

Indeed to be compared to the artistical plates of Curtis; but they are

accurate enough to serve the purposes for which they are intended,

and are executed in a style of lithography which we have not before

seen employed in this country though much used on the continent

for natural history publications, and are well adapted for the pur-

pose of illustration.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

LINNEAN SOCIETY.

December 3.—Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The Rey. W. 8S. Hore exhibited a specimen of a remarkable va-

riety of Duck, supposed to be hybrid between the Anas Boschas

and Anas acuta of Linnzus.

Read, ‘‘ Descriptions of three Vegetable Monstrosities lately found

at York.” By the Rev. W. Hincks, M.A., F.L.S.

Two of these monstrosities occur in species of Iris, and much re-

semble each other. ‘The species are I. versicolor and J. sambucina.

They have 5 parts in each circle, except that the inner circle of pe-

tals consists of 4 in one instance and only 3 in the other. It is suf-

ficiently manifest that they are produced by the union of two flowers

to form each, and they lead to the conclusion that when Irises with

4 parts in each circle occur (which are not very uncommon) they are

unions of two flowers, one-third part of each having perished in the

junction. Various other monstrosities consisting in the union of

two flowers were compared with the subjects of the description, par-

ticularly some of Génothera, flowers having 7 petals, 14 stamens,

and 7 stigmas, where the parts preserved in the union are in exactly

the same proportion as in the Irises.

The third specimen described as a monstrous union of 4 flowers

2B2

340 Linnean Society.

in Scrophularia nodosa. The flower-stalk may be perceived to be

formed by the adherence of several stalks. ‘The parts found are 15

sepals, 16 petals, 20 stamens, 2 separate ovaria, each with 2 carpels,

and a third ovarium formed by the adherence of 2 more, and con-

sisting of 8 carpels. Explanations were attempted of the manner in

which the union of 4 flowers would account for these numbers of

parts. The increased developement of the circle of stamens, 5 ap-

pearing for each flower, though of these several are united in threes

together, and two are imperfect, and the increased number of carpels ~

in two of the united flowers, are interesting facts. They show that

the union of the flowers had the effect of diminishing and rendering

more equable the pressure on the interior circles so as to allow of

the growth of parts which are usually abortive.

There was also read, ‘“‘ A monograph of Sireptopus, with the de-

scription of a new genus now first separated from it.” By D. Don,

Esq., Libr. L.S., Prof. Bot. King’s College.

The genus Streptopus was established by the elder Richard in

Michaux’s ‘ Flora Boreali-Americana,’ and was intended to include,

besides the Uvularia amplexifolia of Linneus, which is to be regarded

as the type, two other species, then entirely new to botanists, namely,

S. roseus and lanuginosus. The first is common to Europe and Ame-

rica, while the two last are confined to the latter continent. A fourth

species, a native of Gosaingthan and Kamaon, was described under

the name of simplex in the ‘ Prodromus Florz Nepalensis.’ The Janu-

ginosus is considered by Professor Don as the type of a new genus,

which he has named Prosartes, and which is distinguished from

Streptopus by its lengthened filaments, binary pendulous ovula, and

terminal inflorescence. In Strepiopus the filaments are short, with

erect sagittate anthers, the cells of its baccate pericarpium are po-

lyspermous, the seeds erect, and the flowers are axillary and solitary.

Both genera belong to the Smilacee, and serve to connect that family

with Melanthacee. ‘The characters of the new genus and of the

species belonging to both are here subjoined :—

1. S. amplexifolius (Lam. et DeCand. Fl. Franc. 3. p. 174.), glaber ;

pedunculis medio convolutis appendiculatis, sepalis obtusé acumi-

natis, antheris sagittatis acuminatis, stigmate trilobo, bacez loculis

6-spermis.

2. S. roseus (Mich. Fl. Bor. Amer. i. p. 201.), hirtellus; foliis ciliatis, pe-

dunculis recurvatis subbifloris, sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis, antheris

bicuspidatis filamentorum longitudine, stigmatibus stylo 6-plé brevi-

oribus, baccze loculis 4—6-spermis.

3. S. simplex (Don, Prodr. p. 48.), glaber; pedunculis rectis! nudis, se-

Zoological Society. 341

palis obtusis, autheris cordato-lanceolatis obtusis, stigmatibus styli sub-

longitudine, baccz loculis 10—12-spermis.

PROSARTES.

Streptopi sp., Mich.

Perianthium 6-phyllum, petaloideum, campanulatum, equale, deciduum :

foliolis basi foveolatis v. saccatis. Stamina 6, basi sepalorum adnata,

simulque decidua. <Anthere erecte, innate, obtuse, biloculares, rima

duplici marginali longitudinalitér dehiscentes. Ovarium liberum, 3-

loculare : loculis biovulatis: ovulis obovatis, a placente apice pendulis!

Stigmata 3, brevissima, recurvata. Pericarpiwm baccatum, 3-loculare.

Semina solitaria, v. rarius bina.

Herb (Amer. bor.) perennes, pube ramosd vestite, rhizomate diviso mul-

ticepite. Caules teretiusculi. Folia sessilia, dilatata. Inflorescentia

terminalis, umbellata. Bacca rubra.

i. P. lanuginosa, umbellis bifloris sessilibus, sepalis lanceolatis acumi-

natis 3-nerviis basi foveolatis, stylo glabro, foliis cordato-ovatis subam-

plexicaulibus utrinque pubescentibus.

2. P. Menzxiesii, umbellis sessilibus bifloris, sepalis oblongis mucronatis 6-

nerviis margine revolutis basi saccatis, stylo longissimo piloso, foliis

ovatis sessilibus glabriusculis.

This new species is a native of the north-west coast of America,

where it was first found by Mr. Menzies in the voyage of discovery

under Vancouver, and it has been very properly named in compli-

ment to that venerable botanist.

The plant bears a close resemblance to some species of Disporum,

and it moreover agrees with that genus in its sepals being produced

into a short spur or pouch at their base. The flowers are consi-

derably larger than those of /anuginosa, and they are apparently of a

yellow colour. The style is long and copiously hairy. The genus

is essentially distinguished from Disporum by its innate ——

nearly concrete styles, and pendulous seeds.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

March 12, 1839.—William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. Ogilby communicated a portion of a letter which he had re-

ceived from M. Temminck. It related to two species of Monkeys,

Colobus fuliginosus and Papio speciosus; the former M. Temminck

: considers identical with the Bay-Monkey of Pennant, and he states

: that this opinion is founded upon its agreement with a coloured

drawing now in his possession; this drawing having been taken

by Sydenham Edwards from the specimen of the Bay-Monkey

342 Zoological Society.

formerly in the Leverian Museum, and which is the original of Pen-

nant’s description.

The Macacus speciosus of M. F. Cuvier is stated by M. ‘Teta.

minck to be founded upon an immature specimen of a species of

Mucacus which inhabits Japan; the habitat of Molucca Islands

given by M. F. Cuvier being founded upon error.. The specimen

was originally taken from Japan to Java, where it died; the skin

was preserved, and M. Diard having obtained possession of it, sent

it to the Paris Museum ; and as there was no label attached, M. F.

Cuvier imagined it to be a native of the place whence M. Diard had

sent it.

Mr. Fox exhibited several birds, which he stated had formed

part of an extensive collection made in Iceland by the Curator of

the Durham Museum.

May 14, 1839.—Sir John P. Boileau, Bart., in the Chair.

The Rev. F. W. Hope exhibited a portion of his collection of in-

sects, in order to illustrate a paper entitled ‘‘ A Monograph on Mr.

William Sharp MacLeay’s Coleopterous Genus Euchlora.”

Genus Eucuzora, MacLeay.

Metotontna, Linn., Fab. & Olivier.

Antenne articulis novem, basilari conico elongato, 2do, 3tio, 4to,

5to et 6to brevibus subglobosis; capitulo ovato, triphyllo, elongato,

antennarum longitudinis totius haud dimidium zquante.

Labrum prominulum, clypeo fere absconditum, margine antico

lineari, ciliato, emarginato, lateribus rotundatis.

Mandibule \atitantes, subtrigone supra plane, latere externo

rotundato, interno ciliato, ad apicem 3-dentato.

Mazille caule subtrigono-triquetro, ad apicem inflexe 6-den-

tate.

Palpi maxillares articulo terminali cylindrico ovato.

Labiales articulis 2do et ultimo longitudine zqualibus hoc sub-

ulato.

Mentum subquadratum, margine antico emarginato angulis trun-

catis rotundatis ac lateribus sinuatis, postice valdé convexis.

Caput subquadratum clypeo lateribus rotundatis margine reflexo.

Corpus ovatum convexum posticé elytris haud opertum. Thorax

subquadratus ad basin duplo longior quam latior, latere postico

sinuato vix lobato.

Scutellum parvum cordato-truncatum. Sternum haud productum.

Pedes validiusculi tibiis anticis 3-dentatis. Tarsorum: ungues

Zoological Society. 343

posticorum indivisi reliquorum ex unguibus unus bifidus, alter in-

-divisus.

*‘It is in the warm and tropical regions of the world that we find

vastness one of the leading characteristics of animal life. It is in

the same regions also, amongst the class of insects, that we find a

corresponding magnitude attended with a wonderful increase of spe-

cies, many examples of which might here be mentioned. It is suf-

ficient for our purpose at present to note only a few of them, such

as the Sternocera, among the Buprestide ; Lamia, belonging to the

Longicorn beetles, and Melolontha and Euchlora, well-known genera

pertaining to the Lamellicorns. With regard to vegetation, there

will also be found an equal magnitude of stature and a luxuriance

of foliage quite in proportion to what occurs even in the animal

world. If we look to the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Ame-

rica, we shall find a similarity of character generally predominating :

but it is in the tropical jungle chiefly, and on the banks and estuaries

of mighty rivers, that insects will be found, not only formidable by

their size, but remarkably numerous in species and individuals. The

genus Huchlora of Mr. MacLeay, to which at present I wish to

draw your attention, is not very distinguished for its size, although

larger than all the allied genera belonging to the family. The pre-

dominating colour is green, and the abundance of individuals be-

longing to some of the species is incalculable. I may mention, ex

passant, that the thousands which have annually been imported

into Europe, appear from inquiry not in the least to have thinned

their numbers. On one occasion I received forty Chinese boxes,

and in each of them (I speak greatly within bounds) there were at

least twenty specimens of Huchlora viridis. These boxes are im-

ported into England, and other parts of Europe, in great quantities,

and there is scarcely a museum at home or abroad, however insig-

nificant it may be, but exhibits its Atlas Moths, its purple-coloured

Sagra, and less attractive Euchlora, in tolerable profusion. I have

stated above that the prevailing colour of the species is green, but

there are some exceptions. The under side of some of them is

usually a bronze, or a rose-coloured copper; some of them green

above and beneath; others green above and yellow beneath; while

some again are blue on the same side, with the play of light appearing

of a violet colour. With regard to the colour of insects, greens, as far

as my observations go, naturally on one side merge into blues and

violets, and on the other into orange and yellows. Instead of occu-

pying the time of the meeting with a question at present (as far as

regards insects) comparatively little studied or understood, I pro-

344 Zoological Society.

ceed to remark on the geographical distribution of the family Hu-

chloride. Had some of the Continental entomologists been better

acquainted with Mr. MacLeay’s Hore Entomologice, they certainly

never would have considered Euchlora as an European genus. Ina

late work, published in Paris, the ‘‘ Histoire Naturelle des Animaux

Articulées” (at page 135), we find under the generic name Euchlora,

not only Mimela and Aprosterna included, but also Anomala, &c.

It is singular that the same appellation is given to twenty-two spe-

cies therein specified, a short analysis of which I now place before

you, and shall then allude more particularly to the genera composing

the family, the range over which it extends, and mention the coun-

tries and localities in which they severally occur. 7

“Of the above twenty-two species, five of them appear to be true

Euchlore, two others belong to Mimela, Kirby, another to Rhom-

bonyx, Kirby, and the remaining fourteen to Anomala of Megerle, as

it now stands. Before I conclude these remarks on the species of

the genus before us, it is necessary to state that I have elevated

Kuchlora to the rank of a family, the following genera properly be-

longing to it.

Evcnioripa, Hope.

Genera. Country. Species known.

1.. Euchlora,.. MacLeay. .. Asia... «3 ee

2. Aprosterna, Hope . . . Asiaand Africa. . . 3

3. Mimela, Kirby Ania =".

4. Rhombonyx,Kirby. . . Siberiaand China. . 2

5. Anomala, Megerle . . Old and New World . 120

179

Genus 1. Evcuiora.

‘The family of Euchloride, from the above table, consists of five

genera, and nearly two hundred species, which have fallen under my

notice. ‘True Huchlora, I state, belongs exclusively to Asia and its

isles. It occurs as far south as Manilla, appears at Singapore, and

runs from thence through the continent of India up to the Hima-

laya; the extreme eastern point appears to be Japan, while its

western range does not reach Bombay, probably from the interven-

tion of some physical barrier. Captain Ezra Downes has taken it

at Neemuch. The Entomology of that district essentially agrees

in character with that of Calcutta and Madras, at the latter of which

places Euchlora is taken.

Genus 2. APRosTERNA.

“ This genus is not peculiar to Asia, as some of the species are

found in New Guinea.

Zoological Society. 345

Genus 3. Mimeta.

“ This elegant genus, rivalling in colour and splendour the Bupres-

tide, is confined to Asia; it ranges wherever Huchlora is found.

Genus 4. Ruomsonyx.

“ This genus is probably peculiar to Asia. One species is found

in China, and the other, I have reason to think, is only found in

Asiatic Siberia.

Genus 5. Anomata.

“« Anomala is common to the four quarters of the globe, and may

properly be divided into three if not four subgenera, which task I

willingly leave to other entomologists.

«In concluding these observations on Euchlora, I have only to add,

that it may excite some surprise that this genus extends far into the

Himalayan regions; it may be explained however, satisfactorily, by

the influence of local causes. It is an ascertained fact, that tropical

vegetation often extends into high latitudes, and why, then, may we

not expect to find insects which feed upon it, and are intended pro-

bably to keep it within due bounds?

‘** From information given to me by my friend Professor Royle, I

state that the tropic-girt base of the Himalayas is characterized by

a vigorous and luxurious vegetation.

“ In the same regions there is also an uniformity or great equality

of temperature, well adapted for animal as well as vegetable life.

The exuberance of the latter adds to the humidity of the atmo-

sphere, as well by the exhalation of the foliage as by preventing

free evaporation from the soil. In the boundless forest and inter-

minable jungle there will generally be found a great equality of tem-

perature, brought about in consequence of the umbrageous shelter

impeding the absorption of heat by day, as it checks the free radia-

tion of it at night. It is then, owing to the presence of tropical

vegetation, united with moisture, that there arises considerable uni-

formity of temperature ; in a word, it is from local causes that we

are enabled to explain the reasons why we meet with the repre-

sentatives of tropical genera of plants and insects extending into

higher latitudes than at first might naturally be expected.”

Sp. 1. Eucutora viriprs, Fabricius.

Long. lin. 12; Lat. lin. 7.

E. glabra, punctata, supra viridis nitens subtis cupreo-aurata,

pedibus cupreis. Sternum haud porrectum.

Vide Oliv. Mel. Tab. 9. fig. 21>.

Hab. in China.

Varietas EH. elytris cupreo-marginatis, corpore supra eneo mar-

ginato, antennisque piceis.

346 Zoological Society.

This species is found also at Singapore, Assam, in Bengal, and in

the island of Ceylon. On the under side it is of a rose-coloured

copper, appearing about the sternum and the lower rings of the

abdomen of a brassy vivid green.

Sp. 2, Ev. surrni1, MacLeay.

Long. lin. 11; Lat. lin. 6. ,

E. nitidissima, glabro-punctata, supra viridi-olivacea, subtis

viridi-cuprea, thorace utrinque punctis duobus impressis, pedibus

viridibus, nitidis.

Antenne picee Tmo articulo virescente. Totum corpus supra

viride, aureo-opalino colore tinctum, infra viridi-eneum, pedibus

supra et infra viridibus.

Hab. in Java, Mus. Dom. MacLeay.

‘‘T have received this species from Java; it varies in size, and may

at once be distinguished from FH. viridis by its smooth upper sur-

face, which is of an opalescent bright green; its under side is also

more brilliant, and of a golden-coloured bronze ; the tibize and tarsi

are invariably green. ‘The #. MacLeaii of Mr. Kirby’s MSS. is

only a large variety of this species,”

Sp. 3. Ev. cupripzs.

Long. lin. 12; Lat. lin. 64.

Affinis Euchl. viridi, MacLeay, at major. Corpus ovatum; supra

viride glabrum, subtus roseo-cupreum, pedibus cupreis.

‘'This insect is closely allied to E. viridis, MacLeay; it is, how-

ever, distinct. Viridis in form is oval. Cupripes, ovate: the under

side is of a rich rose-coloured copper, without any eneous tinge. I

have received one specimen from Java, and a second from the Te-

nasserim coast.”

Hab. in India Orientali. Mus. Dom. Hope.

Sp. 4. Ev. eranpis.

Long. lin. 14; Lat. lin. 8.

E. glabra, punctata supra viridis, nitens, subtis viridi-cuprea, tho-

race utringue puncto laterali medio leviter impresso, pedibusque

viridibus.

Hab. in Calcutta? Mus. Dom. Hope.

«I obtained this species from Calcutta; I am doubtful, however, if

that be its real habitat. It is stuck with a needle, like most of the

Chinese insects, and may have been imported into Calcutta, It is at

present the largest species of Euchlora I am acquainted with.”

Sp. 5. Ev. MacLeayaya, Vigors.

Long. lin. 13,; Lat. ;%.

E. pallide virescens, capite thoraceque punctis aurets confertis

splendentibus ; elytris punctatis flavo-marginatis ; corpore subtis

pedibusque aureo-cupreis.

Antenne aureo-cupreee. Corpus subtis pedesque aureo-cupret, al-

bid? pilosi. Clypeus aureus. Scutellum nitidum, parce punctatum.

Hab. in India Orientali. In Mus. Dom. Vigors.

«Jt is difficult to convey, either by description or representation,

a just idea of the beauty of this superb insect, which was obtained

Zoological Society. 347

from Madras. It was named by Mr. Vigors in honour of Mr. William

- Sharp MacLeay.”

Sp. 6. Ev. smaraenina, Eschcholtz.

Long. lin. 114; lat. lin. 54.

E, supra viridi-orichalcea; subtus, femoribus, thoracis pygidiique

marginibus externis fusco-auratis, capite thoraceque dense punctu-

latis, elytris vag? punctulatis seriebusque punctorum plurimis.

Hab. in Insula Luzonum, Manilla.

‘«‘'The above insect I received from Dr. Eschcholtz*.”’

Sp. 7. Ev. Srzsoxpi1.

Long. lin. 104; lat. lin. 63.

Affinis precedenti; glabra punctata, supra viridis ; thoracis late-

ralibus marginibus fusco-auratis. Pygidium viridi-cupreum. Cor-

pus infra roseo-cupreum, et nitidum. Pectus subargented sericie

obsitum. Pedes supra virides, subtus cupreo-aurati ; femoribus

cupreis et nitidis.

Hab. in Madagascar. Captus celeberrimo Macklotio.

« This species is allied to . smaragdina of Eschcholtz, but may at

is once be distinguished by the different colour of the pygidium, that of

ff smaragdina being of a brilliant gold-colour.”’

Sp. 8. Ev. arpo-prriosa, Siebold.

Long. lin. 10; lat. lin. 5.

E. glabra punctata supra viridis subtas roseo-cuprea et nitida albo-pi-

losa, femoribus tibiis tarsisque concoloribus. Caput viride antennis

fusco-piceis : margines thoracis aurato-virides. Scutellum posticé

cupreum. Elytra lineis longitudinalibus impressa, sutura lete viri-

dis, marginibus e medio elytrorum ad apicem fusco-membranaceis.

Corpus infra roseo-cupreum, albo-pilosum. Pygidium viride et

tomentosum. Pedes cuprei.

Hab. in Japonia.

“This singular insect was sent to me by my friend De Haan of

Leyden. It is remarkable for a dilated margin to the elytra, which

appears to be membranous. The pubescence also of this species is

singular.”

Sp. 9. Ev. Marrinir, Kirby’s MSS.

Long. lin. 10; lat. lin. 54.

E. viridis, capite marginibus thoracis auratis, elytris lineis duabus lon-

gitudinalibus fortiter impressis. Pygidium viridi-cupreum. Cor-

pus infra roseo-cupreum, femoribus nitidis.

Hab. in China?

«« This insect is evidently distinct from any species yet described ;

it is in a very mutilated state, no tibie and tarsi remaining. It is

described from the Rev. William Kirby’s collection, liberally given

to the Entomological Society by that able naturalist.”

Sp. 10. Ev. srcoxor, Fab.

Long. lin. 9; lat. lin. 5.

* It has been reported that the above entomologist died of cholera: +

appears however that he died of a bilious fever.

348 Zoological Society.

Caput viride, margine clypei rufescente antennis rubro-fuscis, glabra

supra viridis, subtus testacea, pedibus apice aureis. Statura Eu-

chlore viridis at dupld minor : supra tota viridis, glabra, obscura,

immaculata: subtds obscurior, testacea, @neo colore tincta: fe-

mora pallidiora tibie et tarsi aurei, (Fab). pygidio obscure viridi.

Variat colore supra viridi nitido, subtus aureo, et elytris interdum

apice rujis. <q

Hab. in Java.

“Fabricius described this insect from Sir Joseph Banks’s cabinet,

as a species from the Cape of Good Hope. Olivier copied the error,

and figured one specimen, as obtained from the island of Bourbon.

Both writers are in error as to locality, as the insect is peculiar to

Java and the East Indian continent. Mr. Kirby has named the

above species in his collection #. Brightwellii, which I regard only as

a synonym of #. bicolor.”

Sp. 11. Ev. perprexa.

Longs lin. 8; lat. lin. 44. .

E. glabra, supra viridis, subtis pallid? testacea tibiis tarsisque roseo-

cupreis. Affinis precedenti at minor. Caput viride margine antico

subrufo, antennis testaceis. Corpus supra viride, glabrum subtus

testaceum femoribus concoloribus, tibiis tarsisque roseo-cupreis,

pygidio viridi, postice flavescente. .

Hab. in agro Nepalensi.

‘This species I received from my late lamented friend General

Hardwicke, and for a long time I regarded it as the true bicolor of

Fabricius. Professor De Haan of Leyden has latelysent me LZ. bicolor,

Fab., from the island of Java; I have therefore been obliged to name

an insect which I regarded as previously described. The species are

closely allied, and might have puzzled any individual. ‘The concise

descriptions of Fabricius necessarily lead to error. It is of the

highest importance, then, to obtain authentic specimens from sources

which may be relied on, and I feel satisfied, that with regard to in-

sects, unless the few authentic cabinets known are carefully inspect-

ed, little reliance can be placed on specimens, without they are

named from comparison.”

Sp. 12. Ev. rEMoRALIs.

Long. lin. 7; lat. lin. 4.

E. glabra supra viridis, subtiis rufo-testacea, femoribus flavis. Affinis

E. bicolori at minor. Clypeus eneo-flavescens. Antenne testacee.

Thorax marginibus lateralibus concoloribus. Elytra supra viri-

dia, opalino, seu aureo colore tincta, apice bituberculato, Corpus

subtis testeceum. Pectus sericie flavo obsitum. Femora flava ;

tibiis, tarsis, chelisque roseo-cupreis.

Hab. in Java.

«« This species, by the kindness of Dr. Horsfield, I have described

from the rich collection at the India House. It approaches in form

the genus Mimela, Kirby. It is remarkable for its opaline play of

colour, differing in that respect from all the species of my acquaint-

ance.”

Loological Society. 349

Sp. 13. Ev. De Haant.

Long. lin. 114; lat. lin. 6.

E. viridis, supra glaberrima nitida, subtizs eneo-viridis, nitido splendore

conspicua, Caput viride, in medio aureo colore tinctum. Elytra

glaberrima, sub lente vix subpunctata. Corpus infra smaragdino

colore ornutum, lateribus pectoris argenteis pilis obsitis, segmentis

abdominis utrinque pilosis et punctatis. Femora nitida, tibiis for-

titer variolosis, tarsis chelisque viridibus.

Hab. in Assam.

“IT have named this species in honour of my friend Professor De

Haan of Leyden, to whom European entomologists are greatly in-

debted for the additions made to many of their cabinets.”

In Mus. Dom. Hope.

Sp. 14. Ev. prmrprara.

Long. lin. 11; Lat. lin. 64.

E. supra tota viridis punctata, subtds cyanea. Vide Gray’s Zoo-

logical Miscellany, page 23, sp. 8, under Huchlora dimidiata.

Clypeus rotundatus, antennis, palpisque piceis. Thorax subtilissime

punctatus. LElytra viridia opalino colore tincta, glabra nitida,

striato-punctata striis pariim distinctis. Corpus infra cyaneum,

violaceo colore mixtum. Pectus pilis flavescentibus obsitum. Pe-

des cyanei.

Hab. in agro Nepalensi.

‘This species was originally described by me among other Coleo-

ptera belonging to General Hardwicke’s superb collection, which has

passed since his death to the British Museum.”

Sp. 15. Ev. suucata.

Long. lin. 10; Lat. lin. 6.

E. supra viridis, punctata, elytris lineis fortiter sulcatis ; corpore

infra cyaneo.

Caput viride. Antenne picee. Thorax utrinque in medio puncto

impresso. Llytra binis lineis longitudinalibus fortiter impressa,

seu sulcata, tertia fere humerali ante medium disci interrupta.

Corpus subtis cyaneum pedibus concoloribus. Pectus ferrugineis

capillis sparsim obsitum ; annulis abdominis, pedibusque punctatis.

Hab. in agro Nepalensi.

‘*T received this insect from my lamented friend, Gen. Hardwicke,

and described it concisely some years back in Gray’s Zoological Mis-

cellany.”

Sp. 16. Ev. susca#rurea.

Long. lin. 10; Lat. lin. 5.

Totum corpus supra et infra subcyaneum. Antenne fusco-picee.

Caput subquadratum. Oculi nigriiride pallenti. Thorax punc-

tatissimus. Elytra substriato-punctata apice tuberculato. Corpus

infra concolor. Pectus cum femoribus flavis capillis obsitum.

Tarsi cheleque pice.

Hab. in Java.

«« This singular species I am enabled to describe through the kind-

ness of Dr. Horsfield, of the India House, who has liberally allowed

350 — Zoological Society.

me to describe some of the nondescripts of the Company’s col-

lection.”’

Sp. 17. Ev. cuprea Sresorpii.

Long. lin. 114; Lat. lin. 54.

Caput clypeo subreflexo oculis nigris. Totum corpus supra ereum

subtus roseo-cupreum, nitidum. Caput et thorax punctulata. Elytra

Soved impressa, obsolete striata, punciulata lineis vie distinetis,

tuberculis apice conspicuis. Pygidium deflerum pilisque aspersum.

Corpus infra roseo-cupreum nitidum capellis subflavis obsitum.

Hab. in Japonia.

** This insect I received from Professor De Haan, of Leyden, with

Siebold’s name of cuprea attached to it, which I have consequently

adopted.”

Sp. 18. Ev. Canrort.

Long. lin. 10; Lat. lin. 54.

Affinis precedenti at minor. Caput antic2 rotundutum antennis

piceis, oculisque albis. Totum corpus supra e@reum, subtis roseo-

cupreum, coloreque virescenti tinctum. Caput et thorax subtilis-

simé punctulata. Elytra @rea, obsolet? striata crebrissim? punc-

tulata. Corpus infra roseo-cupreum femoribus anticis piceo-rubris,

colore nitidis, tibies tarsis chelisque cupreis.

‘* This species inhabits Assam ; it was given to me by Dr. Cantor,

in whose honour I have named it*.”’

Sp. 19. Ev. costata, De Haan.

Long. lin. 84; Lat. lin. 44.

E. area, thorace viridi, elytris costatis, corpore subtis roseo cupreo.

Caput viridi-auratum antennis flavis oculisque albis. Thorax auratus

viridique colore tinctus, longitudinali lined medida fortiter impressd,

crebre punctulatus. Elytra roseo-cuprea, sutura elevata, lineisque

gquatuor in singulo elevatis, interstitiis punctulatis. Pygidium

flavum, in medio roseo-cupreum, eneo subpunctatum. Corpus infra

concolor, margtnibus thoracis utrinque flavis.

Hab. in Japonia. .

‘«¢ This species was sent to me by Professor De Haan, of Leyden; it

verges from the typical Euchlore, and appears intermediate between

Euchloraand Anomala. here is a variety of the above species which

has the margins of the thorax yellow, and the elytra testaceous, as

well as its under side and feet yellow. It is probably only an im-

mature specimen.” :

Sp. 20. Ev. aurroua.

Long. lin. 8; Lat. lin. 44.

E. aurato-viridis glabra nitida : corpus subtis subtestaceum femoribus

flavis, tibiis tarsisque roseo-cupreis.

Caput viride, antennis testaceis, oculisque fuscis. Thorax et elytra

subtilissime punctulata virescentia auratoque splendore nitentia,

marginibus posticis abdominis membranaceis. Corpus infra testa-

* «The superb collection of drawings of Reptilia, made by Dr. Cantor

whilst in India, is now deposited in the Radcliffe Library at Oxford: it is to

be hoped the University will publish them.”

Zoological Society. 35h

ceum viridi eneo colore tinctum. Femora pallidiora tibiis tarsis che-

lisque roseo-cupreis. Pygidium obscure viride et punctulatum.

Hab, in India Orientali.

*« This beautiful species came from the Burmese territories ; it ap-

pears to be unique.”

Mus. Dom. Hope.

Species Dusiz.

Sp. 21. Ev. area, Perty.

Long. lin. 6; Lat. lin. 43.

E. brunneo-enea, thorace subtilissime punctulato elytrisque obsolete

striatis rugulosis.

Staturd et magnitudine fere E. Frischii, aliquantulum angustior.

Tota brunnea eneo-micans. Caput et thorax subtilissime punc-

tulata. Scutellum disco impresso. Elyira irregulariter punctato-

striata, rugulosa.

Hab. in Java.

«T am in doubt if this insect can be considered as an Kuchlora,

being compared with Anomala Frischii ; it may probably belong to

that genus.”

Sp. 22. Ev. cicarricosa, Perty.

Long. 7'"; Lat. lin. 32.

E. enea ely tris castaneis, cicatricoso-punctatis. Caput cupreo-eneum,

punctulatum. Thorax eneus dense punctulatus, strid medid levt

impressd. Scutellum viridi-eneum, punctulatum. Elytra castanea,

marginulo extremo eneo, substriato-punctata, punctis confluentibus

cicatricosis. Antenne et trophi picei: subtis cum pedibus enea.

Hab. in Brasilia Australi, Prov. S. Pauli.

«1 am totally unacquainted with the above insect ; I have given the

description from the Delectus Animalium Articulatorum, the ento-

mology of which was written by Professor Perty. I feel no hesi-

tation in referring the above species to another genus, as I do not

believe a true Huchlora is ever found in the New World.”

Sp. 23. Ev. rrroreiia, De Haan.

Long. lin. 7; Lat. lin. 4.

Punctuée, d’un brun-jaune clair, avec deux bandes longitudinales

sur la téte, plusieurs autres mélées sur le corselet, et une foule

de petites taches transversales sur les élytres, noires; dessous du

corps et pattes tachetés de noir. Java.

** From the above description it appears probable that Jrroredla be-

longs to the genus Huchlora.”

Sp. 24. Ev.? srrieata, Castelneau.

Long. lin. 74; Lat. lin. 5.

D’un beau vert métallique, cuivreux, trés brillant; bords latéraux

du corselet d’un brun-jaunatre métallique, avec un point vert au

milieu; élytres avec des stries de points enfoncés, serrés, d’un

brun-jaune clair, a reflets verts métalliques, avec plusieurs

taches de cette couleur a la base, sur le milieu et a l’extremité ;

plaque anale jaunatre, avec deux grandes taches d’un vert mé-

tallique sur les cétés.

Hab. Coromandel.

352 Royal Society of Edinburgh.

“‘ This and the foregoing species are described from a French work

now in the course of publication, by the Count de Castelneau.”

Sp. 25. Ev. rrivirrata, Perty.

Long. lin. 5; Lat. lin. 21.

Subtis testaceo-metallica, thorace viridi, margine stridque medida

favis, elytris testaceo-viridibus. . ; .

Statura omnino E. Frischii, sed satis minor. Subtis testacea, metal-

lico-nitida, abdomine obscuriore. Caput eneum, subtilissimé pune-

tulatum, clypeo reflevo. Thorax viridi-eneus, nitidus, margine

laterali lato, vittdque medid flavis. Scutellum viridi-eneum,

politum. iytra longitudinaliter punctulata, testaceo-viridia.

Antenne brunnee. Pedes metallico-testacet.

Hab. in Java.

In Museo Dom. Perty. .

Sp. 26. Ev. sprenpens. Schonherr.

Supra glabra, viridi-orichalcea, nitidissima, thorace elytrorumque

dorso subtiliter parce punctulatis, clypeo reflexo integerrimo.

Hab. in China.

In Museo Dom. Schonherr.

“It is probable that the above species is a Mimela. It is con-

sidered by Professor Perty to be an Euchlora. I have added Schon-

herr’s short Latin description; for more ample details consult the

Appendix to Schonherr’s ‘Synonymia Insectorum,’ tom. i, part 3,

page 110.”

Besides the above twenty-six species of Huch/ora, there are seve-

ral other insects which have been comprehended under that name ;

for instance, E. Dalmanni of Schonherr, and Chrysea of Kollar, both

of which are true Mimele, and allied to M. JSustuosa, Fab.; and

to these may be added various species of Anxomala, recorded by Fa-

bricius, De Jean, and others. The latter writer, in his last catalogue

of 1837, mentions the names of HE. piligera, Japonica, chalcites: as

he, however, confounds Mimela with Euchlora, little reliance can be

placed on his authority ; they are, moreover, manuscript names, and

no names ought to be adopted without published descriptions, I

may add, that in the Dutch and other collections, about six others

have fallen under my notice, making in all about thirty species;

which number no doubt will be considerably increased the more we

become acquainted with the Entomology of Oriental India.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

Dec. 16.—Sir Thomas M. Brisbane, Bart. President, in the Chair.

The first paper of the evening was an account of experiments on

the development and growth of Salmon, from the exclusion of the

ovum to the age of two years. By Mr. Shaw, Drumlanrig. This

communication formed the sequel of a former one read to the Society

in December 1837, and continued the account of Mr. Shaw’s expe-

‘

Royal Society of Edinburgh. 353

_ riments during the intervening period. These valuable observations

merit a more ample detail in our pages; meanwhile, however, we

supply but a few hasty hints.

In some prefatory remarks, Mr. Shaw met an objection to the

inferences from his published investigations, proceeding from respect-

able authority, and which resolved itself into considerations con-

nected with the small size and artificiality of his experimental ponds.

Mr. Shaw repelled this by stating that the ponds were made the

channel of a copious stream; that the body of running water they

contained was very considerable ; that the supply of the insects, &c.

which constituted the food of the young fish was abundant; and

that these little creatures were in as good condition as their con-

- geners in the neighbouring river.

Mr. Shaw’s former observations led to the conclusion that the

Parr is nothing else than the proper fry of the regular salmon. In

his former paper, his experiment was carried thus far :—salmon en-

gaged in the process of reproduction were caught in a net; a parti-

cular spot of the running stream was selected; from this spot a

channel was formed which communicated with a small pool, fit to

become a temporary spawning bed; into this selected spot the adult

female salmon was introduced; by gentle pressure on her sides the

roe was made to flow freely from her body; this swam down the

artificial channel, and was deposited in the temporary bed. Precisely

the process was repeated with the adult male, whose milt followed

the same course, and settled in the same pool. Portions of the ova

thus impregnated were removed into the experimental pond No. 1,

which, as formerly explained, was quite separate from the river, and

isolated from all accidental contamination: these were carefully

watched and found to become genuine parr.

Strong additional circumstances have occurred within the last two

years, which have greatly confirmed the inference which naturally

flows from the above occurrence. One of these is connected with

the subsequent history of the little fish alluded to as placed in pond

No. 1. The brood has been watched, and Mr. S. has found that a

very few at the close of the first year, and the whole before the end

of the second, exchanged their well-known primary river livery of

parr, for the silvery migratory coat of the youngsalmon. With this

change in appearance, a great change in their habits occurred: the

so-called parr in the pond were solitary and quiet, and if a neigh.

bour invaded their habitual retreat, he was speedily expelled from

the forbidden ground. On assuming the migratory dress, the habits

of the whole family became much more active, they freely associated

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 25. Jan. 1840. 2c

354 Royal Society of Edinburgh.

together, and seemed restlessly disposed to escape from the limits of

their confinement.

Another still more confirmatory circumstance is the following.

It had long been noticed that the young parr of the second year was

a not less constant attendant upon the adult female salmon when

depositing her spawn than was her own mate, the milt flowing

abundantly from his body, and for no other apparent purpose than

the impregnation of the salmon’s roe,—no female parr in similar

circumstances ever being detected. This fact led Mr. Shaw to the

inference, that however different the age of these two fish, yet the

union could arise from nothing but identity of species; and he there-

fore subjected to precisely the same experiments as those above de-

scribed, the roe of the adult female salmon, and the milt of the tiny

parr. Portions of the spawn thus treated were put into the artifi-

cial pond No. 2. It proved to be impregnated ; the produce during

the first year having all the appearance of true parr: toward the

end of the second year they assumed their silvery hue, and in fact

the young fish in pond No. 2, underwent precisely the same changes

as those of No. 1. Nor was this a hybrid race; for one of these of

the second year was again made the subject of experiment with the

adult female salmon, his milt being brought into contact with her

roe, and this new progeny appeared identical with those already

noticed. Specimens were exhibited to the Society of the parent

ponds, killed when they had the regular markings of the parr, and

afterwards when they had assumed the migratory dress of the young

salmon.

