38 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Ovige7vus legs — Ten-jointed, terminating in a claw, the 

 last four joints with several rows of non-denticulate 

 spines. 



Decalopoda australis, Eights. 

 Body with a group of three or four very small, rigid spines 



upon the dorsal surface of the lateral processes. 

 Proboscis — Minute spines irregularly distributed over 



dorsal surface. 

 Manclihics — Base of chelae very short, fingers much curved 



and devoid of teeth. 

 Palps — The third joint is considerably the longest; the 

 three terminal joints are sub-equal and shorter than 

 the seventh. 

 Walking legs smooth, with a few small spines at the 

 distal extremity of the joints. The second tibia is 

 the longest joint, the first being only a little shorter, 

 and the femur a little shorter still. 

 In comparing the South Orkney specimens with Eights 

 description, one is struck by the accuracy of that naturalist; 

 but, according to modern requirements, some small points 

 have been overlooked. 



First with regard to colour, Eights describes his speci- 

 mens as being bright scarlet, and the body and coxae of the 

 figure have been so coloured. The South Orkney specimens, 

 after being in spirit for more than a year, do not show any 

 trace of such a colour. Some of the specimens are an 

 extremely light straw colour, without any trace of pigment 

 except in one or two cases, where a little is irregularly 

 distributed at the extremity of the proboscis. Other speci- 

 mens are a rich olive-brown colour, which is considerably 

 darker on the proboscis, mandibles, and palps. In one 

 specimen, the extremities of some of the legs are equally 

 darkly pigmented. The colour notes taken at the time, 

 and which have been forwarded to me, show that some 

 of the specimens were bright scarlet as Eights describes 

 them, others were a very dark red, and in the latter case 

 the proboscis is almost black. The scarlet colour appears 

 to be uniformly distributed over the body and limbs, the 

 proboscis and adjacent parts being darker .than the rest. 



