202 Dr. J. Gwyii Jeffreys on the [June 15^ 



centres of silication, and that the ribbons when fully developed are en- 

 closed in a kind of muscular and membranous sheath. This sheath can 

 be stripped off and allow of an easy separation of the three bands. 



In B. undatum the odontophore is said to be longer than the w^hole 

 length of the body of the animal. This I should think is a mistake ; at all 

 events that of B. Groenlandicum, when stretched out, is somewhat less 

 than half the length of the body. 



Ceustacea, Tfnicata, Poltzoa, Echit^odermata, Actinozoa, Toea- 

 MiNiFERA, PoLTCTSTiNA, and Spoi^gida. By the Eev. A. M. 

 NOEMAN, M.A. 



Eour hundred and seven Invertebrata brought home by H.M.S. 

 'Valorous,' and belonging to the above classes have been examined. Con- 

 sidering the very short time allowed for dredging, the state of the weather, 

 and other circumstances, the results of the Expedition are surprising and 

 reflect great credit on all concerned. Moreover, if a proof were needed, it 

 is here found how little is yet known of the fauna of the deep waters 

 within the Arctic Circle, or even of the inhabitants of the shallower parts 

 of these northern seas. It is necessary to bear in mind that the in- 

 vestigations of the ' Yalorous ' were chiefly confined to those portions 

 of the coast which had been previously most carefully worked by the 

 Scandinavian naturalists. Each time that the dredge was let down in the 

 deeper parts of Davis Strait, it brought up animals of high interest 

 altogether new to science ; and it is not a little remarkable that among 

 these were representatives of genera which had until lately been re- 

 garded as exclusively confined to tropical or subtropical seas. The 

 results of this Expedition show how desirable it is that really systematic 

 dredging should be carried out in Davis Strait, and still more that the 

 wholly unexamined fauna of Baffin's Bay and Smith's Sound should be 

 investigated. It is to be hoped that the Arctic Expedition may be 

 enabled to carry out successful researches with respect to the fauna of 

 these high latitudes. The determination of the character of the animals 

 living in the abyss of the Arctic seas is a matter of no small importance 

 whether regarded from a zoological or from a geological standpoint. 



Of the 407 species, 339 were procured in Davis Strait, and 128 in the 

 North Atlantic, many animals, especially among the Foraminifera, having 

 been brought home from both areas. 



I have made a careful examination of all that has been written on the 

 animals belonging to those classes on which it is my duty to report 

 which had been brought by previous British Arctic expeditions from Davis 

 Strait, and I find that the total aggregate of these Invertebrata of earlier 

 expeditions is at the most 166 species as against 339 brought home by 

 the ' Valorous,' — a convincing proof of the results which can be obtained 

 by the use of modern appliances when in skilful hands. 



Of the 113 Greenland Crustacea, 43 are known as North- American, 



