406 Miscellaneous. 



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

 each end. From Western AustraL-a. 



2. Osteocella sejjfentrionalis. Long, slender, about 64 inches long, 

 attenuated at the base, and very much attenuated and elongated 

 at the other end. Northern Seas ? Collected by the Hudson's Bay 

 Company. 



Mr. Carter informs me that subsequent examination 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 

 PeunatuHdse which it most nearly resembles ;" so that my original 

 view as to the nature of this organ seems to be thus confirmed. 

 The elongated northern species was called by a zoologist a " fish's 

 tail," by which was probably meant the tail of a ray. 



Further EemarTcs on the Relationship of the Limulidae (Xiphosura) 

 to the Eurypteridse and to the Trilobita. By Henry Woodwahd, 

 Esq., r.G.S. 



In this paper the author described the recent investigations, made 

 by Ur. A. S. Packard, Dr. Anton Dohrn, and the Rev. Samuel Lock- 

 wood, upon the developmental history of the North-American king 

 crab {Limulus Polypheyrms), and discussed the conclusions as to the 

 alliances of the Xiphosura and Eurypteridae, and to the general 

 classification of the Arthropoda, to which the results of these inves- 

 tigations have led Dr. Dohrn and some other continental naturalists. 

 According to this view, the Xiphosura and Eurypteridae are more 

 nearly related to certain Arachnida (the Scorpions, &c.) than to the 

 Crustacea ; and this opinion is further supported by the assertion 

 of Dr. Dohrn, that in Limulus only one pair of organs (antennules) 

 receives its nerves from the supraoesophageal ganglion, and that the 

 nature of the under lip in Limulus differs from that prevailing 

 among the Crustacea. Dr. Dohrn also recognizes the relationship 

 of the Merostomata to the Trilobites, as shown especially by the 

 development of Limulus, and considers that the three forms (Limu- 

 liclce, Eurypteridae, and Trilobita) should be combined in one group 

 under the name of Oic/antostraca, proposed by Hackel, and placed 

 beside the Crustacea. The author stated, on the authority of Prof. 

 Owen, that Limxdus really possesses two pairs of appendages which 

 receive their nerves from the supraoesophageal ganglion, that, 

 according to Dr. Packard, the young Limulus passes through a 

 Nauplius-stage while in the egg, that no argument could be 

 founded upon the lower lip, the condition of which varied extremely 

 in the three groups proposed to be removed from the Crustacea ; and 

 he maintained that, even from the ultra-Darwinian point of view 

 taken by Dr. Dohrn, the adoption of his proposal would be fatal to 

 the application of the hypothesis of evolution to the class Crustacea. 

 — Proc. Geol. Soc. Dec. 1871. 



