﻿154 
  COLLECTIONS 
  FROM 
  MELANESIA. 
  

  

  the 
  interesting 
  A. 
  julrsi, 
  of 
  which 
  Mr. 
  Carpenter 
  has 
  already 
  indi- 
  

   cated 
  the 
  more 
  essential 
  characters, 
  is 
  indeed 
  represented 
  in 
  this 
  

   collection, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  probably 
  in 
  any 
  fair 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  marine 
  fauna 
  

   of 
  the 
  Australian 
  coast. 
  

  

  Yet, 
  again, 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  which 
  will 
  be 
  shortly 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  

   ' 
  Journal 
  of 
  the 
  Linnean 
  Society 
  ' 
  *, 
  Mr. 
  Carpenter 
  describes 
  eight 
  

   out 
  of 
  the 
  nine 
  specimens 
  of 
  Antedon 
  from 
  the 
  Hamburg 
  Museum 
  

   as 
  new, 
  and 
  he 
  speaks 
  in 
  the 
  introduction 
  as 
  estimating 
  the 
  species 
  

   of 
  Comatulids 
  at 
  something 
  like 
  400. 
  

  

  Further, 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  great 
  significance 
  to 
  observe 
  that 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   species 
  here 
  enumerated 
  or 
  described 
  were 
  collected 
  at 
  one 
  station 
  

   only. 
  

  

  Lastly, 
  we 
  note 
  that 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  Aiitedonsis 
  larger 
  than 
  might 
  

   have 
  been 
  expected 
  ; 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  Moluccas 
  "Antedon 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  com- 
  

   paratively 
  rare 
  "t, 
  while 
  of 
  the 
  29 
  species 
  here 
  enumerated, 
  16 
  belong 
  

   to 
  that 
  genus. 
  From 
  such 
  material 
  as 
  has 
  passed 
  through 
  my 
  

   hands, 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  think 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  and 
  eastern 
  

   coasts 
  of 
  Australia 
  we 
  shall 
  find 
  Antedon 
  to 
  be 
  rather 
  more 
  abun- 
  

   dantly 
  represented 
  in 
  species 
  than 
  Actinometra 
  ; 
  the 
  time, 
  however, 
  

   for 
  any 
  generalization 
  is 
  still 
  far 
  off. 
  

  

  In 
  entering 
  into 
  the 
  detailed 
  enumeration 
  of 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  new 
  

   to 
  old 
  species, 
  I 
  had 
  not 
  in 
  view 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  apologizing 
  for 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  so 
  many 
  new 
  forms 
  in 
  this 
  collection, 
  but 
  rather 
  the 
  

   desire 
  of 
  directing 
  attention 
  to 
  facts 
  which 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  within 
  the 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  a 
  limited 
  number 
  of 
  special 
  students 
  ; 
  those 
  who 
  

   know 
  how 
  few 
  species 
  of 
  Comatida' 
  have 
  been 
  described, 
  and 
  how 
  

   rich 
  in 
  novelties 
  not 
  only 
  new 
  collections 
  but 
  old 
  museums 
  are, 
  will 
  

   not 
  think 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  any 
  suspicious 
  wealth 
  of 
  new 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  

   very 
  valuable 
  and 
  important 
  collection 
  by 
  which 
  Dr. 
  Coppinger 
  has 
  

   more 
  than 
  doubled 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  specimens 
  and 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  

   possession 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  j. 
  

  

  So 
  large 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  new 
  species 
  should 
  be 
  presented 
  in 
  some 
  

   kind 
  of 
  arrangement, 
  either 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  phylogenetic 
  table 
  or 
  

   of 
  a 
  "key." 
  The 
  former 
  being 
  an 
  impossibility 
  at 
  present, 
  on 
  

   account 
  of 
  our 
  unsatisfactory 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  ancestry 
  of 
  the 
  

   Comatulidae, 
  and 
  keys 
  being, 
  of 
  all 
  things, 
  the 
  most 
  tmscientific, 
  

   I 
  propose 
  to 
  give 
  formulae 
  for 
  all 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  Comatulids 
  here 
  

   described, 
  basing 
  those 
  formulae 
  on 
  the 
  method 
  I 
  proposed 
  to 
  the 
  Zoo- 
  

   logical 
  Society§, 
  as 
  improved 
  by 
  the 
  suggestions 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Carpenter 
  ||. 
  

  

  * 
  Jouni. 
  Linn. 
  Soe. 
  xvi. 
  p, 
  487. 
  

  

  t 
  Notes 
  Leyd. 
  Mus. 
  iii. 
  p. 
  191. 
  

  

  \ 
  [The 
  above 
  is 
  allowed 
  to 
  stand, 
  though 
  wi'itten 
  some 
  eighteen 
  months 
  

   ago, 
  as 
  it 
  puts 
  more 
  forcibly 
  than 
  a 
  briefer 
  and 
  colder 
  statement 
  could, 
  the 
  

   present 
  tenuity 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  Ci-inoid 
  species 
  and 
  the 
  wide 
  area 
  that 
  is 
  

   openmg 
  up 
  to 
  us. 
  — 
  Dee. 
  4, 
  1883.] 
  

  

  § 
  P. 
  Z. 
  S. 
  1882, 
  p, 
  .530. 
  

  

  II 
  P. 
  Z. 
  S. 
  1882, 
  p. 
  731. 
  I 
  retain 
  A' 
  as 
  the 
  sign 
  for 
  Actinometra, 
  as 
  a 
  is 
  used 
  

   in 
  the 
  formula? 
  of 
  the 
  cirri 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  propose 
  to 
  \ise 
  br 
  for 
  the 
  brachials, 
  as 
  h 
  is 
  

   likewise 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  formulre 
  of 
  the 
  cirri. 
  Siniilarlj' 
  I 
  omit 
  the 
  10, 
  as 
  A 
  10 
  

   followed 
  by 
  A 
  3 
  (in 
  such 
  a 
  list 
  as 
  the 
  following) 
  is 
  very 
  apt 
  to 
  mislead. 
  

  

  