132 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



thus x^iled together, these statements agree ill with 

 the result of the above experiments, where numbers 

 of the animals were kept together under different 

 conditions, famishing of hunger, yet not one of them 

 touched another. 



With regard to the statement about the destruc- 

 tion of the lady's handkerchief, I enclosed eighteen 

 of the same species of amphipods in a thin muslin 

 bag on taking them from their burrows. Next 

 morning, after thirteen hours' confinement, they were 

 found all dead ; but no mutilation could be detected 

 on one of them, nor had any escaped, nor were 

 there any marks of attempts having been made to 

 perforate the thin muslin or get through it. 



It might have been expected that w^lien they could 

 make such rai)id havoc with the handkerchief, they 

 could soon have made their way through the thin 

 muslin, had they possessed such a propensity. 



NOTES ON PEDICELLARI.E. 



[Read 28th April, 18So.] 



The use of these organs in the Echini has long 

 been a puzzle to the naturalist, and surmises have 

 not been few regarding their true nature and 

 function. Some have supposed them to be parasites; 

 others that they provided for the Echinus, — not di- 

 rectly (being situated too far from the mouth of the 

 animal to administer directly to its wants), but by 

 catching passing objects, and holding them till decay 

 had set in, when the odour attracted croAvds of 

 other prey that afforded the Echinus an opportunity 

 of providing more easily for itself. These and other 

 tlieories met for a time with more or less favour; 

 but not meeting all the conditions required, one 

 ^iFter another was abandoned. Tliere may be a 

 question whether the Echini are or are not carni- 

 vorous. I have found in their gullets small 

 fragments of red sea- weed pinched into small pieces, 

 but no trace of animal remains could be seen. 



