Alcide d'Orhigny. 45 



of his views on species from different geographical areas {ante, 

 p. 17). Very many of his peculiarly Cuban species have been 

 swallowed up in the synonymies of other species of wide tropical 

 distribution. At the same time it may be remarked that he 

 recorded several species in 1826 (from material furnished by 

 de Eerussac, see p. 12), wiiich he did not find again in the 1839 

 material.^ 



In the Cuba Memoir he first gave synonymies of species in 

 the modern accepted form, the elaborate synonymy of Orbiculina 

 adunca to which I have already referred (ante, p. 31, note 6) 

 being a model in its way.- It is here, also, that he first shows 

 the cloven hoof of his principles of nomenclature (see p. 92), 

 claiming as his own, species of earlier authors which he had 

 removed to other genera," or whose names he had modified (see 



In this work he first introduces his family ot Monostegues, 

 giving as its representatives Gromia of Dujardin, and Oi'hulina 

 universa, which he has found here and in several other localities. 

 It is little short of amazing that he makes no mention of any 

 species of Lagena, which makes its first appearance as Oolina in 

 the South American Memoir, which indicates that this part at 

 least of his work had gone to press before he tackled the South 

 American material. It is astonishing that he deliberately ignored 

 the Serpula (Lagena) of Walker and Boys (1784), the Lagenula 

 of Fleming (1815), and the Vcrmiculum r/lohosuni (and others) of 

 Montagu (1803), though we know that these works were well 

 known to him.* 



It is a curious reflection that de la Sagra's " History of Cuba " 

 would have long been relegated to the limbo of practically forgotten 

 works had it not been for d'Orbigny's concluding volume on the 

 Foraminifera. The six volumes of the work itself may be bought 

 for a few pence or shillings, whilst the small volume by d'Orbigny 

 is practically unobtainable for as many pounds. 



' Exempli gratia Lingulina carinala (VII., p. 21) ; Cristellaria gibba (VII., 

 p. 40); Calcarina calcar (VII., p. 81); and several others. It is not a little re- 

 markable that he found no species of Dentaliua at all from any of the West Indian 

 Islands (VII., p. 17). 



"- VII., p. 64. 



^ Thus, on p. 175, he calls Vermiculum oblongum Montagu, Triloculina 

 oblonga d'Orb. It may be noted here that he always refers in his synonymies to 

 the pagination of one of the reprints of the " Tableau M^thodique " issued with the 

 Models, which is very confusing. Thus for this synonym he gives p. 134 instead 

 of the original p. 300 of the " Tableau." 



* He may well be excused for ignoring Denys de Montfort's 78nie genre, 

 Lagenula Jioscula, which is more like a vase or a pepper-pot than a Foraminifer 

 (Conchyliologie syst6matique, Paris, 1808, i., p. 811). The fact that it was IMont- 

 fort's was enough to make d'Orbigny fight shy of it. His views upon Montfort 

 (which were shared by all other contemporary natxaralists) are expressed without 

 restraint whenever the opportunity offers. Cf. VII., pp. xvii, xix ; I., pp. 103, 

 125, et passim. 



