﻿10 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  ence 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  switches 
  to 
  a 
  genus 
  (Osteocella) 
  made 
  by 
  him, 
  I 
  quote 
  as 
  

   follows 
  from 
  page 
  405, 
  of 
  the 
  Annals 
  and 
  Magazine 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  Vol. 
  

   IX, 
  (Fourth 
  Series). 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  Genus 
  Osteocella 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  Mr. 
  

   Clifton, 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  sent 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  to 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  the 
  ' 
  backbone 
  

   taken 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  marine 
  animal 
  in 
  bottle 
  marked 
  No. 
  1. 
  I 
  caught 
  him, 
  or 
  it, 
  

   swimming 
  with 
  great 
  rapidity 
  in 
  shallow 
  water.' 
  The 
  bottle 
  never 
  reached 
  

   the 
  British 
  Museum 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  backbone 
  did 
  ,• 
  and 
  I 
  described 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   the 
  ' 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Sea-Peus, 
  or 
  Pennatulida3, 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum,' 
  published 
  

   in 
  1870, 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  ' 
  Osteocell|i 
  Cliftoni 
  '; 
  but 
  considered 
  it 
  very 
  

   doubtful 
  its 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  Pennatulidaj." 
  

  

  The 
  British 
  Museum 
  has 
  lately 
  received 
  a 
  very 
  long, 
  slender 
  bone, 
  64)^ 
  

   inches 
  long 
  and 
  3-16 
  inch 
  broad 
  in 
  its 
  broadest 
  part, 
  which 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  the 
  

   Zoological 
  Society 
  by 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  Company, 
  and 
  evidently 
  came 
  from 
  

   the 
  northern 
  seas, 
  probably 
  from 
  the 
  west 
  coast 
  of 
  America. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Carter 
  has 
  kindly 
  examined 
  the 
  Australian 
  specimen 
  sent 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Clifton, 
  

   and 
  the 
  one 
  sent 
  * 
  * 
  by 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  Company 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  and 
  finds 
  them, 
  

   under 
  the 
  microscope, 
  " 
  present 
  the 
  same 
  horny 
  structure, 
  viz., 
  a 
  fibrous 
  trama, 
  

   more 
  or 
  less 
  charged 
  with 
  oval 
  cells 
  or 
  spaces, 
  quite 
  unlike 
  that 
  of 
  Gorgonia 
  

   and 
  Pennatula, 
  which 
  present 
  a 
  concentric 
  mass 
  of 
  horny 
  layers, 
  charged 
  more 
  

   or 
  less 
  with 
  calcareous 
  crystalline 
  concretions. 
  It 
  is 
  evidently 
  a 
  second 
  species 
  

   of 
  the 
  same 
  genus, 
  Osteocella." 
  

  

  After 
  a 
  few 
  lines, 
  follows 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  

  

  " 
  Osteocella, 
  Gray, 
  Cat. 
  of 
  Pennatulidaa 
  (1870), 
  p. 
  40." 
  

  

  After 
  describing 
  the 
  style, 
  or 
  axis, 
  he 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  animal 
  (which 
  neither 
  he 
  

   nor 
  we 
  have 
  seen) 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  words 
  : 
  " 
  Animal 
  or 
  colony 
  of 
  animals 
  free, 
  

   marine 
  ; 
  otherwise 
  unknown 
  ; 
  most 
  probably 
  like 
  the 
  Pennatulida;, 
  but 
  the 
  

   style 
  is 
  harder, 
  more 
  calcareous 
  and 
  polished 
  than 
  any 
  known 
  style 
  belonging 
  to 
  

   that 
  group, 
  wliich 
  are 
  generally 
  square, 
  sometimes 
  cylindrical, 
  but 
  rarely 
  fusi- 
  

   form 
  in 
  the 
  genus 
  Virgularia 
  ; 
  or, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  the 
  long 
  conical 
  bone 
  of 
  a 
  form 
  of 
  

   decapod 
  cephalopod, 
  which 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  occurred 
  to 
  naturalists, 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Clifton 
  

   spoke 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  a 
  free 
  marine 
  animal, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  a 
  cartilaginous 
  apex 
  like 
  the 
  

   cuttlefish. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  animal 
  yielding 
  

   this 
  kind 
  of 
  bony 
  substance 
  : 
  

  

  1. 
  Osteocella 
  Cliftoni. 
  Thick, 
  about 
  11 
  inches 
  long, 
  tapering 
  at 
  each 
  end. 
  

   From 
  Western 
  Australia. 
  

  

  2. 
  Osteocella 
  septentrionaHs. 
  Long, 
  slendtr, 
  about 
  64 
  inches 
  long, 
  attenua- 
  

   ted 
  at 
  the 
  base, 
  and 
  very 
  much 
  attenuated 
  and 
  elongated 
  at 
  the 
  other 
  end. 
  

   Northern 
  Seas? 
  Collected 
  by 
  the 
  Hudson's 
  Bay 
  Company." 
  

  

  This 
  latter, 
  undoubtedly 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  forms, 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  specimens 
  in 
  the 
  Academy's 
  Museum, 
  and 
  which 
  are 
  referred 
  to 
  in 
  this 
  

   paper. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gray 
  proceeds 
  and 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  Mr. 
  Carter 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  subsequent 
  ex- 
  

   amination 
  of 
  this 
  axis 
  with 
  acid, 
  ' 
  shows 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  similarly 
  composed 
  to 
  that 
  

   of 
  Gorgonia, 
  viz., 
  of 
  kerataceous 
  fibre 
  or 
  substance, 
  and 
  calcareous 
  crystalline 
  

   matter 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  stem 
  of 
  Osteocella 
  Cliftoni, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  Pemlatulidse, 
  

  

  