NATURE 



49 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER i8, iSS6 



THE ZOOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE 

 " CHALLENGER " EXPEDITION 

 Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H. M.S.- 

 " Challenger'''' during the Years 1S73-76 under the Com- 

 mand of Capt. G. S. Nares,R.N., F.R.S., and Capt. F. T. 

 Thomson, R.N. Prepared under the Superintendence of 

 the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., &c , and now 

 of John Murray, one of the Naturalists of the Expe- 

 dition. Zoology— Vols. XV. and XVI. (Published by 

 Order of Her Majesty's Government, 18S6.) 



VOLUME XV. contains three Reports on the uni- 

 valve Mollusca collected. The first is a short 

 Report, by Dr. Rudolph Berg, on the Marseniadge. This 

 family has slowly gathered round the Helix perspicua of 

 Linnaeus and the Bulla lateiis of O. F. Muller. These 

 species are found in all seas. The shell is either altogether 

 enveloped in the mantle or is very partially exposed, 

 always either calcareous or horny. Six genera are re- 

 cognised, with 33 species, 11 of which are described and 

 figured as new. 



The great bulk of the volume is taken up with the 

 Report, by the Rev. R. Boog Watson, on the Scaphopoda 

 and Gasteropoda. This laborious memoir occupies over 

 750 pages, and is illustrated by an atlas of fifty plates. Some 

 1300 species, new and old, were recognised among the 

 mass collected, and there were some 400 indistinguishable 

 forms. In a short appendix, the Marquis de Folin de- 

 scribes and figures the CcBcidie. The classification 

 adopted, "for want of a better," is that of the Messrs. 

 Adams. The more important of the general conclusions 

 based on the examination of the facts attending the 

 habitat of all the distinguished forms are as follows : — 

 (i) Depth is an important condition in connection with 

 Molluscan life ; (2) but temperature is even a more im- 

 portant condition than depth ; (3) great differences in 

 either depth or temperature prove barriers to distribu- 

 tion ; (4) where these do not exist, there would seem to 

 be no Hmit to universality of distribution ; (5) there are 

 without doubt such universally distributed forms. The 

 author sees no evidence in the oldest or most widely dis- 

 tributed species of any essential, lasting, and progressive 

 change. 



The last Report is on the Polyplacophora, by Prof. 

 A. C. Haddon. The number of Chitons collected was, 

 considering the frequency and wide distribution of the 

 group, surprisingly small. Almost the only shore-collect- 

 ing done during the cruise was on or near coral-reefs, 

 and Chitons would seem to be rare in such places. The 

 really deep-sea forms belong to Leptochiton, of which 4 

 species were found, and 2 are new. These species were 

 taken at depths of from 60 to 2300 fathoms. Three 

 plates accompany this Report : two are from drawings by 

 the author, .and the third, a coloured plate, gives the por- 

 traits of the new species by T. H. Thomas. 



Volume XVL contains the four following Reports : — 

 (i) On the Cephalopoda, by W. Evans Hoyle, M.A. Oxon., 

 Naturalist on the Editorial Staff In a preface to this 

 valuable Report, the author acknowledges the kindly and 

 generous assistance which he received in its execution 

 Vol. XXXV. — No. 890 



from Prof. Steenstrup, of Copenhagen, whose knowledge 

 of the Cephalopods is immense, and the collection under 

 his charge is unrivalled. This Report is almost exclu- 

 sively systematic in its scope, but we are promised a 

 supplement with anatomical details. It commences with 

 a provisional synopsis of recent Cephalopods, which will 

 certainly be of immense value to all workers. While it 

 is true that no systematic treatment of the class can for 

 some time to come be other than provisional, yet the 

 author seems to have taken the greatest pams that his shall 

 be as natural as possible, and until we have a nearly complete 

 knowledge of the life-history of all the forms, more will not 

 be attainable. This list contains 388 species referred to 

 68 genera. It would have been, we think, an improve- 

 ment if all those collected during the Expedition had 

 been in this list distinguished by some special mark, as 

 well as having the recorded habitats for each given. 

 Of the 72 species found, some 32 are described as new, 

 and for these 4 new genera and i family had to be esta- 

 blished. Out of the 3S8 species, some 60 or 70 had been 

 so badly described as not to be recognisable, but of some 

 of these no doubt the types still remain. Of the new 

 species, none pertain to those great monster cuttles — 

 source of many a battle. The exceedingly interesting 

 genus Cirroteuthis is enriched with three species — one, 

 C. magna, being the giant of the group, and measuring 

 1 155 millimetres in length. The type species of this 

 genus (C miilleri, Esch.) was the only one known until 

 1883, when a second species was described by Fischer, and 

 now (1885) five new species have been described by Hoyle 

 and Verrill. The balance of the evidence seems to be in 

 favour of all the species being deep-sea forms, though at 

 present there are great difficulties in the way of settling 

 the question. K new genus, Amphitretus, is established 

 for a form in which the mantle is fused with the siphon 

 in the median line, so that there are two openings into 

 the branchial sac. This is a quite unique feature among 

 Cephalopods. The species A. pclagicus was taken near 

 the Kermadic Islands. It seems strange that but one 

 specimen of Argonauta argo was found, for this and 

 other species are not very rare. Of the genus Octopus, 

 20 species are enumerated, of which 1 1 are described as 

 new. The one specimen of Spirula peronii, found living 

 off Banda, is referred to, but Prof. Huxley is preparing a 

 report on its anatomy. To the already large genus. 

 Sepia, large additions were made, and it is interesting to 

 note that all of the 10 new species were found between 

 Port Jackson (Australia) and Japan. The shell, or sepio- 

 staire, was found to present differential characters in the 

 species, and a series of new terms has been adopted to- 

 describe its various parts. The suckers also seem to 

 offer characters of specific importance, and so possibly will 

 the hectocotylised arms when sufficiently known. Two 

 species of Steenstrup's genus Taonius are recorded, one, 

 T. hyperborcus, the common North Atlantic form, and the 

 second the T. {Proealistes) suhmi of Lankester. Willemoes- 

 Suhm had taken it for a Clionid Pteropod. Lankester 

 described it as a new genus ; but the author regards it as 

 but a species of Taonius, and with this Prof Steenstrup 

 agrees, though he thinks that the specimens found may 

 appertain to two species. As in the case of the Argonaut 

 so in that of the Paper Nautilus but a single specimen 

 v.'as found, and that off Mataku, Fiji Islands. A most 



