420 Dr. Bancroft o)i Jtunakan Fishes, 5^c. 



receiving it from the neighbourluod of Old Harbour where it was caught; 

 but I shall endeavour to get a perfect specimen, and in the mean time I 

 trust this individual will be thought worth having, for it seems to sur- 

 pass the " taille gigautesque" of the specimen mentioned by Lamarck in 

 the Paris Museum, its extreme length (in its present shrivelled state) 

 from the tip of the pedunculated arms to that of the tail being 28 inches ; 

 and its mouth, at least, affording a fine example of the parrot-beak of the 

 Sepiaria. I hope that, if either Mr, Broderip or Mr. G. B. Sowerby 

 will take this Loligo in charge, he will pardon my liberty in begging 

 him to have the patience to look well at the cotyledons on the different 

 arms, at their alternating positions, and at the varying forms of the den- 

 tated rings within them ; for, although the rings are more or less set 

 with teeth, either all round or on two opposite sides, yet those on one 

 side are often very different from those on the other, three or five being 

 frequently much larger than the opposite or the intermediate ones, and 

 differing besides by their shapes, directions, and inclinations, each diversity 

 nevertheless being evidently the best adapted for the action of its cotyle- 

 don in its respective situation. I nowhere find any mention of these 

 peculiarities of structure, minutiae of this sort, however admirable for 

 their contrivance, having been unaccountably overlooked or conteoined. 

 I suspect that the greatest possible differences would, on investigation, 

 be found to exist among the Sepiaria partly as to the form of their 

 cotyledons, and partly as to the structure and action of their cartilaginous 

 rings. But whither am I going, and to whom do I presume to suggest 

 enquiries ? 



Another MoUuscum is also sent in the cask, an ^plysia : but " quan- 

 " turn mutatus ab illo," as I saw it for a very short time before it died. 

 Death produces a woeful alteration in the appearance of this tribe of 

 animals; for the body and members are all so shrunk up, especially 

 when preserved in spirits, that no one can form any just notion of the 

 real structure or habits of the individual, from the mere inspection of a 

 specimen in this state. Every little seeming wart or papilla now on its 



and fig. 5, of pi. 1 of Mollusques represents Loligo Brongviartii, which has some 

 likeness to that I send. 



