Dr Fleming (w» the Clivmte of' the Arctic Regions. 71 



so early as 1812. Personally unacquainted, apparently, with 

 the physical distribution of the Lamelliferous Polyparia, Mr 

 Conybeare endeavoured to gain the requisite information, by a 

 process which indicated his incompetency for the task. In or- 

 der to ascertain the number of species, he consulted Lamarck's 

 Catalogue, (Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertebres, we 

 presume), which is not offered as complete, nay, where the au- 

 thor expressly says, " J'ai cite d'un premier jet et presque sans re- 

 cherches, sous chaque genre, tantot un petit nombre d'especes, 

 tantot un nombre beaucoup plus grand." In ordinary circum- 

 stances, any zoologist wishing to ascertain the productions of 

 the northern regions, would have consulted those authors in 

 whose writings the species have been described, instead of a con- 

 fessedly imperfect compiler. Mr Conybeare must surely have 

 heard of the " Systema Naturae" of Linnteus, where the Ma- 

 UREPOKA ramca is recorded as a native of Norway, as well as 

 prolijera. If he could not have obtained a sight of the " Sys- 

 tema,"" he might have consulted the " Elenchus Zoophytorum" 

 of Pallas, and he would have found similar notices. But he 

 should not have contented himself with even such compilations. 

 " Lubuit enim integros adire fontes, atque haurire." In the 

 " Prodromus Zoologiae Danica;"of Miiller, he would have found 

 notices of the following as northern species, M. interstincta, da- 

 micornis, murkata, prolifera, virginea, ramca. In the Fauna 

 Groenlandica of Fabricius, M. damicornis and parasitica are re- 

 corded. Had he even imposed on himself the less irksome task 

 of ascertaining the number of British Species, and ever opened 

 my " British Animals," he would have found three species in- 

 dicated as natives of our own seas, (p. 598). He would thus 

 have discovered nine species inhabiting the colder seas, instead 

 of his " solitary tenant," and saved himself the pain of owning 

 his connexion with the following flippant remarks : " How will 

 Dr Fleming account for the gi-adual disappearance of this family 

 in our latitudes ? Why does a page of our natural history, once 

 so rich, now present a total blank .?" 



I have thus redeemed a pledge given at the beginning of this 

 paper, that Mr Conybeare lauded mc as a compiler, when he had 

 not at all examined my alleged compilations; and I may now add, 

 that he appears to have been unac(]uainted with the animals 



