A NEW TKIBE 389 



are infero-lateral in position, with a strong spinigerous 

 peduncle and two spinigerous branches. 



The type-species is Plireatoicus typicus, Chilton, 1882, 

 from a pump at Eyreton in New Zealand. In this species 

 the eyes are not visible, the second joint in the limbs of 

 the perason is very slightly expanded, and in the seventh 

 pair is shorter than the following joint. The pleon is 

 remarkable for the great length of the fifth segment, a 

 character not met with elsewhere either in the Isopoda or 

 Amphipoda, though it is a distinguishing feature of the 

 Cumacea. In regard to colour the animal is described as 

 transparent. 



Phreatoicus australis, Chilton, 1891, was obtained by 

 Mr. R. Helms from Mount Kosciusko in Australia. The 

 specimens were taken, he says, at a place ' locally known 

 as "Piper's Creek," at an elevation of 5,700 feet or 

 perhaps rather more, on the track from " Pretty Point " 

 towards the " Ram's Head." The creek (or at least a 

 branch of it) runs here through a, in damp weather, 

 boggy flat, and at the time (early in March 1889) 

 was slowly trickling along forming puddles here and 

 there. In one of these puddles where there was only a 

 little water covering the black bog mud, perhaps from two 

 to three inches, I made the find. In turning the stones 

 (flat pieces such as frost will split from rocks not 

 boulders) I found no difficulty in picking the animals off, 

 the most of them keeping quiet. They were pretty 

 numerous under the stones, when at all, and looked 

 exceedingly like the surrounding earth. Through this 

 and their quiet habit I did not notice at first that they 

 were so numerous, but seeing that they were interesting 

 things (I had not seen anything like it before) I took 

 pretty well all I could lay hands on ; and this is the only 

 time and place I have collected them although I have 

 many a time turned stones in the neighbourhood and in 

 similar localities.' Mr. Chilton supplies the not unin- 

 teresting detail that 'on March 13th at " Pretty Point " 

 Mr. Helms found the remains of his tea completely frozen 

 in his billy.' This new species is distinguished from the 



