252 



liis ])api'r "lo (liii'cl allenlioii to llio subjccl in Ihc hope llial zoologists 

 who are (Icahiit; with i)huikton will nol conliiu' their attention merely 

 to the adult groups of the same, hut will, in addition, arrange for ex- 

 amination of the larva' therein in view of the distribution of the diflerent 

 grou|)s of littoral animals." I would oidy express my astonishment at 

 the conclusion he arrives at, viz. that "it woukl appear to me ((iardiner) 

 that no results in distribution can be expected, so far as the Indo-Pacific 

 is concerned, from lu'hinoderms and ])robably also from iMiteropneusts 

 — other than the Crinoid.s," the pelagic life of which latter is consider- 

 ably shorter than that of typical pelagic l^chinoderm larva\ Probably 

 this statement is not meant so absolutely as it sounds. I also venture 

 to think that the fear expressed by Stanley (iardiner "that in the 

 present state of our knowledge any consideration of larval distribution 

 is |)remature and must be inconclusive" has been partly removed by 

 the present researches. 