In the conversation which followed, Professor Christison stated

that, along with Mr. Shaw, he had personally examined and could

confirm the accuracy of every one of the author’s statements, both

in the previous communication and the present. Mr. James Wilson

likewise offered some remarks, insisting particularly upon the fact

that the specimens before the Society demonstrated that these fish

had, at one period of their existence, all the genuine characters of

true parr, and indisputably were the parr of the naturalist and the

angler, and were as certainly at a subsequent period transformed

into the young salmon; and Professor Traill closed the discussion

by avowing, that although from some anatomical] details there had

long existed in his mind difficulties in the way of arriving at the

same conclusion with the author, yet he could not withstand the

evidence he had just heard; that he was a convert to Mr. Shaw’s

opinion, and that he considered his communication as one of the

Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 355

most important contributions that had of late years been made to

‘Natural History, both in a scientific and commercial point of view.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

This Society met on the evening of the 14th November, in the

Royal Institution.—Dr. R. K. Greville in the Chair.

A letter from the Marquis of Normanby was read, stating that

the Diploma of the Society had been laid before the Queen, and that

the same had been very graciously received by Her Majesty. A

letter was also read from Baron Werther, inclosing a communica-

tion from the King of Prussia, in which His Majesty was graciously

pleased to acknowledge the receipt of the Society’s Diploma, trans-

mitted on the occasion of His Majesty’s election as an honorary

member.

An account of botanical excursions made from Edinburgh in the

autumn of 1839, was read by Professor Graham.

Mr. Forbes read a notice of excursions in the neighbourhood of

Trieste*, in which he gave a sketch of the Triestine territory, a

country exceedingly rich in rare and curious plants. The excur-

sions described were four :—lIst, the immediate neighbourhood of

the town; 2nd, the salt marshes of Zaule, and the neighbouring hills

of Istria; 3rd, the Monte Spaccato and the wood of Lipizza, on the

singular calcareous plain of the Karst; and 4th, Contobello on the

sea coast.

Dr. Greville laid on the table a series of specimens of Quercus

robur, exhibiting an extraordinary range of form. From the singu-

lar variation exhibited by these specimens in the shape and texture

of the leaves, and in the length of the peduncles, Dr. Greville was

of opinion that there is but one species of oak indigenous in Britain.

ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

Of the communications read this Session to the Physical Society,

we notice the following :—Edward Forbes, Esq. exhibited drawings

and diagrams of the various genera of Ciliograde Meduse inhabiting

the seas of Britain, with comments on their structure and habits. He

gave an account of two new species of Alcine—a genus observed this

summer, for the first time, in the northern hemisphere; also, of a

new Beroe, discovered near the Isle of May; and concluded with

some interesting observations on the structure and use of cilia,

which naturalists have generally supposed are for motion, but which

Mr. Forbes showed could not be so.

* See p. 307 of our present Number.

2c2

356 Miscellaneous.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ON DIFFERENT TISSUES THE WORK OF INSECTS.

In the ‘Compte Rendu’ of the sitting of the Academy of the 19th

August of this year, there is an extract from a letter of M. Levasseur,

who forwarded a piece of a very fine tissue, a kind of cloth made by

eaterpillars, which was found in Moravia. This extract has occa-

sioned two other communications on similar facts, the one observed

by Count Saumeray, near Blois; the other by M. Delahaye, libra-

rian to the city of Amiens.

Reaumur in the second volume of his Memoirs mentioned the

caterpillars which make these tissues. They are the species of Moths

which entomologists have included in the family Yponomeutide, a

name meant to indicate the habits of these caterpillars, which live con-

gregated together in vast numbers under a common tent, and which,

when they remove, weave for themselves galleries or covered ways,

in order to be sheltered and to escape the too strong light and heat

of the sun, and at the same time thus preserve themselves from the

moisture of the atmosphere and the voracity of birds. They advance

successively upon the different branches of certain trees, which they

entirely strip of their leaves, leaving upon their track the tapestries

which defended them; it is under this protecting cloth that each of

the caterpillars weaves itself a small cocoon about the size of a

vertically suspended from the cloth which forms the roof of their tent;

and in others, all these caterpillars assemble when they are ready to

undergo their metamorphosis, so that in this case their chrysalises

and their envelopes form a circular mass of follicles pressed together.

The species which are most known by their ravages and by the

large extent of their woven fabrics, which always depends on the

magnitude of the number of individuals which have made them, are

those which naturalists have designated under the names of the

plants which they seem to prefer, and which, with the termination

which Linnzeus appropriated to all moths, have become their specific

names, such as Evonymella, Padella, Cognatella, Echiella, Sedella, &c.,

according as they feed on the leaves of the spindle tree, the bird-

cherry, the service-tree, the quince, the whitethorn, the orpine.

_M. Duponchel has described and drawn nine species of this genus

in vol. vii. of the ‘ Nocturnal Lepidoptera of France’ in plates 285

and 286.

MM. Audouin, Edwards, and Dumeril, are clearly of opinion that

the tissues sent by MM. Levasseur and de Saumeray, are the work of

Miscellaneous. 357

the caterpillars of the Yponomeutide ; but with regard to that sent

_by M. Delahaye, they agree with him in thinking that it is the pro-

duct of a number of small spiders of the genus Epiere of Walckenaer;

for this tissue is somewhat glutinous and very much finer than that

of the caterpillars, the threads of the latter not being adhesive like

those of the spiders.—Compte Rendu, Oct. 28, p. 533.

STRUCTURE OF THE OVULE IN THE ERICEA,

In many works on botany, for instance in Lindley’s ‘ Nat. Syst. of

Bot.,’ we find in the description of the Hricee the words ‘ radicula hilo

opposita’. This has evidently arisen from a confusion of hilum and

chalaza by a restricted consideration of the mature seed, for all

Ericee which I have hitherto examined present an anatropous ovule

with simple (?) integument, whence it follows of itself that a radi-

cula hilo proxima must exist in the ripe seed, as also Kunth has

correctly stated to be the case in his ‘ Flor. Berol.’ 1838.—Dr.

ScHLEIDEN in Wiegmann’s Archiv, Part IV. 1839.

COLOUR OF SALT MARSHES.

A communication read November 4th at the French Academy of

Sciences from M. Joli, Professor of Natural History in the College

of Montpellier, states that having carefully investigated the colora-

‘tion of the salt marshes of the department of the Herault, he came

to the following results :—

1. The Artemia salina contributes only in a subordinate manner,

and it may almost be said not at all, to this colouring.

2. It is owing to infusorial animalcules.

3. The Hematococcus salinus are only dead infusoria become glo-

bular.

4. The Protococcus salinus are the globules which escape from

their bodies after death.

Upon the subject of the letter M. Audouin remarked, that being

in company with M. Dunal in June 1838, he observed in the en-

virons of Mentpellier, in several of the ditches of the salt marshes

whose waters appeared to be free from colour, Artemia salina of a

red colour only. The intestinal canal of these little crustacea ex-

hibited this colour, and it was owing to the matter which it con-

tained. M. Audouin had previously witnessed a similar phenomenon

in the Artemie which M. Payen brought under the notice of the

Academy in 1836. Having put a score of them into fresh water in

which he had dissolved sea-salt, he had an opportunity for a month

358 Miscellaneous.

of observing the matter contained in their intestinal canal, renewed

without interruption and always turning red, without his ever having

perceived in the water in which the crustacea lived any trace of co-

loured substance. Can the red colour which the ingested matter as-

sumes in the intestinal canal of the little crustacea have instantly

become developed by the act of digestion? This would be a new

and very curious fact to verify. M. Audouin expressed a wish that

M. Joli, who is favourably situated for varying his experiments,

would apply himself to the solution of this interesting problem.—

Compte Rendu, Nov. 4. p. 570.

FALCO ELEONORA,

M. Géné has read before the Academy of Sciences at Turin, the

description of a new species of Falcon, discovered in Sardinia by

M. de la Marmora, which has been confounded with the Common

Hobby (Ff. Subbuteo,) but from which it differs in its much stronger

form, in the colour of the cere, which is bluish; by the form of the

cutting edges of the mandible, which are not notched between the

base and the tooth ; and by the colour of the eggs, which are reddish,

spotted and blotched with brown.—L’ Institut, 7th November.

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF MELIPHAGA,. BY M. DUBUS,

Meliphaga cincta, capite toto, collo, pectoreque nigris ; fasciculo

postoculari niveo; fascia pectorali et humeris flavis; parapteris,

tetricibus mediis alarum prioribus et dorso nigris, plumis singu-

lis flavo marginatis; posterioribus alarum tetricibus mediis albis,

speculum formantibus; remigibus et rectricibus fusco-nigris,

pogoniis externis flavo marginatis ; abdomine pallide brunnes-

centi-cano.

Hab. New Zealand.

This species is remarkable from the length of the hairs which

clothe the base of the bill and occiput at the origin of the nasal

apertures. These hairs are somewhat stiff and extend over three-

fourths of the length of the bill, which is slim, slightly curved and

flat at its base. The wings are rounded ; the first primary is very

short ; the second much shorter than the third, which is nearly equal

to the fourth; the fifth is the longest of all. The tail is square, with

feathers terminating in a point. ‘The bill is black and the feet are

brown. Entire length 7 inch., length of the bill from the suture to

the apex 10 lin., of the tarsus 1 inch, of the middle digit 8 lin.—

Bulletin de ? Acad. Roy. de Bruxelles, Avril 6, 1839.

—

Meteorological Observations. 359

FLANNEL FORMED OF INFUSORIA AND CONFERV.

On the 17th of October last, Professor Ehrenberg laid before the

Academy of Sciences of Berlin, a foot and a half square of natural

wadding or flannel, consisting of Infusoria and Conferve, which was

found to the extent of several hundred square feet near Sabor in

Silesia, after an inundation. We have already had occasion in pre-

ceding numbers of this Journal, to lay before our readers Professor

Ehrenberg’s notice respecting the animal and vegetable nature of the

meteoric paper of 1686,(See Annals, vol. ili. pp. 185 and 320,) and also

the communication of Ehrenberg and Kersten respecting the natural

leather of Freiberg, to which the present substance is analogous, but

far more surprising from its occurrence in such an immense mass. The

flannel is chiefly formed of unramified branches of Conferva rivularis

interwoven with fifteen species of Infusoria and some shells of the

water-flea (Daphnia). Of the Infusoria eleven belong to the family

of the Baccillarie, and of these six to siliceous-loricated genera;

several Closterine, &c. Predominating are the Fragillaria, Navicula

viridis, and Cryptomonas lexnticularis? All the forms are known

species.—Berichte der Akademie, Oct. 17, 1839.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR NOV., 1839.

Chiswick.—Nov. 1. Hazy: rain. 2 Rain. 3,4. Foggy: rain. 5. Rain:

fine. 6. Hazy: rain. 7. Rain. &. Hazy: rain. 9. Fine: drizzly. 10. Hazy:

rain. 11. Clear. 12, 13. Hazy: overcast. 14, Fine: rain. 15. Hazy. 16.

Overcast : clear and fine at night. 17. Rain. 18. Heavy rain. 19. Fine: a

large halo round the moon at night. 20. Fine: rain. 21, Stormy and wet.

22. Overcast: fine. 23. Clear. 24. Rain. 25. Cloudy: rain: almost a hur-

ricane at night. 26. Clear. 27. Densefog. 28. Hazy. 29. Heavy rain:

30, Overcast : heavy showers.

Boston.—Nov.1. Stormy. 2 Cloudy: rainr.m. 3. Cloudy. 4,5. Rain:

rain early A.m. 6,7. Cloudy. 8. Cloudy: rainr.m. 9. Cloudy. 10. Cloudy :

rain A.M.and p.m. 11. Cloudy. 12, 13. Foggy. 14. Cloudy: rainr.m. 15.

Cloudy: raina.m. 16. Fine. 17, Fine: rainp.m. 18. Cloudy: rain early

A.M. 19, 20. Fine. 21. Cloudy: rain early a.m.: raine.m. 22, Cloudy. 23,

Fine. 24, Rain. 25. Cloudy. 26. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 27. Fine: rain

and snow p.m. 28. Cloudy. 29. Rain: rain early am. 30. Stormy.

Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.— Nov. 1. Storm of wind with slight showers.

2. Fair: weather moderated. 3. Fair: fine. 4. Rather moist. 5. Clear and

cold. 6. Quiet day and cloudy. 7. The same: slight drizzle pm. &. Cloudy

and moist. 9. The same: rain a.m. 10. Quiet day: moist atmosphere. 11.

Calm day: still moist. 12, Showery all day. 13. Mild day throughout: no

rain. 14. Drizzly and gloomy: atrue Nov.day. 15. Rain all day: heavy p.m.

16. Showery throughout. 17. Fine day and fair. 18, 19. Drizzling day. 20.

Very fine day: rain p.m. 21. The same: rain a.m. 22. Fine: one shower p.m.

23. Frosty morning: shower at noon, 24. Rain all day. 25. Showery a.m.:

cleared up p.m. 26. Cold and frosty morning: shower snow. 27, The same:

frost increasing: more snow. 28. Freezing all day: snow lying. 29. Storm of

wind and rain: snow gone. 30. Rain nearly all day.

Sun 20days. Rain 16 days. Snow 2days. Frost 3 days.

Wind east 7 days. South-east and south-south-east 5 days. North 1 day.

North-east and north-north-east 4 days. South-east 4 days. South-west and

south-south-west 7 days. West 1 day. West-south-west 1 day.

Calm 12 days. Moderate 10 days. Brisk 4days. Boisterous 2 days. Strong

breeze 1 day. Stormy 1 day.

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“ANNALS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

——

XLI.—On the Structure of the Sete of Funaria hygrometrica.

By Epvwin Lanxester, M.D.

Tue hygrometrical properties of the Funaria hygrometrica

have been long known to botanists, but as the movements

produced in it by its sensibility to moisture are very singular,

and as I am not aware of the subject having been dwelt upon

by any botanist, I have been induced to prepare the following

notice. This moss is one of the most common of the tribe,

being found abundantly on dry banks and on the soil that

barely covers the roots of full-grown trees; but it especially

delights where the ashes of burnt wood cover the soil, and

thus it may be frequently seen restoring the colour of the

ground on those little black spots which indicate where the

gipsy has pitched his tent, or in the woods or by the side of

the hedges where wood has been burnt. The young thecz

make their appearance early in the spring, and in the months

of April or May may be found accompanied by a number of

dried setze as well as others in all stages of their growth.

If one of the dried sete be taken in the hand, and its lower

portion moistened with the finger, the capsule will be seen

to turn from right to left, making two, three, or even more

complete revolutions; if now the upper portion be moist-

ened in like manner, the capsule will turn round more ra-

pidly in a contrary direction. This phenomenon is exhi-

bited whichever portion of the seta is first wetted. If both

ends are moistened at the same time, a tremulous wavering is

observed without any motion, but in a few seconds the cap-

sule begins to move in one direction or the other. The di-

rection in this instance is in some measure determined by the

quantity of moisture applied, but the upper part seems most

easily affected, and the motion arising from moistening it is

much more rapid than from the lower portion. If the cap-

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 26. Feb. 1840. 2D

362 Dr. Lankester on the movements

sule is held in the fingers the lower end presents the same

motions. If both ends are held and the middle left free and

moisture is applied, there is an evident effort made to curl the

whole stem, but this is not effected.

On observing these curious phenomena, I was induced to

submit the seta to an examination by the microscope, and

their structure explains, in some measure, the nature of the

motions observed. The entire seta is composed of an elon-

gated cellular tissue which is arranged in a spiral manner.

(Figs. 1, 2.) The tissue is not however continued in the same

direction through the whole length of the seta, but at about

two-thirds of its length it begins to straighten, and at length

in the upper part runs spirally in an epposite direction to that

of the lower portion, the fibres forming a much more acute

angle in the upper than the lower part of their course. This

structure is most apparent in the dried seta. In the young

state the fibres are quite straight ; as they increase in age they

become more spiral; and in the green setz, just before the

capsule is ripened, the spiral fibres with their double direc-

tion are quite evident. (Fig. 3.) The immediate cause of the

motions appears to be the absorption of moisture by the elon-

gated spiral tissue. Whether the moisture admitted into the

tissue straightens it by the force with which the fluid passes |

along the bent tubes, or whether it arises from the mere dis-

tension of the external tissue, may be a question. The cap-

sule turns round in a direction contrary to that of the spiral

of each end, and after the seta has been moistened and has

turned round in both directions, its length is greater than it

was previously. The more rapid movements of the capsule

when the upper end is wetted is accounted for by the circum-

stance of the upper end of the seta being more twisted than

the lower end. It does not however appear that the mere spi-

ral form of the fibres is the cause of the motion, as this struc-

ture exists in the green setz, which are entirely insusceptible

of motion from the application of moisture. Nor is merely the

dryness of the fibres the cause, as the green seta, though

thoroughly dried, do not exhibit any movement. But at the

period of ripening the capsule is found bent towards the sur-

face of the earth, and although I have not observed it turn-

of the Sete of Funaria hygrometrica, — 363

ing round, I think it is probable that during this period a

further twisting of the whole seta takes place, this direction

being given by the already spiral form of the fibres, and con-

stituting the true cause of the motions observed. This is

rendered more probable by the fact that the spiral form of the

tissue exists even after it has been macerated in water.

Fig.1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

_ The subject of the spiral direction so frequently observed in

the tissue of plants is one of great interest, and I believe little

2D 2

364 Mr.J. Hogg on Tentacular Classification of Zoophytes.

has hitherto been done towards explaining the causes of the

phznomenon. When the above observations were made I was

not aware of any instance of a change in the direction of the

spiral ; but since then, Professor Morren of Liege has pointed

out to me the occurrence of a double direction in the spire

formed by the twisting of the tendrils of Bryonia dioica; and

I have subsequently observed in the tendrils of a species of

Passiflora a twisting not only in two opposite directions, but

in alternately different directions for five or six times to the

end of the spire.

XLII.—On the Tentacular Classification of Zoophytes. By

Joun Hoag, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c.

In his able and beautiful work on the ‘ British Zoophytes,’

Dr. George Johnston has reviewed most of the classifications

that have as yet been brought forward for those extremely in-

teresting animals, which have been generally called Polypes

(Polypi) by most French naturalists, as well as for their struc-

tures or habitations, that have received, of late, the common

appellation of Polyparies (Polyparia) from the same writers.

sification present themselves to the investigator of this por-

tion of natural history; first, that which is derived from the

Polyparies or dwellings of the animals ;—the second is taken

from the natural organization and forms of the animals alone,

that is to say, from the Polypes themselves; and the third,

that method which may be founded on a combination of cer-

tain characters deduced both from the animals and likewise

from their dwellings.

Now, as an example of the first method, in my sketch of

the ‘ Natural History of the vicinity of Stockton-on-Tees,’

which was written in the spring of 1825, but not published

until the year 1827, I introduced an arrangement of many of

our native Polyparies, grounded chiefly on the views of our

own illustrious zoophytologist, the accurate Ellis ; and in order

that it may be clearly understood, I trust I may be pardoned

for here subjoining an outline or synopsis of it.

Mr. J. Hogg on Tentacular Classification of Zoophytes. 365

POLY PARIA.

Section J. Simpuicra.

Family I. Corallinoidea.

Order I. VesicrrerRa.

Genus. Sertularia (of the old authors).

Order 2. Tusirera.

| Genus. Tubularia.

Order 3. CELLIFERA.

Genera. Celiularia and Flustra.

Family II. Coralloidea.

Order 4. PoriFrera.

_ Genera. Cellepora and Millepora.

Order 5. STeuirera.

Genus. Madrepora.

Section II]. Composrira.

Order 6. CorTIcIFERA.

Genus. Corallina.

Family III. Creatoidea.

Order 7. OscuLireRa.

Genus. Alcyonium.

Order 8. GELATINIFERA.

Genera. Spongia and Spongilla.

It will be obvious to every one acquainted with Ellis’s work

on Corallines, that the first three orders correspond with, and

are nearly the same as, the primary divisions of that author ;

viz. 1. Vesiculated Corallines ; 2. Tubular Corallines ; and 3.

Celliferous Corallines. And indeed, the above, if considered

solely in relation to the British Polyparies or the inanimate

and unorganized habitations of the animals—or as they have

been aptly termed Polypidoms by Dr. G. Johnston—may

perhaps prove to the student as useful an arrangement as any

other which has hitherto appeared.

Next, in pursuance of the second method of classification,

and which most zoologists will at this day coincide with me

as being the only true foundation for the systematic arrange-

ment of zoophytes, I here venture to classify them according

to their tentacles (Tentacula) ; which organs, considering their

structure, their great use, and functions, I have, for several

years past, accounted as presenting the best and most natural

366 Mr. J. Hogg on Tentacular Classification of Zoophytes.

forms and characters for that purpose. Although Dr. Arthur

Farre, by separating this class of animals into two divisions—

the Ciliobrachiate and the Nudibrachiate* Polypi—first pub-

licly called the attention of the scientific world in his valuable

paper in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for the year 1837,

to the importance of the tentacula, which he has named éra-

chia, with respect to a more correct classification of them.

Class ZOOPHYTA.

Sub-Class I. Brnoscuna.

Tribe I. Tentaculis armatis.

Order 1. C1n1oTENTACULA.

Genera. Flustra, Cellularia, Cellepora, Plumatella, &c.

Sub-Class II. Unoscuna.

Order 2. Noprrenracuta.

Genera. Hydra, Sertularia, &c.

Order 3. PrnniTENTACULA. :

Genera. Gorgonia, Pennatula, Alcyonium, &c.

Order 4. GLANDITENTACULA.

Genus. Coryne.

Tribe II. Tentaculis nudatis.

Order 5. PLanITENTACULA.

Genus. Tubularia, &c.

Order 6. TuBITENTACULA.

Genera. Actinia, Madrepora, &c.

A few observations for the sake of briefly explaining this

classification will be sufficient. The first subclass compre-

hends those zoophytes that are endowed with a higher and

more perfect organization, and possess both a separate mouth

and a distinct anus, which is signified in the appellation of

Binoscula. As far as we are at present acquainted with these

animals, they all have their tentacles armed, or fringed, with

vibratory cilia.

The second subclass includes the Unosculous Zoophytes, or

those which possess only a single hole or orifice, serving as

well for their mouth as their anus: they are by far the most

numerous. ‘The order 2, Noditentacula, represents such ani-

* These terms are both somewhat objectionable, as being likely to be

confounded with Ciliobranchia and Nud:branchia, names previously in use

among the French writers.

CT ee ee Se ee ra, ny ee

Mr. J. Hogg on Tentacular Classification of Zoophytes. 367

mals as have their tentacula studded with minute projections,

knots, or nodules, which are also said to be sometimes fur-

nished with little bristles or sete; for example, the Hydre

and the Sertulariade. The order 3 embraces the genera

Gorgonia, Pennatula, and others, whose animals retain well-

defined pinnz along their tentacles. But in order 4, we have,

I believe, as yet discovered only one genus, Coryne: here the

tentacula are furnished at their tips with small glands.

The second tribe possess tentacles unarmed, and quite de-

void of any projections or appendages whatsoever ; in which,

the order 5, Planitentacula, comprising the Tubularia, exhibit.

perfectly smooth and plain tentacula; and the order 6, Tudi-

tentacula*, as the Actiniade, have their tentacles hollow, per-

forated at both extremities, and much resembling tubes or

siphons.

I must however beg distinctly to state, that I propose this

classification merely as an attempted, but by no means as a

perfect one ; because there may, not improbably, occur other

variations and forms in the tentacula of even our British zo-

ophytes with which I am now unacquainted, and which may

necessarily lead to some modification in one or more of the

previous orders; but for those of the foreign genera, some

additional orders will doubtless have to be hereafter insti-

tuted.

From this systematic arrangement the Corallines and

Sponges are excluded ; because in the absence of all marks of

any animal organization, and of every distinct animal property

as yet discoverable in them, I must agree with Doctors Link,

Miller, and Johnston, and several other distinguished authors,

in restoring them to the Vegetable kingdom.

* Some one may perhaps be inclined to find fault not only with the no-

menclature here used, Zoophyta Ciliotentacula, Tubitentacula, &c., but also

with founding a classification principaily upon the variations and differences

which are discernible in one set of organs; him I would remind of the Lin-

nzean arrangement of Insects, where he will notice Insecta Lepidoptera,

Neuroptera, and several more variations in the ptera or wings alone. And

I need scarcely add, that this arrangement of the immortal Swede will, in all

probability, long survive many of the modern systems, which are grounded

on the more numerous characters afforded by several organs.

368 Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides.

XLIII.—Miscellanea Zoologica. By Grorce JOHNSTON,

M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edin-

burgh. With Plates X. and XI.

[Continued from p. 232. ]

British ANNELIDES.

In the month of June of the present year, Mr. Edward Forbes,

accompanied by Mr. Goodsir, visited the islands of Orkney

and Shetland, with a view to the investigation of the marine

zoology of the northernmost district of Britam*. The An-

nelides which were collected during this tour, Mr. Forbes,

with a liberality Iam most anxious to acknowledge, entrusted

to my examination; and I am now about to give the result

of it to the public, in the hope that this may interest such

naturalists as devote themselves to the study of our native

Fauna.

Of the Aphroditacee, there were, in this collection, speci-

mens of Aphrodita aculeata in a young state; of an Aphro-

dita nearly allied to the A. hystrix of Savigny; and of my

Sigalion Boa. The new Aphrodita belongs to the section of

the genus that is distinguished by having the scales or elytra

naked or uncovered, and is the first British example of the

kind. The specimen presented to me is 14 lines in length,

and 4 in its greatest breadth : the body is elliptical, rather nar-

rower posteriorly than in front, of a uniform greyish white

colour, somewhat hairy and hispid on the sides from the va-

rious bristles which garnish the feet. (Plate X. fig. 1, 2.) The

scales form a series on each side; they are roundish, smooth,

thin and flexible, vesicular in the specimen, probably from im-

mersion in the spirits ; there are 15 pairs of them, but the 2

first pairs and the 3 caudal ones are so small as to be easily

overlooked. The head (fig. 3.) is entirely concealed under the

front scales. It is furnished with two proportionably large

setaceous smooth palpi, approximated at the base, but I was

not able to detect any antenne. The mouth (fig. 4.) is infe-

rior, large, circular, puckered, armed with a strong retractile

proboscis, the orifice of which is encircled with a row of ten-

* See the Athenzum, No. 618, p. 647.

Sweet ase et. ay

Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides. 369

tacular papillz (fig. 5.), but there is no appearance of jaws.

There seemed to be 30 feet on each side, but, from the close-

ness and minuteness of the posterior pairs, the number was

not very exactly to be counted: they are biramous, the

branches widely apart. The dorsal branch (fig. 6.) of every

alternate foot carries a scale or elytron, and is armed with

spines, various bristles, and a sort of tangled hair, which par-

tially covers the scale. It is shorter than the ventral branch,

obtuse, somewhat sinuated, and contains two spines: the dor-

sal fascicle of bristles is long, reflected backwards, the bristles

unequal in length, rather slender, sharp-pointed, smooth, and

curved: the next fascicle consists of similar bristles but shorter;

and there is a still lower fascicle of very slender ones. The

ventral branch (fig. 7.) of the foot is strong, rugose, obtusely

conoid, covered with minute transparent vesicles, and armed

with five stout bristles, and with a spine of a yellowish colour.

The bristles are not extruded from the extremity, but from a

sort of projection beneath it: the two upper ones are fili-

form, obtuse, and of a dark brown colour; the two next are

most protruded, smooth, paler, with a sharp slightly curved

point; and the under one is short and acutely pointed like a

dagger. This branch then is armed with no less than four

different sorts of bristles, calculated both to cut and lacerate

and to pierce any opposing body; but besides all these there

is a soft filament (inferior cirrus, fig. 7, a.) that originates from

a bulb near the base, and is long enough to reach considerably

beyond the extremity of the foot. This is evidently a feeler,

with which the worm acquaints itself with the nature of the

opposing body,—whether an enemy that it needs to repulse

by the extrusion of its formidable weapons, or a feebler ani-

mal that it can overcome and make its prey. To assist its

tactic powers there are besides many fentacular filaments on

each side, which originate from the dorsal branch of every al-

ternate foot: these are smooth and subulate, and, except in

their lesser size, resemble the palpi. The spines (fig. 8.) are

of a light yellow colour, tapering from a broad base to an ob-

tuse point, smooth and transparent: the bristles (fig. 9—12.)

are brown with a bronzed lustre, various in size and strength,

but all of them quite smooth. The surface of the belly has a

370 Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides.

pearly hue, and the skin is thickly covered with minute vesi-

cular granules (fig 13.), similar to those which are seen on

certain parts of the foot. The use of these is probably to give

the worm a firmer hold on the ground, and prevent any retro-

grade movement from the various evolutions of the feet. In

examining this complicated structure it is scarcely possible to

refrain from some expression of surprise. “In figuris ani-

mantium (etiam minutarum) quam solers subtilisque de-

seriptio partium, quamque admirabilis fabrica membrorum !

Omnia, enim, que quidem intus inclusa sunt, ita nata atque

ita locata sunt, ut nihil eorum supervacaneum sit, nihil ad

vitam detinendam non necessarium *.”

From the remarks of Audouin and Milne-Edwards, it ap-

pears that Aphrodita hystrix is subject to considerable va-

riety in size, shape, and in the length of its feet+; and of

course it would be frivolous to found any distinction of spe-

cies on these particulars. But an inspection of their figure

shows Aph. hystrix to be a more hispid worm than the one

now described ; and there are other characters which seem to

me sufficient to prove them distinct. I propose therefore to

call the British species Aph. borealis; and the specific cha-

racters of the two species may be thus given :—

APH. HysTRIXx, scales naked; proboscis with minute jaws ;

some bristles of the dorsal foot serrulate at their points ;

those of the ventral foot somewhat forked ; inferior cirrus

very short.— Aud. and Milne-Edwards, Litt. de la France,

ii. p. 70. pl. 1. fig. 1—9.

APH. BOREALIS, scales naked ; proboscis edentulous ; all the

bristles of the feet smooth ; those of the ventral a sim-

ple; inferior cirrus rather long.

Piate X. Fig. 1. Aph. borealis of the natural size. 2. The same on the

ventral aspect. 3. The anterior part magnified. 4. The same seen from

below. 5. The proboscis laid open. 6. An outline of a foot. 7. The

ventral branch of a foot more highly magnified. 8. Two spines. 9. Bristles

of the superior fascicle. 10. A filiform bristle. 11. A bristle from the

ventral branch. 12. Bristles from the inferior fascicle of the dorsal branch.

13. A portion of the skin of the belly magnified.

The Nereides in this collection were, 1. Nereis margarita-

* Cicero de Nat. Deor. lib, 2.

+ Hist. Nat. du Litt. de la France, ii. p. 74.

Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides. 371

cea, one of them measuring 7 inches in length, which exceeds

considerably any specimen I had previously seen ; 2. Nephtys

margaritacea; 3. Glycera alba or Nereis alba of Muller;

4, Fragments of a Psamathe, probably the same as P. fusca,

but greatly larger than my Berwickshire specimens; 5. Phy/-

lodoce lamelligera ; and Mr. Forbes mentioned to me that he

had also met with 6. Phyllodoce viridis.

In other families there were specimens of Cirrhatulus me-

dusa and of Amphitrite alveolata, and several of a marine Lum-

bricus, but so much injured and broken that I did not attempt

to ascertain the species. Of the family Lumbricide there was

another member, which first of all attracted my attention by

the remarkable development of the anterior bristles that form,

by their convergence, a large brush apparently terminating

the head. This worm probably belongs to the genus Tro-.

phonia of Audouin and Milne-Edwards, but I know this ge-

nus only by the incidental and slight notice taken of it in their

work on the Annelides errantes ; and have seen no characters

either of it or of its species.

TROPHONIA? GooDsIRII.

Plate XI. fig. I—10.

Desc. Worm from 3 to 4 inches long, as thick as a swan’s

quill, distinctly annulated, tapering insensibly backwards to

an obtuse point, subcylindrical, but so flaccid after maceration

in spirits that the sides almost fall together, of a uniform

earthy brown colour or blueish underneath, rough with nu-

merous granulations which are somewhat larger on the dorsal

than on the plane ventral surface. The cuticle or outer skin

is easily separable from the body, which then appears of a dull

leaden blue colour, more or less iridescent. Front armed

with a brush of long hair-like bristles. Segments between 50

and 60, homologous, narrower than broad, granulous, some-

what puckered and thickened on the sides, on which there are

two distant bundles of non-retractile bristles, but no papillous

feet. First segment very small, and as it were drawn within

the second: mouth subterminal, circular, edentulous, and un-

furnished with organs of any kind. The second segment is

rather less than the third, and from its anterior edge there

372 Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides.

originate, on each side, two brushes of long bristles that pro-

ject forwards; similar but shorter brushes are borne by the

third segment, and still shorter by the fourth, but still they

are long enough to mix with those of the second to form that

hairy brush which arms the front, and so remarkably charac-

terizes the worm. The bristles of the other segments are not

longer than the breadth of the body, and are either laid over

the back or projected from the sides. These long bristles

(fig. 6, 7.) all belong to the dorsal brush, which consists of

seven or eight, unequal in length, setaceous, smooth, slender

and flexible, and closely annulated like the antenna of a lobster

or Gammarus ; with them are intermixed a few much shorter

acicular bristles that are not annulated (fig. 8.): the bristles of

the ventral brush are short and also of two kinds,—one kind

setaceous and slender (fig. 10.),—the other stout, straight

until near the extremity, where it is bent into a sharp cutting

point: there are four or five of them in each brush (fig. 9.).

With a good magnifier we also discover that every one of the

granules of the skin is tipt with a very short rather blunt spine.

Anus terminal and simple.

From its softness and flaccidity, as well as from its struc-

ture, we may safely conclude that this worm burrows in the

soil after the manner of the Arenicola, which it in fact re-

sembles considerably. The brush of hairs on the anterior ex-

tremity will be in general protruded from the furrow, and is

probably subservient to the capture of the prey. ‘The hairs

are, in all our specimens, soiled and infested with sordes and

conferva-like filaments (fig. 6.), which, though they could not

be removed with a brush, are undoubtedly extraneous ; for the

hairs are not equally and alike so disfigured; for while some were

almost clean, others were greatly loaded with this foulness,

and none of it was found on the bristles of the lower seg-

ments.

Prate XI. Fig. 1. Zrophonia Goodsirii, natural size. 2. The anterior

segments from above; and 3. The same from below, magnified. 4. Three

segments laid open by an incision through the ventral surface and spread

out. 5. A portion of the skin highly magnified. 6, One of the front bristles.

7. A bristle from the dorsal brush of a segment from near the middle of the

body. 8. Another bristle from the same. 9. A bristle of the ventral brush ;

aud 10. One of the small ones that are associated with them.

Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides. 373

I have dedicated the species to Mr. Forbes’s companion,

who is already well known to comparative anatomists by his

ingenious researches into the development and structure of

the teeth ; and who promises to recommend himself to the

gratitude of naturalists by an investigation of our native ra-

diated animals.

The worm I am next to notice possesses a considerable de-

gree of interest, for some of the peculiar characters of three

families meet apparently in it, and it connects them more

closely than any genus hitherto discovered. The head reminds

us of the Echiurus,—a genus in the family Lumbricide ; the

position of the mouth is much the same as in Cirrhatulus, and

there is some analogy between them in the structure of the

feet, while the anus resembles that of Nerinne, which, as well

as Cirrhatulus, belongs to the Ariciade ; but then the form of

the body and its annular structure is that of Arenicola; and

notwithstanding some obvious discrepancies, this worm ought

perhaps to be referred to the family of which Arenicola is the

type, though there is no genus in it with which the species

before us can be associated. I therefore propose to create a

new genus in the family for its reception, to which the name

Travisia may be given, in commemoration of Mr. Travis, an

eminent surgeon in Scarborough, and one of those “ learned

and ingenious friends” to whose correspondence Mr. Pennant

was much indebted in preparing his British Zoology.

Family ARENICOLIDA.

1. Arenicola. Mouth terminal; branchiz arbuscular.

2. Travisia. Mouth ventral ; branchiz a simple filament.

TRAVISIA ForBEsII.

Plate XI. Fig. 11—18.

In figure this annelide is something between that of the

earth-worm and the leech : it is elliptical anteriorly, narrower

and subcylindrical in the posterior half, of a uniform dull

olive-green colour, smooth to the naked eye, distinctly an-

nular. Both sides are so alike that it is not easy to say at first

which is the dorsal and which the ventral; but the anterior

segments are so far unlike the posterior ones, that, to render

374 Dr. Johnston on the British Annelides.

the description more distinct, it may be advisable to consider

it as divided into an anterior and a caudal half.

The anterior half consists of about 14 segments, increasing

gradually in diameter till near the middle, when they begin

again to decrease a little. The first or cephalic segment is

very small, pellucid, triangular, sharp-pointed like a snout,

and somewhat concave underneath: it is destitute of every

kind of appendage. The second segment is rather broad, and

like the succeeding, excepting that it is single and without any

armature. ‘The other segments consist each of two, or some-

times three narrow rings ; and each of them is furnished, on

each side, with a dorsal brush of bristles, a long filament, a

circular pore, and a ventral brush of bristles, similar to the

dorsal, but smaller. On the secondary or intermediate rings

there are no bristles, but one, two, or even three pores. The

mouth is perforated between the third and fourth segments on

the ventral surface; it is circular, with thickened puckered

lips, edentulous, and without a proboscis.

The anterior segments pass by a sort of gradation into the

caudal ones, though it is not difficult to mark the distinction.

They are less in diameter, but broader in the opposite direc-

tion, and thickened on the sides, where there are two short

obtuse fleshy papillae. From the base, and below the dorsal

papilla, the soft filament or cirrus originates, which does not

exceed half the length of the anterior filaments. Close to the

cirrus there is a brush of bristles, but I could not discover a

second brush. There are thirteen of these caudal segments

with a very narrow one between each: the last but one is

small and unarmed, and the anal one is terminated with six

soft obtuse papillz forming a sort of cupped circle round the

vent.

The skin of the worm, under a magnifier, appears to be

granulated on the dorsal, and punctured on the ventral sur-

face. The bristles are slender, unequal, slightly curved, aci-

cular, smooth, and unjointed : they vary in number in the seg-

ments, but scarcely exceed twenty in any single fascicle, and

are never fewer than four or five. Those of the dorsal brush

are longer than those of the ventral, but do not otherwise differ;

and both brushes come from the skin, and not from a papil-

& > t M Fins al 3

—- i) ee eae

Mr. W. Thompson on the Botile-nosed Whale. 375

lous foot. There are no spines. The cirrus or branchial fila-.

ment is soft and filiform.

