530 PROF. F.J. BELL ON THE COMATULID^. [JuilC 6, 



of its larger congener X.furcatum. The latter, owing to its restric- 

 tion to the Pacific, has acquired some of the special characteristics of 

 the Pacific Gnlls ; but there can be no doubt that these two surviving 

 species of \\ooditdi fork-tailed Gulls must have had a common origin 

 at no very remote period. The main factors in causing this 

 approximation are, probably, the North-Pacific drift-current, which 

 sweeps past the Aleutian Islands, down the coast of California 

 to Mexico, at least as far as Acapulco ; and the cold Humboldt's 

 current, abounding with fish, coming from the south and refreshing 

 the coasts of Peru and the Galapagos. No greater contrast can be 

 imagined than that between the vicinity of the Chincha Islands, 

 swarming not only with Gulls and Terns, but with Gaunets, Boobies, 

 Pelicans, Cormorants, and Petrels literally by millions, and the 

 comparatively unaviferous coast of Brazil in about the same lati- 

 tude, say from Pernambuco to Bahia, along which a warm stream 

 flows. 



My heartiest thanks are due to Capt. Markham for the very in- 

 teresting collection that has formed the subject for this paper ; would 

 that in the navy there were more like him ! Every few years some 

 of our men-of-war visit the Galapagos group ; but no attempt at a 

 systematic exploration of the archipelago appears to have been made 

 since the visits of the 'Adventure' and 'Beagle' in 1835; and 

 that was in all probability owing, in a great measure, to the presence 

 of the late Mr. Charles Darwin. It is almost certain that, if not 

 only this group, but the other remote islands of the equatorial and 

 northern Pacific were thoroughly explored, much important light 

 would be thrown upon the distribution of species and the connexions 

 which have existed between many which are now restricted either to 

 the northern or to the southern hemisphere. 



3. An Attempt to apply a Method of Formulation to the 

 Species of the Comatulida: ; with the Description of a 

 new Species. By F. Jeffrey Bell^ M.A.^ F.Z.S.^ 

 Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King^s College. 



[Eeceived May 16, 1882.] 



(Plate XXXV.) 



A zoologist who has been at work for a quarter of a century, more 

 or less, and on whom the growth of zoological literature has been 

 somewhat gradual, will hardly perhaps be greatly affected by the 

 already enormous mass of descriptive and illustrative literature 

 which appears in the journals of societies and other serial publica- 

 tions. The younger student, however, cannot look so cahnly on 

 the piles of papers that lie behind him, and the manifold sheets 

 that are daily laid in his way. 



