11 



THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



through the various museums of the Coutiueut ; and by the kindness of Sir Wyville 

 Thomson I was enabled to make a personal examination of almost all of these in the 

 autumn of 1880. Twenty of them belong to Antedon and fifteen to Actinometra, as 

 these genera are now understood. Four at least of Midler's species (1 of Antedon, 

 3 of Actinometra) appear to me to have no real value ; while 168 species belonging to 

 these two genera are considered in the present Eeport, viz., 120 of Antedon and 48 of 

 Actinometra. Of these there are only two which I have not personally examined, the 

 type of one having disappeared, while I have not as yet been able to visit the museum 

 which contains the other. 



Of these 168 species 79 were discovered by the explorations of the Challenger 

 (Antedon 64, Actinometra 15), which also added two new genera, represented by 4 

 species, to the family Comatulidse. Professor Semper's dredgings in the Philippine 

 Islands had previously made known the existence of a third generic type, and a fourth 

 was obtained by the Gulf Stream explorations of the U.S. Coast Survey, though the fact 

 was not recognised at the time. Other species of each of these two genera were obtained 

 by the Challenger, making in all 180 species of this family, 88 of which were new to 

 science. 



These numbers are considerably lower than those mentioned in the Preliminary 

 Report. At the time when that was published I had only seen three large Comatula- 

 collections besides that of the Challenger, viz., those of the British and Paris Museums, 

 and that made by Professor Semper in the Philippines. Since then, however, I have 

 examined many hundred Comatulse, including in many cases large numbers of individuals 

 belonging to the same specific type, and the experience thus gained has been of the 

 utmost value, by enabling me to unite under one specific name forms which at first had 

 seemed distinct to the less trained eye. In one or two cases the result has been that the 

 specific names appended to some of the plates which were first printed off have since 

 required alteration ; and the same is true of some of the earlier sheets of the text. 



The preparation of this Report has been considerably delayed by the pressure of 

 other work and by interruptions of various kinds. The first four years after the 

 collection came into my hands were occupied pretty continuously by the framing of 

 specific diagnoses. These were nearly all completed when Sir Wyville Thomson died, in 

 March 1882 ; and my leisure time for the next three years was almost entirely devoted 

 to the completion of the Report on the Stalked Crinoids which he had left unfinished. I 

 hoped then that another year's work would enable me to revise my descriptions of the 

 Comatulse and suffice for the completion of this Report. But this object has been 

 seriously interfered with by a continual increase of professional duties, together with the 

 necessity of completing some long-delayed paleeontological work for the Trustees of 

 the British Museum. I have also been much hindered by a troublesome affection of 

 the eyes, which has frecmently entailed a prolonged cessation from work. 



