Mr. H. I. Pocot^k on Ebalia mix. 471 



for having left this matter in duubt; but when I said that 

 two specimens had boi-n " selected as types " I thought I was 

 employing phraseology perfectly intelligible to every syste- 

 matic zoologist. (Since, however, 1 clearly fell into error by 

 taking this for granted in Canon Norman's case, I am glad 

 that he has shown me the necessity for explaining that the 

 expression was tantamount to saying tiiat the description had 

 been drawn up from these s])ecinicns. 1 imagine, however, 

 perhaps wrongly, that Canon Norman does not altogether 

 a])prove of my conduct in describing specimens that he had 

 sent to ]\Ir. i\liers at the Natural History .Museum; for he 

 appeals to the judgment of others to decide .is to the courtesy 

 of this act. Now 1 cannot help thinking that if Canon Nor- 

 man had stayed for a moment to ask himself what could be 

 my reasons for thus describing these specimens, he would 

 have done me the justice to see tiiat I was actitig altogether 

 for the best. But to state at length all the considerations 

 which influenced me in the matter would involve a long 

 explanation of my personal opinions as to the value and 

 significance of types of species — an explanation which would 

 Le wholly out of place on an occasion like the present. Con- 

 sequently 1 shall content myself with saying briefly that iny 

 reasons for not describing the ' Flying Fox ' specinien were 

 in the main three in number: — (1) There was but one speci- 

 men, and that a damaged one ; (2) this specimen, as 1 pointed 

 out, difl'ers slightly, but certainly, in sculpturing, from the 

 Mediterranean specimens that 1 had seen ; and (3) I conse- 

 quently thought it both expedient and just, when adopting 

 the name Canon Norman had proposed, to affix it definitely 

 to specimens to which he had himself applied it. 



And, lastly. Canon Norman accuses me of carelessness for 

 not consulting the Avork in which Prof. A. ]\lilne-Edwards 

 has admirably figured Ebalia nux — a work which should 

 certainly not have been neglected Ly a man writing on 

 Atlantic Crustaceans with a " magnificent library at his 

 elbow." In reply to this 1 cannot do better than quote 

 verbatim an extract from a letter which I received some three 

 or four weeks ago from Prof. A. Milne-Edwards. Being 

 unable to find the figure of Ebalia nux from the reference 

 that Canon Norman gives, I wrote to Prof. Milne-Edwards 

 on the point, and he courteously and promptly replied as 

 follows: — '* .... J'ai effectivement figur^ V Ebalia nux dans 

 un ouvrage intitule Recueil de Ji<jures de Crustaces nouveaux 

 oupeu connusj in 4°, 44 Fla7iches, Avril, 188d. Cet ouvrage 

 n'a ^t^ tir^ qu'il 50 exemplaires que j'ai de suite envoye aux 

 naturalistes qui, a cette ^poque, s'occupaient de carcinoiogie. 



