DREDGING ON THE COASTS OF SHETLAND. 333 



somewhat similar name of StiUfer has no-w been recognized for upwards of 

 thirty years. I am aware that this is one of the questions of scientitic nomen- 

 clature upon which naturalists are by no means agreed. I do not pretend to 

 set myself up as a judge, and my opinion may be taken for what it is worth. 



Mr. Broderip was the first to ascertain the zoological nature of the moUusk 

 now under consideration ; and in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society' 

 for 1832 will be found an admirable communication from him on the subject. 

 He there proposed the generic name which it stiU bears — StiUfer. A more 

 detailed description of the animal from his pen wUl be presently given in 

 fuU. The following remarks were appended to Broderip's memoir in the 

 ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society :' — " Mr. Owen, to whom Mr. Broderip 

 acknowledges himself indebted for the anatomical particulars which he had 

 recorded of StiUfer Astericola, subsequently exhibited a series of drawings of 

 the animal and of its various parts, so far as he had been able to observe 

 them in the specimens brought home by Mr. Cuming. He also read a more 

 detailed description of the peculiarities remarked by him during the dissec- 

 tion of the individuals which had been entnisted to him for that purpose." 

 Some such drawings are engraved in Sowerby's ' Genera of Recent and Possil 

 Shells,' and the different parts are designated by letters ; but, unfortunately, 

 no reference was published, except to one of the figures. 



Soon afterwards appeared one of the jS'umbers of Sowerby's ' Genera ' con- 

 taining an account of the present genus, with the signature of Mr. Broderip. 

 The first syllable of the name StiUfer is here spelt (probably omng to a 

 printer's error) with a // ; in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' it 

 is correctly spelt with an i. The generic characters of the animal are as 

 follows : — 



Pallium crnssura, camosum, cyatliiforme, testse anfractus ultimos obtegens. 

 Proboscis longissima, retractilis. Tentacula rotunda, crassa, subacuminata, ad 

 basin proboscidis posita. Oculi ad basin tentacidormn sessiles, minimi. Brancbise 

 stirps solitaria. Animal marinum. Asterife cutem penetrans. 



After the English version of these characters, a few more particulars are 

 given, — viz. that the mantle is of a green hue, and has a small aperture at 

 its base, and that on its ventral aspect is the rudiment of a foot. It is like- 

 wise mentioned that " Mr. Cuming found this elegant parasite burrowed in 

 different parts of the rays of the oral disk of Asterias Solaris. It is almost 

 hidden from sight, so deeply does the animal penetrate into the substance 

 of the Starfish, in which its make a comfortable cyst for itself, wherein it 

 most probably turns by the aid of its rudimentary foot. All the specimens 

 infested with StyUferi appeared to be in the best health. Though there is 

 reason to believe that they feed upon the juices of the Starfish, with that 

 instinct of self-preservation imparted to aU parasites, whose existence 

 depends upon that of their nidus, the StijUfer, like the Ichneumon among 

 insects, appears to avoid the vital parts ; for in no instance did Mr. Cuming 

 find it imbedded anywhere save in the rays, though some had penetrated at 

 their base, and very near the pelvis." I must confess that I am not pre- 

 pared to adopt this teleological mode of reasoning, so far as regards the 

 StiUfer ; because it does not appear that the Starfish has, in the calcareous 

 and solid parts inhabited by its so-called parasite, any internal juices or soft 

 tissue on which the latter can feed. The investing membrane is wholly 

 external. Although the above description of the animal was undoubtedly 

 correct and circumstantial, it must not be forgotten that it was drawn up 

 from specimens which had been preserved for a considerable time in spirits. 

 The examination of such specimens could not j-icld the same result, in a 

 scientific point of view, as that of living individuals in their native habitat. 



