JAN., 1893. EVOLUTION OF BRACHIOPODA. 47 
Brachiopod with that most ill-met insect. We adopt the new name 
for the sake of uniformity, and in order to avoid the undesirable 
repetition of the bracketed tri-nomen which is making too frequent 
appearances in modern scientific literature. The substitute possesses 
the unusual merits of commemorating the exploits of a celebrated 
navigator, and of indicating at the same time the region of the maxi- 
mum development of the genus it distinguishes; for the Magellanian 
province, as Darwin first pointed out, is remarkable for the great size 
of the mollusca inhabiting it, and to this rule the Brachiopoda form 
mo exception. 
First in interest and importance is the report of Messrs. Fischer 
and (Ehlert on the Brachiopoda of the North Atlantic Ocean, which 
forms the third fasciculus of the fine series of Monographs embodying 
the results of the scientific explorations of Prince Albert rst of 
Monaco on board his famous yacht “ L’Hirondelle’’(5). It gives 
a critical revision of the recent Tevebratuling, accompanied by exquisite 
illustrations, and reveals some surprising facts in the general distribu- 
tion of North Atlantic Brachiopoda, more especially in the Gulf of 
Gascogny, the archipelago of the Azores, and off the shores of the 
Soudan (5). The Gulf of Gascogny appears to be one of the richest 
localities, no less than sixteen species occurring there, including 
abyssal forms.2_ By far the most remarkable among them is the 
beautiful species founded on a single example first dredged by the 
*‘ Challenger’ Expedition from 390 fathoms off Culebra, one of 
the West Indian islands, and originally described by Davidson as 
the largest Terebratulina known (t). 
This is undoubtedly a very interesting type. Fischer and C&hlert 
had several examples for examination, and were able to study the 
animal in detail, which was described by Willemées-Suhm, in his 
MSS. notes, as relatively very small. It is now considered to be 
the type of a new genus, and of a new family (3), ‘“‘ characterised by its 
non-annulated loop and the arrangement of the arms, which, instead 
of forming free lobes, are re-united, and, rolled up in the pallial 
cavity, present a short sub-rectangular disc, a unique feature among 
the recent Brachiopoda. This disc can be schematically considered 
as composed of two rudimentary arms, joined laterally, and furnished 
with a large brachial sinus” (5). The figures now given show great 
incurvation of the beak area, and thickened margins of the valves— 
features which are also apparent in Davidson’s drawings of the 
species. Hence we are inclined to consider Dyscolia wyvillii 
to be one of those atavistic types which Dr. Beecher states occur 
generally in families after the maximum of genera and species is 
attained. 
This is a widely-distributed species, ranging from the West 
2 Twice that number of species are recorded, from Japanese and Corean waters, 
by Davidson in his ‘‘ Monograph of the Recent Brachiopoda,” Tvans. Linn. Soc. 
Zool., vol. iv. (1886-1888), p. 33. 
