{ly Miscellaneous. 
the equator. In opposition to the opinion of Mr. Allen* I do not 
think that the starting-point of this type (at least considering it in 
the present epoch) can be placed in the northern hemisphere ; for it 
is only found there now at one point of the coast of California, 
while these animals abound on all the coasts of the southern hemi- 
sphere. It ismuch more probable that it is from the island of Juan 
Fernandez, one of their principal stations in the Southern Seas, that 
these seals sent forth their colonies as far as California, making a 
long détour by the west of the Pacific Ocean. The Humboldt cur- 
rent and then the equatorial current have carried them as far as 
the Marianne Islands, skirting all the archipelagoes of Polynesia. 
From the Marianne Islands this same current has carried them 
eastward to the Sandwich and Revillagigedo Islands and to the 
coasts of California, where they constitute a distinct race (MJacro- 
rhinus angustirostris), now almost entirely destroyed by the whole- 
sale slaughter to which they have been subjected.—Comptes Rendus, 
May 9, 1881, p. 1118. 
On the Zoological Affinities of Halysites. By A. KH. VurRiqt. 
Of the so-called “ tabulate corals ” many genera have already had 
their zoological positions determined. Thus Agassiz, in 1847, 
ascertained the hydroid nature of Millepora; and his observations 
have been fully confirmed by Moseley and others. That Pocillopora 
and its allies, living and extinct, are true Madreporarian corals was 
shown by me in 1867. That Favosites and the related extinct 
genera are Closely allied to the modern Alveopora and Porites was 
also demonstrated by me in 1872. Moseley, while on the ‘ Chal- 
lenger’ Expedition, was fortunate in examining the animal of 
Heliopora. He proved that it belongs to the Aleyonaria, and re- 
ferred to the same group various fossil genera, in some cases 
apparently without sufficient reason. 
The affinities of the genus Halysites, the common “chain coral ” 
of the Silurian, have hitherto been very doubtful. Within a few 
days Mr. H. T. Woodman has shown me a very remarkable speci- 
men of this genus, in which the internal structure is beautifully 
preserved. In this example, which is a fragment several inches 
across, the large tubes contain twelve well-developed and regular 
septa extending to the centre. Their edges are slightly serrulate, 
and do not rise above the tubes. In other words, the structure is 
that of a true Madreporarian coral. 
Mr. Woodman informs me that this specimen is a fragment from 
a large mass 8 to 10 feet across, and that “the larger part of the 
mass was like the common specimens, showing no rays; but here 
and there, in spots all over the face of the mass, the septa were as 
well preserved as in the fragment shown to you.”—Amer. Journ. 
Scz., June 1881. 
* ‘History of North-American Pinnipeds,’ 1880, p. 7d1. 
+ Amer. Journ. Sci. ili. pp. 187-194. 
