NATURAL HISTORY. xciii 



diate to Sepiola and Sepioteuthis, wliicli it connects together as well by its intennc- 

 diate size, as by the pecuhaiities of its structure. 



I propose to call the genus Rossia, in honour of the Commander of an Expedition, at 

 once so honourable to the enterprising character of the British seaman, and so interest- 

 ing in its scientific results. 



Class — Cepii a lopo d a . ( Ciivier.) 

 Order — Dibranchiata. 

 Tribe — D i.c a c e r a . 

 Family — Loligkmd.e. 

 Genus — Rossia. 



Chap.. Gen. — Corpus venUicosum ; duabus pinnis latis rotundutis, subdorsalibus, antrorsum posilis ; margir.e 

 antico pallii libero. 



Brucliia subbrevia, triedra; acelabuhs peduiiculatis, pedunculis brevissimis ; ad basin bra- 

 cliiorum in duabus seriebus altetnantibus, ad apicem in pUirimis senebus aggregatis. Ordo longitu- 

 dinis parium brachiorum, I, 2, 4, 3. 



Tentacula longitudine corpus tcquantia, ad apicem acelabuUs pedunculatis minimis obsita. 

 Gladius, corneus, longitudine lin. ix. aequans ; inferius parum dilatalus. 

 Char. Sp. — Russia palpebrosa. 



From the obvious uncertainty of deducing a stable specific character from the only 

 known representative of its genus, I have limited myself to proposing a noinen 

 triviale, taken from the remarkable development of the skin surrounding the eyeball, 

 by means of which this animal evidently possesses the power of defending the eye, as 

 the pulmonated Vertebrata do by means of their more rcgularly-fonned eyelids. The 

 utdity of this provision, in seas abounding with fragments of ice, is obvious. Fig. 1, 

 pi. B, from a sketch by Captain Ross, shows the appearance of the eyes w bile the 

 animal was alive ; fig. 2, pi. C, h. shows the closing of the eyelid after death. 



The admeasurements of the specimen were as follow, but it must be borne in mind 

 that it had shrunk in all its dimensions in consequence of having been macerated 

 in spirit. 



Iiichps. Lines. 

 Length from the end of the visceial sac to the end of the longest 



tentacle . . . . . . .50 



Ditto from the end of the visceral sac to the anterior margin of the mantle 1 9 



