AMPHIPODA OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 141 
For supplying me with material I desire to record my best 
thanks to the Rey. T. R. R. Stebbing, who has very kindly placed 
the whole of his specimens of the group at my disposal, to Pro- 
fessor D’Arcy W. Thompson, C.B., of University College, Dundee, 
to Dr. R. T. Scharff of Dublin, and to Dr. S. F. Harmer of Cam- 
bridge. Monsieur Edouard Chevreux of Bone, Algeria, and 
Professor Franz Vejdovsky of Prague have given me specimens 
from some localities on the Continent that have been most useful 
for the purpose of comparison. 
Historical. 
The first mention of subterranean Crustacea in the British 
Isles was made by Leach [3. p. 403] in the article ‘‘ Crustaceo- 
logy ” in the ‘ Edinburgh Encyclopedia,’ published probably in 
18138 or 1814. His specimen came from a well in London, and 
was by him distinguished from Gammarus pulex under the 
name G. subterraneus. His description is very brief and insuf- 
ficient, but from what he says it is, I think, evident that the 
specimen must have belonged to the genus now known as 
Niphargus ; and from our present knowledge of the distribution 
and occurrence of the species of this genus, it is perhaps not 
unreasonable to suppose that it was the species which is most 
commonly found and which has long been known in England by 
the name Niphargus aquilex, Schiddte, and I have accordingly 
in this paper followed Della Valle in adopting Leach’s name for 
this species. Spence Bate and Westwood give Leach’s species as 
a synonym of WV. aquilex, though retaining the later name of the 
species [1. p. 314]. 
For many years nothing appeared on the subject in England, 
though on the Continent species of subterranean Amphipods 
were described by Gervais [4. p. 127], Koch [5], Schiddte [8], 
Caspary [6], Hosius [7], &c., and in 1851 the genus Wiphargus 
was established by Schiddte. 
In 18538 a subterranean Amphipod was found by J. O. West- 
wood at Maidenhead [9. p. 218]; this was at first referred to 
WV. stygius, Schiddte, but was shortly afterwards described as a 
separate species, V. aquilex, by Schiddte. This species was 
accepted as a good one by Spence Bate and Westwood, though 
on different grounds from those relied upon by Schiédte in 
defining the species. Adam White, in his ‘Popular History 