- It is necessary to observe that this description is drawn up

from the examination of a single specimen, which had grown

soft by maceration in the spirits, and was somewhat injured

by the carriage. Thus the filaments or cirri of several seg-

ments were broken away; and I ought to mention that there

were no traces of any on the third, fourth, and fifth segments.

The specimen was rather more than an inch in length, but,

from its structure, the worm is obviously capable of being

elongated to a considerable extent.

Puate XI. Fig. 11. Travisia Forbesii, of the natural size. 12. The same,

magnified. 13. The cephalic segments. 14. A side view of a segment

from near the middle. 15. A view of a caudal segment on the dorsal aspect.

16. The same on the ventral aspect. 17. The anal segments. 18. A few

bristles.

- KXLIV.—WNote on the Occurrence at various times of the Bottle-

nosed Whale (Hyperoodon Butzkopf, Lacep.) on the coast of

Ireland ; and on its nearly simultaneous appearance on dif-

Serent parts of the British coast in the autumn of 1839. By

Witi1am Tuompson, Esq., Vice-President of the Natural

History Society of Belfast.

In Bell’s ‘ British Quadrupeds,’ &c. published in 1837, the

latest work treating of our Cetacea, it is observed, with refer-

ence to the two individuals of this species recorded by Dale

and Hunter, that “these are the documents upon which alone

we have to depend as to the occurrence of the Hyperoodon on

the British shores.” The works of Jenyns* and Jardinet do

not contain any reference to other British specimens. More

recently Mr. Thompson of. Hull has, in the Magazine of Na-

tural History for 1838 (p. 221), described a whale of this spe-

cies which was stranded near that town in 1837, and whose

skeleton is preserved in the Hull Literary and Philosophical

Society.

The first particular record known to me of the occurrence

* Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 1835.

+ Naturalist’s Library, vol. on Whales, 1837.

376 Mr. W. Thompson on the Botile-nosed Whale.

of the Hyperoodon in Ireland, is contained in the Dublin Phi-

losophical Journal for March 1825, where Dr. Jacob (now Pro-

fessor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Royal College of Sur-

geons in Ireland) very fully and ably describes a specimen

dissected by him; and at the same time, after a due examina-

tion of its anatomy, treats of the place the genus should oc-

cupy among the Cetacea*. The individual which formed the

subject of the essay “was stranded at Killiney, a few miles

from Dublin, in the month of September [1824 ?].” Its per-

fect skeleton is preserved in the museum of the College of

Surgeons in Dublin. In Mr. Templeton’s Catalogue of Irish

Vertebrate Animalst+, the Hyperoodon is mentioned as “ occa-

sionally” met with.

From Dr. Jacob I learned in November last, that within

twenty-five years he has known four bottle-nosed whales to

be stranded within a short distance of Dublin—of these, all,

except the one particularly described by him, were taken at

Howth, near the entrance of the bay: on one occasion, two of

them occurred at the same time.

Early in the month of August 1836, two Hyperoodons were

stranded at Dunany Point, near Dundalk. A friend who saw

the specimens when quite recent, described them to me as

bottle-nosed whales, and on my sending to him for the pur-

pose of identification outlines of the individuals figured by

Dale and Hunter, he stated that the form of Dale’s figure repre-

sented them well. The larger of these animals was 17 feet in

length and 143 in girth; the other was somewhat smaller.

Having been stranded on the property of his relative, Lady

Bellingham, their heads were fortunately reserved for my

friend Dr. Bellingham of Dublin. I had lately an opportunity

of examining both of these specimens, one of which is in the

Museum of the School of Anatomy, Peter-street ; the other

in that of the Royal Dublin Society. In the latter collection is

the head of a second Hyperoodon, which in all probability was

* The name of Hyperoodon is objected to by Dr. Jacob as expressing what

the animal does not possess—teeth in the palate, this part having been aw

smooth as the rest of the mouth in the specimen he dissected. Ceto-diodon

was proposed by Dr. Jacob as a generic name, and Hunteri was applied by

him to the species. This elaborate memoir though published in 1825 is un-

noticed in any of the above-cited works.

+ Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. New Series,

Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale. 377

obtained on the Irish coast, but I could not ascertain the

locality whence it had been received: it is similar in size to

the smaller of the Dundalk specimens, and a very few inches

less than the larger, the measurements of which are as follow:

ft. in

Length from occiput to end of snout —.......-se0 4 6

Breadth of cranium.......c.cececessssesevessecessesens 2.4

PMMIEIEE OF LID, vc ocscnovenscnssrotaqsscesseaysas sais. 2 0

The crania of the four Hyperoodons preserved in Dublin are,

I conceive, referrible to one species, and are similar to those

represented in Cuvier’s ‘Ossemens Fossiles,’ pl. 225. ed. 1834.

F. Cuvier’s ‘Histoire Nat. des Cétacés,’ pl. 9; and Bell’s ‘ Brit.

Quad.’ &c. p.496. From what has been already published on

the subject any further remarks on these specimens seem to be

unnecessary. As supplementary to what appears in Mr. Bell’s

work, it may be added with reference to a specific character

about which there has been some obscurity, that in the indi-

viduals particularly described by Dr. Jacob and Mr, Thomp-

son of Hull, two teeth were present in the lower jaw; but in

neither instance were they apparent in the recent animal, but

were detected only when the gum was cut into in the prepa-

ration of the skeleton.

Having heard on the 20th September last, that a whale had

been captured at Ballyholme Bay, near Bangor (county Down),

on the 16th, I immediately set out for the place accompanied

by a scientific friend, Mr. Hyndman. A small portion only

of the animal then remained on the beach, the head, tail, and

entire skin with the blubber having been removed. This whale

was seen on the evening of the 16th Sept. in shallow water

not far from the shore, and a boat with the small complement

of three “ hands” gave chase. Fire-arms were discharged at

it, but these apparently not having any effect, its assailants

bound a rope to a pick-axe and drove this rude but successful

substitute for a harpoon into the animal, and about the same

time managed to throw a loop of rope round its body above

the tail, and thus with some little difficulty brought it captive

to the shore. Its length was stated to have been 24 feet,

the breadth of tail 6, the girth at the thickest part perhaps

from 18 to 20 feet; the weight was estimated at about 5 tons.

Ann. Nat. Mist. Vol.4. No. 26. Feb. 1840. 25

378 Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale.

The entire upper surface was of a blackish-grey colour, the

under parts somewhat paler. The stomach is said to have

contained the remains of shells, and what was described to be

like the “ feet of fowls’”—these I have little doubt were por-

tions of the arms or feet of cuttle-fish* (Sepiade). Although

it was late in the evening when this whale was brought ashore,

its captors at once commenced taking off the blubber, so that

unfortunately no person who would have felt a scientific in-

terest in the spectacle, had the opportunity of seeing the ani-

mal in a perfect state. During the progress of cutting up on

the day after its death, the body was still warm and smoking.

To the intelligent farmer whose property this whale became,

I showed all the figures of Cetacee in Mr. Bell’s work, when

he at once, from the narrow elongated snout, and head arising

abruptly from it, identified the specimen with the Hyperoodon,

objecting only to the snout not being represented so long

comparatively as in the real animal. To another respectable

farmer who had got its head, I exhibited these figures, and he

also immediately singled out the Hyperoodon, considering the

figure of Dale’s specimen as more characteristic of the general

form of the animal than that of Hunter’s; the tail of this

latter however being the better liked. The gape or opening

of the mouth was remarked to be thus “yor “ like the letter /”

—teeth none—the snout shaped like a bottle : it was similarly

described by our first informant. In a newspaper paragraph

* Dr. Jacob says of the Hyperoodon he dissected, that the oval cavity

into which the cesophagus opened “ contained a large quantity of the beaks

of cuttle-fishes, perhaps two quarts.”’ Again, in the Catalogue of the Museum

of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, p.161, there appears—‘ Cuttle-

fish bills found in the stomach of a Balena rostrata.” Apprehending that

this rather referred to the Hyperoodon than the Balena, I wrote to Dr. Jacob

respecting it, and learned in reply that the “ cuttle-bills” so mentioned were

those taken from the former species by him—this is noticed merely to prevent

error.- In the specimen of Balena rostrata dissected by Dr. Jacob, the re-

mains of herrings only were detected (Dublin Phil. Journ. November 1825,

p. 343). The Rev. Dr. Barclay remarks of the Round-headed Porpoise

(Delphinus melas) that ‘its favourite food seems to be cuttle-fish, of which

great quantities are generally found in the stomach.”—Bell’s. Brit. Quad.

485. In this species my friend R. Ball, Esq. has likewise observed the

remains of these cephalopods. In Mr. Hyndman’s possession are the beaks

of cuttle-fish taken from the stomach of a whale (but of what species I have

not learned) captured on the coast of Waterford some years ago, The con-

sumption of these animals by at least two species of our Cetacez would thus

seem to be considerable.

Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale. 379

respecting this whale, it was stated that “the blubber pro-

duced 140 gallons of oil, which were computed to be worth

above 20/. sterling.”

In connexion with the occurrence of this Hyperoodon on

the coast of Down, a novel and highly interesting fact is to

be recorded—that there evidently was a migration or simulta-

neous movement of these Cetacee towards the British shores

during the last autumn, several individuals having within a

very weeks been obtained in England and Scotland, as well as

Ireland; but all upon a limited range of coast bounding the

Trish sea and its vicinity. The first capture known to me is

that of the individual already recorded. In the ‘ Northern

Whig’ published at Belfast on the 26th Sept. it was stated,

that—“ A bottle-nosed whale, 20 feet long, was last week left

on the beach at Flimby near Cockermouth.” In the ‘ Bel-

fast News-letter’ of Oct. 1, appeared the following notice—

** A whale captured near Liverpool.—On Tuesday last, a whale

was left by the receding tide on Kast Hoyle bank and speedily

captured by the fishermen. Its length is 24 feet; its girth

round the centre of the body 13 feet*.” Although this is not

called the bottle-nosed species, it seems to mea fair presump-

tion so to consider the specimen, as its dimensions accord with

those of the other individuals taken about the same time, and

of which one was obtained on the coast of the adjacent county

of Cumberland. In the ‘ Belfast Commercial Chronicle’ of

Oct. 21, was this paragraph, copied from the Stranraer Ad-

vertiser :—

“ Capture of Whales in Lochryan.—On Tuesday morning

last, 15th of October+, a very unusual appearance presented

itself in Kirkcolm. Two monsters of the deep, of the bottle-

* In connexion with this paragraph it was observed—“ On Friday two

young whales were got in the Clyde, the one on the beach at Roseneath,

the other above Dumbarton or West Ferry.” Unfortunately no particulars

are given that would lead to a knowledge of the species. About the same

time it was mentioned in the newspapers, that a whale proceeding south-

mes had passed close to one of the packets plying between Holyhead and

ublin.

+ About four weeks previous to this time, a friend informed me that upon

two successive days a whale (which he saw) appeared off Ballantrae (Ayr-

shire), some miles north of Lochryan; on the second day it was about two

miles to the south of where it was seen on the preceding, and was still ad-

vancing southwards. .

2E 2

380 Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale.

nosed description of whale, had come round the Scaur and

embayed themselves; the receding tide swept its treacherous

waters from under them, and finding themselves grounded,

their mighty exertions were truly terrific, yet unavailing for

their extrication. Mr. Robertson of Clendry was the first

who took notice of the errant strangers, and arming him-

self and retainers with pitchforks and knives, repaired to

the scene of action, and commenced the terrible onslaught.

The dying agonies of the mighty monsters were truly tre-

mendous. Desperate from the repeated thrusts of the oppo-

nents, and from their inextricable position, their powerful tails

were wrought with astonishing effect. The water (of which

there was yet a quantity around them) was lashed into foam

and agitation, the crested waves stretching to an incredible

distance, while high in air the water ascended in one unbroken

sheet. From their biow-holes the crimsoned water was sent

in a jet, imposingly grand, to a great height. After similar

and protracted writhings, with a kind of snort or roar, their

fury subsided, and in a short time all was still. They were

towed to the shore amidst the gaze of numerous and wonder-

stricken spectators, a large number of whom arrived hourly

to inspect them. A number of men was then employed to cut.

off the blubber, of which there were thirteen barrels, loading

five carts. The dimensions of the largest fish was 24 feet 4

inches in length, and.16 feet at the thickest part in circum-

ference ; the smaller one about 16 feet long, and thick in pro-

portion. The tail of the largest was 6} feet in breadth.”

It is very probable that other paragraphs to the same effect

may have appeared in the newspapers, especially as those here

introduced I observed merely on a casual perusal of some of

those published in a provincial town. It is rarely that such

notices are of any service to the naturalist, but the very pe-

culiar form of the head of the animal under consideration

(whence it has received the name of Bottle-nosed Whale)

taken in connexion with the dimensions stated, leaves no

doubt in any instance here quoted that the Hyperoodon is al-

luded to. Were the size of the individual described about one

half of what is reported, then would there be a doubt whether

the captives might not have been the Bottle-nosed Dolphin

Professor Lindley on New Orchidacee. 381

(Delphinus Tursio, Fabr.), a much smaller species, having the

snout prolonged somewhat like that of the Hyperoodon, and

which is occasionally taken on the British coast.

The three Hyperoodons recorded to have occurred on the

English shores appeared singly. The two particularly de-

scribed by M. Baussard* were taken in company at Honfleur,

and considered a mother and her young—the one was 23, the

other 12 feet in length. Of the seven individuals captured on

the Irish coast, they on two occasions appeared in pairs ; and

in one of the three instances here copied from newspapers,

two of these whales were secured at the same time. It would

be interesting to know whether those which have so appeared

were male and female—at all events it wane seem that the

species is not gregarious.

So very little of the history of the Hyperoodon i is known,

that it is hoped even the few particulars here recorded may

prove an acceptable contribution.

XLV.—New Orchidacee. By Professor LinpLEy.

Haspenaria (A. § 1. xx. 0.) setifera; foliis ensiformibus ca-

rinatis erectis apice incurvis setiferis, caule foliato 1—2-

floro, bracteis inflatis ovario longipedunculato brevioribus,

petalis bipartitis : lacinia anteriore lineari posterioris lon-

gitudine, labelli tripartiti laciniis linearibus carnosis in-

termedia longiore, calcare pendulo clavato pedunculo sub-

eequali.i—Mezico, Ad Choapam, inter gramina, Junio.

Hartweg.

A plant allied to H. macroceras, of which it has much the

habit.

PLATANTHERA (§ 1. a.) limosa; caule folioso, foliis ensiformi-

bus erectis, racemo laxo multifloro, bracteis striatis acutis

floribus brevioribus, petalis ovatis sepalisque obtusis,

labello lineari convexo obtuso labello filiformi pendulo

pluries breviore.—Mezico, In paludibus, Anganguco,

juxta Asoleadero, Sept. Hartweg.

PLATANTHERA (§ 1. a.) volcanica; caule folioso, foliis ensi-

* F. Cuv. Hist. de Cet. pp. 242, 249.

382 Professor Lindley on New Orchidacex.

formibus erectis trinerviis, spicd elongata cylindraced,

bracteis herbaceis acuminatissimis floribus longioribus,

petalis ovatis sepalisque obtusis, labello lanceolato obtuso

medio subcalloso calcare filiformi tripld breviore, anthera

subhorizontali, rostello plano 3-lobo.— _Mewico: Real del

Monte, in agro volcanico prope Guajolote, Oct. Hart-

weg.

The stem of this plant is from 1 to 3 feet high, or even more,

Its nearest affinity is with P. leuwcostachya. The sepals are

herbaceous ; the petals and lip purple.

EripENDRUM falcatum; caule ramoso carnoso membranis

laxis imbricatis vaginato, foliis solitariis falcatis canali-

culatis acutis, fasciculis florum sessilibus: pedunculis

elongatis, sepalis petalisque lineari-lanceolatis patentis-

simis, labelli tripartiti basi bituberculati laciniis latera-

libus oblongis dimidiatis integris intermedia lineari-lan-

ceolata pauld longiore.—Mewico; Hacienda de S* Ana

prope Oaxacam, in rupibus et inter lapides, Maio. Hart-

weg.

A very fine species with large white flowers. Allied to EZ.

nocturnum, but with a totally different habit.

Er1pENDRUM (Amphiglottis) cochlidium; foliis distichis ovato- _

oblongis obtusis emarginatisque coriaceis, labelli laciniis

laceris subzequalibus callo carnoso excavato trilobo zequali

partim majoribus.—In Peruwvia Mathews (in hb. Hooker,

1868.). Flores verisimiliter flavi.

EpipEnDRuM (Amphiglottis) ellipticum (Graham) 8. flavum.

Adest varietas “ floribus pulchré flavis” insignis, caule

tripedali, in herb. Mart. in Brasilie campis editis Itaco-

lumi, prov. Min. Ger. lecta; nota nulla a varietate rosea

quantim video distinguenda.

Eripenprum (Amphiglottis) Martianum ; foliis distichis an-

gustis lanceolatis, caule apice ramoso squamis concavis

obtusiusculis vaginato, racemis corymbosis, petalis linea-

ribus obovatis obtusis sepalis multo angustioribus, la-

bello cordato subrepando basi bituberculato axi elevata.—

In Brasilie campestribus ad Villam Ricam, prov. Min.

Ger. Martius. Caulis 1[—2-pedalis. Flores pallide vi-

jet

SEGA Capes ey ESRC RIN Rian eee

baba

Professor Lindley on New Orchidacee. 383

rides, extiis margine et dorso punctis rubris. Labellum

convexum. . fuscato affine.

Epipenprvum (Amphiglottis) setiferum; foliis distichis lan-

ceolatis acutis, caule simplici squamis lineari-lanceolatis

acuniinatis sub floribus foliaceis vaginato, racemo cernuo,

bracteis longissimis setaceis, petalis linearibus obovatis

obtusis sepalis angustioribus, labello cordato integerrimo

reticulato acuto basi trituberculato.—In Brasilia, Gomes;

prov. Min. Ger. Martius. :

OrnitHocEePHALus Myrticola ; racemo pendulo hispido, se-

palis lateralibus petalisque rotundatis integerrimis reflexis

ciliatis, labello cordato-lanceolato acuminato canaliculato

callis baseos marginantibus distinctis integerrimis.—Citri

odorem spirat. In myrtaceis Brasilia, prope Bom Jesus

de Bananal, Maio, Descourtilz.

A very curious plant with short pendulous racemes of small

' white flowers. It has quite the habit of Oncidium iridifolium.

ORNITHOCEPHALUS grandiflorus; racemo erecto stricto glabro,

bracteis oblongis obtusis herbaceis, petalis labelloque cym-

biformi saccato denticulatis: basi crista biloba transversa

carnosa erosd aucto, dinandrio marginato denticulato.—

In Brasilie montibus Organ dictis, Gardner, 633.

A very fine species with large yellow flowers. The leaves

are oblong, obtuse, obscurely veined, and apparently much

thinner than is usual in this genus.

ORNITHOCEPHALUS apiculatus; foliis racemo erecto denso

multifloro multd brevioribus, petalis oblongis dentatis,

labello ovato concavo basi sagittato integerrimo apiculo

membranaceo acuto.—In Peruvia, Pavon.

A very small species, only 2 or 3 inches high, with flowers

apparently deep yellow.

ORNITHOCEPHALUS ciliatus; sepalis petalisque latioribus

membranaceis rotundatis reflexis ciliato-fimbriatis, la-

bello carnoso cordato canaliculato acuminato apice dila-

tato obtuso membranaceo, rachi hispida.—In Demerara,

Loddiges.

This species is nearly related to O. Myrticola, from which it

384 Professor Lindley on New Orchidacez.

differs in its fringed petals, and in the dilated rounded mem-

branous apex of its fleshy lip.

ORNITHOCEPHALUS inflexus; sepalis acutissimis erectis ca-

rinatis, petalis rotundatis serrulatis, labello oblongo acuto

concavo apice inflexo: margine baseos utrinque calloso.—

Mewico, Hartweg. |

CatraAsEetumM laminatum ; labello saccato apiculato basi fim-

briato: axi lamella unica alta basi biloba instructo, co-

lumna cirrhata.—Mezico, Hartweg.

A very fine species, remarkable for a deep plate running

along the labellum, from base to apex.

Dicu#a squarrosa; foliis linearibus squarroso-recurvis, flo-

ribus subterminalibus, labello cymbiformi sessili apiculato

columna glabra anticé unidentata.— Mewico, Hartweg.

Flowers large for the genus, apparently white.

ARPOPHYLLUM spicatum (Llave) ; folio carinato arcuato, pe-

dunculo spatha breviore.— Mewico, Hartweg.

Flowers deep purple, arranged in a spike about 3 inches

long,

ARPOPHYLLUM giganteum (Hartweg in litt.) ; folio ensiformi

plano, pedunculo spatha mult6 longiore.—Mezico, Hart-

weg. ,

This fine plant must be at least 3 feet high ; its flowers are

pale lilac, and disposed in a spike from 6 to 7 inches long.

CyrTOCHILUM graminifolium; foliis lineari-ensiformibus acu-

tissimis erectis racemo subpaniculato brevioribus, labello

obovato integerrimo basi 5-lamellato, columnz alis parvis

rotundatis,—Mewico, Hartweg.

This species is much like C. maculatum, but differs in the

form of its lip, its very narrow leaves, and smaller flowers.

SPIRANTHES ramentacea ; aphylla? vaginis caulis laxis mem-

branaceis acuminatis, labelli limbo concavo ovato inte-

gerrimo obtuso, ungue et columna in medio pubescenti-

bus.—Mevico; Prope Santa Barbara, regione calida,

Aprili, Hartweg.

This very curious species has altogether the appearance of

Altensteinia or of Apaturia.

‘ ee

f = . . READ

[2 A AOE OORT EAS ORE

EE HET co CBRE M ER RAEN eS

Aa ar penal

te Se ELE

Mr. W. S. MacLeay’s Note on the Annelida. 385

_Epipacris americana ; foliis inferioribus ovalibus superiori-

bus lanceolatis, bracteis floribus longioribus, racemo laxo

sursim pubescente, hypochilio medio muricato, epichilio

ovato acumine lato membranaceo.—Mewico; Juxta Rio

del Salto cataractas, locis umbrosis, Aprili, Hartweg ;

Nova Albion, Douglas; Texas, Drummond.

An American Epipactis is a great novelty ; this appears to

be the only species found as yet on that continent. It ranges

from the Columbia river as far as Mexico.

XLVI.—WNote on the Annelida. By W. S. MacLeay, M.A.,

F.L.S., &c. *

TueEse animals differ from true Annulosa in being herma-

phrodite, and in general red-blooded+. They are soft vermi-

form animals of an articulated structure, and which form the

immediate connexion between such Vertebrata as Amphioxus

and Myaine, and such Annulosa as Porocephalus and other

white-blooded Vermes, which have the sexes distinct.

I divide the Annelida as follows:

ANNELIDA.

Norma Group.

POLYPODA. -NESEIDINA. Animals free, having a distinct

Marine animals, head provided with either

: é a eyes or antennz or both.

sity § pee, PO, SERPULINA. Animals sedentary, and having

stinct feet. no head, provided with eyes

or antenne.

ABERRANT Group.

(LUMBRICINA. Animals without eyes or an-

tenn. Body externally seti-

gerous for locomotion. Arti-

culation distinct.

NEMERTINA. Animals aquatic, without eyes

or antennz. Body not ex-

ternally setigerous. Articu-

lation indistinct.

HIRUDINA. Animals provided generally

with eyes but not with an-

tennz. Body not externally

setigerous. Articulation di-

a stinct.

APODA.

Body without feet <

or a distinct head.

* From ‘The Silurian System,’ by R. I. Murchison, Esq., p. 699.

+ Milne Edwards is said in the public journals to have discovered that

386 Mr. W. S. MacLeay on the Annelida.

Nereipina, MacLeay.

These are the most perfect in their structure of all Annelida,

as they possess numerous organs and have a distinct head,

which is generally provided with eyes and antennz. Some of

them, after the manner of Serpulina, inhabit tubes, which

tubes are membranaceous, and formed by a transudation from

their body ; but in general the Nereidina are naked, and they

are always agile animals freely moving about in search of their

prey. Aristotle calls them, “ 2xoddmevdpar Caddoova Ta-

patrAnoiar TO elder Tals yepoalass,” (Lib. ii. c. 121.) 5 and it

is true that they are wonderfully like Centipedes. The fossil

impressions in the Llampeter Rocks, are too indistinct to

enable us to determine very accurately the genera and species

of Nereidina which there occur, more particularly as the ge-

neric characters in this group depend on such minute distine-

tions as are afforded by a study of the mouth, antenne and

eyes. I shall therefore consider the impressions fig. 1. and

fig. 2. Murchison, Sil. Sys. to belong to the

Genus NEREITES. A genus which comes very near to

Savigny’s genus Lycoris in its external appearance,

only the segments of the body are here perhaps more>

slender and in proportion longer than usual.

Spec. 1. Nereites Cambrensis. Murch. n. s.

The body of this species seems to have consisted of about

120 segments. The feet were half the length of aseg-

ment of the body, and the cirri of the feet were longer

than such segment.—7d. Pl. 27. f. 1.

Spec. 2. Nereites Sedgwickiit. Murch. n. s.

Body much more slender than that of N. Cambrensis, and

apparently consisting of a greater number of segments.

These segments have the feet attached to them appa-

rently inconspicuous, although the cirri are very di-

stinct. Pl. 27. f. 2.

N.B. The impression now under consideration was clearly

some Annelida are not provided with red blood; but the distinguished Sa-

vigny stated the same fact so long ago as the year 1823, for in his Systéme

des Annelides he places Clepsine among his Hirudinées. Nay, even Cuvier,

who first distinctly pointed out the group under the name of vers @ sang

rouge, has said that their blood is only generally red, Although herma~

phrodites, many of them require a reciprocal coitus.

Mr. W. 8S. Macleay on the Annelida. 387

that of an animal, as will appear by the figure, where the worm

has evidently, before coiling, with difficulty trailed itself along

in the mud, in a way, which any one accustomed to collect

these Annelida will at once recognise.

Genus MYRIANITES.

Body linear, very narrow, and formed of very numerous

segments with indistinct feet and short cirri.

Spec. 1. Myrianites MacLeati. Murch. n. s.—Pl. 27. f. 3.

N.B. The softness of the texture of the foregoing three

species of Annelida and the perfection of the impression in

fig. 1. make it very remarkable, that if articulated feet existed

in the Trilobites, some vestiges of them, even although mem-

branaceous, should not have come down to us more perfect

than those figured by Goldfuss. (See Ann. Scienc. Nat. vol. xv.

Pl. 2. f. 8. and pp. 665, 667 ante.)

SERPULINA, MacLeay.

These are sedentary animals without eyes or antennz. They

live in tubes which are either a natural transudation of their

body, and are either membranaceous or calcareous, or their

tubes are semifactitious, being then composed of an aggluti-

nation of particles of sand or other small substances. The cal-

careous nature of the tube in some Serpulina is very advan-

tageous for their preservation, and has thus enabled us to see

that such animals occurred frequently in the Upper Silurian

Rocks.

Genus SERPULITES.

Spec. 1. Serpulites longissimus. Murch. n. s. Pl. 5. f. 1.

Very long, hardly diminishing in diameter, compressed,

smooth, slightly tortuous, composed of numerous thin

layers of shell containing much animal matter.

No part of this extraordinary fossil has been observed at-

tached to other bodies; it forms large curves, sometimes al-

most circles, occasionally even a foot in diameter. The tube

is somuch compressed that its sides nearly touch, and that this

is the effect of pressure is shown by the form it has assumed.

Those parts which were nearly perpendicular to the direction

of the compressing force have resisted pressure most power-

fully, and fractures have taken place in longitudinal lines near

388 Prof. De Brignoli and Prof. Morren on the

such parts. The quantity of animal matter in the laminz

gives them an opalescent appearance. In structure, this fossil

resembles the Serpula compressa of Min. Con., tab. 598. f. 3;

but it does not diminish so rapidly. Width 3 an inch.

NeEMERTINA, MacLeay.

The Nemertina are white-blooded worms like some of the

Hirudina or Leeches. In this group, however, the character

of articulation becomes most indistinct. Rudolfi has placed

Gordius along with Nemertes (Ent. Syst. 572.); and if Gor-

dius goes into the group of Nemertina, it is possible that Fi-

laria may also. Nemertes Borlasii, is a long black sea-worm,

which is said to suck Testaceous Mollusca. The articulations

of its body become visible when it is contracted. If the long

vermiform impression in the Cambrian Rocks of Llampeter,

Murch. Sil. Syst. Pl. 27. f. 4. belong to organic substances,

it can only be referred to some animal between Gordius and

Nemertes, although probably nearer the former genus. As

yet, however, Gordii are only known to occur in fresh water,

whereas this fossil production, if it belong to the animal king-

dom, was evidently, like Nemertes, a native of the. sea.

Genus NEMERTITES?

Animal marine, with the linear body, of a Gordius or Fi-

laria.

Spec. 1. Nemertites Ollivantii. Murch. n.s. Pl. 27. f. 4.

—

XLVII.—WNotes on the Excitability and Movement of the Leaves

in the Species of Oxalis. By Professor J. De Brignoui

DE BrunuorF of Modena, and Prof. Morren of Liége.

In the Bulletin of the Royal Academy of Brussels for last

July, an extract is given by M. Morren, of a letter received by

him from Prof. de Brignoli of Modena, of the 23rd of May

1839, containing some interesting details relative to the exci-

tability and spontaneous movement of the leaves of Oxalis

stricta, which had been accidentally observed by two of his

pupils, one of whom had casually, whilst engaged in conver-

sation, been striking them with a small cane among the plants

that grew wild under the trees in the public garden.

excitability and movement of the Leaves of Oxalis. 389

“ After a litile while,” he observes, “they perceived that one of

_ these plants had changed the position of its leaves, and they at

once suspected that it was an irritable plant which I had never

mentioned in my lectures. I was in the botanic garden, which

is contiguous to the public garden, at the time ; they came and

told me of this fact, which was not less new to me than to them.

I went with them to the spot, and found that the plant was

the Ovalis stricta. This is not mentioned in the list of spe-

cies designated by authors as sensitive. 1 immediately repeated

the experiment upon other individuals and obtained the same

effect ; but ¢ must be teased a long while, as its movements are

much slower than those of the Mimosa pigra. I suspect that

if plants were observed with the requisite care, the phenome-

non of irritability would not be so rare as is supposed. The

irritability of the Oxalis sensitiva is already known. I have

made experiments upon all those cultivated in our botanic

garden, but I did not succeed in causing. the position of the

leaves to change. I believe that heat is the principal agent

in this phenomenon, because even the Hedysarum gyrans

slackens in its movements in autumn and during winter in

hothouses. I should think that all the species of Owxalis are

susceptible of contraction when irritated ; but as most of them

are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, it is possible that they

show no effects from concussion in our climate, whose greatest

heat never equals that of Africa. In the environs of Modena

we have neither the Ovalis acetosella nor Oxalis corniculata,

I have not therefore been able to make experiments upon

them.”

M. Morren in addition gives an account of some new ob-

servations which this communication had led him to make,

and which proved to be in every respect confirmatory of the

views of M. De Brignoli.

“The Ovalis sensitiva mentioned here by M. De Brignoli,

and originally from China, was indeed named by M. DeCan-

dolle from this fact Bropnyrum (Biophytum sensitivum) ; that

is to say, plant alive; its leaves are pinnate like those of Sen-

sitive plants. The East Indian Averrhoa bilimbi is another

of the Oxalidee in which the leaves are likewise excitable and

mobile. The Averrhoa carambola has its petioles mobile, as

390 Prof. De Brignoli and Prof. Morren on the

Bruce has shown*. These approximations prove that the

movement of the leaves of the true Oxalides may in fact ex-

tend to a multitude of species, since this genus is one of the

most numerous f.

During the great heats of the month of June, when the

thermometer was at + 35° (R.) in the sun, the excitability and

movement of the leaves were very evident in our three indi-

genous species of Oxalis: Oxalis acetosella, Oxalis stricta, and

Oxalis corniculata. When the sun darts his rays in the mid-

dle of the day directly on the leaves of these plants, their three

obcordate leaflets are level, horizontal, and so placed that the

margins which are directed towards the point of the heart, or

towards the very short partial petiole, nearly touch one an-

other ; so that then there is, so to say, no space between the

leaflets. This is the position of repose. Now if we strike the

common petiole with light but repeated blows, or if we agi-

tate by the same means the entire plant, we see, after the space

of a minute,—less if it be very hot, more if it be cool,—three

phzenomena take place.

1. The leaflets fold themselves up along their midrib just

like the moveable limb of the Dionea muscipula, in such a

manner that their two halves approach each other by their

upper surface ; the movement therefore in this case is from

below upwards, and it is a folding together.

2. Each lobe of the leaflet bends inwards, so that outwardly

and on its lower surface it presents a convexity more or less

decided. This is a movement of incurvation. |

3. Each partial petiole, although very short, bends itself

from above downwards, so as to cause the leaflets to hang

downwards, which then nearly touch each other by their

* Phil. Trans. vol. xxv. p. 356. An Account of the sensitive qualities of

the tree Averrhoa carambola.

+ M. Virey, in a paper entitled, “‘ Quelques considérations nouvelles sur

l’acidité dans les plantes irritables,’’ (Journal de Pharmacie, Paris, 1839,

No. V. 25e année, Mai, p. 289,) has fallen into three mistakes in what he says

of the irritability of the Biophytum and of the Averrhog. In the first place

he confounds the two genera in making Biophyta of the Averrhoa bilimbi

and Averrhoa carambola, which is not the case. In the next place, the Ox-

alis sensitiva being the same plant as the Biophytum sensitivum of DeCan-

dolle, it is by no means the stamina which are excitable, but the leaves, as

all authors say. Lastly, M. Virey has taken the Ovxalis sensitiva for a plant

distinct from the Biophytum,

excitability and movement of the Leaves of Oxalis. 391

lower surface around the common petiole which forms the

axis. This last movement is similar to that which takes place

in the evening at the time of the sleep of the plant, and which

has caused these leaves to be called dependent (folia depen-

dentia).

Of our three indigenous species, stricta and corniculata

showed me these movements with the highest degree of energy,

Oxalis acetosella has them less strong, but perhaps may have

them as evidently when in flower, a time at which I have not

observed it.

Every kind of exciting action provokes the same changes,

as the wind, and especially a slight compression of the mid-

dle of the leaf, or of the place where the three partial petioles

meet, between the thumb and fore finger.

In the botanic garden of the University of Liége I also

observed two species with three folioles: Owalis purpu-

rea (W.), and Oxalis carnosa (Mol.). The first, when placed

in a hothouse, showed the phznomena of excitability in the

highest degree. The three folioles, without considerably bend-

ing back their lobes by the movement of incurvation already

mentioned, curved downwards so as to touch one another two

and two by the half of their limb, by placing their inferior sur-

face one against the other.

Ozxalis carnosa is more sluggish. The old leaves were mo-

tionless ; the young ones, especially those which clothe the

upper part of the stalk, exhibit nevertheless the same excita-

bility, but the movement of incurvation is also less evident

in it.

In a sixth trifoliate species, Owalis tortuosa, the leaflets

were no longer entire enough to enable me to ascertain if it

were equally excitable.

Oxalis Deppei*, furnished with four leaflets, evinces an ex-

citability much more decided than the other species mentioned

* The Oxalis Deppet brought from Mexico to England in 1827, and

figured by Mr. Loddiges in his ‘ Botanical Cabinet,’ No. 1500, is the same

species as that which has been described and figured by our learned col-

league M. Lejeune in the Bulletin of the Academy, vol. ii. p. 334, 1835, by

the name of Owalis zonata. Known throughout England by its older name,

I have thought it right to continue it. It is not from the Cape of Good Hope,

but from Mexico.

392 Prof. De Brignoli and Prof. Morren on the

above. In its ordinary state, the leaflets, all quite open, quite

flat, spreading out upon the same plane, nearly touch at

their margins, beginning from the reddish zone, which then

seems to form a continuous circle on a deeply divided leaf. But

if you have just given the petiole some gentle fillips, in a

quarter or half a minute, when the sun shines upon the plant,

you see the leaflets fold up along their midrib, from the base

to the apex, then the two lobes curve inwards, and lastly the

partial petiole bend from above downwards, so as to cause the

leaflets to hang down. Two or three minutes after the fillips

the plant seems to be asleep.

A leaf teratologically developed with five leaflets exhibited

the same fact. It is unquestionably the species in which these

movements can be best observed.

These were the only species which were at my command.

In all of them the movement takes place without a shock,

without agitation, but little by little, insensibly; it can,

however, be ascertained all the better, as between a leaf the

leaflets of which are horizontal, and another where they are

vertical, the difference at once strikes the eye.

Our indigenous species are too small for observing the or-

gans of this mobility well, but Oxalis Deppei is well calculated

for observation and anatomy.

As in all plants moveable from excitation, the organs of mo-

tion reside in the apparatus itself which moves. Now here

the apparatus consists of: 1. The blade itself of the leaf, an

organ of incurvation; 2. The large midrib; 3. The partial

petiole ; the former being an organ for folding back, the latter

an organ of incurvation.

Now the blade of the leaf is composed, above, of a cuticle

with pinenchymatous cells, that is to say tabular-shaped (Mey-

en); beneath, of a cuticle with merenchymatous cells, swollen

up, like bladders, with numerous small linear stomata be-

tween all the raised cells, so that one amongst them is often

surrounded by six stomata; in the middle by a double dia-

chyma, whose upper plane is formed of prismatic or ovoidal

cells placed perpendicularly, and of such a size that upon the

length of a single tabuliform cell of the upper cuticle (derme)

there are six utriculi of the diachyma. The plane of the dia-

excitability and movement of the Leaves of Oxalis. 393

chyma is formed of ovoidal cells, placed transversely, and of

such a development that two of them are equal in diameter

to a merenchymatous cell of the inferior cuticle which is

equal to three or four fifths of a tabular cell of the superior

cuticle.

It follows from this structure that the cells of the infe-

rior mesophyllum are double the size of those of the upper

mesophyllum. The diachyma is moreover very rich in chlo-

rophyllum and in round clusters of crystals, occupying the

axis of the cells.

