Miscellaneous. 87 



mode of proceeding, he has fallen into a series of errors, many of 

 which I have pointed out in my " Notes on the Arrangement of 

 Sponges, &c." in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' for 

 February, 1868, but which are too numerous to reiterate on the 

 present occasion. 



Burrowing Annelids. 

 To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, — In Dr. W. C. M'Intosh's paper on the boring of 

 certain Annelids, in the ' Annals ' for October 1868, p. 276, several 

 Annelids are mentioned as burrowing, although I showed, several 

 years ago, that two of the genera enumerated undoubtedly belong 

 to the subkingdom Mollusca, and two of the Serpulids mentioned 

 never burrow. 



The genera Stoa and Spiroglyphus are provided with a midtispiral 

 lid, which never is found in any Annelid. I have examined many 

 specimens in spirit, which place it beyond doubt that these two 

 genera belong to the Yermetidae *. 



I hope that this much-read journal will contribute to the exclu- 

 sion of these two genera from the Annelids. 



Abildgaard only states that he got two Serpulids from a surgeon, 

 who extracted them from holes in the " marble rocks " and " chalk 

 stones " below water on St. Croix. As the surgeon, on inquiry, 

 asserted that they did not live in calcareous tubes, Abildgaard called 

 them stone-borers. 



I have examined numerous specimens of Spirobranchus (Cymo- 

 spira) imbedded in coral, but I have never been able to discover 

 any dissolving power of the Annelid. All specimens have been 

 overgrown by the coral ; but it seems that the Serpula, in the 

 struggle for existence, is never completely imbedded before its 

 death. Nor have I ever seen, in groups of Serpula;, dissolved parts 

 as in Vermetidae. I doubt whether any tubiferous Annelid (Ser- 

 pida) can burrow. I may add that Swammerdam (Biblia Naturae, 

 1735, vol. i. p. 182, tab. ix. f. 15-17) has given an excellent 

 account of an Annelid burrowing in Littorina littorea. 



I am, Gentlemen, 



Tour most obedient Servant, 



Copenhagen, Frederiksborggade, Dr. 0. A. L. MoRCH. 



November 29, 1868. 



Contributions to the Fauna of the Gulf-Stream at great depths. 

 By L. F. de Pourtales, Assist. IT. S. Coast Survey. 



The author introduces his paper, describing the species observed 

 by him, with the following remarks. 



The study of the constitution and of the inhabitants of the bottom 

 of the sea is a field of research which has attracted the attention of 



* Morch, " Review of Vermetidfe," Proc. of the Zool. Society of London, 

 1861 ; and Journal de Conchyliologie, vols. vii. and viii. 1860, "Notice sur le 

 genre Vermet." 



