232 Miscellaneous. 



present, arc less apparent nnd not so much produced, and the lower 

 surface, in its general aspect, presents much resemblance to that of 

 Ilolaster and Kchinocorifs. The apical apparatus is perfectly pre- 

 served in one of our species {A. ntbensis) ; it is not elongated, as M. 

 Desor supposed, but compact and subcircular. 



To Sinn uj). The genus Asterostuma, by its general characters, the 

 anterior ambulncral area different from the others, the subpetaloid 

 paired ambulacral areas, the transverse peristome, which is most fre- 

 (juently very excentric in front, and the rounded poriprocta, situated 

 on the posterior surface above the ambitus, takes its jilace in tlio 

 family of the Echinocorydetc ; its compact apical apparatus, furnished 

 bcliind with an angular complementary plate, which penetrates to 

 the centre of the apparatus, seems to approximate it to the true 

 Spatangida) ; but it must not be forgotten that if Echinocorj/s, Holaster, 

 and Cardiaster have an elongated apical apparatus, there is also 

 among the Echiuocorydea^ the genus Stenonia which, although very 

 nearly allied to Echhiocorys, has nevertheless a compact and sub- 

 circular apical apparatus. 



The genus Astcrostoma includes three species, whicli, although 

 presenting numerous points of resemblance, .are nevertheless per- 

 fectly distinct : — 



Asterostoma excentricum, Agassiz. 



Jimenoi, Cotteau. 



cubensis, Cotteau. 



"Wc do not know positively the deposit from which the species of 

 Asterostoma are obtained. The specimen in the Paris Museum bears 

 no indication of locality ; it is penetrated by a hard, compact, greyisli 

 limestone, which, according to D'Orbigny, indicates a bed okler than 

 the Tertiary formation, and may be Cretaceous. The specimens 

 collected in Cuba by M. Jimcno are also derived from a hard, grey-ish 

 rock; but this petrographic character is certainly not sufficient to refer 

 them to the Cretaceous formation. Zoological characters furnish more 

 conclusive arguments. The family Echinocorydeae, in which I have 

 placed Asterostoma, has liitherto included only exclusively Cretaceous 

 genera ; and, on the other hand, the genus Asterostoma, considered in 

 itself, departs in its general characters from all the Tertiary or living 

 tj-pes that we know. It may, therefore, probably belong to the 

 Cretaceous formation ; but these are only presumptions, and to obtain 

 more certainty we must wait for the stratigraphical information for 

 which I have asked M. Jimeno. — Comptes liendus, February 7, 1870, 

 tome Ixs. pp. 271-273. 



Saks Fund. 



The appeal for assistance to the family of the late Professor Sars 

 has been most satisfactorily responded to here and in France ; and 

 the subscription lists comprise the names of all the principal zoolo- 

 gists and geologists, as will be seen by our advertising columns as 

 regards this country. The French list (including Belgium) amounts 

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