It seems to me evident that analogy with the other plants

which are moveable by excitation, should lead us to place

the cause of the incurvation of the blade in the inferior meso-

phyllum, the cells of which by turgescence elongate the in-

ferior pagina of the leaf, and thus cause the upper pagina or

the mesophyllum to fold upwards. The cellular tissue is here

also the essential organ of movement, and each cell a body

turgescent by excitability.

The midrib is very large in this plant; it is three or four

times larger than the secondary nerves, and it extends

straight and rigid from the basis of the leaflet to its apex. It

is transparent and juicy. This.nerve reminded me of the

structure which I discovered in former dissections in the

Dionea muscipula.

Its cuticle is formed of little cells as high as they are wide,

nearly cubical, with very strong parietes. Four or five cor-

respond in width to the diameter of a single infrajacent cell.

Such a structure itself enables this cuticle to follow all the di-

latations that its interior mass can undergo. Directly within

this cuticle there occurs a cellular plane greatly developed,

formed of large cells, irregularly merenchymatous, with

strong parietes, and leaving between them passages, the

section of which is a triangle. There is little chromule, but

intracellular fluid in abundance. Each cell is the double

of those of a more interior cellular plane, and the quadruple or

the quintuple of those of the external cuticle. This plane of

great cells has them four or five in a row. Then come towards

the upper part of the midrib some chromuliferous cells, which

immediately surround a channeled plane of vessels, a channel,

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 26. Feb, 1840. 2F

394 Prof. De Brignoli and Prof. Morren on the

the hollow of which is directed upwards, and which is filled

with little cells and sap vessels.

This structure reminds us of that of the petiole of the Mi-

mosa pudica. The distention of the great cells of the lower

plane of the midrib must force the two half blades of the leaf

to approach each other; and this enlargement, produced by

excitability and allowed by the intercellular passages, thus

becomes the proximate cause of the folding up of the two lobes .

of the leaflet of Oxalis Deppei all along the nervure. There is

the same mechanism and a very analogous structure in the

Dionea muscipula.

There is no pulvinus at the base of the leaflets of the Ovahs

as in the Mimose, but there is a peculiar organization in this

part which answers the purpose of this organ. If we observe

attentively how the leaflet is articulated to the petiole on the

under side, we find that the midrib terminates in a crescent,

the concave of which faces the petiole. The petiole in its turn

ends in another crescent, the concave of which faces the leaflet;

so that the partial petiole, which is so short as not to exceed

a millimetre and a half, is terminated by two opposite cre-

scent-shaped articulations, the convexities of which face each

other. Thus much for the under part of the leaf.

As for the upper part, the two margins of the leaflet sie

converge at the base of the leaflet to form the point of the

heart, become imperceptibly thicker and unite to form a kind

of crescent-shaped bridle, whose concave is turned towards

the leaflet. The common petiole receives in its turn the par-

tial petiole by a crescent-shaped articulation, but which, in

this instance, has its concave turned towards the leaflet, that

is to say, it is a crescent parallel to the first. Between them

spreads a red cuticle, which is strongly plaited crosswise.

The transverse section of this organ gives that of a depressed

cylinder formed of a strongly resisting cuticle, consisting of

ovoidal cells lying flatwise, the parietes of which are of the

thickest. Then comes a fully developed layer of cellular tis-

sue with cells plainly merenchymatous, forming at least a

dozen rows. Each cell has a central mass of chromule. There

are fewer rows of cells (from 8 to 9) towards the upper part

of the partial petiole. In the centre of this, but a little higher

excitability and movement of the Leaves of Oxalis. 395

than the geometric centre, are the air vessels (trachez) below,

- and the sap vessels above, surrounded by smaller and more

fully coloured cells. ;

This organization is fundamentally that of the pulvinus of

Mimosa pudica. When the merenchymatous cells of the cor-

tical part of the lower zone are distended or turgescent, the

leaflets are horizontal ; when their turgescence stops and that

of the cells of the upper zone predominates, the leaflets droop,

as in the natural sleep of this Ovalis, and as takes place after

it has been subjected to disturbance.

At any rate, the excitability of the cellular planes and of each

cell in particular, and the distention which is the manifestation

of it, must be admitted to account for the different positions

which the leaves of the Oxalis take when they are struck.

The movement of the leaves of the Ovalis, although slower

than that of the sensitive plants, is also not on that account less

remarkable ; it is even so much the more interesting to us, as,

taking place in our indigenous plants, we can the better ob-

serve it; the physiological study of our national species hence

obtains a new attraction, and the discovery of M. De Brignoli

and his pupils has led in its turn to the discovery of an ana-

logy of structure between the leaves of the Oxalidez and those

of the Mimosz; an analogy which could hardly have been

expected, but which is fully proved by direct observation.

The moveableness of Oxalis is the more singular, as M. De

Candolle has not been able to modify the sleep of these plants,

either by means of darkness or light, whence he concluded that

the movements of sleep and awakening were connected with

a periodical disposition of motion inherent in the plant*. We

see, however, that a simple blow makes the leaflets when awake

take the posture of sleeping leaflets.

M. Virey, in his ‘ Considérations nouvelles sur l’acidité dans

les plantes irritables+,’ has made evident by the recapitulation

of the species in which the movement of any organ has been

observed, that most of them were acid; this is indeed a cu-

rious analogy to demonstrate, but which proves nothing, for

we cannot see what connexion there should be between a thing

* Physiologie, vol. ii. p. 861.

+ Journal de Pharmacie, 1839, May, p. 289.

2F2

396 Mr. T.C. Eyton on the Fauna of Shropshire.

which is acid and a thing which moves. In relation to this

M. Virey says that he knows no blue (alkaline) flowers in

which there is any movement. We will name to him a blue

flower, Goldfussia anisophylla, in which the style is one of the

most mobile*. On the subject of these excitable plants, M.

Virey has quoted our observations on Stylidium graminifo-

lium+, but he makes us say things quite contrary to what we

have written. Thus, we have nowhere said that the gynandric

column of the Stylidieze was articulated at its base by two op-

posite or antagonist fibres or muscles. Never should we have

allowed ourselves to look upon vegetable fibres as muscles ;

we said (at pp. 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the memoir quoted) that

these fibres exist all along the column, right and left. We

never said that the column was irritable at its base, for it

is not so; it is irritable at its elbow, and we have figured it five

times: never did we say that we had found fecule in these

muscles, as M. Virey asserts ; quite otherwise; we wrote (p. 18)

that the fibres had no influence on the movement, since when

they were cut, the movement still took place. What is in our

memoir is this: our idea is very clear; it is the feculiferous

portion of the column which moves, and the same thing takes

place in all the species of the genus Stylidium. This is an ir-

refragable fact ; whether it agree or not with received theories,

signifies little; in the natural sciences facts go before all

things, and it is by them alone that we can attain to truth.

XLVIII.—An attempt to ascertain the Fauna of Shropshire

and North Wales. By T. C. Eyron, Esq., F.L.S.

[Continued from vol. iii. p. 29.]

Additions to VERTEBRATA.

Vespertilio Nattereri, Kahl. (Reddish Grey Bat.) One specimen

is in my possession, taken at Eyton.

Sorex araneus, Linn. Since the publication of the former portion

of this series of papers, the discovery of the Rev. L. Jenyns, that this

* Morren, Recherches sur le Mouvement et l’Anatomie du Style du Gold-

fussia anisophylla, 4to. Brux. 1839, avec 2 pl_—Mem. de l’Acad. t. xii.

+ Morren, Recherches sur le Mouvement et l’Anatomie du Stylidium gra-

minifolium, Brux. in 4to, 1838, Mem. de |’ Acad. t, xi.

Mr. T. C. Eyton on the Fauna of Shropshire. 397

species does not coincide with that so called on the continent, has

been made known to the world; the name therefore which has been

applied to it must be here adopted in the place of that before given ;

viz. for S. araneus read S. rusticus, Jen.

Sorex tetragonurus, Durer., Jen. (Square-tailed Shrew.) I have

lately captured one specimen of this shrew in the marshy meadows

bordering the river Tearne between Longdon and Allscot ; its length

from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail is 3 inches.

Arvicola pratensis, Bail. (Bank Vole.) Several times taken near

Eyton.

Sula Bassana, Linn. (Gannet.) A specimen has lately been brought

to me alive, caught during a high wind quite exhausted: it became

so tame after a few days that it would take fish from the hand.

INVERTEBRATA.

Land and Freshwater Mollusca.

Arion ater, Fer. Common.

Limaz cinereus, Linn. Common.

Lima agrestis, Linn. Common under stones and logs of wood

in autumn.

Vitrina pellucida, Mull. Common.

Succinea, Drap. Succinea amphibia, Turton, Manual, and S. am-

phibia, Drap., are two distinct shells; but S. oblonga, Turt., is S. am-

phibia, Drap. Helix peregra, Mont., is not either of these, but ap-

pears to be a true Succinea, although quoted by Turton as a synonym

to Limneus pereger, but is the shell figured by Pennant under the

name of Helix putris. With S. amphibia, Turt., I am unacquainted.

The synonyms of the British species of the genus which I have had

an opportunity of examining will therefore stand thus :—

Succinea amphibia, Drap. S. oblonga, Turt. Helix putris, Mont.

Not uncommon about Eyton.

Succinea peregra. Helix peregra, Mont. Helix putris, Penn. Com-

mon; adhering to water plants.

Heliz arbustorum, Linn. Common.

Helix aspersa, Gmel. Common in many localities, particularly on

the walls of Beaumaris Castle, also near Rhoscolyn on Holyhead

Island.

Heliz nemoralis, Linn. Innumerable varieties of this common shell

occur.

Helix hortensis, Linn. Occasionally occurs at Eyton.

Helix rufescens, Mont. Found on most sand hills near the sea.

398 Mr. T. C. Eyton on the Fauna of Shropshire. —

Helix hispida, Mont. H. sericea, Drap. Common.

Helix lucida, Drap. Common. |

Helix radiata, Mont. H. rotundata, Mull., Drap. Common.

Helix ericetorum, Linn. At Rhoscolyn and Towyn Maren

common on stones and walls on the sea shore.

Bulimus fasciatus, Mont. B. acutus, Mull. Common on most

sandy shores above high water mark, and where there is some slight

vegetation.

Pupu Secale, Drap. Very common at Eyton in the autumn, ad-

hering to the under side of logs of wood and stones.

Cyclostoma obtusum, Drap. Common on the Weald moors, adhe-

ring to water plants.

Planorbis carinatus, Drap. Common in ditches on the Weald

moors.

Planorbis vortex, Mull. Common in the same locality as the last.

Planorbis contortus, Turt. Also common on the Weald Moors.

Planorbis nitidus, Mull. Notso common as the foregoing species,

but found in the same locality. The Planorbis nitidus of Muller ap-

pears to be the P. complanata of Drap.; P. nitidus of Drap. is pro-

bably the P. contortus of Turton and Linnzus.

Planorbis marginatus, Drap. Common at Eyton.

Limneus magnalis, Linn. Once taken at Eyton.

Limneus palustris, Linn. and Drap. Common. I also find a va-

riety of this species not quite so robust, and never growing to so large

a size as the true palustris.

Limneus elongatus, Drap. Once only taken near Watford in a

peaty ditch.

Limneus auricularius, Linn., Drap. Common. |

Anchylus fluviatilis, Mull. Common: attached to stones in most

streams in Shropshire.

Anchylus lacustris, Mull. ‘Twice taken in a mountain stream near

Capel Curig.

Paludina impura, Lamk. Common.

Paludina similis, Jeff. P. viridis, Turt. Common on the Weald

Moors.

Anodon cygneus, Lamk. Common in pools and in the Shrewsbury

canal.

Anodon anatinus, Lamk. Also common in the same localities

with the last; the remaining species of this genus are exceedingly

doubtful.

Mysca Pictorum, Turt. Common.

Unio Ratana, Lamk. Occasionally taken at Watford.

Dr. Cantor on Indian Fish producing Isinglass. 399

Cyclas cornea, Linn. Common.

Cyclas calyculata, Drap. The only locality I know for this shell

in the district is in a marl pit near Hutton Grange.

Pisidium obtusale, Pf. Common on the Weald Moors.

Pisidium pusillum, Jen. I have at different times taken two or three

specimens of this shell on the Weald Moors.

Pisidium nitidum, Jen. Not very uncommon on the Weald Moors.

Pisidium ammeum, Mull. Taken in the same locality with the last.

XLIX.—On the production of Isinglass from Indian Fishes.

By Dr. Cantor, Corresponding Member of the Zoological

Society *.

In the December Number, 1838, of Behaey s Oriental Herald

appears a letter ‘On the Suleah Fish of Bengal, and the Isinglass it

affords’: the description of this fish I shall quote in the words of

the anonymous writer. ‘The Suleah Fish,” he observes, ‘‘ when at

ai its full size, runs about four feet in length, and is squaliform, resem-

S bling the Shark species in appearance, but exhibiting a more delicate

4 structure than the latter. The meat of this fish is exceedingly

3! coarse, and is converted by the natives, when salted and spiced, into

‘burtah,’ a piquant relish, well known at the breakfast-tables of

Bengal. The bladder of the Suleah may be considered the most

valuable part of it, which, when exposed to the sun and suffered to

dry, becomes purely pellucid, and so hard that it will repel the edge

of a sharp knife when applied to it. ‘These bladders vary from half

a pound to three quarters of a pound ayoirdupois in weight, when

perfectly dry. ... The Suleah Fish abounds in Channel Creek, off

Saugor, and in the ostia or mouths of all the rivers which intersect

the Sunderbuns, and are exceedingly plentiful at certain seasons.”

Conceiving the great importance of the discovery of isinglass

being a product of India, I was naturally anxious to examine the

source, arising from-a branch of natural history to which in particular

I have devoted my attention ; but from the general nature of the de-

scription, I was obliged to defer my desire of identifying the fish till

some future opportunity should enable me to do so. Quite unex-

pectedly, however, a few days ago, the last overland despatch brought

me a letter from my valued friend Mr. McClelland, a Corresponding

Member of this Society, an extract of which, bearing upon the point

in question, I lose no time in laying before the Society :—‘....I

have now to mention what is of far greater importance in another

* Read before the Zoological Society, July 23, 1839.

400 Dr. Cantor on Indian Fish producing Isinglass.

point of view, namely, that the Suleah Fish described in a recent

number of Parbury’s Oriental Herald is the Polynemus Sele of Ha-

milton. I have examined that species, and found an individual of

two pounds weight to yield sixty-five grains of pure isinglass, an ar-

ticle which here sells at sixteen rupees (1/. 12s.) per Ib. Refer to

your dissections of Po/ynemi; mark those with large air-vessels to be

isinglass, requiring no other preparation than merely removing the

vascular membrane that covers them, washing with lime-water, and

drying in the sun. You know the size these fishes attain, and the

number in which they abound in the Sunderbuns; you also know

the method of taking them, and can therefore state to what extent

isinglass may be obtained in India. I have sent a paper on the sub-

ject to the Journal of the Asiatic Society*, which I will send you

by the next overland despatch.’

Perceiving by this that the subject has been taken up by a na-

turalist of Mr. McClelland’s rank, and that we ere long may expect

his observations embodied in a paper from his hand, I think it suf-

ficient to confine myself to a few general remarks upon those species

of Polynemus which have come under my actual examination while

I was attached as surgeon to the Hon. Company’s survey of the

sea-face of the Gangetic Delta.

The species best known is the Polynemus risua, Hamilton; Pol.

longifilis, Cuvier ; the Tupsee or Mango Fish of the Anglo-Indians ;

this inhabits the Bay of Bengal and the estuaries of the Ganges,

but enters the mouths of. the rivers, even higher up than Calcutta,

during the breeding-season (April and May), when the fish is con-

sidered in its highest perfection, and is greedily sought as a great

delicacy. This species is the smallest, for its length seldom exceeds

eight or nine inches, and one and a half to two inches in depth.

Polynemus aureus and Topsui, Hamilton, are species closely allied to

this.

Polynemus sele, Hamilton, P. plebewus, Broussonnais, P. lineatus,

Lacépéde, is the Suleah Fish mentioned in Parbury’s Oriental Herald,

the same which Mr. McClelland submitted to examination. This

species, as well as another closely allied to P. quadrifilis, Cuvier,

which I have dissected, figured, and described, under the name of

P. Salliah (Saccolih), appears equally plentiful, in shoals, all the

year round in the estuaries of the Ganges, and is appreciated by

Europeans and natives for its excellent flavour. Both species at-

tain a size from three to four feet in length, and eight to ten inches

in depth.

* See the following article.

Mr. McClelland on Isinglass in Polynemus sele. 401

In a paper which I had the honour of communicating to the Royal

Asiatic Society*, the genus Polynemus,among others, was pointed out

by me as forming an article of food fit for curing, and easily procurable

in almost any quantity: by the discovery that it produces isinglass,

it has attained an additional interest; and I have no doubt the ma-

nufacture of this article will, when entrusted to judicious hands,

form another valuable article of exportation from India.

L.—On Isinglass in Polynemus sele, Buch., a species which

is very common in the Estuaries of the Ganges. By

J. McCLELLAND, Esq., Assistant Surgeont.

Tuere are nine species of Polynemi, or Paradise fishes, enumerated

by authors, and although they are all pretty well described, I am not

aware of any more valuable property being known regarding them

than their excellence as an article of food, of which we have a fa-

miliar instance at this season in the Pol. paradiseus, or Mango-fish,

Tupsi Muchi of the Bengalese.

Buchanan has five species in his work on Gangetic Fishes, but .

three of these are small, and probably varieties only of the Tupsz ;

two of them, however, are of great size, and so common in the es-

tuary of the Hoogly, that J have seen numerous hackeries, or bullock

carts, conveying them to the Calcutta bazar, during the cold season.

They are not confined to the estuary of the Hoogly, but probably

extend to all the estuaries of the Ganges, as Buchanan says they do;

and we know that Dr. Russell also describes two large species in his

work, long since published, on the fishes of the Madras Coast.

The very valuable production, Isinglass, having been recently

found to be yielded by one of the fishes of the Hoogly by a writer

in Parbury’s Oriental Herald, it became an interesting object to

determine the systematic name of the fish affording an article so

valuable, and to learn as much as possible regarding its habits,

Having procured a specimen of this fish from the bazar, I was sur-

prised to find it to be a Polynemus, or Paradise fish, although the

writer alluded to described it as resembling a Shark. My surprise

was not that a person unacquainted with fishes should compare it to

a Shark, or to anything else, but that a nearly allied species to the

Mango-fish should contain a natatory vessel of such size and value,

* Published in the Journal of the Royal Asiastic Society of Great Britain

and Ireland, No. ix., August 1838, p. 165.

+ From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 87, p. 203.

402 Mr. McClelland on Isinglass in Polynemus sele.

while that organ is quite absent in the Mango-fish itself, though | a

general character of nearly all others.

I had come to the determination never to describe single or de-

tached species of fish ; but as the object of this paper is to elucidate

the commercial side of a question already before the public, I shall

not pretend to offer any remarks on the scientific part of the subject,

which is indeed beyond my province, as my observations have hi-

therto been confined to the fresh water species of India.

The species affording the Isinglass is the Polynemus sele, Buch. ;

Sele, or Sulea, of the Bengalese, described, but not figured, in the

Gangetic Fishes; but if Buchanan’s drawings had not been placed

under a bushel since 1815, probably this useful discovery would

have been sooner made, and better understood by the writer in Par-

bury’s Oriental Herald, to whom we are indebted for it.

The figure [given in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, ]

from Buchanan’s unpublished collection at the Botanic Garden,

conveys an excellent representation, about half-size, of a specimen

from which I obtained 66 grains of Isinglass: but as the writer in

-Parbury’s Oriental Herald states that from half a pound to.three

quarters of a pound is obtained from each fish, we may suppose

either that P. sele attains a much greater size than 24 pounds, the

limit given to it by Buchanan, or, that the Isinglass is also afforded

by a far larger species, namely Polynemus teria, Buch. or Teria

was informed sometimes equals three hundred and twenty pounds

avoirdupois, and which I frequently have seen of an uniform size,

that must have been from fifty to a hundred pounds at least, load-

ing whole cavalcades of hackeries at once on their way to the Cal-

cutta bazar, as I have already stated, during the cold season, when

they would consequently seem to be very common.

Although the sound, or natatory vessel is the part of the fish that

would afford the principal inducement to form fisheries, one of the

obligations that speculators should be obliged to enter into with the

Government is, to cure all parts of such fishes as might be taken for

their sound. Considering the scarcity of fish in many parts of India,

and the great, I may say unlimited demand for it in some parts of

the country even when badly preserved, as well as the excellence of

the flesh of all the Polynemi, the curing of these fishes might prove

no less profitable to the parties themselves, than it would unques-

tionably be to the country. I was happy to find the attention of the

Royal Asiatic Society directed to the subject of curing fishes in

AR ‘Sate

Mr. McClelland on Isinglass in Polynemus sele. 403

India by Dr. Cantor, (vide Proceedings, 21st April, 1838) but a

something was then wanting to be known in order to give a direct

inducement to the undertaking*. I therefore regard the discovery

of the Ichthyocolla of commerce in one of the larger Polynemi of

India as a circumstance eminently calculated to direct attention to

a promising and almost unlooked for source of enterprise. We first

of all require to know whether more Polynemi than one afford it,

and to be fully acquainted with the habits and the methods already

employed for taking such asdo. Polynemus sele, Buch. is the species

I examined and found to contain it; but this species is supposed to

be a variety only of Polynemus lineatus, which is very common on

all the shores to the eastward ; it therefore becomes a question of

some importance to determine whether P. lineatus yields the same

valuable article, and if it be really common to the eastward; if so,

it seems strange that the Chinese should send for it to the Hoogly.

Next, do the Pol. Emoi and Pol. plebeius, supposed by Buchanan to

correspond with his Sele, contain the same valuable substance? and

do either of Russell’s species, namely, the Maga booshee and Maga

_ jellee, (Indian Fishes, 183, 184,) yield it? These are questions

easily determined along our coasts by merely opening such fish as

correspond with the one figured, and ascertaining whether they con-

tain an air vessel or not, and whether that vessel if present be large

or small. Mergui, Batavia, Singapore, Tranquebar, Madras, and

* Should Dr. Cantor still be in London, I would recommend those who

may be interested in the important question of Isinglass to consult him, as

no one is so competent to afford information regarding the fish by which that

article is yielded in India. He will, I am confident, on a re-examination

of his notes regarding the Polynemi, readily distinguish those with large

sounds, and be able to afford more valuable information regarding their

habits, and the quantities in which they are procurable, than could be ex-

pected from any one who had not devoted his thoughts to the subject, du-

ring a survey of the place in which these fishes occur. I am not sure that

the species of Polynemus Dr. Cantor particularly refers to in his paper as

the Salliah, or Saccolih, is not the very fish that affords Isinglass ; if so, it

appears to be considered by Dr. Cantor as a new species, and his notes will

obably afford all that it is essential to know regarding its habits. Thus,

as Sir J. E. Smith somewhere observed, “ the naturalist who describes a new

species, however trifling it may seem, knows not what benefit that species

may yet confer on mankind.”

In an interesting account of Kurachee by Lieut. Carloss, read at the last

anniversary Meeting of the Bombay Geographical Society, cod sounds and

sharks’ fins are mentioned among the exports from that place, and fishing is

said to be carried on to a considerable extent along the coast of Sinde. As

however the Cod, Morrhua vulgaris, Cuv., is quite unknown in the Indian

Seas, the species from which the sounds alluded to by Lieut. Carloss are

taken are no doubt Polynemi, the larger species of which are sometimes

called by the English, Rock-Cod. It will be curious to learn if the Chinese

have monopolised this trade on the coast of Sinde as well as in the Hoogly.

404 Mr. McClelland on Isinglass in Polynemus sele.

Bombay are points at which observations might be made. This ques-

may be so easily ascertained, that it is hardly worth forming a con-

jecture about it; but if any of the species common to the coasts of the

Eastern seas possessed so valuable a property, the chances are that

it would have been long since discovered. It is therefore probable

that the large gelatine sound will be found to be peculiar to Pol. sele,

and perhaps Pol. teria,* Buch. both of which seem to resort chiefly

to the Gangetic estuaries at certain seasons, particularly during the

North-east monsoon, when it is easy to imagine that the shelter af-

forded in those estuaries at that season, might account for many

peculiarities which their ichthyology appears to present, compared

with that of open coasts. It is during the cold season that the two

gigantic fishes above mentioned appear to be caught in most abun-

dance, a circumstance the more favourable to any improved opera-

tions that might be resorted to with a view to convert them to useful

purposes. Whether both contain the same valuable substance, I am

unable to say, having as yet only examined P. sele.

Gren.—POLYNEMUS.

Two fins on the back, with long filaments attached to the sides in

front of the pectoral fins. Opercula covered with scales; preoper-

culum serrated behind. Example. The common Mango-fish of

Bengal.

YreLp1nG Istneuass.

P. Sele, Buch. Plate—

Sele, or Sulea of the Bengalese.

Five filaments, the first reaching from the front of the pectorals

to midway between those fins and the anal, the other filaments pro-

gressively shorter; no streaks on the sides, lateral line deflected on

the lower lobe of the caudal fin. The fin rays are as follows :—first

dorsal seven, second dorsal fourteen, pectorals thirteen in each,

ventrals each six, anal twelve or thirteen, caudal twenty (?) The

teeth are very fine, continuous below round the edges of the jaws,

but interrupted at the anterior part of the upper jaw, behind which

a small detached group of palatine teeth are placed on the vomer.

The liver consists of an elongated left lobe and a short right one,

under which the gall bladder is situated. The stomach is a short

muscular cul-de-sac, both orifices of which being placed at the an-

terior extremity, from which numerous small cece are given off, the

intestine extends straight to the vent; in all these respects it corre-

sponds nearly with P. paradiseus. The air vessel, which is quite absent

* P, quadrifilis, Cuv. P. tetradactylus, &c. and probably refer to the same.

The Rey. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 405

in the latter, and on which the peculiar value of this species seems

to depend, is a large spindle-shaped organ about half the length of

the fish, thick in the middle and tapering toward the extremities,

where it ends in front by two, and behind by a single tendinous

cord; similar small tendinous attachments, about twenty-two in

number, connect it on either side to the upper and lateral parts of

the abdominal cavity. This organ, which is called the sound, is to

be removed, opened, and stript of a thin vascular membrane which

covers it both within and without, washed perhaps with lime water

and exposed to the sun, when it will soon become dry and hard; it

may require some further preparation to deprive it of its fishy smell,

after which it may be drawn into shreds for the purpose of render-

ing it the more easily soluble. The fish which I examined weighed

_ about two pounds and yielded about sixty-five grains of Isinglass,

not quite pure, but containing about 10 per cent. of albuminous

matter, owing perhaps to the individual from which it was taken

being young and out of season, and not above a tenth part of the

ordinary size of the species. But the solution after having been

strained appeared to be equal to that of the best Isinglass, which

costs in Calcutta from twelve to sixteen rupees a pound. As the

subject thus seemed to be of consequence, I gave a portion of the

substance in question to Dr, O’Shaughnessy for its chemical ex-

amination.

Caleutta, 3rd May, 1839.

LI.—A Supplement to the Synopsis of the Fishes of Madeira*

im the Second Volume of the Transactions of the Zoological

Society. By the Rev. R. T. Lowe.

Fam. Percipz.

Genus CaLLANTHIAS.

Gen. char.—Head scaly, except the short muzzle before the eyes ;

teeth as in Anthias, Bl.; preopercle perfectly entire; opercle with

two flat adpressed spines; lateral line high up, near the back, and

ending at the end of the dorsal fin, which is even or continuous ;

branchiostegous membrane with six rays.

CALLANTHIAS PARADIS£US. A most elegant little fish ; in general

habit and colouring resembling Anthias sacer, Bl., but without the

produced third spine of the dorsal fin. Its analogies are singularly

complicated, but its affinities are truly Percidous. By Bloch it might

* Read before the Zoological Society, May 28, 1839.

406 The Rev. R..T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

have been arranged either in Bodianus or Cephalopholis, Bl., but it is

really inadmissible into any well-defined or constituted modern ge-

nus. It is almost as rare as beautiful.

Fam. Berycip#.

Genus Brryrx, Cuv.

Breryx prEcapacrytus, Cuv. JB. corpore ovali, lato, profundo,

altitudine longitudinem capitis superante ; dorso elevato, arcuato,

gibbo ; ventre prominente: basi pinne dorsalis elongato, pinnis

pectoralibus haud breviore : oculis mazimis : operculi angusti ca-

rina obscura: osse humerali angusto, margine posteriore recto,

verticali.

D. 4 + 18 — 20; Vs. 1 +10; &c.

B. decadactylus, Cuv. and Val., Hist. III. 222. 3

B. splendens, nob. quoad icon. Tab. III. in Cam. Phil. Trans.,

Vol. VI. Part 1; haud textus.

When I published B. splendens as a new species in the Cambridge

Transactions, I was unacquainted with the present fish, though it is

scarcely perhaps less common than the former. I consequently did

not discover till long after, that the figure intended for my B. splen-

dens had been inadvertently taken by Miss Young from an individual

of B. decadaciylus, Cuv., of which it offers the more obvious pecu-

liarities. The true B. splendens, therefore, yet remains unfigured,

and till an opportunity presents of supplying this deficiency in the

‘* Fishes of Madeira,” I subjoin its true specific characters, contrasted

with those of B. decadactylus.

B. spLeNDENS. 8B. corpore oblongo, altitudine longitudinem capitis

haud equante : dorso recto : basi pinne dorsalis brevi, pinnis pec-

toralibus breviore : oculis magnis ; operculi lati carina prominente :

osse humerali dilatato, margine posteriore arcuato, obliquo.

D.4+4+ 13—15; V.1+10—18 (1 + 11 fere); &c.

B. splendens, nob. Proceed. Zool. Soc. 1833. 1. 142. Cam. Phil.

Trans. VI. 1.197; excl. icon.—Syn. Mad. Fishes in Trans. Zool.

Soc. Vol. i. p. 174.

Trachichthys pretiosus, nob.

Hoplostethus mediterraneus, Cuv. and Val. IV. 496. t. 97. bis.

Rariss.

This fish is unquestionably congeneric, if it is not even still more

closely allied with Trachichthys australis of Shaw. Hence the above

adoption of the older generic appellation, affording opportunity for

the substitution of a less restrictive specific title ; better suited to a

fish : proved by the occurrence of two individuals in these Atlantic

seas not to be peculiarly Mediterranean.

To the Sub-Percidous family Berycide belongs also Polymizia;

MTS TT go ery SM Sore

DET ee tra gh EON Nee) Pe ee

The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 407

nob. Cam. Phil. Trans. IV. 1. 198. t. [V.—Syn. Mad. Fish. pp. 178,

179.

Fam. Triciipa.

Trigla lineata,L. Cuv. and Val. Hist. IV. 34.; Yarrell, Brit.

Fish. 1. 46. Rariss.

A single individual only has occurred.

Fam. Sparipz.

Pageillus rostratus, nob.—Syn. Mad. Fish. 177.

Reference to the excellently characteristic figures of Rondelet and

Salviani has satisfied me that this is merely Pagellus erythrinus, Cuv.

and Val.

Fam. CH@ToDONTIDZ.

Pimelepterus Boscii, Lac.—‘ Cheiroco”’ or ‘‘ Xarroco,”—Cuy. and

Val. VII. 258. t. 187. Rariss.

Fam. ScoMBRIDZ.

Thynnus Albacora.—‘Atum Albacora.”—T. corpore elongato, postice

attenuato : pinna anali secundaque dorsali antice longe falcato-

productis: pectoralibus ad medium secunde dorsalis attingen-

tibus : ore oculisque parvis.

Tunny, Penn. Brit. Zool. Ed. 1. iii. 266. No. 133. t. 52. excl. syn.

An L’Auxide de Sloane, Scomber Sloanei, Cuv. and Val. Hist. VIII.

148; i.e. Albacore, Sloane, Hist. of Jam. 1.t.1.f. p. 28? Sat.

vulg.

The length of the narrow produced fore-part of the second dorsal

fin varies from one-sixth to one-fourth part of the whole length of

the fish ; that of the pectoral fins is from one-fifth to one-fourth part

of the same, and their tips reach to the middle of the second dorsal

fin. Thus, in this latter point it is intermediate between the common

Tunny (7. vulgaris, L.) and the following new species (7. obesus,

nob.) ; approaching most the latter.

Pennant’s figure is at least a tolerable representation of this very

distinct species, agreeing with it in its main points of difference from

the true T. vulgaris, L. It may be hoped that the attention of Bri-

tish Naturalists will be directed to this point. The proper season

for the Albacora in Madeira is September and October.

Tuynnus opesus.—‘‘Atum Patudo.”’—T. corpore abbreviato : obeso:

pinnis acutis ; pectoralibus ad finem secunde dorsalis attingen-

tibus: oculis magnis.

Vulgaris.

This fish is constantly distinguished by the fishermen from the

common Tunny or “‘ Atum Rabilha” (T. vulgaris, L.) by the larger

408 ‘The Rev. R. ?: Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira,

eye, and shorter thickset figure. The pectoral fins vary from one-

fourth to nearly one-sixth part of the whole length, their points

reaching to the end of the second dorsal fin. In T. vulgaris, L. the

tips of the pectoral fins reach only to the end of the first, or to the

beginning of the second dorsal fin.

T. obesus is in greatest abundance earlier in the summer than 7.

Albacora. In size it ranges next below T. vulgaris, L., not however

attaining above half the extreme size of that species; nor much ex-

ceeding the full size of T. Albacora.

Thynnus Alalonga, Cuv. and Val.—‘* Atum Avoador.”’—Cuy. and

Val. Hist. VIII. 120. t. 215.

Orcynus Alalonga, Risso, iii. 419. Vulgaris.

No difficulty can occur in the recognition of this species, from the

great length of the pectoral fins, which are one-third part of the

whole length, and reach to the end of the anal fin, or to the first

spurious finlet behind it. Its proper season is said to be January.

Thyrsites acanthoderma.—‘‘ Escolar.”

Aplurus simplex, Syn. Mad. Fish. 180.

This is the fish called in my Synopsis Aplurus simpler. Itisa

true Thyrsites, Cuv. in every respect, except the structure of the skin,

a peculiarity which seems insufficient, in the absence of all other

characters, to warrant its generic separation.*

Prometheus atlanticus, nob.—‘‘ Coelho.”

This also is again here mentioned only for the sake of remarking, —

that further observations have gone far to prove the Maderan fish to

be specifically distinct from both Gempylus Prometheus and G. Solandri

_ of MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes, whose synonyms should therefore

be expunged.

Gen. ApHANopus, nob.

Gen. Char.—Form as in Lepidopus, elongate, much compressed,

like a sword-blade, naked, but with a short keel on each side, towards

the tail.

Muzzle and teeth as in Lepidopus (Gouan), but the palatines un-

armed. .

_ Dorsal fins two, nearly equal. Anal fin as in Lepidopus, but with

a strong sharp spine instead of a scale before it, a little behind the

vent. No trace or rudiment of ventral fins.

ApHANOoPUS CARBO.—“ Espada preta.”’ Rariss.

Of this most curious.new genus a single individual only has yet

* By an error in the punctuation, some descriptive observations at the

bottom of page 180 of my synopsis (Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. ii.), relating to

this fish, have been converted into a specific character.

depen a ane

The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 409

occurred. The whole fish is of a dark coffee colour, approaching to

_ black, and has in form so close a general resemblance to Lepidopus

argyreus, Cuv., that it might well be taken hastily for a mere variety

- that fish.

Tetragonurus atlanticus, nob.

‘Differs from T. Cuviert, Cuv. and Val., XI. 172. ¢. 318. chiefly in

the longer head, much larger eye (nearly twice as large in proportion

to the whole length), greater width between the eyes, teeth twice

as numerous, in the upper jaw; thicker body, longer pectoral fins,

higher (twice as high) first dorsal fin, and inequality of its:spines-

Having, however, seen only a singlé-individual, I forbear to: charac-

terize it more distinctly ; especially since of T. Cuvieri.so few ex-

amples have as yet occurred ; and that even MM. Cuvier and Va-

lenciennes appear to have taken their figure from one which was im-

perfect in the caudal fin at least.° The: first dorsal fin is described

by MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes as-having fifteen spines ; ; but

twenty-one are figured in the plate.

- The following is’ the fin-formula of T. Cones according to Risso ;

and MM. Cuv. and Val. :

+ @ Yet. D.:18; Qnd. D.1,12; A. 1,11; Pp. 16; V. 1,5; C. 36.”

—Risso Hist.

“Ist. D. {ain ts: } Qnd.D.1+13; A.12; P?; V?; C?; B.

M. 5.”—Cuv. and Val. Hist.

That of 7’. atlanticus, nob. is

Ist, D.15; 2nd.D.11; A.11.; P.16; V.1+5; C. pes

B. M. 5.

The true affinities of this fish are certainly rather to be sought

among the Ma ckerels (e.g. Thyrsites) than the Mullets. Its relation

to the Mugilide i is, indeed, one merely of a faint analogy.

_ Xiphias gladius, L.—‘‘ Peixe Agulha.”’

_ The ordinary Sword-fish of Madeira is truly the common Xiphias

gladius, L.

I have heard, however, of ‘‘ another sort, with a bayonet or spit-

like beak,” called ‘‘ Peto,” which may perhaps have been a Histio-

phorus or Tetrapturus.

SERIOLA DuBIA. Rariss.

A single individual only has occurred, which I am unable to

identify with any of the species enumerated by MM. Cuv. and Val.

The second dorsal fin is produced in front into a point ; five-eighths

the depth of the body beneath. The sides of the tail are sufficiently

_ distinctly keeled; and thtre is no temporal band. In the first of

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 26. Feb. 1840. 2a

410 ‘The Rey. R. T, Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

these characters it comes nearest S. Rivoliana or S. falcata Cuy. and

Val.; differing, however, from both, principally in the points in

which they are said to agree with S. Dumerilii, Cuv. and Val.

With S. Lalandi, Cuv. and Val., it agrees in the two latter points

above-mentioned ; but differs in the produced second dorsal and anal

fins; S. Lalandi appearing from MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’ de-

scription not to disagree in this respect with S. Dumerilii, Cuv. and

Val. The individual described measured two feet and a half long.

