Geological Society of London. 621 



2. " On a new Fossil Crab from the Tertiary of New Zealand." 

 By Henry Woodward, Esq., F.K.S., F.G.S. 



In this paper the author described a crab obtained by Dr. Hector, 

 F.E.S., Director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand, from 

 the " Passage-beds " of the Ototara series in Woodpecker Bay, 

 Brighton, on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand. 

 The new species belongs to the genus Harpactocarcinus, A. Milne- 

 Edw., which includes six species from the Eocene of southern 

 Europe. Its nearest ally is H. quadrilobatus, Desmar., but its 

 carapace is much more tumid, especially on the branchial and 

 gastric regions; the surface of the anterior half of the carapace 

 is nearly smooth, and that of the posterior half finely granulated. 

 The rostrum is short and very obtusely tricuspidate ; the orbits 

 shallow and rounded ; the hepatic margin rounded and entire, with 

 only a slight spine on the epibranchial angles; the divisions of the 

 regions of the carapace are only faintly indicated; and there is a 

 slightly roughened line on the sides of the gastric intumescence. 

 The characters of the jawfeet and of the chela? agree with those 

 of the Cancridce ; of the latter the right is considerably larger than 

 the left hand. The specimen was a female. For this species the 

 author proposed the name of Harpactocarcinus tumidus. 



Dr. Hector explained the sequence of formations in the locality 

 from which the above Crab was derived, and stated that the Ototara 

 series is to be regarded as Cretaceo-Tertiary, containing some fossils 

 of decidedly Cretaceous type, such as Saurian bones and fragmentary 

 Inocerami, and other forms that are associated with decidedly Mesozoic 

 fossils in the underlying strata. On the other hand, the occurrence 

 of Tertiary forms such as Nautilus zic-zac (or a nearly allied form), 

 the gigantic Penguin (Palceeudyptes antarcticus, HuxL), and a Turtle, 

 indicate a fauna not unlike that at present existing in the vicinity. 



3. " On a remarkable Fossil Orthopterous Insect from the Coal- 

 measures of Britain." By Henry Woodward, Esq., F.E.S., F.Gr.S. 



The author commenced by indicating the importance of the ex- 

 amination of the Clay-ironstone nodules of the Coal-measures, in 

 which so many valuable fossils have been discovered, including the 

 remarkable insect described in the present paper. The specimen 

 displays the characters of the four wings, only two of which, how- 

 ever, are nearly perfect, and these measure 2^ inches in length and 

 1 inch and 1^ inch in breadth, the hind wing being the broadest. 

 The author described in detail the characters presented by the vena- 

 tion of the wings, which includes three straight veins running 

 parallel to the fore margin, the third bifurcating near the apex, a 

 fourth much curved vein giving origin to six branches, and having 

 at its base a triangular space, from which arise the other veins of 

 the wing. The body appears to have been about 5 lines broad be- 

 tween the bases of the wings. In front of the wings is the protho- 

 rax in the form of two large, rounded, dilated, and veined lobes ; 

 it measures 14 lines across and 6 lines in length. In front of these 

 lobes is the head (with its eyes) produced in front into a slender pro- 

 cess three lines long. This insect is considered by the author to be 



DECADE II. — VOL II. — NO. XII. 40 



