DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY. 119 



Prototracheata* . — The few specimens received during the 

 year were submitted to Prof. Bouvier, of whose long promised 

 Monograph the first part has been published.t 



EcJiino derma*. — Very interesting specimens of Toxo- 

 pneustes variegatus, showing the products of the gonads 

 emerging from their orifices, have been mounted in spirit ; a 

 fine example of 8trongylocenU'otus franciscanus has been 

 mounted in a special case. The new species of Asteroidea 

 described since 1893, and the specimens of the class which 

 have been added to the collection during the last ten years, 

 have been entered in the MSS. Catalogue of that group. 



Vermes*. — The unnamed specimens in the Beddard Col- 

 lection (reported last year) were returned to Mr. Beddard, who 

 has determined them ; on their return they were re-spirited, 

 bottled and registered ; his collection of 1,200 slides, which 

 were not in very good order when received late last year, has 

 been cleaned, re-arranged, and a type-written list of the genera, 

 with their register numbers, has been placed in each slide 

 box. The whole Beddard Collection has been entered in an 

 interleaved copy of Dr. Michaelson's '■' Oligochseta," which will 

 be of great assistance to students. 



Anthozoa* . — A case containing an introductory series of 

 Corals and an exhibition of the species found in the British 

 Seas has been partly set out ; the recent discovery of several 

 forms new to our seas necessitates waiting for examples of 

 these to complete the series. Volume V. of the Catalogue of 

 Corals, containing an account of the Indo-Pacific species of 

 the genus Porites, has been published ; the account of the 

 Atlantic species is still in MSS., but a large number of the 

 illustrations have been printed. The re-velveting of the 

 exhibition cases has been completed, and the specimens 

 re-arranged ; a fine example of Venus' Fan {Pterogorgia fla- 

 hellum) has been mounted, as well as some very interesting 

 examples of Turhinaria, which show the mortal influence of 

 deposits of mud on calyciform corals. A fine photograph of 

 living Dead Men's Fingers {Alcyonium digitatuvi) has been 

 prepared from a photo lent by the Horniman Museum. All 

 the label names of the exhibited sea-anemones ai'e now 

 protected from dirt by glass covers. Two large cases for 

 exhibiting Gorgonellids are being made. 



* The time of the Assistant in charge of these groups has been largely 

 devoted to the "Discovery" Collection. 



t The opinion of a fellow-worker from the Jardin des Plai.tes may be 

 worth transcribing, M. Bouvier says : — 



" Les collections du Musee britannique, plus riches que toutes autres en 

 individus et en especes, et oil se trouvent reuois des materiaux siagulierement 

 predeux, depuis I'exemplaire de Sloane (le premier connu du groupo) jusqu'k 

 ceux examines ou apportes recemment par MM. Sedgwick, Pocock, VVilley, 

 Dendy et Evans.'' 



