Fakqubar. — On New Zealand Eckinoderms. 205 



individual which had divided probably but a few hours before 

 I found them. The wounds had not cicatrized, and the un- 

 supported edges of the half-discs had not curved downwards, as 

 they always do soon after division takes place. This curving- 

 downwards of the unsupported margin forms the sulcus, which 

 is not obliterated even when the regenerated parts of the disc 

 and rays are fully developed. There are only three of the whole 

 series which do not show clearly that they have suffered division 

 (PL XL, figs. 1, 2, and 3). Fig. 32, PI. X., is the smallest speci- 

 men of the series, and the only one not collected by me in the 

 Wellington Harbour. It was found by Mr. Cecil Howard at 

 Taylor's Mistake (TeOnepoto), near Lyttelton, and shows that 

 division sometimes takes place in very young individuals. The 

 small specimens figured on the upper part of PI. X. were collected 

 at low water in the early spring, when no large ones were to 

 be found; later on during the summer I collected the larger 

 specimens figured on the lower part of PI. X, and those 

 figured on PI. XL, and in the autumn I obtained the largest 

 specimens only, which are figured on PI. XTI. The following- 

 winter I again searched for specimens at Point Jerningham 

 (Omarukaikuru), and High- water Islet, in Evans Bay, where 

 I had found them in abundance during the summer, but, after a 

 long and careful search, I only found a few young specimens 

 under stones. Three of these, however, are especially in- 

 teresting and peculiar forms (PL XII., figs. 12, 13, and 14). 

 Only one specimen was obtained from deep water — PL XII., 

 fig. 6 — which I dredged up from about 12 fathoms, in the 

 spring-time, when only small ones could be found at low- 

 water. 



This species is evidently the southern representative of the 

 North Atlantic form, Stichaster albulus (Asterias joroblema), 

 in which division also takes place. In a most interesting and 

 instructive paper, published in the Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 

 ser. 4, vol. xii., p. 323, Dr. Liitken has shown that natural 

 divisioii is characteristic of a number of Echinoderms. His 

 statements, however, appear to have been received with a 

 good deal of doubt by naturalists generally. A careful ex- 

 amination of the series of specimens figured with this paper 

 would, I have no doubt, convince the most incredulous that a 

 natural spontaneous division does take place here, which is 

 probably repeated several times, perhaps periodically, during 

 the life of each individual. Professor Jeffrey Bell has de- 

 scribed an exceedingly interesting asterid from Macclesfield 

 Bank, Patiria briareus (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1894, p. 404), of 

 which division is probably a characteristic. Five of the six 

 specimens collected have each a group of short rays on one 

 side of the disc and a group of longer ones on the other side. 

 Thus Dr. Liitken 's observations are confirmed. 



