342 Dr. G. C. WalHch o?i the Coccosphere. 



Gadopsida3. In the Cat. Col. Mus. 1870, I recorded the 

 occurrence of Gadopsis marmoratus in New Zealand ; but it has 

 dropped out of subsequent lists, being only represented in the 

 collection by a drawing made of a specimen got on the east 

 coast. 



XXKIV. — Observations on the Coccosphere. By G. C. Wal- 

 LICH, M.D., Surgeon-Major Retired List H.M. Indian 

 Army. 



[Plate XVII.] 



The history of what may be termed the Coccosphere ques- 

 tion is a remarkable one. Seventeen years ago I pointed out, 

 as the result of actual observation, that the " coccoliths," 

 which had been discovered three years previously by Professor 

 Huxley in soundings from the Atlantic, are not independent 

 structures, but merely cast-oif appendages of the Coccosphere- 

 cell. Yet, from that period to the present, the physiological 

 relation existing between these two integral portions of one 

 and the same organism has remained shrouded in mystery. 

 Since 1868 a number of elaborate observations have been pub- 

 lished, both here and abroad, on the characters and supposed 

 affinities of the various forms of " coccolith." But, unfortu- 

 nately, the value of these observations has been materially 

 diminished, owing to their being based on one or other of the 

 following essentially fallacious assumptions : — namely, that 

 the " coccolith " itself is a " cell; " that it is an independently 

 developed and independently living structure ; and that, as a 

 " coccolith,^^ it is capable of taking part in any subsequent 

 vital combination. 



These assumptions have possiblyhad their origin in twostate- 

 ments made by Prof. Huxley : — the first, in 1858*, that "coc- 

 coliths somewhat resemble single cells of the plant Protococcus-," 

 the second, ten years later, namely in 1868 f, that the varieties of 

 " coccoliths " named by him " DiscoUths and Cyatholiths stand 

 in the same relation to the protoplasm of Bathyhius as the 

 spicula of sponges or of Radiolaria do to the soft parts of 

 these animals." It is true that in the same paper Prof. Huxley 

 noticed three alternative "possibilities " in relation to the cocco- 



* ' Deep-sea Soundings in the North Atlantic,' made in H.M.S. 

 'Cyclops,' Commander Dayman, in 1875. Appendix, Report on Soundings, 

 by Prof. Huxley, p. 64. 



t " On some Organisms living at Great Depths in the North Atlantic 

 Ocean," by Prof. Huxley, F.R.S., ' Quart. Journ. Microsc. Science,' Oct. 

 1868, p. 210. 



