148 SECTION A. GENERAL ZOOLOGY. 



The fact that a fixed stage occurs only in Asterids need excite 

 no surprise. A review of any series of larvae will show that in the 

 development of the more modified forms there is a constant 

 tendency to shorten life history by dropping out intermediate 

 stages. I need only mention as an instance the complete loss of 

 the Mysis stage in the development of Crabs. In Ophiurids and 

 Echinids the larval mode of life is kept until the last moment, and 

 when the internal changes are complete it is suddenly given up 

 and the adult mode of life assumed. A development like this, 

 comparable only to the sudden breaking forth of the imago from 

 the chrysalis, cannot be taken as a basis for phylogenetic reasoning; 

 the slow continuous Asterid development not only serves to connect 

 the adult and larval modes of life but shows the essential points of 

 agreement and disagreement with the Crinoids. 



Holothurid development has been regarded by some as primi- 

 tive, but even putting aside the fact that in the Auricularia internal 

 asymmetry is pushed back to a very early stage, the researches of 

 Bury have shown that the mouth does not as was supposed retain 

 its larval position, and that the metamorphosis is almost as sudden as 

 in the case of Echinids and Ophiurids, so that here also we have 

 every mark of a secondarily modified development. 



Mr MasteRiMAN pointed out that some pelagic larvae of the 

 Echinodermata have a dorsal thickening of the pharyngeal wall 

 agreeing both functionally and histologically with the notochord of 

 the early Chordata, with which it is to be homologised. 



Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart,, read the following paper on : 



" Recent Legislation on the Protection of Wild Birds 

 IN Great Britain." 



In offering some observations on recent legislation for the pro- 

 tection of desirable or rare species of wild birds in the United 

 Kingdom, I feel that the only grounds on which this subject may 

 be considered worthy of your attention are strictly either ornitho- 

 logical or economical. It must be the object of every ornithologist 

 to prevent the native species of any country being rendered exces- 

 sively rare, or brought within danger of extinction, and the whole 

 community is interested in the preservation of those birds which 

 act as the natural check on injurious insects or other animals ; but 

 beyond that I cannot go on this occasion, and I must leave alto- 

 gether on one side those humanitarian and sentimental considera- 

 tions, which have so powerfully assisted in promoting legislative 

 action. 



It is inevitable that wild creatures should suffer from the 

 encroachment of a civilised and rapidly-increasing population upon 

 their haunts, and the avifauna of the British Isles has already lost 

 some interesting species for ever. The great auk, the black tern, 



