Miscellaneous. 397 
passages as will make it clear that he deserves the credit which has 
been assumed by those who have merely repeated his observations. 
On page 430, ‘Comptes Rendus,’ he says, ‘ Ainsi le spicule ou dard, 
figuré dans lintérieur du sac par M. Corda (calearea sagitta, Corda), 
et représenté saillant au dehors par M. Ehrenberg, dans sa planche 2. 
fig. 7b, n’est autre que l’esptce de calice basilaire 4 trois points en 
étoile, des prétendus hamecons. Le long filament gréle qui part de 
ce calice étoilé était, avant l’évolution, invaginé en dedans de lui- 
méme et du calice ou spicule par un retournement en doigt de gant, 
et formait au fond du sac cette apparence de coussin que M. Corda 
a nommé vesica patelliformis; un examen attentif et d’excellents 
instruments font méme reconnaitre dans ce coussin sa composition 
par un fil enroulé en spirale.’’ On page 431 he speaks of the evolu- 
tion of the thread of this and another smaller nettling-cell by en- 
sheathing itself: “des corpuscules plus petits et surtout beaucoup 
plus étroits que les précédents, ovoides, 4 parois épaisses contenant a 
leur intérieur un fil enroulé en spirale, qui sort comme le long fila- 
ment des hamegons, en s’engainant en dedans de lui-méme.”’ All that 
I have been able to add to this, although the subject has been pur- 
sued with the utmost rigour, and with the best lenses to be had, is 
the description of the relation of the coiled thread to that part of 
its base which projects straight into the cavity of the cell. Perhaps 
the greatest importance that can be attached to this is that it is the 
most difficult to make out. However, the discovery of this feature 
solves the whole mechanism of the organ. Although I had, in 1860, 
figured and briefly indicated (Agassiz’s ‘Contributions’ ut supra) 
this part of its structure, yet it was not until the fourth volume of 
the ‘Contributions’ appeared, in 1862, that I described it, in full, as 
I had seen it in various animals, viz. in the ephyra of Aurelia flavi- 
dula (p. 44), the Hydra form of Coryne mirabilis (p. 209), Actinia 
marginata (p. 210), and Hydractinia polyclina (p. 237). At first 
sight, I might seem to be anticipated in this by Gosse, in his ‘ Even- 
ings with the Microscope,’ London, 1859, or in his ‘ Actinologia 
Britannica,’ London, 1860, p. xxix, Introduction, and pl. 11. fig. 6; 
but, upon examination of the illustration, I find nothing to justify it; 
and, from the description in connexion with the figure, I should 
judge that the cnidz had been injured and distorted by pressure. 
However, I leave it to others to decide whether Gosse’s description 
is sufficient to clear up the subject on this point. 
Among the Ctenophore the enidée are so numerous and so closely 
packed together, as to form a uniform layer all over the surface of 
the tentacle totally outside of the exterior wall.—H. J. C.] 
On the Writings of C. 8S. RAFINESQUE. 
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 
GENTLEMEN,— Will you allow me to state, for the information ot 
your readers, that a long-desired work is about to be accomplished 
in Philadelphia, namely, the reproduction of the complete writings 
of Constantine Smaltz Rafinesque on Recent and Fossil Conchology, 
to be edited by W. G, Binney and G. W. Tryon, Jun. This indus- 
