SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



265 



him, but considered it came near to L. palustris 

 var. diluviana And. A full account of the Mollusca 

 from these beds may be found in " The Post- 

 Pliocene Non-Marine Mollusca of Essex," by A. S. 

 Kennard and B. B. Woodward (" Essex Natu- 

 ralist," vol. x. 1897, pp. 87-109) ; and " The Pleis- 

 tocene Non-Marine Mollusca of the London Dis- 

 trict," by B. B. Woodward (Proc. Geol. Assoc, 

 vol. xi. 1890, pp. 335-388). 



With regard to the Vertebrata of the district, no 

 one has as yet collected and sifted the records, and 

 until this has been done our knowledge cannot 

 be said to be on a firm foundation. The most 

 abundant forms are the horse (Equus caballus), the 

 wild ox (Bos taurus var. primigenius), red deer 

 (Cervus elaphus), mammoth (Elephas primigenius) and 

 Rhinoceros antiquitatis. All the Carnivores are rare, 

 especially the bears. The hippopotamus (Hippo- 

 potamus amphibius) is extremely rare, as is also 

 the musk ox (Ovibos vwschatus). Mr. Johnson 

 has mentioned that vast herds of the reindeer 



(Rangifer tarandus) browsed on the banks of the 

 Thames. This is only true of the Upper Thames, 

 as in the Lower Thames Valley its remains are 

 quite unknown. 



Unfortunately the larger Mammalia have received 

 nearly all the attention of collectors, whilst the 

 smaller forms have had but scant attention. Mr. 

 Cheadle and Mr. Flaxman C. J. Spurrell have 

 added to our knowledge ; whilst, as the result of 

 several years' work at Crayford and Erith, I am 

 able to record the northern vole (Microtus ratticeps), 

 the Siberian vole (M. gregatis), the water vole (M. 

 amphibius), the arctic lemming (Myodes torquatus), 

 and the common frog (Rana temporaria). I am 

 confident that this by no means exhausts the list, 

 I trust that Mr. Johnson may prove the worthy 

 successor of Mr. Flaxman Spurrell, and by his 

 researches in these deposits add greatly to our 

 knowledge of Pleistocene times. 



Benenden, Mackenzie Road, 



Beckenham ; December, 1898. 



BRITISH FRESHWATER MITES. 

 By Charles D. Soar, F.R.M.S. 



GENUS CURVIPES KOENIKE. 

 {Continued from page 227.) 



II. — Curvipes longipalpis Krendowsky, 1884. 



Female. — Body. — Same shape as Curvipes nodatus 

 (fig. 1). Length about 3-0 mm. The whole of the 

 body colour a bright red, with a lighter T-shaped 

 piece on the dorsal surface. 



Legs. — Similar to legs of 

 C. nodatus (fig. 2), but the A 



hairs are coarser. First leg M,- "~t — "T\1\''.j 



about 2'45 mm. in length. 

 The fourth leg is about 

 280 mm. The colour a 

 very dark slate-blue. Claws 

 similar to figs. 3 and 4. 



Epimera, arranged like 

 C. nodatus, colour same as 

 legs, a very dark slate-blue ; 

 almost black in some 

 specimens. 



Palpus is so much like 

 fig. 5, showing the three 

 pegs on the last joint but 



one, that another figure is not necessary. Its 

 length is 160 mm. Colour, the same as all the 

 chitinous parts of this species, namely dark 

 slate-blue. 



Genital Plates.— It is in these plates that the 

 greatest difference will be found in this species 

 (see fig. 12 and compare with fig. 6 in C. nodatus). 



The number of discs is about twenty-five on each 

 plate, but on C. longipalpis there are over eighty. 

 I have counted three specimens and all have 

 above that quantity. They vary both in number 

 and arrangement. Ground 

 colour, dark slate -blue, 

 discs red. 

 I." ~V„. "*> Male.— Smaller than fe- 



male, being 220 ram. in 

 length. Similar in shape ; 

 epimera being like those of 

 male in fig. 7, but joined 

 on the inner edge nearly all 

 the way down (see fig. 13), 

 and not at the bottom edge 

 only, as in C. nodatus. The 

 number of discs is very 

 great ; in the one male 

 specimen I have counted 

 there are over a hundred 

 on each side. 

 The last two joints of the third pair of legs are 

 also very different to those of C. nodatus, particu- 

 larly in the claws (see fig. 14) . The genual joint 

 of the fourth pair of legs is nearly like fig. 10. In 

 colour the male is the same as the female. 



Krendowsky, the writer who first described C. 

 longipalpis, only gives an outline drawing of the 



K 3 



Fig. 12, C. longipalpis. — Genital area of female. 



