A4. 
they adhere to fixed bodies, it might be placed on the head, 
belly, or side, and still serve the end in view. In the 
Remora, on the contrary, designed to adhere only to moving 
bodies, and to be carried along by them, the crown of the 
head is the only part where the sucker could be placed so 
as to be used with safety to the animal, If it were placed 
on the chin, it would impede the action of the gills, and on 
any central part, such as the breast, belly, or side, the fish 
could not preserve its parallelism with the moving body 
without greater exertion and fatigue than the use of the 
instrument could save, and if it once yielded to the force of 
the water, the anterior part of the body would bend back, 
and the spine perhaps would be broken before it could dis- 
engage itself.” — : 
In 1817, one of those circumstances which enable the 
enterprising officer to distinguish himself, even in times of 
peace, furnished Captain Carmichael with an opportunity of 
extending his scientific knowledge. The British Govern- 
ment having deemed it expedient to take possession of 
Tristan da Cunha, motives of curiosity led the subject of 
our memoir to apply for permission to accompany this expe- 
dition, which embarked in November, 1816. "The detach- 
ment consisted of about 50 men, with a captain, 2 subalterns, 
and a medical officer. Captain Carmichael has detailed the 
result of his observations on the natural history and produc- 
tions of that remote and little known island, in a paper, pub- 
lished in the Linnzan Transactions, which procured him 
considerable attention, being the first distinct account that had 
been given of the spot in question. His name was accordingly 
associated with Tristan da Cunha, and he has frequently 
told me, that his astonishment was not small, when on revi- 
siting Britain, he found himself enrolled among the Fellows 
of the Linnzan Society, and styled “ of Tristan da Cunha.” 
As Captain Carmichael’s account of Tristan da Cunha is 
published in a work necessarily of very limited circulation, 
