188 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



was a Sea-hare he did not know of Rondelet's description of it. 

 Sowerby, in 1806, recorded Aplysia from St. Michael's Bay, 

 Cornwall, and investigated its purple dye. 



In 1767, Linnaeus, in his " Systema Naturae," adopted the 

 name given to Aplysia by Bohadsch, viz. : Lernaea. (Editions 

 8 and 9.) In the tenth edition he revised its nomenclature 

 and called it Tethys, in the 12th edition Laplysia* and in 

 the 13th edition Aplysia. To one species of Aplysia he gave 

 the name Aplysia depilans. 



Lamarck, in 1812, attempted a classification of Inverte- 

 brate animals and recognised the affinities between the Bullidae 

 and Aplysiidae. In 1817, Macri, a Neapolitan, disposed once 

 and for all of the fables concerning Aplysia, and stated in most 

 emphatic language that it was quite harmless. 



In 1817 appeared Cuvier's " Memoires pour servir a 

 l'histoire et a l'anatomie des Mollusques," containing " Memoire 

 sur le genre Laplysia " (first published in 1803). This Memoir 

 contains a full account of the Mollusc with good figures. 

 Cuvier made the first chemical investigation of the purple, 

 though he made the bad mistake of supposing that it was the 

 gland now known to be the kidney, which exuded that fluid. 



From 1820 onward Aplysia has been studied from every 

 standpoint by many observers, so that a fairly complete 

 knowledge of its anatomy, histology, and embryology (excluding 

 the metamorphosis) has been obtained. The literature, how- 

 ever, contains many inaccuracies, copied without verification 

 by different writers, and no reliable monograph, with the 

 exception of that by Mazzarelli, has appeared. 



The most important works on the anatomy of Aplysia 

 during the nineteenth century are those of Delle Chiaje, Sander 



* Laplysia appears to be a printer's error for L' Aplysia, and was 

 corrected by Gmelin in the thirteenth edition. Aplysia means " that 

 which one cannot wash." It has no meaning for the Mollusc which now 

 bears it, and was chosen quite arbitrarily by Linnaeus. The Aplysia of 

 Aristotle is a sponge which could not be freed from gritty and dirty matter. 

 Aristotle does not mention the Sea-hare. 