Lampris lauta. For ‘“ Vertebris 69’’ and ‘“ Vert. 49,” in the

specific character and following formula of the Lampris lauta, p,

183. Of the Synopsis of Fish Mad. (vol. ii. Trans. Zool. Soc.),

read, Vertebris 45; and in the seventh line of the next page, for

** six vertebre more,” read ‘‘ two vertebre more.”’

Fam. CoryPH&ZNID.

Coryphena hippurus, Cuv. and Val.? “ Dourado macho.”—Syn.

Fish Mad. 183.

This fish agrees with C. hippuroides, Raf., according to the brief

account transcribed by MM. Cuv. and Val., in having a row of larger

dusky spots along the ridge of the back on each side at the base of

the dorsal fin, which is itself immaculate, whilst the anal fin is also

somewhat high and pointed in front. In these three points it is at

variance with MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’ elaborate description

of their C. hippurus, L. The individual described, however, by these _

consummate Ichthyologists was a male; whilst the only three which

I have been able to examine closely, proved on dissection to be fe-

males, though commonly supposed by the Maderan fisherman to be the

male of C. equisetis, L. Hence the Maderan fish, whether identical

or not with the obscure and doubtful C. hippuroides, Raf., is for the

present better referred to C. hippurus,L. Sufficient ground appears

for the suspicion that the above differences may be only sexual. But

were it otherwise, they would alone scarcely warrant its specific dis-

crimination.

Corypuzna Nortoniana.—“ Delfim.”

This is a deeper fish than the preceding, in proportion to its

length; with the front much steeper and bluffer; indeed, nearly

vertical; the Dorsal fin beginning also somewhat forwarder. In the

fin-formule, and number of the vertebree (31), the two agree; and I

have seen too few individuals at present to decide whether they really

are distinct, or only so in sex. But for its spotted body, I should

be greatly tempted to refer it to the imperfectly known C. imperialis,

Raf. (See Cuy. and Val., Hist. 9, 286.) In this uncertainty as to

The Rev. R. 'T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 411

both rank and synonyms, less ultimate confusion will result from a

_ distinct specific name, applied provisionally, than from a doubtful

reference. It is therefore called after the Honourable C. E. C. Nor-

ton, to whose able pencil I was first indebted for a knowledge of the

fish. ‘Two other supposed individuals have since occurred, of which,

however, one was unfortunately neglected, and the other had been

two much injured by a blow, beating in the interparietal crest, to be

fully satisfactory. This last individual, taken November 22nd 1838,

was apparently a male; but I could not satisfy myself completely even

on this point, and infer it only from my inability to discover any trace

of the ovaria. é |

Coryphena equisetis, L. 1, 447.—** Dourada,” “‘ D. femea,” or

“ D. amarella.’’—C. equisetis, Cuv. and Val., 9, 297, ¢. 267.

This may at once be distinguished from the foregoing species by

its unspotted body, marked only by a few scattered, clear, but ex-

tremely minute black specks, very different from the diffused, pale,

dusky, larger, spots of the preceding. The pectoral fins are also very

short, the dorsal fin with fewer rays (53— 55), the number of ver-

tebre greater (33), the form deeper and less elongated than even in

the first species here recorded. It also is a smaller fish. Being

our commonest species, I have seen numerous examples, but none

from twenty to twenty-two or twenty-three inches.

This fish, which is the commonest of the ‘‘ Dourados”’ of Madeira,

differs from C. equisetis, L., as described by MM. Cuv. and Val.,

under the name of C. eqguisetis, only in the head being rather longer

than high, instead of higher than long, in the dorsal fin being lower

in its highest part, and also lower before than at its hinder end; and

lastly in the profile being oblique from the beginning, whilst in ‘C.

equisetis, Cuv. and Val., ‘‘ il monte d’abord verticalement sur le tiers

& peu prés de son contour.” The first three discrepancies might

well be merely due to slightly different modes of measurement.

The latter is less easily accountable; for in this Maderan fish at

least, of which I am well acquainted with both sexes, I find nothing

to confirm M. Dussumier’s observation, that a greater height of the

interparietal crest is characteristic of the male in Coryphena. See

Cuv. and Val. 12, Pref. p. vii.

Pompilus Rondeletit, Will. 215, t. O. 1, f. 6.

Centrolophus pompilus, Yarr. 1, 158.

pompilus, Cuv. and Val. 9, 334, ¢. 269.

- morio (Lacep.) Tb. 342. Rariss.

Two examples haye occurred during the writing of this paper ;

2G 2

412 The Rey. R. 'T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

the first was uniformly blackish, without. spots or marks, thus an-

swering to Centrolophus Morio of Lacepéde: the second individual

was smaller, and was marked, precisely as in MM. Cuvier and

Valenciennes’ figure (t. 269) of C. pompilus. ; :

I have no hesitation in uniting both these fishes, with iste re-

spective synonyms, under the name long since applied by Willoughby

to designate the species; although by him’ employed especially in

reference to the second state or variety abovementioned, which also

was the variety originally described by Rondeletius.

Pompilus Bennettit.

Leirus Bennettii, nob. in Cam. Trans. VI. 1, 199, t. Vv _—Syn.

. Mad. Fish, p. 179. *

Centrolophus ovalis, Cuv. and Val. IX. 346.

crassus. Ib. 348.

The genus Leirus proves identical with Centrolophus, Lac., which

in its turn, if not intolerable in itself (see Cuv. and Val. IX. 33].),

must yield precedence to the prior claims of Pompilus, Rond. The

species described by the Ichthyologist of Montpellier, (Centrolophus

pompilus, Auct.) ought, on the other hand, as long ago by Willoughby,

to be called Pompilus Rondeletii. 2 sei oni

Brama Raii, Bl. “ Freira.’’—Syn. Mad. Fish, p. 179. ee.

The true affinities of this fish are most assuredly Scombridal, or

to speak more strictly, Coryphzenidal.

It was in reconsidering those of Brama, and in reaching this con-

clusion, that I was first led to detect the true affinities and synonyms

of Leirus. It was not till convinced of the necessity of. placing

Brama next to Pompilus (Centrolophus, Lac.), that I discovered adets

Bennettii to be a genuine species of this last-named genus.

_ So valuable are these studies of affinities; and thus do even errors

often lead to valuable truth. I was not wrong, however, in asso-

ciating Leirus Bennettii with Brama; but in not referring sooner it,

or rather both, to the neighbourhood of Pompilus.

Fam. ZENID&.

Zeus Faber.

Fam. Mueiuip2.

Muein mapeErensis. ‘‘ Tainha de moda.”

This is the fish published, in the former part of this list, under the

name and with the synonyms of M. Chelo, Cuv. Comparing it, how-

ever, more closely with the description of M. Chelo in the eleventh

volume of MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’ Histoire, I find the follow-

ing principal discrepancies in the Maderan fish :

The Rey. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 413

. 1. The produced scaly appendages at the base of the first dorsal

fin extend considerably beyond the base of the fourth spine.

2. The maxillary is but very slightly S-like.

3. The upper lip is by no means peculiarly thick and fleshy, but

rather the contrary.

4. It is a shallower, less deep fish in proportion to its length.

5. The tongue is altogether smooth, without any “ asperités”’

whatever, at the edges or anterior end of the ‘‘ aréte,”’” which cannot

be called ‘‘ trés-aigue.”

6. The palate also is entirely smooth, not papillose near the vomer.

7. A conspicuous bright metallic brassy spot on the opercula, as

in M. auratus, Cuv. and Val.

- It differs, however, essentially from this last-named species, and

from M. breviceps, Cuv. and Val., in the exponure of the ends of the

maxillary. |

Fam. Gosip.s.

_ Having considerably extended my list of species, as well as rec-

tified some errors in the nomenclature of others, I subjoin a com-

plete enumeration of the Maderan species of this me hitherto

discovered.

Blennius gattorugine, Will. Cuv. and Val. IX. 200. Will. Ichth.

132. ¢. 7H. 2. f. 2:—Yarr. 1, 226. Rariss.

A single individual only has occurred.

Blennius palmicornis, Cuv. and Val. XI. 214. t. 320. Syn. Mad.

Fish 185. Vulgaris.

Blennius Artedii, Cuv. and Val. XI. 231.

Synops. Mad. Fish 185. haud Cuv. et Val. Rarior.

‘ ‘This is the little fish which, being formerly known to me only by

a sketch, I had erroneously supposed to be referrible to B. inequalis,

Cuv. and Val. On better acquaintance it however proves their B.

Artedii ; and is indeed a most distinct and well-marked little species,

scarcely exceeding two inches in length, and at once characterized

by its active lively habits, its light tawny brown or yellowish olive

colour, sprinkled all over with numerous minute white specks or

dots, and the hollow, triangle-shaped, ciliate, occipital crest.

Blennius parvicornis, Cuv. and Val. XI. 257. Syn. Mad. Fish

185. Rariss.

Of this, as formerly of B. Artedii, 1 haye no means of judging,

except from some notes and a drawing taken by Miss Young, July

10th, 1835, during my absence from the island. My friend Mr.

Yarrell has, however, examined the individual from which these were

taken; and on his accuracy I rely entirely for the correctness of the

inequalis nob.

414 The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

above name or reference. I had before supposed it to be undescribed,

calling it B. strigatus.

Pholis levis, Flem. Cuv. and Val. XI. 269. Yarr. 1, 230. Syn.

Mad. Fish 185. Rarior.

I cannot help suspecting that MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes’ Ma-

deran specimen at least, discovered by my friend Henry Richardson,

Esq., of Aber Hirnant, North Wales, of Blennius trigloides, Cuv. and

Val. XI. 228, is really nothing but this state or variety of Pholis

levis, which differs from the ordinary European fish only in having

five or six distinct dark blotches or ‘‘ demi-bands” along the back.

I have hitherto met with no other fish beside the present answering

at all to their description of B. trigloides; whilst this state of Pholis

levis, although somewhat rare, is by no means so uncommon as to

have been likely to escape Mr. Richardson’s unwearied assiduity.

Salarias atlanticus, Cuv. and Val. XI. 321. Syn. Mad. Fish 185.

Vulgaris.

Tripterygion nasus, Riss. Cuv. and Val. XI. 409. Syn. Mad. Fish

185. Rariss.

Gostius nicER, (§. nob.

, L. Syn: Mad. Fish 185.

Gobius Maderensis, Cuv. and Val. XII. 55. Rarior.

I believe this to be a mere variety or state of the common Euro-

pean G. niger, Cuv. and Val., analogous to the above-mentioned

Maderan state of Pholis levis, Flem.

Gosius EPHIPPIATUS, G. fuscus, maculatus et punctatus: capite

nuchaque nudis, huc sulcata: pinnarum pectoralium dorsaliumque radiis

haud productis : squamis magnis.

B. M. 5. Rariss. :

Of a nearly uniform brown colour, a little paler on the belly, with

a row of darker rich brown patches along the sides, and above these

numerous scattered smaller spots. Head spotted. ‘Thespots on the

head and fore part of the body are ocellate, or surrounded by a fer-

ruginous or yellowring. The eyes are scarcely a semidiameter apart.

The ventral fins are united, but by a very low membrane in front,

Length of the only individual which has hitherto occurred, five inches.

It appears sufficiently distinct from all the described European spe-

cies by its naked head and nape.

Fam. Lopnip2.

CuHEIRONECTES BICORNIS. C. hispidus, setis furcatis, nudus sex-

appendiculatus, pallide ruber, punctulis fuscis conspurcatus ;

The Rev. R. 'T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 415

Fronte super oculos bicorni; cornu anteriore distincto, recurvo ;

posteriore gibboso-cristiformi ; filamento intermedio inconspicuo :

brachiis pectoralibus ventralibusque exsertis.

141

D. 12; A.7; P.10; V.5; OFT) +V.

A single individual only has occurred of this pretty little species,

which in the foregoing characters appears distinct enough from all

enumerated by MM. Cuv. and Val.; approaching, perhaps, nearest

to Ch. furcipilis, pardalis, or coccineus. It was only one and three-

fourths of an inch long, and seven-eighths of an inch deep. The

whole fish is strongly scabrous to the touch.

Fam. LABRIDz.

Crenilabrus caninus, nob. Synops. 186.

A most remarkable variety of this fish has the preopercle perfectly

entire ; invalidating thus completely the generic character. This

state of the species appears permanent, and independent of age or

size; whilst it is wholly unaccompanied by other marks of difference

or indications of disease. It is rare comparatively with the normal

form.

Crenilabrus luscus, nob. in Syn. Mad. Fish 187; nec Yarrellii

nec Linneei.

This also proves distinct from Mr. Couch’s Scale-rayed Wrasse

(Acantholabrus Couchii, Cuv. and Val..13. 248), to which, as figured

by Yarreli for the Labrus luscus, L. (a true Labrus, according to

Valenciennes, ) I had formerly referred it. A still nearer ally ap-

pears, however, to be Acantholabrus Palloni, Cuv. and Val. 13. 243

(Crenilabrus exoletus, Risso, haud Labrus exoletus, L.). From this

it differs in the extension up between each of the spines of the dorsal

and anal fins of generally four of the large scales into a curious di-

stinct and moveable imbricated appendage ; in the large dark spot or

patch on the hinder end of the spiny portion of the dorsal fin; in

having two dark spots on each side at the base of the caudal fin, one

on the dorsal, and another fainter on the ventral line; and lastly in

the general colour. In the first and last of these four points, it

agrees better with Acantholabrus Couchii, Val. (Crenilabrus luscus,

Yarr., Brit. Fish. 1. 300); butit differs in the other two, is only half

the size, and whilst the dorsal and the anal fins have severally one

spine less, the dorsal has one soft ray more.

LABRUS RETICULATUS.

This fish cannot be at present safely referred to the Ballan Wrasse

of British Authors (Labrus maculatus, Bl.), Yarr. 1. 275; although

416 The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

in size-and form of body, no less than in the peculiar lowness of the

spiny portion of the dorsal fin, and abrupt production of the soft

part of the same, and of the anal fin, as well as in the number of the

rays of all the fins, there is a strong agreement. - It will, I think,

however, ultimately prove merely a dark variety of that species. The

colour is peculiarly sombre ; being a dark brown, approaching on the

back almost to black; the whole beautifully reticulated with dark

chesnut-brown lines, forming a border to each scale, and leaving the

Centre pale. The preoperculum was scaly. <A single individual

occurred in March 1838, and measured sixteen inches 4 in length. Its

fin-formula was,

4+1+4 VI.

$+i-% - 1

This individual has been deposited in the Society’s collection.

_ JULIS MELANURA. Zz oblongus, postice nigrescens : capite superne

dorsoque olivaceo-fuscis: lateribus perpendiculate strigatis ; strigis

posterioribus nigricantibus : pinne dorsalis antice altiores rudiis

tribus primordialibus longioribus, operculique angulo lato truncato,

basique primarum pectoralium ceruleo-nigrescente notatis : pinna

dorsali analique fasciatis, basi nudis ; caudali rotundato nigri-

cante: squamis parvis: dente solitario majore ad. canthie ‘oris

utringue, antrorsum porrecto. i ee

D.9 $12; A.3 + 12; P.14v.15; V.1+5;6. pate ; M.B.6;

Vert. 25. Pda Me)

Julis speciosa, nob. in Syn. Mad. Fish 186; haud Rissoi.

; , Cuv. and Val., Hist. 13. 375; quoad tantum ex-

empla Canari iensia, et forsan quidem Maderensia. —

~ On re-examination and a close comparison of this fish with MM.

Cuvier and Valenciennes’ description of the true Mediterranean Ji

speciosa, of Risso, I find that it is properly distinct ; although a Ca-

narian individual at least of it has been referred by Valenciennes, as

the Maderan fish was formerly by me, to Risso’s species. It differs

chiefly in the elevation of the three first rays of the dorsal fin, the

spot on which is small, not large ; in the deep ‘blackness of the

caudal fin and hinder part of the tail or body ; and, lastly, in being of

considerably larger size (8-10 inches in length) than the true Medi-

terranean J. speciosa, Riss. Not having met at present with any

other fishes in Madeira which agree so nearly as J. melanura with

that species, I cannot help suspecting that in M. Valenciennes’ Ma~

deran specimens of his J. speciosa may exist’the principal peculiari-

ties which he has expressly noted in Mr. Webb’s Canarian example,

and which are precisely those of Julis melunura. :

The Rey. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 417

- AcANTHOLABRUS IMBRIcATUS. A. pinna dorsali analique basi squa-

mosis; squamis subquaternis, bractearum modo imbricatis, inter

spinas assurgentibus : dorsalis parte spinosa postice unimaculato :

cauda utringue bimaculata: squamis magnis.

D.004-9: A.5'4+.8: P15; Vil +5: C.5"" +11; M.B. 5.

Fam. FistTuLARID&.

Cenrriscus gracitis. C. corpore gracili, angusto, elliptico-oblongo,

supra fusco, lateribus argenteis: rostro producto, elongato :

pinne prime dorsalis, inter oculos pinnamque caudalem media,

spina secunda mediocri, breviore, pinnam caudalem nequaquam at-

tingente.

eer ers vy. Oo: O* DD. I; A. 17; V.1 +4; P.15; C,

Rarior.

In its shape and colour this is very obviously different from the

common red Snipefish (C. Scolopar, L.). But I have not been able

to assure myself that the above differences are not sexual. They are

not certainly dependent upon size. The depth averages from one-

fifth to one-sixth and a half .of the whole length, instead of one-

fourth of the same. In two individuals of the same length within

one quarter of an inch, the depth of the larger (C. Scolopaz, L.) was

very nearly double that of the smaller (C. gracilis, nob.) and the 2nd

spine of the Ist dorsal fin was respectively in each one-fourth and

one-seventh of the whole — of the fish.

7+I1V

74+-¥-°

ea Se

’ BELoNE GRACILIS, nob.—‘‘ Catuta.”

- Early in March last year (1838) a fisherman brought alive in sea-

water two fishes, which, in their slenderness, and the upper jaw being

only half the length of the lower, differed obviously from the com-

mon B. vulgaris. Measuring, however, seven or eight inches only

in length, it seemed questionable, in the absence of equal-sized in-

dividuals of B. vulgaris for comparison, whether they might not be

the young of that species. My friends, however, the Rev. L. Jenyns

and Mr. Yarrell, have examined these two individuals, and the latter

warrants me in stating, on their joint authority, that these two fishes

are ‘not, in their opinion, B. vulgaris,”’ being ‘‘ much more slender

for the same or equal length.” eg

Scomberesor Saurus, Cuv.

The Portuguese name “‘ Delphine’’ (rectius ‘‘ Delfim’’,) is errone-

ously appended to this fish. Another individual has been lately

brought to me with the name of ‘‘ Almeirao,” but the species is far

418 The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

too rare to have obtained any permanent and genuine appellation in

Madeira.

Fam. SALMoNIDz.

ScoPpELUS MADERENSIS.

A. small dark mulberry-coloured fish, which might easily be taken

for the fry or young of Pomatomus telescopus, Risso. ‘The dark vi-

nous-coloured ground is concealed by very large deciduous platina-

like scales. ‘The only individual which has yet occurred was three

inches long. It approaches very near to Sc. Humboldti, Risso, Hist.

ili. 467. (supposed to be identical with Pennant’s Argentine, Yar. 11.

94.), and has the row of longer silver dots, or pits, extending forwards

from the root of the caudal fin along the ventral line: but it disagrees

remarkably with the generic characters assigned to Scopelus by Cu-

vier, R. An. 2nd Ed. ii. 314, in having both the palatines and tongue

aculeate with teeth.

The fin-formula in the Madeiran fish was

Ist, D. 3 + 10; 2nd, D. 1 club- or feather-shaped ;

74125

6+ 1+ Vill

A. 2412; P.13; V.14+7;C.

Gen. ALYSIA.

Corpus subelongatum, compressum ; dorso postice ventreque spinoso-

serratis. Rostrum brevissimum, ore rictuque magnis, hoc pone

oculos diducto. Dentes minuti, tenues; in maxilla inferiore, Vo-

mere, et Palatinis scobinati. Lingua postice lateribus subacu-

leolata.

Squame magne, haud deciduz, scabre ; squamis linee lateralis la-

tissimis, maximis, scutellatis, s. per totam longitudinem loricato-

imbricatis. ;

Pinne ventrales sub apice pinnarum pectoralium site. Dorsales

du; prima inter Ventrales et Analem posita; 2% ad finem

analis, rudimentali. Pinna caudalis minima, furcata.

ALYSIA LORICATA.

The spinoso-serrate ventral and hinder part of the dorsal lines,

together with the peculiar scales of the lateral line, appear to forbid

the blending of this interesting little fish with the Cuvierian genus

Aulopus, as defined in the R. Anim., Ed. 2. ii. 315, though they have

many characters incommon. ‘The Maderan fish is no less rare than

elegant. It scarcely exceeds two inches in length. The back isa

deep blue; the sides bright silvery or platina; and a row of dead-

silver dots or pits extends along the ventral line, as in the Scopelus

above described. The fin-formula is

Sa?

The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 419

Ist, D. 2+ 10; 2nd, D. rudimentary; A. 2+ 21 (+ 8 de-

tached depressed points or spines); P. 15 or 16; V.1+ 5;

4-41-+ 1X .

©. syi4 vill

Fam. Gapip#.

Macrourus arLanticus.—*‘ Praga” or ‘“ Lagartixa do mar.” —

M. fusco-cinereus, dorso vinoso, gutturis umbilico pinnisque ven-

tralibus atris ; squamis areolato-scaberrimis, echinalatis, ecarina-

tis, inermibus ; oculis maximis.

M. rupestris, nob. in Synops. Mad. Fish, p. 190, nec Bl. nec Cuv.

et omiss. syn. Lepidoleprus ceelorhynchus, Risso.

On further examination, this most singular fish appears to be quite

distinct from M. rupestris, Bl. t. 177; and therefore, according to

Cuvier (R. Anim. 2nd Ed. ii. 337, note,) from Lepidoleprus celo-

rhynchus, Risso, through which indeed alone I had referred it to the

northern fish described by Bloch. But besides the points included

in the specific character, the first ray of the first dorsal fin is neither

serrate nor stronger than the rest. The diameter of the eye is one

twelfth or one thirteenth part of the whole length, which scarcely

exceeds one foot.

Fam. PLEuRONECTIDA.

Ruomsus crisratus. R. corpore oblongo-elliptico: oculis ap-

proximatis: dentibus tenuibus pectinatis ; in maxilla superiore

uniseriatis ; in inferiore anguste scabinatis : pinne dorsalis dimidii

anterioris radiis apice liberis ; primordialibus (2° 6™.) productis,

elongatis : latere (sinistro) fusco, immaculato : squamis (haud de-

ciduis) magnis, margine scabris.

D. 92; A. 75; V.6:P.149:C, a Rariss:

The Whiff of British authors (R. megastoma, Yarr. 2. 251) appears

the nearest ally of this apparently new species. Indeed, except for

Mr. Yarrell’s more detailed account, I should have scarcely perhaps

scrupled referring it to ‘‘ La Cardine ou Calimande” of Cuvier’s R.

Anim. 2. 341, of which he says, “ses premiers rayons sont libres” ;

of course meaning of the dorsal fin. Nothing is, however, discern-

ible of this in either Mr. Yarrell’s figure or description of ‘‘ The

Whitt” ; nor even, if correct, does it express sufficiently the peculi-

arity of this part in the Maderan fish. The only individual which

has yet occurred was five and a quarter inches long.

Fam. CycLopreRIp2&.

43. LEPADOGASTER ZEBRINUS.—‘‘ Chupa sangue.” L. fusco-nigres-

cens, lateribus postice strigis obliquis, nuchaque fasciis diver-

420 The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

gentibus saturatioribus maculisque binis ceruleis pyriformibus

pictis: naribus biciliatis: pinnis dorsalibus analibusque caudali

adnatis.

D.17 v.16; A. 10 v.9; P. 15 v.16; V%«.4; C% +X. Hand

rara.

In the double nasal cilia, and connexion of the caudal with the

dorsal and anal fins, this little fish agrees with L. cornubicus (Flem. ),

Yarr. 2. 264. The structure of the sucking disk is also 'similar to

the representation of the same part in that species, and not to that

of the ‘‘ bimaculated Sucker,” at p. 268. In this particular it per-

fectly agrees also with the former species indicated in my Synopsis,

p- 190; which is, however, perfectly distinct specifically, having

neither a nasal ciliumm nor the caudal fin united with the dorsal and

anal fins. Of this last-mentioned species no second example has

yet occurred. The present (L. zebrinus) is not by any means un-

common. It varies considerably in intensity of colour, and in the

distinctness of the darker stripes upon the nape and flanks. The

nasal cilia are of the general dark brown or blackish tint.

Fam. EcuEenzipz. “Ms wi aa

SS. Cauda lunata.

Echeneis Remora, L. Syst. Ed. 12.—*« Pegador.” E. ‘tota cinereo-

Suliginosa, nigrescens: laminis’ disci xvil. v. XvVill.; pinnis

pectoralibus brevibus, ovatis, “integris, apice rotundatis: lingua

levi.

: ; dv. 4+ VII -

~ sD. 23; A. 23:3 P. 263: V. lit 5; C.3c 44 vir> M. B. 9. Rarior.

Ecuentis pauuipa. LE. tota spalige cinerea, fuligineo hine et hinc

subnebulata: laminis xix.; pinnis pectoralibus brevibus, latis,

apice rotundatis, subtruncatis, tenuiter crenulatis : lingua medio

scobinata.

D. 24; A.22; P27; V.145;C.5~4+- 47; M.B.9. Rariss,

SS. Cauda integra, S. truncata.

ECHENEIS JACOBHA. —E. tota cinereo -fuliginosa, nigrescens : laminis

xix.: pinnis pectoralibus brevibus, latis, pectinato-rotundatis cre-

natis : ventre sulcato : lingua scabra.

3 + VII ;

D.24; A. 24; P.21; V.1+4 5; C.3 ya; M.B.8. Rariss.

EcuENEIS virrata.—E. purpureo-nigrescens, pallido variegata, fas-

ciaque nigra longitudinali laterali, antice utrinque albo margi-

nata: pinnis pectoralibus ovatis, acutiusculis, integris; pinne

dorsalis analisque antice caudalisque marginibus albis : laminis

xxiv.: lingua scabra: oculis magnis: corpore elongato, postice

valde attenuato, gracili. hae

The Rey. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira, 421

'D. 39; A.39; P22; Vil +5; C. to.

The nearest ally of this very distinct species appears to be EZ. lu-

nata. Bancr. in Zool. Journ. V. 413.t. 18. But this, besides other

differences, has a lunate tail.

Rariss.

EcHENEIS BRACHYPTERA. (Echeneis ? Syn. p. 191.) £. ci-

nereo-fuliginosa, nigrescens ; pinnis dorsalibus analibusque antice

albo submarginatis :-laminis. xvi. :' pinnis ‘pectoralibus brevibus,

latis, truncatis, Seas: lingua medio ‘scobinata.

ious Se 3v.4+ VII

D. 28; A. 24; P. 26; WeY 2B: aye y at

This is the first of the two species indicated by, me in the former

part of this List or Synopsis. Of the second sort, there mentioned

as having been seen by Miss Young, and which I have there doubt-

fully referred to E. naucrates, L., no fresh example has ‘occurred.

I should now be much inclined to consider it identical with E. vit-

tata ; but Miss Young affirms that it was ‘‘ certainly plain-coloured.”’

Fam. Mur2NID&.

Sphagebranchus serpens. |

S. serpa, Risso; Hist. Nat. iii. 195. No. 81.

A single individual only has occurred, precisely answering to the

description above referred to. It measured eleven inches in length.

I could not detect the slightest rudiment of pectoral fins.

Fam. GyMNODONTIDZ.

Terropon capistratus. T. pusillus, oblongiusculus levissimus ;

dorso iliisque inermibus, nudis ; ventre adpresso-spinelloso : dorso

_ fusco; lateribus ochraceo-fulvis, fusco longitudinaliter bifas-

ciatis, capiteque utrinque ceruleo punctatis, iliis oblique litura-

tis, rostroque subproducto gulave semi-capistrato : pinna caudali

utringue nigro-limbata.

(7 eA Sf: P. 16: Co. + VIII... Rariss.

A most elegantly-coloured little species, which I cannot refer with

certainty to any already described. Only two individuals have hi-

therto occurred. The first was little more than two inches long ;

the second nearly twice as large.

The Orthagoriscus of Madeira, called by the fishermen, “ Peize.

Porco,”’ or ‘‘ Bouto,” I forbear at present to designate further, not

having seen a sufficient number of individuals to determine its cha-

racters. The caudal fin is produced into a short point in the mid-

dle, not truncate, as in all the figures to which I have access of the

European Sun-fishes.

422 'The Rey. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira.

Fam. SQuaLipZ.

CaARCHARIUS FALCIPINNIS. “ Faqueita.” C. corpore supra griseo-

cinereo, subabbreviato, medio crassiore s. altiore, utringue atte-

nuato: rostro brevi, lato, depresso, apice obtuso: oculis rotun-

datis: pinna dorsali prima alta, triangulari, subantica s. supra

medium pinnarum pectoralium posita : pinnis pectoralibus fal-

catis, angustis, elongatis, apice obtusis: pinna dorsali secunda

analique oppositis : ventralibusque parvis. Rariss.

An Squalus ustus, Dum. ?

It is perhaps only for want of better materials for comparison that

I have been unable to refer this Shark precisely to the above-indi-

cated or to some other described species. It is about three feet long,

and the female differs in nothing from the male. The teeth are

precisely similar to those of the ‘‘ Tintureira’” (C. glaucus, Cuv.).

The ‘‘ Marrazo” proves to be, as I suspected, Lamna cornubica,

Cuy., adult, or of large size.

Gen. AcanTHIDIUM.

Corpus gracile, elongatum. Spiracula magna. Pinne dorsales

duz, antice spiniferee; secunda majore postica, caude approximata.

Pinna analis nulla. Pinne ventrales, subpostice s. secunda dorsalis

subanteriores.

Dentes utriusque maxillz dispares, parvi: superioris laniarii, plano-

triangulares, tenues, acuminati; acumine recto; basi utrinque den-

ticulo aucto; antice triseriati, lateribus biseriati: inferioris incisorii, —

acumine utrinque a medio oblique deflexo, uni- vel bi-seriati. Cauda

oblique oblonga, apice truncata.

This new genus appears exactly intermediate between the esta-

blished genera of Cuvier, Spinav and Centrina: agreeing with the

former in its elongated form, and with the latter in the teeth. |

The ventral fins are placed more backward than in Spinaz, but rather

forwarder than in Centrina, i.e. neither halfway between the two

dorsal fins, nor opposite the second dorsal fin, but just before the

second dorsal fin, which begins exactly opposite the termination of

their base. The tail or caudal fin resembles that of Spinaz, rather

than of Centrina, and the spines of doth the dorsal fins are reflexed

as in Spinax, forming the fore-edge of each fin. The pectoral fins

are abruptly truncate. The second dorsal fin is greatly larger than

the first; in which it differs equally from Spinaz and Centrina.

The teeth are not arranged quincuncially, but behind each other in

rows.

Two species have occurred, both of which have hitherto been con-

founded with Centrina.

The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 423

ACANTHIDIUM PUsiLLUM. ‘“ Gata negra.” A. totum atrum,

pusillum: rostro crassiusculo: dentibus infertoribus uniserialis :

spiraculis oculo remotiusculis.

Centrina? nigra, nob. olim in Proceed. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 144*.

Syn. Mad. Fish in Trans. Zool. Soc. p. 194. Rariss.

Four individuals of this curious little shark have now occurred,

agreeing equally in the foregoing characters and in their dimensions,

varying in length only from eleven to twelve inches. The second

dorsal fin is somewhat forwarder or more distant from the origin of

the tail than in the next species.

The condition of the teeth, and constancy of size, both indicate

an adult fish; and a comparison of the present species with the

foetal and adult state of the following, in these two points alone

demonstrates Acanthidium pusillum to be no stage of A. calceus.

AcANTHIDIUM caLcEUS. “ Sapata.” A. purpureo-fuscum, sub-

tus pallidius: rostro plano-depresso: dentibus inferioribus

biseriatis: spiraculis oculo, pinnaque dorsali secunda caude

approximatis.

Centrina Salviani, Syn. Mad. Fish in Trans. Zool. Soc. p. 194:

nec aliorum. Rarior.

This shark very much resembles in its general aspect Scymnus

nic@ensis, Risso, the ‘‘ Gata’’ of Madeira: but is at once distinguished

by the spines in front of the two dorsal fins, which, as in A. pusii-

lum, are both recurved, and ought, had I attended to the excellent

figures copied by Willoughby from Salviana of Centrina nigra, Cuv.,

instead of allowing myself to be deceived by a miserable figure of

Lacepéde’s, alone to have preserved me from the blunder of referring

to that species for the present shark, the usual size of which exceeds

by a few inches only three feet.

Fam. Rarmp2.

Raia oxyrhynchus, Will., Ichth. p. 71.—‘‘ Raia.”

Sharp-nosed Ray, Penn., Ed. 1. iii. 83. No. 31. Yarr., Brit,

Fish, ii. 424. :

Two male individuals only have occurred: the largest, measuring

three feet in width from wing to wing, was furnished on the back

with patches of strong hooked spines or prickles, much as in the

figure in the British Fishes ; but the second example, scarcely twe

* A serious erratum has been caused here by the transposition of a sen-

tence. The paragraph referred to should stand thus: “ It (Centrina?

nigra) is intermediate in characters between Centrina, Cuv., and Acanthias,

Risso, having the teeth of the former genus as well as the backward posi-

tion of the second dorsal (rectius ventral) fin, and the form of body of the

latter.” -

424 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

feet wide, although decidedly a male, was devoid of these append-

ages. -The colour of the upper surface was a pale, dull, yellowish,

or ashy-grey, obscurely mottled or dappled with a few scattered di-

stant paler whitish spots.

TryGon ALTAVELA.—‘‘ Andorinha do mar.” T. corpore_rhom-

boideo, duplo latiore quam longo, alis expansis, cauda perbrevi.

Pastinaca marina altera rrepuw)areia, Altavela Neapoli dicta Colum-

ne. Will., Hist. 65. Tab. 2 I. f. 3. - (Copied from F. Columna.)—

Rariss.

A single female individual only has occurred, measuring five feet

and a half from tip to tip of wings.

LII.—Information respecting Botanical Travellers. |

Extracts from a Journal of the Mission’ which visited Bootan, in

1837-38, under Captain R. Bortzau Pemserton, By W. Grair-

ritH, Esa. Madras Medical Establishment*.

Tur Mission left Gowahatti on the 21st December, and proceeded

a few miles down the Burrumpootur to Ameengoung, where it halted.

On the following day it proceeded to Hayoo, a distance of thirteen

miles. The road, for the most part, passed through extensive grassy

plains, diversified here and there with low rather barren hills, and

varied in many places by cultivation, especially of sursoo. One river

was forded, and several villages passed.

Hayoo is a picturesque place, and one of considerable local note ;

it boasts: of a large establishment of priests, with their usual com-

panions, dancing girls, whose qualifications are celebrated through-

out all Lower Assam. The village is a large one, and situated close

to some low hills; it has the usual Bengal appearance, the houses

being surrounded by trees, such as betel palms, peepul, banyan, and

caoutchouc. To Nolbharee we found the distance to be nearly

seventeen miles. The country throughout the first part of the march

was uncultivated, and entirely occupied by the usual coarse grasses;

the remainder was one sheet’of ‘paddy cultivation, interrupted only

by topes of bamboos, in which the villagers are entirely concealed ;

we found these very abundant, but small: betel palms continued

very frequent, and each garden or enclosure was surrounded by a

small species of screw pine, well adapted for making fences.

Four or five streams were crossed, of which two were not ford-

able: jheels were very abundant, and well stocked with water fowl

* From thé Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 87, p. 208.

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 425

and waders. At this place there is a small bungalow for the accom-

modation of the civil officer during his annual visit ; it is situated

close to a rather broad but shallow river. There is likewise a bund

road.

We proceeded from this place to Dum-Dumma, which is on the

Bootan boundary, and is distant ten miles from Nolbharee. We

continued through a very open country, but generally less cultivated

than that about Nolbharee; villages continued numerous as far as

Dum-Dumma.

December 31st. We left for Hazareegoung, an Assamese village

within the Bootan boundary.

We passed through a much less cultivated country, the face of

which was overrun with coarse grassy vegetation. No attempts

appeared to be made to keep the paths clean, and the farther we

penetrated within the boundary, the more marked were the effects

of bad government. We crossed a small and rapid stream, with a

pebbly bed, the first indication of approaching the Hills we had as

yet met with.

We left on January 2d for Ghoorgoung, a small village eight

miles from Hazareegoung; similar high plains and grassy tracts,

almost unvaried by any cultivation, were crossed ; a short distance

from the village we crossed the Mutanga, a river of some size and

great violence during the rains, but in January reduced to a dry

bouldery bed. There is no cultivation about Ghoorgoung, which is

close to the Hills, between which and the village there is a gentle

slope covered with fine sward.

We entered the Hills on the 3d, and marched to Dewangari, a

distance of eight miles. On starting we proceeded to the Durunga

Nuddee, which makes its exit from the Hills about one mile to the

west of Ghoorgoung, and then entered the Hills by ascending its

bed, and we continued doing so for some time, until in fact we came

to the foot of the steep ascent that led us to Dewangari. The road

was a good deal obstructed by boulders, = the torrent contains at

this season very little water.

The mountains forming the sides of the ravine are very steep, in

many cases precipitous, but not of any great height. They are

generally well-wooded, but never to such a degree as occurs on

most other portions of the mountainous barriers of Assam. At the

height of about 1000 feet we passed a choky, occupied by a few

Booteas, and this was the only sign of habitation that occurred.

Dewangari, the temples of which are visible from the plains of

Assam, is situated on a ridge, elevated about 2100 feet above the

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 26. Feb. 1840. 2H

426 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

level of the sea, and 1950 above that of the plains. The village

extends some distance along the ridge, as well as a little way down

its northern face. The centre of the ridge is kept as a sort of arena

for manly exercises ; about this space there occur some picturesque

simool trees, and a few fig trees, among which is the banyan.

During our long stay at this place we had many opportunities of

forming acquaintance with the Soobah, as well as with the imme-

diately adjoining part of his district. We found this almost uncul-

tivated, and overrun with jungle. No large paths were seen to point

out that there are many villages near Dewangari; in fact the only

two which bear marks of frequent communication, are that by which

we ascended, and one which runs eastward to a picturesque village

about half a mile distant, and which also leads to the plains.

