36 



HARDWICKE'S SCI EN CE- GOSSIP. 



the ejes are directly looking upwards : in the Ray 

 and CaUionymus their direction is oblique. Our 

 figure is that of U. scaber, Linn. We think it is 

 more probable that this fish is the TJranoscopus of 

 the ancients than that the Yellow Skulpin is. Indeed 

 as Pliny does not give us a description of it, but 

 merely points out the remarkable position of the 



Fig. 28. Uranoscopus scaber, or " Star-gazer." 



eyes — seldom seen throughout the range of the 

 auimal kingdom— and its remedial properties, it is 

 almost impossible to identify it. Aristotle, in his 

 "History of Animals," does not appear to mention 

 it. Probably some of your readers can enlighten 

 us as regards the " white Rascasse of the Medi- 

 terranean." E. Halse. 



LAMP SHELLS. 



AMONG the commonest fossils the geological 

 student meets with, either in the primary or 

 the secondary rocks, but more particularly in the 

 former, are those commonly termed " Lamp Shells" 

 [Brachiopodci), from the supposed resemblance of 

 some species, such as the Terebratula (fig. 29), to an 



Fig. 29. Terebratula biplicata — a common oolitic fossil. 



ancient lamp. The resemblance is only approxi- 

 mate, and you must invert the shell, so that tlie 

 beak, with its perforation, may be uppermost, and 

 then the fanciful likeness to a classic lamp is seen. 

 Whether in the Silurian or Carboniferous lime- 

 stones, these shells form the chief spoil of the 

 young geologist ; and when he has acquired suffi- 

 cient zoological knowledge of existing species, he 

 will be surprised at the persistence of form" which 

 has marked the life-history of this group more than 

 any other. With the exception of certain genera 

 to which we shall shortly advert, many of the 

 Palaeozoic, or most ancient of the "Lamp Shells," 



can hardly be distinguished from those still living. 

 They are among the oldest British fossils, and, 

 from the time of the Upper Cambrian to the pre- 

 sent, we never lose sight of them. In the Silurian 

 seas, the "Lamp Shells" were in a tremendous 

 majority, the bivalves not attaining anything like 

 the same specific or numerical abundance. Since 

 then , the latter have been gradually gaining ground, 

 until in modern seas it is they, and not the " Lamp 

 Shells," that are overwhelmingly abundant. The 

 " Lamp Shells" now occupy isolated areas, and live 

 in scanty colonies along the deeper parts of the 

 sea-bottom. They are geographically isolated, and 

 found in northern as well as southern seas. This 

 widely-separated distribution of forms of life nearly 

 allied may always be accepted as indicating theif 

 great geological antiquity. 



To meet with a few small living specimens of 

 Rhynchonellct or Crania in British seas now is 

 almost a " find" to the dredger. Contrast this fact 

 with the fossil forms in the Silurian, Carboniferous^ 

 andOolitic limestones, where the rock is frequently 

 composed of [nothing else than the accumulated 

 remains of allied species ! 



Beautifully shaped and ornamented though the 

 " Lamp Shells" are, they are lowly organized, when 

 compared with such bivalves as the commonPectea 

 or " scallop." When anatomically studied, they are 

 found to have a greater affinity to the " Sea-mats" 

 {Flustra) than to the bivalve shells they so muck 

 more resemble. Most of them have the beak per- 

 forated, and this peculiarity marks the earliest 

 Terebratula we meet with. Indeed, the name of 

 this genus is taken from the small perforation. 

 Like the bole in the under valve of the little Anomia, 



Tig. 30. Pentamerus Knightii. Fig. 31. Lingula Lewisie. 



this perforation had a plug passing through it, with 

 a sucker at the end, by means of which the animal 

 was enabled to anchor itself, just as the common 

 mussel does by its " moss " or byssiis. The sci- 

 entific name of Brachiopoda, or " arm-footed,'' 

 which the family possess, is derived from two 

 coiled-up processes called " arms," which the ani- 

 mal can uncoil and use to obtain its food. These 

 ciliated arms are also utilized as lungs, so that 

 breathing takes place as well as locomotion and 

 food-catching. The mouth is situated at the base 



