340 Prof. F. J. Bell on British Ophiurids. 



Ophiurids wliich were called Ophioderma by Miiller and 

 Troschel and which are distinguished by the apparent duplicity 

 of their bursal clefts. This course he justified by citing one 

 of the greatest authorities on Ophiurids — Dr. Llitken — who 

 had declared two years previously tliat the type of Lamarck's 

 genus Ophiura was 0. longicauda, which is an Ophiodervia 

 in the sense of Miiller and Troschel *. 



1 cannot tell whether Mr. Lyman accepted this statement 

 of Dr. Liitken's without verifying it, or whether he looked 

 upon the second species of an author's genus as being the 

 type. If he did not verify the assertion he must be blamed ; 

 because if he had the readers of the ' Annals ' would not have 

 been burdened with this note. If he regards the second 

 species as the type of a genus he is doing no more than exer- 

 cising the privileges of a free man, and if he does not inter- 

 fere with the liberty of others no one has the least right to 

 complain. 



But the questions are rather, (1) Was Dr. Llitken right? 

 and (2) Was Opldura at Mr. Lyman's disposal? 



What Dr. Llitken thinks about it we are told in a footnote 

 to p. 87 of vol. viii. (ser. 5) of the Dansk. Vid. Selsk. 

 Skrifter (1870), Avhere he says : — " Som bekjendt har Lyman 

 f0rt Navnet Ophiurn tilbage til O/v^/ot/e/wa-Slaegten og 

 omd0bt Forbes' Ophiiira til OplnQglypiha. SkJ0ndt jeg 

 maaskee selv har givet Aniedning dertil ved hvad jeg (Addit. 

 i. S. 31) har bemaerket om Anvendelsen af Navnet Ophiiiray 

 er jeg dog nu ikke vis paa, at det just var det rette." 



Jn 1836 Agassiz f divided the existing species of Lamarck's 

 genus Opliiura into OpMura and Ophiocoma^ and gave as 

 types of the former "0. texturata, Lam. — 0. lacertosa. Lam. 

 &c." \n 1839 E. Forbes % gave a definition of OpMura 

 which would apply to 0. texturata, Lamk., but not to 0. 

 lactrfosaj Lamk., and in 1842 Miiller and Troscliel gave the 

 name Ophioderma to the group of which the latter is the type. 



By 1842, then, the partition of Lamarck's genus Ophiura 

 as emended by Agassiz was completed, and no spoil was left 

 for Mr. Lyman. 



It follows therefore that those writers who have continued 

 to use Ophioderma and have not allowed Ophioglypha to 

 displace Ophiura are correct. 



* See Proc. Boston Soc. N. II. vii. (1801) p. 197. 

 t Mem. Soc. Neiichatel, i. p. 192. 

 X Mem. Wern. Soc. viii. p. 125, 



