On Dredgings and Deep-sea Soundings. 231 



Gegenbaur's opinion ; but it points to the connexion of the ringed 

 and flat worms, by means of this intermediate step,- with three 

 classes only of the Arthropods — the Myriopods, Spiders, and 

 Insects, i. e. the Tracheata. From the primitive condition of the 

 tracheae in lulus, and the many relations between Peripatus and 

 Scolopendra, it would seem that the Myriopods may be most nearly 

 allied to Peripatus, and form a distinct branch arising from it and 

 not passing through Insects. The early three-legged stage may 

 turn out as of not so much significance as supposed. If these 

 speculations be correct, the Crustacea have a different origin from 

 the Tracheata. Peripatus itself may well be placed amougst Pro- 

 fessor Hackel's Protracheata ; G-rube's term Onychophora becomes 

 no more significant than De Blainville's Malacopoda. Some notions 

 of the actual history of the origin of Peripatus itself may be gathered 

 from its development. 



In conclusion I would beg indulgence for the many defects in 

 this paper, due to the hurry with which it was written (all available 

 time, almost up to the last moment of our sailing for the Antarctic 

 regions, having been consumed in actual examination of the struc- 

 ture of Peripatus), and due, further, to the impossibility of referring 

 to original papers in any scientific library. At all events it is 

 hoped that Peripatus has been shown to be of very great zoological 

 interest, as lying near one of the main stems of the great zoological 

 family tree, and that further examination of the most minute cha- 

 racter into the structure of this animal will be well repaid. 



H.M.S. ' Challenger,' Simon's Bay, Cape of Good Hope, 

 December 17, 1873. 



June 18, 1874. — Joseph Dalton Hooker, C.B., President, in the 



Chair. 



" On Dredgings and Deep-sea Soundings in the South Atlantic, 

 in a Letter to Admiral Richards, C.B., F.B.S." By Prof. Wtville 

 Thomson, LL.D., F.K.S., Director of the Civilian Staff on board 

 H.M.S. ' Challenger.' 



Melbourne, March 17, 1874. 



Dear Admiral Btchards, — 1 have the pleasure of informing 

 you that, during our voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Aus- 

 tralia, all the necessary observations in matters bearing upon my 

 department have been made most successfully at nineteen principal 

 stations, suitably distributed over the track, and including Marion 

 Island, the neighbourhood of the Crozets, Kerguelen Island, and 

 the Heard group. 



After leaving the Cape several dredgings were taken a little to 

 the southward, at depths from 100 to 150 fathoms. Animal life 

 was very abundant ; and the result was remarkable in this respect, 

 that the general character of the fauna was very similar to that 

 of the North Atlantic, many of the species even being identical with 

 those on the coasts of Great Britain and Norway. The first day's 



