472 Prof. F. J. Bell on the 



Quelques exemplaires seuleraent ont ^t^ mis en vente, aussi 

 I'ouvrage est il deveiiii rare et presque introuvable. Je n'en 

 ai qu'un seul exernplairece qui m'emp^che de vous I'envoyer, 

 mais je vous adresse la planche relative h V Ebalia nux qui 

 pourra vous etre utile. . . ." 



This sufficiently accounts for the fact that there is no copy 

 of this work in the library of the Natural History Museum 

 nor yet in the library either of the Royal, or Linnean, or 

 Zoological Society. So that, under the circumstances, I think 

 I can hardly be blamed for not having seen it. 



LVII. — On the Generic Name o/*Asterias sanguinolenta, 

 0. F. Muller. By F. Jeffkey Bell. 



For more than thirty years the common blood-red starfish of 

 the North-European seas has, by general consent, been called 

 CribreJla sanguinolenta (or C oculata by some who ought to 

 know better). Internal evidence too often shows that " syn- 

 onymy " is synonymous with " copying ; " so perhaps this 

 general consent only means that one of those who have 

 written on the subject during the last thirty years has had the 

 opportunity of consulting Dr. Liitken's valuable works. Mr. 

 Sladen, who may be complimented on the meaning he is able 

 to put into a couple of brackets, seems to have had some 

 original doubts, for he writes in his massive * Challenger * 

 Eeport (p. 540) 



" Genus Crihrella (Agassiz), Forbes," 



which, being " writ large," means, I presume, this generic 

 name was invented by Agassiz and appropriated by Forbes ; 

 and if it does mean that, it expresses, in a very succinct 

 manner, a perfectly correct statement. 



When, however, one finds a man with what look like 

 stolen goods one is apt to make a searching inquiry into his 

 title. Do this in the present case and you get a disastrous 

 result ! 



Agassiz wrote (Mem. Soc. Neuchatel, i. (1835), p. 191) : — 



"5. LiNKIA, Nardo. — Crihrella^ Ag. Msc." 



This clearly means, " what Nardo in 1834 called Linkia I 

 (Agassiz) have, in MSS., called Crihrella ; " and the two 

 terms were in Agassiz's estimation equivalent. 



How are cases of this kind to be dealt with ? The rules 

 of the British Association declare that " a later name of the 