The Soobah we found to be a gentlemanly unassuming man; he

received us in avery friendly manner and with some state; the room

was decently ornamented, and set off in particular by some well-

executed Chinese religious figures, the chief of which we were told

represented the Dhurma Rajah, whose presence even as a carved

block was supposed to give infallibility. We were besides regaled

with blasts of music. His house was the most picturesque one that

I saw, and had some resemblance, particularly at a distance, to the

representations of some Swiss cottages. It was comparatively small,

but as he was of inferior rank, his house was of inferior size,

our stay much increased by the Kampa people, who were assembling

here prior to proceeding to Hazoo. Most of the inhabitants are

pure Booteas; many of them were fine specimens of human build,

certainly the finest I saw in Bootan: they were, strange to say, in

all cases civil and obliging. Cattle were tolerably abundant, and

principally of that species known in Assam by the name of Mithans;

they were taken tolerable care of, and picketed in the village at

night: some, and particularly the bulls, were very fine, and very

gentle. Ponies and mules were not uncommon, but not of extraor-

dinary merits. Pigs and fowls were abundant. The chief commu-

nication with the plains is carried on by their Assamese subjects,

who are almost entirely Kucharees: they bring up rice and putrid

dried fish, and return with bundles of manjistha.

On the 28rd, after taking a farewell of the Soobah, who gave us

the Dhurma’s blessing, and as usual decorated us with scarfs, we left

for Rydang, the halting-house between Dewangari and Khegumpa,

and distant eight miles from the former place. We reached it late

in the evening, as we did not start until after noon. We first de-

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 427

‘scended to the Deo-Nuddee, which is 800 or 900 feet below the

village, and which runs at the bottom of the ravine, of which the

Dewangari ridge forms the southern side, and we continued as-

cending its bed, almost entirely throughout the march. The river

is of moderate size, scarcely fordable however in the rains; it

abounds with the fish known to the Assamese by the name of Book-

har, and which are found throughout the mountain streams of the

boundaries of the province.

24th. Left for Khegumpa. ‘The march was almost entirely an un-

‘interrupted ascent, at least until we had reached 7000 feet, so that

the actual height ascended amounted nearly to 5000 feet. It com-

menced at first over sparingly wooded grassy hills, until an elevation

of about 4000 feet was attained, when the vegetation began to

change ; rhododendrons, and some other plants of the same natural

family making their appearance. Having reached the elevation of

7000 feet by steep and rugged paths, we continued along ridges well

clothed with trees, literally covered with pendulous mosses and

lichens, the whole vegetation being extra-tropical. At one time we

wound round a huge eminence, the bluff and bare head of which

towered several hundred feet above us, by a narrow rocky path or

ledge overhanging deep precipices ; and thence we proceeded nearly

at the same level along beautiful paths, through fine oak woods, until

we reached Khegumpa; the distance to which, although only eleven

milés, took us the whole day to perform.

This march was a beautiful, as well as an interesting one, owing

to the changes that occurred in the vegetation. It was likewise so

varied, that although at a most unfavourable season of the year, I

gathered no fewer than 130 species in flower or fruit. Rhododen-

drons of other species than that previously mentioned, oaks, chesnuts,

maples, violets, primroses, &c. &c. occurred. We did not pass any

villages, nor did we meet with any signs of habitation, excepting a

few pilgrims proceeding to Hazoo.

Khegumpa itself is a small village on an exposed site; it does not

contain more than twelve houses, and the only large one, which as

usual belonged to a Sam Gooroo, appeared to be in a ruinous state.

The elevation is nearly 7000 feet. The whole place bore a wintery

aspect, the vegetation being entirely northern, and almost all the

trees having lost their leaves. ‘The cold was considerable, although

the thermometer did not fall below 46°. The scarlet tree rhododen-

dron was common, and the first fir tree occurred in the form of a

solitary specimen of Pinus excelsa. In the small gardens attached to

some of the houses I remarked vestiges of the cultivation of tobacco

2H 2

428 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

and Probosa*. In the valleys however surrounding this place there

seemed to be a good deal of cultivation, of what nature distance pre-

vented me from ascertaining. |

25th. Left for Sasee. We commenced by descending gradually

until we had passed through a forest of oaks, resembling much our

well-known English oak; then the descent became steep, and con-

tinued so for some time; we then commenced winding round spurs

clothed with humid and sub-tropical vegetation ; continuing at the

same elevation we subsequently came on dry open ridges, covered

with rhododendrons. 'The descent recommenced on our reaching a

small temple, about which the long-leaved fir was plentiful, and con-

tinued without interruption until we reached a small torrent. Cross-

ing this, we again ascended slightly to descend to the Dimree river,

one of considerable size, but fordable. The ascent recommenced im-

mediately, and continued uninterruptedly at first through tropical

vegetation, then through open rhododendron and fir woods, until we

came close upon Sasee, to which place we descended very slightly.

This march occupied us the whole day. After leaving the neigh-

bourhood of Khegumpa we saw no signs of cultivation; the country,

except in some places, was arid; coarse grasses, long-leayed firs,

and rhododendrons forming the predominating vegetation. We

halted at Sasee, which is a ruined village, until the 28th. The little

cultivation that exists about it is of barley, buckwheat, and hemp.

interruptedly to the bed of the Geeri, a small torrent, along which

we found the vegetation to be tropical; ascending thence about 5000

feet, we descended again to the torrent, up the bed of which we pro-

ceeded for perhaps a mile; the ascent then again commenctd, and

continued until we reached Bulphai. ‘The path was generally nar-

row, running over the flank of a mountain whose surface was much

decomposed ; it was of such a nature that a slip of any sort would in

many places have precipitated one several hundred feet. The face

of the country was very barren, the trees consisting chiefly of firs

and rhododendrons, both generally in a stunted state. The vege-

tation was not interesting until we came on a level with Bulphai,

when we came on oaks and some other very northern plants. We

were well accommodated in this village, which is a very small one,

situated in a somewhat sheltered place, and elevated to 6800 feet

above the sea. The surrounding mountains are very barren on their

southern faces, while on the northern, or sheltered side, very fine

* Eleusine coracana.

ASE ise ET 5 iy, 2.7 PN yaaa at]

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 429

‘oak woods occur. ‘The houses were of a better order than those at

‘Sasee, and altogether superior to those of Khegumpa. They are co-

vered in with split bamboos, which are secured by rattans, a pre-

caution rendered necessary by the great violence of the winds, which

at this season blow from the south or south-east. Bulphai is a bit-

terly cold place in the winter, and there is scarcely any mode of esca-

ping from its searching winds. The vegetation is altogether north-

ern, the woods consisting principally of a picturesque oak, scarcely

ever found under an elevation of 6000 feet. There is one small patch

of cultivation, thinly occupied by abortive turnips or radishes, and

miserable barley. It was at this place that we first heard the very

peculiar crow of true Bootan cocks, most of which are afflicted with

-€normous corns.

On the 3lst we resumed our journey, ascending at first a ridge

to the N.E. of Bulphai, until we reached a pagoda, the elevation of

which proved to be nearly 8000 feet; and still above this rose to

the height of about 10,000 feet a bold rounded summit, covered with

brown and low grass. Skirting this at about the same level as the

pagoda, we came on open downs, on which small dells, tenanted by

well-defined oak woods, were scattered. After crossing these

downs, which were of inconsiderable extent, we began to descend,

and continued doing so until we came to Roongdoong. About a

third of the way down we passed a village containing about twenty

houses, with the usual appendage of Sam Gooroo’s residence ; and

still lower we came upon a picturesque temple, over which a beau-

tiful weeping cypress hung its branches. We likewise passed below

this a large temple raised on a square terrace basement. From this

the descent is very steep, untila small stream is reached, from which

we ascended very slightly to the castle of Roongdoong, in the loftiest

part of which we took up our quarters. From the time that we de-

scended after crossing the downs, the country had rather an improved

aspect, some cultivation being visible here and there. We meta

good many Kampas, pilgrims, and one chowry-tailed cow, laden with

rock salt, which appears to be the most frequent burden.

[To be continued. ]

Mr. Schomburgk’s recent Expedition in Guiana.

[Continued from p. 328. ]

WueEn marching early in a morning over the savannahs, and on ap-

proaching an Indian settlement, we frequently observed on the small

sandy footpath a number of marks, which a hasty observer would

430 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

have pronounced to be the prints of dogs’ feet. The Indian is better

acquainted with them ; they are a sure proof that a pack of Carasissi

paid the preceding night a visit to the hen-roost at the next Molocca

or Indian village; and on entering it, the long faces of the squaws,

and their vociferous gesticulations, spoke volumes of the depreda-

tions which these night robbers had committed among the feathered

stock.

The Carasissi or Savannah dog, as it is called by the colonists, is

the only animal allied to the dogs found in Guiana. It does not at-

tain the size of the fox, but is of a stronger make than that animal,

and has a shorter tail and more obtuse muzzle. In the form of the

head and position of the eyes, it approaches more nearly to the dogs,

and, in fact, appears to be intermediate between them and the foxes ;

and while these refuse to mix together, the Carasissi is much sought

after by the Indians to make a cross breed with their dogs. There

are few of these animals in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast, or in

the cultivated part of Guiana; but on the savannahs they are found

hunting in large packs. They pursue their prey principally by the

eye, but in thick woods they follow it by the scent. During our

expedition up the river Berbice, some of our hunters met with a pack

of Carasissis ; and they succeeded in securing one alive, but not ha-

ving tied it sufficiently it gnawed its ropes and escaped. While we

sojourned in Pirara, one was shot in the act of committing depreda-

snout to the insertion of the tail, the latter being 10? inches in

length. The breast and belly were of a dusky white, the other parts

of a deep buff colour, with the exception of the muzzle and the ears,

which were dark, approaching almost to black. The tail was not so

bushy as that of the fox, nor was it so long. They carry their ears

erect.

They vie in cunning and art with the European fox, and the de-

predations which they commit on the hen-roosts are considerable.

Their favourite haunts are thickets near open savannahs, and if a

pack succeed in entering the village and in surprising the Indians’

poultry, few escape, as they completely surround the roosting-place,

and generally carry off their spoil before the inhabitants have any

idea of their presence. I have been assured by the Indians that they

soon run down deer, and pursue their game under full cry. They de-

stroy in other ways large quantities of game.

I bought in the commencement of November a young one, which

I considered about three weeks old. Its fur was darker than that of

the adult ; we fed it on boiled yams, ripe plantains, meat, and fish.

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 431

It appeared chiefly fond of plantains, and would follow those who fed

and nursed it like a dog. When incensed it growled like a puppy,

but when in pain or tired of walking it would raise its voice to a

harsh grating tone. They seldom lose, even when domesticated,

their depredatory habits, and those Indians who raise them for the

sake of procuring a cross breed with the dog, are obliged to keep

them tied, as otherwise they would kill all the fowls and parrots*.

It is called by the Macusis Marxanea, in Warrau Wanityov.

The variety which has sprung from the breed between the Indian

domestic dog and the Carasissi more resembles the dog, its body is

‘however longer in proportion to its size, and its ears are pricked up.

Their progeny become prolific. They are hardy, and many of them

prove excellent hunters ; they are therefore very much prized by the

Indians, who pay great attention to their training.t

These extensive savannahs are likewise the favourite haunt of the

Brown Coati (Nasua fusca) of the colonists, or Quasy and Kibihi of

the natives of Guiana. They measure about 18 inches, and the tail,

which is nearly the same length, is always carried erect. It is brown,

brightening to a rust colour on the belly and breast ; the tail brown,

with rings of black ; the snout long and moveable; the canine teeth

strong and hooked ; legs short, the hind a little longer than the fore

ones; the feet long; it walks always upon its heels like the bears,

frequently standing upon its hind legs.

They live in large societies, and know how to defend themselves

bravely if attacked by dogs; indeed they fall often en masse upon

them and kill the assailants. They are excellent climbers; and in

® The Carasissi is Desmarest’s Canis cancrivorus, of which he gives the

following description, communicated to me since writing the above by Mr.

Waterhouse :

Canis cancrivorus, Desmarest.

“« Pélage cendré et varié de noir en dessus, parties inférieures d’un blanc-

jaunatre; oreilles brunes; cétés du cou derriére les oreilles, fauves; tarses

et bout de la queue noiratres.

Pieds, Pouces,

Longueur du corps ...... an Fisee’ Reaveastneke 2 4

Longueur de la queue — .......cecenceececes oe ad

I] fait sa proie des Agoutis et des Paca, &c. et il mange aussi des fruits, tels

que ceux du bois rouge. I] va par petites troupes de dix ou sept individues,

Patrie. La Guyane Francaise.”

+ A good dog of that description which is trained to hunt deer, tapir, wild

hogs, paca or laba, &c. generally fetches a price of from ten to twelve pounds

sterling: the dogs imported from Europe suffer much from the effects of the

climate, and some kinds, as greyhounds, foxhounds, spaniels, pointers,

cockerels, &c. seldom thrive. _ to and bull-dogs appear to accustom

themselves earlier to the climate.

432 Information respecting Botanical Travellers.

descending a tree they always come down head foremost. Their food

consists of insects, fruits, roots and such small prey as they are able -

to secure. They are destructive to young birds, and expert in dig-

ging after large beetles, for which their claws, which are very strong,

are admirably adapted. They do not burrow in the ground for a re-

sidence.

A friend of mine in Berbice possessed a brown Coati which was

domesticated. In its disposition it was extremely mild, and very fond

of being caressed; it was sometimes induced to play, although it evi-

dently preferred passing the greater part of the day asleep, rolling it-

self up ina lump. When receiving its food it sat apparently with

great ease on its hinder legs, and thrusting its nails into the food,

it carried it in this position with both its paws to the mouth. It

possessed the peculiarity of gnawing on its own tail, which organ

bore the marks of this strange propensity. Its smell was strong and

disagreeable, and would have deterred many from keeping such an

animal in their house.

Although it seemed generally to derive great pleasure from being

stroked down the back, when it received these caresses from its

master it would turn over, and return with its paws these caresses

or thrust its long muzzle under the sleeve, uttering at the same time

a soft and gentle cry. Ifa cat or a dog approached it, the soft cry

would change to a shrill sound.

While travelling over the savannahs we have frequently met them

at broad daylight, and I recollect once a chase ensued that was highly

characteristic. ‘The instant poor Quasy perceived itself pursued it

made for the high grass, where no doubt it would have been able to

hide itself, if its tail, which it carried erect, did not point out its

situation. We found the single dog in our company unable to con-

tend with it, the Indians assisted therefore to dislodge it from the

retreat which the high grass partially afforded. The Coati now made for

the open savannah, the Indians following the harassed animal shout-

ing, the dog barking: it chose a path embarrassed with thorns and

briars, and took to the swampy ground below the stately Mauritius

palms ; but this was of no avail, its pursuers not being deterred ; like

a hare it doubled back to the spot grown over with high grass,

where it vainly sought for protection. Its strength being exhausted,

it was soon seized by its long tail by one of the Indians; but even

here it defended itself with desperate obstinacy; the Indian was

obliged to loose his hold, and a new scuffle arose : wherever it turned

it met an enemy ; beaten with bows and long poles, fired at with ar-

rows,

Age

PGE OM re See NEO eS Toe fee

ai ee eee ne IN, Tin ee TPN

Information respecting Botanical Travellers. 433

rows, worried by the dog, it at last expired; but I have seldom seen

such tenacity of life evinced as in this small animal.

Naturalists differ whether Nasua fusca and rufa are distinct in

species or mere variations in colour. I must confess that I have seen

every variety of shade in the brown species, and a change in the co-

lour of the fur takes.place at the setting in of the rainy season in

May, when they are generally darker. Nevertheless the Indians

have told me of a black species, which they say is to be found in the

land of the Waccawai Indians, who inhabit the banks of the Maza-

rung. I have never had the fortune to meet with it ; however I pos-

sess the following note from Mr. Vieth, who, as already observed,

accompanied me during my late expeditions :—

“‘ 1 have seen only one specimen, which was brought by Macusis,

who came from the Essequibo by land over to the Demerara river.

It was a size larger than the largest brown coati I have seen, and of

a shining black, with the exception of the tail, which was ringed

with white. In its habits and proportions it resembled exactly the

brown coati.”’

The geographical range of the Nasua fusca extends over Guiana,

and is to be met with as well at the coast regions as at the plains of

the interior; and since we know that it inhabits Brazil likewise, its

distribution appears of great extent.

Although the Racoon is not an animal which inhabits the savan-

nahs*, its relation to the preceding genus induces me to give now

the few particulars which I know about its habits. It frequents the

sea coast, and is generally found in the neighbourhood of inhabited

spots, where it is destructive to poultry. Itis about 2 feet long and

9 inches high; the head is large, snout full and thick, the ears

of a moderate length; the nose is rather short, and more pointed

than that of a fox ; indeed its head reminds me of that of the hyzena.

The fore feet are shorter than the hinder, the five claws sharp, strong,

and with them and its teeth, which resemble those of a dog, it makes

a vigorous resistance or attacks its prey with success. Its hair is

long and shaggy, but very short upon the legs from the knee down-

wards ; the colour of its fur is a light brown, the legs black, the tail

thick, tapering towards a point and marked with black rings.

Among the favourite haunts of these animals are the thickets of

Curida bushes (Avicennia tomentosa), which extend along the sea

coast, where they feed upon crabs which they are expert in killing,

* It appears entirely local to the sea coast; the Macusi Indians do not

know the animal. The Warrans from the Corentyn call it Oghia.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No. 27. Suppl. Feb.1840. 21

434 Bibliographical Notices.

first tearing off their claws or nippers ; and being thus disabled from

doing harm, the crab dog or racoon uses its sharp teeth to break the

shell. In their native state they sleep by day, and issue at dusk in

search of food; birds, insects, roots, and vegetables, nothing comes

amiss ; and as they possess a particular fondness for sweets, I have

been told by practical planters that the injury which oe to sugar

plantations is very considerable.

They take their food with both paws like the squirrel, and are

fond of dipping it in water. I have noted with astonishment that

they drink as well by lapping like the dog as by sucking. I have

had several in a domesticated state, all of which possessed this

culiarity.

They are very active ; their sharp claws enable them to climb trees

with great agility, and to leap with security from branch to branch.

When on the ground they move forward by bounding, and in an ob-

lique direction; nevertheless they are swift enough, and rarely fall a

prey to their pursuers.

They are easily domesticated when taken young, and are then

harmless and amusing, but our endeavours to accustom two adults

which we had secured to a domesticated state proved entirely vain.

We were obliged to keep them chained ; they refused apparently to

eat or drink, and died the first two weeks after we had entrapped

them.

I have been told of a second species, but neither Mr. Vieth nor ~

myself have ever met with it, nor have I been able to ascertain in

what its distinguishing characters consist.

[To be continued. ]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Etudes de Micromammalogie. Revue des Musaraignes, des Rats et des

Campagnols, suivie d’un Index méthodique des Mammifeéres d’ Lurope.

Par Edm. De Selys-Longchamps, Membre de plusieurs Sociétés

savantes. Paris, 1839. 8vo. pp. 165. pls. 3.

_ We deem it very desirable that this little work should be brought

under the notice of our readers, as well on account of its intrinsic

merits, as on that of its relating to certain groups which have re-

cently attracted much attention in this country. It is also one of

that class of books written exclusively for the benefit of the working

naturalists, which of all others, in our opinion, tend most to the ad-

kee!

Bibliographical Notices. 435

vancement of zoology. Its author is already known to the public by

a small brochure published a few years back on the Arvicole of the

neighbourhood of Liége*. In the work now under review, he has

revised and described all the known species belonging to the three

genera of Sorex, Mus, and Arvicola inhabiting Europe; and he has”

taken great pains in the investigation of their synonyms, and in the

endeavour to fix their respective characters with certainty and pre-

cision, besides giving ample notices of all that had been observed re-

specting their habits and places of abode. As these genera belong

to, or almost form in themselves, three distinct families of Mammalia,

and two out of the three belong even to different orders, it is clear

that they could not be collected into one group, established upon

their mutual affinities, and offering any characters by which they

might be distinguished in common from the rest of the class. It is

this circumstance which has led M. De Selys-Longchamps to adopt

as a title to his work the term ‘ Etudes de Micromammalogie ;’ in-

dicating simply the study of the Cheiroptera, Insectivora, and Roden-

tia, or the three orders of Mammalia embracing the smallest species

in the class, and none of which exceed a moderate size: and he dis-

claims all idea of attaching any further importance to this term, or

of wishing it to be accepted rigorously, as implying a distinct branch

of Mammalogy. With regard to the particular genera selected for

illustration in this work, it is observed that they are those least un-

derstood and most numerous in species ; and that the greater part

of the other Rodentia may be found in the works of Pallas, Desmarest,

_ Fred. Cuvier, and De Blainville. We much regret, however, that the

Cheiroptera are not included, owing, it is alleged, to the author’s

not having been able to see himself all the deseribed species, which

he considers indispensable to enable him to proceed with his task

surely. The reason is a good one; and it may serve to impress us

with a sense of the caution which he has used in endeavouring to

elucidate those groups, monographs of which are now submitted to

the public.

That he might profit from what has been accomplished by others

on the same subject, M. De Selys-Longchamps has visited a large

number of museums in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. He

has also been in correspondence with all the principal naturalists

whose names have been associated with any of the groups here

treated of. With many of them he has effected an interchange of

specimens ; and by these means he has been enabled to identify such

* Essai Monographique sur les Campagnols des Environs de Liége. Liége,

1836. 8vo, pp. 15. 4 planches coloriées.

212

436 Bibliographical Notices.

species as had been described from time to time, to compare them

with each other, and to determine which were to be considered as

true species, and which as varieties.

In the arrangement of the Soricide, which form the first division

of his work, M. De Selys-Longchamps has for the most part followed

Wagler, having only altered the value of the groups established by

that author. Thus he considers the entire family as divisible into

the two genera of Sorer and Crocidura. In the former he includes

Sorex and Crossopus of Wagler, here considered only as subgenera,

from their having many characters in common, in the ears, in the

colouring of the teeth, and in the fur and tail, and from the number

of the small lateral incisors not being esteemed a sufficient ground to

warrant a generic separation. The genus Crocidura comprises the

two subgenera of Pachyura and Crocidura, the former of which is

established here for the first time, for the reception of the Sorex

Ktrusca of Savi, together with those foreign species having one more

lateral incisor above than the true Crocidure as restricted by our

author. It may be useful to those naturalists who are more familiar

with Duvernoy’s arrangement of this family than Wagler’s, to state

that the subgenus Sorex of this work answers to Amphisorex of Du-

vernoy’s last memoir, Crossopus to Hydrosorex of the same author,

and Crocidura to Sorex ; the characters of which it is not necessary

to repeat here, as they have been already brought under the notice

of the English reader in a former number of this Magazine*. The

relative value, however, of these groups will be made more clear

when exhibited in the following manner; and it may be desirable to

annex to each the included species.

Gen. 1. SOREX, Lin.

Subgen. 1. Sorex, Wagl. Subgen. 2. Crossopus, Wagl.

Sp. 1. tetragonurus, Herm. Sp. 4. fodiens, Pall.

2. pygmaeus, Laxm. 5. ciliatus, Sow.

3. alpinus, Schinz.

Gen. 2. CROCIDURA, Waetu.

Subgen. 1. Pacnyura, De Selys. Subgen. 2. Crocipura, Wagl.

Sp. 1. Etrusca, Bonap. Sp. 2. Aranea, De Selys.

(Sorex Etr. Savi.) (Sor. Aran. Auct.)

3. Leucodon, Wag].

* Ann. of Nat. Hist. vol. i. pp. 422 and 424.

SESE EH NT Te ee BOE NCEP RTO IC SI ARE RR ae sl ead

e he a — . = Pa i bg 3 a rd aw se, 3 =

Bibliographical Notices. 437

The species here indicated are nearly identical with those adopted

by Nathusius*; and it is satisfactory to find two authors, who ap-

pear to have bestowed equal pains upon the subject, agree in their

estimation of what are to be considered good species in a group,

which, almost as much as any that can be mentioned, abounds in

spurious ones. M. De Selys-Longchamps has announced the fact

that there are more than eighteen names to choose out of for the

common water-shrew ; and Nathusius has annexed nearly two-thirds

that number of synonyms to the S. tetragonurus! The only respects

in which the list of species in this work differs from that of Nathu-

sius, are the adoption of the S. alpinus of Schinz, which Nathusius

does not appear to have personally examined, and the S. ciliatus of

Sowerby. With regard to this last, however, it is justly observed,

that there are many specimens apparently so intermediate between

it and S. fodiens, that the two may yet prove to be varieties of one

species, as Nathusius seems to have considered them.

As for the species described for the first time by Mr. Jenyns in

former numbers of this Magazine, M. De Selys-Longchamps, not

having seen them before the publication of his work, has placed them

in an Appendix, in which he has presented in a tabular form the

distinguishing characters of S. fetragonurus, S. rusticus, and S.

castaneus, as Mr. Jenyns has stated them. At the same time he

observes that those of the S. rusticus appear very marked, and apply

well to a small shrew found by hiriself in one instance in the pro-

vince of Liége, and which he had previously considered as a young

S. tetragonurus. He has made a similar observation with respect

to the S. labiosus of Jenyns, the characters of which he briefly no-

tices, adding that it agrees well with an individual seen by him at

Francfort-on-Main, obtained by Dr. Cretschmar ; though, without an

opportunity of inspecting recent individuals, he does not venture to

introduce it as an authentic species. Since the publication of his

book, M. De Selys-Longchamps has visited this country, when Mr.

Jenyns’s species were submitted to his examination. He still de-

clined offering any decided opinion about the S. Jabiosus and the S.

castaneus ; but he expressed himself quite satisfied, that the small

shrew found in Ireland, considered by Mr. Jenyns as a variety of his

S. rusticus, was perfectly distinct from the S. tetragonurust.

* Wiegmann’s Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1838, p. 45.

+ The name of Hibernicus will hardly be appropriate for this species, as

it has been found in several parts of England also; but if it be proved, as

Mr. Jenyns suspects will eventually be the case, to be not specifically distinct

from the shrew which he originally called rusticus, it may be retained under

this last name, without having recourse to any newone. Mr. Jenyns will,

before long, probably offer some remarks on this point.

438 Bibliographical Notices.

The second portion of M. De Selys-Longchamps’ work treats of

the European species of Mus, L., which are all retained under one

genus, admitting, however, of two sectional divisions as follows:

I, Omnivorous ; ears oblong, naked: containing six species, viz.

M. decumanus, Pall.; M. Alexandrinus, Geoff.; M. Rattus, Lin. ;

M. Musculus, Lin.; M. Islandicus, Thienem.; M. sylvaticus, Lin.

II. Granivorous ; ears rounded, hairy : containing two species,

viz. M. agrarius, Pall., and M. minutus, Pall. The former of these

is stated to be at the limits of the two groups, having the general

form of M. sylvaticus, with the ears of the second group.

To the above, another section is prefixed, containing what he

terms Rats échimoides, or those species the fur of which is mixed up

with sharp prickly hairs, as in the genus Hchimys. This group, how-

ever, is entirely exotic, inhabiting the intertropical countries of Asia

and Africa.

It is not pretended that these divisions are. capable of such strict

definition as to be applied rigorously, but it is thought that they are

sufficiently natural, taking them in the whole, without going into

details.

With regard to the species of this genus, the author observes, that

they have been much less confused than those of Arvicolu and Sorez,

if exception be made of the M. minutus (the Harvest Mouse of En-

glish authors), the synonymy of which we think he has sufficiently

cleared up. As for the others, it is principally in relation to their

habitats and their diagnostic characters that he has found any oc-

casion for making new remarks. The J. Alewandrinus, first described

by Geoffroy St. Hilaire in the great work on Egypt, is here consi-

dered to be the same as the M. Tectorum of Savi and the Prince of

Musignano, although regarded as distinct by the two authors just

mentioned. M. De Selys-Longchamps has pointed out the insuffi-

ciency of those characters which have been resorted to as grounds for

separating them. The M. Hibernicus of Thompson, he has noticed in

an appendix along with two Sicilian species discovered and described

by Rafinesque, the M. frugivorus and the M. Dichrurus, concerning

none of which he offers any opinion, as they have not fallen under

his own observation. At the same time, in reference to the first, he

states, that if the colour of the fur is constant, and especially if the

difference in the length of the ears between it and the M. Rattus is

not caused by the way in which the animal is prepared, he should

be tempted to admit it as a species. In another place he suggests,

whether it may not be a hybrid between the M. Ratius and the iM.

decumanus. He adds, however, that this is not likely.

The genus Arvicola, which forms the subject of the third mono-

Bibliographical Notices. ~~ 89

graph in this work, is a more extensive group than either of the two

already treated of. It consists of eleven European species, of which

no less than four appear to have been first discovered or described by

M. De Selys-Longchamps himself. They are all arranged under two

sections, each of which is further divided into two others.

I. The first section consists of those species which have the ex-

ternal ears shorter than the fur, often almost none at all: eyes very

small.

This section comprises the two subordinate groups of (1.) Cam-

pagnols aguatiques (Hemiotomys, De Selys,) including A. amphi-

. bius, Lacep.; A. monticola, De Selys; <A. destructor, Savi, and

A. terrestris, Savi: and (2.) Campagnols Lemmings (Microrvs,

De Selys,) including the A. fulvus of Desmarest, and the A. Savii

of De Selys.

II. The second section consists of those species which have the

external ears as long as the fur.and well developed ; eyes varying, often

prominent. :

This section is subdivided into the two groups of (1.) Campagnols

proprement dits (Arvicoxa,) including the A. subterraneus, De Selys ;

A. arvalis, Lacep.; A. socialis, Desm.; A. duodecim-costatus, De

Selys: and (2.) Campagnols murins (Myovxs, De Selys), which last

group is instituted for the reception of the 4. rubidus, De Selys (the

A. riparia of Yarrell), which is stated, on the authority of Nathusius,

to have the molar teeth with fangs in the adult state, a character

wherein it differs from all the other species of the genus.

M. De Selys-Longchamps states that the genus Myzomes of Rafi-

nesque forms a third section characterized by its scaly tail. It is not

his intention, however, to raise any of these sections to the rank of

a genus ora subgenus. He observes that they all pass into each other

by insensible differences in the length of the tail and ears; and in

regard to the character derived from the fangs of the teeth, that it

probably exists more or less in other species. And in imposing Latin

names on these groups, taken from among the synonyms of the ge-

nus, his only object has been to give foreigners an idea of the differ-

ent names which he has used in French.

It has been already stated that four of the above species were first

discovered or described by M. De Selys-Longchamps himself. These

are the A. moniicola, the A. Savii, the A. subterraneus, and the A.

duodecim-costatus ; and it may be useful to repeat here their respect-

ive characters, as they are probably not much known to the natu-

ralists of this country, although three of these species have already

appeared in the ‘ Revue Zoologique,’ and the fourth has been de-

440 Bibliographical Notices.

scribed as well as figured in the author’s brochure on the Arvicole of

Liége. They are as follows :

_ 1. A. monticola. Size of the A. amphibius. Tail sil pale ash, a little

shorter than half the length of the body : fur yellowish grey, mixt with

pale yellowish at the sides, whitish ash beneath and on the Sais (138

pairs of ribs?)

Inhabits the Pyrenees.

2. A. Savii. Size of the A.arvalis. External ears a little hairy,

much shorter than the fur: tail a litile shorter than one-third of the

body ; of two colours, brownish above, whitish beneath: fur brown-

grey above, ash colour beneath: feet pale ash. (14 pairs of ribs.)

Inhabits Tuscany, Lombardy, and probably all Italy.

3. A.subterraneus. Size a little larger than that of the A. arvalis.

Ears a little shorter, of the length of the fur, nearly naked ; eyes very

small ; tail one third the length of the body, of two colours, blackish

above, white beneath : fur blackish grey above, ash-colour or whitish

on the abdomen only : feet deepash. (13 pairs of ribs.)

Inhabits Belgium, French Flanders, and the environs of Paris, but

no other parts of Europe, unless it be the Mus agrestis of Linné, in

which case it is found also in Sweden*.

4. A. duodecim-costatus. Size of the A. arvalis. Tail a little longer

than one third of the body. Twelve pairs of ribs : six lumbar vertebre.

Pier tie:

Inhabits the South of France and the frontiers of Switzerland, but

supposed to be very rare. No skin of it exists, and only the osteo-

logy of itis known. The 12 pairs of ribs distinguish it from every

other species excepting the A. socialis, and from this it may be known

by its longer tail, and by having 6 instead of 5 lumbar vertebre. :

The A. destructor is a species found in Italy, which appears to

have been recognised by M. De Selys-Longchamps and M. Savi

nearly about the same time. It was originally described by the

former in the ‘ Revue Zoologique,’ under the name of A. Musignani,

but this name is exchanged here for destructor out of courtesy to

M. Savi, who had previously thus designated it. It is closely allied

to the A. amphibius, from which it may be known by a difference in

the fur, which much resembles that of the Mus decumanus, and by the

nearly uniform whitish-ash colour of the under parts. But its great

peculiarity resides in the form of the cranium, which is said to be

quite different from that of its congeners. This part is represented,

* This species was first characterized by M. Baillon in 1834, under the

name of Lemmus pratensis, but it had been discovered by M. De Selys-

Longchamps as long previously as 1831.

Se ee.

eee g eer ae

POE A ean tei oe NE Oh ee EET Pe ey Sinai pen ee ey

Bibliographical Notices. 441

along with the crania of several other species of Arvicole, in three

plates which accompany the present work.

The A. terrestris is the A. argentoratensis of Desmarest and Les-

son. It is not the A. terrestris of the ‘ Fauna Italica,’ this last being

the same as the A. destructor mentioned above.

To each of the three monographs in this work is annexed a tabular

arrangement of the dimensions of all the species contained in the

respective genera. And in the case of the Arvicole, there are added

two other tables ; one exhibiting the relative characters of the crania

in the different species, the other the number of the ribs and ver-

tebre. —

The work concludes with a complete list of all the Mammalia

hitherto discovered in Europe, amounting to 188 species, exclusively

of those which have been introduced by man, and which are only

domesticated.

‘We have dwelt the longer on this work in the hope that it may

stimulate naturalists to making further researches in our own country.

Notwithstanding the labours of M. De Selys-Longchamps, and the

pains which he has taken in the monographs above noticed, we are

satisfied that the subject is not yet exhausted. There are several

species in the three genera of Sorer, Mus, and Arvicola which re-

quire further investigation, and doubtless some which remain yet to

be discovered. The British Shrews are not entirely cleared up. We

have also more than once had submitted to our examination speci-

mens of a mouse from the tops of the Irish mountains, closely allied

to the M. sylvaticus, but apparently offering some differences : un-

fortunately they were not in a sufficiently good state of preservation

to allow of any decided opinion respecting them. We may further

add that it appears doubtful whether we have not in our museums

two species of Arvicola confounded under the name of A. agrestis or

arvalis, one of which is the true A. arvalis of M. De Selys-Long-

champs, but the other so far distinct as not to have been immediately

recognised by this naturalist when specimens were submitted to his

view during his recent visit to this country. Ireland again seems to

possess a species of this genus which it is likely will be found differ-

ent from all those hitherto recorded as natives of Great Britain. But

further remarks on some of these points will probably be brought

under the notice of our readers before long.

449 Zoological Society.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

February 26, 1839.—The Rev. F. W. Hope, in the Chair.

Mr. Fraser exhibited a new species of Corythair, which he pro-

ceeded to characterize as follows :

CoryTHAIX MACRORHYNCHUS. Cor. rostro pregrandi aurantiaco,

ad basin sanguineo ; capite, cristd, collo pectoreque viridibus ;

crislé ad apicem albd, et purpureo notatd ; lined albd infra oculos.

excurrente ; dorso alisque metallicé purpureis ; primariis san-

guineis nigro marginalis : caudd superné metallicé viridi ; femo-

ribus cauddque subtus nigris ; tarsis nigris.

Long. tot. 14 poll.; rostri, 14; ale, 6; caude, 6; tarsi, 14.

Hab. ?

This species of Corythaix lived for some time in the Society’s

Menagerie, having been purchased from a dealer who was unac-

quainted with its locality.

Compared with the known species of the genus, it approaches

most nearly to the Corythaix Persa of authors, but from this it may

readily be distinguished by its smaller size ; and the form, compara-

tively large size, and colouring of the beak. The colouring of the

plumage also differs in some respects ;: like C. Persa, the head, neck,

and breast are green, but the feathers on these parts are of a deeper

hue than in that species; the feathers of the crest, instead of being

simply tipped with white, having a white transverse line near the

apex, but at the apex they are purple-black. Minute black feathers —

encircle the eye, and a white stripe extends from beneath the eye

on to the ear. The beak is much arched above, and somewhat in-

flated at the base ; the nostrils are very large, and not hidden, as in

C. Persa, by the decumbent feathers, these extending only to the

posterior angle of the nostril. The upper mandible is of a bright

yellow colour, excepting all that portion which lies below and be-

hind the nostrils, which is of a brilliant red colour; the lower man-

dible is of the same red tint, but tipped with yellow. Both mandi-

bles present simple sharp-cutting edges, in this respect exhibiting a

different structure from that observable in the allied species, C. Persa

and C. Buffonii, in which the mandibles have their cutting edges

serrated. The back and upper surface of the wings are of a deep

purple-blue tint, exhibiting in certain parts greenish reflections.

The primaries (with the exception of the first quill) and the second-

aries (with the exception of the three or four innermost quills) are

red, margined with black ; the shafts of these feathers are also black.

The outer primary is black, and the two or three following feathers

are broadly margined externally with the same colour. All the

wing feathers are black at the base; on the outermost feathers the

Zoological Society. 443

black colouring occupies but little space, but in each successive

- feather it increases in extent. The feathers of the tail are of a very

dark green colour above, inclining to black; beneath they are black,

but exhibit indistinct purple reflections. ‘The rump, upper and un-

der tail coverts, thighs, and vent are black, obscurely tinted with

purple or green in parts. The tarsi are black. ‘The eyes are hazel,

and the naked, or almost naked, space around the eye, is of a crimson

colour; not carunculated, asin C. Buffonit and C. leucotis.

