844 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



dium elongatum, Ajres thirty fathoms to forty; T. musculosum, 

 Ayres twenty fathoms ; T. glabrum, Ayres thirty fathoms to 

 forty ; Stereoderma unisemita, Stimpson eighteen fathoms to forty ; 

 Botryodactyla grandis, Ayres seventeen fathoms to fifty ; B. affinis, 

 Ayres one fathom to fifty ; Cuvieria Fabricu, Duben and Koren six 

 fathoms to twenty ; Psolus Icevigatus, Ayres sixteen fathoms to 

 twenty-five ; P. granulatus, Ayres thirty fathoms ; P. phantapus, 

 Lin. sixteen fathoms to twenty. 



A glance at this catalogue is sufficient to show that, with a single 

 exception, no European species is included in it. One type of the 

 genus Psolus resembles so much the Linnaean phantapus, that, until the 

 point can be settled by direct comparison of specimens, it is not deemed 

 advisable to impose a new specific name. Still, even here, we shall 

 probably find that they are only allied forms. Of the other species, 

 but one can be said to exhibit much resemblance to European types. 

 In this respect a marked contrast exists between the Holothuridse and 

 other divisions of the Radiata. It will be noticed, also, that most of 

 the species here designated inhabit deep water, and that of some the 

 range is quite extensive. The depths, however, as given above, can- 

 not at all be considered absolute ; the numbers only represent the lim- 

 its of our knowledge at the present time. Every additional opportu- 

 nity for observation brings to light habits and localities previously 

 unknown, and we have entire reason to believe that species hitherto 

 obtained only in deep water, will yet be found in other circumstances 

 within the range of the tide. The species which still remain unde- 

 scribed will also illustrate the same point. Proceedings Boston Natu- 

 ral History Society. 



CUMING'S CELEBRATED COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 



IT is not, perhaps, generally known, that one of the most splendid 

 collections of shells in the world is, at this moment, in the possession 

 of a private individual in London, Mr. Hugh Cuming. It consists 

 of upwards of 19,000 species, or well marked varieties, from all parts 

 of the world. Of many of the species and varieties there are several 

 specimens ; making in all about 60,000 shells, perfect in form, color, 

 texture, &c. Professor Owen states that no public collection in Eu- 

 rope possesses one half the number of species of shells that are now in 

 the Cumingian collection ; and that, probably, one third the number 

 would be the correct statement as regards the national museums in 

 Paris and Vienna. 



This collection has been made by Mr. Cuming in almost every part 

 of the known world. "Not restricting," says Professor Owen, "his 

 pursuits to the stores and shops of the curiosity-mongers of our sea- 

 ports, or depending on casual opportunities of obtaining rarities by 

 purchase, he has devoted more than thirty of the best years of his life 

 in arduous and hazardous personal exertions dredging, diving, wad- 

 ing, wandering under the equator, and through the temperate zones, 

 both north and south, in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, in the Indian 

 Ocean, and the islands of the rich Archipelago in the labor of col- 



