450 



NATURE 



\_March 13, 1879 



of pimelinic acid, by A. Bauer and J. Schuler. — New experi- 

 ments to test Doppler's theory on the change of tone and colour 

 by motion, by E. Mach. — On the magnetic declination and in- 

 clination at Vienna, by J. Liznar. — On the component parts 

 of coralline and their relation to the colouring-matters of the 

 rosaniline group, by C. Zulkowsky. — On the diffusion of car- 

 bonic acid by water and alcohol, by J. Stefan. — On the electro- 

 motive power of metals in the watery solutions of their sul- 

 phates, nitrates, and chlorides, by Dr. F. Streintz. 



The Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna Academy of Sciences 

 (Physiological and Anatomical Section, vol. 76, parts 1-5) con- 

 tain the following papers : — Observations on the origin of the 

 cell mdule, by S. Strieker. — On the nerves of the cornea and its 

 vessels, by Dr. L. Konigstein. — On the properties of dialysed 

 albumen, by Dr. M. Laptschinsky. — On the occurrence 'of two 

 different knots of vessels in the kidney, by Dr. O. Drasch. — On 

 some peculiar products of mycotic keratitis giving the amyloid 

 reaction, by Dr. A. Frisch. — On the chemical reaction of the 

 retina and the visual nerve, by Dr. A. Chodin. — On the laws of 

 nerve irritation, by Dr. E. v. Fleischl. — On the termination 

 of the olfactory nerves, by S. Exner. — On optional and cramp 

 movements, by E. Briicke. — Researches on the perception of 

 locality and its relation to the idea of space, by S. Strieker. — 

 On the anatomy of the thalamus opticus and its surroundings, by 

 Dr. F. Schnopfhagen. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society, March 6. — " Preliminary Report upon the 

 Comatulce of the Challenger Expedition." By P. Herbert 

 Carpenter, M.A., Assistant Master at Eton College. Com- 

 municated by Sir Wyville Thomson, F.R.S. Published by 

 permission of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. 



The collection of Comatulce made by the staff of the Chal- 

 lenger includes specimens from 45 different localities, but few 

 of which are deep-water stations. Comahila: were only obtained 

 seven times from depths exceeding i ,ooo fathoms. 



At lesser depths, 200 — 1,000 fathoms, Comatulce were met 

 Avith at 13 stations ; but by far the greatest number both of species 

 and of individuals were dredged at depths much less than 200 

 fathoms, and often less than 20 fathoms, at 26 widely distant 

 stations. 



The collection contains 1 1 1 species, mostly new ; but as the 

 work of examination and description progresses, it is not unlikely 

 that forms now considered different may turn out to be merely 

 local varieties of one and the same species, so that the number 

 given above may be subject to alteration. 



Of these III species, 59 belong to the genus Antedon, 48 to 

 Actinometra, i to Ophiocrinus, and 3, which are peculiar in 

 having ten rays to the calyx instead of only five, to a new genus 

 for which is proposed the name Fromachocrinus {Trp6ixaxos Chal- 

 lenger). 



The distribution of Promachocrinus is as follows : — 



P. Kerguclensis (20 arms). Balfour Bay, Kerguelen,.20 — 6ofath. 

 Royal Sound ,, 28 fath. 



Cape Maclear ,, 30 ,, 



Heard Island 75 ,, 



P. abyssorum (10 arms). Station 147 1,600 ,, 



,, 158 1,800 „ 



P. Naresn{\0 2iXTa.%). ,, 214 500 ,, 



Ophiocrinus was obtained at four localities at depths varying 

 from 565 to 1,070 fathoms, two in the South Pacific off South 

 Australia and New Zealand respectively, and two in the North 

 Pacific, one off Japan, and one just north of the Philippine 

 Islands. All the specimens belong to one species, which is by 

 no means so slender and graceful as Semper's Philippine species 

 from shallower water, but has a much more massive arm 

 skeleton. 



The comparative distribution of the other Comatulce is very 

 striking. Relatively speaking, Actinometra is extremely limited 

 in its range, both geographical and bathymetrical. It is almost 

 exclusively a tropical genus, its northern limit being about 30° 

 N. lat. and its southern 40° S. lat. Isolated species are known 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, South Australia, and Port 

 Jackson, but its chief home is Oceania, especially the Philippines 

 and Moniccas. A few Actinometra species are also known from 

 the west coast of the Atlantic, as South Carolina, the West 

 Indies, Bahia, and St. Paul's Rocks. 



The bathymetrical limit of Actinometra is likewise very slight. 

