70 Miscellaneous. 



identity of the two fishes as soon as they have made the compari- 

 son. — Comptes Rendus, January 23, 1865, p. 152. 



Description of the Egg of Parra gallinacea. 

 By John Gould, F.R.S. &c. 

 The ground-colour of the egg of this species is of a dark shining 

 raw-sienna tint, over which are traced in various directions a series 

 of broad and tine hair-like contorted lines of brownish black, which, 

 by occasionally uniting laterally and crossing each other, form here 

 and there large blotches. Although these markings are of the same 

 character on each egg, they are somewhat differently distributed : 

 thus, on one of the two I possess, they are more numerous at the 

 larger end, and absent at the smaller ; while on the other they are 

 more abundant at the smaller, and less so at the larger extremity. 

 The eggs are one inch and an eighth in length by seven eighths of an 

 inch in breadth. They are, moreover, rendered remarkably conspi- 

 cuous by the singularly pointed form of the smaller end, and by their 

 small size as compared with that of the bird, but above all by the 

 form and disposition of the markings, which are as if traced by the 

 hand of a person who had amused himself by attempting to cover the 

 surface with fantastic streaks, blotches, and contorted curves from 

 end to end. — Proc. Zool. Soc. Dec. 13, 1864. 



On a neio Form of Brachiolaria. By M. Sars. 



M. Sars has discovered a new Echinodermatous larva belonging to 

 the Brachiolarian type. It presents a greater affinity to the Bipin- 

 narice than those observed by Johannes Muller. Its development is 

 also very similar to that of the Bipinnariee, — the Starfish in course of 

 formation presenting the same relations of position and union with 

 the body of the larva. There are, however, some differences. In 

 the Bipinnariee the rudiment of the ambulacral system makes its 

 appearance very early, in the form of a rosette of five caeca ; in the 

 Brachiolarke, on the contrary, these caeca are not brought together 

 in a group, but distant from each other, and their circle is open on 

 one side. This condition persists until after the formation of the 

 perisoma, with its five arms and their spines. 



The Brachiolarice are really distinguished from the Bipinnariee 

 only by the presence of their contractile arms at the anterior extremity. 

 M. Sars has ascertained that these organs, whose function has hitherto 

 been doubtful, act as an apparatus of attachment. They may be com- 

 pared with the very similar organs of attachment of the larvae of 

 Echinaster sanguinolentus and Aster acanthion Muller i. Thus these 

 various types of larvae, so different in appearance, are united in an 

 unexpected manner. — Videnskabsselskabets Forhandlingar, ISO'S ; 

 Abstract in Bibl. Univ., May 1865, Bull. Sci., p. 62. 



Investigation of the Structure of the Encephalon of Fishes, and of the 

 Homological Signification of its different Parts. By M. Hollard. 



The type of the encephalon in Fishes is inferior to that prevailing 

 in Mammalia, not only in its general development, but also in the 

 absence of several organs. This type is not only inferior, but it is 



