340 Pi-of. F. J. Bell on British Oph'urids. 



Opliiurifls which were called Ophioderma by Miiller and 

 Troschel and which are distinguished by the apparent duplicity 

 of their bursal clefts. This course he justified by citing one 

 of the greatest authorities on Ophiurids — Dr. Llitken — wlio 

 had declared two years previously that the type of Lamarck's 

 genus Ojdiiura was 0. Joncjicauda, wliicli is an Ophioderma 

 in the sense of Miiller and Troschel*. 



1 cannot tell whether Mr. Lyman accepted this statement 

 of Dr. Liitken's without verifying it, or whether he looked 

 upon the second species of an author's genus as being the 

 type. If he did not verify the assertion he must be blamed ; 

 because if he had the readers of the ' Annals ' would not have 

 been burdened with this note. ]f he regards the second 

 species as the type of a genus he is doing no more than exer- 

 cising the privileges of a free man, and if he does not inter- 

 fere with the liberty of others no one has the least right to 

 complain. 



But the questions are rather, (1) Was Dr. Llitken right? 

 and (2) Was O'phiura at Mr. Lyman's disposal? 



What Dr. Liitken thinks about it we are told in a footnote 

 to p. 87 of vol. viii. (ser. 5) of the Dansk. Yid, Selsk. 

 Skrifter (1870), where he says : — " Som bekjendt bar Lyman 

 f0rt Navnet Ophiura tilbage til Oyv/^iWe/^jm-Slaegten og 

 omd^bt Forbes' Ophiura til Ophiogh/pha. Sk)0udt jeg 

 maaskee selv har givet Anledning dertil ved hvad jeg (Addit. 

 i. S. 31) har bemaerket om Anvendelsen af Navnet Ophiura^ 

 er jeg dog nu ikke vis paa, at det just var det rette." 



Jn 1836 Agassiz f divided the existing species of Lamarck's 

 genus Ophiura into Ophiura and Ophiocoma, and gave as 

 types of the former "0. teicturata, Lam. — 0. lacertosa, Lam. 

 &c." In 1839 E. Forbes $ gave a definition of Ophiura 

 which would apply to 0. te.viurafa, Lamk., but not to 0. 

 hiartosa, Lanik., and in 1842 Miiller and Troseliel gave the 

 name Ojdiioderma to the group of whicli the latter is the type. 



V>y 1842, then, the ])artition of Lamarck's genus Ophiura 

 as emended by Agassiz was completed, and no spoil was left 

 for Mr. Lyman. 



It folloAvs therefore that those writers who liavc continued 

 to use Ojdiiodcrma and have not allowed OjJiio(/Ii/pha to 

 displace Ophiura are correct. 



* See rroc. lioston Soc. N. II. vii. (iStil) p. \',>7. 

 t I\li'=ni. Soc. Ni'ucliAti'l, i. y. li)l\ 

 I Mem. "Worn. Soc. \n\. p. ll'o. 