 Nearly all the Challenger species are from depths less than 20 

 fathoms, while only three come from a greater depth than 100 

 fathoms. The individual species of Actinometra, like the genus 

 itself, are very local in their distribution. Each of the forty- 

 eight species of the Challenger collection has its own locality, f 



With Antedon, however, the case is different. Not only do 

 nearly all the deep-sea Comatulce belong to this genus, but some 

 species of it have a fairly wide range. Ant. rosacea ranges from 

 the north of Scotland to the Mediterranean, while /iw/. Eschrichtii 

 is found over a much wider area. It is well known on the 

 American coast, and was dredged by the Challenger off Halifax, 

 while the Porcupine met with it in the "cold area " of the North 

 Atlantic. 



_ Some Antedon species occur in duplicate from different locali- 

 ties. Two species from near the Kermadec Islands (S. 170), 

 also occur in the neighbourhood of the Fijis (S. 174, 175). A 

 third species was dredged at Stations 147 and 160, two localities 

 in the Southern Sea, in nearly the same latitude, but separated 

 by almost 90° of longitude. A fourth species came up from 

 1,070 and 775 fathoms, off the Admiralty Islands and Japan 

 respectively. 



The above facts would seem to show thai, with few exceptions, 

 the geographical range of the individual members of the family 

 Comatulida, is exceedingly limited, nearly every species having 

 its own locality, and that not a very extensive one. 



The voyage of the Challenger has settled a curious question 

 in connection with the Crinoids, the origin of which is due to 

 Loven. It refers to Hyponome Sarsii, a so-called recent Cystid, 

 which turns out to be nothing more than the disk of a Comatula, 

 minus its skeleton. The anambulacral plating may be very 

 extensive, forming a complete pavement over the ventral surface 

 of the disc as in many Pentacrini; and the ambulacra are not 

 wide and open as is usual in most Comatulce, but almost entirely 

 closed by the approximation of the marginal leaflets at their 

 sides, so that the food-grooves radiating from the mouth are 

 converted into tunnels. 



The plates in the marginal leaflets are probably movable as 

 unplated leaflets are in Antedon rosacea ; so that they can be 

 erected when the arms are spread out, leaving the grooves open 

 for food particles to travel towards the mouth. On the other 

 hand, when the arms are all contracted over the disk, the mar- 

 ginal plates fold over the grooves and cover them in. This is 

 the condition of most spirit-specimens, but it is not in any way 

 comparable to that of the palaeozoic crinoids, in which the 

 mouth is truly subtegminal while the ambulacra become real 

 tunnels beneath the upper surface of the vault. 



Sections through one of these plated Hyponome-^\>V% show 

 that all the various structures which underlie the grooves of 

 ordinary Comatulce are present and exhibit their usual characters. 



The examination of the Challenger Comatulce has entirely con- 

 firmed the opinions held by Dr. Liitken and the author respect- 

 ing the distinguishing characters of Antedon and Actinometra. 

 Both agree in referring forms with a (sub) central mouth, five 

 equal ambulacra, and no terminal comt) on the oral pinnules, to 

 Antedon. On the other hand, species with an eccentric mouth, 

 a variable number of unequal ambulacra, and a terminal comb to 

 the oral pinnules, belong to Actijzometra. 



It will be seen at once that these characters are of no use in 

 distinguishing the genera of fossil Comatulce. But, there are 

 very considerable differences in the shape of the radials and 

 centrodorsal piece in Antedon and Actinometra respectively, and 

 as these are exactly the parts which are most met with as fossik, 

 the generic determination of a fossil form is almost as easy as 

 that of a recent one, which has given up its disk to produce a 

 Hyponome, The author has shown elsewhere that in Act. 

 polymorpha and Act. Solaris, half, or even more than half, of the 

 arms may have neither ventral groove, tentacles, ambulacral 

 epithelium, nor ambulacral nerve. No less than 23 out of the 

 48 species of Challenger Actinometra may have more or fewer 

 of such ungrooved arms, in which the ambulacral nerve is en- 

 tirely absent. These arms are usually those which come off from 

 the hinder part of the disc, but in one gigantic Philippine 

 species with over 100 arms, there are several ungrooved arms on 

 each radius. Evidence of this negative character appears to the 

 author to be a serious objection to the German view, that the 

 ventral bands constitute the sole nervous apparatus of the cri- 

 noids ; and on the other hand, to strengthen the opinions held by 

 Dr. Carpenter, and by the author, that the axial cords of the- 

 skeleton are also nervous in character. 



