THE ROCK-BARNACLE 69 



in the sea ; (2) the Pentacrinus-stage of the feather-star 

 (Antedon) ; (3) the life-history of the shore-crab, and the 

 proof that this, like others of the higher Crustacea, under- 

 goes a remarkable transformation ; (4) the life-history of 

 the stalked and sessile barnacles ; (5) the recognition of 

 the animals which he called Polyzoa, and which are now 

 regarded as one of the primary divisions of the animal 

 kingdom. These discoveries were made known by a little 

 collection of pamphlets entitled " Zoological Researches," 

 and two short papers in the Philosophical Transactions. 

 Other of Thompson's writings on the natural history of 

 various animals and plants appeared in scientific journals, 

 and some of his papers were translated into French. But 

 hardly any contemporary naturalist realised that these 

 unpretending publications included some of the best and 

 most anticipatory zoological work of that generation, or 

 that Vaughan Thompson would afterwards take a fore- 

 most place among the zoologists who intervene between 

 Cuvier and Darwin. To this under- estimate of his work 

 a number of deficiencies, sometimes provoking but rarely 

 important, contributed. Thompson's Zoological Re- 

 searches, apparently printed at his own expense, were 

 issued from a remote provincial press. The exposition is 

 brief and hurried ; the writing has no grace of expression ; 

 small slips abound, which betray the unpractised author ; 

 the plates (engraved by the naturalist's own hand), though 

 careful, are wanting in style. In fact the Researches are 

 just what we might expect from an army-surgeon, living 

 far from libraries and museums, and bent solely on com- 

 municating, without any parade, what he believes to be 

 solid and important additions to knowledge. Few indeed 

 were those who could overlook the superficial defects of 

 these memoirs, and recognise the soundness and lasting 

 value of the discoveries which they revealed. 



It is one proof of the scanty recognition which Thompson's 

 work met with in his own lifetime that he was never 

 elected into the Royal Society, and that his memorable 



