206 Miscellaneoits. 



party to the more obscure tribes of plants. They are Uttle more 

 than Hsts of names, and do not admit of abstract. 



9. "Notice of some of the contents of the Museum in the Edin- 

 burgh Botanic Garden." By Prof. Balfour. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Memorandum on the Animal of Scissurella crispata. 

 By Lucas Barrett, F.G.S. 



Tentacles long, serrated, at the base of which are placed the eyes 

 foot furnished with two pointed lappets 

 and two long slender serrated cirri on 

 each side. Operculum very thin, ovate, 

 with an obscure subspiral nucleus. 



No part of the animal was external to 

 the shell. The only living specimen 

 occurred at Hammerfest, in 40 to 80 

 fathoms' water. When it was placed in 

 a glass of sea-water, it crawled up the 

 side and scraped the glass with its 

 tongue. After immersion in spirit it became inky-black. 



Notes on the Marine Fauna of Weymouth. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Weymouth, Jan. 23, 1856. 



Gentlemen, — I beg to record the occurrence of Squilla Des- 

 marestii at Weymouth as follows : — 



In the autumn of 1851, a specimen was brought me that had been 

 dredged in Weymouth Bay, near Portland. It measured 3^ inches. 

 It is in my cabinet. 



On the 22nd December, 1855, 1 picked up one alive on Melcombe 

 Sands. We had previously had several days of heavy gales from the 

 eastward. This specimen, though alive, had been so long out of the 

 water that it did not recover. 



A third specimen was procured by my man on the 1st January, 

 1856. It was dredged in Weymouth Bay, in twelve fathoms' water. 

 The bottom was of pebbles, and also live and dead Pecten opercularis. 

 In my man's phraseology, it was a " pebbly and squinny bottom, 

 with a lot of live squins." Pecten opercularis are here called 

 Squins. 



This specimen, I am happy to say, is now lively and well, and will 

 enable me to give some information as to its habits. I have as yet 

 only tried it with a pebbly and shingly bottom, and am therefore 

 not in a position to write certainly as to its burrowing habits. I 

 have satisfied myself as to its mode of progression, and can state that 

 its tail is not used for that purpose, but solely as a defensive weapon. 

 I hope shortly to complete my paper on its habits. 



