



100 



w* ateoa* dombt, and yet while doubting w* most believe, it being the 



only I Vwoid 



at promt inhabiting our MM, at one time so full 



. 



it* of great 



at a** to UM oologist only bat also to UM geologist" In the 

 raw 1 Si3 Mr. J. V. Thompson discovered In th* Bay of Cork a singular 

 UtU. |HdHnikMd animal, which be oallad Pntoerimt Bvnpaut, 

 i proved to b* the young of the CosMrWa, and gave rise to 

 i'lx.th at home and abroad, for it was the 

 I of UM Eaorait* kind which had been seen in the seas of 

 Katop*. and th* drat recent *mmitt that bad ever been examined 

 by nmtiXsat observer in a living state. In 1836 Mr. Thompson 



in th ' Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,' 

 naioUisjing th* proposition that his Pentamitvi Europtnu was only 

 UM youag of CVnafW* ; that the Feather-Star commenced life ai an 

 Mia mitt, and that at it were changed it* nature from a psendo-poly pe 

 to a sUr-tUb. He than compare* the youngeat Comatula he had met 

 with, with UM uldcet Pataen*<u, and ahowa the gradual progression 



of Uw iiaUrml U, lomr nldc ; J, upper 

 ; I, part eC IW nafttf .[<k of . r.v m.nlflrj ; 4, U|M . 

 Ml r*r> mHK% tkmrlaf th. bonk or uwbor. D. BUInrill. . 



*M> el Ue 



. aw ef U. dMMl r*r> 



of Corn during th* development of th* latter towanU the adult (tate 

 of the fanner, gum that time other naturaluU hare testified to 

 Uii. ob*T.Uoo of Mr. J. V. Th..mfon ; it ia confirmed by Profeawr 



' the late Mr. W. Tbompaon of 



E. Forbea, Dr. Ball of Dublin, and 

 C. A4t*tm of Laa*rck ha* UM foUowi 



i : 10 pinnaUd, 



Blender, p* uniform rays ; pinnules lanceolate, oomplicatedly canalicu- 

 late below ; 20 doraal cirrhi. 



It inhabits the seas of Australia, where Peron and Losucur f<mn<l 

 it hooked on to an AJtona. His small, delicat<-. with In 

 feathery rays, and only 3 inches in diameter. Tin- pinnules are 

 lanceolated, and folded in two, as it were, below. l<>i>Kit<nliiml!y. 



The species of Vernal tda are widely spread. T) ither- 



Star is foun.l n many parta of the British Coast. Two species are 

 friren as British in most works on zoology, C. rotacra and C. barbata. 

 They are evidently the same animal of different ages or in different 

 states of preservation : they are both identical with the C. Mediter- 

 rmta of Lamarck. A Feather-Star.is a very different animal when 

 preserved in spirits with its expanded fins from what it appears when 

 dried. In the Museum of the College of Surgeons there are two 

 specimens from the Society Isles, one brought up from a depth of 

 J*} fathoms, in 80 26' X. Int., 12' 30' K. long. iH.M.S. Dorothea, 

 Captain Buchan, R.X.): and the same species (A leclo glacialu) from 

 260 fathoms, 80 26' N. lat, 11 32' E. long. (H.M.S. Trent, Lieu- 

 tenant Franklin, RX.!. 



The species probably are tolerably numerous. Dr. Leach records 

 three species, two in the British Museum, Lamarck eight, and De 

 Klainville nine. Many of the species are of comparatively large size. 

 [ K< IIIXODKKMAIA.] 



Fottil Comatvla. 



Ooldfuss enumerates four species from Solenhofen (Oolitic group). 

 There are none in any of the British strata. 



COMBRETA'CE,*:, an order of Polypetalous Exogenous PlaiiU, 

 with 1 -celled inferior fruit, the seeds of which are solitary or nearly 

 so, and pendulous, the stamens definite in number, aud the cotyledons 

 convolute. It cannot be doubted that this order has a near relation 

 to Ifyrtaeta and especially to Pnnica. Dr. Lindley considers it to be 

 in closer alliance with Lauracta :u i'ie. 



Ootnbrrtum coccinfum. 



a, Flower : i. flower opened to nhow the insertion of the eight ptamenn ; 

 r, pintil ; </, rtunen ; f, fruit ; /, horizontal section of fruit ; f, seed ; A, embryu. 



Tin; species known as Myrobalans are tropical shrubs or trees, with 

 alternate or opposite leaves destitute of stipules, and long slender 

 stamens. The order does not contain any plants of much importance 

 for their useful properties. Some of them are astringent and uood 

 for tanning, and the kernels of others are eatable; they are clii, Hy 

 valued for their brightly coloured showy flowers, especially 



COMEPHORUS, a genus of Fishes belonging to the family of 

 Oobiea. There is only one spc-< ii -, whirh is found in the fresh-water 

 lake of Baikal. It is not taken by the ' but is found (Utd 



on the shores after the severe storms to which that lake in frequently 



