Linnaan Society. 233 



glmica and other fishes that do not ordinarily select such a situation. 

 Their length was half an inch ; the head proportionately large, espe- 

 cially across ; the body slender ; eye large ; snout in front of it 

 short and abrupt ; upper jaw arched ; under stout, projecting to a 

 considerable extent, but in some specimens more than in others, the 

 point declining, and the sides not appearing to be formed of parallel 

 rami of the jaw, but rather of a cartilaginous substance ; vent placed 

 posteriorly ; body, which is equal from the head to this point, taper- 

 ing thence to the tail ; lateral line, so far as could be distinguished, 

 straight ; dorsal and anal fins single, posterior, opposite, the latter 

 beginning close behind the vent, and both reaching nearly to the 

 tail, their membrane at first broader, but narrowing in its progress ; 

 pectoral tins and tail round. The colours of different specimens 

 varied greatly, some being dark with a tint of green, others cream- 

 coloured but sprinkled with specks ; regular and thickly set narrow 

 stripes passed from the back obliquely forward, breaking into dots at 

 the sides, in the darker coloured specimens ; belly dark. 



Mr. Couch was unable to discover ventral fins even with the aid 

 of a lens. He has no doubt of the specimens being in a very early 

 stage of their existence, but cannot refer them to any known species. 

 He thinks it indeed doubtful whether they really belong to the genus 

 by the name of which he has provisionally designated them, or even 

 to the same family, some parts of their structure seeming to indicate 

 an aflSinity with the genus Ammodytes. 



The paper was accompanied by magnified figures. 



June 21. — Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



Read " Observations on- the Growth and Reproduction of Entero- 

 morpha intestinalis." By Arthur Hill Hassall, Esq. 



Mr. Hassall states that, in the earliest stage of their development, 

 the tapering filaments consist of a single series of cells placed end to 

 end. Each of these cells afterwards becomes bisected by a longitu- 

 dinal line, and other lines subsequently appear, so that the original 

 cells are ultimately di\ided into several, each of which in its turn 

 enlarges and is in like manner divided. From the continued growth 

 and unlimited division of the cells, the filaments increase to an in- 

 definite size, soon lose their original confervoid character, present a 

 reticulated appearance, and instead of being attenuated become cy- 

 lindrical and hollow. 



Mr. Hassall proceeds to state, that in each articulation of the fila- 

 ments, and often when they are not thicker than a horse-hair, a dark 

 central nucleus is gradually developed, which is the reproductive 

 germ. He thinks there can be little doubt that this, as well as the 

 cell in which it is contained, undergoes repeated division in the same 

 manner as the reproductive globules of the Ulva. These reproductive 

 bodies germinate while still inclosed within the cells in which they 

 were developed, and while the parent filament retains all its fresh- 

 ness and vigour, giving rise to the jointed and tapering filaments 

 first described ; which in this state, after the rupture of the parent 

 cell, and while their bases are still fixed within it, bear a strong re- 

 semblance to a parasitic Conferva. This development, division and 

 growth of cells and reproductive bodies appears, Mr. Hassall adds. 



