270 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



ray. Each ray measured six inches long, and the 

 disk about one inch acros;*. The upper two-thirds 

 of the spines on the ridges of the rays are white, 

 and at the base pale blue thickly encircled with 

 rough short papilleeform spines. From seeing a 

 specimen in the dried state, one can form no idea 

 of the appearance of Uraster glacialis when alive. 

 This is especially the case with the larger sizes. 

 Those in which the rays do not exceed three or four 

 inches in length generally retain their angular form, 

 but the larger specimens seldom do so, the rays be- 

 coming flatter and broader. This six-rayed example 

 might have retained more of its life-characters had 

 it been dried under more favourable circumstances. 

 The weather at the time was damp and wet, and 

 the heat of a fire is not very suitable for drying 

 starfishes, as it has a tendency to reduce them to a 

 soft state in which they are ready to part with 

 their raj's close by the disk. This is also the case 

 with Crebella rosea under similar treatment. 



Forbes, in his History of British Stcn^fishes , states 

 that the colour of Uraster glacialis is reddish or 

 orange, and one which he obtained on the Manx 

 coast was bright red. 



ASCOPHYLLUM Mackaii (Turn.) Holm, et Batt., forma 

 KOBEBTSONI, Batt. 



[Read 24th November, 1891 ] 



In September last, when at Lochranza, I found this 

 seaweed in so great abundance that it might have 

 been gathered by the cart-load. It grew in semi- 

 globular tufts on the flat shore between high and 

 low water, covering a large extent of the shore, and 

 keeping its position on the soft gravelly mud with- 

 out root or other attachment. We cannot think 

 that it could live in this unfixed state without good 

 shelter, such as it has in the upper bight of Loch- 

 ranza, as during every storm it would be liable to 

 be cast on the shore and destroyed. 



