NOTICES OF SERIALS. 25 



THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. No. 91, July; No. 92, 

 August ; No. 93, September, 1855. 8vo. With Plates. London : Taylor and 

 Francis. Price 2s. 6d. each. 



No. 91, July: (H. J. Carter, Assistant- Surgeon H.C.S. Bombay) Observa- 

 tions on the Development of Gonidia (?) from the cell- contents of the Characese, 

 and on the circulation of the mucus-substance of the cell ; (S. P. Woodward, 

 F.G.S.) Descriptions of the Animals of certain Genera of Conchifera ; (P. H. 

 Gosse, F.L.S.) Notes on some New or Little-known Marine Animals, with two 

 Plates. We have, in this paper, descriptions of nine new animals, two of which 

 belong to the class Arachnida, order Acarina, and are a great addition to our British 

 marine mites. One belongs to the class Crustacea, two to the Annelida, 

 two more to the genus Othonia of Johnston, and one to thePolyzoa, family Vesicu- 

 lariada?, for which a new genus is made Nolella, from nola, a little bell. (C. 

 Spence Bate, F.L.S.) On the Homologies of the Carapace, and on the structure 

 and function of the Antennae in Crustacea. After describing the anterior or 

 internal antenna? and the inferior or external antennae, the author continues : 

 " The next question which we have to consider is, to which sense either of these 

 two sets of organs belongs ; whether the upper belongs to the auditory and the 

 lower to the olfactory, as I shall endeavour to prove, or vice versa, as maintained 

 by Prof. Milne-Edwards. We shall divide the evidences on either side under two 

 heads the first, that which is derived from an external observation ; and the 

 second, that which is derived from its internal organization. First, then, from 

 external circumstances : An auditory apparatus is an organ furnished to an ani- 

 mal for one or both of two objects first, for protection from danger ; second, for 

 the pleasure derivable from sounds. To animals so low in the scale of beings as 

 the Crustacea, placed, as they are, in a medium which must considerably modify 

 its character, sound can convey little to the consciousness of the animal beyond a 

 sense of security or danger. To enable this to be of the most extensive value, the 

 auditory organ must be, and always is, so placed as to be most exposed to external 

 impressions at all periods ; particularly when the animal is at rest or pre-occupied. 

 Now, if we look at the organ the present state of science attributes to the sense of 

 hearing, we find that in the most perfectly -formed animals, the Brachyura, it is 

 enclosed within a bony case, and secured by a calcareous operculum ; that it is 

 always so in a state of rest, and only exposed when especially required. Not only 

 is this the case throughout the order, but in some genera as Corystes, Cancer, 

 &c. ; it is again covered by the supplying organs of the mouth. If we take into 

 consideration that the inferior antenna is frequently developed into organs assimi- 

 lating to feet, and frequently used for the purpose of assisting to climb, &c., it 

 seems difficult to admit that it is an organ capable of protecting the animal by its 

 quick detection of the sound of approaching danger. If we turn our attention to 

 the superior antenna, we find that in the living animal it is always elevated in the 

 water, and never at rest always playing with a constant vibration, and a jerking 

 motion peculiar to itself in the higher orders. Among the Amphipoda, though 

 constantly erect, the motion is more regular and graceful ; this, probably, is con- 

 sequent upon the greater relative length of the organ. This organ is one that 

 appears as if always on the watch let the animal be at rest, let ft be feeding, no 



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