Miscellaneous. 819 



Notice of a Skeleton of the Great Auk found in Guano near Netc- 

 foundland. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., &c. 



An almost perfect specimen of the Great Auk {AIca impennis), in 

 a " mummy state," has been found on an island to the northward of 

 Newfoundland, several feet below the surface of a deposit of frozen 

 guano. 



With the exception of the extremities of the toes, this example is 

 perfect in every respect. Even the pen-feathers are on the wings. 

 The beak is as perfect as on the day the bird died. 



The specimen is on its way to the Zoological Department of the 

 British Museum, to which it has been presented by its discoverer. 

 I believe this is the third skeleton of this bird in European collec- 

 tions : there is one in Paris, and another in the possession of Mr. 

 Alfred Newton, which was found also in guano. 



Second Note on the Anatomy and Histology of Branchiostoma lubri- 

 cum, Costa (Amphioxus lanceolatus, Yarrel). By M. J. Mak- 



CU8EN*. 



MUSCULAR SYSTEM. 



All observers before M. Quatrefages, and M. Quatrefages himself, 

 agreed that the lateral muscles of the Lancelet have fibres with trans- 

 verse strite, and this I have been able to confirm ; but with regard 

 to the abdominal muscles, Mfiller was the first to indicate the sin- 

 gular fact that they have not striated fibres. M. Quatrefages also 

 had not seen them, but it seemed to him that these muscles presented 

 strire during their contraction. In the muscles of the cirri of the 

 buccal apparatus, and indeed of the entire ring, neither Mfdler nor 

 Quatrefages saw the least trace of striae. Quatrefages remarked that 

 the abdominal muscles presented a singular exception, as in the 

 entire vertebrate series they are under the influence of the will, and 

 in all other forms present striae. I find that this exception has no 

 existence. The abdominal muscles of the Lancelet are composed of 

 primitive fibres with transverse striae ; and the muscles of the cirri, 

 of the buccal ring, and of the fold which separates the mouth from 

 the branchial cavity are also muscles with transversely striated fibres. 

 The primitive fibres of these muscles are very deHcate, which may 

 perhaps prevent the strise from being seen unless the animal be 

 dissected, especially as, at this point, they have rather the character 

 of tendons. Mulfer thought he saw muscles in the midst of the ■ 

 branchial arches ; but I have been unable to find them. 



CONJUNCTIVE TISSUE. 



This is completely transparent and nearly gelatinous, or it pre- 

 sents the fomi of a fibrous tissue in which many elastic fibres are 

 found ; the latter may be either long or short. The long fibres are 

 met with chiefly in the fin ; the short ones, which are recurved at 



• See 'Annals,' August 1864, p. 151. 



