530 PROF. F.J. BELL ON THE COMATULID&. (June 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 Gulls ; but there can be‘no doubt that these two surviving 
species of hooded 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 Gannets, Boobies, 
Pelicans, Cormorants, and Petrels literally by millions, and the 
comparatively unaviferous coast of Brazi) 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 Comatulide; with the Description of a 
new Species. By F. Jerrrny Brent, M.A., F.ZS., 
Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King’s College. 
[Received 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 calmly on 
the piles of papers that lie behind him, and the manifold sheets 
that are daily laid in his way. 
