Dr. Dohrn. 231 



the remarkable crustacean known as Limulus> or the 

 king-crab ; and, with the mother crab in an interest- 

 ing situation, it would have been almost impossible 

 for him to leave home, lest the little king-crabs should 

 be born and pass through their early stages in his 

 absence. 



The Amphioxus, or lancelet, is a little fish not always 

 to be had for the asking, but procurable in the Clyde 

 by those who know how and where to seek it. It is 

 remarkable, not for its high, but for its low, organiza- 

 tion, being a vertebrate without vertebrae, for its spine 

 is an unjointed column of cartilage. It has no ribs> 

 no pectoral or ventral fins, no brain worth speaking 

 of, and its skeleton is rudimentary. Had the lancelet 

 and its immediate allies become extinct two or three 

 hundred years ago, there would have been a missing 

 link very difficult to supply or explain between the 

 fishes and the animals of lowlier structure, in other 

 words, between the vertebrates and the invertebrates. 



The incident of the " little cup," an unconscious 

 plagiarism of the trick played by Joseph in Egypt 

 upon his brother Benjamin, serves to indicate the 

 relations of familiar friendship established between 

 the household at Millport and their guest, the learned 

 but frolic-loving professor. Though work was the 

 object of both his visits, and though hosts and guest 

 were alike keen in pursuing it, there was a readiness 

 on both sides to enliven labour with merriment, the 

 whole party being thoroughly capable of enjoying a 

 joke and happily endowed with a sense of humour. 



That Dr. Dohrn, on his part, fully appreciated not 

 only the genial hospitality but also the scientific 



