232 [Nov. 1, 



figured by Brocchi under the name of Lepas stellaris. Also a 

 species of PoUicipes presented by Mr. Greenough. 



The Foraminifera include the Lenticiilites complanatus (which ap- 

 pears to be found in those beds in vast numbers), and species of 

 Nodosaria and Cristellaria. 



The Echinodermata in this collection are numerous, and of re- 

 markable beauty. They include all the Maltese species figured in 

 the w^ork of Scilla, besides several apparently undescribed. They 

 belong to the genera Cidaris (1 species), Echinus (i species), Nu- 

 deolites (3 species), Galerites (1 species), Spatangus (3 or 4 species). 

 Brissus (3 species), Clypeaster (4 species), and Scutella (I species). 

 Among the species of the last 2 genera are Clypeaster alius, mar- 

 ginatus, Tarbellianus and scutellatus, and Scutella subrotunda, seve- 

 ral of which are found in raiocene beds in the South of France, and 

 in Italy. 



The Zoophyta include species of Fungia, Caryophyllia, Cellepora, 

 Escharina, Eschara, and Retepora. They have been submitted to 

 Mr. Lonsdale, who has recognized among them Cellepora mamillata, 

 and Eschara monilifera, both French miocene fossils. 



There is no reason to believe that the fossils in this collection 

 came from more than one tertiary formation. 



As far as can be judged from the examination I have made of 

 them, they belong to a tertiary formation of a later date than the 

 London clay and Paris basin, and older than the Sicilian and other 

 pliocene strata. Certain beds in the South of France and North of 

 Italy, which have been referred to the miocene period, appear to 

 agree in age with the Maltese beds, though they may possibly be 

 older than the Touraine faluns and the English crag. 



" On the Fossil Remains of Starfishes of the order Ophiuridee, 

 found in Britain." By Prof. E. Forbes. Communicated by R. I. 

 Murchison, Esq., President of the Royal Geographical Society. 



In Mr. Morris's catalogue of British fossils (p. 55), four species of 

 Ophiura are enumerated : viz. Ophiura Egertoni of Broderip*, from 

 the inferior oolite ; O. Milleri of Phillips, from the marlstone, at 

 Staithes ; an unnamed species, from the London clay, recorded by 

 Mr. Wetherell in the Geological Proceedings ; and a species from 

 the upper chalk, also unnamed, in the cabinet of Mr. Fitch. In the 

 ninth volume of the Magazine of Natural History (p. 437), Mr. 

 Williamson figures and describes a fossil Ophiura under the name of 

 0. loricata, from the marlstone at Staithes; and in a paper read before 

 the Geological Society during the session 1842-43, Professor Sedg- 

 wick has recorded an Ophiura in the Cambrian slates of North Wales. 



Of such of the above species as have already received names, the 

 first two will now fall under the genus Ophioderma of Muller and 

 Troschelf, as Ophioderma Egertoni, and Ophioderma Milleri ; since 

 they present the peculiar forms of ovarian shields, and the superior 

 genital openings distinctive of that genus. Ophiura loricata of Wil- 

 liamson appears to be the upper surface of Ophioderma Milleri. 



* For references to the works in which this and the other species mentioned are 

 described, see table. f Wiegman's Archives, 1840. 



