400 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



numLers. It occurs also in the stomach of the cod" — M'ln- 

 tosh ; and from Roscoff (Cotes du Nord, N. France) — Faurot. 

 "We now extend its range to Dollymount, Dublin Bay, and from 

 information received from Miss Shannon, it is probable that it 

 also occurs at Larne, county Antrim ; it therefore is distributed 

 over the British Isles, and to the north of France. The peculiar 

 habits of this form have probably been the reason why it has not 

 been met with elsewhere, and more often. 



Mr. Grosse, on p. 245 of the Actinologia, says of the Actinia 

 cyliiidrica, described by Reid : — " It must have certainly been a 

 Peachia, and may possibly have been an immature P. hastataJ^ 

 Gosse states three points in which it disagreed from his species : — 

 " (1) It was but one and a quarter inch long." This objection 

 amounts to nothing. " (2) The conchular lobes were twelve, six of 

 which were very minute, triangular, orange, with translucent edges." 

 As will be seen from our account, the conchular papillae are sub- 

 ject to great variation in number, size, and colour. " (3) Twelve 

 bands of faint reddish-brown radiated across the disk." From 

 this it would appear that Dr. Eeid's specimen was sickly, having 

 been " thrown on shore by a storm," and that it never properly 

 expanded, consequently the disc would not be seen. The tumid 

 striped oesophagus of this form is so large and so frequently pro- 

 truded, and especially when the animal is dying, that there can 

 be little doubt that it was in this instance mistaken for the disc. 

 Thus none of Grosse's objections stand. Eeid describes "the upper 

 three-fourths of the body to be opaque and of a pale pink colour." 

 In one of our specimens the column, excluding the physa, was of 

 an opaque flesh-colour, with only one or two fine reddish-brown 

 stripes or spots. 



The identity of these two species is admitted by Dr. W. C. 

 M'Intosh, who after recording it from St. Andrews, states (/. c, 

 p. 220) it " was thus first found in Britain by Dr. John Eeid, of 

 St. Andrews, who published a description of his single example in 

 1848 (Physiological, Anat., and Pathol. Observations, p. QbQ, 

 pi. 5, f. 21 and 22) ; his title [A. cylindrica) has, therefore, a prior 

 claim to that of Mr. G-osse." 



We have entered thus fully into a discussion on Eeid's species, 

 as it is more satisfactory to clear up the older species than to leave 

 them as dubice. Although ourselves convinced of the identity of 