A highly-interesting and valuable series of specimens of the Paper

Nautilus (Argonauta Argo), consisting of the animals and their

shells of various sizes, of ova in various stages of development,

and of fractured shells in different stages of reparation, were ex-

hibited and commented on by Professor Owen, to whom they had

been transmitted for that purpose by Madame Jeanette Power.

Mr. Owen stated that these specimens formed part of a large collec-

tion, illustrative of the natural history of the Argonaut, and bearing

especially on the long-debated question of the right of the Cepha-

lopod inhabiting the Argonaut shell to be considered as the true

fabricator of that shell.

This collection was formed by Madame Power in Sicily in the

year 1838, during which period she was engaged in repeating her

experiments and observations on the Argonaut, having then full

cognizance of the nature of the little parasite (Hectocotylus, Cuv.),

which had misled her in regard to the development of the Argonaut

in a previous suite of experiments described by her in the Transac-

tions of the Giznian Academy for 1836.

As this mistake had been somewhat illogically dwelt on, to depre-

ciate the value of other observations detailed in Madame Power’s

Memoir, Mr. Owen observed, that it was highly satisfactory to

find that the most important of the statements in that memoir had

been subsequently repeated and confirmed by an able French mala-

cologist, M. Sander Rang.

The collection of Argonauts, —Cephalopods and shells,—preserved

in spirits, included twenty specimens, at different periods of growth,

the smallest having a shell weighing not more than one grain and

a half, the remainder increasing, by small gradations, to the com-

mon-sized mature individual.

The inductions, which the present collection of Argonauts of

different ages and sizes legitimately sustained, were in exact ac-

cordance with Madame Power’s belief that the Cephalopod was the

true constructor of the shell, while no contradictory inference had

been, or could be, deduced from an examination of the specimens

themselves.

444 Zoological Society.

With reference to the second suite of specimens, viz. the ova of

the Argonaut in different stages of development, Mr. Owen entered

into a detailed account of the new and interesting facts which they

revealed. In the ova most advanced, the distinction of head and

body was established; the pigment of the eyes, the ink in the ink-

bladder, the pigmental spots on the skin, were distinctly developed ;

the siphon, the beak,—which was colourless and almost transparent,

—and the arms were also discernible by a low microscopic power;

the arms were short and simple; the secreting membranes of the

shell were not developed, and of the shell itself there was no trace.

Mr. Owen then recapitulated as follows, the evidence, which, in-

dependently of any preconceived theory or statement, could be de-

duced from the admirable collection of Argonauta Argo due to the

labours of the accomplished lady who had contributed so materially

to the elucidation of a problem which had divided the zoological

world from the time of Aristotle.

lst. The Cephalopod of the Argonaut constantly maintains the

same relative position in its shell.

2nd. The young Cephalopod manifests the same concordance

between the form of its body and that of the shell, and the same per-

fect adaptation of the one to the other, as do the young of other

testaceous Mollusks.

3rd. The young Cephalopod entirely fills the cavity of its shell:

the fundus of the sac begins to be withdrawn from the apex of the

shell only when the ovarium begins to enlarge under the sexual

stimulus.

4th. The shell of the Argonaut corresponds in size with that of its

inhabitant, whatever be the differences in the latter in that respect.

(‘The observations of Poli, of Prevost, and myself, on a series of

Argonauta rufa, before cited, are to the same effect.”’)

5th. The shell of the Argonaut possesses all the requisite flexibi-

lity and elasticity which the mechanism of respiration and locomo-

tion in the inhabitant requires: it is also permeable to light.

6th. The Cephalopod inhabiting the Argonaut repairs the frac-

tures of its shell with a material having the same chemical compo-

sition as the original shell, and differing in mechanical properties

only in being a little more opake.

7th. ‘The repairing material is laid on from without the shell, as

it should be according to the theory of the function of the mem-

branous arms as calcifying organs.

8th. When the embryo of the Argonaut has reached an advanced

stage of development in ovo, neither the membranous arms nor shell

are developed.

> Si

Zoological Society. 445

9th. The shell of the Argonaut does not present any distinctly

defined nucleus.

Mr. Owen finally proceeded to consider the validity of the best

and latest arguments advanced in favour of the parasitism of the

. Cephalopod of the Argonaut.

Finally, Mr. Owen proceeded to state in detail the points which

still remained to be elucidated in the natural history of this most in-

teresting Mollusk. Among other experiments he suggested that

the young Argonaut should be deprived of one of the velated arms,

and preserved in a marine vivarium, with the view to determine the

influence which such mutilation might have on the future growth of

the shell: but in proposing further experiments, and while admitting

that the period of the first formation of the shell yet remained to be

determined, Mr. Owen stated that he regarded the facts already as- |

certained to be decisive in proof that the Cephalopod of the Argonaut

was the true fabricator of its shell.

March 12. ‘The notice of M. Temminck’s letter, and the second

part of Dr. Cantor’s paper, read this day, have been inserted above,

pp. 273. 341.

A collection of beautifully finished drawings of Tasmanian Fishes

was exhibited to the Members present, these drawings having been

sent to the Society by Dr. Lhotsky for that purpose. In a letter

accompanying these drawings, Dr. Lhotsky stated that they had all

been executed, under his own superintendence, from fresh specimens.

A new species of Hamster was exhibited by Mr. Waterhouse, and

characterized as follows:

Cricretus auratus. Cri. aureo-fuscescens, subtis albidus : pilis

mollissimis, supra ad basin plumbeis, subtis ad basin cinereis :

auribus mediocribus, rotundis : caudd brevissimd pilis albis obsitd.

une. lin.

Longitudo ab apice rostri ad caude basin .. 7 6

eit CUNO i. es 5 sg wt ee vee s oe 6 0 5

ab apice rostriad basinauris .... 1 6

tarsi digitorumque..........+-4. 0 10

We eS. ce eG vor

Hab. Aleppo.

“This species is less than the common Hamster (Cricetus vul-

garis), and is remarkable for its deep golden yellow colouring. The

fur is moderately long and very soft, and has a silk-like gloss: the

deep golden yellow colouring extends over the upper parts and sides

of the head and body, and also over the outer side of the limbs : on

the back, the hairs are brownish at the tip, hence in this part the

fur assumes a deeper hue than on the sides of the body: the sides

446 Zoological Society.

of the muzzle, throat, and under parts of the body are white, but

faintly tinted with yellow: on the back, and sides of the body, all

the hairs are of a deep gray or lead colour at the base; and on the

under parts of the body, the hairs are indistinctly tinted with gray

at the base. The feet and tail are white. The ears are of moderate

size, furnished externally with deep golden-coloured hairs, and in-

ternally with whitish hairs. The moustaches consist of black and

white hairs intermixed.

« The skull, when compared with that of Cricetus vulgaris, differs

in not having the anterior root of the zygomatic arch produced an-

teriorly in the form of a thin plate, which in that animal, as in the

Rats, serves to protect an opening which is connected with the nasal

cavity: the facial portion of the skull is proportionately longer and

narrower: in size there is much difference, the skull of Cricetus au-

ratus being one inch and six lines in length, and ten lines in breadth,

measuring from the outer side of the zygomatic arches.” |

April 23, 1839.—William H. Lloyd, Esq., in the Chair.

A letter was read from Dr. Weissenborn, dated Weimar, Febru-

ary 19, 1839. It accompanied a female specimen of the Hamster

(Cricetus vulgaris), which he begged to present to the Society, and

rélated to some longitudinal, naked (or nearly naked) marks which

are observable on the hips of that animal

These marks, Dr. Weissenborn states, are found in every Ham-

ster, though usually hidden by the long fur which surrounds them,

and the common opinion of the furriers (who have to cut them out

and to repiece the skin) is, that they arise from friction. Being

situated over the hip-bones, and therefore more exposed than

other parts, the hair is worn whilst the animal is moving in its bur-

row. This is the opinion also of the earlier authors, but ‘‘ is, how-

ever, erroneous, as remarked already by Dr. Sulzer, in his valuable

monograph on this species, published at Gotha in 1774. These

spots are visible the very moment the hair begins to grow, in the

naked young, and they are the very places where the growth of the

hair becomes first apparent. At this early stage of the animal’s life,

they appear on the inner side of the skin, when viewed by trans-

mitted or reflected light, as two dark spots. When all the hair is

developed the case is reversed, and these spots appear paler than the

rest of the skin. Dr. Sulzer confesses himself to be quite ignorant

of the part which these peculiar spots act in the ceconomy of the

animal, and no subsequent author has explained the subject. I

imagine no person, after Sulzer, has turned his attention seriously

to it, but it is to be wondered that he was not more successful, being

Zoological Society. 447

an accurate and clever observer. The reason why the Hamster is

furnished with these spots appears to me very far from being myste-

rious, and had the cause not been mistaken for the effect, I think

anybody might have hit upon the idea, that nature had made the

short, stiff, and closely adpressed hairs, to grow upon these spots of

the Hamster’s body, which are most exposed to friction, and at the

same time contiguous to bone, that the hair and the skin might be

competent to stand the wear and tear to which they necessarily are

subjected in the narrow burrow of an animal, which is very brisk

in its movements; and no doubt the skin, which gives rise to a dif-

ferent kind of hair, is of a different structure from the rest ; and as

this hair is more stiff, the skin which it covers is probably more

callous.

“In the present state of the science of physiology, it may be im-

possible to state with sufficient precision the conditions on which the

peculiar structure of the skin and hair, in these particular spots, de-.

pends. The relation in. which the latter stand to the hip-bones by

peculiar tissues may perhaps help to explain the circumstance, as

the neighbourhood of, and connexion with, bony structures, have

an evident influence on the nature of the skin and its productions.”

Mr. Waterhouse remarked, that the description which Dr. Weis-

senborn had given of the peculiar spots on the hips of the Hamster,

caused him to suspect that they were glands, analogous to those ob-

servable in the Shrews, and might help the animals to distinguish

each other in their dark burrows.

Mr. Waterhouse exhibited two specimens of a species of Lark

from China, which had recently died in the Society’s Menagerie,

having been presented to the Society by J. R. Reeves, Esq. It was

characterized as follows :

ALAUDA SINENSIS. Al. supra rufo-fusca, subtis alba, fascid lata

pectorali nigrd ; lined sordidé alba ab oculis, ad occiput extensd ;

Fronte, nuchd, et humeris castaneis ; remigibus primariis nigris,

marginibus externis angusté fuscescenti-albis, remige primo illo

extern? marginato ; caudd nigrd, rectrice utrinque externd albd,

ad basin nigro lavatd, proximd utrinque albo-marginatd ; rectri-

cibus intermediis duabus fuscescentibus.

Long. tot. 8 unc. ; rostri, 2; ale, 5; caude, 31; tarsi, 10 lin.

Hab. apud Sinam.

The Chinese Lark very much resembles, and is nearly »llied to,

the Alanda Calandra of authors, but differs in the followiag parti-

culars. The beak is more compressed, and the upper mandible has

two longitudinal grooves on each side, the upper one of which gives

EP IAL hae GEA oy SOON PaO FTN a ns RO ee eee Share aE ee See RN ee ee ene Tee i Ee eT as

bata sty ee ee ei Fed coi ite Miah dian, tate sai EAE Tock ae eae te yD eee nt ae eee ie ee RO eT eR er

a keel-like edge to the culmen; the tail is proportionately longer,

the tarsi are shorter ; the feet are smaller, and the hinder claws, in-

pe te a |

448 Zoological Society.

stead of being bent downwards, are slightly recurved*. In the co-

louring there are also points of distinction: in lieu of the dull brown

tint on the top of the head and back, the present species possesses

rich rufous brown feathers. In one specimen the body is yellowish

white beneath, but in the other it is pure white.

Mr. Waterhouse then proceeded to make some observations upon

a series of skulls of Rodents which were upon the table. These

skulls belonged chiefly to species of the various genera contained in

the families Chinchillide (consisting of the genera Chinchilla, Lagotis,

and Lagostomus), and Caviide—composed of the genera Cavia, Ke-

rodon, Dolichotis, and Hydrocherus. Numerous points of resem-

blance between these two families were dwelt upon, more particu-

larly in the structure of the teeth, the form of the palate, the con-

tracted glenoid cavity, the form of the lower jaw, and direction of

the lower pair of incisors. The Caviide, however, possess certain

characters, independent of those observable in the form of the teeth,

which renders it easy to distinguish them from the Chinchillide. He

alluded especially to the shortness of the condyloid process of the

lower jaw, the forward position of the coronoid process, the peculiar

projecting ridge on the outer side of the horizontal ramus, and the

form of the descending ramus or angle of the jaw ; this projects con-

siderably beyond the line of the coronoid process, whereas in the

Chinchillide it terminates in a line with the posterior portion of the

coronoid process, or projects but slightly beyond that line.

Among the Chinchillide, the Lagostomus trichodactylus, observes

Mr. Waterhouse, approaches most nearly to the Cavies, the angle

of the lower jaw being less acute and the coronoid process more for-_

ward than in the other species.

In the imperfect state of the palate, the narrowness of the ante-

rior and posterior sphenoids, the form of the occipital condyles, the

form of the articular portion of the lower jaw, and the almost hori-

zontal direction of the incisors of the lower jaw of the Chinchillas

and Cavies, Mr. Waterhouse stated he had found characters which

induced him to place those animals next before the Leporide.

May 14. Mr. Cunningham’s account of the Apteryx, and Mr.

Hope’s Monograph of Euchlora, have been inserted above, pp.312.342.

May 28.— William Ogilby, Esq. in the Chair.

A paper from the Rev. R. T. Lowe was read, entitled ‘‘ A Supple-

ment to the Synopsis of the Fishes of Madeira,” inserted above, p.405.

* “ This difference in the form of the claw cannot be depended on, as the

birds have been for some time in confinement; they may originally have

been straight, but I think they never could have been curved downwards.”

Zoological Society. 449

June 11.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. Bucknell exhibited his Eccaleobion, or machine for hatching

eggs; and having broken eggs in every stage of incubation, explained

the nature and incidents of the process. Mr. Bucknell stated that

the period of incubation in the common fowl, which was, on an aver-

age, 21 days, sometimes varied from 18 to 24 days, and that he at-

tributed this variation to the mode of keeping, and previous treat-

ment, by which the embryo was injured, either from the heat of the

weather, exposure to variety of temperature, jolting in carriage, &c.

The young bird was occasionally known to emit a faint chirp even

so long as 24 hours before being excluded; and he believed that if this

noise was heard on the 18th day the chickens would probably appear

on the 19th. From this and other circumstances, such as the common

mode of preparing eggs by varnishing, &c., the porosity of the shell,

and other similar causes, he concluded that the small globule of air

constantly found in eggs, and which he had observed to increase ac-

cording to the age of the egg, was produced by the air penetrating

the substance of the shell and its lining membrane.

The average number of malformations, according to Mr. Buck-

nell’s experience, was not more than five in a thousand; though in

Egypt, it was stated, that malformations were extremely common in

the artificial process of incubation. He attributed this circumstance to

an excess of heat, and generally found it to affect the toes and ex-

tremities ; sometimes also the muscles of the neck. .

A general conversation afterwards took place on this subject,

during which much interesting and valuable information was ex-

tracted, with regard to the period and circumstances of the incuba-

tion.

A letter from H. Cuming, Esq., Corr. Memb., dated Manilla, No-

vember 18, 1837, was read. This letter stated that Mr. Cuming had

forwarded a collection containing 395 birds and 12 amas Aes

from the southern part of the Island of Luzon.

Mr. Cuming states that quadrupeds are scarce in the Philippine

Islands, and that he has been able to procure all the species known

excepting three, two of which are Deer, and the third is a species of

Buffalo, of small size, with straight and sharply-pointed horns.

This last animal Mr. Ogilby stated was most probably the Anoa de-

pressicornis.

Mr. Ogilby exhibited the skull of an Elk from Nova Scotia, brought

over by Dr. Cox, and remarkable for its great size as compared with

the dimensions of the horns.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.4. No.27. Suppl. Feb. 1840. 2 x

450 Zoological Society.

Mr. Ogilby also called the attention of the meeting to a collection

of skins from Sierra Leone, exhibited by Mr. Garnett. Among

others were three of the Chimpanzee, apparently adult, but too much

mutilated to admit of obtaining the dimensions ; two of Colobus ur-

sinus, one of which had the tail of a rusty white colour, instead of

the pure white which generally characterizes the species; and one

of a species of Cat, which Mr. Ogilby believed to be undescribed,

and for which he proposed the name of

Frenis Servauina. F. supra fulva, maculis nigris, minutis, copio-

sissimis ; subtis albida ; caudd brevissimd.

‘This species appears to be about the size of the common Serval,

but differs from that animal in having a shorter tail, and in the very

numerous and minute black spots which are scattered over the shoul-

ders, back, and flanks. It is only on the thighs and arms that the

spots become large and distinct ; there they are less numerous, and

resemble those of Felis Serval.- The head and fore part of shoul-

ders are entirely free from spots ; the median line of the back is of a

deeper fawn than the rest of the body, the minute spots having a

particular tendency to run into lines; the belly is of a dirty white

colour, with large brown blotches, and the tail does not exceed the

length of the same organ in the lynxes. This character is alone

sufficient to distinguish the present species from all the other African

cats with which I am acquainted. The mutilated condition of the

skin unfortunately prevents me from describing the characters of

the ears, legs, feet, and under parts of the body.” |

Ft. In.

Length of the skin from the muzzle to the root of ee 2 10

A eee ae se Grates Fic a ees

Length of the tail

As regards the species of Colobus, Mr. Ogilby observed, that from

information communicated by M. Temminck, he was now convinced

that it was identical with the Colobus polycomos of Pennant.

Mr. P. Buckley Williams exhibited various specimens of White-

Bait (Clupea alba, Yarrell,) from the Dovey and some other rivers

of North Wales, and stated that the common belief, that this was

confined to the Thames, was now proved to be erroneous, not only

from the facts now stated, but likewise from their abundance in the

river Forth of Scotland, as shown by Dr. Parnell.

June 25, 1839.—Dr. Bostock in the Chair.

Dr. Richardson read his account of an interesting collection of

Fish formed at Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land, by T. J. Lem-

priere, Esq., Deputy Assistant Commissary General, by directions

Zoological Society. 451

from His Excellency Sir John Franklin, K.C.B., Lieutenant Govern-

or, and now deposited in the museum of the Royal Naval Hospital

at Haslar. The collection contains about thirty species, and the

paper, which embraces only a part, gives detailed descriptions and

anatomical notices of these, several of them being also illustrated

by very elaborate drawings, executed by Mr. Charles M. Curtis with

his wonted fidelity. The following species are included in the pre-

sent paper, the others being reserved for a future communication.

1, Serranus Rasor. Ser. maxillis valdé squamosis, apicibus ra-

diorum pectoralium fasciculatis, compressis, lanceolatis ; pinnis

omnibus prater ventrales squamosis ; radits aculeatis pinne dorsi

subequalibus ; fascia oculum cingenti ceruled per lineam latera-

lem productd.

Rada :—Br.7—7; P.13; V.1,5; D.10,21; A.3,9; C. 154.

The Serranus Rasor, or Tasmanian barber, is a beautiful fish belong-

ing to that group of Serrani which was named Anthias by Bloch,

none of which had previously been described as inhabitants of the

Australian seas. It agrees with the barber-fish of the Caribbean

seas in having no elongated dorsal rays, and may be distinguished

readily from all the known Serrani by the peculiar form of its pec-

toral rays, whose numerous branchlets are so graduated and closely

approximated as to give a flat lanceolate shape to the tip of each

ray. The general colour of the fish is reddish brown, with umber-

brown spots, a dark patch beneath the end of the pectorals, a bright

blue stripe crossing the anterior suborbitar, encircling the eye, and

running along the lateral line to the caudal fin. There are also

thirteen or fourteen narrower blue streaks on the lower part of the

flanks and tail. The fins are lake-red, and are all, except the ven-

trals, more or less scaly.

2. Cenrropristis Satar. Cent. operculo suboperculoque squa-

mosis; interoperculo seminudo; preoperculo subdenticulato ;

pinnis dorsi anique in fossis receptis.

mae sr. 7—7; P. 16; D. 9,16; V.1,5; A. 3,10; C. 172.

_ This species is known locally as the salmon, and differs from

C. truttaceus, as described in the Histoire des Poissons, in the distri-

bution of the scales on the gill-covers, and in some other minute

particulars. Truttaceus is said to have the interoperculum and sub-

operculum entirely naked, and only a few scales on the operculum

itself (“‘ quelques écailles sur sa surface’). In C. salar there are

five rows of pretty large scales on the operculum, one row on the

suboperculum, covering surfaces of both these bones, and a row of

smaller scales on the interoperculum, clothing its upper half only.

2K 2

452 Zoological Society.

As these scales are very easily detached, and the gill-plates remain

hard and silvery, after they are removed with the epidermis, it must

be difficult to distinguish an injured specimen from truttaceus ; whose

description in other respects exactly accords with salar, except that

the latter has the suborbitar very faintly denticulated, and two rays

fewer in the soft dorsal.

3. APLODACTYLUS ARCTIDENS. Aplo. dentibus oris tricuspidatis,

superioribus in serie octuplici, inferioribus in serie quintuplici

dispositis ; cecis pylori quatuor.

Radu :—Br. 6—6; P.9 et 6; V.1,5; D. 16—1,17; A. 3, 8;

C. 163.

This species differs from 4. punctatus of the Chilian seas (the only

species previously known) in its dentition, but resembles it so much

in external form, colours, and markings, as well as in anatomical

structure, that it cannot be placed in a separate genus. In the

Histoire des Poissons the teeth of dentatus are described as follows :

** Les dents sont disposées sur trois rangées a la machoire supérieure

et sur deux a Tinférieure: elles sont aplaties et ont leur bords arrondis

et dentelés en petits festons ; elles sont tres-semblables a celles des cré-

nidens, on en compte quatorze de chaque cété a la mdchoire supérieure

et treize a Tinférieure. Derriére ces rangées antérieures il y a des

petites dents grenues sur une bande étroite d chaque mdchoire.” Inthe

Van Diemen’s Land fish, the teeth stand in eight or nine crowded

ranks in the upper jaw, and in five or six in the lower one, those of

the interior rows being very much smaller in all their dimensions, but

otherwise shaped exactly like the teeth of the exterior rows, which

resemble those of punctatus. ‘Their points show three small lobes,

the middle lobe being largest and most prominent. The species

further differs from punctatus in having four czeca, but its food ap-

pears to be similar, the intestines having been found filled with large

fragments of sea weed, apparently Ulva umbilicalis.

4 and 5. Two new species of gurnard were then mentioned as the

first of the genus that have been brought from the Australian coasts,

though one species (Trigla kumu) is known to inhabit the seas of

New Zealand. They were stated to agree with that species, with

several Indian ones, and with Trigla peciloptera of the Mediterra-

nean, in their large pectoral fins being ornamented with eye-like

marks similar to those on the wings of some lepidopterous insects.

One of them, TrigLa poLyommata, has minute cycloid scales on

the body, an unarmed lateral line and the dorsal plates confined to

the first dorsal, there being no dilatation whatever of the interspinous

bones of the second dorsal. All the spines of the head are stiletto-

shaped, and one whose base occupies the whole anterior end of the

Pen | ee

Beal OR i ge Sac i

Zoological Society. 453

infraorbitar on each side, projects boldly beyond the snout, and gives

the fish a very different aspect from any other known gurnard.

The other may be thus characterized :—

5. Trieta Vanessa. Tri. sguamis aspersis mediocribus ; lined

laterali aculeaté ; fossé dorsali ad finem usque pinne posterioris

armatd, orbitd oculi edentatd, pinnd pectorali ampld labeculis

aculeis binis ornatd, macula inter aculeum pinne dorsi quintum

et octavum nigra.

Radu :-—Br.7—7; P.12—Ill.; V.1,5; D.8, 12; A.12; C.133.

Trigla Vanessa has a spinous infraorbitar tooth, larger than usual

in gurnards, though not so remarkable as in the preceding species,

and not occupying the whole end of the bone, there being a smaller

tooth and some granulations beneath it. The arming of the dorsal

furrow extends to both fins, and is formed by saddle-shaped dilata-

tions of the interspinous bones, with a triangular spinous tooth on

each side of each plate directed backwards. The scales of the body

are rather large, and are studded on their uncovered portions with

minute spiny points; those forming the lateral line are tubular both

transversely and longitudinally, and are armed with several strong

spines also tubular. There is a black mark on the anterior dorsal.

The sides of the head are finely granulated without radiations, and

there are no denticulations on the edge of the orbit either in this or

the preceding species. :

6. Apistes marmoratus (Cuv. et Val. 4, p. 416). The specimens

correspond exactly with the description given in the work referred

to, except that the first suborbitar has only one tooth anteriorly.

The spine of that bone reaches in one specimen to the preoper-

culum, but in another it is one-third shorter, being in the latter case

only just equal to the preopercular spine in length.

7. Sebastes maculatus (Cuv. et Val.). Two specimens in good

order, when examined in reference to the account of the species in

the work referred to, offer no discrepancy, except that the postor-

bitar spines are somewhat different from those of imperialis, which

maculatus is said closely to resemble. S. maculatus is an inhabitant

of the seas of the Cape of Good Hope, and although a range from

thence to Van Diemen’s Land may appear very great, it is not more

extensive than that of the northern sebastes which has been taken

on the coasts of Greenland, in the gulf of St. Lawrence, on the

coast of Norway, and in the British Channel.

8. Cheilodactylus carponemus (Cuv. et Val.), known locally as the

Perch, and described as having, when fresh, a bright silvery hue

with dark spots.

9. NemapactyLus concinnus. The fish so designated is stated by

454 Zoological Society.

the author to be one of those species whose natural position is

difficult to ascertain, from their partaking of the characters of se--

veral different groups. Viewed as the type of a new genus, Nema-

dactylus may be characterized as having none of the bones of the

gill-cover armed or sculptured, the operculum itself being destitute

of projecting points, but as differing from any described sparoid

form in having simple inferior pectoral rays, one of them projecting

beyond the rest, as in Cheilodactylus, and in the teeth, which are

minute and slender, in a single row on the jaws. The palate, vomer,

tongue, and pharyngeal parietes are toothless. The fins are scale-

less, the dorsal single, the branchial rays only three in number, the

scales cycloid, and the pyloric czeca few (three). There is but one

specimen of Nemadactylus concinaus in the collection, which is three

inches anda half long, has a compressed elliptical form, and a spar-

oid aspect. Its lateral line is marked by a series of bright thin

scales, and beneath it, the integuments are merely silvery with

wrinkles, as in some scomberoid fishes ; but the specimen has been

long in spirits with other fish, and it is possible that the scales of

the flanks may have been detached. If they actually existed, they

must have been proportionably larger than those on the back, jud-

ging from the wrinkles of the epidermis. ‘The scales of the back and

top of the head are small, thin, and delicate, like those of a mackerel.

Vertebre 34.

It may be thus characterized :—

NEMADACTYLUS, N. g.

Piscis acanthopterygius. Operculumleve, inerme. Pinne esquamose,

pinna dorsalis unica: radi pinne pectoralis inferiores (sex) sim-

plices, quorum unus productus. Coste branchiostege pauce (tres).

Intermazillarum pediculi breves. Dentes gracillimi minuti in ambitu

oris tantum positi. Fauces palatum et lingua glabri. Squame

tenerze, leves, infraque lineam lateralem scomberoider. Ceca

pylorica pauca (tria).

N. concinnus, species unica adhuc cognita. .

Radiui:—Br. 3—3; P. 9 et 6; V.1, 5; D. 17, 28; A. 3, 15;

C. 154.

10. Larris Hecareta is the appellation given by the author to the

type of another annectant genus, which he considers as taking its

position most naturally among the Menoidee, but as having many

characters in common with a percoid group composed of the genera

Therapon, Datnia, Pelates, Helotes, and Nandus. In Latris the mouth

is moderately protractile, the dentition is similar to that of Mena

vomerina, there is a scaly groove for the reception of the deeply

notched dorsal as in Gerres, which genus it further resembles in its.

vo eee

a. ee

ee ee ee eC TOO Pe ee Fe

Zoological Society. . 455

opercular bones, the preoperculum being very finely denticulated,

and the operculum terminated by a slightly concave line without

projecting angles. The ventrals are still further back than in Cesio,

and the ceca are few in number. The scales are cycloid, without

teeth or cilia, and the genus, unlike any previously described me-

noid group, has the lower pectoral rays simple like those of aplodac-

tylus. There are no elongated scales at the base of the ventrals.

Latris Hecateia is marked by three well-defined dark stripes on each

side of the back, with a more diffused one inferiorly on the flanks,

the four pyloric czeca are short and wide, and the only specimen in

the collection is eleven inches long, which is said to be the ordinary

size.

The principal characters of this genus are as follows :—

LatTRISs, n. g.

Piscis acanthopterygius, mznoideus. Pinne esquamose: dorsi

pinnaé unica, profunde emarginata, in fossa decumbens: ventrales

pinne sub abdomine medio posite. Radii pinne pectoralis infe-

riores (novem) simplices. Preoperculum denticulatum. Os mo-

dicé protendens. JDentes in oris ambitu tignoque vomeris positi

villosi, in ossiculis pharyngeis parvi, subulati, conferti. Palatum

linguaque leves. Squame leves.

L. Hecateia, species unica detecta.

Radi :—Br. 6—6; P. 9 et 9; V..1,5; D. 18, 386; A. 3, 27.

11. Tuyrsrres autivetis. Thyr. radiis pinne dorsi aculeatis, cor-

pus altitudine equantibus ; dentibus intermaxille utriusque qua-

tuordecim, in latere maxille inferioris utroque duodecim.

Radi :—Br.7—7; P.14; V.1,6; D. 20—1, lleé VII; A.1, 10

m vin; C. 174,

A single specimen of this fish in the collection, agrees in most par-

ticulars with the description of Thyrsites atien in the Histoire des

Poissons, but the spinous rays of the dorsal fin are considerably higher

in proportion, and the teeth on the jaws much fewer.

' 12. Biennius Tasmantvs is an undescribed species strongly re-

sembling some of the European ones.

13. Cuinus pEespicrLuatus differs from C. perspicillatus of the His-

toire des Poissons in possessing a thicker form, a larger head, a pro-

portionably smaller eye, and in wanting the nuchal marks which

give the name to that species. The marks on the body are arranged

as in perspicillatus, but there are three transverse bands on the pec-

toral and caudal fins, with many other spots not mentioned in the

description of the latter. ‘The dorsal rays are 36, 4, and in other

particulars the two fish seem to be much alike.

14. Lasrus naticiravius. Lab. smaragdinus, fasciis binis late-

456 Zoological Society.

ralibus puniceis purpureo marginatis, posticé in unum coalescen-

tibus, inque pinnd productis ; pinna dorsi basi virida, in medic

laté purpured : superné aurantiacd, purpureo guttatd, inque mar-

gine extremo ceruled ; pinné ani basi aurantiacd, dein primu-

laceo-flavd, utrinque ceruleo cinctd, exinde purpured ce@ruleo

guttatd, denique in extremo margine ceruled.

Radii:—P. 12; V.1,5; D. 9,11; A. 3,10; C. 4.

This is a very handsome species, having a duck-green colour, with

two lake-red stripes, commencing at the gill-opening and uniting

opposite the end of the dorsal to form a single broader stripe which

is continued into the caudal fin. These stripes are bordered on both

sides by dotted lines of plum-blue, and there are also five rows of blue

spots on the sides of the belly, and three rows near the base of the

anal fin, on a lake-red ground. Several purple lines radiate from all

sides of the orbit, and some pass over the preoperculum, interoper-

culum, and lower jaw. The dorsal is dark-purple, with green at the

base of the rays, and an orange band at the tips, spotted and finally

edged with blue. The anal has an orange streak along its base,

then a broad primrose-yellow band edged above and below by a nar-

row blue line, next a broad band of purple with many very regular

blue spots, and finally a narrow blue edging. The caudal is purple, -

with many plum-blue spots near its extremity in a vertical band.

The other fins are apparently colourless. The aspect of the fish is

that of a Julis, but the operculum and cheeks are scaly.

15. LepipoLeprus austrauis. Lep. squamis corporis ordinibus

plurimis aculeorum areté incumbentium instructis ; pinnd ani

plus duplici altitudine pinnam dorsi posteriorem superante.

Radi :—Br. 6—6; P. 16; V.1, 6; D. 2, 11—89; C.1.

This is an example of a genus which had not previously been

detected in the southern hemisphere. It has the general form of

Lepidoleprus celorhynchus, but there are abundant specific differ-

ences, especially in the relative size of the fins, and in the arming

of the scales, which in the Antarctic fish consists of rows of closely-

incumbent strong spines. The author has compared it with exam-

ples of celorhynchus from the Mediterranean, and also from Madeira,

both in the Society’s museum, whose scales are totally different.

None of these examples have the first dorsal ray serrated, as it is

stated to be by writers who have described and figured the Green-

land and Iceland Macrourus rupestris, yet Cuvier states that he has

ascertained the identity of the latter with the Mediterranean fish.

The first dorsal ray of L. australis is also smooth. There are sixty-

seven vertebre, of which fourteen are abdominal. The collection

contained three specimens. }

A Platycephalus intermediate between fuscus and grandispinis, a

IRE NE MEL ae NE eR eT te ee a Te a eae MOA

es ee, ae ee Se ye ae

Geological Society. 457

_Scorpena, a Cheironectes which is figured in Ross’s Annual for 1835,

a Dajaus closely resembling its American prototypes, several hand-

some Balistes and Monacanthi, a Diodon and several Tetrodontes, a

new form of Torpedo, some fresh-water fishes, and several other sea

ones, are reserved for a future communication.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Nov. 6, 1839.—A paper was read, ‘‘ On the relative ages of the

tertiary and post-tertiary deposits of the Basin of the Clyde,”

by James Smith, Esq., of Jordan Hill, F.G.S.

In former memoirs, Mr. Smith described the indications which he

had observed of changes in the relative level of sea and land in the

basin of the Clyde, by which deposits had been laid dry during an

extremely recent geological epoch *; and the evidences adduced by

the arctic character of several of the shells, that the climate of Scot-

land was colder while these beds were accumulating than it is at pre-

sentt. In this paper he confines his remarks to the results of sub-

sequent observations, which prove, that in these comparative modern

deposits there are two distinct formations, differing in climate and

the character of their fauna, and separated by a wide interval of time.

In the lower or older of these formations, Mr. Smith has found from

10 to 15 per cent. of extinct or unknown species, and he accordingly

places it in Mr. Lyell’s proposed pleistocene system; whilst in the

upper or newer he has found only one species which exists in the

present seas, and he accordingly ranges it among the post-tertiary

formations of that author. Both these deposits, however, are an-

terior to the recent or human period.

In the lower or pleistocene formation, Mr Smith includes the

“till” or unstratified accumulation of clay and boulders, and the

overlying beds of sand, gravel, and clay containing a mixture of un-

known species of shells. He is of opinion that the beds presenting

the same order of superposition in the basins of the Forth and the

Tay, including the submarine forest of the latter, will be found to

be of the same age, though nothing at present is known of their

fossils, except the discovery in the elevated beds of the Tay of the

Nucula corbuloides by Mr. Lyell; and that the parallel roads of

Glenroy, recently shown by Mr. Darwin to be of marine origin, may

be of cotemporaneous formation. Mr. Smith is also convinced, that

avery great proportion of the superficial beds of sand, gravel, and clay

are tertiary, although the evidence must sometimes be uncertain,

owing to the want of organic remains.

* Proceedings, vol. ii. p. 427. + Lbid. vol. iii. p. 118. See also

Mr. Smith's paper in the Wernerian Society’s Transactions, vol. viil.

458 ~ Geological Society.

During the post-tertiary period, Mr. Smith is of opinion, an ele-

vating movement to the extent of 40 feet took place, and that at this

height, the relative level of sea and land remained stationary for a con-

siderable time, exceeding the present period of repose. ‘The proof

of this, he states, is a magnificent range of inland sea cliffs, with beds

of gravel and sand interposed between them and the sea*. At first

Mr. Smith supposed that the beds of this period contained a small

proportion of unknown species ; latterly, however, he reduced the

number to one, the Arca papillosa, which has within a few weeks

been discovered recent by Capt. Portlock on the coast of Ireland.

During the existing geological epoch no change of level appears to

have taken place in the Basin of the Clyde f.

To the paper is appended a list of the shells found in these beds,

but not known as inhabitants of the British seas, and of which the

following isasummary:— _

Fossil in the Basin of the Clyde. Fossil in other localities. Recent in the

"Felli, Proxima 04:5.ssennne. canersossedonesmehsasvoces - Arctic Seas.

Crassina multicostata ...... Norway and Sweden.

Withaint 6.5..2060- Wirk and Bridlington... Rothsay Bay.

borealis ,.......04 Dalmuir ...... Vosidleg3 bn aad Arctic Seas.

Mya truncata, var.? ...... Uddevalla; Canada ... St. Lawrence.

North Seas; coast of

Recten La andicus » oyic5- 093 0c cenvesteatonpenanasonne ass

Nucula oblonga. Newfoundland.

antiqua.

corbuloides ...... Dundee; crag of Norwich.

Mactra striata.

Saxicava sulcata.

Panopea Bivone......... ae. Crag; Sicily .. s....... Yorkshire coast.

: North Seas; coast of

Natica clausa ...... aor case ie Uddevalla ’....cccccece mii .

glaucinoides. Newfoundland.

fragilis ....2s0cesseees Crag.

Nassa Monensis ......sese0s Isle of Man.

Buccinum granulatum ... Crag.

striatum.

Trochus inflatus.

Turbo @Xpansus ..ccccccseee ceceseserecceecseseccescesvess Arctic Seas.

Velutina wndata...... gatas gas Simics Ghikakasciates wind emai Biren Ace of

Fusus Peruvianus ......... Crag...ccrcesccccssccsccssess Arctic Seas,

imbricatus.

Bulbus Smithii.

Nov.20.—An extract from a letter addressed to Dr. Andrew Smith

by A. G. Bain, Esq., dated Graham Town, Cape of Good Hope, Feb.

2ist, 1839, and communicated by Ch. Darwin, Esq., was first read.

The object of this extract is to announce the discovery, by Mr.

Martin Smith, of the piths and portions of the head of an ox in the

alluvial banks of the Modder, one of the tributaries of the Orange

* Proceedings, vol. ii. p. 428. + Lbid., vol. ii, p. 428.

