282 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGE!*. 



eating observations were made concerning the development of some shallow water 

 Holothurians, viz., Cladodactyla crocea (Lesson), from Stanley Harbour, and PsoltU 

 ephippifer, from Corinthian Harbour in Heard Island (see pp. 379-384). In the females 

 of the former the young were closely packed and adhering to the dorsal pedicels, while in 

 the latter the embryos were developed within a kind of marsupium, situated on the dorsal 

 surface and formed by its calcareous plates. There can be little doubt that the eggs are 

 impregnated either in the ovarium or immediately after their extrusion, and that the 

 free larval stage is omitted. 



" Though the remains of Echinodermata are found abundantly as fossils, our know- 

 ledge of the fossil Holothurians is very unsatisfactory. Only a few calcareous spicules, 

 believed to belong to Holothurians, occur in the Mesozoic rocks ; but it must he 

 remembered that these deposits are very fragmentary and difficult to refer to any distinct 

 genus or species. However, some anchors, wheels, and other deposits are found, which 

 seem to prove that the Apoda are older than the Pedata ; but, as above mentioned, our 

 knowledge is too incomplete to decide the question. No fossil remains of the Elasipoda 

 have been detected, but nevertheless the opinion that the order is very old seems justified, 

 and from the fact that it has retained more peculiarities characteristic of the larvae of the 

 Holothurians than the Apoda and Pedata, it seems to follow that it does not bear any 

 direct genetic relation to the present representatives of these two orders. 



" Thus I have endeavoured to give in a few words an account of this peculiar group 

 of Holothurians, which passes its existence in the great depths at the floor of the ocean. 

 Those readers who wish to get a clearer view of the different forms and their organisation, 

 are referred to the Report " : 



The Cape of Good Hope. 



The Challenger remained moored in Simon's Bay from the 28th October till the 2nd 

 December, when she proceeded to Table Bay. After a stay of ten days at Table Bay the 

 ship returned to Simon's Bay till the 17th December. At Simon's Bay the ship was 

 refitted, a deck house built for the convenience of the Naturalists, and the necessary 

 stores taken on board for the Antarctic trip. 



The Governor of Cape Colony, Sir Henry Barclay, and the inhabitants received the 

 Expedition with great hospitality, and many receptions and entertainments were given in 

 honour of the visit to Cape Town. Several excursions were arranged to enable the 

 members of the Expedition to see the interior of the country, and to make collections. 

 It was not, however, the practice to make any extensive collections at places like the 

 Cape Colony, where the Botany and Zoology were well known. 



1 Zool. Chall. Exp., part xiii., 1881. 



