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  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  solution 
  during 
  the 
  transit 
  ; 
  only 
  about 
  a 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  flesh 
  which 
  was 
  loose 
  on 
  

   the 
  axis, 
  and 
  the 
  thick, 
  swollen, 
  naked, 
  club-shaped 
  base, 
  without 
  polypes, 
  re- 
  

   mained 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  sufficiently 
  good 
  state 
  to 
  afford 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  deter- 
  

   mining 
  its 
  zoological 
  situation, 
  and 
  of 
  examining 
  its 
  microscopical 
  and 
  other 
  

   zoological 
  characters." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  next 
  paragraph, 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  quote 
  a 
  portion, 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  Mr. 
  

   Chambers' 
  specimen 
  is 
  the 
  animal 
  of 
  the 
  axis 
  or 
  stick, 
  that 
  I 
  described 
  as 
  Oste- 
  

   ocella 
  septentrionalis, 
  (Ann. 
  and 
  Mag. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  1872, 
  p. 
  406) 
  ***** 
  

   and 
  is 
  evidently 
  the 
  same 
  animal 
  as 
  Pavonaria 
  Blakei, 
  described 
  by 
  R. 
  B. 
  0. 
  

   Stearns." 
  

  

  " 
  Two 
  days 
  after 
  I 
  received 
  this 
  specimen, 
  I 
  received 
  by 
  post 
  Mr. 
  Stearns' 
  

   description 
  of 
  the 
  stick 
  fish, 
  {Pavonaria 
  Blakei) 
  from 
  the 
  San 
  Francisco 
  Mining 
  

   and 
  Scientific 
  Press, 
  August 
  9th, 
  1873." 
  

  

  Towards 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  his 
  article. 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  Mr. 
  Stearns' 
  paper, 
  in 
  

   the 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  California 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  is 
  a 
  reprint 
  of 
  the 
  

   paper 
  in 
  the 
  San 
  Francisco 
  Mining 
  and 
  Scientific 
  Press, 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  additions, 
  

   and 
  the 
  addition 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  sub-genus, 
  Verrillia, 
  although 
  he 
  quotes 
  Osteocella." 
  In 
  

   this 
  paper 
  Mr. 
  Gray 
  gives 
  what 
  he 
  considers 
  " 
  the 
  synonymy 
  of 
  those 
  animals 
  "; 
  

   first, 
  the 
  genera, 
  and 
  next, 
  the 
  species 
  ; 
  placing 
  my 
  first 
  generic 
  determination, 
  

   Pavonaria, 
  and 
  my 
  subsequent 
  sub-genus, 
  Verrillia, 
  in 
  the 
  order 
  as 
  recited, 
  as 
  

   synonymes 
  of 
  his 
  genus 
  Osteocella. 
  

  

  I 
  would 
  ask 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  by 
  what 
  warrant, 
  either 
  of 
  science 
  or 
  justice, 
  he 
  

   places 
  Pavonaria 
  or 
  Verrillia, 
  definitely 
  described 
  genera, 
  as 
  synonymes 
  of 
  his 
  

   indefinite 
  and 
  vague 
  Osteocella, 
  which 
  latter 
  he 
  puhlhhe^ 
  as 
  a 
  genus, 
  for 
  it 
  can- 
  

   not 
  be 
  said 
  he 
  describes 
  it, 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Sea- 
  Pens 
  — 
  or 
  PennatulidjE 
  — 
  

   in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  " 
  1870, 
  page 
  40. 
  Gray's 
  genus 
  Osteocella 
  is 
  based 
  upon 
  

   a 
  " 
  bone," 
  (probably 
  the 
  axis 
  of 
  a 
  polyp) 
  which 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  

   "many 
  years 
  ago," 
  from 
  Australia, 
  by 
  a 
  gentleman 
  named 
  Clifton. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   vesting 
  fleshy 
  substance, 
  or 
  soft 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  animal, 
  of 
  which 
  said 
  bone 
  

   formed 
  a 
  part, 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  he 
  invented 
  the 
  name 
  

   Osteocella, 
  and 
  even 
  to 
  this 
  date 
  no 
  additional 
  light 
  has 
  been 
  furnished 
  by 
  him 
  

   regarding 
  the 
  Australian 
  form. 
  He 
  was 
  not 
  even 
  positive 
  that 
  the 
  " 
  bone 
  " 
  be- 
  

   longed 
  to 
  a 
  zoophyte, 
  for 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  or, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  the 
  long 
  conical 
  bone 
  of 
  a 
  

   form 
  of 
  decapod 
  cephalapod 
  which 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  occurred 
  to 
  naturalists, 
  as 
  Mr. 
  

   Clifton 
  spoke 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  a 
  free 
  marine 
  animal 
  : 
  it 
  has 
  a 
  cartilaginous 
  apex 
  like 
  

   the 
  cuttle 
  fish." 
  

  

  In 
  which 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  kingdom 
  does 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  place 
  

   it, 
  or 
  did 
  he 
  place 
  his 
  Australian 
  bone 
  in 
  1870 
  ? 
  

  

  Courtesy 
  and 
  fairness 
  suggest 
  that 
  as 
  he 
  printed 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Pen- 
  

   natulidcE, 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  conceded, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  written, 
  in 
  a 
  previous 
  paper, 
  " 
  that, 
  

   in 
  his 
  mind, 
  the 
  balance 
  of 
  reasoning 
  tends 
  in 
  that 
  direction." 
  

  

  Admitting 
  this 
  latter, 
  what 
  then 
  ? 
  The 
  Australian 
  bone 
  upon 
  which 
  rests 
  

   his 
  genus 
  Osteocella 
  is 
  described 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Gray 
  as 
  being 
  " 
  thick, 
  about 
  eleven 
  

   inches 
  long, 
  tapering 
  at 
  each 
  end." 
  Subsequently 
  he 
  has 
  received 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   stalks, 
  or 
  axes, 
  of 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  named 
  Verrillia 
  Blakei; 
  of 
  the 
  latter, 
  he 
  says 
  it 
  

  

  