SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



45 



MARINE BIOLOGY AT 

 PLYMOUTH. 



HPIIE new number of the "Journal of the Marine 

 Biological Association of the United King- 

 dom " (No. 4, vol. iii., new series, 1895) * s J ust 

 issued. As usual its contents are of the highest value 

 as contributions to our knowledge of marine life. 

 Mr. J. T. Cunningham, the naturalist attached to 

 the Plymouth marine laboratory, has an interesting 

 paper on the discovery, by the Italian naturalists, 

 Professor Grassi and Dr. Calandruccis, of the 

 larva of the eel. Until last year the breeding and 

 development of the common eels had remained a 

 baffling mystery to naturalists. Nothing was 

 known of the history of these animals between the 

 disappearance of the parent eels in their migration 

 into the sea and the appearance of the elvers in 

 early spring. As might have been expected, one of 

 the numerous larval forms of the sea, named 

 Leptocephali, is the larva of the common eel. This 

 form has long been known under the scientific name 

 Leptocephalus brevirostris, but no one seems to have 

 suspected that it was an immature eel, though 

 another species of the genus, L. morrisii, was known 

 to develop into the conger. Mr. Cunningham, in his 

 paper, discusses the Leptocephalidse. Although 

 often taken in the Straits of Messina, between 

 Italy and Sicily, these larval forms are rarely seen in 

 British waters, probably because of their supposed 

 habit of hiding themselves in the bottom of the sea, 

 possibly actually burrowing in the sand or mud. 



We regret to find, that on account of failing 

 health, Mr. Holt, the other naturalist attached to 

 the Biological Association, is unable to continue his 

 investigations of the North Sea, and that it has been 

 found necessary to transfer Mr. Cunningham from 

 Plymouth to continue Mr. Holt's work from 

 Grimbsy. No doubt Mr. Cunningham will be 

 equally useful in his new sphere, but he has been so 

 successful in laboratory work, that the change 

 may interrupt some of his investigations. 



The article on " Experiments and Observations 

 made at the Plymouth Laboratory," by Mr. Cun- 

 ningham, is largely devtoed to flat fishes, that subject 

 occupying about twenty-four pages, including 

 remarks on diagnostic characters, development of 

 the eggs, and on a piebald plaice. The very rare 

 nudibranchiate mollusc, Coryphella smaragdina is 

 recorded by Mr. J. C. Sumner as having been 

 dredged near the Asia buoy off Plymouth. This 

 small Eolid was described by Alder and Hancock 

 from a single specimen found off the Northumbrian 

 coast. It is also found in the Mediterranean. In 

 size it is only about half-an-inch long, and is of pure 

 white colour, the fine transverse bands of branchias 

 being of vivid green. 



Mr. W. L. Holt publishes some notes on " Sup- 

 posed Hybrids between the Turbot and the Brill." 



SALE OE BRITISH 

 LEPIDOPTERA. 



HpIIE first portion of the well-known collection 

 of British butterflies and moths formed by 

 the late William Machin, who was a compositor in 

 a London printing firm, was sold by auction on 

 February 26th, at the rooms of Mr. J. C. Stevens, 

 King Street, Covent Garden. The collection, fcrmed 

 during a period of fifty-eight years, was chiefly 

 rich in a long series of rare and now extinct British 

 species. The specimens were thoroughly authen- 

 ticated as British, and as there was a large atten- 

 dance of buyers, the prices generally were higher 

 than the usual average, varieties especially fetching 

 high rates. Among the earlier lots of butterflies, 

 four specimens of Pieris daplidice, taken in Kent, 

 reached 16s. to 18s. each. A bred variety of Argvnnis 

 paphia, with confluent spots on the under side, sold, 

 with seventeen other specimens, for £2 2s. A 

 variety of Vanessa cardui, taken on Hackney Marshes, 

 fetched £3 10s. A fine variety of the purple- 

 emperor (Apatura iris), with yellow under wings, 

 £3 5s. Six specimens of Polyomniatus dispar, " from 

 Mr. Henry Doubleday," fetched from £2 to £j 55. 

 each, according to size and condition, the latter 

 price being for females, the finest males only fetched 

 £\ 8s. Sixty-three typical "blues," including a 

 specimen of small copper butterfly (P. phlaeas), 

 with the blue spots on the hind wings larger than 

 usual, reached £3 105. Lyccena acis, £2 for a pair, 

 and £2 1 os. for three specimens. Among the 

 moths a specimen of Sphinx pinastri, from the la'.e 

 Mr. F. Bond, went, with nine Chaciocampa clpenor, 

 for £1 10s. Two Sesia scoliaformis, a yellow-banded 

 variety of S. culiciformis, and eleven others, sold for 

 £2 2S. Four S. sphegiformis, labelled "from Tilgate 

 Forest," with six 5. cluysidiformis, fetched £2 5s. 

 Varieties of the common garden tiger, Arctia caia, 

 were not specially fine, the highest price being 

 £2 2s. for three. Laelia ccenosa sold in pairs, at 

 £1 ys. 6d. to £2 2s. Seven specimens of Bombyx 

 trifolii, one being a fine variety bred by the late 

 Mr. Machin, fetched £3 10s. A fine series of 

 eight specimens of Lasiocampa ilicifolia, taken at 

 Cannock Chase, £2 5s. to ^4 5s. a pair. A fine 

 female Noctua Subrosea sold for £j, 10s., the six 

 other specimens fetching £4, £4 5s. and £5 5s. per 

 pair. Cleora viduaria, which has become valuable 

 during the last few years, £1 15s. to £1 5s. a pair. 

 The thirty-eight drawer mahogany cabinet that 

 contained the collection, sold for nineteen guineas. 

 The total amount realised for the collection of macro- 

 lepidoptera, or butterflies and larger moths, being 

 ^"363. We understand that Mr. Machin's still more 

 celebrated collection of British macro-lepidoptera 

 has been purchased as a whole by a well-known Lon- 

 don amateur naturalist. OLIVER J Jan 

 Great Russell Street, London, W.C, 