;

]

’

‘

Geological Society. 459

river, and 40 feet below the surface of the ground. The piths with

the breadth across the os frontis measured 11 feet 7 inches, but it is

calculated that 5 inches had been broken off the end of each tip; and

the circumference of the piths at the root was 18 inches. The

orbits were situated immediately under the base of the horns. Part

of the upper jaw, containing five molar teeth and other fragments of

the head, as well as a cervical vertebra, were found at the same time.

A notice on the Fossil Fishes of the Yorkshire and Lancashire Coal-

fields, by W. C. Williamson, Esq., was then read.

About four years ago, Mr. Williamson first met with remains of

fishes in the coal-measures of Lancashire. Nearly at the same time

Sir Philip Grey Egerton detected them in the Staffordshire fields ;

Mr. Hutton had previously found them near Newcastle ; Dr. Hibbert

Ware had brought them before the public in Scotland ; Mr. Bow-

man had detected scales of Holoptychus in Wales; and two or three

instances had been noticed of their existence in the coal-fields of

Yorkshire. Since that period, however, the coal-measures of Lan-

cashire and Yorkshire have proved to be exceedingly rich in Ich-

thyolites. In the former, they occur throughout the whole series

from the Ardwick limestone to the millstone grit; and at Middleton

colliery, near Leeds, they have also been found in considerable quan-

tity. Atthat locality there are three seams of coal, but only two are

wrought. The following is a general section of the pits :—

PROM CURE Soca sk wks 14 inches.

Paterval 4.5. 64. «60 yards.

OTE ORL es heey aise vs 3 feet.

foe eg ieee ears 32 yards.

ay, | eae eRe ey ee 45 feet.

Ichthyolites occur in the shale in connexion with all the seams,

but principally in the uppermost one, to which the colliers have in

consequence given the name of Fish Coal. They are contained in a

fine bituminous shale, and in greatest abundance at the junction of

the roof with the coal, where a very thin seam of coprolitic matter

occurs. The author has obtained from it the following remains :—

Teeth of Diplodus gibbosus and Ctenoptychus pectinatus; scales

jaws, and teeth of Megalichthys Hibbertii,and of another smaller spe-

cies; rays of Gyracanthus formosus ; scales, fins, and other portions

of two species of Holoptychus, of a species of Acanthodes, or Chei-

racanthus? of a species of Platysomus; three kinds of Ichthyodoru-

lites, and other remains of which he has not yet determined the genera.

In the shale of the main coal Ichthyolites are much less abun-

dant, but they are remarkable for-their great size. They occur ina

460 Geological Society.

coarser shale, and consist chiefly of large teeth and vertebre of a

species of Holoptychus and rays of Gyracanthus.

The yard coal shale is still less fruitful than either of the other

seams, and has yielded only a few small teeth of Holoptychus, Cte-

noptychus, and some other unimportant fragments.

On comparing these fossils with the Ichthyolites which he has

found in Lancashire, the author has ascertained that many are iden-

tical, but that others differ. The species of Diplodus, Ctenoptychus,

Megalichthys, Gyracanthus, one of Holoptychus? and Platysomus ?

exactly correspond in each district. In the Lancashire field he has

found remains of Ctenoptychus apicalis and C. denticulatus, which he

has not noticed in the Yorkshire; and he is inclined to think, that

the former field is characterized, if there be a difference, by the

greater prevalence of Lepidoid fishes, and the latter by those of the

Sauroid family.

The Ichthyolites occur chiefly in highly bituminous shales, with

the exception of the Ardwick limestone, and most abundantly where

it is finely grained. They are rarely associated with any quantity of

vegetable remains; and this disposition of the two kingdoms, Mr.

Williamson is of opinion may assist in determining the conditions

under which the coal-measures were deposited. The Ichthyolites

also are in general more common in the roof than the floor of the

coal; but in the cannel-seams of Wigan in Lancashire, and in the

thin seams connected with the limestones at Ardwick, they are most —

abundant in the floor. ‘They are rarely found in the coal itself, and

the instances in which they have been met with in that position by

the author, have been chiefly in the Middleton colliery.

The manner in which Ichthyolites are associated with other re-

mains, Mr. Williamson states, is well worthy of attention. At Bur-

diehouse they occur in the midst of Unios, Cyprides, and Microconchus

carbonarius ; at Colebrook Dale, with species of Orbicula, Trochus,

Nautilus, Orthoceras, and Conularia; in the lower measures of Lan-

cashire in beds nearly associated with those containing Goniatites

Listeri and Pecten papyraceus ; in the higher measures of Lancashire

and in Yorkshire, with Unionidz and Entomostraca; at Middieton,

with Lingule ; at the top of the series in Lancashire and Derbyshire,

with Mytili.

TWEEDSIDE PHYSICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.

The stated quarterly Meeting of the Society was held on Novem-

ber 18, in the Library room, Kelso. The Duke of Roxburgh pre-

sided; and the meeting was very numerous and encouraging, great

Tweedside Physical and Antiquarian Society. 461

accessions being made to the Museum. Besides those belonging to

the class of Antiquities, books, and works of art, were numerous

contributions in the department of Natural History, from Mr.

Douglas, Mr. Dunlop, Astronomer at Paramata, (through Sir T. M.

Brisbane, Bart.) from Mr. J. Blacket, Sidney, New South Wales.

Contributions to the Zoological department, several of them of

great interest, were received from Dr. F. Douglas, and from Messrs.

Wilkie, Beckwith, Yule, Smith, Black, Lockie, Stevenson, &c., &c.

As the true value of the Museum must always lie in its collection

of objects having a /ocal interest, and as all contributions tending to

illustrate the Natural History of the district must be deserving of

especial attention, such are always received with gratitude.

It was announced to the meeting by Sir Thomas Brisbane, that

Mr. Fergusson of Kelso had voluntered to keep a complete series of

Meteorological observations at Kelso, for behoof of the Society,

provided he were furnished with the necessary instruments; and

that he (Sir Thomas Brisbane) had mentioned this to the Duke of

Roxburgh, who had at once declared his willingness to supply these

instruments to the Society at his own expense. Sir Thomas also

made known his own intention of presenting an Astronomical Clock,

to be placed in the new building when completed.

The Museum, and all that is connected with it, is now becoming

an affair highly creditable to the district. The new building is in

an advanced state, and its accommodation will be ample and appro-

priate. The friends of the Institution, at home and abroad, are

daily becoming more numerous; its list of members is at present

more full than at any time since its commencement: and it is re-

ceiving valuable donations from nearly every quarter of the globe.

The thanks of the Society were voted to the office-bearers for the

past year; and particularly to Dr. Wilson, the secretary, and to

Mr. Heckford the conservator of specimens for the Zoological depart-

ment of the Museum.

ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.

In the notice of Mr. E. Forbes’s communication, p. 355, he is

represented as maintaining that the cilia of the Beroe are not or-

gans of motion. We have since learnt that the remarks which he

made on this subject had a very different purport, namely, that the

motions of the cilia were not sufficient of themselves to account for

the movements of the animal, seeing that frequently when the Beroe

or Cydippe lay still at the bottom of the vessel in which it was placed

the cilia were in active motion.

462 Miscellaneous.

MISCELLANEOUS.

MOVEMENT OF THE STYLE OF GOLDFUSSIA ANISOPHYLLA,

The following note by M. Morren accompanied the presentation

to the Royal Academy of Brussels of a Memoir, entitled ‘‘ Re-

searches on the Movement and Anatomy of the Style of Goldfussia

anisophylla,”’ referred to above in p. 396.

“The object of the memoir which I now present to the Academy

is to make known the mechanism employed by nature to move the

pistil of this interesting plant. In his new Physiology (1838), M.

Treviranus regretted that I had not explained my ideas relative to

the movement of the column of the Stylidiex, a movement of which

I saw the cause in the excitability of the fecule, considered as an

organized part, as a living organ of the plant, and not as a chemical

product, as an inert substance. I now fulfill the wish of M. Trevi- .

ranus by this fresh memoir. The movement of the style of the Gold-

Sussia had escaped the investigation of naturalists ; it is notwith-

standing very remarkable. Most of the flowers in which we see a

moveable pistil possess a bilabiate stigma; here the moveable part

is awl-shaped and rather spindle-shaped. The true stigma occupies

only the dorsal part of the style, and when it bends back it removes

as far as possible from the stamina; when it again erects itself, it

comes in contact with collecting hairs, which from the position of the

flower, or by the help of insects, receive the pollen. The final cause

of the phenomenon is very certainly the accomplishment of fecunda-

tion ; but the mechanical cause is seated in the distension of the

cylindrenchyme of the stigma; its tissue is formed by long cylinders

dilatable at one or other of the extremities, and each is filled with a

liquid containing globules. These globules are excitable. They are

naturally carried towards the outer extremities of the cylindrenchyme,

and then these extremities dilating, make the stigma bend; but when

it is touched the globules and the liquid flow back to the bottom of

the cylinders, and in this case, this side becoming the longest, the style

erects or bends itself in a direction the reverse of that which it had

before. The physiological cause resides therefore in the excitability

of a vital fluid. I have made several series of experiments to prove

these assertions, and I have given the anatomy of the parts. I am

not aware that a similar structure has ever been found in a moveable

part of plants.

“The morphology and the metamorphoses of the hairs likewise

furnished as to this plant some curious observations. I have taken

Miscellaneous. 463

in hand to give an account of them.”—Bulletin de l Acad. Royale de

Bruzelles, vol. vi. No. 2.

ECHINOSPERMUM LAPPULA,

Echinospermum lappula, Lehm.—My friend, the Rev. E. A. Holmes,

F.L.S., has communicated to me specimens of this most interesting

addition to the English Flora, which were gathered by him between

Southwold and Walderswick, on the Suffolk coast, in the month of

August, 1839. They grew upon the inner slope of a broad gravelly

bank which divides some marshes from the sea, at about 150 yards

from high water mark, and had all the appearance of being abori-

ginal natives of England.—Cuartes C. Basineron.

GUIANA EXPEDITION.

The collection of Objects of Natural History made by Mr. Schom-

burgk in the course of his expedition in Guiana from 1835 to 1839,

together with numerous specimens of the implements, weapons,

dresses, and other works of art of the natives, with drawings of va-

rious objects and views of the country, the El Dorado of Sir Walter

Raleigh, now form a very attractive public Exhibition at No. 209,

Regent-street.

A specimen of the remarkable freshwater fish the Pirarucu (Sudis

Gigas), a full-sized representation of the Victoria Regia, with a geo-

logical collection illustrating the formation of the district, are among

the many objects of interest. The exhibition is attended by three

of the Aborigines from the interior of Guiana, the first who ever vi-

sited Europe, natives of three Indian tribes, a Macusi, a Warrau,

and a Paravilhana.

A Prospectus has also been issued for the publication of twelve

Views, of the very interesting districts now first explored by Mr.

Schomburgk ; and as their execution must depend upon a number

of subscribers sufficient to defray the expense, we trust he will not

fail in obtaining adequate support.

GREW ‘“‘ ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BODIES.”

‘‘The Principles of Bodies, as they must of necessity have their

dimensions, and therefore their solid figures, so withal they may

be infinitely small, not only beyond all naked or assisted sense, but

beyond all arithmetical operation or conception.

«*To those who are not used to a rigid mathematick proof, this

464 Miscellaneous.

may be illustrated by the smalness of many organized bodies. Ten’

thousand seeds of the plant called Harts-Tongue, hardly make the

bulk of a peppercorn. Now the covers and the true body of each

seed, the parenchymous and lignous parts of both, the fibres of those

parts, the principles of those fibres, and the homogeneous particles or

atoms of each principle, being moderately multiplied one by another,

afford a hundred thousand millions of formed atoms in the space of

a peppercorn; but how many more we cannot define.

‘The same is yet more evident from the stupendious smalness of

some animals, especially in the sperm of smaller insects. Which have

been observed by Mr. Leuwenhoeck, to be a hundred millions of

times smaller than a great sand. And what then must be the

number and smalness of those formed atoms, whereof all the organ-

ical parts of these animals are composed ?”—Grew’s Cosmologia

Sacra, 1701, p. 11, ch. vi.

NOTES ON THE BIRTH OF THE GIRAFFE AT THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY S

MENAGERIE. BY PROFESSOR OWEN.

Connexion took place between the female Giraffe and the lighter-

coloured male on the 18th March, 1838, and again on the Ist of

April.

The young animal was a male, and was born June 9, 1839, being

444 days, or fifteen lunar months, three weeks, and three days, since

the last observed, and, in all probability, the last coitus.

The new-born animal came into the world, like other Ruminants,

with the eyes open, and the hoofs disproportionately large. The

skin was marked as distinctly as in the adult, with large angular

spots, which were somewhat darker than those of the mother; and

the hair of the legs was of a deeper fawn colour. It sucked some

warm cow’s-milk from a bottle with avidity, and once or twice uttered

a low, gentle grunt or bleat, something between that of a fawn

and a calf. he young creature made several efforts to stand, raising

itself on the fore knees; and was able to support itself on its va-

cillating and outstretched legs, about two hours after its birth.

** No one could have seen the young Giraffe,” says Professor

Owen, ‘‘ without being struck with its large size, compact figure,

and strength of limb. The condition or purpose of the long gesta-

tion is, evidently, to bring into the world the young Giraffe of a

stature and strength suitable to the exigencies of a denizen of the

desert—the birthplace, likewise, of the Lion and other destructives.”’

The length of the anima], measuring from the muzzle to the root of

Fahad wi i ls

Meteorological Observations. 465

the tail, was six feet ten inches; the girth of the trunk was two

_ feet nine inches; from the tuber ischii to the patella was one foot

four inches; from the patella to the apex of the hind hoof three

feet ; from the olecranon to the carpus was one foot ten inches:

from the carpus to the end of the fore hoof was one foot eleven

inches. These segments of the fore leg were thus nine inches

longer than the corresponding ones of the hind leg; and as this dis-

proportion does not exist in the adult, it offers another instance of

the precocious development of the anterior extremities in the mam-

miferous foetus.

She would not yield her milk to, or even suffer her offspring to

come near her. The young Giraffe was nourished by warm cow’s

milk. It gamboled actively about when one day old, and continued,

‘without appearance of illness, till the 28th of June, when it was at-

tacked by convulsions, and died.—From the Proceedings of the Zoolo-

gical Society.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR DEC., 1839.

Chiswick.— Dec. 1—3. Dense fog. 4. Frosty: fine. 5, Slight haze: fine.

6. Foggy. 7. Dense fog: fine: frosty at night. 8—10. Hazy. 11. Fine: hazy:

rain. 12. Cloudy and windy. 13. Overcast: heavy rain at night. 14. Fine.

15. Frosty: hazy: rain. 16. Hazy: fine. 17. Fine. 18. Hazy. 19, Cloudy.

rain. 20. Rain. 21. Cloudy: rain. 22. Rain: fine. 23. Fine: very mild for

the period of the season : rain at night. 24. Boisterous with rain. 25, Very fine.

26. Heavy rain. 27. Rain: hazy. 28. Frosty: fine. 29. Clear and frosty,

30. Frosty and foggy. 31. Overcast: fine.

Boston.—Dec. 1. Fine. 2. Foggy: rainr.m. 3. Cloudy: raina.m. 4.

Foggy. 5. Cloudy: rainr.m. 6,7. Foggy. 8, 9, 10. Cloudy. 11. Cloudy:

rain early a.M.: rainr.M. 12. Fine: rainr.m. 13. Fine, 14, Cloudy. 15.

Fine. 16. Foggy. 17. Fine. 18. Stormy: rainer.m. 19, 20, Cloudy: rain

early a.M.: rainr.M. 21. Fine: rainr.m. 22. Cloudy: raine.m. 23. Fine:

rainr.m. 24. Cloudy. 25. Fine. 26. Fine: rainr.m. 27. Foggy. 28, 29.

Fine. 30. Fine: hail and rain y.m. 31]. Cloudy.

_ Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.—Dec. 1. Clear and sunny. 2. Calm and

clear: hard frost. 3. Dull: raw day. 4. Dull, butdry. 5. Frost a.m.: thaw

p.m. 6. Dull moist day: hoar frost early a.m. 7. Dull and cloudy, but dry:

hoar frost a.m. 8. Fine day: slight hoar frost. 9. Quiet and cloudy. — 10,

Quiet and cloudy: freezing p.m. 11. Fine day: wind roser.m. 12. Heavy

rain in the afternoon. 13. Fine morning: rain afternoon. 14. Moderate day :

slight frost preceding night. 15. Foggy: slight frost preceding night. 16.

Fine ;: slight frost early a.m. 17. Raw and cold. 25. Stormy day of wind and

rain. 26. Clear day: frosty morning. 27. Snow in the evening, and frost all

day. 28. A little more snow: hard frost y.m. 29. Clear and calm and frosty.

30. Looking dull a.m. : sleet and rain p.m. 31. Heavy rain all morning : cleared

up P.M.

Pan 20 days. Rain 9 days. Snow $3 days. Frost and hoar frost 13 days.

Wind easterly 13 days. North-east 4 days, Southerly 4 days. Westerly 2

days.

Calm 13 days. Moderate 5 days. Strong breeze 4 days. Brisk 2 days.

Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No.27. Suppl. Feb. 1840, 2 u

‘ure G

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INDEX TO VOL. IV.

ACANTHIDIUM, a new genus of fish,

422.

Aigilops and Triticum, notice respecting

the genera, 214.

Agaricus, on some new species of, 249.

Agassiz, L., Histoire Naturelle des Pois-

sons d’eau douce de 1’Europe Centrale,

review of, 329.

Allium Porrum and A. Ampeloprasum, on

the distinctive characters of, 290.

Alysia, a new genus of fish, 418.

Amaryllidex, descriptions of some new

species of, 28.

Amber, on a new species of Frog found

in, 215.

Animalcules, remarkable diffusion of, 286.

Annelida, MacLeay’s arrangement of,

- 385.

Annelides, descriptions of the British,

368.

Anoplophora, description of the genus,

280.

Anser, on a new British species of, 64.

Antartic expedition, instructions relative

to the, 33.

Ant-bear, Greater, remarks on the, 202.

Antelope, on the habits of the Philan-

~ tomba, 207.

Aphrodita, new species of, 370.

eft Australis, on the habits of the,

12.

Arctibeus, description of some species

Arctium Lappa and Bardana, observa-

tions on, 253.

Arenicolidz, new species of, 373.

Argonaut shell, inhabitant of, 443.

Arvicola, on a monograph of, 438.

Assam, Mr. Griffith’s journey in, 424.

Astacus fluviatilis, on the moulting pro-

cess in, 141.

Astarte incrassata, on the animal of, 297.

Babington, Charles C., on Arctium Lappa

and Bardana, 253; on Cuscuta epi-

linum and halophyta, 280; on the di-

stinctive characters between Allium

Porrum and Ampeloprasum, 290.

Badger, American, on the dentition of

the, 52.

Baer, K. E. von, description of animal

life in Nova Zembla, 145.

Bark of commerce, on the plants pro-

ducing the, 179.

Bartlett, A. D., on a new BritishAnser, 64.

Bats, on some new Cuban species of, 1.

Bauer, Ferd., biographical sketch of, 67.

Bear, discovery of fossil teeth of a, in

Suffolk, 186. :

Begoniacez, on the discoid piths of the,

74.

Berkeley, Rev. M. J., on the fructification

of Lycoperdon, Phallus, &c., 155; de-

scriptions of Fungi collected in the ex-

pedition of the Beagle, 291.

Bertoloni’s Flora Italica, notice of, 337.

Birds, of Nova Zembla, 153; on the

distribution of British, 213; notices on

some, 267; notes on Irish, 284; of

Guiana, notes on the manners of the,

318.

Blackwall, J., descriptions of some new

British spiders, 68.

Boston, expedition to, 424.

Botanical journey across the Pampas of

Buenos Ayres to Tucuman, account of

a; 8, 96, 171.

Botanical Society of Edinburgh, proceed-

ings of, 355.

Botanical Society of London, proceedings

of the, 137, 211, 270.

Botanical travellers, information respect-

ing, 194, 262, 322.

Botany of the Islands of New Zealand,

22, 106, 256.

Brignoli, Prof. De, on the excitability of

Oxalis, 388.

British Association, proceedings of, 46,

135.

Bunge’s Supplement to Flora Altaica,

notice of, 338.

Cacteze, on the structure of the, 238.

Callichroma, description of the genus,

280.

Cantharellus, on some new species of,

250.

Cantor, Dr. T., on the Serpents of India,

271; on Indian fish producing isinglass,

399.

Carasissi, or Savannah Dog, 430.

Carpenter’s (W. B.) Principles of General

and Comparative Physiology, review

of, 111.

468

Cats of Guiana, on the habits of the, |

322.

Chalcidites, descriptions of British, 29,

232.

Chelura terebrans, description of, 94.

Chevallier’s Fungorum et Byssorum Ilus-

trationes, notice of, 338.

Chilonycteris, a new genus of Bats, 4

Chimpanzee, account of the habits of the,

208.

Clangula_ Barrovii,

Iceland, 140.

Clematis, descriptions of some new spe-

cies of, 259.

Closteriz, on the doubtful nature of the,

70.

Clyde, basin of, fossils from, 458.

Coati, brown, of Guiana, 431;

433.

Cocks, Bootan, their peculiar crow, 429.

Ccelebogyne, description of the new

genus, 68.

Conchylien in der Sammlung von E.

Anton, notice respecting, 117.

Coralline animalcules, remarkable diffu-

sion of, 286.

Corda’s (A. C. J.) Pracht-Flora Euro-

paeischer Schimmelbildungen, noticed,

200.

Coregonus clupeoides, identity of, with

C. Pollan, 70.

Corynocarpus, on the affinities of, 261.

Cray-fish, on the moulting process in the,

141.

Crotophaga, on the history and habits of,

160, 318.

Crustacea, comparison of living, with

Trilobites, 16; on a new genus of, 94.

Cryptogames de France, noticed, 46.

Cryptostoma, note on the affinities of,

307.

Crystals, occurrence of, in Plants, 85.

Cunningham, the late Allan, on the Bo-

tany of the Islands of New Zealand,

22, 106, 256; on the habits of the

Apteryx Australis, 312.

Cuscuta, remarks on some species of,

280.

Deedalea, descriptions of some new species

of, 292.

Deccan, on the Fishes of the, 54.

Desmaziére’s Plantes Cryptogames de

France, review of, 46.

Deutschlands Kryptogamische Giftge-

wichse, noticed, 46.

Disporum, monograph of the genus, 281.

Dog, Savannah, of Guiana, 430.

Don, Prof., on the genus Disporum, 281;

on the genus Streptopus, 340.

Drosera, on some new species of, 109.’

Dubus, M., on a new species of Meli-

phaga, 358.

occurrence of, in

brown,

INDEX.

Echinorhinus obesus, occurrence of, on

the British coast, 315.

Echinospermum lappula, found in Suf-

folk, 463.

Eckstrém’s (C. U.) Scandinaviens Fiskar,

notice of, 117.

Ehrenberg, Prof., on the remarkable dif-

fusion of coralline animalcules from

the use of chalk, 286; on a natural

flannel, 359.

Eleeocarpee, descriptions of some new

species of, 23.

Elatine, on some new species of, 26.

Elephants, preventive against madness

in, 70.

Encyrtus, on some new species of, 233.

Entedon, on some new species of, 235.

Entomostraca, description of two new

genera of, 300.

Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici, reviewed,

Ericez, ovule in, 357.

Erpetion, description of the genus, 110.

Euchlora, monograph of, 342.

Eulophus, on a new species of, 234.

Euoplia, description of the genus, 279.

Euplocamus, on two new species of, 88.

Excitability, vegetable, 388.

Eyton, T. C., on the Fauna of Shropshire

and North Wales, 396.

Fabre, M., on the genera Aigilops and

Triticum, 214.

Falco Eleonore, 358.

Fauna Coleopterorum Helvetica, reviewed,

46.

Faunaof Shropshire and North Wales, 396.

Feline, notes on the habits of the, 322.

Fellows, Mr., on the geographical dis-

tribution of British Birds, 213.

Fish, Indian, producing isinglass, 399,

401.

Fish of Madeira, 405.

Fishes of the Deccan, descriptions of the,

54; characters of several new genera,

57; Supplement to the History of

British Fishes, reviewed, 42 ; new, from

Van Diemen’s Land, 450; fossil, o:

Yorkshire and Lancashire, 459.

Flacourtianez, descriptions of some new

species of, 256.

Flannel formed of Conferve and Infu-

soria, 359.

Flora Italica, notice of, 337; Flora Altaica,

338.

Flora, of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres,

remarks on the, 8, 96, 171 ; Insularuna

Nove Zelandiz, 22, 106, 256; of the

neighbourhood of Trieste, 307; Flora

Europaeischer Schimmelbildungen, no-

ticed, 200; Flora Scanica, reviewed,

201; Flora Lipsiensis Excursoria, re-

view of the, 268. é

ire atl init cane clini nmpederrisarrcoe

Forbes, E., on a Shell-bank in the Irish

Sea, 217; account of some botanical

excursions in the neighbourhood of

Trieste, 307.

_ Fossil Annelida, species of, 386.

- Fossils from the basin of the Clyde, 458.

Fossil teeth of a Leopard, Bear, &c., dis-

_covery of, in Suffolk, 186.

- Fries’ (B.) Scandinaviens Fiskar, notice

eof, 117.

_ ‘Fries’ (E.) Epicrisis Systematis Mycolo-

gici, review of, 44; Flora Scanica,

noticed, 201.

_ Frog, on a new species of, found in Am-

Ee ber, 215.

Funaria hygrometrica, structure of the

_-setze of, 361.

_ Fungi, on the classification of the,. 201 ;

_ descriptions of several new species of,

246; collected during the expedition

of the Beagle, descriptions of, 291.

- Galeomma, on the animal of, 92.

7 Gastrancistrus, on some new species of, 32.

- Géné, M., on a new Falcon, 358.

Genths and Hiibener’s Lebermoose

q Deutschlands, notice of, 336.

Geological Society, 457.

_ Geology of the Scallop-bank of Ballaugh,

e . 222.

Giraffe, birth of, 464.

3 Goldfussiaanisophylla, spontaneous move-

ment in, 462.

- Goodsir, Mr., on the follicular dentition

in the Ruminants, 135.

_ Gray, J. E., descriptions of some new

. Mammalia, 1; observations on Dr.

. q Philippi’s zoological notices, 305.

Grew, on the principles of bodies, 463.

FE Griffith, J. W., Journal of Expedition to

a Bootan, 424.

- Guiana, account of the productions of,

_ 194; on the habits of the Birds of,

yi 318; on the Mammalia of, 323.

Gulliver, Mr., on the blood corpuscles in

the Mammalia, 283.

abenaria, descriptions of some new

_ species of, 314.

amster, new species of, 445.

— Dr.,on a new species of Meriones,

Harvie’ s (Capt. W. C.) Narrative of an

Expedition into Southern Africa, re-

4 view of, 334.

Heer’s (0.) Fauna Coleopterorum Hel-

_-yetica, noticed, 46.

Hemiramphi, notice respecting the, 43.

- Herbert, Rev. W., on some new species

of Amaryllidez, 28.

_ Hersilia apodiformis, description of, 300.

Hincks, Rev. W., on vegetable monstro-

sities, 339.

Hogg, J., on the tentacular classification

of Zoophytes, 364.

INDEX.

469

Hope, Rev. F. W., descriptions of severa]

new genera of Insects, 279.

Hope, Rev. F. W., monograph of Euchlora,

342.

Hiibener and Genth’s Lebermoose

Deutschlands, notice of, 336.

Hugel, Karl von, on a preventive against

madness in Elephants, 70.

Hymenomycetum Synopsis, review of, 44.

Ichthyolites, 460.

Illyria, on the Flora of, 307.

Infusoria in salt marshes, 357.

Insects of Nova Zembla, 149; descriptions

of several new genera of, 279.

Ioida, description of the new genus, 231.

Isinglass, fish producing, 399, 401.

Jardine, Sir W., on the history and habits

of Crotophaga, 160, 318; History of

the British Salmonide, reviewed, 333.

Jasminum, on the discoid pith of, 84.

Johnston, Dr. G., on the British Nereides,

224; History of British Sponges and

Corallines, notice of, 200; on the

British Annelides, 368.

Joli, M., on the colour of salt ROSE 7

357.

Jones, Prof. Rymer, on the moulting pro-

cess in the Cray-fish, 142.

Juglandez, on the discoid piths of the,|74.

Juglans regia, on the peculiar odour of,

Karst, Geology of the, 309.

Klug, Prof., on the place of Scarabzeus

longimanus in the system, 69.

Lankester, Dr. E., on the setz of Funaria

hygrometrica, 361.

Lark, Chinese, 447.

Latris, a new genus of fish, 455.

Laurus Cassia, observations on, 179.

Leaves, on the formation of, 137.

Lebermoose Deutschlands, noticed, 336.

Lee, E., on the indigenous species of

Tilia, 212, 270.

Leopard, discovery of fossil teeth of a, in

Suffolk, 186.

Lhotsky, Dr. J., biographical sketch of

Ferdinand Bauer, 67.

Lime trees, remarks on the indigenous

species of, 212.

Lindley, Prof., on four new species of

Cape Orchidacez, 314 ; on twenty new

species of American Orchidacez, 381.

Linnea for 1839, analysis of the, 45.

Linnean Society, proceedings of the, 66,

279, 339.

Linneus, notice respecting the death of

the daughter of, 67.

Liparis, description of a new species of,

314.

Lowe, Rev. R. T., on the fishes of

Madeira, 405.

Lumbricide, new species of, 371.

Lycoperdon, on the fructification of, 155.

47Q

Lyell, Chas., on the discovery of fossil

teeth of a Leopard, Bear, &c., in

‘Suffolk, 186; on the occurrence of

fossil Quadrumanous, Marsupial, and

other Mammalia in the London clay,

189.

MacLean, J., description of the route

from Lima by the Quebrada of San

Mateo, 105.

MacLeay, W. S., on the habits of some

Cuban Mammalia, 1; on the structure

and affinities of Trilobites, 16; mono-

graph of his genus Euchlora, 342 ; on

the Annelida, 385.

Macroscelides Rozeti, on the habits of,

26.

Madeira, fishes of, 405.

Mammalia, descriptions of some new spe-

cies of, 1; of Nova Zembla, 151; dis-

covery of fossil, in Suffolk, 189; de-

scriptions of fossil, 191; observations

on the blood corpuscles in, 283.

Marsupialia, classification of the, 118.

Marten, on the singular habits of a,

139.

McClelland, J., on Polynemus sele, 401.

Meeson, Dr. A.,on the formation of leaves,

137.

Meliphaga cincta, 358.

Meriones, on a new species of, 63.

Meteorological observations, 71, 143,215,

287, 359, 465.

Micromammalogie, Etudes de, review of,

434,

Miscogaster, on some new species of, 31. |,

Molossus, observations on the genus, 6.

Monkey, description of a new species of,

208.

Mormoops, observations on the genus, 3.

Morren, Prof. Ch., on the discoid piths of

plants, 73.

Morren, Prof., on movement in the leaves

of Oxalis, 388; in the leaves of Gold-

fussia, 462; on spontaneous movement

in Goldfussia anisophylla, 462.

Movement, spontaneous, in the leaves of

Oxalis, 388 ; vegetable, 462.

Mus, European species of, 438.

Muscology of Cirencester, notice of the,

211.

Mustela Martes, notice respecting, 139.

Mycology of the neighbourhood of Bris-

tol, 246.

Myrmecophaga jubata, remarks on the,

202

Natural History of the British Salmonidz,

reviewed, 333.

Nautilus, Paper, Prof. Owen on, 443.

Nemadactylus, a new genus of fish, 454.

Nereides, descriptions of the British, 224.

Nova Zembla, description of animal life

in, 145.

INDEX.

Nyctinomus, observations on the genus, 6.

Oculina ramea, on the animal of, 93.

Ogilby, Mr., description of a new species

of Monkey, 208.

Oplophora, description of the genus, 279.

Opossums, on the dentition of the, 47.

Orchidacez, characters of four new Cape,

314; of twenty new American, 381; of

Essex, remarks on the, 270.

Bee rie on the animal nature of the,

14,

Owen, Prof. R., on the classification of

the Marsupialia, 118; on the mamma-

lian remains found in Suffolk, 191; on

Argonauta Argo, 443; on the birth of

the Giraffe, 464.

Oxalis, excitability in the species of, 388.

Pancratium, description of two new spe=-

cies of, 28.

Pandorina, description of the genus, 294;

Mr. Gray’s remarks on, 305.

Papio Melanotus, description of, 210.

Peloria, notice respecting, 286.

Peltidium purpureum, description of, 303.

Perdix Coturnix, on the habits of, 284.

res description of a new species of,

Petermann’s Flora Lipsiensis Excursoria,

reviewed, 268.

Phallus, on the fructification of, 155.

Philippi, Dr. A., zoological notices by,

88, 294; Mr. Gray’s remarks on, 305.

Pheebus’ Deutschlands Kryptogamische

Giftgewichse, reviewed, 46.

Phyllodoce, description of the British

species of, 224.

Physiology, Principles of General and

Comparative, review of the, 111.

— on the discoid piths of the,

Pileopsis Garnoti, on the animal of, 90;

on the affinities of, 305.

Pittosporex, on some new species of, 106.

Plagianthus, on some new species of, 24.

ae Coloriées d’Oiseaux, reviewed,

266.

— Cryptogames de France, noticed,

Plants, on the discoid piths of, 73 ; of the

Pampas of Buenos Ayres, 171; cha-

racters of several new species of, 269.

Pleurotoma Bertrandi, on the animal of,

299.

Poissons d’eau douce d’Europe Centrale,

review of the, 329.

Polynemus, Mr. McClelland on the ge-

nus, 401.

Polyparies, arrangement of, 365.

Proctor, W., on the occurrence of Clan-

gula Barrovii in Iceland, 140.

Prosartes Menziesii, a new species, 341.

Psamathe, description of the genus, 229.

EC ae ee) Ne) ED ee

i i ls 2 aie aii cr

NAR AAS Ah oe,

INDEX.

~ Pteromalus, descriptions of some new

Species of, 232.

description of two species of, 325.

"Racoon, 433.

_ Rodentia, 435, 448.

_ Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, pro-

ceedings of, 355.

4q Royal Society of Edinburgh, proceedings

of, 352.

_ Ruminants, on the follicular dentition in

the, 135.

Salmon, on the growth of, 352.

_ Salmon, Growth of, in Freshwater, re-

viewed, 334.

_ Salmonidz, reviews of various works on,

329.

Salt marshes, colour of, 357.

Sayers, Lieut., on the habits of the Chim-

panzee, 208.

Scandinaviens Fiskar, noticed, 117.

Scarabzeus longimanus, on its place in the

system, 69.

Schleiden, Dr., on the anatomico-physio-

gical differences in the organization of

stems, 236; on the ovule in Ericee,

357.

a Schomburgk, R., narrative of an expe-

dition into Guiana, 194, 262, 318; en

the birds of Guiana, 318; remarks on

the Greater Ant-bear, 202; expedition

in Guiana, 430.

Seals, notice respecting British, 116.

Selys-Longchamps, M. de, notice of his

Micromammalogie, 434.

Serpentium Indicorum Spicilegium, 271.

Shark, spiny, occurrence of the, on the

British coast, 315.

Shaw, Mr., on the growth of Salmon, 352.

Shells, on the occurrence of some rare

species of, in the Irish Sea, 217.

Shropshire, on the Fauna of, 396.

Shuckard’s British Coleoptera, notice of,

339.

Siemuszova-Pietruski, M., on a tame

Pine Marten, 139.

Smith, J., on a plant which produces per-

fect seed without any apparent action

of the pollen on the stigma, 68.

Soricide, arrangement of, 436.

Spiders, descriptions of some new British,

a. 68

Spiral fibres of Funaria hygrometrica, 362.

Sponges and Corallines, History of the

British, noticed, 200.

Sporidesmium, on some new species of,

292.

Stark, R. M., on the muscology of Ciren-

cester, 211.

Stems, observations on the organization

of, 236.

Stephens, H. O., on the mycology of the

neighbourhood of Bristol, 246.

471

Sterculiacez, descriptions of some new

species of, 24.

| Stilbum, on a new species of, 291.

Streptopus, monograph of, 340. |

Strickland, A., observations on the Spiny

Shark, 315.

Sykes, Col., on the fishes of the Deccan,

54.

Temminck, C. J., Planches Coloriées

d’Oiseaux, reviewed, 266 ; on two spe-

cies of Monkey, 341.

Thompson, W., on the identity of the

Shannon with the Lough Neagh Core-

gonus, 70; notes on Irish birds, 284;

on the Bottle-nosed Whale, 375.

Thysanus, description of the genus, 234.

Tilia, on the indigenous species of, 270.

Tissues wrought by insects, 356.

Travellers, botanical, 424.

Travisia, a new genus of the Annelides,

373.

Trilobites, on the structure and affinities

of, 16.

Tringa subarquata, notice respecting the

occurrence of, 284.

Tripladenia, description of the genus,

282.

Trophonia, new species of, 371.

Tweedie, J., account of a journey across

the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, 8, 96, 171.

Tweedside Physical Society, 461.

Unger, Dr., on the animal nature of the

Oscillatoria, 214.

Van Diemen’s Land, fish from, 450.

Vermetus Gigas, on the eggs of, 299.

Wagner, Dr. M., on the habits of Macro-

scelides Rozeti, 26.

Wales, North, on the Fauna of, 396.

Walker, F., descriptions of the British

Chalcidites, 29, 232.

Wallis, A., on the Orchidacee of Essex,

270.

Waterhouse, G. R., on the dentition of

the Flying Opossums, 47; on the den-

tition of the American Badger, 52; on

a new Hamster, 445; on the Chinese

Lark, 447 ; on the skulls of Rodentia,

448,

Wernerian Society, Memoirs of the, no-

tice of, 116; prize questions announced

by the, 138.

Westendorp, Dr., reclamation of, 283.

Whale, Bottle-nosed, 375.

White, A., on Peloria, 286.

Wigat, Dr. R., on Laurus Cassia, and the

plants producing the bark of commeree,

179.

Williams, Lieut., on a remarkable wasp’s

nest, 62.

Wright’s (W. von.) Scandinaviens Fiskar,

notice of, 117.

Yarrell’s (W.) History of British Fishes,