356 MiscellaneoiLS, 



is very great, and even that in many points the Walrus and the 

 Otarice agree more with Lutra than with the Phocina. But the author 

 cannot find in this an uninterrupted transition from the Ferce, through 

 the Lut7'ina, to the Pinnipediay but shows that, independently of the 

 dentition, the Finnipedia are rather allied to the Bears by other 

 anatomical peculiarities, such as the development of a hooked pro- 

 cess of the lower jaw and the racemose construction of the kidneys. 

 Hence he thinks that the question of the retention or abolition of 

 the Finnipedia as a separate group must depend solely upon indivi- 

 dual opinions which hardly admit of discussion. — Monatsber, der 

 Akad. der Wiss. zu Be?'lin, December 1864, p. 685. 



Second Note on the Metamorphoses of Marine Crustacea, 

 By M. Z. Gerbe. 



In a second note on Fhyllosomay M. Gerbe describes the internal 

 anatomy of the Crustaceans composing that supposed genus. 



The digestive apparatus consists, as in all Crustacea, of a mouth, 

 oesophagus, stomach, and intestine, with peculiar glands attached to 

 the latter ; but the arrangement'of these parts is different from that 

 occurring in the adult, as also in other larvae. 



The mouth, situated about the posterior third of the cephalic 

 shield, is circumscribed by a languette and a bifid labium, and by 

 two mandibles. These are followed posteriorly by two pairs of 

 maxillae and three pairs of footjaws, placed upon two lateral diverging 

 lines. The appendages representing the first pair of footjaws are 

 reduced to scarcely perceptible tubercles, almost confounded with 

 the base of the second maxillse ; those of the third pair, on the 

 contrary, are greatly developed and furnished with flagelliform appen- 

 dages, and perform the function of natatory feet, which they pre- 

 cisely resemble in organization. 



The oesophagus is short, cylindrical, and directed obliquely from 

 behind forwards ; it communicates with the front of the stomach by 

 an aperture in the form of an X, formed by a triangular lip moved 

 by two very long and slender muscles, which are attached near the 

 ocular peduncles. This arrangement seems to be peculiar to the 

 Phyllosomes ; nothing of the kind has been observed in the larvae of 

 Cancer, Maia, Forcellana, FalcemoUy &c. In these larvae the oeso- 

 phagus, at its junction with the stomach, only presents a sort of 

 constriction, which dilates and contracts by the action of circular 

 muscles. 



In all these larvae, moreover, the front of the stomach nearly 

 touches the ocular peduncles, as in the adults, and only occupies a 

 very small portion of the cephalic region. Its general form is that 

 of an almond ; so that it is rather compressed than globular, and 

 presents two unequal extremities, the anterior of which is the larger. 

 In this form its structure is already very complicated, especially in 

 the larvae of Homarus, Forcellana, and FalcBmon. Its double, mus- 

 cular and mucous wall is supported by several cartilaginous pieces 

 of extreme transparency. Two of these, forming the floor, articu- 



