74 REPORT—1852. 
figures and descriptions of British and Channel Sepiole to his S. Aélantica (those of 
Pennant, Bouchard, Gervais and Van Beneden, and Thompson), and those of Medi- 
terranean individuals to S. Rondeletii. It will be seen that we have both these species 
in the British seas. Owing to the distinctive characters having been entirely over- 
looked, it is impossible now to say which kind was intended by British authors who 
quote this cuttle-fish under the names of Loligo sepiola, Sepiola vulgaris, and S. Ron- 
deletii, Under these circumstances, we think it best to restrict our synonyms and not 
include doubtful references.—1. S. Atlantica, D’Orbigny.—Suckers becoming sud- 
denly four-ranked, crowded, and very minute at the extremities of the lower pair of 
arms. Respecting this species, Mr. Alder writes as follows from the Menai Straits : 
—‘‘ Miss Hughes has supplied me with three specimens of different sizes. This is 
an odd fish, crouching generally at the bottom like a toad, with its great goggle-eyes 
half-closed, and sometimes crawling along by means of its suckers, puffing the 
water through the funnel all the time. When it does take to swimming it darts 
very quickly through the water and is difficult to catch. When taken out of 
the water and placed on the hand, it had recourse to an odd mode of progression, 
turning two or three somersaults in regular tumbler fashion; first laying hold 
with its arms, turning over, and laying hold again until it managed to get back into 
the water. In this species, too, the tentacular arms generally lie concealed within 
the others.”—Dr. Johnston remarks of it, that “although kept alive in a basin of 
sea-water for about twelve hours, and repeatedly irritated, it never ejected any inky 
fluid, with which it is, nevertheless, amply provided.’ It is probable, as has already 
been remarked, that the majority of British localities of Sepiola re!ate to this species. 
Whether Pennant’s Sepia sepiola from the coast of Flintshire was it, it is impossible 
now to say. We have taken it in the Irish Sea; in fifteen, eighteen, and twenty 
fathoms, among the Hebrides, and in seven fathoms in the Sound of Skye. Mr. Alder 
has found it on the coast of Northumberland, and in the Menai Straits; also at Tor- 
bay. The week before Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, died, he submitted to our exami- 
nation two specimens of Sepiole as possibly distinct. His sagacity did not deceive 
him in this, any more than in many other similar instances; for one of these little 
cuttle-fishes taken at Bangor, in Ireland, in 1839, by Dr. Drummond, proved to be 
S. Atlantica, and the other was an Irish example of the true Sepiola Rondeletii. The 
statistics of the distribution of the two species have yet to be made out.—2. S. Ronde- 
letii, Leach. —Suckers on the lower pair of arms similar to those on the others. I may 
remark respecting the British cuttle-fishes,—1. That the Rossia Jacobi has proved to 
be identical with Rossia macrosoma. 2. That among Dr. Ball’s specimens of Irish 
cuttle-fishes, a form noted by him as probably distinct from Loligo media is apparently 
the Loligo marmorea of Verany. 3. That the true Ommastrephes sagittatus has been 
taken during the past winter at Brighton by the Marchioness of Hastings, and at 
Folkestone by Mr. Mackie. The specimens usually so named have been shown by 
Mr. Alder and Mr. Hancock to be the Ommastrephes todarus. 
Catalogue of the Shells found in the Alluvial Deposits of Belfast. 
By Joun GRAINGER. 
The greater part of the town of Belfast is built upon alluvial deposits of sand and 
silt. These depositions extend far intu the bay, and are extensively exposed at low 
water, reaching to Holywood upon the county Down side, and to Whiteabbey upon 
that of county Antrim. The localities which were most investigated were the em- 
bankments raised for the two railways which run along the sides of the bay, and the 
cuttings made during the progress of the harbour improvements. The embankments 
of which the railways consist are formed almost entirely of the sand and silt raised 
on the spot, and leaving numerous shallow excavations. The cuttings, however, made 
to afford a straight channel instead of the old tortuous course of the tidal river pre- 
sented shells from much deeper levels. They extended to the depth of nine feet from 
low-water mark, and eighteen from that of high water. It affords an example of the im- 
portance of seizing opportunities for prosecuting scientific researches, presented by 
the progress of altogether different operations, when we consider that these places 
will never again be accessible to inspection, the channel being now filled with water, 
and the railways traversed by continually passing trains. All these localities pre- 
