284 



unless It be to Reniella Swains., which has been pronounced to be the 

 early stage of Vulsella. It is very difficult to assign it a place ; but it 

 must at present be associated with Vulsella and Pedum, though exter- 

 nally it has the texture, polish and ornamentation of the Veneridas. 

 The delicate fissures issuing at the hinge indicate the possession of a 

 byssus. Further observations must solve our doubts. 



Julia exquisita. T. parva, ovata, antice insigniter rostrata, 

 ossea, polita, concentrice undulata, smaragdina ubique fusco radiatim 

 punctata et interdum albo articulata; margine postero-dorsali late arcu- 

 ato; m. ventrali instricta : intus margaritacea, radiatim exilissime 

 striata ; margine everso, tenuissime crenulato. Long.' 5 ; lat. 4 ; alt. 4 

 millim. 



Inhabits Sandwich Islands. Rev. Mr. Johnson. 



A beautiful little shell, colored like Smaragdinella from the same 

 islands. The sudden and profound depression in front of the beaks is 

 quite striking, and thus produces a very pointed somewhat upturned 

 anterior end. A single valve looks much like some of the BullidaB, 

 Chelidonura, for instance. 



Mr. Marcou referred to some animals which had been drawn up by 

 the broken telegraphic cable between Africa and Marseilles. The 

 Mediterranean is very deep along some portions of this line, even three 

 or four miles ; living acephala, very rare on the coasts, echinoderms of 

 a very beautiful red color, had been drawn up from a depth of two 

 miles, where, probably, no light penetrates. From this and similar 

 instances, previously alluded to, he was led to the opinion that we 

 know very little about the downward extension of submarine animal 

 life. 



Dr. Gould observed that the deep living animals are red or bright 

 colored, while those most exposed to the light, like the clam, are white. 

 He did not think it proved that this cable had ever reached the bottom 

 or the depth indicated; and we know comparatively little that is 

 certain in regard to the penetration of light to great depths ; still, facts 

 are constantly coming to notice, showing that the range of animals in 

 the marine depths is much greater than was till recently admitted. 



Prof. Agassiz alluded to the beautiful variety of color in the liver of 

 fishes, the color being even characteristic of genera, though he was 

 unable to state upon what structure or secretion the color depended ; 

 the color of the bile has a remarkable uniformity in the class. He 

 stated that, according to Oersted, different rays of light penetrate to 

 different depths in water, — green the least and red the deepest. 



Mr. Marcou said that the fact of the more extended distribution in 

 depth of marine animals would have important geological bearings, as 

 changing the views of paleontologists in regard to the necessity of a 

 shore line for many fossil species. 



