PEEFACE. 



Although the Insecta have received the attention of so 

 hirge an army of workers in many lands, very few have 

 deemed it worth their while to search for these animals 

 below the level of the high-water mark of the sea. It is 

 very generally believed that insects are totally unfitted to 

 endure the salinity of the sea-water and, consequently, 

 they have been very little sought for in that habitat. 

 The number of marine insects which are at present known 

 is, therefore, comparatively small. 



The subject of this Memoir is the C'ollembolan 

 Anurida maritima (Guer.) and it has, perhaps, more to 

 commend itself to the attention of the general student of 

 Zoology than is the case with other marine insects. It 

 has not been my intention to confine myself solely to a 

 description of the type with which the Memoir deals, but 

 rather to make the work of a wider interest. With this 

 aim in view, I have included chapters on the general 

 structure and affinities of the Collembola, together with a 

 fairly extensive bibliography of the order, and some 

 additional remarks relating to other marine insects. 



This work was commenced at the Port Erin Biological 

 Station, where the insects were collected and their habits 

 studied. The greater part of the anatomical work was 

 carried out in the Zoological Laboratory of Birmingham 

 University, while the remaining portion has been 

 completed in the Morphological Laboratory of the 

 University of Cambridge. I am indebted to Prof. E. "VY. 

 Wace Carlier, M.D., for helpful assistance as regards the 

 details of histological technique which were carried out in 

 the Physiological Laboratory at Birmingham. Dr. 

 David Sliarp has also supplied me with several valuable 

 suggestions. 



