76 liov. T. 1\. R. Stebbiug on the Genus Bathyporeia. 



apply to males and fcmak-s, adult:^ and juveniles. The le-^-s 

 of the lirst pair were wanting in all ^Ir. JSpenco Bate's speei-i 

 mens. These are very small and delicate, and, both in living 

 and dead specimens, are cuddled up within the coxa^, as if they 

 Avere too tender and precious for use. The wrist is long, and 

 at its distal end as broad as the hand. The hand is nearly as 

 broad as it is long, diminisliing towards the finger, wliicli is 

 short and curved. The legs of the second pair are beautiful 

 objects under a good lens or microscope. The wrist is larger 

 than the hand, but of the same shape. Botli are adorned with 

 long plumose liairs ; and the hand is iingerless. There is an 

 awkwardness in speaking of hand and wrist as portions of a 

 leg ; but one is happy to escape when possible from the repeti- 

 tion of terms like the propodos of a gnathojwdos or the ischium 

 of a pereiojjodos, and there is a convenience in using accepted 

 and easily intelligible terms which will atone for some linguis- 

 tic improprieties. AVe proceed, then, to notice that the hands 

 of the third and fourth pairs of legs are long and thin, and 

 have fingers attached to them. These Avouhl appear to be 

 very serviceable limbs, to judge by the activity of their move- 

 ments, and also by the position to which they aspire ; for they 

 are constantly thrust forward in advance of the graceful but 

 comparatively inactive second pair of legs ; and this forward 

 position they maintain with some obstinacy, even when the 

 animal that owns them is dead. 



The three following pairs of legs, like the second })air, are 

 destitute of fingers. They are very actively employed in 

 shovelling back the saud when the animal is burrowing into 

 it. In the quiescent state, and after death, the lower joints of 

 the fifth pair are cocked back, and the lower joints of the 

 seventh pair are thrust forward, to such an extent that the 

 three final coiiples seem almost to have their order of position 

 exactly reversed. The fifth pair has the most curious appear- 

 ance, because the hand and wrist are so slight and spindle- 

 shanked compared with the well-developed joint to which they 

 form an appendage. In this pair the wrist is longer than the 

 hand. In the two following these proportions are reversed. 

 Mr. Spence Bate assigns a long slender finger to the hand of 

 the fifth ])air in B. jnlosa. As there is no finger at all to this 

 pair in either of his other species, so unusual a difference be- 

 tween species of the same genus would be remarkable ; but as 

 my Welsh specimens have none of them any vestige of this 

 finger, it must be concluded that in Mr. Bate's imperfect spe- 

 cimen the hairs at the extremity of the hand had assumed, as 

 they well might do, the appearance of a finger. It may be 

 remarked that the drawing of the finger in the ' British 8es- 



